The performance ended very successfully.
NCB24 News praised it as a tremendous show, and the audience that witnessed it couldn’t stop admiring the performance, calling it almost magic.
(And it really was magic.)
In particular, the singer Andrea’s song during the final act received a lot of cheers from the audience.
A minor issue arose when the lighting manager, stage director, and manager tried to hold me back, asking for help again as I was trying to return home.
However, thanks to the unfortunate incident where the ‘stage director’ spat again on my face, we thankfully managed to escape from their clutches without any issues.
I let out a small sigh while recalling that moment.
“Phew.”
I should wash my face when I get home.
I don’t know why that guy spits so much when he talks.
As I thought about that, I realized.
Honestly, it was true that I had a lot on my plate working as a manager for 24 hours (cafe hopping, zoo touring, stage directing).
But seeing the performance end safely gave me a strange sense of satisfaction.
“……”
Still, I have been going out a bit too much lately.
I muttered while gripping the steering wheel.
“I’ve made up my mind.”
“What?”
Catherine, who was sitting in the backseat fiddling with Andrea’s panda doll, reacted to my mumbling.
I looked at Catherine’s face in the rearview mirror.
I opened my mouth to express my will.
“I think I’ve been going out too much lately.”
“……?”
Catherine looked at me with an expression of ‘what nonsense is this?’
Being a natural ‘E’, the social butterfly Catherine will never understand this.
Based on my experience as her long-time childhood friend, she’s probably thinking, ‘What’s wrong with going out a lot?’ even now.
After all, ‘I’s and ‘E’s are on eternal parallel lines. This is a reasonable conclusion according to the ‘MBTI’ inscribed on the ancient Goguryeo watermelon scroll.
For the next three days, no, for a week, no matter what happens, even if the sky falls, I’ve decided not to step outside.
I earnestly promised myself.
“Hmm?”
Andrea, who was cuddling the panda doll, sat up in the backseat.
“I got a message from Maya.”
When Maya had severe Chrome Psycho symptoms, I went looking for Andrea, and I guess that brought them closer. They were getting along better than I thought.
I had no idea they were exchanging messages.
I asked, lightly curious.
“What did it say?”
“…Hmm, just a moment.”
A blush crept onto Andrea’s cheek as she briefly made eye contact with me.
Her eyes seemed a bit sweeter than usual.
…….
It must just be my feelings.
After taking a soft breath, Andrea touched her visual interface.
“She said there’s something surprising when we get home.”
“What’s surprising?”
“Well, it didn’t say.”
I felt a bit of suspicion, but I quickly dismissed it with an exhale.
‘Something surprising’, how big can it be, anyway?
Unless it’s so serious that the house is crumbling, it shouldn’t affect resting at home.
After all, we were almost home anyway.
“…I wonder what it could be.”
I muttered lightly and focused back on driving.
*
*
Going Out.
People define leaving home or some sort of facility as going out.
Then, what exactly does ‘leaving’ mean in this context?
I pondered briefly.
Some might say just stepping out of the front door counts as going out, while others might say you need to leave the building’s entrance to consider it going out.
For reference, I was the former.
Other people said it was the latter.
“I’m really not going out.”
“No, I’m not going outside. I’m just going to another floor. How is that going out?”
“……”
There’s no logical part to respond to.
I grabbed my eyelid in frustration at Catherine’s answer.
Honestly, it was something I never expected.
Recently, precisely yesterday, I had met and talked to Dr. Terra inside the elevator.
At that time, Dr. Terra mentioned that they were in charge of the construction management of the place I live, the Golden Smile Condominium.
Wine bars, spa facilities, cinemas, and more.
Dr. Terra mentioned various facilities, but honestly, I didn’t pay much attention to that.
After all, even if the facilities were finished, it was clear that it would take a considerable amount of time.
Plus, there hadn’t been any construction noise whatsoever.
I cautiously guessed that it would take at least a month or a seasonal unit of time.
And my guess was half right, half wrong.
“It’s a swimming pool! A swimming pool!”
Catherine exclaimed in pure delight.
“Wow… The sauna bathing facilities are also complete….”
Maya, a Japanese-Asian who loves to bathe, was practically delighted.
“She said not only can you bathe, but you can also have pool parties. The chairman paid a lot of attention to soundproofing.”
Andrea cleared her throat.
“I wondered why the chairman was talking about swimwear, but I guess that’s why.”
Natasha was calm.
“……”
Julia looked at me cautiously with eyes expecting something.
By the way, the chairman was over on a sunbed, waving in our direction.
Eve, as always, stood next to me with a somewhat modest posture.
Currently, we were on the first basement floor of the Golden Smile Condominium. In the past, this location used to have rooms where people lived, but now it was just filled with spa facilities.
