Living Inside a Game (3)
Living Inside a Game (3)
My past, my hometown.
In modern Korea, a mysterious psychological test called 'MBTI' had suddenly surged in popularity.
Plenty of people dismissed it as nonsense, saying there was no scientific basis for it.
But then again, what kind of country was Korea?
As the nation that boasted one of the world's greatest soccer players (Son) and a pro gamer who might as well have been a living god (Faker), there had to be something to it that I didn't know about.
That MBTI test broadly divided people's personalities into two types.
Extroverted people (E) and introverted people (I).
I figured everyone had caught on by now, so what more was there to say?
I was the poster child for the quintessential 'I'.
For that reason, I loved staying holed up in my room.
I had been that way in the past and I would be that way going forward.
But sometimes in life, 'unavoidable circumstances' existed.
Just like today, situations where I had no choice but to go outside inevitably arose.
Seriously, though.
Why did people have to go outside?
For some, that became a philosophical question, and for others, it was a question tied to their livelihood.
In my case, it was neither.
More than 'philosophy' or 'livelihood,'
if I had to put it into words, it was a question related to 'survival.'
I walked over to the wall and touched the window's light-blocking switch.
The dark, dingy color of the concrete wall surface changed in an instant.
The entire wall turned into a floor-to-ceiling glass window.
It was still too early to call it evening.
But beyond the window, the vast forest of skyscrapers was already glowing brilliantly.
Neon signs of every nationality were crammed into every corner of the buildings, of course.
English was the baseline, and next came characters that looked like Japanese or Chinese slang.
Furthermore, a gargantuan hologram of a naked woman swam through it all as if drifting through water.
The whole city looked like one giant billboard.
Even though several long years had passed since I came to live in this city,
no matter how many times I saw it, it was still amazing.
It reminded me of the reality that I had been transported into a game world.
But this time, what I needed to look at wasn't the cityscape.
I lifted my head and looked up at the sky.
Beyond the ceiling shield.
"Oh."
It was full of gray smog masses, without a single speck of blue light.
"Looks like the fine dust is fucking awful again today."
I could barely remember what sunlight felt like anymore.
It was peaceful, ordinary cyberpunk weather.
1. Living Inside a Game. (3)
When I finished showering, Eve asked me.
[Are you heading out right away, I ask.]
"Yeah."
Since I'd already resolved to go outside, I couldn't afford to drag my feet.
The longer I stayed still, the less I wanted to go out.
That was why moving fast was the key point.
Of course, the fact that the forcibly scheduled appointment time was drawing near added urgency to my actions as well.
I'd better hurry.
There was nothing particularly special about getting ready to go out.
I put on clothes made to ballistic specs, just in case a stray bullet came my way.
And since you never knew, just in case.
I grabbed a gun, packed a three-day supply of emergency calorie bars and purification pills, took an ampoule filled with nano-robots, and renewed the civilian medical service I'd temporarily suspended. Finally, I put on a cyberpunk-style smart mask equipped with a function to filter fine dust (along with various biochemical agents), and that was it.
It wasn't like this cyberpunk-style mask flashed LED lights or anything (though, admittedly, more products on the market did exactly that).
It just had a lot of bonus features attached.
It had the slight drawback of being a bit stuffy.
But who was I?
Wasn't I someone who had already worn a mask for long years, way back in the old days, to avoid the fine dust and certain viruses that blew over from the continent?
This much didn't bother me at all.
Mask fashion wasn't as essential here in Neon City as it was in modern Korea.
Vagrants and criminals wore them a lot.
But that wasn't for health reasons, so it was a different case.
Those who wanted to block fine dust for health reasons preferred methods that were more efficient and more direct than masks.
For example, installing filters directly into their respiratory organs.
Or getting implant surgery to swap out their lungs for cyberware or bioware.
There were many methods.
Of course, species like orcs were an exception.
Those folks were just naturally robust from birth.
Many of them thought they didn't need masks or anything of the sort.
In their world, if you walked around wearing a mask, you'd get shot because it didn't suit their green skin.
As for me... well.
I didn't want to replace perfectly good lungs just to inhale a little less fine dust.
And another major reason was that my body's physical recovery speed was slow due to the various negative traits attached to it.
It wasn't that there was no way to recover quickly.
But the side effects were substantial, so I didn't think about it further than that.
Honestly, breathing in a bit more fine dust didn't immediately send my health into the red zone.
Living with a cyberpunk mindset—that if something really went wrong, I could just swap out my lungs then—was a lot more comfortable.
With roughly that kind of attitude, I finished getting ready to go out.
Eve spoke in a voice that had become subtly quieter.
[Is this the basic human level of preparation for going outside, I ask.]
"You still have no idea how dangerous it is outside the house."
[That sounds crazy, I think.]
"Hey. No bad words."
