Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Unbeknownst to Myself (3)
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No matter how much they suspected me of being part of a gang, my actual job was just that of an ordinary grocery store manager.
That was an unchangeable fact, no matter what anyone said.
Therefore.
Before heading to the black market, I had already contacted the real boss of the grocery store─Christine, who was even more of a mystery than I was.
"...Hello?"
"Uh, it's me again. Abel Anderson. The terminal I bought last time got smashed for... various reasons."
[......]
Christine's incredulous reaction was palpable even through the terminal at my flimsy excuse.
Well, it had only been a few days since I bought the terminal, and now it was already broken.
And not just broken─smashed.
[...How the hell did that happen?]
"Well, explaining it is pretty complicated..."
Of course, I managed to explain it somehow.
My meeting with Walter, buying the terminal as a makeshift explosive, the kidnapping of Anna, Walter's android daughter, the sex toy establishment─.
"That's roughly how it went."
I failed at a three-line summary, but this was still a pretty neat wrap-up.
A click came from the other end of the terminal, like the sound of a lighter's flint being struck.
It wasn't an ordinary cigarette; she was probably lighting up some medicinal herbs to help with her lung condition.
A moment later.
The sound of her exhaling herbal smoke mixed with a gusty breath.
[I get the situation. I've also been informed that you've purchased a new terminal.]
A sudden thought hit me: Christine's speech was remarkably stiff.
Different from the kid Runrun, but she gave off more of a military officer vibe.
[But seriously, how does that story lead to the conclusion that you need an 'android body'?]
"Ah, explaining that would take even longer..."
I briefly explained my relationship with Nova.
The grocery store manager and the turret guarding the store.
It was like the bond between a castaway on a deserted island and a volleyball.
After hearing my earnest explanation─a spoonful of logic mixed with a heaping cup of emotion─Christine muttered in a slightly exasperated tone.
[Well, I get the gist.]
"So, I'm thinking of checking out the black market."
[Really just the gist.]
Surprisingly, Christine was weak to emotional appeals.
She wouldn't have pulled me out of the junkyard if she lacked sentimentality in the first place.
And keeping me as a figurehead manager while running a grocery store in Area 49 was practically volunteer work.
Christine was a good person at heart.
She let out a light sigh.
[I didn't realize you two were close enough to name her...]
"Calling her 'just a turret' feels too cold, doesn't it?"
[...Never thought I'd hear the word 'affection' in this city.]
The people in this game spoke Korean so eerily well that they understood me perfectly.
Must be the power of the Korean patch.
[Hold on a sec.]
Christine's voice cut off briefly.
It sounded like she'd muted the mic entirely.
I was admiring the real cityscape peeking through the slum anthills from the grocery store rooftop again today, so the wait wasn't boring.
'I wonder if I'll ever get to go there someday.'
The game's true backdrop─.
The forest of skyscrapers in Risk City.
'Eh, probably nothing to do even if I did.'
A few minutes passed like that.
[Yeah, no issues there, apparently.]
"Who said?"
[The idiot who made that 'Nova.']
Christine answered casually.
"Idiot" might sound harsh, but I could tell it was her roundabout way of showing fondness.
[He was making such a racket about whether you were really just using it as store management AI...]
"Didn't you say that's what it was from the start?"
[Exactly why he's an idiot.]
Christine struck the lighter's flint again.
Maybe from talking so much, her breathing sounded a bit labored.
[Anyway, my business partner is a pretty skilled web spider, so... and he made your ID too.]
This was the second time I'd heard the job title "web spider."
I remembered hearing it the first time I met the mafia boss too.
I'll have to look it up on the terminal later.
[...But android bodies cost more than you think. You sure about this?]
"Ah... I got some unexpected income."
I didn't bother adding that it was funding from Luciana.
It'd be hard to answer if she asked what I'd been up to.
Christine already knew from last time that I'd smashed an entire gang single-handedly anyway.
She chuckled at my response.
[Well, if that's the case, I won't say anything.]
"Yeah, no need to worry."
How expensive could an android be, really?
There was a time...
when I thought that way too.
"...How much?"
"Minimum 150,000 dollars. And like I said earlier, this is the outer layer, so it's 175,000 dollars."
"Isn't all of Area 49 the outer layer?"
The shopkeeper's face crumpled like a piece of paper at my question.
His gaze naturally shifted to the little Sherpa kid behind me.
"What kind of guy is this, not even knowing basic common sense and hanging around here?"
"...That's what I've been saying. He got dragged into something by mistake."
The shopkeeper looked down at the kid, who was grimacing just like him.
"...Caught stealing wallets again?"
"No, this time I have an excuse. He didn't even have cybernetic implants..."
"One day you'll pick the wrong mark. If you're bored, just sweep the floor here."
I wasn't sure exactly what their relationship was, but the shopkeeper's gaze toward the kid held complex emotions.
It didn't look like simple pity...
The kid kicked a pebble on the ground and spoke up.
"Whose nose are you planning to rub that money in?"
"Look at this brat's attitude."
"Whatever."
Then she turned to me.
"Mister. You're short on cash anyway, right? My job's done guiding you here."
Who're you calling mister?
But before I could respond, the kid turned on her heel and walked out of the shop.
Soon, the shopkeeper's and my eyes met in the air.
"So, you buying or what?"
"...Isn't this way too expensive anyway?"
