Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed

Girl.

Julia didn’t really have any hobbies.

She didn’t know what to do in her free time.

Whatever she tried to do became a problem.

This was due to the rules of the organization Julia belonged to.

Inside the buildings owned by the organization, activities were limited for the sake of net security.

Since she was wanted by the NCPD, Julia didn’t even have a hideout of her own.

Because of that, it was tough to go out and do anything.

It was around that time Julia discovered a “game” she could play.

It wasn’t a “game” in the traditional sense, so it didn’t have the quality to be called one.

However, it had enough elements to look somewhat like a game.

It didn’t take long for Julia, who was rolling around out of boredom, to get hooked on the game.

After playing the game for a long time.

Just when she was starting to get bored because there was no one else who enjoyed hunting like her.

For the first time, Julia discovered someone hunting in the game.

“…….”

She wanted to type something in chat to say hello, but her old mechanical keyboard was a problem.

With her small hands, it was hard to type smoothly.

And if she spoke, what should she even say?

Who was this person anyway?

Julia knew nothing.

In the meantime, the girl accidentally hit the control buttons and attacked the monster the other player was fighting.

The other player’s character looked confused too.

‘……What to do?’

Given the situation, she had to say something.

What should she start with?

At that moment, a memory brushed through Julia’s mind.

It was a story she had seen on the net space long ago.

‘……I should say it like this.’

[ RabbitGangDude(Archer): Yo, what’s up. ]

[ ImARealWizard(Warrior): ? ]

It was a mistake.

She realized she made a mistake only after seeing his reaction.

Later, she was so startled by his sudden curses that she even ended up killing his character.

Still, it was a mistake.

4. Classic Game Fans (4)

In an atmosphere like a powder keg about to explode, I thought peacefully.

……Cola sure is delicious.

If I had played a fantasy game ten years ago, I wouldn’t be drinking cola like this now.

A light escape from reality continued.

But no matter how much I wanted to turn my back on reality, the actual reality remained unchanged.

The angry expression of the male leader standing right in front of me pierced through Julia’s calm face.

Everyone’s attention had turned away from me.

But no matter the situation, their ultimate goal was me.

I decided to think about the bounty issue later; for now, I had to resolve this situation.

I moved my eyes to look at Julia.

I opened my eyes a little wider, giving an unspoken signal to look this way.

Julia met my gaze in response to my signal.

I nodded once.

In a classic everyone-against-me situation, establishing dominance and hiding my current position was crucial.

“Hmm.”

– Bang!

I activated the magic I had prepared.

Black smoke spread from my toes, quickly enveloping the entire restaurant.

Although it was smoke created by magic, it carried a type of physical energy with it.

It wasn’t enough to deal significant damage to the enemies, but it was plenty to create tension and shock.

When they fired bullets in the direction I was in, I had already moved to another location.

[ Protection Protocol, would you like to execute? ]

I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before, maybe in a café once occupied by terrorists.

I answered very quietly.

“…Yeah.”

This was different from my past where I would have said, “What do you mean you can’t do that?”

Back then, I thought Eve couldn’t establish a network connection, but now I knew that wasn’t the case.

I had no reason to reject Eve’s request.

[ Starting to hack nearby electronic devices and signals. …Complete. Control secured. ]

As Eve’s words echoed, I could hear the confused voices of the enemies from within the smoke.

“It’s hacking! Everyone, cut off the signal!”

“Damn, my arm…!”

That was quite effective.

[ Synchronizing data from the visual interface. …Complete. ]

This time, a white mirage-like light slowly emerged through the black smoke.

It depicted circuits running along people’s arms or bodily lines.

Judging by the shapes, it seemed to represent the combat cyberware the enemies were using.

“Oh, thanks.”

[ Positive statement confirmed from human ‘Lee Siwoon’. Voice data saved. ]

Cut me some slack here.

I was just trying to spread mana to locate the enemies.

Instead, this made it easier to distinguish between friend and foe.

That rabbit doll tied to her waist must be Julia.

Once I identified her position, there wasn’t anything to worry about even if it was inside the smoke.

The most efficient use here would be to cast large-scale lightning or fire magic.

Magic with destructive power perfect for taking down enemies in one shot.

However, it wasn’t the right place to unleash large-scale spells without any forethought.

There were still lots of people around who looked like regular citizens, and Julia was still among the enemies.

But she tried to help me.

I couldn’t bear to attack alongside her.

So, the only remaining option was to attack them one by one with pinpoint precision.

Getting close was completely out of the question.

Given my trashy health and melee skills, getting up close would be equivalent to asking for death.

Guns were also left as a next option.

This was reserved for situations where there was no time to gather mana.

In a situation like now where there’s some time, there was no need to use it.

After quickly assessing the situation, I slowly focused my mind.

I felt the mana mixed with the bad air of cyberpunk gather around me.

Casting magic didn’t require any chanting.

“Chanting” was just a way to solidify the image of magic.

It wasn’t mandatory.

As long as my mind was filled with clear images of the magic, concepts, and gathered mana, it was fine.

Soon, small sparks began to form at my fingertips.

Magic is when the “ideal” appears in “reality”.

The smoke was still thick.

It wasn’t bright enough to spot me.

– Boom!!

“Gah!”

