[Translator – Peptobismol]
Chapter 23: Rainy Day (2)
The streets outside were quiet.
The pitter-patter sound of rain echoed in my ears.
Occasionally, a few vehicles would pass through the rain, or I’d see people walking with LED-lit umbrellas, but overall, the streets were sparsely populated.
It seemed absurd, considering this was the vicinity of Center Plaza, the central business district of Neon City.
However, in a way, it was expected.
Just like how I didn’t feel like going out, city folks tended to stay indoors when it rained.
Many believed that prolonged exposure to rain could strip away implants from their bodies, although I wasn’t sure if that was true.
The sight of street urchins with stripped implant coverings from the lower levels suggested it was a possibility.
Through the pouring rain, the navigation route Eve had shown me appeared in my vision. It was an interface that only I could see.
The remaining distance… about 50 meters.
The distance between my residence in North Houston and my destination, Center Plaza, was very close, just as Eve had mentioned. It was within walking distance.
I continued towards my destination, and soon a large store came into view.
【Cyberwear & Implant Specialty Store】
Holograms of ‘Pete Mac’ from Koozaka, and company logos from Monolith, were rotating at a steady pace on the signboard.
[Arrived at destination, ending guidance.]
Confirming Eve’s voice, I walked towards the store.
Passing through the automatic doors, I noticed no armed guards like those in the lower levels, just turrets ready to turn any intruders into beehives at the push of a button.
Perhaps my masked appearance raised suspicion. The gaze of the staff sharpened.
Purely intending to prioritize health, I wore a mask while moving around, unlike many others in Neon City who wore masks for different reasons.
Naturally, it was right to be cautious.
As I folded my umbrella, I reached into my pocket, making sure the employee saw that I was empty-handed.
Sir, I’m harmless.
Even if I wear bulletproof clothes, getting shot with bare skin would hurt a lot. And if I get shot for doing nothing, it would hurt me even more.
I made my way slowly towards the counter where the employee was.
“Excuse me.”
“…Welcome, how can I assist you today?”
Could you… ease up a bit? If this is how it’s going to be, I should have taken off my mask before entering.
In a world where faces could be entirely changed, I couldn’t fathom why wearing a mask prompted such caution.
“What high-capacity data module products are available?”
[According to NetSpace search results, the products available at the current location are─.]
“How much were you looking to spend, sir?”
[…]
Eve fell silent.
Suddenly, the attitude of the staff changed.
A pretentious smile appeared on their face.
“I did a search on the Net, and I heard this place offers better prices compared to others.”
“Oh, you can’t always trust the information on the Net. Nevertheless, I’ll offer you a good price.”
“…”
This time, I remained silent.
I couldn’t trust the information on the Net…
A situation where prices fluctuate in real-time when a customer enters the store.
Living in a city tainted by capitalism.
That’s cyberpunk.
It was a familiar scenario in this city.
***
I had a headache after finally succeeding in purchasing the desired product after negotiating to a reasonable agreement, albeit slightly more expensive than what Eve had informed me.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Unfortunately, I had a fatal flaw: I wasn’t good at bargaining.
[Why did you purchase it at an above-average price, I wonder.]
“…I can’t return empty-handed after going out.”
That’s why.
As an “I”, I prioritized maximizing gains when going out.
I walked a considerable distance (10 minutes on foot) to get here.
Returning empty-handed or bargaining too much were not options for me.
I definitely didn’t buy it haphazardly because there was Eve’s streaming (passive income) like auto-hunting.
Or not.
It’s been a while since I played a VR game.
How many new games have I missed?
I felt a surge of excitement.
I thought about searching on the Net while walking, but it’s risky using a smartphone while walking.
Even though I can project holograms into the air, it’s still dangerous.
So, I decided to search from home.
With lighter steps than before, I left the store.
I bought what I wanted at a price I desired, and the staff sold the product at a price they wanted.
It was a win-win situation.
As I made up my mind to head home, I sensed a disturbance in the atmosphere.
Some people seemed to be dropping their umbrellas and running away, while others, like me, were assessing the situation.
What’s happening?
There were no screams, but something had definitely happened.
Did someone start urinating in public?
There was quite a distance between me and the center of the disturbance.
As someone who hadn’t undergone implant surgery like MonoVision Cyberware, it was hard for me to discern what was happening.
I stood there holding the bag absentmindedly when Eve’s voice came through.
[Attempting to hack the camera… Completed.]
“Aren’t you going to ask me to activate the protection protocol like last time?”
[Voice data records approved by the human ‘Lee Siwon’ from the past are stored, I inform you.]
Ah, that time.
I did give permission at the restaurant when I met Julia.
