"...It's really healed?"

Califa muttered, looking at Jin sitting across the long table.

She remembered the face that had asked for just a bucket when she recommended treatment for the collapsed nose bridge.

It was an injury that made his handsome appearance pale, but now Jin looked almost fine except for the dark bruise on his nose bridge.

"Your recovery power is amazing."

"I guess so?"

Jin nodded and ate a cookie.

The blood sugar spike provided by the snack filled with chocolate chips.

Jin thought as his mood naturally improved.

Nothing beats sweet food for stress, indeed.

As Jin devoured the cookies in his seat, Califa gestured to Poe to bring out more snacks.

"Honestly, I was surprised. To fight with Fenrir to that extent. Don't you think so too, Poe?"

"Yes. We didn't expect him to use therianthrope transformation."

Poe said as he set down a plate filled with cookies. Jin snatched a cookie with his index finger and brought it to his mouth as he spoke.

"Who is he really? A real werewolf?"

"Fenrir, a wolf therianthrope and a well-known solo in this field. A veteran among veterans."

Well-known? Veteran? I see.

Jin's shoulders rose, forgetting even his broken nose.

Of course, it was disappointing not to have settled the match. But he had no desire to fight to the death with a 2m 10cm tall werewolf wielding twin swords.

Next time we meet, maybe we'll just eat hot dogs or something.

It's how hot-blooded guys become friends, by butting heads.

As Jin was thinking this, Califa spoke up, changing the mood.

"Well then, back to business-"

Califa said, placing her interlocked hands on the table.

"You said you wanted to become a solo, right?"

"That's right."

"You've come to the right place. Shall we proceed with the contract?"

"Just like this?"

"No need to waste time. The verification is done after all."

As soon as Califa finished speaking, Poe placed a sheet of paper on the table.

"It's a formality, but here's the contract. Would you like to read it?"

"Ah, just a moment."

With that, Jin wiped his hands covered in cookie crumbs on his thighs and picked up the paper. At that moment:

「Solo」──────────────

You, once a stray dog of the streets, have finally

gained the opportunity to be recognized as a mercenary.

*Upon acceptance, acquire the title Solo (Lv1)

*New starting perk unlocked

─────────────────

"...!"

Jin involuntarily threw away the contract he was holding.

But the translucent window in front of his eyes didn't disappear,

Califa, who caught the fluttering paper in mid-air, only tilted her head.

"Is there a problem?"

Jin couldn't answer.

This wasn't the [NEO ?? ??? ????] that appeared whenever he was about to forget. A new quest window, new text, new reward. A square monster that mocks that this world is just a game, and your life is just fake, which must be smashed someday.

Compared to this, the twin-sword-wielding werewolf is just child's play.

Now it's just going to pop up randomly, huh?

Curses welled up inside him, but Jin did his best not to let negative emotions carve a groove. He had to take what he could get.

"...I'll do it. The contract."

"Huh?"

"I said I'll sign the contract."

Jin snatched the contract from Califa's hand and immediately signed it with a pen.

At the same time, the quest window in front of him disappeared like melting snow along with golden text saying (Completed!).

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Leaving a thrilling sense of elevation in his mind.

At the same time, Jin realized he had gained the authority to light up a new constellation. Although he couldn't unlock it right away due to lack of experience. That was a problem he could fill gradually through requests.

So as Jin let out a faint sigh, Califa, who had taken the contract, slowly opened her mouth.

"You're a hard man to figure out. Well, that's what makes a solo... Anyway, Jin? Welcome to Anecdote. Let's do well together from now on."

Then a snow-white hand without accessories reached across the table. Jin nodded as he grasped that hand.

"Yeah. I'm counting on you too."

----------------------------------------

3508 S Down Town BLVD,

Area 47, LC

Lost City uses English for address notation.

So compared to Vietnam, it's in perfect reverse order.

To break it down:

Area 47 of Lost City (Area 47, LC)

The road that broadly crosses South Downtown.

(S Down Town BLVD)

So what's at number 3508?

That's where RumPumPumPum is.

A 24-hour store of love and hate, tastes terrible, not cheap, but at least it's safe.

That's where Jin visited.

To eat free food.

No, it's not free since he's paying the balance.

Jin recalled the promise from a week ago as he climbed the stairs.

[Where did your love go?]

[Does it even exist?]

[Is it even here?]

Listening to the breakup song flowing from the old speakers, Jin moved to the usual seat in the right corner of the second floor.

There, he could see a blonde woman looking out the window.

"Why did you come out?"

Jenny turned her head at Jin's question as he sat on the sofa.

"Disappointed it's not your brother?"

"I don't care who it is."

As Jin said this, his gaze was already fixed on the food piled high on the table.

Pepperoni pizza, hot dogs, corn bread, fried chicken, boiled collard greens, and corn salad mixed with mayonnaise.

"Oh."

Jin rolled up his sleeves and immediately started eating.

It was truly RumPumPumPum quality.

The pepperoni pizza was insanely salty as if the dough had been soaked in salt water, the hot dog sausage felt like chewing rubber, the corn bread was dry and kept getting stuck in the throat, and the fried chicken reeked of a warm, rancid smell.

But this is Jin we're talking about.

He's an expert at eating anything well, diligently, and obsessively, so he quickly emptied the plates. Jenny, who had been quietly watching him, said:

"There are many places with better food than here."

