Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Talking Machine (9)
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Climbing up the outside of the building to the 11th floor was absolutely not a wise choice.
Adrenaline had my hands and feet shaking uncontrollably.
It was an impromptu plan to save time, but...
Eleven stories or not, that was a height of nearly 30 to 40 meters.
From now on, elevators it is.
I vowed that to myself deep down.
Anyway.
"You were yapping away noisily earlier, but now you've gone all quiet."
The guy who'd wished me luck had a surprisingly ordinary appearance.
Of course, villains don't walk around with "bad guy" tattooed on their faces, so it wasn't that strange.
I was just pissed off.
The guy swallowed hard and opened his mouth cautiously.
"...Hello. I'm Ishida, the manager of Hall Paradise."
"Can't exactly say hello back."
"I suppose not..."
He scratched his head and asked me a question.
"If you've made it here, that means the android I sent is already wrecked, right? How in the world..."
"Save it."
I cut him off and grabbed him by the collar.
Even more aggressively.
"Just take me to the android."
"...Kgh, what's the rush? My defeat is already clear anyway."
Even with his collar gripped tight, the guy—Ishida—kept rambling on without choking.
"The android, yes, I'll return it. If you want monetary compensation too, I can cover the damages."
"..."
"Just give me a moment, just a little time..."
Stalling for time, huh.
I slammed his body down onto the table.
The wine bottle shattered.
"...Urk!!"
My hand still clutched his collar.
Does it hurt?
It hurt for me too.
I'd been tormented by that android until my collar tore clean off, so ending it with just one hit wouldn't be proper Korean hospitality.
I swung his body toward the wall using centrifugal force.
The carpet on the floor bunched up and slid all the way to the wall.
I grabbed Ishida's collar again as he writhed on the hot salt like a shrimp, back arched.
"Where is it? I asked."
"Hngh..."
He seemed to groan in pain, but his eyes were still darting around.
Even in crisis, calmly assessing and choosing his words.
"Over there."
And I spotted the door at the end of his gaze.
I dragged him there, still in my grip.
"...W-wait. I'll tell you for real. Not there—the opposite direction."
"Checking here first."
"That's my bedroom, there's nothing th—!"
Bang!!
I kicked open the locked door.
....
The floor was littered with "all sorts of wreckage."
Too many to count.
Hard to make out original shapes, but occasional hands or feet-like machine parts told the story of what had been there.
Ishida, still in my grasp, let out a creepy chuckle.
"Ah..."
The fear and terror from before were completely gone from his eyes.
"Looks like I've been found out."
His voice turned cold, like flipping a switch.
My fist moved on instinct.
Crack!!
I'd punched him square, but Ishida's face snapped back from the side.
"...Ow. Doesn't that hurt?"
Unlike his words, his expression didn't twist in pain.
On his knees, he surveyed the horrific room.
"Anyway, I was looking for it too, but it wasn't easy. Truth is, I smash the androids that make it up to the 11th floor myself."
Broken teeth clattered to the floor.
His pain-twisted face drew a bright smile of pleasure.
"Too bad you're too late. Even converting the personality module to a sex toy wipes all the original data... Anyway, what a shame. Hahaha."
I turned to scan the room thoroughly.
No trace of Anna anywhere.
Finding a specific android amid the scattered limbs like trash was nearly impossible.
"It's sad when someone dear loses a precious 'item.' But androids aren't living beings anyway, right?"
"..."
"In Risk City, they're a dime a─."
I kicked his gut hard; his body folded in a V and slammed into the wall.
His words cut off briefly, but Ishida propped himself up against the wall.
"Yes, a dime a dozen. I thought you were some enhanced human or mana user. No cybernetic signals at all..."
I frowned at the same time.
The blood from his mouth was pitch black.
A sharp oil smell hit my nose.
"A purist's end. Quite satisfying. Should've greeted you myself. Can't pick up signals through cameras."
"...You're an android?"
Ishida nodded at my question.
"Yes, that's what they call us."
He was definitely breathing...
Food on the table too.
How extensively modified was he?
Just as some replace their whole body with machines, maybe some machines crave full flesh and blood.
"But why."
"Haha, why?"
An emotion utterly un-robotic crossed his face.
It was...
"Because I hate them."
Clear disgust.
"Lifeless tin cans strutting around like real people. It's revolting."
The most genuine expression I'd seen on him today.
Didn't sound like a lie, at least.
"I can't stand it—my own appearance. That's why."
Ishida shrugged nonchalantly.
"Humans kill humans, don't they? Androids can smash androids too."
"...Luddite."
I muttered the word I'd heard from Michael.
He nodded vigorously.
