Chapter 16: Avarice

Eat, sleep, work, repeat. Eat, sleep, work, repeat. Eat, sleep, work, repeat. Those are my weekdays. Dull and uneventful.

My weekends break this cycle. I'm starting to like this stuff. Like, yeah, I told Vampy she needs to stop her little smuggling ring, but I have to admit, it feels nice to go to Lastation, drop off the goods and go to the arcade.

It's been another two weeks since my talk with Vampy in the NepDonalds. I did ask her a couple more times what she chose in the end. But every time she tells me she needs more time to think.

Starting to think she's trying to stall indefinitely.

Well, I don't mind right now. I haven't heard of that annoying Guild Agent since that one time and I'm earning good cash. I don't think I have any reason to rush her. But I'm not stupid either. We both need to get out of this game once we're stable.

Anyway. As is usual on Saturdays, I am walking down some dirty alley to find a backdoor of the dropoff point. A restaurant at the front. A blackmarket in the back. I used to go in when I first started. Make sure the chips would fall in the right hands. Nowadays, I just knock, hand them over and leave.

I don't even know what they look like and, frankly, I don't think I want to know. I get my cut either way. And judging by the weight of the bag in my backpack, this week's cut is going to be substantial. I've been noticing how every so now and then the bag definitely has way more chips in than usual. I wonder why.

Something is off, however. The guy I usually hand the goods to is standing outside of the door with his arms folded. He's waiting for me. This could be bad news.

I mean, I think it's him. Again, no idea what he looks like. This is the first time I'm seeing him in broad daylight.

As his eyes lock with mine, he raises his hand and shakes his head. "Take the goods away, B-Face. Get rid of them."

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me. Get rid of 'em. Two of our dealers got the short end of the stick. They find any chips in here, we're all gonna be busted. The market's also off this month."

Quick and to the point. My usual instinct would be to turn around and do exactly as he says. There's a couple problems with that this time. First of all, I'd lose my cut. And it'll be a cold day in hell if I skip out on this month's battle pass! I need my gun skins, damn it! Now that I've tasted the good life, I want more!

Secondly, Vampy won't be happy if she knew I just destroyed this batch of chips. She told me she'd kill me if I ever lost a batch. Probably a figure of speech, but I'm not taking that risk.

But two whole people already got put to jail. And they could rat us out.

I look left and right as if to see if anyone else was here and approach the suspicious fellow. "The boss won't be happy to hear you told me to trash a week's worth of chips."

That got a bit of a reaction out of him. Anxiety. "U-Underling can suck my willy for all I care. I ain't storing anything here until the heat dies down, got that? The black market is cancelled this time."

Wait, her underlings call her Underling too? Is this a joke? Am I missing a joke somewhere? First that Guild Agent and now them? Someone, explain this to me!

I bite the corner of my mouth and take a breath. I really shouldn't do this. Not after I told myself I want to get out of this mess as soon as possible. But this-... burning feeling in my gut. My competitive nature as a gamer is flaring up. And the money. I do need it. Not just for some stupid battlepass, mind you. I also need it for a better apartment. Something less-... gross.

Then again, this is just another testament to the blabbering Guild Agent being hot on Vampy's trail. She and the entire Guild, probably!

Ugh! I really hate it when the other side is winning so easily! I mean, I think they are winning easily. If we back off now, we're going to miss out on however much this entire bag is worth.

After a lot of inner monologue—that other guy had a lot of patience—I just nod my head, tell him that I'll get rid of the goods and leave.

My real plan is something completely stupid and suicidal. But I think I can pull it off… No. I definitely can pull this off. If I can sneak past border control then this will be a cinch. I hope.

With my phone in hand, I dial Vampy's number and wait for her to pick up. She was slow to respond.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Hey, uh… Afternoon, Vampy. I was about to-, errr-, how you doing?"

There's a long sigh on the other end of the call. "Where did you lose it?"

"I didn't lose anything, damn it! Have some faith in me. Your guy over here, uh-... He called in sick and can't do the thing. So. I proposed I'd do it with the other dealers and-... You know."