Once you approve, it’s a lifetime commitment.
That’s why there needs to be thorough confirmation when signing or consenting to something.
[Synchronizing with visual interface data… Completed.]
As Eve finished, a small screen appeared in front of my vision.
From the quality of the screen and the location it was capturing, it seemed to be footage from a surveillance camera.
In the footage, there was a man standing, his entire body armed with black cyberware.
I couldn’t tell if he was human or orc.
At that level of cyberware integration, it was hard to discern the race.
Several cyberware the man was armed with caught my eye.
From what I could recall, they were military-grade products.
In Neon City, a free city outside of national control, they were rare items.
They were the kind of things you might see in contracts involving mega corps.
Why such a person was standing idly on the street, I didn’t know.
[Translator – Peptobismol]
“It seems like he’s murmuring something.”
[Confirmation… Capturing voice signal, amplifying lens and voice.]
The screen zoomed in to show the man’s entire face. His jawline was nonexistent, leaving an impression.
Then, the man’s low-quality, murmured voice could be faintly heard.
It sounded vaguely like Mandarin Chinese.
Even with the translation module installed on my neural chip, I couldn’t interpret what he was mumbling, so I couldn’t understand the content.
[Confirmed in NCPD database. Shares over 90% similarity with a criminal currently incarcerated in Neon City’s Prison ‘Pelicanus,’ I inform you.]
“…Why would such a guy be here? Did someone just clone his face with implants?”
[Cross-referencing worn cyberware information and biometric signals. …Matching database information, confirming 99% possibility of being the same individual.]
“Huh.”
Just going out in front of my house, and meeting an escaped convict. Even on a rainy day, the chances were very slim.
So why was such a guy here?
[Checking the current NCB24 news. 《We inform you that several inmates have escaped from the Pelicanus prison. Citizens are advised to refrain from going out─》I provide.]
The timing is just unbelievable.
As I know, Pelicanus, even in Neon City, was a place where only serious criminals were sent.
“But if he has escaped, shouldn’t he be running outside the city? Why is he here?”
[Name, ‘Hei Wang’. Mercenary affiliated with Hei Shukwai. Eight records including crimes such as killing upper-class citizens confirmed, classified as a Chrome Psycho, I explain.]
Even if the joints hurt from the rain, returning to the city after escaping from the prison was crossing a line.
Suddenly, the murmuring man, Chrome Psycho, raised his heavily built hand.
He aimed his fingertips, which had been modified, at a fleeing child.
There was no one nearby to protect the child.
Then, the Chrome Psycho’s palm transformed.
A mechanical hole appeared, and inside, red rays grew bigger and bigger.
It wasn’t an automated shooting device.
It looked like a small grenade launcher.
Fortunately for the child, as soon as I confirmed the launch of the projectile, I acted.
I circulated mana and unleashed it.
A powerful gust emanated from my hand, occupying the entire linear space.
Such types of grenade launchers needed both ammunition to be fired inside the body and a cyberware device to initiate the firing simultaneously.
That’s why it was common to make the weight lighter and minimize the volume as much as possible.
This meant that if you could predict the direction of the shot, it was also possible to change the direction of the projectile with strong winds.
If I had a little more time, I could have redirected the projectile back.
It’s regrettable.
The projectile fired at the child unnaturally veered off in mid-air.
Then, an explosion followed.
– Baang!
The grenade also seemed to be military-grade.
The explosiveness was no joke.
If I had made even a small mistake, I wouldn’t have been able to stop it.
[Explosion confirmed. Estimated time until NCPD arrival─.]
“The NCPD guys won’t be able to stop that thing even if they come, right? We need the Chrome Force special unit to arrive.”
[Confirmation. Hacking into police station internal data… Completed. Time until the Chrome Force arrives is about 600 seconds, I predict.]
10 minutes.
It meant I had to endure that time or knock them down before that.
I didn’t like getting wet in the rain.
But I couldn’t ignore the fact that a projectile had been fired at a child.
Since it had already happened, there was nothing I could do.
Soon after, the red rays of the Chrome Psycho moved towards me.
However, just then, as soon as I realized that fact, the Chrome Psycho man was split in half.
“Huh?”
What just happened?
Then, goosebumps ran all over my body.
“So you were here, huh? I’ve been looking for you.”
The voice I heard in my dream yesterday continued.
Ah.
Wasn’t there a broadcast on NCB24 news about several people escaping?
…..
I prepared for battle.
The woman who stood in front of me was the scariest among the Chrome Psychos I knew and, at the same time, the one who tried to kill me.
I felt like I needed to find a cyber-shaman and get some blessings.
[Translator – Peptobismol]
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