“You bastard! I heard there was a gunfight in the village again last night—!! Do you think Justice Town is your playground?”
“Sheriff, you’re making me out to be the bad guy again. Do you think I’d pull out my gun just for fun? I was dealing with outlaws threatening the peace of the town.”
As I said that, I pointed to the outlaws.
The corpses of the Marcos brothers, Jake McGuffin, and even Marv Murchins, who was bound and still alive—five outlaws in total.
If these guys had caused trouble in the village, the damage would have been huge.
Jet, realizing this, looked at the outlaws, his expression changing.
Then, he compared the wanted posters I handed him with the outlaws, sighing deeply.
“Hmm… To think such vile criminals would come to our town. What could they possibly want here?”
“That’s because Justice Town is a spawn point for outlaws.”
“…Hah, can’t you stop with that nonsensical talk?”
Jet, who had been dealing with the increasing number of outlaws recently, seemed exhausted.
He rubbed his face a few times before calming down and speaking to me.
“…Kid, I apologize for yelling at you earlier. I just want our village to stay peaceful and quiet, but ever since you came, Justice Town’s been a lot noisier.”
“That’s not my fault, though.”
“…Yeah, you’re right. It’s not your fault. But I keep hearing your name over and over again, and it got to me. I’m sorry.”
Jet, who had been the sheriff of Justice Town for 10 years, was strict but not a bad person.
I nodded, accepting his apology.
“I’ll also apologize for calling you a stubborn old man, a fool, a fat-bellied, bald, impotent, washed-up relic.”
“Let’s confirm the outlaws’ identities quickly and head inside. I’ll treat you to some coffee.”
“…Alright, I’ll take you up on that.”
Jet was a strict old-timer, and we didn’t get along well since I was a free-spirited MZ generation type.
Still, we had an inseparable symbiotic relationship.
Jet needed someone like me—a bounty hunter—to deal with the ever-increasing number of outlaws.
And for me, being friendly with the sheriff had plenty of benefits.
“All confirmed. They match the wanted posters… You did well.”
With that, Jet confirmed the outlaws’ identities and followed me into the office for some coffee.
“I’ve confirmed their identities, so come by the sheriff’s office later, and I’ll give you the reward.”
“Sure, I’ll send Emma to collect it.”
***
Sip
As I took a sip of the coffee Emma had made, I casually asked Jet,
“By the way, Sheriff, any new wanted posters?”
Being on good terms with the sheriff had its perks.
As a bounty hunter, I always needed more wanted posters.
Even if I caught an outlaw, it was useless without a bounty poster.
“New posters? Didn’t I give you some yesterday?”
“I caught the ones on yesterday’s posters today. If I take one down, you need to give me another. Got any you’re holding back?”
“Hmph…”
Jet, seemingly having brought some wanted posters with him, licked his lips and began rummaging through his bag.
“…You’re after money, right? What kind of bounty are you looking for?”
“Hmm…”
[Logout unavailable]
[Remaining amount to logout: $894,556 / $1,000,000]
I needed roughly $110,000 more to log out.
It would take forever if I kept catching small-time outlaws like the ones I took down today.
“By any chance, do you have any bounties over $100,000?”
$100,000 was about 3.6 billion won in today’s Korean currency.
No matter how notorious an outlaw was, there wouldn’t be such a huge bounty on their head.
I knew there probably wasn’t one, but I asked anyway…
“An outlaw with a bounty over $100,000… There is one. Actually, there are two with bounties of $150,000 each.”
Jet nodded and pulled out two wanted posters from his bag.
“Huh? There’s really… Ah…”
And then, I was immediately disappointed.
[Name: Unknown]
[Age: Estimated early 40s]
[Dead or alive: $150,000]
[Description: Founder and leader of California’s largest gang, the South Brotherhood.]
First was the leader of the South Brotherhood.
This guy, whose name wasn’t even known, was the final boss of the last chapter in Outlaw Hunt.
The South Brotherhood, notorious across the West with its base in San Francisco, wasn’t an easy group to take down.
Most people didn’t even know what their leader looked like.
Of course, as someone who had cleared Outlaw Hunt, I knew who he was…
But still, it would be nearly impossible for me to take him down and collect the bounty on my own.
Next, the other poster.
[Name: Unknown]
[Age: Estimated early 20s]
[Dead or alive: $150,000]
[Description: Founder and former leader of the secret society TKK.]
The first boss of TKK, a young gang with a secretive structure.
…This guy’s identity was also unknown, and for various reasons, he was uncatchable.
These two were considered unicorns among bounty hunters—practically mythical creatures.
Jet probably pulled these old wanted posters out just to mess with me.
“Come on, really? These?”
“You wanted something over $100,000, so I showed you.”
“Don’t you have anything else? Something that could actually land me a big score?”
Jet shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Not in this area. The outlaws have dried up.”
