Let’s take a moment for an old story.
It was the time when I had just entered Neon City.
Having escaped from the Garbage Dump, I was rolling around the Lower-Class Area with Catherine as a nameless mercenary.
I heard there was a restaurant run by Asians in the neighborhood, so I went there for a meal.
In the back of my mind, I was hoping for some Korean food.
But to my disappointment, the restaurant was a Cyberpunk-style Fusion-Japanese Restaurant.
The food was surprisingly not bad.
I visited there every day like a regular.
There was one female employee at the restaurant.
She was the owner’s daughter.
At that time, I didn’t think much of it.
I just regarded her as a strong-willed girl.
We had a casual rapport, exchanging silly jokes when we met.
That was about it.
If I could have remembered that she was a character from the game, things might have been different.
A few days later, she was kidnapped.
It happened often in the Lower-Class Area, but I didn’t see it coming.
There were no clues left, and back then, my abilities were lacking. Her rescue was increasingly delayed.
Eventually, after quite a bit of time passed, I finally managed to save her.
She was a cheerful woman who loved to joke with the mercenaries visiting the restaurant.
Maya had her whole body modified with Chrome.
From what I heard, she was forced to work on illegal tasks or experiments.
And it was only after seeing her in that condition that I remembered.
She was a character from a Sub Quest in the game I played.
And that the quest involved her becoming a Chrome Psycho.
If I had saved her right after she was kidnapped, would the story have turned out differently?
Or if I had been more vigilant to prevent her from being kidnapped in the first place, wouldn’t that have been better?
I entertained many thoughts, but the bitter reality stared me in the face.
In the end, it was my laziness and forgetfulness that had led to this situation.
“Did you come to save me? Right? I believed in you!”
“…I’m sorry I’m late.”
“No, it’s not you who’s late.”
She was already broken.
“You’re the only one I can count on. I’ve seen many mercenaries, but you were different. I believed you would save me. But why did that woman come with you? Why? Why are you both together? Isn’t it okay for me to be with you now? I’ve gotten stronger too. Look! I should do what my dad told me: a man should be taken care of by a woman. To stay together forever, just the head is enough, right? Right? Now, I’ll save you. Just stay still.”
And I know she ended up imprisoned.
What a long life to see all this.
As I dodged the incoming Blades, I thought that.
—
6. On a Rainy Day (3)
Let me make one thing clear: I am not weak.
It was just the limitations of my position.
I was meant to support the team or provide firepower from a distance.
Holding a front line like the others was impossible.
So, it was natural that I couldn’t fight one-on-one against a woman like Maya, who was fully outfitted with Cyberware.
A curved blade aimed for my throat.
I barely managed to step back.
I almost got split in two.
This is pretty intense.
The blade started from Maya’s wrist.
Small, long blades moved back and forth, adjusting their lengths fluidly.
To her, it might seem like playful moves, but for me, it felt like I was on the brink of death.
I couldn’t even catch a breather to gather Mana for a counterattack.
However, she would have realized that she didn’t have all the time in the world to keep playing around.
With Center Plaza being the Middle-Class area, the NCPD response wouldn’t be slow.
Hence, with every passing moment, her movements grew sharper.
At least, that’s what it felt like to me.
It hardly felt like I had been fighting long, yet I was already covered in cuts.
My tattered coat fluttered around me.
If I hadn’t had anti-stab specs, I would have probably been down by now.
This level of bleeding was getting dangerously close.
I spoke up to buy some time.
“…So, how did you escape from prison?”
Honestly, I was genuinely curious.
Given that Pelicanus was a prison for serious criminals, its security must have been tight.
Maya’s red eyes flickered.
She looked like she was having seizures, and the blades on her wrist seemed unnatural.
“I don’t even know?”
She seemed a bit like a Chrome Psycho, all confused and complex.
Yet she continued to answer my question.
“Does it matter who broke me out? It does. They gave me gear and even told me where you were! That matters. I’m grateful.”
…Now, that was something I didn’t expect.
Someone informed her about my location.
I didn’t know whether she was telling the truth, but it didn’t sound like a lie.
Lying is a basic skill for the citizens of Neon City, but I didn’t think Maya could think that far when in such a state.
Maybe Maya felt something odd herself.
For a brief moment, she kept twitching, showing symptoms of a Chrome Psycho muttering to herself.
I had bought myself a moment of time.
I had to find some method during this pause.
“…Eve, do you have any good ideas?”
[Hacking is impossible unless you get closer since the target’s Cyberware signal system is congested, I explain.]
“Then I guess stalling is our best bet.”
[But I was already conducting data mining based on the target’s movements. Synchronizing with the visual interface data… complete.]
As soon as Eve finished her sentence, Maya charged at me again.
But one thing had changed.
A graphical representation of Maya appeared on my visual interface.
A translucent form.
