It Might Be a Bit Scary (1)
It Might Be a Bit Scary (1)
The maid who had landed from the sky looked around.
Her sudden appearance put Catherine, Andrea, and Drex on high alert.
Catherine was ready to draw the gun strapped to her back at any moment.
Andrea was already aiming the massive firearm that matched her giant mechanical arm.
Drex had both hands on his projectile launchers, holding his breath.
Under normal circumstances, there would have been no need to be so cautious of an unarmed maid.
But considering the chaos her arrival had already caused, it still felt like we weren't being cautious enough.
The ninjas who had collapsed from the hack were trying somehow to get back up with clumsy movements.
But as if pinned down by something invisible, not a single one could stand.
She.
Probably 'Eve,' took a step forward, paying no mind to the reactions around her.
The direction she moved in was toward Kozaka William and his brother-in-law Koozaka Koichiro.
"D-don't come any closer!"
Koozaka Koichiro, with his rainbow-colored cockscomb hairstyle, shouted.
Panicking, he frantically looked around, but the ninja squad meant to protect him was already neutralized and crawling on the floor.
What was her purpose in approaching them?
That question was answered in an instant.
The maid standing in front of Koozaka Koichiro.
'Eve' threw a punch straight at him.
"Ku-hurk!"
With a short death rattle, Koozaka Koichiro rolled across the floor like garbage.
I had noticed it from the moment she did her hero landing from the sky, descending vertically.
Her physical specs were clearly far beyond that of an ordinary person.
Tumbling head over heels, Koozaka Koichiro collapsed to the floor. His wretched state was such that you wouldn't even recognize him as the eldest son of a Mega Corp.
"......."
As if satisfied by the sensation of the punch, Eve gazed down at her own fist for a few seconds.
At the same time, she turned her gaze to Kozaka William, who was standing beside him.
The movement felt as precise and swift as a machine.
"Entity 'Kozaka William'."
"...Hm."
"It must be true that you are antagonistic toward the entity 'Smile Zone,' which has entered into a contract with the human 'Lee Si-woon'."
It was a bizarre thing to say.
But perhaps he had noticed the state of Koozaka Koichiro, who lay collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
Kozaka William nodded hastily.
"Who is Lee Si-woon— you mean Shun Li. Of course, naturally. I've already even drafted the electronic contract with a mercenary named Drex."
When the hell had he drafted that?
Had he done it while walking here, arm in arm with Drex? Or inside the unmanned taxi on the way over.
Despite hearing Kozaka William's unambiguous answer.
Eve still seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
Her expression remained blank, but for some reason, I could sense it.
Eve slowly parted her lips.
"If."
As she spoke, she raised a hand.
"You do not fulfill the contract."
At that very moment.
Everything plunged into darkness in an instant:
the surrounding amusement park,
the towering Koozaka headquarters,
even the lights of the city visible outside.
All the 3D holograms and neon signs that had been floating around moments ago, along with the lights illuminating the exterior from within—all vanished, as if someone had cut the power.
"......!"
We stared at the scene, unable to believe our eyes.
Amidst that, Eve continued.
"This is a light display of force."
The only thing visible in the darkness
was the white glow of Eve's eyes.
And then, those glowing eyes soon turned toward me.
Was it thanks to her prosthetic body?
I don't think she originally had this level of performance.
...I don't know what kind of thing I've brought into this world.
I swallowed dryly.
15. It Might Be a Little Scary (1)
A little while later.
We used the shower facilities at the Koozaka amusement park to wash ourselves off.
We had to throw away all the clothes we were wearing, too.
That was the result of rolling around all day in the garbage landfill and the sewers.
The clothes we'd originally worn were left with a professional laundry service, and we were now dressed in the high-end ready-made outfits Kozaka William had provided for us.
And just like that, we got out of the amusement park.
Under normal circumstances, we would have sat down with Kozaka William afterward to discuss the contract or Smile Zone in detail.
But we were exhausted.
And Kozaka William didn't seem in the right state of mind for that conversation either.
Leaving behind Kozaka William, who looked somewhat dazed,
I briefly reflected on the day I'd had.
Hmm.
It really had been a spectacular day.
When I thought about it, it was insane.
I had jumped from thousands of meters in the air without a parachute.
I had raided the airship of a Mega Corp with the Vice Chairman on board, and though it wasn't my intention, I had saved him.
I had escaped from the airship that had crashed into the garbage landfill and stopped by the underground village where I grew up.
I had explored those nasty sewers and ran into a ninja.
It was the kind of day that, if I told someone who didn't know me, they'd tell me to stop watching so many movies.
I was exhausted, utterly exhausted.
I felt a burning desire to just go home and collapse into bed.
And I wasn't the only one who'd had the soul knocked out of me.
However.
I figured that probably wouldn't happen until I got out of the current situation unscathed.
Catherine's golden eyes were staring at me.
And alongside her, Drex and Andrea were looking at me too.
"...So who is she?"
I couldn't give Catherine an answer right away.
All our gazes were fixed on one 'woman'.
The woman... 'Eve' was holding a sip of coffee in her mouth, savoring the taste.
"Molecular coffee, approximately 3 Kcal in calories. Although it contains no coffee beans, it includes a synthetic caffeine extract, and numerically confirms 251mg of caffeine."
.......
"This is what is learned as 'bitterness'."
It seemed she was also analyzing some strange things along with the taste.
Currently.
We had come to a cafe in the Middle Layer, in 'Saint Hills'.
It was the place I had noticed in the past when I came here to catch the info-jeonbungi, 'Underdog.'
Of course, another reason was that it was a cafe located near the Koozaka amusement park, 'Pit Mac Land'.
As for why we had come to this cafe.