“Damn…”
Maybe the recent mass capture of outlaws had delayed their respawn time.
It looked like I’d have to stick with the wanted posters I already had for a while.
But then…
“Ah, it’s not exactly local, but…”
Jet suddenly remembered something, pulling something else from his bag.
“Have you ever heard of the Red Beard Gang?”
“Red Beard? What kind of name is that? Sounds like something out of a pirate manga.”
‘What kind of Devil Fruit power could a guy with a name like that have?’ I was about to shake my head, but then…
“Wait a second…”
The Red Beard Gang…?
Suddenly, a memory buried deep within my mind surfaced.
“The Red Beard Gang… could it be that bank robbery gang?”
“That’s right. You know them?”
…How could I not know?
The Red Beard Gang.
They were…
The main villains of Chapter 1 in Outlaw Hunt.
Come to think of it, the current year was 1874, the same year Outlaw Hunt was set in.
‘Damn, I was so busy trying to survive, I didn’t even realize this important detail.’
As I was lost in thought, Jet took a sip of his coffee and started to explain the crimes of the Red Beard Gang.
“The Red Beard Gang robbed the Wells Fargo Bank in Lexio County and then fled.”
Was this just a coincidence?
In Korea, I was 23 years old, and now, in this world, my body—Noah’s body—was also 23.
And now, the Red Beard Gang Bank Robbery from Chapter 1 of Outlaw Hunt had occurred.
In Outlaw Hunt Chapter 1 [The Red Beard Gang Bank Robbery], the protagonist, a Pinkerton private detective, stumbles upon Lexio County, the chapter’s setting.
Sensing something suspicious in the town’s atmosphere and uncovering hidden clues, the protagonist learns of the impending bank robbery and foils the Red Beard Gang’s plans.
There are two possible endings here.
The first is a happy ending where the protagonist successfully takes down the leader of the Red Beard Gang, raising their reputation and fully wiping out the gang.
The second is a bad ending where the leader escapes, leading to a bounty being placed on their head.
But since the robbery had already taken place, and a bounty was posted…
‘The protagonist must have let the gang leader escape. It’s the bad ending.’
It seemed like the bad ending had occurred.
Feeling resigned, I asked Jet out of curiosity.
“How much is their bounty?”
“The leader is worth $1,500, and the other prominent members are around $200 to $500 each.”
Jet handed me the wanted posters of the Red Beard Gang’s top members as he spoke.
“The other nameless regular members are $50 each.”
“And how many of them are there, about 20?”
“Roughly, yes.”
“Wow, if I catch them all, how much would that be?”
If I could take down just this one gang, I’d make more money than what I’d earned so far.
As I was doing the math on my fingers, Jet took another sip of his coffee and said, “Well, why don’t you take a trip out there? Lexio County is a bit far, but it’s not beyond reach. Besides, you’re great at catching outlaws.”
“They say the whole area is in chaos because of the bank robbery. The gang probably hasn’t gotten far, so go and handle it.”
“Sometimes, when the outlaws vanished from Justice Town, I would go on trips to other areas to capture them.”
But…
“I’m not sure. I don’t think I can catch them this time.”
I wasn’t keen on going after the Red Beard Gang.
“Wait, is Kid, of all people, scared of bank robbers?” Jet asked, surprised.
I guess he figured I’d pack up and leave right away for a bounty like this.
Of course, if the Red Beard Gang were just ordinary outlaws, I might have gone after them, but…
“Of course not. But these guys… I won’t be able to catch them. There’s just something about them.”
These guys were a bit special.
In Outlaw Hunt Chapter 1, if the bad ending happened and the Red Beard Gang escaped…
[You failed to capture the Red Beard Gang. They disappeared into the setting sun.]
…That message would appear, and in the game, they would never be catchable again.
Even if I ran to Lexio County right now, those guys had probably already fled somewhere else.
I had no intention of wasting my time chasing after a high bounty for nothing.
“…I don’t really get what you’re saying, but you’re not planning to go after them, huh? Well, take this anyway.”
Jet handed me the wanted posters for the Red Beard Gang.
Who knows? Maybe, like the wolves drawn to a buffalo carcass, they might end up here in Justice Town.
“…As if that would happen. But well… I’ll take it, just in case.”
I took the posters from Jet and casually glanced over the mugshots and descriptions.
[Name: Edward Wilde]
[Age: 41]
[Dead or Alive: $1,500]
[Description: Leader of the Red Beard Gang]
[Crimes: Bank robbery, nine counts of murder and attempted murder]
The gang was called the Red Beard Gang because their leader, Edward Wilde, was a ginger with bright red facial hair.
‘He looked terrifying in the game, but in real life, he’s even scarier.’
Though I accepted the poster, I was confident I’d never run into these guys.
“Emma, put this poster in the drawer over there.”
“Yes, sir.”
I had Emma stash the wanted posters away.
After all, who knew what might happen this afternoon?
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