Chapter 10 - Why Does This Feel Familiar?

Limon sank into thought. In his long life, he had met all kinds of people. Many claimed they could see something others couldn't. Most, of course, were simply mad or trying to swindle someone. But on very rare occasions, they were telling the truth. Some could communicate with spirits, see the souls of the dead, or see through curses.

To test that possibility, Limon asked Yu Na-gyeong a few questions.

“Na-gyeong, have you made any mortal enemies?”

“Hmm, probably not? With you around as a walking monument to grudges, Team Leader, who'd bother hating a hanger-on like me?”

“Then do you have siblings you'd have to split a huge inheritance with?”

“You know I'm an orphan.”

“Or did you cheat a dark mage or a shaman out of money?”

“... Team Leader, are you feeling all right?”

Na-gyeong gave him a suspicious look. At first, she had answered lightly, half joking, but his questions were getting more and more alarming.

'Hmm. Nothing points to a curse, at least.'

Her answers had been a little sharper than usual, but nothing else about her behavior seemed amiss. Limon rubbed his chin for a moment, then took on an odd expression. Thinking about Na-gyeong had suddenly reminded him of something.

“... Na-gyeong, you're a player, right?”

“Do I look like an ordinary person to you?”

“Players usually contract with constellations to get their skills.”

“Is there anyone who doesn't?”

She looked at him as though he were talking nonsense. Limon asked, “Which constellation did you contract with?”

“You still don't know?!”

“Cut the chatter and answer me.”

“Tch. Is that what you say when you're asking a team member you've worked with for years about her constellation for the first time?”

Na-gyeong grumbled at his cold response. It might have been different with a complete stranger, but knowing the constellation of a colleague or acquaintance was practically common courtesy. Still, this was Limon. Knowing how little interest he usually took in such things, she told him frankly.

“My constellation is the Serpent That Connects the Ends.”

“... Hmm. Is that so?”

“Yes. It's popular even among players because it mainly grants the Teleportation skill.”

Limon nodded—not because her helpful explanation had impressed him, of course. Her answer had given him an idea.

*'Could this damned snake be Na-gyeong's constellation? Have I gained the ability to see players' constellations?'

That would explain why Seo Yong-chan had looked as though he had a bull's head. Given that Seo controlled a brass bull, he had likely contracted with a bull-related constellation. If so, this was remarkable. Seeing through to someone's constellation without using an appraisal-type skill was unprecedented.

'It's a fucking useless ability, though.'

Limon was unimpressed. In this day and age, most players couldn't wait to boast about their constellations. A quick search for their names online would tell you who they had contracted with. So the ability to see constellations didn't concern him.

What concerned him was how Na-gyeong looked right now.

'... Seeing her like this gives me a bad feeling.'

Limon narrowed his eyes. The snake's fangs were sunk into her neck; its body coiled down around her neck and torso, and its tail pierced her chest. It looked less like a constellation granting protection than a venomous snake. Its glistening eyes, in particular, seemed to be watching prey, making Limon frown. They were already deciding whether to go after the Liberation Brigade. This was a bad time for an uneasy feeling.

“Hmm.”

He stood with his arms crossed, tapping a finger against his upper arm as he thought. After a long while, he spoke quietly.

“Na-gyeong.”

“Yes, Team Leader?”

“Do you really want to catch the Liberation Brigade?”

“That's why I came all this way.”

“Even if something goes wrong and you could die?”

At his serious question, Na-gyeong answered breezily, as though he had stated the obvious. “That's always a risk, isn't it? We put our lives on the line doing our jobs at the Player Administration Bureau anyway.”

She wasn't wrong. The PAB's main job was keeping high-level players in line. Plenty of them were vicious criminals who made Seo Yong-chan look like a novice, and agents being killed in the line of duty after running into the wrong one was commonplace.

“Besides, there's no way I'd die over something like this.”

“... Where's that baseless confidence coming from?”

“I have a reason, you know.”

“What reason?”

“You, Team Leader.”

“What?”

The answer came so far out of nowhere that Limon blinked at her. Na-gyeong smiled brightly and replied, “Liberation Brigade or whatever, who'd dare kill me if I stick right by your side?”

Limon fell silent at her confident answer. Then he pressed a hand to his forehead. His shoulders shook before he burst out laughing.

“Heh, heheh. Hahahahaha!”

“Team Leader? Why are you laughing?”

“No, it's nothing. I guess you really can learn from a fool. You say something worthwhile now and then.”

“Where did that insult come from?!”

Na-gyeong sulked at being called a fool, but Limon paid her no mind. He looked relieved.

*'Right. Since when have I cared about things like constellations?'

What he'd seen was so unexpected that it had thrown him for a moment, but there was no reason to be troubled. The constellation's gaze looked suspicious? Na-gyeong might be in danger if something went wrong?

*'Who gives a shit?'

Humans died eventually. If today was her day, all he had to do was protect her. If an unstoppable calamity appeared, he'd cut it down. If a constellation got in his way, he'd cut that down too. It didn't matter if that was a reckless way to think. The times might have changed, but he was Limon Aspelder—a Sword Master who had staked his life on the point of his blade and carved out his own fate with his sword.

“Hey, let's go.”

“Huh? Where?”

Limon grinned at Na-gyeong's puzzled expression. Now that he'd decided to cast his ominous feeling aside, there was only one place to go.

“To catch those sons of bitches.”

* * *

“This is it?”

“Yup.”

It had taken exactly three minutes to reach the Liberation Brigade's headquarters after Limon decided to leave. Considering that most of that time had gone toward finding his coat under a pile of laundry and putting it on, their speed was astounding. Only Na-gyeong could have pulled it off. Few players could cross such a distance in an instant while bringing someone along. Standing before the headquarters they had reached so quickly, Limon rubbed his chin.

