Chapter 17
Chapter 17
"A chip, huh......."
I muttered as I scanned the item description window again.
It was a brain implant chip.
A nail-sized object with circuits thinner than a strand of hair densely engraved on a cold, smooth metal surface.
It shimmered with a subtle, iridescent glow when it caught the light, making it look like a mere accessory at first glance, but the technology contained within was on a different level.
[Name] : Brain Implant Chip
[Category] : Chip
[Required Ether] : 20 million Ether
"Hoho......."
A low exclamation escaped my lips before I knew it.
It looked quite useful.
I can control zombies even now. But there was always a clear upper limit.
A zombie's brain, no matter how much it's a reanimated corpse, is basically a half-rotted lump.
It will stupidly follow a single simple command, but handling more than two things at once was impossible.
Walk. Attack. Stop.
You shouldn't expect anything more than that.
But what if I had this chip?
"What if I implanted this chip?"
It was worth experimenting with.
Besides, a more interesting possibility suddenly flashed through my mind.
"Couldn't I use it even if it's not my own zombie?"
I called them zombies, but "Bio-android" would be a more accurate expression.
If it has a brain and a structure capable of receiving signals, it means it doesn't necessarily have to be one I created myself.
However, there was a problem.
"I need an AI to control the chip..... This looks like it would be incredibly expensive, right?"
That was the bottleneck.
The chip itself was only half the solution.
An AI that can process commands, analyze feedback, and control the entity in real-time.
Without that, it was just a piece of metal stuck in a brain.
But.
'Doing things the bootleg way is the real charm of cyberpunk.'
I never intended to go by the book from the start.
Besides, the opponent isn't a human brain, it's a zombie brain, so there's no reason to buy a genuine AI.
I posted a question on the gallery.
[Guys, assuming I have a zombie, I want to use a brain implant chip, how do I do it?]
└[Sandebiseutan] : Isn't an old-model AI the only answer?
└[Doctor Repair] : There is a way, but.....it's dangerous.
└[T] : A chip, huh....are you talking about a personality chip? I know a lot about those.
└[Nova] : No data.
"Ohho... as expected of Doctor."
Everyone else had lukewarm reactions, but only Doctor was different.
He was the only one who said there was a way.
I sent a whisper without hesitation.
└[Doctor Repair] : There's a piece of tech made by some crazy bastards who didn't care about the user's nerves.
└[Gallery Owner] : What's that?
└[Doctor Repair] : Literally a 'Zombie Chip'. If the original is a zombie like you said, it'd be a weird situation where you're using a Zombie Chip on a zombie, but it'll work.
I liked it immediately.
The biggest problem right now was the Cost anyway.
If one chip is properly installed, I can significantly save on the control costs afterward.
Management efficiency would go up, too.
└[Doctor Repair] : I uploaded one to the shop, hehe...... Don't overuse it.
└[Gallery Owner] : Oh, thanks...
I immediately opened the shop window.
[Name] : Zombie Chip
[Category] : Chip
[Required Ether] : 5 million Ether
"Oh! It got cheaper!"
It was 1/4 of the price.
I don't know how much it differs in functionality from the Brain Implant Chip I was looking at originally, but the direction is the same.
And thinking about it calmly.
"This could be used not just for zombies, but for humans too, right?"
Ultimately, it means that as long as it has a brain and can send and receive neural signals, it doesn't matter what the species is.
"Turning them into zombies and making them follow orders until they die..... That's scary."
└[Doctor Repair] : It's something that was marketed a long time ago. It became a relic of the old era as software updated, but it seems like it would work in the era you're in?
Technology already phased out in the cyberpunk era.
An item that is close to trash by that era's standards becomes cutting-edge technology in this world I'm in.
"How many can I buy right now?"
I checked my Ether balance.
-Ether Balance = 0
"Ah, fuck."
I shouldn't have looked.
Zero. I don't know when I spent it all, and I don't remember spending it that recklessly.
