"Aren't you getting up yet? Seriously—how long are you planning to cling to me?"
"Those guys… are they here to grab you? Or to grab me? Whatever. They're already scared off, hah. Don't let the fact they're big and tall fool you—once you drop one of them, the rest get scared and run. That's what Logan meant by 'a bunch of losers'—he was talking about idiots like them."
Jinx looked down at the kid curled up on top of her and shook the pistol in her hand.
The moment she did, the little girl immediately scooted back and stood up.
Her hands twisted together in front of her. She kept her head down, but still sneaked a glance up at Jinx. When she realized Jinx was looking at her too and their eyes met, the little girl's orange-yellow pupils shrank. Her whole body trembled, and she instantly looked away again, dropping her head.
Seeing that, Jinx let out an exasperated huff.
"Lucky you ran into me. If it were someone else… uh,—forget it, I don't even know how to finish that sentence. And why aren't you playing along? When someone talks to you, you're supposed to respond. Respond? Wow, you're rude."
Jinx stood, tapped the side of her head twice with the gun, then turned around. With her back to the kid, she waved a hand.
"Anyway, good luck, kid~"
The little girl watched Jinx's bouncing, swaggering back as she walked away. She hesitated… then pulled her hat lower.
A moment later, voices started echoing from the alley ahead.
"Huh? Why are you following me?"
"Why aren't you talking?"
"Kid, don't you have a home?"
In the Mid-Tier Plaza, Logan was asking around and thinking about how to make money. He was looking at a crowded information hub when he spotted a staggering silhouette in the distance—one he knew all too well.
Logan froze for a second, then immediately went after it.
He pushed through the crowd, following that person farther and farther, until they drifted away from the bustle and left the central area of the Mid-Tier Plaza.
Not long after, Logan trailed them into a place that looked like an abandoned dump. A lot of kids were scavenging through piles of trash, small and thin—so skinny it made Logan frown.
He went deeper into the dump, rounded a corner, and finally saw a few figures at the far end.
A man with a metal chin and hair spiked up like a hedgehog was gripping another man by the throat.
"Cough—Boss Mark, I—I really didn't steal your money…" The man being choked struggled hard, the wound on his arm glaringly obvious.
"Bullshit!" The hedgehog-haired man snapped. "Marsen, I only took you in because you were sharp. I trusted you with the money, and this is how you repay me?"
His right wrist to forearm had been cut off and replaced with a rusted steel blade. He aimed that blade straight at the man's neck.
"It's not— It's not my fault. The Undercity's gone crazy. I really did everything I could!"
"If you really did everything you could, you wouldn't be standing here!"
"That was my money! My money, you understand? Who the hell knows if you used my money to buy your worthless life!"
Mark spat, the saliva landing on Marsen's face.
Marsen's eyes rolled up as he fought for air.
But then, in the next second, Marsen started coughing violently. His body folded against the wall as he clutched his throat, coughing hard. He thought Mark had finally let him go. He struggled to lift his head, about to thank him—
And then, with one eye wider than the other, he saw what was happening.
"Fuck! Shoot him!"
"Who the hell are you, messing with the Blinding Gang?!"
A massive crash rang out. Half of Mark's upper face was simply gone—blown away. His body flew back and slammed into a heap of trash, going completely still.
Of the three lackeys left, one was howling while clutching his lower leg, hugging it in agony. The other two fired in panic.
Gunfire erupted, muzzle flashes spitting—
And then, in the next instant, the Blinding Gang member with the handgun jerked as if something had shoved his head. His skull slammed into the wall so hard that half his face smashed into it. Blood—and a pale, viscous mess—splattered across the wall.
A scream tore through the air.
Then, very quickly, the gunfire stopped.
Everything went quiet.
Marsen's body trembled. Still coughing, head lowered, he heard steady footsteps stop in front of him.
Damn it… Chem-Baron people again?
But haven't they already taken all the Blinding Gang's money?
Why are they still doing this?
Marsen felt despair.
The Blinding Gang was a small gang in the Lanes. On normal days, they acted like they ran the place—but compared to the real gangs and the so-called "entrepreneurs," they were nothing. Just a slightly bigger bug among bugs.
Now that the Undercity had turned chaotic, the gangs and the Chem-Barons' men were everywhere. Even the Lanes had become a wasteland. They claimed they were searching for someone, but once those people stormed into your turf, how could anything good come of it?
What a goddamn nightmare.
Maybe Logan—that bastard—was right. Zaun had changed. It had become even more wrong than before.
Then again… weren't we always wrong?
Marsen thought that, feeling like his life was over. But then he felt someone lift his arm, and his weight shifted—he ended up leaning against a skinny body.
"What're you thinking about? You look so serious."
A familiar voice.
Marsen turned his head—and saw a face he recognized.
"Y-You… Logan? Oh my god, how is it you?"
"Marsen," Logan said, looking at him, "you've really been having a rough time."
Logan smiled.
Downstairs, on a battered couch with a hole torn in it, Marsen sat with his head lowered. A bandage had already been wrapped around his arm.
Next to him sat a small kid wearing a hat.
Just like him, she didn't dare speak. She sat obediently with her hands on her knees.
Logan glanced at the little girl—the hat that looked like Teemo's was especially noticeable—then looked at Jinx.
"You went out to mess around, fine, but why did you bring someone back?"
"That's what I want to ask you!" Jinx shot back. "Why did you bring someone back?"
"He's Marsen. You forgot him already?"
"Marsen?" Jinx shrugged. "Kinda remember. And as for her—she's the one who insisted on following me, okay?"
"…"
Sitting with Jinx, Logan was speechless.
"Whatever. We'll do it like this for now," Logan thought it through and said. "We've still got quite a bit of money. Two more mouths—and one of them's a little kid—won't eat that much."
At most, Marsen would stay for a day or two. Logan had no intention of keeping him around.
And that little girl… since Jinx had already brought her back, was Logan really going to chase her out?
Chase out a kid who looked like she was, at most, eight years old?
Logan didn't think he could do that.
Earlier, just seeing the kids scavenging in that dump had made him want to help—he'd only managed to hold himself back.
Even so, Logan was still a little unhappy about how Jinx had brought someone home like she was picking up a stray animal.
People weren't animals. They weren't pets, either. If Jinx brought someone back, then she had to take care of them properly.
"You brought her here, so you're responsible," Logan said. "Jinx, you need to take care of her."
"Take care of her? Are you kidding?" Jinx snapped, crossing one leg over the other and flicking her braids. "No way. That's a pain. I'm not taking care of a kid."
And beside them, watching Logan and Jinx banter, Marsen finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Forget that—Logan, she…" Marsen glanced at Jinx, then asked, "why is she here with you?"
"Hmm?" Jinx, who'd been lounging lazily a second ago, shot to her feet. Her eyes turned unfriendly as she stared at Marsen.
What's that supposed to mean—like I can't be here?
"That's… a long story," Logan said with a smile.