Chapter 13: Value Depreciation-1

“These days, you’ve been appearing at official events. I think that’s fortunate.”

“What?”

At the secretary’s words, I couldn’t help but stand frozen.

After searching through Han Sanwoo’s memories, I was able to conclude that she wasn’t trying to mock me or make a joke, but that she might have said that sincerely.

She’s crazy.

Han Sanwoo might have been a person who lived recklessly more than I thought.

No matter what, this was modern society.

I never thought that there would be an upper class that would not work so much, not like the spoiled aristocrats of pre-modern society.

Even politicians or corrupt businessmen who received countless curses had to work at least to gain some kind of benefit.

No matter how much I searched through my memories, there were no memories in Han Sanwoo’s head that could be used as a reference.

There was still information about what to do and how to do it specifically.

However, there were no memories of actual work.

What was important to me was not what Han Sanwoo had to do, but how he did it.

“True…”

I let out an awkward laugh.

I was glad that my body wasn’t sweating so much that I failed to control my emotions.

A monarch of a pre-modern society.

In fact, if you think about it, there was no family that fit that name as well as Hansan.

There must be more than one or two crazy companies in this world, but it was rare for a company to be run so openly and centered on its family like Hansan.

It was the same in Japan, which had become something even stronger than Korea, which maintained its power to an unbelievable degree, and was almost like a world leader.

To be exact, it wasn’t the country of Japan, but Japanese companies that were doing well, and in this world, no country could beat a company no matter how hard it tried.

However, there were groups where the family held key positions in the company, but there were no companies that were as extreme as Hansan’s family.

“I’ve put off the work, so let’s do it properly.”

A company that trusted only the name of the Hansan family and allowed a bad boy like Han Sanwoo to take the top position in the family.

In other words, it meant that if the family wanted it, they could kick me out at any time without any problem.

The secretary looked at me with a mysterious look.

Maybe, she was being suspected.

There was no data for this either.

Han Sanwoo had never ‘carefully’ looked at her face.

If it wasn’t something that remained in his memory, I couldn’t recognize it either.

Memories aren’t something you can search through by going back in time like CCTV.

I could feel different emotions from her when I saw the same scene, but I couldn’t recall a scene that didn’t leave an impression at all and I couldn’t even remember it.

Still, her attitude was unusual.

Maybe she had already noticed my identity and was waiting for a chance to contact the family.

Or, there was no evidence.

That might be more likely.

In the first place, it was an ordinary possession.

Han Sanwoo only woke up after being sick for a few days, and during that time, no incident occurred that could have compromised his mind.

If it were a world where the human inside him changed, it might be a fantasy, but this world was a world where such a thing could happen at any time.

In that case, I had no choice but to observe the situation from that perspective.

“Let’s move to the next location. We don’t have time.”

In that case, it meant that I was also given some time.

It was time to somehow explain my sense of crisis to her and find a chance to somehow coexist with Stella City and Hansan.

“Understand. However, if the same incident happens again this time…”

“I’ll trust you. Oh, and change all the bullets to paralysis bullets.”

“It could be dangerous. The immediate response is less than the original bullets, and there could be variables…”

In this city, there were almost no people who didn’t use implants.

They had to be implanted in their bodies just to eat cheap food from cheap factories, and they were essential items for survival and work efficiency.

It was like a cell phone.

Even if it was a bit expensive and burdensome, it was something that I had no choice but to use in the end.

Except for a few monks, extreme purists, or special cases like me, a non-lethal bullet that suppressed the implant would work well.

Since it wasn’t cheap, it was easier for both the seller and the wearer to deal with normal bullets than with paralysis bullets.

“As a bodyguard, I always have to think about what it.”

But the bullets she used were not ordinary lead bullets.

It was difficult to block the jamming of a non-lethal bullet, but it was impossible to block the ordinary and powerful impact.

It might not mean much against a gang, but it was definitely different when you think about powerful mercenaries or private soldiers of a company that might target me.

Her worries were not necessarily unfounded.

However, it was also true that it was dangerous.

“You tried to kill the woman who saved me, right?”

“…Did you notice?”

In fact, it wasn’t her fault.

Rather, I wanted to praise her superhuman endurance.

Objectively, the idiot with a gun, and the woman who turned on the time acceleration device without any warning and ran towards me.

If you were to ask which of the two was more dangerous to Han Sanwoo’s safety, it would be the latter by an overwhelming margin.

The guys I saw first were barely holding pistols.

Ordinary and common, small weapons that could probably kill one person.

There didn’t seem to be any other forces besides the five I could see, and their level of technology was obvious.