"A mockery of life. Tin cans moving on programming, no heart or emotion..."
"Yet you're overflowing with emotion."
"Yes, that's a delusion too."
He declared it like self-brainwashing.
"A big delusion."
Ishida pulled a pistol from his pocket.
Gripping the barrel, he handed it to me butt-first.
"Now, let's wrap this up. Avenge yourself. On the scrap heap that wrecked your toy."
"..."
"Or don't. I'll keep doing what I've been doing. Smashing and modding robots. Not bad either."
Two choices extended to me.
I pondered, gun in hand.
Not whether to kill him or not.
"...Hmm."
How to shoot him satisfyingly.
I thought seriously.
"Suppose this world is a game. And I'm a player who entered it."
"Pardon?"
Ishida looked baffled.
"Then there'd be a system, right? Random encounter in my head! All that crap. Status window or whatever. Status window! Damn, no dice."
"...What are you talking about?"
I ignored him.
Not trying to convince him anyway.
"But when I smashed the android you sent, the game system blared first kill achievement! Fanfare and all."
At the most unexpected timing.
Which means...
"This world treats 'androids' as living beings."
Whether true or not.
I racked the slide and aimed at his forehead.
"What does that even m─."
"Your delusion that they have no life."
Just words, but I said it to sour his mood further.
But.
"I-I don't believe it. Weird nonsense..."
"...?"
His reaction was off.
"Then what were all my actions... Lies. It has to be lies, why, why... Error, must be an er─."
"Believe it or not, your call."
Click. Safety off.
I met Ishida's gaze straight on.
In that final moment.
The myriad emotions on his face.
He clasped his hands together last.
"...Lord."
Bang!!
A hole punched through his forehead; his eyes lost color like glass marbles.
A slight recoil.
Too light for the weight of life.
"..."
This time, I couldn't just let it slide.
Had to avenge Walter and Anna.
I exhaled lightly.
Feels damn sticky.
Unlike smashing an android's head in self-defense to survive, this was blowing away an unarmed person's.
I tossed the pistol aside and boarded the elevator.
Glancing down, descending looked scarier than ascending.
'...What about the captives.'
I pondered the other androids' fates.
Deleted data ones were done for, but the basement held intact androids in cells.
Call the cops? In Area 49?
And.
'Walter...'
How would he react to his missing daughter's fate.
I'd rushed here as fast as possible.
Not my mistake, but heavy guilt shook me.
Then.
Vroom...
A shabby vehicle pulled behind Hall Paradise.
"...?"
The underground garage entrance was blocked by my downed gangsters, so the vehicle stopped naturally.
Rough-looking people stepped out.
"Wh-what the hell happened? No contact, thought it was weird..."
"Boss, I mean, the manager's not answering either?"
"Fuck, no one's picking up."
I watched, thinking briefly.
Calculated roughly: from Anna's kidnapping to shooting the manager.
No terminal for precision, but under 30 minutes.
"Ugh, that's why I told you to drive straight!!"
"A wall appeared outta nowhere—how's that my fault? Warn me next time!"
I approached the bickering pair slowly.
"Goddamn, who the hell are you? Customer? Stay inside and have a drink or─."
Crunch.
I ripped off the car's rear door barehanded.
"...Huh?"
Their eyes went wide, docile.
Then I spotted the face I sought in the back seat.
"...Mister?"
"Not mister."
I answered instinctively.
Not old enough for that yet...
Anyway.
I'd found Anna.
'...They got here too fast.'
With a twinge of regret.
After mercifully snapping their limbs clean, forgiveness granted.
On the way back via the same route in their car.
"Dad's really okay?"
"Probably. We'll know when we get there."
Michael and Liberra must've taken good care.
Anna sighed softly at my reply.
"Phew, good... You're not lying. Thought maybe your gang set this up to trap us."
"Gang? Us? We're not that."
"Huh?? The signal's real..."
Anna tapped her temple port, checking her status.
I watched via rearview and said,
"What signal."
"Well... Dad installed a program for me. Like a lie detector..."
"...They have that?"
She nodded at my question.
"Android stuff. But really, not your gang?"
"Nope. ...Dunno what others think."
"Eh, then you are a gang. Gangs always deny it. Detector's not 100% anyway."
Free from danger, Anna sounded her age.
About Liberra's height, so early teens maybe.
I let her chatter in one ear out the other.
Then recalled her lie detector mention.
So that guy back then...
....
Not my business.
Dead anyway.
"Anyway, never thought you'd come rescue me. Thanks! Oh, Dad says be wary of kindness here. ...Dinner sometime? Can't eat, but I'll watch you."
"...Sorry, let's go quiet."
I floored the accelerator harder.