A New Mission!

"YOU WANT TO WHAT?!" This time, not only Ursa and Bai but even Aliyya was surprised at Riza's sudden request. They all had this comical expression that they would laugh if not for the seriousness of the situation.

"I want to join your team," Riza repeated himself, now her tone was fir. "Do you have any requirement for me to join?" Asked the girl.

Ursa hesitated, not knowing what to say here. He didn't know how things got developed to this point. At first, he didn't even consider forming a team, just doing the mission from the system to the best of his ability. Bai's help during the last mission was something he didn't expect yet still welcomed it with open hands, especially considering the dangerous situation at that time. But now? It was a completely different matter.

"Can you tell me why do you want to join this?" Bai asked, snapping Ursa from his thoughts.

"Well… There is someone I need your help to expose, but I don't have anything worthy to pay you both. The only worthy thing I have right now is my body, and I am willing to pay with it!" She clenched her fist, not knowing how her comment put the two boys off guard.

"Phrasing, Riza! Mind your phrasing!" Ursa coughed a little in panic.

Riza was confused for a few good seconds before she realized what she just said and blushed furiously for that. "N-No, I don't mean f-for that!" She corrected her words quickly.

"Then, what do you mean, Big Sis?" Aliyya tilted her head in confusion.

"Nothing!" The three teenagers snapped quickly, trying their best to get over their flustered mood right now so that Aliyya wouldn't ask any other questions about that. "O-Okay, let's go back to the topic. So, you want to be the muscle?" Ursa cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Yeah!" Riza nodded quickly, trying to ignore the heat on her face. "You've seen my strength already! In martial arts, I am confident I could beat everyone easily!" She clenched her fist, showing the muscle that was well-developed for a teenage girl like her.

Ursa and Bai exchanged glances for a moment, wondering how to proceed with this. They knew they had no reason to reject the girl's offer. They saw by themselves how strong Riza was when she beat the three uncles before. They also knew from the experience in the last mission that they were desperate for a fighter. After all, they both had poor physical conditions, and once someone like Vahd Diran chased them again, they had to rely on Bai's hacking ability to escape, which wasn't that reliable in most situations.

Still… They weren't comfortable with the reason why the girl wanted to join.

Even though Bai and Ursa hadn't discussed the business model they wanted to use, they didn't want to be a mercenary, accepting commission from strangers to expose the other people. They didn't want to imagine the scenario where things got escalated and they were used as a tool in a political battle.

However, as Ursa was going to refuse the girl's request, the ping sound of the system rang in his ears, catching him off guard.

[DING!]

[Mission alert!]

[Investigate Riza Ornata's request and expose the evil deeds of Golak Mayar's companion!]

[Reward: A silver item package draw.]

[Punishment: Unknown.]

[This is the continuation of the last mission. Good luck, Host! May justice be with you.]

'Um? This is related to Golak Mayar?' Ursa was startled when he read the details of the mission. He knew that Golak Mayar would never do anything alone, but for the system to pinpoint his companion so quickly was not something Ursa expected before. Still, this made it easier to follow up rather than going blindly like in the last mission. 'Hmm… Okay, since the mission has been issued, now, what should I do?'

He glanced over to the glasses boy and the ponytail girl who was waiting for his decision, somehow feeling flattered that they both were waiting for his instruction. He didn't know what they both saw in him considering compared to Bai's hacking ability or Riza's martial arts skill, he was just nothing.

Still, even though Ursa's value was far behind compared to his two new friends, he was confident he would catch up, what with the system supporting his life.

"So, what do you think, Ursa?" Bai asked cautiously, snapping Ursa from his thought.

Ursa could see Bai's eyes moving rapidly from his sister to Riza and he knew what his friend was concerned about the most right now. After pondering one last time, he finally decided, "What about we meet here again two hours later? Bai and Aliyya need to go home first, and Riza, you should've just come back from work, right? I also need to do something first, so let's prepare ourselves before taking action. What do you think?"

"Sure!"

-0-

"Thanks for not letting Aliyya join our escapade, by the way." Bai's voice could be heard as Ursa putting one of the earphones to its place. "I know she is a precocious kid, ut I don't want her to delve into a shady world too soon."

"Don't worry, I share the same sentiment," Ursa replied nonchalantly, preparing the windbreaker from his inventory. "So, how is your investigation?" He asked.

It was one hour after Ursa decided to delay talking about Riza's request, and he was already on the call with Bai. The glasses boy himself decided not to come again since he didn't want to alarm his father. Not that he would help a lot on the spot, of course. If anything, he was more dangerous behind the scenes.

Right now, though, Ursa was talking with Bai via the phone as before they separated ways, he asked the hacker to check Riza's background. No matter how friendly they were an hour ago, the girl was still someone they just met for the first time, and with his new identity, Ursa felt that being cautious was the right approach. As for Bai who he himself had just known a few days earlier, Ursa decided to trust him since the boy himself had already saved Ursa from a dangerous situation and even helped set up the 'Justice Warrior Vega' account. That was at least enough for him to trust the hacker.

"Don't worry, she is safe," Bai spoke from the other side of the call. "She is an orphan who has been living in the Inka Complex – that should be the name of the housing complex there – since she was ten years old, being taken care of by the community after her parents died from a car accident. She is also a disciple of Mizuno Dojo since she was six, so that explains her experience in fighting. Other than that, she worked a lot of part-time jobs, and I emphasize A LOT here since if it was any other normal person, they would've collapsed from the workload."

'So, a hardworking girl, huh?' Ursa hummed. "What about our potential target? Any idea of why she wanted us to investigate him?"

For that, Bai's voice turned grim as he let out a big scowl. "Oh, you will definitely like this person, Vega…"