"A new job?"
District 49. Jenny's bar.
It's already been over a dozen times that he's visited her workplace.
By now, even the dimly-lit lobby of this gloomy bar was starting to feel familiar.
As Lenok sipped the whiskey Jordan had handed him, he repeated Jenny's words in his mind.
"Yeah. You're not coming here just to keep chasing bounties forever, are you? Honestly speaking, if being a bounty hunter is all you want, there are plenty of places with better conditions than this."
"Hm…"
"I know you like this line of work a lot, but realistically, unless you capture high-risk criminals with kill orders on their heads, the bounty payout is pretty much capped. Or are you telling me you actually want to spend your life chasing lunatics like that?"
"That's not exactly it."
It's true that bounties for the worst criminals — those wanted and pursued directly by the Valken government — could reach hundreds of millions of Cell, but that wasn't Lenok's goal.
If someone had the ability to commit crimes on a city-wide scale without getting caught, it was likely they possessed powers that even Lenok would find difficult to handle.
There was no real benefit to confronting such monsters head-on right now.
Noticing Lenok's subtle sign of interest, Jenny didn't miss the opportunity to press on.
"Of course, I'm not heartless enough to force you into something you don't want to do. But if what you said before is true, you'll need a pretty large sum of money to create a new identity, won't you?"
"..."
"With your magic, there are plenty of easier ways to make a fortune. Don't tell me you're still hung up on the nonsense I spouted about testing your abilities?"
Lenok, listening quietly to Jenny's words, let out a faint chuckle.
She really knew how to work her tongue.
It was obvious she was trying to nudge him toward more lucrative jobs, but her mix of praise and provocation didn't exactly feel unpleasant.
From her perspective, she'd want to handle jobs that paid higher commissions too.
After a brief moment of thought, Lenok nodded.
"Alright. What job do you want to recommend?"
In truth, as Jenny said, beyond the 20 million Cell needed for forging a new identity, Lenok would need much more money if he wanted to expand his activities into a wider range.
He couldn't stay in his cramped hotel forever — he'd need a proper place to live, and staying healthy would require its own expenses.
Up until now, he had deliberately spent his time working in District 49, getting a feel for the atmosphere and avoiding drawing attention.
He had to be careful.
If Lenok let his guard down and made a mistake, his talents would start to stand out immediately — whether he liked it or not, attention would follow.
Of course, being recognized for his abilities wasn't a bad thing — but that would have to wait until Lenok had built up enough strength and preparation to protect himself.
For now, he still couldn't guarantee his safety in this district crawling with all sorts of criminals.
At Lenok's response, Jenny broke into a wide grin.
"Smart choice. Do you have any idea how many jobs out there need a mage? Van, you could just pick whatever you want."
Saying that, she immediately led Lenok to the back of the bar.
Clearly, this wasn't something to be discussed out in the open.
The huge communal area behind the bar — the same place where they had brought Taylor Evans' corpse.
Once they sat across from each other at a table in the corner, Jenny pulled out a file folder and slid it across to Lenok.
It wasn't a bounty notice — it was some kind of report, densely packed with small print.
Lenok picked it up and quickly read through it.
As his eyes skimmed the pages at speed, Jenny spoke from across the table.
"There's a new cosmetics manufacturing plant completed in District 42 — built by the Charlotte Corporation. 80% of the construction costs were covered by city government subsidies, so there's been controversy about corruption. Especially since there's testimony that the skin lotion they planned to produce there went through a massive amount of human experimentation."
"Human experimentation?"
"Yeah. Look at page 8 — you'll see. It says that in the fourth review stage, they tried peeling off human facial skin to create the perfect environment for regenerating dead skin."
As Lenok turned to the page Jenny mentioned, his brow involuntarily furrowed.
The report wasn't just words — it came with disturbingly vivid photographic evidence.
"Isn't the truth already clear at this point? What else needs to be done?"
"What are you talking about?"
Jenny frowned at his words.
"Truth or not, the Charlotte Corporation isn't going to pull out of the plant over some photos. This is a project with government subsidies poured into it — you think they care about some nasty rumors?"
"..."
"This job wasn't planned by the city government — it's Baritz Corporation. They've recently started expanding into the cosmetics industry, and they don't want Charlotte to gain any more ground."
Baritz.
Even Lenok, who hadn't been in Valken for long, had heard of that company.
You could find their brand on countless products in markets and stores, and even on the front and back of cars driving down the streets — their familiar wing-shaped logo was everywhere.
Clearly, they were one of the biggest conglomerates in this megacity.
"Baritz sent out requests to brokerages like ours with two conditions. First, destroy the manufacturing plant beyond recovery. Second, acquire the production algorithm data for the lotion they're making. The first condition has a reward of 50 million Cell. The second, 300 million Cell."
A combined reward of 350 million Cell.
An astronomical sum.
The kind of money you wouldn't even dream of earning from a single job.
But Lenok quickly picked up on the meaning hidden between the lines.
"You're saying we get paid even if we only complete one of the two conditions?"
"That's right."
"...And the second condition is practically impossible to pull off, isn't it?"
"Exactly. You really are sharp — must be that mage brain of yours."
The huge gap in rewards between the two success conditions in a single job was telling.