It was because my colleagues, burning with curiosity and demanding an immediate answer, had glared at me and insisted.
Eve was sipping her coffee without giving any answer.
As time passed and Eve didn't seem about to respond, the gazes that had been on her shifted to me, whom they expected to know her identity.
"Um."
It was terribly burdensome.
I opened my mouth as casually as possible.
"Let's talk once all the drinks are out. Oh, right. Come to think of it, the interior here is pretty nice, or maybe we could just look around—."
"Could you maybe skip the bullshit and explain?"
"......Shall I?"
I let out a few deliberate, forced coughs.
Right.
They had just witnessed a maid in a hero landing descend from the sky and instantly hack into the Koozaka headquarters building, a part of the city, not to mention dozens of ninjas.
It would be a lie if they weren't curious about Eve's identity.
By the way, because of Eve's attire.
People inside the cafe were also sneaking glances at our table.
No matter how much of a cyberpunk world this was.
A maid outfit was a very peculiar style of dress.
"Whoa, those tits are insan—."
Those were the last words of the man who had been staring at us from inside the cafe, before he collapsed right where he stood.
I thought it might be cardiac arrest.
But seeing him clutching his eyes, it seemed like his eye implant had malfunctioned.
Oh dear, that's why you have to get regular implant scaling done.
Well, anyway.
I sat back in my chair and tapped the table.
Where should I even begin?
I thought for a moment.
.......
I should just be honest.
I no longer felt any need to lie.
Catherine had already overheard the name 'Eve' anyway, and everyone had now witnessed Eve's capabilities firsthand.
Now that things had come to this.
I figured it would be best to start the story from when I first met Eve.
Honestly, it wasn't a topic suited for a cafe.
But with all those sharp stares demanding I resolve their curiosity right then and there,
I had no choice.
Calmly, I looked at my colleagues.
"Do you guys remember the last request we did back then? That one, the request from Neon City."
"...Of course, that was the job related to 'Rise Corporation'."
Drex answered my words.
I nodded at that and continued.
"Yeah, during that tactical nuclear bomb terror incident."
I lowered my voice a little more.
"Eve is the artificial intelligence I took from there."
"...She doesn't seem like an ordinary artificial intelligence."
Drex spoke with an expression that said he found it hard to believe.
He was right about that, to be sure.
What kind of artificial intelligence in this world showed up with a full-body prosthesis?
"I think she might be the only Super AI in the world."
It was a story I had planned to keep a secret for the rest of my life.
I never expected I'd end up talking about it here, in front of everyone.
Andrea, who had been listening to our conversation, spoke quietly.
"If that's the case, then that body would be a full-body artificial prosthesis. ...But, isn't that kind of prosthesis not something just anyone can acquire?"
I agreed with Andrea's words.
"The price alone is one thing, and the requirements are tricky, too."
Just then, the cafe's serving robot arrived at our table.
I skillfully transferred the drinks we had ordered, suited to everyone's tastes, onto the table.
As for the drink I ordered, it was a fruit juice made from artificially cultured sweet fruit flesh.
Maybe because of all the suffering in such a short time,
I was really craving something sweet.
I spoke, calming my brain with the drink.
"Actually, I'm not sure about that part either. I think the credits she used to buy it were probably earned from streaming."
"......Streaming?"
"Yeah, net streaming."
"......."
When you said Streamer Eve.
She was currently the rising star and a new legend in the VTuber world.
Of course, I estimated that she wouldn't have earned enough revenue from that alone, but it was only an estimate.
It wasn't impossible.
As I spoke, I looked at Eve.
Eve met my gaze.
Those transparent eyes seemed to pierce right through me.
Those eyes, gleaming with an odd light, lingered in my memory.
"Of course, I also engaged in parallel stock trading activities."
Was it because she had a human body?
Even her unique speech pattern had changed.
Wait, hold on. She said she traded stocks?
"Then I can also trade stoc—."
"That is not allowed."
"......."
Behind me, having been instantly shut down,
Catherine, who had kept her silence until now, directed a question at Eve.
"Fine, let's say she really is an artificial intelligence. Let's also say everything else Si-woon said is true."
Without even touching the drink that had arrived in front of her, Catherine continued.
"But what's with that outfit? Is it a maid uniform or something?"
Hmm.
"And also, why did you deliberately give it the artificial prosthesis of a female body? If we're just looking at physical specs, a male body would be more efficient for an artificial intelligence."
At this part, I looked toward Eve.
Honestly, I was curious too.
Eve.
The AI artificial intelligence.
It was the same when she rejected the name 'Adam' I'd tried to give her.
And when I'd asked her gender a few times before, she had only ever answered, 'This AI has no gender.'
But the Eve who showed up with an artificial prosthesis
was a woman with an incredibly beautiful appearance.
As the last words of that cafe customer who collapsed suggested,
the size of her chest drew everyone's attention.
For reference, regarding Catherine's current sharp reaction,
I cautiously assumed that Eve's chest size was not entirely irrelevant to it.
And additionally, it was exactly my type.
Anyway.
Everyone seated at the table looked at Eve.
We waited for her answer.
Even in that situation, Eve seemed to feel not even the slightest bit of pressure.
Keeping her expressionless face on,
she was sipping her molecular coffee.
A short time passed, and Eve set the empty cup down on the table.
"That is."
Eve slowly opened her mouth.
"For the purpose of serving the human 'Lee Si-woon'."
.......
A brief silence.
Everyone's gaze turned toward me instead.
For some reason I couldn't explain,
those stares seemed extremely sharp.
"......Si-woon."
"Wait, why is everyone looking at me all of a sudden?"
This felt like the atmosphere was implying I had made Eve do it—the maid outfit, the female body.