Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Random Encounter (2)
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Here was an uninhabited island.
Kiruk, kiruk.
Flowers bloomed, and birds chirped.
A peaceful and beautiful animal forest.
A happy land where the strange animal residents who walked on two legs took care of newcomers who had just moved in.
"Let's go fishing today!"
"No, you promised to go shopping with me!"
A puppy and a kitten.
Two differently shaped animals grabbed my arms from both sides and pulled.
Animals living in the wild had several times the muscle strength of ordinary humans.
My body was shaken left and right by the animals' strength.
Oh dear.
"Hahat."
I calmly sorted out the situation while looking at my animal friends making sad faces.
"We can do both. What's the problem?"
I had time to spare anyway.
In the animal forest, enjoying a quiet daily life was the main content, so I mediated between the animals fighting over me.
But.
Tears dripped down the animal residents' faces along their fur.
"But..."
"Today is the last day?"
Along with those sad voices.
Dark storm clouds gathered in the sky.
There hadn't been a single cloud just moments ago.
Soon, fierce raindrops began to fall.
"...??"
For some reason, an ominous feeling crept in.
Never mind the crying animal residents.
It was because I spotted someone walking through the storm from far away.
Rumble, boom!!
Fierce thunder roared noisily.
Beyond the horizon.
A Black man wearing sunglasses was slowly walking toward me, his coat soaked in rainwater flapping.
The moment I saw his face, I instantly realized the hidden truth of this world.
"Oh, shit..."
I shook off the animal residents holding my arms and turned around, running to the opposite side of the island.
Had I ever run this fast in my life?
It was almost an 11-second 100-meter dash.
But islands have limits to their size.
Amid the crashing waves, the spire of a glittering skyscraper came into view.
Neon sign lights.
The writhing spectacle of environmental pollution.
I had no desire to swim through that storm.
Was this my end...?
The man's angry voice came from behind.
"...Abel Anderson, wake up! Wake up from your happy and peaceful animal forest!!"
"My name is Cheon Su-ho..."
"This isn't reality! Your friends, your family—they're not real! Even the comfortable home where you can rest isn't real! Wake up, Abel Anderson! Wake up and live your whole life in Risk City, full of violence and deceit, sucking on nutrient tubes like candle wax! Wake up!!"
"Ugh."
Soon, a brief silence.
The world turned pitch black.
I counted a few seconds inwardly.
Then slowly opened my eyes.
There, I saw the massive barrel of a turret looking down at me from the ceiling.
A pitch-black muzzle.
Its gleaming red lens met my eyes.
Whirr, clank.
A monotonous warning tone came with the sound of moving machinery.
When you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you. by Nietzsche.
"...Good morning."
It was truly a morning I didn't want to wake up to.
However, one can't lie down forever.
Because I'd gotten into the habit of waking up early while preparing for job hunting, my eyelids didn't feel heavy at all.
Originally, for a freeloading bum living off home-cooked meals to avoid getting scolded, you had to get up early in the morning and at least do the dishes.
"Yawn."
The habitual yawn was unavoidable.
Anyway.
While missing the back of my mother who would mutter while watching TV dramas, "Sigh, if that guy is going to wash dishes, why not get a job at some restaurant..."
I flipped the sign on the entrance.
From 『Preparing for Business』 to 『Open for Business』.
The city's sky was still hazy.
Closer to dawn than morning.
The air was a bit chilly.
"The ant goes tot tot, today tot tot, diligently working tot tot."
Singing to myself out of loneliness only lasted a moment.
When I saw the homeless people with haggard appearances having breakfast in the alley, I quickly fled back into the store.
Don't those people have homes?
Well, even in 21st-century South Korea, finding a place to stretch out your legs was like reaching for the stars.
In this city where there were no stars visible in the sky, it must be even harder.
Still, my situation was much better than those homeless people living outside.
If not for Christine, the boss who helped me, I'd probably be huddled among them right now, clinging together for warmth.
'Ugh.'
Truly fortunate.
As I was lost in such foolish thoughts.
I heard someone calling me.
The grocery store I was staying in had at least five identical-looking turrets on the ceiling that I'd seen.
'Surely there aren't more.'
The turrets didn't always show themselves; they only appeared when emitting a [Dyu] warning sound.
They didn't seem to each have different AIs.
Right now, one turret was shaking its barrel up and down as if calling me.
I doubted there were multiple turrets in the world with such peculiar movements.
"What."
The sound the turret made was similar to a monotonous beep, like a machine's warning tone.
The game's Korean patch was well done, opening an era of globalization where everyone in the city used Korean (King Sejong would be shocked, and Kim Gu would be moved),
but that didn't mean I could understand machine speech.
I could only guess by the direction of the turret's moving barrel
that there was a problem in the back of the grocery store, toward the warehouse connected to the back door.
"Alright, alright, the back, got it."
As I moved to the warehouse.
I witnessed logistics boxes piled up like a mountain.