Considering the client's offer and the difficulty of the tasks, infiltrating the Charlotte Corporation's security would likely be dozens of times harder than destroying the plant.
Jenny shrugged as she took back the file folder from Lenok.
"Honestly, stealing the algorithm data is an absurd request. It means you'd have to infiltrate the factory's system control room, breach Charlotte's firewall, and extract the data. To hire a hacker or engineer capable of that? You'd need to pay over 500 million Cell. This is just Baritz trying to get a cheap hacker to take a shot."
"Hackers get paid that much per job?"
Even considering their skills, Lenok found it surprising that people working in cyberspace could demand over 500 million Cell per job.
"It varies widely depending on skill, but if it's a company like Charlotte Corp, they probably burned through top-tier engineers when building their firewall. If someone has the skills to break through such a solid security system and extract data without any damage, it's only natural they'd be getting paid hundreds of millions of cells."
"I see..."
Lenok nodded seriously.
Seeing that he seemed to understand the rough explanation, Jenny leaned back, waiting leisurely for his decision.
Lenok didn't realize that the questions he was asking were extremely basic — practically common sense — but Jenny patiently explained everything in detail.
It was because she was under the impression that Lenok was a mage who had been training in seclusion, isolated from the modern world.
Traditional mages, especially those who practice very old forms of magic, often prefer to shut themselves away in remote places for training rather than rely on modern civilization. Jenny assumed Lenok was one of those types.
This misunderstanding wasn't strange, especially since elemental mages often don't show themselves in public until they've reached a certain level of mastery. So it made sense that both Jenny and Jordan were under that impression.
After thinking it over, Lenok slowly nodded.
"Alright. If it's just about smashing up a factory, I think I can handle it."
He had momentarily forgotten while chasing down a wanted criminal, but the work he did wasn't about being some righteous crusader eliminating evildoers.
This was a world where corporations and criminals clashed over profit and revenge — he was simply carving out his own share.
Whether he could maintain his morality and values within that was entirely up to him.
At Lenok's response, Jenny grinned.
"Then, since we've more or less reached an agreement, let me introduce the partner you'll be working with on this job."
"What?"
"Come in!"
With those words, a side door at the back of the hideout opened, and someone walked in.
Even though he was wrapped in a thick leather jacket, it was clear he had a well-trained, muscular body.
He wore a mysterious mask resembling that of a pro wrestler, and various metal objects hung from his back like ornaments.
Jenny casually introduced the man to Lenok.
"Dylan O'Casey. He's a mercenary from the Antares office. A cheap guy who gets called around to work wherever he's needed."
"Jenny, if you introduce me like that to someone I'm meeting for the first time, what do you think they'll assume?"
"Hmm. A lunatic wearing a pro-wrestling mask?"
"Ha ha ha!!"
Despite Jenny's cold response, Dylan let out a hearty laugh and approached Lenok to offer a handshake.
"Dylan O'Casey. Mercenary. Looks like we're partners for this job. I heard you're a mage?"
Lenok reluctantly shook his hand and replied.
"...That's right. I use electrical-type magic. But what do you mean by partner?"
"Just what I said. It seemed like a job too big for one person, so I was looking for someone to team up with."
"This annoying woman told me she couldn't handle it alone. Said she might be able to reel someone in today, so I was waiting around."
"..."
For a brief moment, the atmosphere turned chilly at Dylan's blunt words, but Lenok let it slide calmly.
"Next time, I'd appreciate it if you told me in advance that there's a partner waiting for me."
"...Noted."
Though he hadn't expected a partner, Lenok didn't seem particularly displeased.
After all, the work he was doing now was no different from picking up jobs from a labor agency.
He never knew what job he might have to do on any given day or who he'd be working with on-site — it wasn't exactly surprising.
If someone looked like they'd hold him back, he'd just cut them off cleanly.
It wouldn't be strange if Dylan was thinking the same thing.
"So, the success fee of 50 million cells — are we splitting that evenly, fifty-fifty?" Lenok asked.
At that, Dylan scratched at his mask.
"We'll probably have to give this woman her commission."
Jenny quickly responded.
"This time I won't take a commission since I didn't tell Mr. Lenok in advance about the partner. I got a bit ahead of myself because jobs directly ordered from Valitz are rare. My apologies."
Dylan whistled silently.
A 10% commission was no small cut, but seeing her give it up so cleanly made Lenok narrow his eyes slightly.
She made a mistake — and immediately cleaned it up.
As a response, it was commendable. But Lenok didn't believe for a second that her mistake was purely accidental.
She was probably testing his reactions little by little — seeing how far she could push the line.
If Lenok had flared up and drawn on his magic here, she might never have mentioned the word "partner" again.
In a way, letting Jenny maintain her current attitude wasn't a bad thing.
Showing some goodwill on his part and maintaining an appropriate relationship wouldn't hurt him in the long run.
Especially since Lenok was planning to fund his activities like this for the time being.
If she really did cross the line, it wouldn't be too late to deal with it then.
After all, the initiative in this relationship was already gradually shifting into Lenok's hands.
Whether she knew what Lenok was thinking or not, Jenny clapped her hands once and changed the subject.
"Alright, let's take a look at the blueprint for the factory in Zone 42."