In Neon City, the most famous mercenary, known more often by the nickname ‘Meteor’ than by his real name, Gyeomjok, placed his hand on his waist and spoke.
“Then, everyone agrees, right?”
““…….””
There was no clear answer.
However, it seemed that everyone in the room shared the same opinion as various women nodded in agreement.
Of course, that didn’t mean they all held the same detailed stance.
The first to raise her hand was Julia.
She cautiously expressed her opinion.
“…I’ll look for him in the game.”
“……Sure, Julia can do that.”
It wasn’t surprising that Catherine agreed with Julia. It was nearly impossible for Julia, a notorious bounty hunter, to roam the streets searching for Lee Siwoon.
No matter how corrupt the public power in Neon City was, there were limits.
And it wasn’t entirely impossible either.
Everyone here knew that ‘Lee Siwoon’ liked ‘games’.
The second to speak up was Natasha.
She appeared a bit uncertain, unlike her usual self.
“……Isn’t putting a bounty on him a bit excessive?”
“…What if he actually runs away?”
Catherine responded curtly with a sigh to her absurd question.
In Neon City, even the bosses of all intermediaries seem to lose their wits when love gets involved.
Natasha seemed to catch on to that, as she fanned herself with her hand to cool down her flushed face.
“Right, sorry about that.”
“Then what’s the next opinion?”
Catherine, somehow taking on the role of moderator, looked around.
The third to raise her hand was Andrea.
She spoke quietly while glancing around.
“…I mean, I think I should bring him with me. Like I said last time, I didn’t go alone; I took Eve with me. I mean, it shouldn’t take too long to come back, like maybe a week at most—.”
“Are you saying you’re not going to look for him alone?”
“……Did that show?”
Andrea lowered her head in embarrassment, having had her sneaky desire exposed.
At that moment.
Maya, who had been unable to join the conversation, slowly raised her hand and stood up.
“Um, I need to help my dad now. But if there’s any news related to Siwoon, please let me know!”
“……Good luck.”
“Okay!”
Maya was satisfied with her current life, and among them, she had the least to worry about.
After Maya left her seat, everyone’s attention in the room focused on one place.
“Hmm, it’s my turn.”
One of the capitalist moguls in the capitalist-dominated cyberpunk world, Chairman Taylor Blackstar, slowly opened his mouth.
“First of all, it’s true that we’ve stressed him out, so we should all be careful about that.”
“…That is true.”
Everyone nodded in agreement with the chairman.
They all found the sentiment relatable.
Most importantly, Lee Siwoon had sent everyone a message indicating that he needed ‘some alone time.’
Seeing the chairman speak, Catherine seemed to realize her own mistake as well and, with a slightly lower voice, asked him.
“……So, are we not going to look for him?”
“Not quite.”
The chairman shook his head resolutely.
“There could be unforeseen risks. It’s essential to know his location even if we don’t retrieve him immediately.”
That was indeed a rational thought.
And it also became the ‘reason’ for nearly a million employees at Monolith to move busily.
His light command was relayed to Monolith’s Executive Secretary, Justin Borg.
“…What did the chairman say?”
Naturally, as the chairman’s subordinate, he quickly relayed commands down the hierarchy.
As a result.
CEO, Senior Executive, Executive Director, Manager, etc.
Following their sequential orders,
“…What’s the need to check every single city surveillance camera? We can confirm identities with facial recognition—? Huh? Chairman’s order?! Gather the employees immediately!!”
“Who the heck is this guy that he won’t let anyone go home…, Aah, never mind! We’re on it now!!”
“…What? You want to go home? What nonsense is that? Aaa…, are you saying you want to do nothing at home your whole life? Alright, I’ll grant that if you want.”
“Why is there not a single trace?!!”
A small commotion was inevitable and unavoidable.
—
28. Method of Rest (5)
“Ugh.”
This is peace, this is happiness.
I thought as I munched on potato chips.
Being on the bed meant there were crumbs getting a little messy on the sheets. But since Eve comes regularly to tidy up, I didn’t make a fuss about it.
If I were at home doing this, Catherine would have come to nag me, but she wasn’t here now.
My name is Lee Siwoon.
A man who gained freedom to munch snacks in bed by running away…
I had gently put an end to my self-loathing.
This time I took out a Lime-flavored soda from Company P to quench my thirst. The cool and strong feeling of carbonation slid smoothly down my throat.
Feels good, really good.
I realize how liberating it is to roll around without worrying about others.
Of course, I used to lounge around in the Golden Smile Condominium too.
