Chapter 18

"Your name will be registered on the Deep Web."

"What?"

At Jenny's sudden words, Renock, who was about to drink whiskey, hesitated.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Thanks to your excellent work, the troublesome procedures have started to be processed quickly. When the client is satisfied, such things sometimes happen."

While saying this, Jenny began to skillfully mix a cocktail.

He had only seen Jordan mix drinks, so he didn't know at all, but she also seemed to be quite experienced as a bartender.

"By the way, where is Jordan?"

"Originally, he leaves his post once every two weeks. He used to do something, and it seems he occasionally goes to help out."

Used to do something... Renock recalled the memory of the first time he caught a wanted criminal and handed him over to Jordan.

Thinking about how Jordan extracted all kinds of information from a roughly examined body, the work Jordan did didn't seem to be an easy task.

"It's a pretty regular schedule, and both Jordan and I knew about it when we opened the bar. Thanks to that, sometimes I have to... do the job."

She sighed deeply, quickly finished her work, and placed the cocktail in front of a customer sitting next to Renock as if throwing it.

"Go ahead and die, you idiot."

"Wow, it looks really delicious. Hehehe."

Dylan, a towering man with a mask, took a sip of the cocktail with a lecherous laugh.

Deep Web

Jenny, who looked at Dylan with disgust as if he were a repulsive insect, couldn't hold back her anger and hit him on the head with the shaker she was holding.

Thud!

"Ouch!"

Seeing Dylan's head buried in the cocktail he was holding, Jenny shouted in anger.

"Did you fail the mission so stupidly and still have the nerve to drink, you moron?!"

"I couldn't help it!! How could I deal with the unreasonable conditions the clients, those bastards, set from the beginning?!"

The argument between the two, which quickly turned the quiet bar noisy, made Renock secretly sigh.

It seemed that Dylan had messed up a job arranged by Jenny, and both of them had a lot to say about it.

From what he heard, it seemed Jenny had been tempted by the high commission, and Dylan had been lured by some... earpiece? as a reward for the mission. Neither of them seemed to have done a good job.

Renock watched the two bicker for a while, and when Jenny seemed to be tiring out, he spoke again.

"So, what happens when you register your profile on the Deep Web?"

"There's no significant risk. The advantage is that you can more... neatly filter out many of the requests that you used to handle verbally."

"For example?"

Jenny paused for a moment, organized her thoughts, and continued.

"First, your career will be recorded in the network, and you can specify the exact reward or items you want when accepting a job. Additionally, if you have a preferred theme for the job, it can be actively reflected through the client."

"Oh, I heard our boss mention that."

Dylan, wiping the cocktail off his face with his leather jacket, interjected in the conversation.

"About a year after I joined the office? They started telling us to let the connector know if we had any requests. I knew my name was registered on the Deep Web, but I didn't know it meant this."

"Right. Normally, it takes at least ten months for your name to appear on that network. Only thoroughly verified freelancers are made available for clients to view, so there's no way around the procedure."

"But mine was registered unusually quickly?"

"Right. From what I heard, other clients had already requested it on the Deep Web. Since clients who don't have a direct connection with me had no way to hire you, they were desperate."

"So, it wasn't your intention after all."

"Of course, we can't ignore someone who selectively takes on the requests our great magician wants."

Renock's sharp remark made Jenny subtly defend herself.

"Not because of some greedy woman trying to monopolize a great magician."

Dylan's indifferent mutter made Renock involuntarily chuckle.

As Jenny picked up the shaker again and swung it at Dylan, Renock ducked his head and asked again.

"Registering a profile doesn't sound good, but is there really no significant risk?"

According to Jenny, it seemed that registering on the Deep Web wasn't her intention, but it was still necessary to address the risks.

"Don't worry about information leaks. It uses a backdoor in the main integrated network used by the city government, so the security level is insane. It's practically protected like the city government's confidential documents."

"That makes... Ah."

Renock, who was about to say that creating a backdoor in the main network was impossible, stopped speaking as he realized something.

