Three Minutes Before the Incident
The convenience store near Janggeum Station in Cheongang Special City was quiet in the hazy hour just before dawn. A single Vitaloid stood behind the counter, her golden hair catching the fluorescent lights as she greeted each customer with a practiced smile.
“Welcome! This is #24 speaking!”
Ten minutes before the incident.
“Hey, part-timer. Grab me that blue one behind you.”
“Does this damn store not even sell diapers? If you’re gonna set up shop in a station area, shouldn’t you at least stock the basics?”
“Miss… I spilled ramen on the floor while eating… Could you clean it up for me…?”
It hadn’t been long since public opinion on SNS began demanding equal human rights for both enhanced humans and Vitaloids. Society still had a long way to go before attitudes truly changed.
“U-um… Is this the product you meant…?”
“I-I’m sorry… From now on, I’ll make sure to consider stocking diapers for our customers’ convenience…”
“Of course you will… So, where did you spill it…?”
That was why the Vitaloid endured.
She thought and felt stress just like any human, but she knew all too well what happened to Vitaloids who defied their Origin. So she held back. Again and again.
“No, not that one. The one further down. This is why you scrap heaps are…”
“Consider stocking them? Oh please. It’s not like I’m talking to some automated answering machine…”
“Hey, why are you acting all timid when you’re talking to a robot? Are you stupid?”
But how long could this patience last? Was there even an end to it?
“I… I kind of wish this convenience store would just go out of business for today…”
Letting a single complaint slip out when she couldn’t hold it in anymore… that was only human, wasn’t it?
Five minutes before the incident.
A female customer walked in at that ambiguous hour.
“Welcome! This is #24 speaking!”
It was close to dawn. The sky outside was still pitch black, yet everyone somehow still called it early morning. An awkward, in-between time.
Ugh, the smell of alcohol…
The sharp scent stabbed at her olfactory sensors, painting a vivid picture of the customer’s night. She had probably been at some club, rubbing bodies with men while drinking. Countless decadent scenes learned through deep learning flashed through the Vitaloid’s processor.
But then—
“……!!”
The moment the Vitaloid saw the customer’s face, all those thoughts were wiped clean from her mind.
A pure face that somehow looked like it was smiling even though it was expressionless. Round, gently curved eyebrows and softly upturned lips that radiated endless curiosity toward the world. Anyone could tell at a glance that she was a young woman who had only just stepped into adulthood.
To the Vitaloid, this customer’s existence was utterly shocking.
The fact that someone in this city could still make an expression like that… it hit her with the intensity of first love.
Three minutes before the incident.
The Vitaloid’s gaze kept following the customer’s every move. She couldn’t help it. Every little action—picking up an item, setting it down—was so pure and noble. Even the alcohol scent that had clung to her now seemed like it might mean, Maybe she wanted to learn how to drink but had no one to teach her, so she tried it alone at home. That was how far gone the Vitaloid was.
What kind of smile would she make? How could she be made to smile?
Her thought processors were flooded with electric signals carrying those very questions.
One minute before the incident.
With a sharp crackle, every electronic device in the convenience store went down.
W-what’s going on…?
Even as the Vitaloid panicked at the sudden anomaly, she never once looked away from the customer. That was probably why she noticed the woman calmly gathering instant noodles and other daily necessities, preparing to leave without any sign of alarm at the blackout.
The Vitaloid asked, “Excuse me, ma’am… what are you doing right now?”
A creeping sense of unease rose inside her. Surely this wasn’t one of those enhanced human crimes she’d seen on SNS? No, it couldn’t be. Not with her. Look at those eyes, clouded with confusion. As if she hadn’t even realized the Vitaloid was there…
‘……’
In that instant, something long blocked inside the Vitaloid’s learning module activated.
Enhanced humans—also known as Anti-Origins—had originally been human. During the process of replacing their bodies with machinery, the electrical signals responsible for emotion grew faint. As a result, they became fixated on a single goal like someone with a mental illness, or behaved like children chasing primal stimulation.
