Chapter 222 : Tailing the Tail (3)

Tailing the Tail (3)

Port City, new Noir

Alex's next destination had been decided. But the cutscene didn't end there.

"Lady Helen of New Noir."

Alex repeated that to himself as he glared at Lancaster. Under that cold gaze, lancaster answered with a trembling voice.

"You got what you wanted, right? Please, just... just let me live."

He begged for mercy in a pitiful voice.

"Look at me! I've already lost everything. The ranch is about to be taken by the bank, and my house has completely burned down..."

At those words, alex glanced back. The blaze, now uncontrollable, was swallowing the manor.

"Why... why are you after the Hired Gun, anyway? I have nothing to do with it! I'm also just someone who fled from those lunatics!"

Lancaster raised his hand, which was lodged with shards. His shirt was soaked in dark red blood.

"If you stir them up, they'll try to kill me. Plus, I can't even feel my hand. Please, I'm begging you. I'll hide quietly...!"

He sobbed as he pleaded.

As Lancaster's self-defense came to an end, partial control returned and Alex's vision shifted to black and white.

"Ah, so I'm the one to decide his fate here."

Only three things had color in the monochrome scene: the ranch exit, the rope at his waist, and the revolver in his hand.

[Leave]

[Arrest]

[Execute]

When Alex focused on each one, words appeared next to them. At the same time, countless chat messages began to surge.

― Not that what he's saying is all wrong

― To be fair, he's not a Hired Gun from Prol's perspective lol

― He might feel a bit wronged

― It's not directly about revenge anyway

― Looks like his hand's done for?

Some viewers seemed to be persuaded by Lancaster's words.

"Still, he used to be part of a gang, right? He's still a criminal."

But Lee Gyeongbok wasn't buying it.

"Besides, just a moment ago he was telling the gunmen to kill me. Now that the situation's turned, he's just playing for sympathy."

― LOL right! No leniency for him!

― He was so cocky before the gunfight, remember?

― His personality showed clear as day in the cutscene

― Guys like him never really change

― If you let him live, he'll probably stab you in the back

Most of the viewers agreed. Lee Gyeongbok rolled his eyes briefly, then grabbed the rope.

His decision was to arrest.

― Oh, nice, that's Matjji for you

― You should put him on trial at least, no need to execute him right away lol

― Lawful behavior, love to see it

― Clean solution, but why not just kill him?

― What if he busts out of jail for revenge?

To the few remaining questions among the satisfied chat, Lee Gyeongbok added:

"If you do a summary execution here, lancaster dies just a ranch owner, right? It's better to reveal his gang background and have him punished properly."

― Oh, good point lol

― Caught that perfectly again?

― People would just think he was robbed

― He could even get treated like a victim

― Our Godple always has a plan

― WiseChu!

Even the viewers who had wanted an execution accepted his explanation.

* * *

Lee Gyeongbok loaded the bound Lancaster onto a horse and brought him to the Agency. After turning him in, the screen shifted and the cutscene continued.

"Ah, it moves on right away."

With the sun now bright, people had gathered in the village square, talking amongst themselves. Alex was sitting on a bench, a bit separated from the crowd.

He was gazing at the gallows past the people.

― Is Lancaster gonna get executed?

― Time for justice ^^

― Ha, so it's not a jailbreak ending

― He said himself he lost everything lol

― Who'd save him anyway?

As the viewers enjoyed the moment, someone took a seat next to Alex.

It was Jerry, the banker.

"I had my doubts ever since I heard it was a detective job, but I never imagined Mr. Lancaster was from that infamous Hired Gang."

He shook his head with a stricken look.

"Thinking back, I can't believe I kept hounding him over debts right in front of such an outlaw. I could have ended up a corpse, just disappearing without a trace."

Jerry doffed his hat and bowed respectfully.

"Once again, thank you, detective Alex."

But Alex didn't respond. He simply continued to stare at the gallows in silence.

Before long, the bound Lancaster was up on the platform.

"Whatever else he did, the ranch owner's gone. The ranch is now officially bank property."

Jerry continued, unconcerned by Alex's attitude.

"So, I have to ask—would you be interested in becoming the ranch owner?"