"Can't eat comfortably there."

"...Did something make you angry?"

"Why?"

"You just look that way."

"Something did, but it's okay. I feel better after eating."

Jin said as he took a big spoonful of corn salad.

"How's your body?"

"Thanks to you, it's much better."

Jenny smiled, and Jin looked at her brighter face and ate another spoonful of corn salad.

"That's good. How about Jackie? Did he get a new heart?"

"Yes. He's recovering now. Thanks to this too."

"Why do you keep saying it's thanks to me."

"I heard you didn't take the request fee."

"I did take it. I've been living well for a week thanks to it. And I'm already paying the balance. Every Wednesday at 7 PM at RumPumPumPum. Is there still a lot left? Speaking of which, I usually live with cobwebs in my mouth. So come out and talk like this. Jackie can come too, both of you."

Jenny couldn't continue speaking for a while after Jin's words.

Then she carefully opened her mouth.

"...You know, you don't seem to fit in Downtown."

"Huh? That's not good. Do I look that much like a rookie?"

"No, that's not what I mean..."

Jenny burst into laughter as she watched Jin mutter, 'I've been at this for 2 years, you know...'

"Why are you laughing?"

"Never mind. Just finish your meal."

"What's that about."

The meal continued.

Because Jin's appetite was much larger than Jenny had expected, they ordered additional fried chicken. It was the most edible thing.

"By the way, what's with your clothes?"

"Oh, this?"

Jin looked down at his flight jacket torn into four pieces across the chest and rambled on about what happened today.

Going to find a linker to try living as a solo.

Getting shoulder-checked while wandering lost.

Meeting Fenrir again at Anecdote.

He added some MSG to the fight part.

I was fine and he was almost unconscious, but suddenly he transformed into a werewolf like it was phase 2 or something.

Jenny listened to the story with surprised eyes,

and in the process, she provided some useful information.

That therianthropes are not a different species, but a kind of enhanced human born from genetic manipulation.

The physical abilities of therianthropes overwhelm humans of the same weight class in every aspect, and when they transform, the difference becomes even more dramatic, to the point where they can be considered living weapons.

"No wonder. His fists were spicy."

"......? You said you didn't get hit even once."

"Where was I in the story?"

He naturally skipped over the part about coughing up blood for over an hour. Here, Jin won without taking any effective hits.

So Jin, who had hastily finished the story by saying he had signed a contract with Califa, put his hand in his pocket.

"She gave me this."

"It's a phone."

"She said I needed a way to contact since I don't have a BCI chip."

"Isn't it too old-fashioned? I thought Anecdote was quite a successful linker office."

"I chose it myself."

Jin dismissed.

In fact, Califa had shown him several accessory-type phones capable of video calls, but what Jin chose was a display-type terminal that almost no one uses these days.

There was no particular reason.

He just chose it because it looked the most like a smartphone.

"Try dialing a number."

After naturally exchanging numbers, Jin put the phone in his pocket.

By the time the newly ordered chicken was gone, both of them stood up without anyone taking the lead.

"I ate well today. Take care of your health and see you next week."

"You be careful too."

After parting with Jenny, Jin walked alone through the night streets where streetlights replaced moonlight.

A few illegally modified bikes brushed past him. The punky style bikers, moving away with loud exhaust sounds, were screaming their heads off for some reason.

At some point, rain started falling from the sky.

Under the eaves where Jin took shelter from the rain, there were two unfamiliar men who had arrived earlier. One was a junkie who could barely stand, and the other was a middle-aged man seriously puffing on a cigarette while glaring at a business card in his other hand.

The space under the eaves was quiet as none of them were interested in each other.

Jin, with his hands in his pockets, looked at the puddle full of rainwater. At the neon signs of the building forest reflected in it.

Those miscellaneous colors kept breaking and scattering in the falling raindrops, then suddenly splashed up in a violent stream of water.

Someone had stepped on the puddle as they passed by.

The receding back view resembled the middle-aged man who had been smoking.

What wind had blown to make him jump into the rain?

When he turned his head, only a business card getting soaked and a cigarette butt remained in the place where the middle-aged man had been, like relics.

[Buying fresh organs. High price purchase]

The moment Jin took his eyes off that blatant sentence.

The junkie, who had been curled up as if dead, spoke to him.

"...Got any, any drugs?"

"No."

"Anything's fine. Ro-romance, Black Rock, Mighty Heart-y, Penta-amex."

"I don't have any."

"Sh-shit. I get it."

"Are you cold? Want me to give you this?"

The junkie shook his head as Jin started to take off his jacket.

"I, I need to take drugs to fe-feel better."

After that, the junkie, with sunken eyes, barely managed to get up and staggered towards the rain on weakened legs.

Jin, who had been watching silently, leaned against the wall only after the darkness swallowed the junkie.

Then he slowly slid down the wall and sat on the ground.

The rain showed no sign of stopping anytime soon.

Jin crossed his arms. He stared at the hole-ridden sky for a long time, then quietly closed his eyes at some point.

And when he opened his eyes again, a new day was waiting for him. Three hundred and seventy-three days.

It was around that time that the old terminal in his inside pocket vibrated.

[I've prepared a request. Let's meet at Anecdote]