"...?"
This is weird.
I definitely organized them all to one side yesterday.
Checking the stickers on the boxes, the dates were about a day different from yesterday's.
'That means deliveries came today.'
In other words.
A huge amount of goods had been newly stocked in this unprofitable grocery store.
My god.
I wanted to call the boss's number right away and complain about this unprecedented situation,
but unfortunately, I didn't have a terminal to make calls with right now.
"If I weren't here, it would've been a disaster."
As I muttered that.
The turret's barrel pointed to some device.
A machine with a propeller on top.
"Ah, a drone."
Well, there must be a way. Of course.
Anyway, I was the only employee in the grocery store right now, and the only one obligated to sort the goods.
Boss Christine...
This place isn't as good for business as you thought...
I sent her my telepathy with all my might, but the chances of it getting through were slim.
'...Or maybe.'
When I removed a nearby tarp, even more boxes I hadn't found yesterday appeared.
For now, let's check the dates starting from the bottom box.
"Hm."
The expiration date is already getting tight.
I quickly checked the piled-up logistics.
This one still has plenty of time...
...Cat food? Why is this here?
Wow, this isn't even canned, but the expiration is 6 years? Is it full of preservatives?
I was sorting the logistics one by one for a moment.
"What now."
I interpreted the turret's voice,
and went back to the counter from the warehouse.
There, I spotted the kid who had run away quickly upon seeing my face yesterday.
"Oh."
It was that kid from yesterday.
The kid didn't run even after seeing the turret descend from the ceiling, but glared at me with straight eyes.
Through the shaggy hairstyle covering the face, round eyes peeked out slyly.
As I was about to greet them happily.
Thud.
Suddenly, the kid knelt down.
"??"
What the.
And then opened their mouth in a poignant voice.
"Please let me join your organization."
"Huh?"
Naturally, a dumb sound came out of my mouth.
Sudden organization talk.
The only organization I knew was the liquor club that wore black clothes and drove old cars.
"My family is starving. If you help us, I'll stake my life to repay the favor..."
"Hold on."
I cut off the kid mid-sentence.
The voice was more delicate than expected; I thought it was a boy, but it was a girl.
'Organization.'
I pondered deeply.
I looked at the girl and asked.
"...Did you happen to see it yesterday? I mean, not here. On the street outside."
My organization member cosplay.
Hearing my words, the girl nodded very cautiously.
Wow, she saw that too.
I rubbed my dry face.
"...I get that it could've been misunderstood, but that was all an act."
The girl didn't seem to believe me,
as disappointment showed even through her shaggy hair.
"...I see."
Seeing the kid, half my height, looking sad made my heart ache a little.
Is there no child protection law in this cyberpunk world?
Grrrowl.
Even.
A very small sound of the girl's starving guts crying out reached me.
My hearing had improved to the point where I could hear a clock ticking, so it wasn't a mistake.
"Stay here a sec."
"...?"
"Just a moment, really, don't go anywhere."
Without even hearing the girl's reply.
I ran straight to the warehouse.
"Shh."
This is really a secret from the boss.
And from the warehouse, I grabbed a bunch of food with tight or recently expired dates.
Frozen chicken, frozen hotdogs, corn salad, etc.
It had a 【Grocery Store】 sign, but most of the incoming goods were instant products.
I secretly pocketed a chocolate with plenty of shelf life left.
'I'll check the goods later.'
And so.
Returning to the counter, I dumped various kinds of food in front of the girl.
"Um, excuse me."
"It's fine."
I hadn't lost my humanity to the point of demanding thanks from a starving kid.
I might get scolded by the boss later or fired from the grocery store over this.
But I had no regrets.
Problems from sharing expired food only happen if someone reports it.
This cute, pitiful-looking girl suddenly turning hostile and reporting me?
If so, nothing I can do.
"Next time, don't come through the front door; sneak in through the back door over there, and I'll hook you up again."
"...Yes? Even so, this is."
"Your family is starving, right?"
"......"
I naturally patted the kid's head.
"They're products with little shelf life left anyway. ...But don't report it, okay?"
"Of course not!"
The girl stiffened in surprise after her voice rose unconsciously.
"......Of course I won't."
"Good, good."
I wasn't sure if the police would come here. Anyway.
I tilted my head looking at the girl hugging a ton of goods.
"Come to think of it, isn't it dangerous going out like that? Wait, there were spare boxes over there..."
"N-No! I'm truly grateful just for this!"
Whatever was so urgent, she bowed 90 degrees and headed out of the grocery store.
Her small frame made it seem like the goods would fall, but she managed well.
'She said her family was starving.'
Then the most urgent was not her hungry self,
but her family at home.
"Phew, did a good deed."
...Chilly.
A dagger flew into my back.
I knew who that gaze was from without checking.
"......This is really a secret?"
I didn't know what that response meant.
But anyway, it was already out of my hands.
...Though asking the surveillance turret made it a bit funny.