"Whoa, whoa. Slow down there. You? You want to do this with the others? Get in the field and sell our shit? After you pleaded I'd get out of this?"

I clutch my fist and force myself to continue. "I need the money this time, Vampy. This bag's heavy. I can tell there's a lot to be earned in this one."

"How much do you need, man?! Forget that crap, I can—"

"That's your retirement fee!" I interrupt. "You get your cut. I get mine. We both need this money. Alright? Me showing my face once won't get me on some wanted list."

Another sigh. I feel like she's been doing that a lot whenever I'm talking to her. Probably just my imagination. "Hey, if you wanna get into this deeper with me, that's fine. I'll be real. I wasn't thinking about backing out of this any time soon anyway, you know?"

I'll tell myself that she just said that to cope with whatever she has against me going in the field. Maybe she knows the heat is high. Maybe she saw through the ruse already but doesn't care enough. Like hell I know.

"What did you call me for?" Vampy asks.

"Right. The others don't exactly have the, uh… map to this black market. Or where we were even doing it? I need a bit of info."

"You serious? I thought all of those punks knew how to get there. Weren't they all Street Brawlers back then?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Street Brawlers. The place we're selling them."

My silence earned me another other sigh from her.

"Street. Brawlers. The underground fight club in Lastation. The crap you've been carrying to Lastation all this time is equipment for fighters deemed too 'dangerous' for the general public. Nutjobs in that place don't care about what's dangerous or not. As long as it makes them strong enough to beat their opponent."

"Okay? That sounds mildly concerning."

"Nobody cares. We got an invitation because W. Bison did in a good word for our crap. One of those two nuts with you should know where it is."

"Right. Uh. They don't have the address anymore. Or a way to get in. That's why I called you, really."

Another other other other sigh. "Do I gotta come over there and sell that stuff myself as well?"

"J-Just give us the address and we'll be on our way."

"Tonight. Nine o'clock flat, you gotta be inside. No one gets in or out before two in the morning. I'll send you the address later. It's on my phone."

"Alright. Err… Thanks."

"... You sure you wanna do this, B-Face? This is way out of your league, y'know? There's a lot of tough criminals in that place. The kind that'd chew you out for breakfast. If you get hurt, I ain't calling boobs-for-brains nurse again for you."

"I'll be fine," I utter without thinking. "Just send us everything we need. Th-That includes a price list. They, uh, said you updated the price sheet of our products and threw out the last one or something."

"It's the same as the last one! Oh, whatever. You could probably use it… Wait, are you going to sell the product as well?"

"I mean. They need a third guy?"

"... Whatever, man. Everything's coming your way. Don't fuck this up, B-face. Or I'm demoting you to F-Face."

"F in the chat for me, huh?"

"What? No, I meant fuckface. Like, as an insult."

"... Thanks Vampy."

"Just be careful, alright?"

I tell Vampy goodbye and hang up the phone. That dreadful feeling that's been boiling deep in my gut finally spills out through the rest of my body and makes my heart race even faster than it had been before.

A fight club. With a lot of stronger brawlers. And I'm going to sell them illegal products. Alone. With what little combat experience I picked up.

I clutch my head with both my hands (and by proxy my phone) and resist the urge to scream.

Why did I just do that? Why did I just flat out lie to Vampy about what's going on? What sort of impulse forced me to do this? I could've just thrown the bag off a bridge and gone back home. Sure, I wouldn't get paid. But at least I'd be safe!

My phone vibrates in my hand against my temple and out of sheer panic it nearly slides out of my hand. It's Vampy's message with the address and price sheet. As well as some other 'tips'.

For a long time, I stare at the screen as if something there would change and magically give me the answer of why I got myself into this mess.

Should I just call her back and admit the truth? I wouldn't exactly score any points with her for that. And if I don't go, it'd probably make me look even worse.

I really just dug my own grave here, huh?

No choice but to just go. I'll be fine. I'll just be dandy. Just don't be afraid and you'll be fine.

Two chapters within the same year? I must be dreaming.

Anyway, we're slowly escalating into the final bits of this story. I will admit, after all this time, I hope the ending I planned so long ago still holds up. Until next time!