The New Hero Association
Far from the bustling commercial districts of Sky City, in a sparsely populated outer zone where even pedestrians were rare, an autonomous taxi drifted down through the air with a soft whisper of friction and settled gently at Sonia's feet.
With a soft hiss, the door that had opened upward sealed shut again, and the sleek craft rose soundlessly back into the sky, retracing the path it had come from.
Sonia stared blankly after it, watching the taxi's red taillights shrink to pinpricks before vanishing completely into the silhouette of the towering forest of buildings.
"Ah… I should have asked it to wait a little. Just in case the interview finished early…"
The regret came too late. The taxi was long gone from sight. Sonia let out a small sigh and shook her head.
Besides, there was no telling how the conversation would go — whether it would end positively or not. If the scouting offer turned out to be a mistake, or if she failed to meet their standards and got rejected, any fare for a taxi left waiting would simply evaporate. And right now, Sonia couldn't afford to waste even a single coin.
Sonia didn't think of herself as a particularly greedy person. What she wanted was modest. The monthly premium subscription fee for Nebulix. Electricity and internet bills for the computer and equipment that never stopped running. The bare-minimum maintenance fees on an apartment leased cheaply to heroes. A specific brand of crispy potato chips that never went on sale, and a sharp, fizzy cola. That was enough. But in this thoroughly broken world, maintaining even that humble life was far harder than it sounded.
The reason Sonia had come all the way out here today was the chain reaction set off when the fraudulent association that had all but monopolized the D-class hero market — Merging Point — had collapsed into thin air.
Like new species appearing in an ecosystem after a great predator vanished, countless fledgling associations had sprung up overnight to fill Merging Point's empty seat. One of those hero associations had reviewed Sonia's activity record and reached out first with a scouting offer.
It wasn't the kind of VIP treatment that came with cries of "Please, join our association!" and a red-carpet welcome… but considering the rumors that E-class and F-class heroes with little to no activity record hadn't received so much as a single call, Sonia's situation was relatively fortunate.
Sonia's main commissions weren't glamorous combat missions like monster subjugation or dungeon raids. Most of her work was closer to technical labor — facility maintenance, system inspections, that sort of thing. That very consistency may well have looked appealing to a brand-new association just getting off the ground.
A newly opened association desperately needed every hero it could get who was ready to work right away.
Perhaps, Sonia vaguely guessed, the records of those few easy dungeons her fantasy-world adventurer friend from next door had half-forced her into clearing not long ago had helped a little too.
A single phone call, coming right on the heels of the worst possible disaster — her previous association vanishing with the money — had led Sonia here.
Sonia's hero career had never been flashy. But looked at another way, that also meant she had no notable flaws or incident records either. And now, Sonia stood before the door to a new opportunity.
"…There's really nothing around here at all. Just an elevator sitting out here by itself… It looks incredibly weird…"
Sonia muttered to herself before she could stop it, taking in the scene before her. Where her golden eyes fell, there truly was nothing.
In the middle of a barren vacant lot, a single incongruous structure stood alone, as if it had simply erupted from the ground.
Beneath a translucent roof that seemed meant to keep out rain and snow, four or five concrete steps rose slightly above ground level. From the top of those steps, an escalator stretched endlessly down into the dark underground. That was all.
Even land this far from the city center wasn't worthless. They had probably decided to make use of underground space rather than purchase expensive surface real estate.
Without so much as a proper signboard, the entrance — built of nothing but dull gray concrete and metal framework — gave off an oddly gloomy atmosphere. The low whirr of the escalator's motor cut through the silence and pressed into Sonia's ears.
An ordinary adventurer association would have been noisy and bustling, welcoming anyone whose limbs were still attached. This hero association was the complete opposite.
Of course, she had no real choice. As a D-class hero of Sky City — as someone who could not give up her monthly premium subscription to an adult video site, or her various petty self-indulgences — Sonia shook off her hesitation and carefully set her first foot on the escalator's rubber tread.
With a soft whoosh of weightlessness, her body began to slide downward.
From the surface it had looked like the escalator of some rundown subway station, but riding it felt entirely different. There was no creaking friction, no rattling vibration of any kind.
It was as smooth and silent as if she were floating down on a powerful magnetic field. The speed was far greater than expected, and the sensation of descending much deeper than she had anticipated made Sonia grip the handrail tightly without thinking.
After what felt like a long descent, bright light began to spill from the end of the dark passage. Before long her field of view opened wide, and the escalator deposited Sonia in the middle of an underground space so vast it could fairly be called cavernous.
The place she had arrived at was a massive association lobby, finished in a perfectly modern and minimalist design.
Stylish waiting seats, a kiosk for taking numbers, vending machines stocked with various drinks, and a long, broad reception desk set at the front — everything radiated a cold, refined atmosphere.
"The more I look at it, the weirder this association seems…"
"We've been waiting for you. Hero of Sky City — Sonia!"
At that moment, a loud, clear voice rang out from beyond the reception desk.
The voice was aimed precisely at her. There were other staff members nearby, but they only glanced briefly to confirm the new arrival before returning to their own work, moving about busily.
Their fingers flew across holographic screens projected from the terminals on their wrists, so absorbed that it was as if Sonia weren't even there.
Only one person — a staff member whose hair was as black as the bodysuit she wore — reacted as though she had been waiting from the start specifically to receive Sonia.
"Ah… Hel… Hello! …Uh… um…"
Startled by the voice calling out to her so directly, Sonia returned an awkward greeting.
"Thank you so much for coming, Sonia! Please follow me this way."
"Ah… Hello…?"
The moment Sonia appeared, the staff member rose from her seat with the reflexive precision of a long-trained soldier.
She snapped into a perfect attention stance without a single degree of error, then raised her right hand and delivered a salute at a flawless angle.
What struck Sonia's eyes was a figure every bit as unreal as those mechanical movements.
The staff member was a beautiful woman in her mid-twenties, looking perhaps five or six years older than Sonia. But it wasn't her face that seized Sonia's gaze.
From head to toe, her entire body was sheathed without a single gap in a jet-black, glossy latex bodysuit. The garment seemed to be this association's official uniform.
Th-this is a bodysuit…? What a strange outfit… Even the shape of her navel is completely visible… But then again… um… uh… Maybe she's from special forces…? Her posture is razor-sharp…
Rising with a motion so crisp it almost seemed to make a sound, the staff member held her salute and thrust her chest out. The latex, molded perfectly to her body, stretched taut and made the full, generous lines of her breasts even more blatantly obvious.
Not a single patch of bare skin showed, yet the hollow shape of her navel was clearly visible through the thin latex. At that strange, faintly indecent sight, Sonia swallowed hard.
Thump… thump-thump…
If the woman had shown even a hint of embarrassment while wearing clothes that revealed every curve of her body, Sonia would have simply found it awkward and moved on.
But the staff member displayed not the slightest hesitation or shame. Instead, she strode toward Sonia with her chest proudly forward, her heels clicking at a steady, measured pace.
Faced with that strangely overflowing confidence, Sonia's heart began to beat a little faster and harder than usual, for reasons she couldn't name.
An unfamiliar pulse, resonating from deep in her chest.
(…Wh-why is my heart pounding like this all of a sudden…? I… I don't really know why, but… f-for now I should focus on the work conversation first…)
Sonia tried to hide her flushing cheeks as she found herself unable to look away from the unreal figure approaching her.
In contrast to the cold air of the underground space, an unidentifiable heat was rising inside Sonia's flustered body.