It showed her predicted path of movement and where she might attack.
Now, that’s a game changer.
The urgency remained the same.
But it was much easier to avoid Maya’s attacks than before.
I dodged her attacks while saying,
“I swear I’ll donate to the streams if I make it out of here.”
[But isn’t that not my earned Credits? I quietly question.]
I don’t know about that.
“What are you talking about?!!”
Maya yelled at me for talking to myself.
I still had no chance to attack.
To take Maya down, I needed to use a powerful spell.
I was too busy dodging her attacks.
Even firing my gun would only leave scratches on her armor.
What’s around me again?
How much time is left?
My brain spun.
Then, an idea hit me.
“Why do you keep… dodging?!!”
Because I want to live.
Just a moment ago, I had been dodging her attacks by a hair’s breadth, and now, Maya’s movements began to grow larger.
Overly emotional.
A classic Chrome Psycho symptom.
I cast a simple spell.
Thanks to her enlarged movements, it became much easier.
A brilliant flash burst from my fingertips, illuminating the streets.
A special flash spell.
I hoped to buy enough time with this, but unfortunately, her cyborg eyes seemed to recover very quickly.
But that was fine.
My goal was to stop her movements for at least a moment.
“I’m counting on you, Drake!”
At the same time, I clenched my fist.
The loose sleeves of my coat filled with muscle.
The momentarily swollen muscles.
It was the new Cyberware Implant said to be able to lift an Orc, as Drake had mentioned.
It would help if I could score a lucky punch and knock her out, but with the flash in her eyes, Maya was instinctively guarding her vital spots.
That was okay too.
Originally, my target wasn’t her vitals.
My swinging fist collided with Maya’s abdomen.
It was a punch.
The first one since escaping the Garbage Dump and Lower-Class Area.
Thud, I heard a cracking sound in my wrist or fist.
Maya’s body flew back from the hit.
In the direction where I had just purchased an item from the Cyberware shop.
Maya’s body crashed through the automatic door.
The moment the door shattered, the painful sound of multiple turrets firing echoed.
I had confirmed this when I entered the store.
Instead of armed guards, several turrets were guarding the place.
Since the door was broken, they would have activated automatically without anyone needing to press a button.
The deafening noise of turret gunfire resounded through the streets.
A heavy sound, at least from 7.62 rounds.
This meant that even with her enhanced armor, Maya couldn’t completely block it.
Soon after, the noise stopped.
“Did I take her down?”
[…No, I deny that.]
Eve was right.
Stepping on the shattered glass, Maya walked out.
Her armor had cracks and injuries, but she looked much better than I expected.
“Long time no see, you’re quite the wild spirit, huh?”
It was a compliment I hadn’t heard since falling into this world.
I nodded without realizing it.
…Wait, that’s not right. Pull yourself together.
The woman in front of you wanted my neck, and she wanted to kill everyone around me as well.
I prepared for round two.
With Eve’s help, it would be easier to comprehend her movements, and I had already dealt some damage.
I felt I might manage to get through this situation somehow.
But before the battle could continue, a small sound echoed from the building.
Something was flying toward us.
[Information: An NCPD tactical drone is approaching, I report.]
Meaning that the Chrome Force would soon arrive.
Did Maya hear that sound? She glanced over her injured body.
Had the turrets brought her back to her senses, even for a moment?
The instability from earlier seemed to disappear.
“…… For now, let’s call it a day. I’m hurt, and you wouldn’t want to see me like this, would you?”
With that, she lightly jumped.
She landed on a high street light.
“I’ll definitely come back again next time.”
Without waiting for my response, she vanished between the buildings.
Watching her disappearing back, I pulled out a healing nano ampule I had brought along during my outing and injected it into the most severe wound.
A sigh escaped my lips without me realizing.
“Phew…”
Then I thought.
Can I chase her?
No.
Considering her physical abilities, it was nearly impossible to follow.
Should I just let her go?
No, that wouldn’t do either.
If I let her go, the people around me could be in danger along with me.
“Eve.”
[I’m waiting.]
“Can we track her location?”
[I’ve already saved the target’s biometric signals. I can track her location, I confirm.]
“Good.”
That means there’s no need to delay.
[Confirming. I will start tracking.]
“No, wait. Let’s stop by home first.”
[Are there items you wish to gather? I ask.]
“Not that.”
Anyway, I had brought everything I needed when I left home.
The reason I wanted to head back was.
I picked up the bag I had momentarily set down.
Fortunately, the contents were intact.
I had made an effort to ensure the bag was unharmed while getting blood all over myself.
Honestly, I felt like I had taken a few more hits because of it.
“This was the reason I went out, so it shouldn’t get damaged.”
[……]
For now, I’d neatly set the Data Module down at home before starting the tracking.
After all, it wouldn’t take long to walk home.
I decided to set a goal to finish the job before Catherine returned home.
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