The fired sparks hit the enemy.

Even a small spark with this level of compression could easily incapacitate one enemy.

Even if one hit didn’t take them down, it was okay.

I could shoot multiple times.

– Boom! Boom!

I took down enemies without getting spotted.

This was my preferred style of combat.

…Honestly, it’s bizarre to fight head-on against those chrome-coated cyberpunk hulks.

After a while,

Time passed, and the smoke finally cleared.

The only ones standing were me and Julia.

When our eyes met, I suddenly felt worried.

She wouldn’t rush at me just because I set off some smoke, right?

Fortunately, there was no sign of that from her.

I looked around Julia.

I thought I had only taken down a few enemies with magic, but it seemed she helped me out a bit.

There were many downed enemies near her.

Many bore wounds or were cut up. How vicious.

After the battle had quieted down for a moment.

In times like this, it was best to break the silence first.

I opened my mouth to thank her.

“Thanks for the help─.”

Just then.

One of the fallen men rushed towards me.

The scars on him indicated he had been attacked by Julia.

“You bastard!”

It was the male leader standing right at the front.

This meant I wouldn’t have time to gather mana.

I pulled out the pistol I had prepared.

The man’s head dropped to the floor right afterward.

The leader didn’t even get to scream.

His accelerated body stumbled forward due to inertia.

His expression on the floor was still full of rage.

Before I knew it, Julia had approached me, shaking off her blade once.

The blue flames that had been dancing at the blade’s movement fell to the ground and vanished.

Was it the flames?

No blood or bodily fluids were flowing from the surface of the corpse.

“……Be careful.”

“Th- thank you.”

I unconsciously used polite language.

Hmm, a bit scary. She felt like a solid 0.7 Catherine to me.

I had been wary because of her baby face.

After all, she was one of the main characters in the game.

I thought she might be a boss-level character.

By the way, where the heck was she hiding that long blade?

Julia shook off her flame-free blade again.

This time, the blade disappeared instantly as if it had been folded.

The blade, which had been folding layer by layer, vanished without a trace into the handle.

……Is that physically possible?

Given the flames had burned, there should have been a device to create the fire.

Seeing it fold like that, it looked like the inside was completely empty.

Was the science of the cyberpunk world beyond the laws of physics now?

While I was lost in thought, Eve seemed to have noticed my gaze fixed on Julia’s sword.

[ According to my findings, it’s just a regular mechanical katana with an empty internal space, with no special devices, I explain. ]

“…Isn’t that weirder?”

Then what kind of principle could it be?

To create fire in an empty space─.

“…….”

There was one thing, though.

Julia put the handle into the mouth of her rabbit doll.

I cautiously asked her.

“…Are you a wizard?”

“……Y- yes, but compared to Siwoon, I’m not really a wizard.”

So she technically confirmed she was a wizard.

“Wow.”

I was quite surprised.

It had been a long time since I faced a wizard like myself while living in this fundamentally flawed cyberpunk world.

…However.

A wizard who swings a katana lit on fire?

…….

‘Go!’

The great wizard inside me awakened.

‘How dare a wizard move their own body like that; where do you get the nerve to call yourself a wizard!’

I almost blurted that out.

But since she claimed herself that she wasn’t really a wizard, I decided to let it slide.

It’s not like I thought I would lose if we fought or anything.

Anyway, the situation seemed to settle down.

I thought I should start heading home.

I didn’t mind if the NCPD showed up, but someone out there could be after the bounty on my head.

Just for reference, I’m okay with an attack at home.

Because Catherine lives next door to me.

Let’s skip the detailed explanation.

……Who exactly is it?

How did they manage to put a bounty on my head?

While living in this city, isn’t there a person without minor grudges? Yet, I felt like I had lived reasonably well.

I should check when I get home.

“Well then, I’m off.”

“…Yeah.”

“They said I had a bounty on me too, so I should check on that.”

“…Got it.”

I wanted to get away from Julia, who looked gloomy in front of me.

I stood up from my seat and headed outside the restaurant.

Julia followed me out.

“Well then, I’m leaving.”

“……Yeah.”

I’m a wanted man, but do I even have a suitable home?

……I shouldn’t need to worry about that.

She’ll handle herself well.

However,

What’s strange was that Julia’s walking direction matched mine.

What the heck, why is she still following me?

“……?”

“…Ah, we’re going in the same direction.”

“Is that so?”

I was just scared.

“Where’s your house?”

“Um, since I’m a wanted person, I’m a bit hesitant to share….”

“Oh, right. I almost mistakenly suspected such an innocent girl. Maybe I’ve been following Catherine too long or something and have developed suspicion issues.”

Today, I had to sneak out of my house too.

…But one stranger thing was that Julia eventually arrived in front of my house.

“You live around here, huh?”

“……Y- yes, that’s right.”

“What a strangely coincidental occurrence.”

For now, I didn’t know.

Arriving at home was enough.

“Well, this is my place. I really will go now.”

“……Yeah, goodbye.”

I stepped into the elevator alone.

And at that moment,

A chill ran down my spine.

……What was that?

An indescribable ominous feeling struck me.

Must be because it’s been a while since I’d gone out.

This time I must rest at home for an entire week.

I promised myself deeply.

*

“……So, you live here.”

Julia smiled.

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