Chapter 80

Having read that far, I left the channel without hesitation.

It was amusing to suddenly get my long-abandoned mobile messenger back, but it still felt somewhat lacking for a genuine exchange of emotions or thoughts.

Perhaps it felt that way because I had encountered so many dramatic situations recently… or maybe I had finally, albeit belatedly, realized the importance of comradeship, having been just a gamer stuck in my room.

– Tin Can. Send me the visual information you’re receiving, as it is. –

– …I apologize that the quality isn’t good enough. –

Even if I forced the connection, it was only natural for the owner to use the functions embedded in the Carebot.

He cheerfully agreed, with either a sense of style or still a hint of goofiness.

Zing…!

The calmness of the chatroom was replaced by vivid images.

No, pardon me. Seeing that it was the frontline correspondent sending live footage, it was only natural for it to be immersive.

The narrow alley was filled with completely unfamiliar faces.

Considering their affiliations, there was the possibility of them undergoing plastic surgery later on to operate under a different appearance… but speculating about it now was of no help at all.

First off, the atmosphere at the site that Tin Can had euphemistically referred to as ‘standoff’ was even more perilous than I had expected.

Gleaming blades and glistening bludgeons here and there evoked the tension of a brawl about to break out, and the ground overhead or the deeply gouged walls… I had no idea who had done what.

Listing everything out, even the shabby buildings with peeling paint began to resemble props.

…How do you fix a machine that lies as easily as it breathes? Should I give it a smack on the head too?

That mindset of thinking you could fix anything by hitting it seems a bit barbaric, doesn’t it?

“Well, there you are….”

Yet among such scenery, there were only two figures that matched my memories.

Standing at the very front. A dark-skinned Arab man with impressive curly hair, Asyef.

And the flustered red-haired girl, Rosaline, furiously refreshing a channel that had been left unceremoniously behind.

Both were agents affiliated with Five Eyes, overflowing with an indescribable presence, whether it was powerful or adorably cute.

Given that neither side had any pleasant things to say, let’s decisively cut off the extremely tangled situation and the persistent love calls.

“Turn around immediately. If you return quietly the way you came, I won’t further interfere in your little acts of resistance or report your location to higher-ups. …Isn’t that a shocking concession you’d never hear from a true corporate lackey?”

“…How arrogant.”

“Are you with another organization?”

As Tin Can relayed my monologue, some agents growled at me.

Yet, no matter how much they disliked it, if they weren’t planning on launching a full-scale offensive while identified, they’d have no choice but to back off and comply.

“And!! You, the hacker girl lacking in self-objectivity, let me just say this. …You’d rather partner with a villain than be a hypocrite; I won’t work with a hypocrite.”

“?! That’s an outrageous insult!!”

I know, so take it as a chance to reflect on yourself, even if it’s a shock… and let’s part ways now.

Rosaline, possibly caught off guard by being called a hypocrite, was welling up with tears, but Asyef, who was responsible for leading them, seemed to be chewing on my unusually beneficial considerations with suspicion.

Thinking about extending a peace offering handshake to mean “put your troubles aside,” I was going to suggest Tin Can extend his hand… but the hand reflected in the corner of the screen looked a bit odd.

Wait. Hold on, where are your fingers?! Is that just a slight scratch? Huh??