That Happened Too (1)
That Happened Too (1)
Seasonally speaking, autumn had arrived.
Of course, in Neon City, where the concept of four seasons was barely defined, most people were clueless that autumn had even come.
Actually, that was unavoidable.
The leaves didn't change color, and no autumn wind-driven (deadly toxic) storms swept through the streets.
The city shield separated the outside from the inside, so temperature differences between seasons weren't clear either.
Though, I didn't know the exact principle or reason myself.
Acidic or toxic rain and snow sometimes fell inside the city, but aside from that, it wasn't easy to distinguish seasons within the city.
Despite all that, I was certain that it was now "autumn."
After Drex's wedding ended.
Autumn had also arrived in my daily life.
It was the season when all living things prepare for death and wait for the spring that will come again next year.
In a word.
It was a kind of "cataclysm."
"It is efficient to sleep in one bed."
"...I agree."
"Wouldn't pushing about four beds together work?"
"Well......, it's not bad."
"Of course, as the childhood friend, the spot next to you is mine...."
"What do you think, Chairman-nim?"
"Fufu, liveliness isn't bad either."
Whoa, seriously dizzying.
Seven housemates.
And the sight of an entire floor turned into a single house.
It was hard to put into words.
Honestly.
My patience might hit its limit.
Even when it was just Eve, Catherine, and me living together, there were countless situations where I didn't know where to look.
And now five more people had been added.
A total of seven people living in one house.
.......
What the hell do I do.
26. That Kind of Thing Happened Too (1)
But really, fortunately.
My daily life didn't change as much as I thought it would.
First.
The seven housemates weren't always together.
Even Chairman-nim, the head of "Black Monolith" who carried the name "Taylor Blackstar," had a fixed schedule that surpassed my imagination.
I heard that an entire prosthetic body maintenance facility had been installed on another floor to minimize commuting time.
Still, aside from late hours, it was rare to see their face.
Chairman-nim themselves seemed somewhat satisfied with it.
Besides that, plenty of people were busy with their own work.
Natasha, Andrea, Julia, and even Maya had to go down to the lower layer to help out at her father's shop.
Ah, for reference.
I'd separately asked Maya how she ended up moving into this house.
To my question, Maya answered as follows.
"Ah, I got a message from Chairman-nim."
"......."
So Chairman-nim was the root cause of it all.
Maya continued.
"Also, Si-un-ssi said last time that you'd protect me...."
"......."
And there was a sin I had committed too.
Actually, since I'd already heard the news that this entire building had been purchased, I had expected it to some degree.
Anyway, that's how it happened.
The only ones always home (like unemployed people), just as before, were "Catherine" and "Eve."
Also, since an entire floor had become one house.
It was way more spacious than I thought.
And because the walls hadn't disappeared completely.
The parts I worried about were less than I expected.
.......
Though it felt a little disappointing too.
Anyway, that's how it was.
I rolled around on the bed and operated my vision interface.
In the old days, I would have watched Eve's 24-hour streaming broadcast.
But like the commentator said at the fighting game tournament last time, Eve had earned enough credits and practically quit broadcasting.
So I was just checking if any new videos had been uploaded on my subscribed channels.
Still no uploads from Master, the 『Real Mage of the Machine Age Channel』.
Then....
『How to Grow Artificial Plants』, huh.
.......
I closed the insane video that claimed you could easily grow artificial plants by purchasing a plant product worth about 500 credits.
Nothing to see, nothing to do.
Should I play a game?
Just as I was thinking that.
- Ding-dong.
The front door intercom, its bell growing more anxiety-inducing each time, rang out through the apartment.
...Nobody should be visiting.
Drex had left for his honeymoon right away too.
At the moment, there was no one among the people I knew who would come to my house.
I held back Eve, who was about to get up from her spot.
"I'll go check."
I had nothing to do anyway.
Eve was sitting next to Catherine, doing power-leveling for her in a classic game, just like she had done for Andrea.
It was because Catherine was urgently focused on leveling up after hearing that she couldn't enjoy games with me unless she hit max level.
I closed my vision interface and lightly got up from the bed.
Who is it?
I pressed the intercom button and checked the hallway outside.
A man wearing a uniform was standing there.
A company mark indicating a delivery worker was attached to his chest.
Not a drone, but a human worker.
Though rare, it wasn't an uncommon case.
They were usually used when delivering important (or expensive) packages.
I opened the front door and greeted the delivery worker.
The man, who confirmed my appearance, manipulated his own vision interface and spoke.
"Excuse me, is this room 702?"
"It is, and it isn't."
"?"
The delivery worker made a puzzled expression at my meaningless Zen riddle.
It was true.
Even if you opened the door to the next unit, it connected to this side anyway.
The professional delivery worker calmly verified the identity according to procedure.
"...Anyway, are you 'Catherine Lee'-ssi yourself?"
A worker with abundant gender sensitivity.
Clearly, my gender would have been listed in my identity, but he was asking if I was Catherine.
Actually, that wasn't strange in a cyberpunk world.
I turned my head and called Catherine's name.
"Hey, Catherine! Did you order some package?"
"I didn't?"
Catherine, who had hurriedly thrown on a coat, revealed herself with her answer.
There was the minor issue of the delivery worker's face turning red when he saw Catherine's appearance, but the identity verification process wasn't that complicated, so we received the package quickly.
"City ID and biosignal confirmed, have a pleasant Neon City."
The delivery worker, having finished his short greeting, disappeared.