Just as he asked, a rattling noise rose, and the murmur of the crowd grew. On the switched-back screen, lancaster appeared, hooded, hanging by a rope.

― That's one way to finish it up

― No risk of him backstabbing you, finally peaceful

― That's frontier justice right there!

― Look at Jerry trying to drum up business lol

― Wait, can you actually become the ranch owner?

― Freedom-wise, it'd kind of fit

Only then did Alex turn to Jerry.

"I'm not interested."

His dry voice was emotionless.

"... Of course."

Jerry didn't push further. He simply nodded, put his hat back on, and stood.

"Understood. But the chance is open for a while. The auction'll run for quite some time. If you change your mind, please let me know."

He rose from the bench, bowed again, and left. As he did, the crowd in the square also began to disperse.

Among them, the manager of the detective agency approached Alex.

"Truly, you completed the job wonderfully."

He took a seat beside Alex as he spoke.

"Thanks to you, the outlaw hiding shamelessly was brought to justice. Justice has been served."

"Justice, huh..."

Alex muttered with a bitter voice, and the manager cleared his throat.

"We've already reported about Lady Helen to headquarters. They said we need to tread carefully since it's such an important lead."

Speaking softly, the manager fished something from his pocket. It was a small ticket in his hand.

"What's this?"

"You wouldn't want to leave this at the Agency, I imagine. I prepared it, thinking you'd want to go yourself."

It was a train ticket to New Noir. Alex tucked it away and nodded.

"Thank you for thinking of this."

"Not at all. This is my duty."

The manager said this and stood up, reaching a hand to Alex.

Alex rose as well and shook it.

"Of all the agents I've met, you were the finest. I wish you luck in the future as well."

― Guess being in management means having insight lol

― Can't miss "Perfect-Detective" status

― Of course he's the best, come on

― Irreplaceable, even in real life~

As the viewers watched, satisfied, the screen faded to black. Then, with the sound of a train whistle, the scene changed.

"Oh? Leaving right away."

Alex boarded the passenger car. The seats were already filled with passengers laughing and chatting.

"Is the ocean really wider than a river?"

"Yes, it never ends."

"You'll be surprised when you see it."

Alex turned toward the voices. It was a couple and their child, happily talking and laughing.

Watching them, alex reached into his coat. He pulled out a neatly folded photograph.

In the unfolded black-and-white photo, alex had his arm around his son, billy, both sharing an awkward smile.

― Ah... aaah...

― Can't see for the tears ㅠ

― The scene tells it all, even without words

― Billy never saw the ocean either!

The chat filled with crying emoticons.

Alex looked at the photo for a moment before carefully folding it and putting it away. Then he gazed out the window.

The camera pulled steadily back, catching the departing train. Black smoke poured from the engine, engulfing the screen.

[Chapter 1 – Private Detective]

[End]

Words appeared over the completely blackened screen.

"Ah, so that's how Chapter 1 ends."

Lee Gyeongbok added his outro with a sigh.

"I only played from the prologue to chapter one, but it's honestly so fun. Time just flew by. At first, when they said I could play freely, I worried a bit, but it was pointless."

-lol seriously so much fun

― Rock'n'Roll Games really knows their stuff

― Wait, how'd time go by so fast?

― What? Give me my time back!

The viewers agreed with the assessment.

"I'm not just saying this because it's an assignment. Really, I lost track of time while playing."

Lee Gyeongbok checked the time and started his closing remarks.

― Decisive end to the stream ㅠ

― But the very first stream was so packed, can't complain

― It's basically a time machine!

― But not one to the past lol

― Still miss those days ㅠㅠ

― Glad to get my Purple fix after so long!

― Goodnight! Purple night!

The viewers were sad but offered their farewells. Lee Gyeongbok smiled and waved.

"That's it for today's broadcast. I'll see you again tomorrow. Trba!"

The broadcast, returning after a long(?) break, thus came to an end.

* * *

With Rock'n'Roll Games releasing a new title for the first time in a while, most gaming communities were ablaze with excitement.

Many posts popped up on various topics, but the most common was this:

[It's easy to get General ranking, but how do you unlock Expert?]