Other facilities hadn’t been completed yet, and as Maya explained, only the spa facilities were finished.
I asked Maya, who I was most curious about.
“…What about Dr. Terra?”
“Hmm? They were just here a moment ago.”
…That person ran away.
Having grasped the entire situation, I thought about how to escape from here.
Honestly, it wasn’t impossible.
After all, people who wanted to play in the pool could play, and those who wanted to rest at home could rest.
I calmly began to express my excuses one by one with sincerity.
“Oh no, I don’t have a swimsuit. Haha, unfortunately, there aren’t any stores selling swimsuits right now. I guess I’ll just have to rest at home today.”
“The chairman prepared everything…”
Maya was looking so happy, it felt like a long time since I’d seen that.
But for now, she was just my enemy.
“…Truth is, I can’t swim.”
“I checked once, and it turns out there’s no deep pool here.”
I was crushed by Catherine’s follow-up words.
When did she check that?
In the end, sincerity is what matters.
“…Yeah, I just want to lie down and rest. I’ll be at home resting, so you guys enjoy yourselves here for a bit.”
“I can just lie down on that sunbed.”
The last to respond was Andrea.
It seems like she completely forgot about all the help I gave her as a manager for 24 hours; it looked like she was repaying kindness with malice.
“…No, a sunbed and a bed are the same─.”
“I’ll go change into my swimsuit.”
I interrupted her mid-sentence.
It was after hearing Andrea’s words.
…Now that I think about it, a swimsuit.
Hmm.
Actually, lounging on a sunbed isn’t that big of a deal.
In this cyberpunk world, you can easily enjoy movies or entertainment programs through a visual interface, or even surf the net space.
…So maybe I’ll go up later.
It’s not just because of the swimsuit, either.
I didn’t have a personality that could keep stubbornly refusing such heartfelt requests.
Anyway, that’s how it went.
*
*
Fortunately, the changing room was divided by gender.
There were several shapes of male swimsuits like triangles and squares, but eventually, I ended up choosing a plain rash guard-type swimsuit.
No matter how trashy my physical traits are.
My past mercenary life might not have been in vain, as dry muscles were present throughout my body.
Of course, it’s true that I’ve mostly been lazing around lately, so my belly fat has started to assert itself a bit.
That’s why I chose the rash guard.
One reason was because my skin is as pale as if I had some kind of disease.
…Wasn’t it a ‘delicate skin’ trait?
I seem to remember the trait saying ‘piercing defense power -2.’ For reference, it’s a negative trait.
“…Sigh.”
This trashy physical trait will stay with me for life.
I thought while exhaling lightly.
Suddenly, I felt a bit gloomy.
I trudged forward toward the entrance of the changing room.
At the same time, my mood lifted again.
I can’t help this part.
It’s the fate of the male species.
How long had it been since I came out and changed?
The sight of several women enjoying themselves in the spa facility while wearing swimsuits hit my eyes hard.
Why didn’t I install the recording module when I had my mechanical eye implant surgery?
I suddenly felt regret.
Right in front were Maya and Andrea.
They were relaxing in the warm pool.
Maya savored the rising bubbles, while Andrea was diving deep beneath the water.
Behind them splashing in the wave pool were Catherine, Natasha, and Julia.
Catherine was fine, but it seems Natasha also has good coordination skills. She was swimming proficiently and showing off her speed.
By the way, Julia was floating in a tube, letting the waves carry her. Out of the three, she was the only one not wearing a bikini.
I shook my head lightly.
In my heart, I counted back, making sure I wasn’t getting distracted by the five of them.
Where’s the sunbed, where’s the sunbed!
I quickly searched for my destination.
“…Hmm?”
The chairman let out a short sound upon seeing me.
“Why aren’t you swimming?”
“Ah…, I’m a bit tired.”
Spotting the sunbed, the chairman and Eve were lying down with one space between them.
For reference, the chairman wore a dark purple bikini, while Eve wore a long swimsuit designed like a pure white dress.
The chairman had a faint smile on her lips.
She slid her sunglasses down a bit and moved her gaze toward me.
“Well, if you’ve been tormented by Andrea all day, you’d be tired.”
“…Haha, true.”
“I guess you enjoyed the panda?”
“Yeah, animals are definitely cute─.”
…….
Wait a minute.
Chairman?
“By the way, how did you know I went to the zoo with Andrea?”
It seemed like Eve hadn’t had time to talk about our schedules yet.
“Hoho, I might not know as much as the AI next to me, but I can know a thing or two.”
“……”
An AI stalker is pretty scary as it is.
But a chaebol stalker is something I never imagined.
……Now that I think about it, the chairman had also mentioned Bill when I visited before.
It might be a long-standing habit for the chairman to investigate the people around me.
I wiped the goosebumps off and thought.
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