This was absolutely not an excessive level.
I liked being moderate, too.
But that was just my subjective opinion.
Other people might have thought I was going a little overboard.
But what did it matter?
It was far better than not preparing and ending up in the hospital. Especially considering the hospital bills.
In this world, most things were basically privatized.
If you went about things half-heartedly, it was hard to live out your natural lifespan.
"Alright, shall we get going?"
[I have confirmed.]
It was about time to head out.
My first outing in a whole week.
'Ugh, I already don't want to go.'
I opened the front door.
With really shitty luck.
A familiar 'male brat' was walking down the hallway of my condominium right in front of me.
And I closed the front door again.
"Oh shit. I reflexively closed it."
[I affirm.]
I never imagined a crisis would hit me the moment I opened the door.
I let out a deep sigh.
First off, I did have to open the door again.
Having quickly steeled my heart, I slowly opened the door.
Then the brat spoke.
"Hey."
"...Yes."
"You see someone's face and just close the door without a greeting?"
"Well, I was just startled. I'm sorry, Elder Bill (Sr. Bill)."
A youthful voice.
But an old-fashioned way of speaking that didn't match that young voice.
"I told you not to call me elder."
"Ah, um.... Hello, Mr. Bill (Mr. Bill)."
"Alright."
Then at least talk like a kid.
His name was Bill.
I didn't know his full name. I wasn't interested, either.
He was a neighbor who lived on the same floor as me.
To define him in a word.
He was just a crazy person.
Gender: male.
Outward appearance: about 10 years old.
But his true identity, unbelievably, was that of a 95-year-old elder this year.
But he himself hated the title of elder.
Even in a cyberpunk world where all kinds of weird people lived, he boasted an exceptionally distinctive personality.
"Where are you going?"
"...Just stepping out for a bit."
No matter how much I came from a Confucian society and was a law-abiding citizen who respected his elders,
this guy was a serious case.
To anyone, he looked like a brat.
Having to treat him and respect him as a venerable elder was a difficult thing for me to handle.
He was also a pure-blooded old geezer, a rare sight in Neon City.
As a bonus, he was a narrow-minded person who got angry if you called him elder, so I had to attach 'Mr.' to his name.
Even though they say every day brings its own fortune,
to run into this guy the moment I opened the door...
"So, where are you going."
[Heart rate 120, 130, 140. Steadily rising.]
"...Ah. I'm going to see a friend."
"Is that so?"
Suddenly, Bill grinned.
"Yeah. Don't just stay cooped up at home every day, get out a bit and get some fresh air. Decent-looking lad like you."
"......Yes."
"When I was your age, I was never at home. That's the problem with people these days. They say you can do everything from home and never go outside."
[I suspect this is a crazy person, but a part of what he says about going outside is correct, I agree.]
He was driving me crazy, so I wished he'd just be quiet.
Both of them, actually.
I was glad Eve's voice was only audible to me. If it weren't, Bill would have grabbed me and held me for 30 minutes of nagging.
I quickly assessed the situation.
Once you started entertaining Bill's stories, there was no end to it.
Cutting him off decisively at some point was crucial.
"Back in the day, there was─"
"Um, Mr. Bill. I don't have much time left before my appointment..."
"Huh? You're making it sound like I was keeping you."
"Hahaha."
You were keeping me, you crazy bastard...
But I didn't voice that thought aloud.
Sometimes silence was also an answer.
"Alright. Well, go on, then."
"Yes."
I moved my feet the moment I answered.
I had to get away from Bill as soon as possible.
Still, I was glad he let me go easily.
Maybe people just talk more when they get old.
In the past, I couldn't cut him off and got trapped for over an hour once.
For real, if I hadn't been a Korean from a Confucian society, I would have smashed every single one of his dental implants to smithereens by now.
Well done restraining yourself, past me.
Only after I got on the elevator going down to the lower floors
did I breathe a sigh of relief.
[Shall I begin navigation guidance to the appointment location route, I ask.]
"...Nah. I'll just take a taxi."
I already felt exhausted.
Taking public transit would have been fine too, but I was short on time.
I decided to just catch a taxi and go.
[Taxi.... Will you be okay?]
"Well, it's not like I'm out of credits."
I figured it would be fine.
* * *
It wasn't fine.
How insane the taxis in Neon City were.
Honestly, I'd forgotten.
First off, the base fare was charged the moment you got into the taxi.
And on top of that...
+ Dispatch fee.
+ Surcharge per distance.
+ Surcharge for going out of zone.
+ Plus evening surcharge.
+ And a forcibly deducted tip.
Finally, the tax paid to the city was separate.
I felt dizzy.
I lamented.
"At this rate, I might as well just buy a car."
[I anticipate whether those words mean you will go out more often.]
"...Uh."
That wasn't what I meant.
Well, it wasn't not what I meant.