No, come to think of it, I do.
"Damn... I have no choice."
I need to collect Ether.
And I need to do it quickly, and in large amounts.
There was only one way.
"I have to sell the useless things rolling around here."
Things that have no value in this world, but would be worth something in another dimension.
Zombies, and the junk piled up everywhere.
"First of all..... should I go to the junkyard?"
The junkyard was at the edge of the shelter zone.
The smell found me before I even arrived.
The scent of fermented food waste, burnt plastic, and rusted metal mixed together to pierce my nose, and I was already in a bad mood.
Still, the facility that caught my eye upon arrival was more decent than I expected.
A building that looked like a pawn shop, and a heavy iron gate next to it.
It creaked at the rusted hinges, but trucks loaded with trash were constantly going in and out beyond the gate.
"As expected of a large shelter."
In the small shelter I used to be a part of, they just dumped trash on the ground.
Here, the system itself was different.
The problem was that security was tighter than I thought.
Two guards holding guns were standing firmly on both sides of the massive iron gate.
Their eyes were sharp.
It wasn't an atmosphere where they'd just let me pass.
I ignored them for now, stepped aside, and headed toward the pawn shop.
Inside, one person was sitting.
He was a thug with tattoos wrapped around his forearms.
Wearing a sleeveless shirt, he was leaning back in his chair, chewing gum, and had his eyes glued to a comic book.
Greasy hair was hanging over his forehead.
"Excuse me?"
I spoke to him.
He pretended not to hear.
Only the sound of chewing gum could be heard.
"Excuse me!"
When I called out the second time, he finally lifted his head.
Exuding annoyance with his whole body, he irritably scratched his greasy bangs and said.
"Ah, why! Can't you see I'm busy right now?"
It was an irritated voice.
This is a shelter.
If I cause trouble for no reason, I'm the one who loses.
I quietly took a piece of gum out of the Dark Room.
I figured just rolling it on my tongue and chewing would be enough.
"I want to go inside, is there any way?"
I asked, holding out the gum.
The guy scanned me up and down.
He stopped for a moment, wondering what he was looking at, then snatched the gum away.
And after sneering at me once, he said.
"Go on in."
He probably thought that even if I dug something out of there, there wouldn't be anything worth much.
"Hey, hey! We have a guest! Don't touch him!"
"Yes! Boss!"
At his word, the guards in front of the iron gate cleared the way.
As soon as I stepped inside, a sigh came out automatically.
It was a mountain.
Literally, a mountain made of trash.
Remnants of old electronic devices, rusted pipes, broken glass, containers with unidentified hardened liquid stuck to them.
Everything was mixed together, piled up as if to pierce the sky.
The smell became even more pungent.
I had to breathe shallowly.
"Alright.... now the start..."
It felt hopeless.
The hopelessness of standing in front of this massive amount was greater than the smell piercing my nose.
"Oh, seriously."
It was impossible alone.
I needed manpower.
I scanned the corner and found a fallen corpse.
It was stiff, perhaps from rigor mortis.
"Get up, buddy."
I activated the Corpse Control skill.
A moment later, the twisted joints creaked and loosened, and the zombie slowly raised its body.
There was no focus in its eyes.
It looked at me blankly, then walked in front of me and stopped.
"What are you doing? Dig over there."
I pointed to the pile of trash with my finger.
The zombie turned around without a word and started sifting through the trash with both hands.
I watched from behind with my arms crossed. I checked with the Status Window to see if anything useful came out.
However.
"Tsk.... I don't see anything."
It was all things like this.
-Leftover cup noodle container - 100 Ether
-Torn snack bag - 50 Ether
-Used disposable condom (20 times) - 10 Ether
"Screw it."
I just sold them.
It's better than not earning a few pennies.
+10 Ether
+50 Ether
+100 Ether...
The numbers went up, but the speed was the problem.