[GunG is Platinum but still General lol (proof inside)]

[Turns out the revolver is unexpectedly tough, damn]

[It's way easier just to do what the system tells you]

[Damn, I got Expert, check this out LOL]

The threads were all about the results of the Agency's ranking evaluations, which determined the difficulty.

Most ended up with results of General or below, with the rare few boasting screenshots of earning Expert.

[Whoa! I got Master!]

Amidst this, the appearance of the Master ranking drew a lot of attention.

[Of course it's not me lol

I was watching Pride's stream and he got Master on the first try LOL

The Olympic shooting gold medalist's class shows, huh?

Here's the clip—seriously, it's wild]

[-LMAO, guess you gotta be a medalist to get Master]

[-First try and he's Master, incredible]

[-Legit Master, no cap]

[-You have to actually be a real master, huh lol]

[-He's definitely still got it]

[-Is this some viral? Love it]

While the Master rank was drawing focus, a new term cropped up—'Free Choice.'

Everyone's attention whipped to this odd concept.

[-Wait, wasn't difficulty set by the system?]

[-Whoa... as expected of Godple]

[-Saw this, gave up on trying for Master^^]

[-Come on! I've been dodging spoilers!]

[-Hey! Shouldn't you tag Godple clips as spoilers?]

[-Of course, godple gets a free pass~]

[-Whatever, off to watch on Purple channel lol]

Instead of the system setting the rank, the option passed to the player. Only one person had ever seen that scene.

Once the clip started spreading, those who'd held off on watching streams to avoid stories spoilers flocked to Purple's Q-tube channel.

The effect on the community was dramatic.

[Godple is just on another level, lol]

[Normal folks should just watch streams and then take a different route, lol]

[Impossible to resist, too much fun]

[After Godple's broadcast, I'm playing full outlaw next time, lol]

Review posts saying they'd now try a different playstyle dominated the community, alongside those pledging to follow Lee Gyeongbok's style.

But some had a different take.

[Why Godple's stream is totally fine to watch]

One recommended post stood out.

[Man, rock'n'Roll Games are crazy lol

I watched the stream and tried to befriend Jerry by choosing the supply escort quest

Remember on Godple's stream the security guard turned out to be the traitor?

So I shot him first so I wouldn't get stabbed in the back

(clip)

But as soon as he died, the passengers started screaming, chaos broke out, and Jerry bolted lol

Huh? Is this a bug?

But nope, bandits showed up and a different cutscene started

(clip)

They said they liked my style and scouted me as a gang member, lol

So I joined up and started robbing people lol

Best part? The story kept going

Now I'm headed to meet Lancaster as part of a gang, lol]

A report that—despite taking the same actions as the stream—the results were totally different.

[-Why join the gang right there, lol]

[-Wasn't the security guard supposed to be the traitor?]

[-Not a bug apparently? I restarted and picked something else]

[-What? Is it set differently by difficulty?]

[-Aren't the only changes enemy numbers though?]

[-Could it be traitor only appears on Master?]

The comments were lively.

Everyone wondered if the developer had separated situations for different difficulties.

Then a comment refuted this.

[-Nah, pride also has Master rank and did the supply escort, but the guard wasn't a traitor on his stream]

[-Wait, he wasn't? Then traitor isn't the default?]

[-Was Godple's stream a bug then?]

[-What's going on?!]

Strangely, even though both Pride and Lee Gyeongbok had Master, the situations differed, confusing people until someone pointed it out.

[-Isn't this not quite the same "Master" rank?]

[Come again? Both are Master?]

[But Godple got Master via free choice, right?]

[Oh?]

At first glance the same, but Pride and Lee Gyeongbok's situations were clearly different.

Pride's was based on "evaluation,"

Gyeongbok's on "choice."

[-Rock'n'Roll wouldn't make a lazy game, lol]

[Does free choice unlock extra events?]

[Is it like a New Game Plus?]

[No, that's only for repeated playthroughs!]

[But doing multi-run content on a first run, that's a perfect logic]

[Lol]

[Can't with this game, lollllll]

Anyone else would've called it a bug or a problem, but it was different with Lee Gyeongbok.

He'd established his credibility with prior evidence.

His streams always were—

[-Wow, clearly you have to watch Godple's stream for a real Master run]

Unlike any other.

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