It was a reasonable doubt from my perspective.
150,000 dollars─no, 175,000─was 87,500 hotdogs. 50,000 if with extra toppings.
That was enough to swim in an ocean of hotdogs.
The shopkeeper clicked his tongue and began explaining.
"You think a brand-new, fully intact female android body comes cheap? It's not some used one with a few parts swapped."
Used is out of the question...!
As if reading my mind, the shopkeeper crossed his arms with thick cybernetic ones.
"And you're not looking for a clunky hunk of rigid metal either."
"Urk."
I was disappointed in myself for not denying it outright.
At that moment, a small voice snuck out from the terminal in my pocket.
"...No."
[......]
Personal desires aside, I wanted to get Nova the best body possible.
Imagine if Nova's body ended up like a Dalek from a TV drama─a rigid metal lump.
- EXTERMINATE!!
I couldn't let that future happen.
As my deliberation dragged on, the shopkeeper sighed lightly.
"By the way, don't even think about heading deeper just because I mentioned the outer layer. It's no place for clueless folks to enter and exit in one piece. The real core requires Black Star Society permission anyway..."
"So the black market is divided into districts too?"
The shopkeeper gave me a pitiful look.
"...How big do you think Black Square is? Obviously. District 9 is the outskirts of the outskirts. Lots of clueless tourists come here."
In short.
The black market, Black Square, was like a miniature Risk City.
I got the gist from the talk of outskirts and core.
The shopkeeper, tired of explaining, waved his hand like shooing a fly.
"Anyway, if you're short on cash, get out. You're just in the way of real customers."
I stared straight at him.
The sudden shift in atmosphere made the shopkeeper shut his mouth and look back.
And then.
"50,000 dollars."
"......Don't bullshit me, get out."
"75,000 dollars."
The shopkeeper grabbed an iron broom.
I backpedaled and said,
"100,000 dollars. I absolutely can't go higher─."
"Argh, you filthy beggar. Get out now?!"
This is weird.
It worked fine on Walter.
I dodged the broom while thinking.
As we entered a dark alley unreachable even by neon signs, the shadows of people began to thin out.
Cracked concrete walls were haphazardly covered in indecipherable writing and obscene graffiti,
and a acrid, burning-grass smell billowed thickly from stainless steel vents.
Thud. Thud.
Thud. Thud.
Through barred windows, the bustling black market atmosphere still seeped in.
But as if a boundary had been drawn, only the sound of two people walking echoed in the alley.
Unable to endure the awkward silence, perhaps.
The kid finally turned back to the presence trailing her─me─and furrowed her delicate brow.
"Why're you following me, mister? Our deal's done, right?"
"You've been calling me mister nonstop. Just call me bro casually."
"...Mister, got any conscience?"
Getting called out so bluntly stung a little.
I wasn't that old yet...
We're less than ten years apart, kid.
But arguing more would make me look like a whiny guy desperate not to be called mister.
I smoothly changed the subject.
"And what do you mean deal's done? Once you take a guiding job, you see it through."
"...You're super short on cash. Even if I intro another shop, it'll be the same. Prices are colluded here."
"No, tell me how to get out."
"......"
What kind of maze was this place?
Follow the signs blindly and you'd end up a lost child.
Backtracking the same way wasn't easy either.
With so many people, all the streetscapes looked similar.
The kid, looking up at me incredulously, suddenly glanced back.
"Huh? Isn't that Geo over there?"
"Whoa, seeing our alley boss here."
At the narrow alley's end, a few rough-looking punks approached.
At the same time, a woman's voice rang in my head.
It wasn't Nova, obviously.
I'd wondered why it hadn't triggered lately...
Having spent days in this cyberpunk─or fusionpunk─world, I instinctively knew.
Their attitude was anything but friendly toward us.
Geo, the kid they called, clearly hadn't expected them and stepped back toward me a few paces.
"Th-this path isn't their turf..."
"Hm."
Then it was probably my fault.
Random Encounters usually revolved around me.
Geo backpedaled straight into me.
I gently gripped her shoulder.
The startled kid looked up at me.
"Mister, don't just stand there! We gotta prep to bolt!"
"Call me bro from now on."
"......??"
I strode confidently in front of Geo.
One of the punks tilted his head and stuck out his tongue long.
Ugh, what the hell is that.
"Ooh, tourist? Dunno what you got with that brat, but you picked the wrong folks."
The thug's tongue was studded with countless piercings.
"Hm, or maybe you're my type looks-wise... Slurp. Play nice and I'll let you go easy─."
"Fuck this."
Feet.
Sexual preferences should be respected mutually.
Seeing him leer up and down with lust dripping from his eyes,
I reflexively kicked off the ground.
My awareness stretched long.
The thug at my toe flew to the alley's end, tongue still out.
Fade out again.
THUDWHAM!!
He plunged headfirst upside-down into a garbage bag between alley walls.
The punks' gazes naturally turned to their leader flying backward.
From their view, the guy next to them had vanished in a blink.
I naturally extended my arm, placing a hand on the shoulder of the now-close punks.
Tap.
"Ta-da."
"......"
"......"
I nailed the pronunciation this time.
Maybe that's why the punks couldn't even turn their heads toward me.
I flashed my usual bright, lingering smile.
"Anyone who can concisely explain within 500 characters using the five W's─and weave in a touching story─I'll let go."
"H-how..."
"If not."
Then not.