Morning Scan and Diagnosis
My stomach roared loudly the instant I opened my eyes, as it always did.
I had to eat the moment I got up.
I grabbed one of the nutrient tubes I’d bought yesterday, opened it again, and brought it to my lips.
“It’s money, huh? I really don’t want to eat this crap anymore.”
Still, right now, this was the only food left in the house. After chewing the tube, a faint boredom set in.
“Ah. Right. Guess I should tune in to the radio.”
While cleaning the building yesterday, I’d found an old spherical radio. I’d managed to get it working with a quick fix. Would it still pick up a signal?
With the tube still in my mouth, I adjusted the radio dial to the frequency the shop owner had mentioned.
Static—crackle!
It had been off for a while, so a burst of noise crackled out before a booming male voice filled the air.
“Ground Zero rats! Welcome to all you lucky bastards who made it through another sleepless night! This is Stan from Radio Zero!”
I checked my mana battery without paying much attention and listened to the broadcast.
The battery was fine, but the mana charger had a small issue. It hadn’t fully charged the battery; it had only reached about halfway and shut off.
Probably because I’d used a too-simple circuit when I made the mana coil yesterday.
I should charge the battery a bit more, then build a new one.
Thinking that, I was using telekinesis to create another mana coil when—
“Big story from this morning! A massive bloody incident broke out near District 5 last night! The players? None other than the Mantis Crew that rules District 5 in Ground Zero!”
Booming sound effects and gunfire hit the speakers right after the words.
“They raided the crew’s main workshop last night, slaughtered every technician inside, and looted the rest. Red Thorn, the Mantis executive stationed there, was killed in the crossfire.”
DJ Stan clicked his tongue.
“Of course the Mantis Crew has gone full war mode against Black Dog. Especially since the guy closest to Red Thorn—Silver Thorn—is apparently furious. Everyone in Districts 3, 4, and 5, stay the hell away from the gang fights and lock yourselves up at home! Next news…”
The moment I heard that, I knew.
The woman I’d repaired for last night had probably done exactly what I expected.
She’d rushed straight to her crew’s main workshop right after leaving me. She’d killed her betraying technicians and her rival executive herself.
But she didn’t stop there. She’d taken one more step—she’d pinned the entire incident on Black Dog.
‘She’s scarier than I thought.’
In my head, I saw the picture she’d been aiming for.
Cleanly removing the internal traitor, then framing the death as Black Dog’s fault to strengthen internal unity.
“Wonder why she made me join the crew.”
I quietly turned the situation over in my mind. Was I in danger now?
‘No chance I’m in real danger.’
If they’d wanted me dead to shut me up, they would’ve done it right after I fixed them yesterday. No need to hand over half a million credits to a target.
Worse, the crew’s technicians were all dead, so my value had probably skyrocketed.
‘More customers, huh? Guess I’ll have to get ready again.’
At least I had money now. I’d buy whatever the old man asked for.
I put on my coat and stepped outside.
***
I first opened the door to the same junk shop I’d visited yesterday.
Nutrient tubes honestly weren’t food for people. They were animal feed.
Along with the daily necessities I’d been putting off buying because of the money shortage, I picked up a week’s worth of the nutrient jelly I’d eaten yesterday.
“You’re back again?”
Instead of answering, I placed the items I’d bought on the counter.
“Haha. You liked the service I gave you yesterday, huh? Damn, you really got me.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle at the shop owner’s words.
“Yeah, people’s tastes are so damn greedy. They get fancy and can’t stand chewing on that old fat lump anymore.”
“Hahaha! If you knew the taste, you wouldn’t even eat the tube! The jelly may cost double, but it’s in another league compared to nutrient tubes.”
Beep-beep—
After scanning every item’s barcode, I handed the shop owner my credit card for payment. Again he piled a small bottle on top of my purchases.
“Bonus. Take it.”
“What’s this?”
“Spice syrup. Even though the nutrient jelly is better than the tubes, it’s flavorless, so you’ll get bored eating it forever. Just drop one drop on each jelly and try it. You’ll feel a lot better.”
