Hyper Luck

The 300 members of the Information Guild of Azharus began to busily investigate the huge factory site that had burned down.

Azharus was turned upside down due to the incidents that happened so suddenly.

The issue of indiscriminate terrorist attacks by players in the 'Ash Tree Village' located on the outskirts of the central city of Azharus and the drug 'Vanetic' that was prevalent in Azharus became a public debate in earnest.

And in connection with those events, a factory of a significant player company named <NGTEC>, one of the biggest potion production companies, was burnt down, so the impact was enormous.

All the 'Adults' of Azharus gathered and held a conference.

Investigations on the people involved in the incident have also begun.

Of course, Mose and Khea couldn’t avoid the investigation.

In major online communities of <Circuit Master> and <Circuit Gallery>, the discussions of Azharus continued.

Multiple reliable evidence supporting that there were links between Vanetic and the guild <Pickup Artist> were leading the public discussion.

[My sister's couple went to Azharus for their honeymoon, and they participated in an event called ‘All the Beer’ which was included in the package for the tour trip. There, a man in a suit with P embroidered on his clothing was suggesting drugs. My younger sister watched the embroidery closely and he hurriedly left the seat. It’s such a creepy story.]

[At the end of the day, all those scoundrels that committed something like a crime are all screwed now. :) Hopefully, they get banned so they can screw off of Azharus, so others can walk safely at night.]

[I saw a person in the Pickup Artist suit uniform when I went to the NGTEC factory for an excursion.]

[I heard so many NPCs died. I heard that Vanetic was produced to fit the players, so it’s lethal to NPCs. Anyways, if you got an NPC you’re friends with then you should probs tell them not to go near Azharus. I told my dwarf friend to not even go near that place.]

Nevertheless, there was a view that the aftereffects of Vanetic would start from now as quite an amount of Vanetic was still circulating around the market.

[I wonder if Vanetic is as good as they say it is.]

[This is VR anyways so I might as well try, maybe?]

Moreover, rumors about the incomparable ecstatic experience once the Vanetic touches your skin started to spread around.

Due to the risk-free environment of virtual reality, people were willing to try it. And even now, the number of players who try Vanetic in secret was increasing explosively in the shade.

This case of drug usage in Virtual Reality shocked the public to a point where various fields such as the legal, medical, and academia took notice of this case and the prevailing outlook was that the impact would last at least several years.

***

The conference hall was filled with people having very loud conversations to the point you couldn’t quite hear the person talking next to you. 

In the midst of all this chaos, Khea carefully grabbed my hand as she sat next to me.

“Alright, everyone! Quiet down!!”

Sitting around a huge round table, a dwarf with impressive braided hair struck the table and calmed everyone down.

“The Adult of Leaves is speaking!”

All the dwarfs sitting behind him in a fan shape shouted at once.

“The most important thing for us right now is to understand the truth of Vanetic’s distribution routes!”

At that remark, a beastkin with the lower body of a beast nodded his head and opened his mouth.

“Adult of Bushes also agrees with that statement. We need to keep track of the distribution routes of Vanetic in detail. The fire in the potion factory is something that can be investigated later!”

At this, a middle-aged male elf with sharp eyes sitting across from the Adult of Bushes slowly shook his head.

“Adult of Swamps believes that the arson case at the factory is a bigger incident than the Vanetic. Now that the people involved in the fire incident have been brought into this conference hall, it would be good to listen to them!”

Then he gave a sharp glare at me and Khea 

“What is your relationship with the <Pickup Artist>?!”

He suddenly started to shout at me in anger, pointing his finger at me.

“Did you commit arson on the NGTEC factory under the orders of <Pickup Artist>?!”

At his remarks, the conference hall began to become a mess again. Nevertheless, the Adult of Swamps continued to talk with veins on his forehead and neck.

“Is it true that you two are Sworders?”

The loud and noisy crowd suddenly turned completely silent after hearing his accusation. It was because of the bad impression that Sworders had due to the nature of the job.

“That’s correct.”

I answered his question right away, and the old man who frowned at the answer looked at me as if he was examining me.

“Sworders all have a ‘secret mission’ of their own. Was the mission to set the factory on fire?”

I slowly shook my head at that word.

“No.”

The Adult of Swamps was furious.

“Ha, of course! Because that fancy mission of yours is ‘secret’! You two must have been the ones responsible for the arson of the NGTEC factory! Under the request of the <Pickup Artist> guild!”

Speaking passionately, the Adult of Swamps suddenly slammed the table with his fist.

“As you all already know, the Ash Tree Village has been devastated by a sudden attack of players! According to eyewitness accounts, they were all from the <Pickup Artists> guild!”

Everyone nodded their heads with mouths shut all at once as if they were all in one anger.

The Adult of Swamps’ overly sensitive reaction and anger seemed to be only natural over the terrible tragedy that had taken place in Azharus, so everyone showed their sympathy to that part.

“And those two who have taken requests from the filthy <Pickup Artists> were the ones who set the <NGTEC> factory on fire! Why? It’s very obvious! Because the <Pickup Artists> who were responsible for producing Vanetic had to distract the wise Adults of Azharus!”

Khea jumped up from her seat at his reckless remarks. Everyone showed a gesture of surprise at her action.

“Do not insult Sworders. We do not take requests from such vile scoundrels.”

“Haha, funny! Keep the mission a secret and when you need to just say that’s not true when it comes to your disadvantage! How convenient!”

