All masters of Cyberpunk,

Episode 6

 

 

6. Underdog Bikers

 

 

The Underdog Bikers only became a real threat after they killed a C-class Hunter.

 

To be fair, it was only a C-Class hunter who was pummeled.

 

However, it was a half-assed Hunter with no real combat experience, as he was a support class, not a combat class.

 

The Underdog Bikers’ confidence was boosted by the fact that they had killed a C-class Hunter, and they began to show off their strength in earnest.

 

“Don’t tell me they don’t have the power.

 

They look like a gang, but they are a gang.

 

They own illegal guns, and they’re hunters who beat up mutants, so they’re always out numbered.

 

As long as you’re human, a bullet to the skull will kill you.

 

Conventional firearms are still a threat unless you’re a B-plus Hunter, which is effectively a superhuman category, or a cyber with a tech body that turns them into a walking tank.

 

The moment they go from being a bunch of random guys to organized gangs, there’s reason for the government and guilds to step in to keep the peace.

 

I’m just trying to get there before they do.

 

“So, what’s the plan?”

 

Haan asked, following close behind, having finally decided to stick with me.

 

“They’ll still be pretty tightly packed, and they won’t have a lot of confidence. For now, they’re a bunch of ragtag bastards who’ve been pushed aside in the Southern District power struggle.”

 

“How does Mr. Dojin know that?”

 

“Have you forgotten where I’m from?”

 

“Ah!”

 

Being from a liberated village was an excuse that could be taken and pasted anywhere.

 

The perfect word to define the lowest rungs of society in Seoul 2056.

 

Liberation Village.

 

Naturally, there were a lot of people from liberated villages in the slums of Nam-gu as well, so it was no problem convincing Lee Ha-an.

 

“If we tell them we’re hunters, they’re not going to go all in on us.”

 

In human society, status is class.

 

We say we’re all of equal value, but in reality, we’re not.

 

Doctors, lawyers, influencers, Ivy League students, and high-ranking government officials.

 

Even in a relatively peaceful world, people would fight to the death to earn those titles.

 

Just to have a few letters of a title in front of my name.

 

I can only imagine what it’s like in Seoul 2056, where the world has been turned upside down by chaos.

 

Guns are closer than laws, and power is stronger than guns.

 

A dystopia where criminals prey on the common man and the powerful are paid off by those same criminals.

 

The scientific advancements that were supposed to make everyone better off have paradoxically created a society where hope has disappeared.

 

In such a society, being a hunter is a position of both strength and power.

 

And since you’re more likely to be a member of a specific guild, you’re less likely to be openly antagonized by the local bully.

 

You don’t want to stir up a hornet’s nest by messing with them.

 

“Hmm, that’s a little too optimistic. If that’s how it’s going to work, wouldn’t they have disbanded long ago?”

 

“Well, let’s get this straight. Honestly, nobody cares, right? These assholes are going to make a big deal out of this sooner or later, so we need to clean it up.”

 

After my forceful argument, Ian didn’t argue anymore.

 

She’s not so backward that she doesn’t know what stance they’ll take next.

 

“Well, let’s see if we can find something to use as a weapon.”

 

I picked up a sack of metal pipes lying on the side of the road.

 

“A metal pipe is good enough for catching chickens.”

 

I slowly made my way to the junkyard, their home base.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Are you awake, Rowan?”

 

“Yeah, yeah. I swear.”

 

Oh he waved leisurely at his men, who greeted him at ninety degrees.

 

A short sports cut, tattoos running from his neck to his chest.

 

He looks intimidating enough, but his athletic and toned body gives off an aura of bad quality.

 

The Underdog Bikers are a new gang that is slowly taking over the northern district of Daejeon.

 

Oh Ki-young, commonly known as “Bulldog,” the leader of the organization, stretches out on a couch in the office of a junkyard.

 

“Brother, where are we going today? Should we head to Dong-gu?”

 

“Ai, you bastard, we haven’t even organized the North District yet.”

 

“But aren’t the Chilgok and Guam sides of the district being held tightly by the Chilgok Guild and Elder Wuyue?”

 

Bam!

 

At that moment, ki-young picked up the motorcycle helmet lying next to him and smashed it down on the head of the subordinate who was shouting stupid things.

 

“Aaah!”

 

“I told you, don’t call me elderly!”

 

“Ack, ack, I’m sorry, big brother! Forgive me!”

 

“I hadn’t slept well in a long time, and I was in a good mood, but this bastard got me!”

 

Oh Ki-young grunted as his subordinate, who had been beaten repeatedly in the head, lay on the floor.

 

“You’re an old man. What’s so scary about a dying soup kitchen, old lady? It’s not even a confirmed fact that the old man has cleaned up the gangs in the area, so why are you supporting him?”

 

Oh, Ki-young didn’t like the whole situation.

 

It wasn’t as easy as he thought to take control of the North District.

 

It didn’t matter because the hunter guilds didn’t really care as long as they didn’t mess with them.

 

An old woman named Grandmother May had a tight grip on the area, and the underdog bikers were unstoppable.

 

That’s why the merchants in the northern district refused to pay their bills and went on a rampage with kitchen knives.

 

“Hey, do you still think we’re just a bunch of baseless assholes trying to make a living for a day?”