“You’re trying to get me again?”
“If you don’t like it, leave it.”
“No, it’s not that. Thanks anyway, old man. I’ll try it and come back.”
I’d been listening to the gang war reports about how many people had died, but coming here eased my mind a little. This world, like the one I’d come from, seemed to have enough normal, kind-hearted people who could live ordinary lives.
Even ordinary people could survive if they were careful enough. This world was the same.
“Yeah. Don’t get killed, and come back again.”
The shop owner grinned and gave me a thumbs-up.
“Yeah. I won’t die. See you next time.”
***
After leaving the junk shop, I slipped my hands into my pockets and walked slowly. I needed to buy materials to fulfill the old man’s task of making a technology that generates money.
At first I’d thought about weapons with killing power or gun-modification parts.
In Ground Zero, a slum so hopeless, there was no shortage of demand for weapons, right?
‘But I’m short on materials to actually use.’
Weapons were expensive to make and start with.
Even with the half a million credits I’d earned yesterday, I could barely craft and sell one.
Efficiency would be terrible.
“… Besides, I’m not even selling them. I’m handing them in as a task for the old man.”
I decided not to make weapons or any equipment at all.
The moment that thought formed, I opened the door to my workshop.
A strange woman was already waiting inside.
“Oh. You’re here?”
The woman in the crisp white coat, sitting neatly on a dusty wooden box in the back of my workshop, stood up and gave a light bow.
What the hell? Wasn’t this the secret back room of the old man Gordon? How could anyone open this door and walk in twice in a row?
“…Who are you? How did you get in here?”
“You don’t have to be on guard. I know you’re surprised, but I used the key the old man Go Jin-tae gave me. The door was locked.”
She was a woman in her late twenties to early thirties, with short, deep cerulean hair and a crisp white coat. She spoke in a refined, soft voice and handed me a thin card-like name tag from her expensive leather wallet.
…Since the landlord gave her the key, I had no choice.
I need to earn money fast and move out.
“I’m Vivian, the private magical doctor running a clinic at Sky Nexus in Upper Layer Special District 2. I’m an old friend of Mr. Go Jin-tae’s and also the assigned doctor for this case.”
‘Upper Layer Special District 2…?’
Right below the three major megacorps that divide Gaon Mega City, this was the elite upper tier packed with headquarters and top-tier research labs of the top corporations.
Citizens above grade B couldn’t even pass the entry check.
Running a clinic here meant this woman was an absolute elite.
“Why… would a doctor from the upper layers come all the way down here?”
“It’s actually magic medicine. Mr. Go Jin-tae contacted me directly and asked me to check the condition of a patient here.”
Magic medicine.
In other words, a healer mage who had honed her skills to the extreme.
This world had developed medicines and artificial organs to an absurd degree. Most diseases could be cured with normal drugs or organ swaps. In the rarest cases, nano-machines were used.
In such a world, a magic doctor was the ultra-rare specialist called in for incurable diseases or precise diagnostics that ordinary medicine couldn’t touch.
“…I don’t have money to pay for treatment.”
“No need to worry. Mr. Go Jin-tae owes me a huge debt from before, so this is me repaying it. No charge for the consultation. Please have a seat over here, patient.”
I quietly raised my opinion of the old man Gordon by one more level. An upper-layer special-district top-tier magic doctor owing him a debt of that size.
I sat in the seat Vivian mentioned.
“I haven’t asked anyone for a personal examination in years. I was curious how valuable a person must be to have the old man’s schedule completely rearranged.”
A faint heaviness settled over me. This was more generosity than I, a simple contract employee, deserved.
“I’ll start with a light mana scan. Make yourself comfortable. Please excuse me for a moment.”
Vivian stepped in front of me, reaching out her right hand.
I looked at her wrist, sensed something, and without thinking my hand shot forward and grabbed hers.
“E-Eh? W-What…?”
Her perfectly composed face flushed with embarrassment at the sudden physical contact.
I answered.
“You know your prosthetic hand is defective, right?”