I turned my head toward Catherine.
"...There shouldn't be any packages coming."
Catherine spoke while lightly tossing and catching the box repeatedly using only one hand.
The box had a very dirty appearance.
Both the wrapping and the waybill looked that way.
It also smelled like something had pissed on it.
What the hell was this thing?
Eve, who had approached us before I knew it, stared intently at the delivery box.
"No special electronic signals or biosignals are detected. The possibility of it being an explosive or a living creature is very low."
Honestly, just looking at the box's appearance.
It wouldn't have been strange to throw it away as is.
I asked Catherine the rest of my question.
"Is the sender's name written on it?"
"Umm..., let's see."
Catherine seemed to share my sentiment.
She turned the package over using only her fingertips.
They really picked this up from a garbage dump─.
"It says Four-eyes."
"?"
My eyes widened at Catherine's words.
Four-eyes.
The orc I had recently seen at the garbage landfill.
It was also the nickname of the orc who had looked after young me and Catherine back at the garbage landfill in the past.
Catherine seemed surprised too.
She hurriedly tore open the packaging of the delivery box.
Watching that, I muttered.
"Why would they send a package from there."
They should just take care of themselves.
Though, even as I said that, I was just as curious about the contents of the package sent to Catherine.
So I stuck close to Catherine's side and watched.
"...Hey, back off a little."
"Huh?"
Ah, I got too close.
After going through this situation where "one floor" had become "one house."
It seemed my concept of personal space had gotten a little weird too.
"Sorry."
"...It's not something to be sorry about."
Catherine answered, fanning her face with her hand to cool it down.
It's not like this has only been happening for a day or two.
Why is she suddenly acting like that.
Anyway, I took a step back.
I wondered if our Geumjjogi had finally learned about "the separation of male and female at age seven."
"So, what's inside?"
"Wait."
Catherine, who had crouched down, carefully checked the contents.
"...They put in all sorts of things."
It was just as Catherine said.
A small frame, a necklace, a toy that shoots bullets.
For reference, the "toy that shoots bullets" was known by another name: a "pistol."
They were all things that Catherine and I had each touched at least once when we were young, or before we left the garbage landfill, so they stirred up nostalgic feelings.
Why would they send these old things now.
Catherine voiced the same question I had.
"...But why would they send these."
That was when we spotted the paper tucked in the corner of the delivery box.
It looked like recycled paper (scrap paper) made by neatly cutting a snack wrapper.
Something's written on it.
I subtly snuck back behind Catherine.
Catherine flinched for a moment as if she noticed my movement. She didn't send me away like earlier, though.
After a short cough, Catherine began to read the content written on the paper.
"First, I received the credit chip well. Thanks to it, life has gotten much better. Thank you."
It sounded like they were talking about the magic (credit chip) I had given Four-eyes.
When we went to kidnap the Vice Chairman of Koozaka.
As I nodded and reminisced about the past.
Catherine continued reading the paper.
"Due to circumstances, it's hard to make contact, but I had to let you know there are no major problems. That's why I ended up sending this package."
As long as you had credits, even if it was a garbage landfill, and even if your identity was unclear.
Sending a package was a simple matter.
"Nothing special has happened since then, don't worry."
This part was a relief.
Honestly, since we had briefly encountered a "ninja" while escaping through the sewers, it was something I'd been worrying about in a corner of my mind.
No matter how hidden a village it was.
It wasn't impossible to find.
"It'd be a waste of the delivery fee to send just the paper, so I'm sending along the toys the brats used to play with in the old days. Take care."
"......."
This seemed like they were just offloading junk.
I briefly thought to myself.
But probably.
That wasn't the only reason written on the paper.
It was likely done to firmly convince us that the sender of this package was "Four-eyes."
A person who knows even this kind of past between Catherine and me.
Is rare besides them.
"Wow, look at this."
At Catherine's words, I looked at the frame in her hand.
Wow, they sent this too.
With nostalgic feelings, I took the frame Catherine handed to me.
There was a photo in the frame.
Before we entered Neon City.
A photo taken of Catherine and me, together.
I alternately examined the young Catherine in the frame and the grown-up Catherine next to me.
A child that pure.
How on earth did she become this Geumjjogi....
"...I feel like you're thinking something annoying."
"Nope."
Even Catherine couldn't read my mind. I shrugged off her suspicion with a nonchalant attitude.
Seeing how we looked when we were young after such a long time.
It was nostalgic.
And I felt kind of restless too.
"How did you spend your days in the past?"
At that moment.
Eve asked me a question.
"Us?"
Looking at the contents of the delivery box.
Eve seemed to have gotten curious too.
After all, Eve only came to be with me—with us—after the game's main scenario.
It was something she might wonder about.
"......."
Where should I even begin to explain this.
I glanced at Catherine.
Coincidentally, Catherine was looking at me too. My eyes met Catherine's.
Soon after.
Catherine and I turned our heads toward Eve and opened our mouths at the same time.
"I practically raised her on my back."
"She would have died if it weren't for me, you know?"
Again, Catherine and I faced each other.
What on earth was our Geumjjogi saying right now.
Sure, Catherine saved me, but after that, look at how much I took care of her.
Catherine and I simultaneously continued our explanation.
Of the past, the events of the garbage landfill.
* * *
"You're going to Neon City?"
"Yeah."
Was it because of the sewer smell.
Had our girl finally gone crazy.
A kid who hadn't even grown up yet.
Looking at Catherine, I shook my head back then.