“What kind of criminal organization uses a place like this for a hideout...? Are these bastards insane?”

“They've always been psychos, haven't they? Besides, the darkest place is right under the lamp.”

“Under the lamp? This is the tiger's mouth.”

Limon clicked his tongue. He had expected somewhere remote—a secluded forest, an abandoned factory, or perhaps a deserted island. Instead, as if to mock him, the Brigade's headquarters stood in the middle of the city. And not just anywhere in the middle: the National Police Agency was right in front of it, the Players Association a little to one side, and a military base farther behind. It was a perfect vantage point. With a sign reading “Haecheong Trading Co., Ltd.,” it even passed for a respectable business. Without knowing beforehand, he would never have guessed it was headquarters for psychos like the Liberation Brigade.

“How on earth did you find this place?”

“Heh. Information naturally comes to an attractive woman.”

“Sure. Know your place, will you?”

“I do. I'm a peerless beauty, delicate as a flower.”

Limon stared at her as if to ask whether she felt no shame saying such nonsense. She didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow. Instead, she smiled shamelessly and asked, “What are we doing? Charging straight in, as usual?”

“Well...”

Her question gave Limon pause. He studied the entrance to Haecheong Trading, thought for a moment, then continued. “We'll pick them off one by one.”

“... We'll what?”

“Sneak in and take them down quietly, one at a time.”

“Team Leader, you know a method besides charging in headfirst?!”

“What do you take me for?”

“A brainless idiot whose three grand strategies are charge, rush, and barge—!”

THWACK!

“Eek!”

Having delivered divine punishment to a subordinate who didn't fear her superior, Limon clicked his tongue. “Try thinking for once. If we storm in through the front, you think they'll sit still? They'll all run for their lives.”

“But you always say you can just cut them down before they get away...”

“Want another hit?”

“No. I said you were smart, Team Leader.”

Limon snorted as Na-gyeong clutched her forehead and hastily corrected herself.

To be fair, she had a point. Ordinarily, Limon would have charged through the front, smashed everything in his way, and chased down anyone who fled to beat them senseless. His choice to use the troublesome method of picking them off one by one was partly down to a feeling.

'Something bothers me about going in through the front.'

He had no particular reason. Na-gyeong, who had looked wrapped in a snake before they left, now looked perfectly normal. But that lingering unease was reason enough to choose stealth. Limon preferred a frontal assault because it spared him a tedious waste of time, not because he couldn't sneak in. That was especially true with Na-gyeong beside him.

“Who are—? Gah!”

“What's a PAB agent doing here—? Urgh?!”

“I-intrud—! Ack!”

THUD! WHACK! CRUNCH!

Once they began their infiltration, Limon and Na-gyeong swept through the Liberation Brigade's headquarters at a breakneck pace. There was nothing particularly difficult about it. They used Na-gyeong's Teleportation to subdue the security room first, then worked their way down from the top floor, knocking out everyone whose presence they sensed. Some high-level players did try to put up something resembling a fight, of course. It was pointless. Whether they could accelerate with lightning speed, use telekinesis to raise a barrier, or conceal themselves from sight, one tap from the flat of Limon's sword sent them sprawling, seeing stars. They subdued everyone so quickly that clearing the building was almost as fast as a frontal assault.

“I know I've said this before, Team Leader, but watching you makes the idea that players are superhuman sound ridiculous.”

Na-gyeong shook her head in amazement. He wasn't merely killing people who had surpassed human limits—he was subduing each of them with a single blow. To her, the fallen Brigade criminals looked less like dangerous players than frail residents of a nursing home.

'This is strange.'

Limon barely heard her. It wasn't that her comment wasn't worth answering. He was preoccupied with an odd sensation as they moved through the Brigade's headquarters.

*'Why does this feel so familiar?'

At first, he'd dismissed it as his imagination. So many buildings were built alike these days; perhaps the layout merely gave him a sense of déjà vu. But the farther they went, the more things stirred that feeling.

TAP-TAP!

“Team Leader? Why did you hit this one twice?”

“Bastard has a regeneration skill. One hit and he'd be back on his feet in no time.”

“Oh, you've dealt with this criminal before?”

“No. Never seen the bastard in my life.”

“... How did you know he could regenerate if you'd never seen him?”

“Just seemed like he could.”

“...”

Na-gyeong looked at Limon as though he were insane, then nodded to herself. “Oh, right. You were always a mad dog.”

Limon flexed his fingers for a moment, then decided to be generous. Even he had to admit that what he'd said sounded fairly unhinged. Still, he didn't think he was wrong. Every time they encountered a Brigade member, the person's ability came naturally to mind before they even activated a skill. It was as though he'd come here and swept through the Brigade once before.

*'Is this another effect of being able to see constellations?'

He hadn't actually seen the Brigade members' constellations the way he had with Seo Yong-chan and Na-gyeong. He had simply known. Since nothing like this had happened to him before, it wouldn't be strange if gaining the ability to see constellations had also given him some sort of intuition.

'No. This isn't just intuition.'

Limon rejected the idea. If it were merely a sixth sense, he wouldn't have the sensation of striking these bastards twice lingering in his hand. And Limon was a Sword Master. He might miscount the suns in the sky, but he could never mistake the feel of a sword he had gripped and swung. Why, then, did he have the sensation of having struck twice people he'd only knocked down once?

He pondered that question as they cleared the building. By the time they had dealt with everyone on the upper floors and reached somewhere around the middle, Limon suddenly understood.

'That's it.'

Before him stood a metal door, unusually large and sturdy, better suited to a bunker than a building. He was certain he'd never seen it before. Yet the sight was familiar, and looking at it made him certain why he'd felt that strange déjà vu.

'I've been here before.'