Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed

I realized that I didn’t know much about the old man named Merlin, my second master.

His name is Merlin, he’s 97 years old, almost like a con artist wizard, and his job is a bounty hunter and mentoring students. His defining trait is his incredible tenacity.

That’s about it.

And all this info is just a rough understanding based on what Eve briefly told me; I had no idea about his favorite food or hobbies.

But even if my knowledge of Merlin is scant, he’d never be crazy enough to set a booby trap in a normal area.

So, I guess I’ll have to hear the reason why he laid the traps directly from him.

I took a moment to appreciate the back of Catherine, who was crouching down.

“It’s like a war zone, isn’t it?”

“It definitely smells bad from the entrance. I have no idea where they got all these traps, from conventional ones to land mines.”

Catherine replied as she skillfully disarmed the traps one by one.

She doesn’t seem scared at all. Her hands moved precisely and without hesitation.

If they were electronic traps, Eve could have deactivated them with just a look, but all the traps set up were mechanical devices.

…What a hassle.

In the end, we only had the option of slowly disarming the traps one by one.

“Did we get them all?”

“Shut up.”

Catherine pointedly shot me down for joking.

Back in my mercenary days, whenever I asked, “Did we get them all?” at the end of a mission, new enemies would often show up.

I scratched my head, feeling awkward as I looked around the cleanly disarmed underground corridor.

“Thanks for the hard work.”

If Catherine hadn’t come along, I’d have been a bit more troubled.

After all, dismantling traps requires a lot of skill.

As I thanked her, Catherine brushed off her sore shoulders in a dismissive manner.

“Come on, it was just this.”

She murmured that, but secretly she wiped her slightly flushed nose.

“…Well done.”

“Thank you.”

– Clap clap clap.

As Julia and Eve picked up on the atmosphere and applauded, Catherine fluffed her hair in embarrassment and shouted, “I’ve done enough!”

She’s certainly shy.

Anyway.

I turned my head back to the front.

There were no lights illuminating the surroundings.

When I peeked around, all the LED lights were shattered, only occasionally sparking and faintly flickering.

It seems like Merlin did this.

What on earth could be the reason for installing traps in the dark?

Right now, there were no clues to predict anything.

“Let’s move on.”

I slowly took a step into the dark shadows.

Other than our footsteps, the only sound was the occasional drop of water. There was no sign of any human presence inside.

…Is there really someone inside?

Just as that thought crossed my mind.

“Biometric signals detected inside.”

It was Eve’s voice.

“So there is someone in there.”

“It’s the same signal as that of the individual ‘Merlin’.”

Thank goodness it isn’t a wasted trip.

Listening to Eve, I waved my hand and walked inside.

“…Master? Are you there?”

Delivery is here.

However, I was not welcomed by Merlin’s voice.

Instead, it was some mechanical sound of wind.

– Pong.

That light and trivial sound sent a fierce warning of danger through my body.

Chills ran down my spine.

Raising my mana was almost instinctive at that moment.

I was glad I had learned how to gather mana within my body. I could instantly use the type of magic I wanted.

I realized my choice was right.

A grenade suddenly stopped right in front of us.

It was telekinesis magic.

If it were a normal situation, I would have just used wind magic to change its direction, but our current location was the problem.

This thought had crossed my mind when I saw the booby traps earlier. What kind of mindset leads someone to use explosives underground?

I quickly stopped Catherine and Julia, who were about to dash forward, and spoke to the empty void first.

“…Uh, it’s us?”

Inside was larger than expected. And there were no shadows of people.

Using invisibility magic to hide, of course.

Since I had seen what kind of magic Merlin used before, I wasn’t surprised.

…It must be a mistake, right?

There’s no way a master would use a grenade launcher the moment he sees his disciple.

I assumed it was just a mistake.

– Pong pong pong.

If the sound of the grenade launcher hadn’t been heard consecutively, I wouldn’t have thought so.

“No, this is insane!”

I wasn’t surprised by the semi-automatic grenade launcher.

I was astonished by the audacity to fire multiple grenades in an underground setting.

If a massive pile of rocks crushed you, no one would survive—be it a famous mercenary, a bounty hunter, a wizard, or even a super artificial intelligence.

I put every ounce of energy into stopping the incoming grenades.

“M-Master!”

I automatically called him master.

The fact that I didn’t attach “Have you lost your mind?!” to that statement shows my angelic nature.

Using a grenade launcher right after seeing my face is pretty rare even for a cyberpunk who has lost all morality.

If an explosion happened, Merlin would have a hard time surviving too; it almost looked like he wanted to die with us.

Fortunately, I successfully caught the flying grenades like a game of catch.