It was a simple story when he thought about it.

Renock's understanding seemed to be shared by Jenny, who smiled and replied.

"Right. It's impossible without the cooperation of the city government."

"......"

It's not surprising.

The reason the lawless zones in the 40s district can be maintained so intact.

The reason this street, where gunfire and bloodshed occur almost daily, can evade the eyes of the city government's agents and police.

If the upper echelons of Balkan were not involved in all these causes and effects, it would be surprising.

As expected, and even more so than imagined—

It was a corrupt city.

"So, do you have any specific requirements to write down when accepting a job? You can specify specific items or just a general category. Since your name is registered, it's better to use it properly, right?"

"Hmm......"

At Jenny's words, Renock fell into deep thought.

Since escaping the factory, Renock had rarely faced his clearly set goals.

He always knew what he wanted, but he hid his true intentions while living in constant danger and vigilance.

He thought that revealing his goals to others would be both advantageous and expose his weaknesses.

But, is it time to move forward now?

He has been balancing between the light and the dark in the metropolis for almost half a year.

He always told himself not to rush, but he can't keep drifting in reality forever.

He wants more than just taking care of his health and taking medicine.

If he doesn't reach out to what he wants and looks at, his desires will never be fulfilled.

Without realizing it, Renock blurted out his thoughts.

"...Unique magic."

"What?"

"Very rare unique magic... or valuable relics or elixirs of similar value. Write that down."

Jenny and Dylan's gazes turned to him.

For the first time since opening his eyes in this world, Renock felt afraid of such a look.

It was scary and difficult to reveal what he wanted, but...

It was something he had to do eventually.

Even if someone realizes this is Renock's sore spot.

Renock had to keep moving forward.

The moment he had to face eventually was now.

"Is it okay? It's not easy to find jobs that offer such items as rewards, even if you're famous now."

"That's not your concern, Jenny."

Dylan said in a low voice.

"...What?"

"Since you were asked to say what you want, I just said it honestly. Didn't you think Ban would think of that?"

"I didn't mean to... No, it was presumptuous of me. Sorry, Ban."

Jenny, who was about to snap at Dylan, hesitated, sighed, and shook her head.

It seemed more like she was recalling something while looking at Dylan rather than gauging Renock's reaction.

Renock understood them.

It's a cliché, but everyone has their reasons.

"I'm not saying I'll only take such jobs. I just want to set my preferred rewards and related themes. That's all."

"Alright. Got it. I'll submit a request to change your registration on the Deep Web... Can you tell me roughly what kind of magic you want?"

"...Time or space. Or very powerful regeneration magic."

"Wow, that's not easy."

Renock knows this well. He had already searched for related knowledge to the point of exhaustion.

The magic in these categories is so rare that even encountering it directly is a distant dream, as Dylan's whistle indicated.

There are no separate magic towers for such rare categories, and few people are even confident of their existence.

But Renock couldn't stop, even though he knew this.

Jenny, tapping the keyboard behind the bar, said,

"I've submitted the change request. Requests from this side are processed a bit slowly, so it will probably take about a week. I recommend not taking any jobs during this time."

"What? Why?"

"The difference in the price offered to you after the proper registration will be quite significant. Even if you set it low, you'll lose at least ten million cells."

"That's..."

Renock had to admit it wasn't a wrong statement.

If what Jenny and Dylan said was true, being registered on the Deep Web means reaching a certain level of recognition as a freelancer.

However, from Renock's perspective, who urgently needed money, it was a problem that he couldn't just wait for the price to rise.

Dylan, who had been watching him, asked indifferently,

"Do you need money right away?"

"...For a reason."

When Renock nodded without a word, Jenny's face also turned serious.

If Renock, who rarely talks about himself, was showing his intention, it wasn't a trivial matter.

Jenny, quickly gauging Renock's mood, spoke up.

"No, it's not that you absolutely can't take a job. If you need money urgently, you should take a job regardless of the price. It's