Objectively, they were no threat to me.

However, Doris was different.

She activated her body acceleration device by surprise, jumped out the window, and attacked me.

Besides, there might be someone else behind her.

The body acceleration device was not something a sloppy thug would wear.

From a common sense perspective, it was more likely that the mercenary wearing the body acceleration device would activate his ability and throw himself to protect me, rather than an assassin targeting my life.

I was a member of the Hansan Group.

It wouldn’t have been strange if someone had targeted me.

The body acceleration ability put a great strain on the body.

If I truly thought of it as a favor, it would have been too complacent.

“She… was an exceptional situation.”

“I know. But I think this will happen a lot in the future.”

It wasn’t to avoid killing people who shouldn’t have been killed.

It was to avoid killing people who should have been killed.

“I plan on going to dangerous places a lot and doing useless things often. I can’t go around killing people every time.”

If I had decided to go on a rampage, I had no choice but to fight until my identity was revealed.

There must be many people who would look down on my actions.

Not only other companies, but also gangs and mercenaries.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

It was a contradictory thing to minimize Hansan’s evil influence while not directly confronting Hansan.

As is often the case with people who hate companies, I had no choice but to go after ‘relatively easygoing gangs or businesses on the edge of Hansan.

“If you have something you want to do, you don’t have to act like a thief. You are a member of the Hansan family, after all”

“Well, I’ve thought about that too… but it’s probably a bit difficult. There are more than a few people who hate me, right?”

Thinking about the checks I would receive from other companies if I acted under the Hansan family name, I had no choice but to hide.

No, if it were a company, they might not hate me that much.

They knew very well how fearsome Hansan really was.

Among the companies in this city, there weren’t many world-class companies.

General Techina could be considered world-class, but even in the arms business, it wasn’t that overwhelming when you broadened your horizons.

The fact that they were able to fight for power and interests within Stella City was partly thanks to me.

Thanks to Han Sanwoo’s incompetence, this strange deadlock could continue.

No matter what I did, there was a high probability that they would react by saying, “You’re doing something useless, so let’s ignore it.”

The problem was the citizens.

Their hostility toward corporations was not small.

Even Hansan’s strict personnel management team found it difficult to find someone who had “no antipathy toward corporations in this city, no criminal record, and even ability.”

No matter what I did, they would be wary of me.

I didn’t care about their anger toward me, but resistance to my actions was dangerous.

Even if they did the same thing, it would take more time.

“So where do you plan on going?”

“The back mountain. To go hiking”

Baek Mountain Street was a typical slum in Stella City.

It was an unremarkable street, except that it was controlled by the Macheonpa gang and that, despite being a slum, there was a certain level of security thanks to the gangs.

“Nothing much. If there are any annoying guys, you can just punch them in the head.”

However, it was important to me.

The main character of the game, ‘someone who uses one of the alphabets as a nickname”, had to visit Baek Mountain Street in the story.

It was a game with a lot of freedom with various backgrounds, numerous methods, and countless endings, but the overall storyline was set.

The main enemy was Hansan, and the main villain was Han Sanwoo.

And in order to make the players realize how strong and evil Hansan was, they were forced into Baek Mountain Street.

In other words, in some cases, if the main character had not experienced the ‘incident that occurred on Baek Mountain Street, they might think that there was no need to antagonize Hansan.

Of course, it is true that you have to prepare for the worst.

A psychopathic main character might appear, kill everyone he sees, and kill the Hansan Group as well.

But if that’s not the case, it was best to win without fighting.

In the first place, the main character was not a single human being, but because they had abilities close to natural disasters.

Building a high dam to block a tsunami was certainly effective, but it would be better to live in a place where your house wouldn’t be washed away in the first place.

“At least, I think it would be better to take a security team with you…”

“That won’t do.”

In order to fight a proper battle in Stella City, you needed a certain number of people.

At least one hacker, one front line that could withstand bullets, a sniper who could fight from a distance, and a rifleman who could stably fire.

My secretary could probably do any of those roles, but it would be impossible for her to handle all of that by herself.

“There’s no choice. Just suffer a little more.”

Silencing many people’s mouths was even more difficult.

I had no intention of having any other accomplices besides her.

“So, what do you plan on starting with?”

“Well…”

I frowned and slowly recalled what quests there were on Baek Mountain Street.

Anything too small would be difficult.

‘I happened to come across an incident while walking down the street… was something that only happened to the protagonist, not me.

Any quests that took up too much time or required human understanding were out of the question.

“Something where I could spend money like water?”

That was all I could do.