But no matter how you look at it, there’s a huge difference between being around people and being alone, and it’s hard to simply lounge around now that the building has many leisure facilities.
…
Well, that doesn’t mean that life was boring.
Let me give an example of a conversation of someone with ‘I’ traits.
“Kehe! I’ll take you to the pool!”
“Ugh! I don’t want to go but I want to go!”
The ‘I’ screaming in despair would be dragged along by ‘E’.
You could say something like that is the vibe.
This part might be hard for anyone other than ‘I’ to understand.
I didn’t even want them to understand me.
In the end, I went along with them to hang out without rejecting it.
Hmm.
Still, going around leisure facilities all week long felt a bit excessive.
Suddenly, I thought.
Why didn’t I firmly reject their suggestions?
Even if I had rejected them outright.
They wouldn’t have felt displeased or anything.
If I had politely declined, I wouldn’t have needed to run away, and I could have comfortably rolled around at home, taking my time as I wished.
It’s not like the people around me couldn’t understand me to that extent.
Yet.
“…Why?”
I couldn’t refuse.
There’s probably a simple reason why it’s hard for me, being ‘I,’ but I had a feeling there was a deeper reason.
It wasn’t something I hated immensely.
Just then, Eve unexpectedly responded to my muttering.
“May I ask what you mean?”
Yikes, that startled me.
I tried to act like I wasn’t surprised, calmly turning to face Eve.
“…Oh.”
And I naturally uttered a gasp.
Unlike usual.
Eve was not in her ‘maid outfit.’
The top was a white T-shirt. Maybe it was a rush purchase, but it seemed a bit small.
It fluttered over her body like a white curtain, and the length was so short that a hint of her navel was showing. I had no idea why there was a navel on a synthetic body.
Anyway, the presence of her top distracted my gaze. It was more impressive than the robbery skills of Redwood’s hooded Orc.
I assumed it was a disguise outfit bought from a clothing store before Tom arrived by taxi.
“…Looks like I bought the wrong size a bit.”
“That’s correct. I also purchased a separate coat to wear over it, so it’s no major issue for going out.”
I see.
“……”
But wait, can an artificial intelligence buy the wrong size?
A slight doubt crossed my mind.
But I quickly dismissed it as just my imagination.
She must have had some reason for the purchase.
Nodding while concluding that to myself.
Nevertheless, Eve asked me again.
“So, may I ask what you were saying?”
“Huh?”
“I mean the thing you just said: ‘… Why?’”
As she imitated my tone at ‘… why?’ part, she lowered her voice.
However, due to Eve’s naturally thin and delicate voice, it didn’t feel too similar.
I waved my hand nonchalantly, seemingly unaffected by Eve’s question.
“Nah, it’s no big deal.”
“……”
“……”
A shallow silence followed.
She’s waiting for my answer to the end.
I lost in the staring contest.
Slowly, I opened my mouth.
“…It’s nothing major. Just when I stayed at home, I was briefly pondering why I didn’t reject the suggestions of the people around me.”
“Hmm.”
Eve went silent, seemingly at a loss for words.
I wasn’t sure what a highly capable AI was thinking, but her expressionless gaze was aimed at me.
Eve slowly opened her mouth.
“…That might be similar to why ‘Siwoon’ brought me into this world.”
“?”
What a sudden thing to say.
I looked at Eve with the implied meaning, questioning her.
Eve quickly continued.
“I’ll go down to the lower floor again. The cleaning isn’t done yet.”
“…Oh, okay.”
This time, I clearly saw it.
A very light blush covered Eve’s cheeks. Can artificial intelligence feel embarrassed?
I scratched my head, watching Eve disappear swiftly as if she was fleeing.
I felt like I hadn’t said anything strange.
But I didn’t understand why she was embarrassed.
“……”
I guess I’ll just stick to Net Space.
I lay back down on the bed again. Enjoying the plush feel of the bed, I basked in my freedom.
By the way….
There must be a ton of movies I haven’t seen piling up.
The cyberpunk world is brimming with stimulating content, and there are so many things to watch.
In fact, the reason I rekindled my hobby for games is largely due to that.
If I had fallen into a fantasy world, it would have been difficult to take up gaming as a hobby, no doubt.
Unless there’s a genius creating games using magical spells or something.
Anyway.
I executed the Net program module running an OTT service without much thought.
“Ah.”
It’s automatically logged in.
*
And at that time.
“The signal from the target’s login has been detected! Can we finally go home?!”
“Shut up and start tracking quickly!”
The Monolith employees, who hadn’t been able to leave for over 24 hours, cried out in unison.
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