Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: A Very Stable Starting Point (4)
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Title: Starting Start is Fucking Insane
(Screenshot labeled AREA 49)
Character stats and status are all fine for now. Game kicks off right away with combat tutorial; Random encounters definitely seem brutally hard.
"Time for me to head out."
"...Already?"
Christine pointed at the electronic clock hanging on one wall with her finger.
Every time the numbers on the electronic clock changed, a click-click sound echoed out. It seemed my hearing had improved along with my eyesight.
Almost like ASMR.
"Sadly, time's up."
What kind of job drags people in at this late hour?
But black companies like this one tended to casually ignore common sense, so she probably suffered under their tyranny too.
This was a cyberpunk world steeped in extreme capitalism, after all.
Their corporate bullying probably exceeded my wildest imagination.
- Don't wanna make money? Sleep 2 hours a day, that's plenty.
- Contract extension? What nonsense. Haha, of course not. Clear out your desk and get out.
- Overtime pay? You're joking, right? Sue us if you want. Our corporate TF team will handle it.
Hah, cyberpunk needs labor laws guaranteed right now.
Anyway.
Running a futuristic convenience store—no, grocery store—didn't require much handover.
So Christine didn't really need to stick around.
For me, who'd faced life-threatening danger right after entering the game, it felt like being a lost three-year-old at an amusement park.
"......"
"Don't like that frown. Smooth out your face."
"I don't like it either."
"Yeah, yeah."
Christine stretched both my cheeks.
Seemed like concern... or maybe just my imagination...
I forced a calm expression and saw her off.
'...But isn't the distance between us a bit weird?'
Hmm, who knows.
I still couldn't fully grasp my situation.
She said I'd been in a deep sleep for a month, but my perceived time was less than a few hours.
Even now, closing my eyes made my old studio apartment feel heartbreakingly close.
'Well, still.'
Better for my mental health to start as a grocery store manager than from scratch on the streets with no info.
Ting-a-ling.
The bell at the entrance rang.
Pretty retro taste.
An electronic bell in a cyberpunk world? No way.
"Oh, right."
Christine stopped mid-step out the door and strode back to me.
Did she forget something?
"And just in case."
She looked me straight in the eye and spoke.
"Dispose properly of any products past their expiration date."
"...Isn't that obvious?"
I recalled the slogan at the store entrance earlier.
'Selling edible groceries.'
Even without it, selling expired goods was unthinkable for someone born and raised in 21st-century Korea.
I understood her concern for a newbie part-timer, but it stung my pride.
I shrugged nonchalantly.
"Eating a few is fine, right?"
"Handle that yourself. No liability if you get sick."
Come to think of it,
In lawsuit-happy America, there were cases of lawsuits for donating expired food to the homeless.
I got why she added that.
"Don't worry, Boss."
"...Fine. Contact me there if anything comes up."
Following her gaze,
No way.
A business card had appeared on the counter unbeknownst to me. When did she even place it?
"Then, good luck."
"...Yes, ma'am. Take care."
Christine blinked her big eyes at my farewell, then closed the door behind her.
First time hearing "take care," huh.
Ting-a-ling-a-ling.
With the noisy bell's echo.
"Hmm."
Now I was truly alone.
'Alright, let's sort these stacked boxes first.'
Grocery store duties log #1.
Logistics organization.
Just as I moved to shift the boxes.
"Waaahhh!!"
A massive scream came from outside.
Not Christine's voice,
Like a Russian man who stubbed his pinky toe on the threshold while drinking vodka.
"What now..."
I rushed outside.
Scream right after she left—had to be related to her.
But.
"...??"
Only seconds since she left, yet no sign of her.
Just one drunkard, presumably the screamer.
"Drugs, sky, drugs, sky... Heavens!!"
"......"
For real.
What sin did I commit to wake up in a world with junkies like this?
Opening the door startled the black-painted machine turret; it swiveled toward me with a heavy whir.
Its red lens emitted a round glow.
"...No, nothing."
Not sure if the machine understood, but facing that huge gun barrel made me speak up.
I carefully closed the door again.
Inside an aerial vehicle.
Skyscrapers blurred past the tinted windows.
Christine, just in Area 49, manipulated the hologram UI to start work.
And.
Her business partner pointed it out.
The man's aggrieved voice continued, but Christine ignored it.
As his dog impression ended, sharply—
Awoooo!
A wolf howl effect resounded in the vehicle.
Instantly generated by her partner, of course.
"Shut up."
This wasn't new, so he sighed deeply and stopped whining.
This was the question he'd built up to.
Christine crossed her legs naturally.
The vehicle's interior was spacious, and she was alone, so no issue.
"Just a hobby."
"Like you?"
Regretting bringing it up, he adjusted the voice input volume.
The interior fell silent.
No music, just faint vibration hum.
Christine gazed at the glittering cityscape.
'A hobby, yeah.'
Area 49 was where she'd grown up.
Memories of digging trash for clean food and rejoicing.
"......"
Still,
Didn't expect to save someone there.
The sun was high.
Though heavy smog and clouds made day and night indistinguishable.
【11:30 AM】
If the electronic clock was right, it was midday.
Yet the grocery store felt utterly peaceful.
"...She's late."
No customers.
Not a single one.
'Selling groceries, never eaten...'
So freaking boring.
And at the same time.
A dark alley, no light seeping in.
Gulp—.
Someone swallowed, piercing the silence.