December is fast approaching as the gelid wind blows through the crowded, wet and damped streets of NQSC.
'It is colder than last year...'
Ever since the Antarctic campaign 3 years ago, most of the waking world temperatures has been getting lower with each passing year. It has gotten to a point where even awakened had to wear some kind of protective clothing to insulate themselves, if they wished to stay outside for prolong period.
The city was less crowded than last year thanks to more people, awakened and mundanes alike, moving into the dream realm now.
Awakened June takes a long breath as he soaks in the familiar view of the city that he grew up in. Eventually after a few minutes of walking along the wet and crooked pavements of the city, he had finally arrived at his destination.
In front of him stood a plane and ordinary looking restaraunt with a sign that says 'Solvyne diner'. It was an ordinary restaurant that no one would usually pay much attention too, it was neither too high class nor those cheap fast-food places that sell synthetic crap. It's also one of the main locations where the Black-market contracts and deals are carried out.
For those who isn't involved with the business and operations of the criminal underworld, it is easy to assume that the market is located in some secret location away from the general population, where you can only access using a secret pathway. Well, that part is true, however for most of the time its locations are hidden right under the eyes of the public. In areas that no one would expect, such as a typical family diner in the middle of the city.
It was around a 2 days ago that June had received an invitation letter from certain members of the Black market, which promised to pay a decent amount of credits.
'Ah, the usual location again.'
As he pulls up his black sponge face mask, June takes a small sigh and subsequently ascends the stairs to the front door of the diner. Upon opening the door he was bombarded with a myriad of sounds, clattering silverwares, shouting chefs and overlapping conversations from the customers. The diner atmosphere was lively to say the least, with children running around the complex and adults drinking while catching up with each other lives. Which is quite ironic that such a lively place is the primary outlet for Black market deals in NQSC.
Taking everything in, June frowned. Due to the amount of credit promised, he knew that this mission was going to be difficult. In fact, chances are that anyone inside this building could be a potential competitor who had also received an invitation from the contractors and are aiming to be the first one to complete, whatever the mission is. So, it would be an underestimate to say that June is on guard.
June then calmly walks over to the register and summoned a crafted badge memory in his hand. The memory he has inside his hand was crafted by blacksmiths that are associated with the Black-market, they don't have any kind of unique enchantment. Instead, it is just a memory that serves as an 'ID card' for verification purposes, that allowed other executives, contractors and dealers of the market to identify each other.
The Cashier behind the table was frozen for a second, but then she quickly regained her composure and gesture to lead June to the kitchen.
"Y- Yes sir, please this way."
As June followed the woman to the kitchen area, he activated his dormant ability to observe the surrounding and to look for other competitors. People who take up contracts and assignments for the Black market like himself, aren't exactly on good terms with each other. In fact, for assignments like these, it's not uncommon for them to fight one another to be the one who'll get the pay check.
After a few moments, the two of them had entered the kitchen area. On the far end of the kitchen, stood a metallic door with a sign that says, 'Maintenance area: Keep out'.
The young cashier stared back at June with slight hesitation, then raised up a hand to point over to the door.
"H- He's waiting for you behind the door, sir."
June gave a nonchalant nod and headed to the door. Of course, he knew the location beforehand, after all he had visited this specific black-market outlet in NQSC on numerous occasions before. Though June could tell from the cashier body language and mannerism, that she was quite new to the market operation.
However, what surprised June the most was that so far, he couldn't spot any potential competitors. Did they only call up each operative alone individually this time? Make sense considering how last time there was a mission with this kind of pay grade, 2 different mercenaries fought each other outside to see who was the one to take the job.
It took a lot of time and effort from the Black-market to cover up the entire situation.
June sighed as he pushed the metal door open and entered the other room. The room on the other side was cold and devoid of any colour beside grey, it was also quite spacious as well, with a single dim lightbulb shining over a small table.
Behind the table was a man that June was quite familiar with. The man was an old looking gentleman, around his late 50s with grey hair and wears a standard black suit and a red tie. He was one of the contractors of the black market, who had assigned several missions for June in the past.
Upon hearing June footstep, the man glanced over at June direction and gave a friendly smile, which is accompanied by a gentle wave.
"Corsair! It been a while since we've met. Please come and take a seat."
June subsequentially responded to the Contractor in a calm and collected tone, as he approached the centre of the room.
"It's a pleasure to see you again too."
The older man then leaned back on his seat while giving a small light-hearted chuckle. He proceeded to reached over to a plastic bag that was on the table and pulled out a flask of whiskey.
"Please Corsair, by all means, make yourself comfortable."
June grabbed a seat on the opposite side of the table from the contractor and sat down. Beside the plastic bag, on the table there was a lot of papers and documents stacked on top of each other. Each one of them were detailed descriptions of specific individuals.
'So, this is an assassination mission?'
June raises his head and asks the contractor in a nonchalant tone.
"So, what's the assignment about?"
The older gentleman placed his flask down after taking a few sip and looked at June. In a polite manner, the man gave out a small yet sinister smile.
"Say, Corsair. How much do you know about the Pandavar clan?"