Despite Khea's words, the Adult of Swamps kept on talking.

Then he cautiously moved his gaze to the man who was sitting on another part of the round table as he politely put his hands together.

“How is it? This proves their charges, right?”

The man who was sitting with his arms crossed tilted his head.

“Hm? All you were doing was speaking by yourself and all of a sudden their charges are proven? Aren’t ya making too hasty a decision?”

When the man who was speaking in a familiar dialect expressed his doubts, the Adult of Swamps started to shed a cold sweat.

“Yes, but this is a very serious case and the persons who are suspected of being the culprit belong to a special group called Sworders...”

The Adult of Swamps spoke in a beseeching tone. The man shook his head slowly as he scratched his clean, bald head.

“I came all the way here ‘cause y’all told me this was a serious matter and it seems that you weren’t quite ready to begin with, hm?”

All the other Adults of Azharus stood silent shedding cold sweat at his remarks.

<Lv. 211 Zike>

I could speculate that was because of the level this man had possessed. Judging from the raw level he was showing as of now put him at the same rank of strength as people I met back in Langeru.

Even the ‘Adults’ who manage Azharus had to bow their heads to this man, so I could only imagine how great his status was.

“I even came all the way here in the middle of something I was taking care of since all the other Adults were gathering. But it seems like there’s been nothing that was investigated? What do you want me to do?”

“I mean, well...”

When the Adult of Swamps tried to open his mouth again, he shook his head with a determined expression.

“Hm~ I, the ‘Platinum head Zike’ say that there needs to be a proper investigation on this incident. You Adults can talk about the rest, and I’d prefer you call me in when you’re done with that. Alright?”

‘Platinum Head’

The position ‘head’ of the Information Guild was familiar to me since I’ve heard the word many times and over, including that one time with the ‘13th party’.

Everyone I met back then was all ‘Silver Heads’. Clearly, this man named ‘Zike’ must be a higher rank than all those people.

I speculated that having such an overwhelming level must mean that the position of Platinum Head was a very high position.

The Adult of Swamps swallowed a dry gulp.

“We must hand this case over to the Barvid Tribunal! And those two criminals too! It’s common sense! Drug usage must be treated with maximum punishment! They are the Sworders who had received requests from an organization that has tarnished the name of the Free City of Azharus!”

Zike’s facial expression darkened after hearing his remarks.

“Alright, then. What punishment do you think that these two deserve then?”

The Adult of Swamps closed his trembling eyes and resolutely opened his mouth with a sorrowful expression.

“They must be sentenced to the Medeium Spell Prison.”

Zike jumped out of his seat after hearing this. The man’s expression hardened.

“That’s not something to speak of so easily, and yet you spoke of it so easily.”

“It fits for the crime that they have committed which defiled Azharus.”

“Yeah, and the evidence?”

The Adult of Swamps swallowed a dry gulp once again, after hearing the words from Zike which had pierced through the core of the statement he was making.

“The evidence is within the job that they have! Within that ‘secret’ of theirs that they never reveal!”

At this, Zike took turns looking at me and Khea. It was as if there was an awl from his glares.

“You said that you were on vacation, correct?”

“That’s correct. . It was a reasonably given rest period after completing a series of missions.”

Khea gave an immediate answer in a polite manner.

“Then why were you at the scene when the fire broke out at the factory?”

At this, Khea calmly relaxed her shoulders, got up from her seat, and lowered her head for a moment. He was surprised by her politeness, so he slightly bowed his head toward Khea too.

“I’ve lost one of my closest friends in this Vanetic incident. And Mose and I, the Sworders of Asparagan, had started the investigation on the Vanetic in order to take revenge for my friend.”

“And?”

“That’s how we found out that NGTEC was involved with the <Pickup Artist> guild... “

“Nonsense! How dare you tell such an absurd lie!”

Before Khea could finish her sentence, the Adult of Swamps slammed his fist on the table.

However, Zike put a stop to him immediately by giving a glare to him. The Adult of Swamps had to sit back down on his seat without even being able to look back at Zike.

“Continue.”

“We went to NGTEC and had a conversation with the Director, Choi SeopHo, who was called the culprit behind this incident. And not long after, fire rose up from the NGTEC factory.”

“And the evidence?”

“Of course, they don’t have it! This is nothing more than just a false story that they had just made up! Now, whose words will you believe?! Would you listen to the wise Adults of Azharus! Or those Sworders that have so many things hidden...”

“Ah~~! Shut your mouth for just one second, will ya?”

The Adult of Swamps immediately closed his mouth after hearing Zike’s complaint.

Zike seemed to be thinking very hard about something.

“Since this is a huge case, we will have to investigate more about those two people, it seems. Of course, we will have to investigate other incidents in Azharus also. However, since nothing has been investigated to begin with, we will have to start from the beginning~!”

He came up with the conclusion to start investigating from the beginning. The other Adults also nodded their heads, and the Adult of Swamps also nodded his head as if he was satisfied with this conclusion.

The Information Guild members flocked around me and Khea.

“You must attend the Azharus Information Guild for further investigation.”

Just as Khea and I were about to leave the room, caught by them, the door to the conference hall opened with a loud noise.

Everyone's attention was focused on the source of the sound, and Khea and I in particular were able to breathe a sigh of relief when we saw who it was that appeared at the door.

“What the... Who is this now...?”

Asked Zike to the man who confidently walked into the conference hall.

“I am called the little bird with big ears, Lorad.”