 

“Aww…….”

 

“And you’re still going to be a tech body, you asshole; did you forget what we brought you last week?”

 

“Sin, sorry!!!”

 

“Well, at least have it ready; you paid good money for it; you should pay for it!”

 

“Yep!!!”

 

Ki-Young clutched his head and clicked his tongue as he looked at his fleeing subordinate.

 

Even if the Underdog Bikers were a loser after a power struggle in the South District, they were still a force to be reckoned with in that harsh area.

 

He decided he was no match for the old lady at the soup kitchen.

 

As he prepared for the expedition, he slipped on a fine leather mustang he’d bought at the market.

 

One of his henchmen bursts into the room, shouting.

 

“Brother! Brother! Brother!!!”

 

“Not again!”

 

Oh Ki-young’s face crumpled into another grimace, but his subordinate didn’t let that stop him.

 

“They’re intruders!!!”

 

“What!”

 

Oh Ki-young’s mind immediately thought of the beggars from the tent village who had helped him last time.

 

They were wearing nice watches, so he threatened them and took them away.

 

There were some ‘minor’ clashes along the way, but what could a bunch of outnumbered and outgunned beggars do against a group of bloodthirsty bikers?

 

“Damn, I should’ve trampled them back then!”

 

The problem is that some of these beggars don’t just cower; they’re bullies.

 

If they came at you by the dozens and started beating the crap out of you, there was no guarantee of victory.

 

Some of the beggars had illegal guns or were wearing tech bodies that I didn’t recognize.

 

It wasn’t easy for them to get guns since they weren’t hunters, so dealing with such beggars was a headache in many ways.

 

There were fifty of us, and we only had five guns.

 

“How many?”

 

Oh asked, trying to stay as calm as possible.

 

“Two!”

 

“What the hell, you only had two of them?”

 

The blood rushing through my body suddenly turned cold.

 

His irritation was pushed to the limit before his gaze naturally turned to the man who had brought him the news.

 

“It’s Hunter! Hunter has broken in!”

 

“Brother, the gatekeeper was attacked; what kind of A-class hunter are you?”

 

The outside quickly became an uproar.

 

And Oh Ki-young’s once confident face turned pale.

 

“I’m screwed.”

 

A moment’s pause.

 

No matter how you slice it, he’s not an A-class hunter.

 

 

* * *

 

 

He didn’t even hesitate at the word hunter, but his eyes widened, and he punched the approaching creature right in the head, causing the big man to fall to the ground.

 

It was probably a gatekeeper set up to intimidate or something.

 

The underdog bikers.

 

I don’t know if Seoul 2056’s leveling system still applies in the real world, but they were definitely more than I could handle.

 

“Off, off, off…”

 

A guy with a handgun and a metal pipe. What a bunch of misfits!

 

“What a bunch of bloodless bastards playing with such a dangerous object.”

 

I snatched the pistol from the gatekeeper’s pocket. It was a pretty good-quality in-game model.

 

“If you were going to beat them all up anyway, why did you lie and say you were an A-class hunter sent from Seoul?”

 

As I was retrieving the gun, haan asked, creeping up behind me.

 

“I can’t hit all of them. How are the two of us supposed to beat that many?”

 

I quickly checked my weapon and pointed to the mob that was beginning to swarm the entrance.

 

At least twenty, by the looks of them.

 

With Kim’s abilities, it shouldn’t be hard to slaughter them all.

 

Honestly, I don’t have any intention of doing so.

 

The bounty for killing them is only 500,000 won, and once they’re gone, their place will be taken by other scavengers.

 

Wouldn’t it be more efficient to train them in the right way and keep them useful until the cod is destroyed?

 

Like the Guildmaster of Chilgok, for example.

 

“So I’m just going to threaten them. Like now.”

 

BANG!

 

The crisp echo of gunfire brings them to a halt as they swarm from all directions.

 

An iron pipe in one hand.

 

Pistol in the other.

 

Ah, what a great way to communicate.

 

“Tell them to get their heads out.”

 

“…….”

 

“Quick.”

 

At the low voice and the groaning of the gatekeeper on the floor, they merely exchanged dumbfounded glances.

 

A few cursed and swung blunt objects at a distance.

 

They were the meaningless threats of frightened dogs.

 

Not a single one showed any sign of actually charging.

 

It was the perfect first strike.

 

“Mr. Haan, you know how to use a gun, don’t you?”

 

“Oh, what? I do, of course!”

 

“If you see any of them pull out a gun, just shoot them.”

 

I said as I handed the pistol over to Haan. To be honest, I wasn’t very good with handguns.

 

I’d only ever used a K2 in active duty, never a handgun.

 

I can throw a punch and get hit, but setting up with a handgun without proper training is a laughing stock.

 

“I’ll learn to shoot a pistol later.

 

Besides, I’m sure Ian is far more skilled with a pistol than I am.

 

He’s an undercover agent, after all, straight out of the Great War.

 

It was then.

 

“What brings you, a fine A-list hunter, to a place like this?”

 

A person walked out of a shipping container building in the corner of the depot.

 

He looked to be in his late teens or early twenties.

 

The leader of the Underdog Bikers is a one-day puppy with no fear.

 

I looked him straight in the eye and opened my mouth.

 

“I’m here to make a deal.”