Take Responsibility
[(Hacking Master): Hey] [(Hacking Master): Wanna meet up sometime?]
“Haa…”
After sending the message to GM, Marina stared at the screen in silence for several minutes.
Thanks to the artificial retina she had personally modified from Deus Corporation’s design, her eyes never grew dry no matter how long she gazed at the monitor.
“GM…”
While her retinas repeatedly refreshed the image without her even blinking, Marina’s thoughts remained fixed on a single person.
GM. The man who had burst into the Gallery and spread the culture of games, instantly capturing everyone’s attention.
‘I wonder how he’ll respond?’ The question consumed her.
Perhaps it was her distinctive personality, but Marina had no real acquaintances. The only people she ever spoke with were the Par-ttaks who assisted her, and even they were faceless strangers. Their conversations were strictly Gallery-related; she never shared personal interests or casual chats with them. In truth, she had no one she could call a friend.
Family? They were nothing more than pairings of suitable individuals producing offspring inside capsules. Genuine affection was never part of that equation.
What had allowed her to endure was the fact that, for a mutant, her emotions were remarkably stable.
—‘Hmm? This is…’
While living as a loner, she had somehow obtained an ancient record that caught her interest. It described a world without city-managing AIs, a place filled with water called the “sea,” and countless forms of life besides humanity.
Many of the details were unbelievable, yet her intuition screamed that everything written there was true—that such a world had once existed.
Among all the wonders, the cultures described fascinated her most. Entertainment industries existed where everyone could watch movies and dramas, and the best works and their creators were even awarded prizes in recognition. The concepts were utterly incomprehensible by modern standards.
The moment she read it, something bloomed inside Marina’s heart for the first time.
—‘Huh…?’
Red, blue, purple, rainbow. Her dull, colorless life had finally gained hue. Whether it was longing or deep curiosity, it didn’t matter. For the first time in her life, she felt genuine fulfillment.
From that day on, Marina’s life changed. Outwardly she seemed the same, but something new had taken root within her. She created the Gallery for other rootless mutants like herself and, as its administrator, gradually strengthened her own sense of ethics. That feeling grew steadily until it exploded the moment she encountered the culture called “games.”
A medium that brought unbearable joy simply by moving one’s fingers and watching a screen. After playing the two games GM had developed, Marina realized one undeniable truth: she could no longer live without games.
“How dare you turn me into this…”
Perhaps he, too, had some connection to archaeology. Deep down, she felt an impulse to see his face.
“You’re going to take responsibility properly, right?”
Reciting the line she had once read in an ancient book with a red cover discovered during an expedition outside the city, Marina smiled. The words sounded almost like a curse, yet they didn’t feel unpleasant.
Of course, none of this would happen unless he accepted her proposal. As Ju-ttak she could have used her authority to locate his computer, but…
‘I don’t want to go that far.’
Like everyone else in the Gallery, his opinion deserved respect. Besides, she wasn’t desperate enough to force the issue.
“What if he refuses…”
If that happened, she would have failed today’s task. After sending such a direct message, a rejection would almost certainly mean she had done something wrong.
…Not that she would be heartbroken. Still, to avoid repeating the mistake, she would need to analyze her actions systematically.
While Marina fidgeted anxiously in front of the screen, how much time had passed?
—Ding!
At the notification sound, she immediately checked the Gallery. It was the fastest response she had ever received since founding it.
GM had accepted her proposal.
“…!!”
Without thinking, Marina flung her mouse toward the ceiling.
—Thud!
The mouse struck the ceiling and tumbled across the floor, but Marina paid it no attention. An indescribable joy welled up inside her.
“Ah…”
Another important decision. Marina fell into thought. Conducting the trade for something as valuable as an Ultra PC in an obvious location would be problematic.
‘But meeting in some back alley…’
Back alleys—places where all sorts of black-market deals happened away from corporate eyes. Because illegal activities occurred there, security was virtually nonexistent, and few people lived in them anymore. They were little more than gloomy ruins.
Normally she would have used such a spot without hesitation, but her trading partner this time was GM. For some reason, she didn’t want to bring him there. He might mistake her for some shady woman involved with a criminal organization.
“I can’t exactly suggest somewhere wide open either…”
After agonizing over the choice for nearly thirty minutes, Marina finally managed to send a proper reply.
“…I’m not sure if this is the right call.”
That thought had been stuck in my head ever since I accepted Ju-ttak’s proposal.
“What’s done is done. Don’t regret it.”
⟨ Rose’s Art God ⟩
“I’m not regretting anything.”
I was just a little—okay, a lot—nervous. The meeting place didn’t seem like she was planning to ambush me or anything, but there were still plenty of other things to worry about.
The biggest one being…
“…A suit would be the safest choice, right?”
Rose’s Art God wears a smile full of ulterior motives.
“Agh, that damn obsessive shipper again.”
Go take your medicine already.
From what she’d said so far, she didn’t seem like a bad person. But I still couldn’t figure out why she was acting this way.
Honestly, I didn’t even know if Ju-ttak was a man or a woman. To me, she was simply the grateful admin who had promoted my games and allowed me to earn money. Nothing more, nothing less.
And she was talking about romance? I didn’t even know her gender.
“Love is not bound by gender…”
“Bullshit.”
I wasn’t into guys. If she wanted that kind of story, she should go read a romance fantasy, not cyberpunk.
Rose’s Art God looks sulky.
The God of Stringed Instruments gives Rose’s Art God a pitying look.
All the constellations capture Rose’s Art God.
Rose’s Art God, now bound, roars in protest.
“It’s our first meeting. I can’t show up wearing something weird.”
First impressions mattered a lot when judging someone. And the person I was meeting today wasn’t just the Gallery’s Ju-ttak—she was on the level of a trading partner’s CEO.
If I showed up in strange clothes, what would happen? I’d immediately hear things like “Ugh, what a weirdo” or “There’s no way someone like that could make a proper game.”
There was a saying that game developers looked more trustworthy the more haggard they appeared, because it suggested they poured all their energy into making games without caring about anything else.
But that was a modern notion from a time when games had already become established. In this era, where that perception wasn’t even solid yet, I couldn’t afford to look like that in front of such an important person.
“Alright, I’ll go with this.”
Well, it was just a secondhand computer trade, so maybe it wouldn’t matter much even if I dressed casually. Still, better safe than sorry. If I made a good impression, she might promote my games even more later on.