…Children?
“I asked what you’re doing…?”
Hiding her anxiety, the Vitaloid raised her voice. Whether it was courage or recklessness, she even vaulted over the counter to get closer.
The smiling customer, who had paused for a brief moment, lifted the corners of her mouth even higher. It was the kind of smile that said she was enjoying this situation far too much to hold back.
“Hehe.”
She laughed.
“………”
In that moment, the Vitaloid’s world changed.
The drab, gloomy cityscape burst into vibrant color. A floral scent she had never smelled before tickled her olfactory sensors. A halo even seemed to glow behind the problematic customer.
Ah. The halo was real.
So that was the superhuman ability of enhanced humans she had only heard about in stories.
“Why are you laughing…?”
The Vitaloid asked, suddenly afraid this might be the last time she ever saw that smile.
“Ma’am…?”
“No reason. Just because.”
And finally, the Vitaloid heard the answer directly from her voice.
“You don’t need a reason for laughter to come out, do you?”
After that, the Vitaloid’s vision flickered.
When she came back to her senses, everything around her had returned to normal. The lights, the refrigerators, the CCTV, the register—every device was back to its usual working state. The only things different were a single can of drink left on the counter and a note.
Drink this and calm down, sis.
It looked like it had been scribbled on the back of a receipt. When she hurriedly checked the POS system, of course the transaction hadn’t been processed.
“Ha… haha…”
The Vitaloid’s heart was racing. Was this pulse from fear, or from something else entirely?
“I didn’t… get to ask her name…”
Vitaloid A.G.O took a shaky breath, already looking forward to the day she would meet the mysterious customer again.
[You have committed an evil act!]
[Illegal jamming of electronic devices in a public space, theft of daily necessities, and damage to private property]
[Evil Points have increased by 5.]
[Current Evil Points: 5/100000]
“Whoa, damn. That’s ridiculously low.”
I clicked my tongue at the window floating in the air. No matter how small-scale the evil deed was, I’d hacked public equipment and only got five points? By simple calculation, I’d have to repeat this nonsense twenty thousand times just to reach the target.
At this rate, I’ll probably end up in prison as Minos City’s greatest petty criminal long before that.
Guess the title of main character’s nemesis wasn’t just for show. The bar really was set high.
I sat on a bench by the roadside, crunching on dry instant noodles as I fell into thought.
Crunch. Crunch.
This was my first time using the ability. Yet it felt completely natural, as if I had done it many times before. When I thought about it, that made sense. Even if this was my first time using it, my body had clearly used it before.
Doesn’t seem like there are any penalties like shortening my lifespan every time I use it, either…
The “someone” I was thinking of was the chairman of the Wunhwa Group from the original story—the one who delivered a despairing prophecy of the future to Last before dying in an unsatisfying way.
In a high-tech city where electronics are everywhere, electronic jamming is definitely a useful ability.
I should think carefully about the situations where I could use it.
Crunch. Crunch.
Come to think of it, could psychokinesis lift people as well as inanimate objects?
I experimentally tried using psychokinesis on myself to attempt levitation.
Whoosh—
A light floating sensation hit me as my body rose about five centimeters into the air.
“Oh.”
This… was fun!
For a while, I played around, adjusting the output of my psychokinesis and savoring the buoyant feeling every time my body left the ground.
> What the hell is this?
> Did something short-circuit? All the electronics in that sector suddenly went down.
In the management office near Janggeum Station, the night-shift workers who had been stuck dealing with the sudden issue since the crack of dawn gathered around the monitor.
“Senior, take a look at this.”
“What is it?”
The man called senior yawned lazily, clearly annoyed that this had happened right before his shift ended.
“This is definitely a short. I told you we should’ve called the maintenance company earlier.”
“But that area was just serviced by technicians a few days ago?”
“Shut up. It’s almost morning, so go ahead and switch with the next team. I’m going home to sleep.”
The man left his post. The juniors who had been staring at the screen with lingering reluctance followed him out of the management room.
Convinced that it was nothing important.