To collect 5 million at this efficiency, I couldn't even calculate how many times I'd have to overturn this trash mountain.
"When will I finish digging all this...."
It was too slow.
It seemed faster to focus on finding expensive things.
Selling this and that randomly was inefficient.
"Tsk..... I can't use a Skeletal Species or an Asura for something like this....."
I flipped through my cards in my head.
"Ah!"
A thought flashed.
Cyberpunk Gallery.
'Couldn't I buy small machines or drones cheaply?'
Things that have already become obsolete by the standards of the future world.
Like the Zombie Chip, things that became trash over there but are cutting-edge technology here.
If I buy those cheaply and run them, it's much more efficient than overworking a single zombie one by one.
"Shop."
[Name] : Exploration Robot
[Category] : Robot
[Required Ether] : 1 million Ether
[Name] : Mechanical Arm Drone
[Category] : Robot
[Required Ether] : 3 million Ether
"Hmm... these are expensive too."
But it seemed well worth the investment.
"I have to empty my emergency fund."
It can't be helped.
You need initial capital to get things rolling.
I sold some of my food.
-Ether Balance = 1,243,123 Ether.
It fit just barely.
I immediately purchased the Exploration Robot.
A heavy feeling entered the Dark Room.
When I took it out, it was a square wooden box.
The packaging was more meticulous than I thought.
It was wrapped in layers of bubble wrap and foam styrofoam.
When I opened the packaging.
"This is a robot!"
True to the name "Exploration," it was a heavy and sturdy-looking thing.
The overall silhouette resembled a mole.
It had a low, wide body, and two thick drill arms attached to the front.
It was a structure perfect for digging through dirt or debris.
The box also contained a controller and a small screen.
It said if I set it to manual, I can remote control it myself, and if I leave it on automatic, it digs on its own.
"Go!"
When I gave the command, the robot started to move.
The drill on its front paws vibrated and started rotating, and it pierced straight into the trash pile.
Fiercely, without obstruction.
"Ohhhh!"
It was in an instant.
-Valuable item found.
"Already?"
The robot picked up something with its front paws and held it out.
-Hard Disk - 1 million Ether
"Huh?"
I narrowed my eyes.
A hard disk... 1 million?
I posted on the gallery.
[Guys, are hard disks expensive in your world?]
└[Sandebiseutan] : Hard... disk? What's that?
└[Doctor Repair] : Hard Disk?! You really have that?!
└[T] : Hoho.... I want that too.
└[Nova] : Relic of the old era. Research value exists.
Replies flooded in as soon as I posted.
Doctor kept posting comments, unable to hide his excitement.
└[Doctor Repair] : Sometimes analog is better. In this damn world, even USBs get hacked. In that sense, a hard disk made in the old days is free from hacking.
└[Gallery Owner] : That's fascinating. You actually prefer it?
└[Doctor Repair] : Yeah, if you just increase the capacity a little, it becomes a very useful item. I told you a lot, so sell it quickly!
"How ironic."
A highly advanced future.
A world where everything is connected to a network, so no data is completely safe.
So paradoxically, the old-era items that don't reach the network become the most reliable storage media.
Wait, if so.
There might be much more than I thought that I can salvage from this junkyard?
"Let's sell it."
I sold the hard disk.
-Ether Balance = 1,243,123 Ether.
The same amount as right before I bought the Exploration Robot returned.
"I have to buy more!"
Without hesitation, I bought another Exploration Robot.
The box entered the Dark Room.
It was an identical-looking thing.
"Deploy immediately!"
The two of them dug into the trash pile side by side.
The drill sound doubled.
The speed also became almost twice as fast.
And the results started pouring out.
-Laptop Motherboard - 2 million Ether
-Lithium Battery - 500,000 Ether
-Damaged Smartphone - 3 million Ether
-Graphics Card - 2 million Ether
"Wow......."
Ether piled up rapidly.
Inside the trash pile of this world, treasures of that world kept coming out.