From ancient times, it has been said that a monarch, a master, and a father are one.

I understand that Merlin wants to play catch with his disciple, who is like a child to him, but I’d prefer if the ball were a baseball, not a grenade.

However, there was no guarantee we could continue playing catch safely for long.

If Merlin had more explosives on him right now, it would only make things worse.

For instance, if he were throwing grenades, it would be easier for me to catch them, but putting the safety pin back in would not ensure that the fired grenades wouldn’t explode.

So, I shouted loudly.

“Help!”

The shorter and more to-the-point the words, the greater the urgency.

The seriousness of the situation clicked in my companions as they rushed forward─.

“…Aren’t there land mines in the room?”

They couldn’t go out.

Of course, with everyone’s physical abilities, jumping over the land mines would be a piece of cake.

However, the problem was that Merlin was using invisibility magic, making it difficult to pinpoint his location.

We had to subdue a wizard who was shooting a grenade launcher while invisible, all while ensuring that not a single grenade exploded.

…….

If it were me, I would have neatly given up.

I looked at Eve with my last hope.

“…There are land mines equipped with detonators right under the individual ‘Merlin’.”

What does that mean?

“It’s monitored by a pressure mechanism; it’s assumed that once he lifts his foot, it will explode, and we could try to disable it through cyberware hacking, but there is a certain degree of risk involved.”

Why did he prepare so thoroughly?

I cursed Merlin inwardly as he remained invisible.

By the way, even now, the grenades Merlin was shooting continued piling up beside us without showing any signs of stopping.

How many ammunition does he have stashed away? The grenades showed no sign of stopping.

I shouted in urgency.

“Aww, what in the world is going on? Why is he acting like this all of a sudden?!”

Eve, who always maintained her composure, calmly assessed the situation.

“It is presumed that he is infected with a virus. There are errors occurring within his neural network, preventing him from making sound judgments.”

Where did he pick that up?

Or he must have entered a shady website or been hacked by a specific hacker.

“…Is there no way?!”

“First, I recommend retreating. With the physical capabilities of ‘Catherine’ and ‘Julia’, there is a sufficient chance that everyone can escape beyond the explosion radius and reach the surface.”

“…No, let’s save that for last.”

After all, he is someone I can still call master.

Although he isn’t quite in his right mind due to a virus, I can’t just leave him like this.

Perhaps anticipating my thoughts, Eve continued in a calm voice.

“The second option is to deliver a temporary shock to the neural network.”

Wow, that was a near miss.

I placed another grenade down and asked.

“A shock…?”

“If we were close, a physical approach would be possible, but at this distance, it’s enough to convey something startling.”

I looked back at Eve with a doubtful expression.

“You really think that would work?”

“As long as we temporarily shock the neural network, the defensive system against the nerve virus will reboot and activate.”

So, I need to startle Merlin.

What can I say?

“Uh… Master! It’s me, your disciple Siwoon! Julia, your disciple, is here too!”

No reaction.

Well, if this had resolved the situation, he would have snapped out of it when he first saw us earlier.

“We just had a ceremony with seven disciples, and you didn’t come; they were a bit sad about it!”

Still no response.

There was a slight reaction, but it didn’t seem enough to shock him yet.

…This guy sure knows how to mess with people.

What else could I say?

Thinking hard, I clenched my teeth and racked my brain.

I needed a fact that was not just ordinary but something related to Merlin that would surely shock him.

Ah!

“…Excuse me!”

I remembered.

“I couldn’t tell you before! But I’m actually the Guild Master of the Warrior Craftsman Union─.”

“……What?”

From the shadows, Merlin revealed himself.

Just like I remembered, he was still wearing that shabby suit.

“…Is that really true? You’re the Guild Master of the Warrior Craftsman Union?”

Wow, this really worked.

“You’re back to your senses!”

“Are you the one who recommended warriors to me?”

“…….”

I thought the resentment might have lessened a bit since the game introduced raids, but it seemed his grudge was deeper than I expected.

Quickly, I spoke to Merlin, who had finally snapped back to reality.

“Wait! Just stop!”

“…How can I stay calm when the Guild Master is right in front of me?!”

“There’s a bomb under your feet!”

“……?”

Merlin looked bewildered as he scanned the surroundings.

“What the hell is all this?”

*

After receiving simple virus treatment from Eve, Merlin regained his clear gaze and lamented his situation.

“…Right, I remember. I think I did something wrong. My memory is a bit hazy due to the virus, but I think I was trying to stop something….”

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re back to your senses.”

“So, you’re the Guild Master?”

“……”

I wish he would forget about that.

I averted my eyes from Merlin’s sharp gaze.

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