The night passed without incident.
Waking up bright and early, Andrew donned his armor, grabbed his weapons, and rode his motorcycle to the location the client had sent him on the Proxy Net.
It was a good thing the motorcycle was modified with lost technology, able to withstand such weight. Any ordinary bike would have broken down long ago.
Looking at the coordinates, which placed him at the base of a high-rise apartment building near the city center, Andrew tilted his head back to look up.
New Eridu was already a solitary city, and it was an unwritten rule that the closer you got to the center, the safer it was. And to have your own place in a city center like this...
According to the ads he remembered from TV, a single square meter here cost about one hundred million Dennies.
That was enough to pay the deposit for a commission like this 33 times over. With some to spare.
No, actually, that was enough to buy two of Andrew's shops and still have plenty left.
The surrounding walls were heavily fortified, and the guards standing at the gate were soldiers armed with live ammunition.
Honestly, this was the first time Andrew had so directly felt the presence of New Eridu's financial magnates.
Because based on the client's tone when she explained the commission, this place seemed to be nothing more than a dormitory assigned to her by the DGA Entertainment.
His brief moment of reflection over, Andrew adjusted the incredibly heavy weapon on his back. Since there was still some time before the meeting, he strolled casually toward the designated location.
He didn't go to the security booth to get on the nerves of the soldiers on guard; the client had been thoughtful enough to arrange the meeting spot by a newsstand next to the apartment building.
As Andrew approached, he saw an extremely cold-looking woman standing by the newsstand, pressing an earpiece to one ear as she spoke.
Her other hand held a phone, and her horizontal forearm perfectly accentuated her exquisite figure.
However, more eye-catching than the curves of her body, clearly outlined by her tight leather suit, was her incredibly delicate face.
Her mature makeup wasn't heavy at all; it merely served to lightly adorn her already naturally beautiful features.
Her light-golden hair was tied up, giving her the capable air of a professional beauty, while a mole under her right eye added a unique charm to her face.
Unfortunately, all this physical excellence was completely overshadowed by her cold, almost cruel, temperament.
It wasn't that her temperament made her unattractive or hid her beautiful features. It was simply an intimidating, 'keep-your-distance' aura that made people afraid to even look at her too closely.
The short phone call ended. She lowered the hand from her earpiece, and her fingers, their dexterity not at all hindered by her gloves, flew across the phone's screen.
She casually flicked away the bangs that were slightly obscuring her vision, a crisp movement that exuded mature charm.
Unfortunately, that chilly, 'stay-away' aura made one lose all desire to get any closer.
If she weren't his client, to be honest, Andrew wouldn't want to approach this woman who looked like nothing but trouble.
But from their previous communication on the Proxy Net, her professional attitude was absolutely impeccable.
After looking around and reluctantly confirming that she was indeed his client, Andrew stopped hesitating and walked directly towards her.
As Andrew closed to within five meters, the blonde woman immediately looked up, her gaze locking onto him. Her right hand, which had been typing just a moment ago, had at some point drawn a folding knife from her waist.
"Click"
With a crisp sound, the folding knife snapped open in her palm, her finger dexterity completely unaffected by the gloves.
After the woman gave the knife an expert twirl, an atmosphere of silent warning radiated from her.
"Uh..."
He looked at the woman who, despite having arranged to meet him here, was now staring at him with extreme caution upon his arrival.
Andrew confirmed that his first impression of her had been dead on.
Andrew first raised his hands to show he had no hostile intent and was just about to pull his phone from his pocket to send a message to identify himself.
Less than two seconds later, a ding came from her phone. The blonde woman, who exuded a dangerous aura, finally seemed to realize something and took out her own device.
After seeing the message and realizing it might be a misunderstanding, the woman immediately froze, but her wariness remained.
Only after Andrew took out his own phone and showed her his Proxy Net account page did the woman finally relax completely.
This extreme level of alertness left Andrew a little bewildered.
After all, even when a stranger suddenly approaches, your first reaction shouldn't be this intense, right?
Her subconscious reaction was as if every person who had ever suddenly approached her in the past was a threat.
Is the life of a celebrity really this harsh?
Being a bodyguard means you have to be this on edge, this wary of every random stranger.
Completely unaware of how dangerous his own getup looked to an uninformed person, Andrew confirmed she was his client and said cheerfully: "So, what's the situation? Is something going on nearby?"
Does security work really require this much vigilance?
Sighing inwardly that this money wasn't going to be easy to earn, Andrew immediately brought the tower shield from his back into his hand. They were in the city, after all, and an unfurled lance would be too conspicuous.
Instantly on guard, Andrew asked the woman who looked extremely difficult to get along with.
However, with his normally gentle face hidden behind the Vicious Claw Wyvern mask, even a casual question took on a different tone, making him seem incredibly intimidating.
Seeing Andrew on alert and knowing her own subconscious wariness had caused a misunderstanding, Evelyn immediately explained: "No, it's just a habit from my previous profession... that's all..."
Before she could finish, a flash of reflected light flickered and was gone. Before Evelyn could react, she saw a grappling hook shoot out from Andrew's left hand.
From an extremely well-hidden corner in the distance, a perfectly camouflaged man was yanked out.
Caught completely off guard, the man, who had been aiming a super-telephoto lens at something, was already in Andrew's grasp before he could even react.
He was still clutching his camera, in the very act of taking a picture.
Andrew snatched the obviously suspicious camera and handed it to Evelyn with an ease that suggested he'd just caught some prey by the roadside.
Evelyn, who hadn't even had time to react, remained silent for a few seconds before taking the camera and starting to look through the photos.
Just then, the man in Andrew's grip came to his senses and began to struggle, shouting incessantly.
"Assault! Assault! A Digo Entertainment employee is beating someone up! Everyone, come and look!"
The man, shouting non-stop, shut his eyes and hardened his face, adopting the infuriating posture of a 'dead pig that doesn't fear boiling water'—a shameless act clearly aimed at provoking Andrew.
After all, if Andrew or anyone else really hit him, they would lose the moral high ground, and he might even be able to squeeze some money out of the situation.
Unfortunately for him, Andrew was not a Digo Entertainment employee, and he wasn't falling for this act in the slightest.
____
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