I took off my formal suit and tossed it into the clothing management device, the “BM Styler.”
By the way, BM stands for Black Monolith.
Next up, I hit the shower.
I scrubbed my whole body with an expensive filtered showerhead.
Finally, after changing back into casual clothes from the styler,
I could finally breathe comfortably.
That necktie squeezing my throat felt like a noose.
I dove right onto my bed.
Of course, I was barefoot.
No matter how much I lived in a cyberpunk world, the Korean inside my soul couldn’t stand walking around the house in shoes.
“…Ugh, I’m tired.”
A sigh slipped out before I even realized it.
Honestly, it wasn’t physically demanding at all.
There wasn’t any combat on the way back.
The schedule wasn’t long enough to stretch into the next day, either.
I just had a quick outing.
Why was I this tired?
It felt like it was twice as exhausting compared to usual outings.
I could feel the weight of sleep if I just closed my eyes.
…….
But before that,
I should send a message.
Aside from the chairman, only two people knew I went to the party:
Catherine and Julia.
Julia would be fine,
but if I didn’t inform Catherine about the party’s outcome, it could get scary.
I didn’t write much.
Just sent something vague like, “I think I know who Smile John is.”
I could explain the details later.
Now, I guess I should sleep….
Ah, but before that, maybe check up on the backlog on Net Space.
I fired up Net Space, planning to read some humorous posts or gossip.
Well, that was the plan.
– Ding dong.
I wish someone wouldn’t ring the doorbell.
……Why?
I had a feeling I knew who was outside without even opening the door.
12. Are you really doing this? (1)
Needless to say, it was Catherine outside.
Maybe she was in a hurry.
She was wearing light clothing, probably because she had been indoors.
A tank top and dolphin shorts.
Honestly, I struggled to find a place to look.
We couldn’t chat in the hallway like that for long.
I brought Catherine inside and had her sit down.
Then, I briefly explained what happened at the party.
“So…”
“Uh-huh.”
“So you think that Smile John guy might be the vice president of Kojaka?”
“Like I said earlier, it’s not certain, but that seems to be the highest probability.”
Catherine nodded as she listened to my explanation.
She took a sip of the molecular cocoa I had prepared for her.
Rubbing my tired eyes, I continued explaining.
“Well, it’s just a possibility, but what was the percentage….”
[The database has it saved as 79%, I relay the information.]
“Um, around 79%.”
Eve, in a voice only I could hear, chimes in.
Since I hadn’t revealed Eve’s identity yet, I conveyed Eve’s words to Catherine.
Catherine took another sip of her cocoa.
“79% is pretty high, isn’t it?”
“……Well, yeah, but it’s not 100%, right?”
It’s just talk about probabilities.
I shrugged.
I made a gesture with my whole body that everything was fine.
“And honestly, even if it’s true, what are we going to do about it? We can’t just catch the vice president of Megacorp and do something about it.”
Catherine quietly nodded at my words.
But she still seemed deep in thought.
Her golden eyes fixed on me.
“So, Siwoon, what are you going to do?”
“Um.”
…What?
Not much would change from now, right?
“I need to find 100% solid evidence.”
We could also track down Smile John’s traces.
Or explore other information possibilities.
“It might take a while, but it’s the safest and most certain way.”
It seemed much better than trying to do something with a vice president.
Smile John might not even be him, anyway.
Catherine set down her empty cocoa cup.
She looked like she’d made a decision.
And from my experience having watched this expert for nearly ten years,
she often made a move with zero hesitation at times like this.
“Let’s just ask him directly.”
“…..Huh?”
Is her hearing okay?
That sounded like something strange.
Seems like it’s time for her to get artificial eardrum cyberware, Catherine…
I gathered my thoughts and asked,
“You do realize that’s a nonsensical idea, right?”
“Why?”
Gyeomjok…
“……This time, the person I met was incredibly special, and it’s not like we can easily get a chance to meet regular people.”
I explained calmly.
“In other words, it’s hard to even create a meeting opportunity, and even if we met, it’s not certain they’d answer us honestly─.”
Wait.
A bad feeling crept in.
Catherine wouldn’t be unaware of what I know.
Looking at her confident expression, my ominous hunch rang an alarm.
Before I could say anything more,
Catherine nodded and responded to me.
“Let’s just kidnap him.”
Gyeomjok, what the heck does that mean….
But it seemed like I was the only one against that idea at this point.
Eve chimed in too.
[I agree with human ‘Catherine.’]
What should I do with these Gyeomjok?
I held my aching head again.
……Honestly, it wasn’t an impossible plan.
To be honest, I wouldn’t be needed much.
With Eve’s help and Catherine’s skills,
it would be more than enough.
However….
The aftermath of that kidnapping is a problem, regardless of feasibility.
“Let’s calm down for now.”
“Honestly, isn’t this the easiest way?”
[Again, I affirm with human ‘Catherine.’]
…That’s not the problem!
I swallowed dryly.
How should I explain this?
How can I make these Gyeomjok understand and abandon that insane plan?
“…Kidnapping inside Neon City is absolutely impossible. It’s not about the kidnapping itself; the aftermath is the problem.”
“We can do it outside the city.”
……
That was a fair point.
If we were talking about a vice president from Megacorp,
they surely flaunt their influence by traveling to various cities around the world.
Right now, they were in Neon City, but eventually, a situation would arise where they’d go to another city and come back to Neon City.
“……So we need to find out the confidential information on vice president Kojaka’s schedule, but how do we do that?”
“Either we ask No Answer for help or something.”
That sounded right.
It was difficult with just the three of us (including Eve).
“This is practically illegal, so they’ll never help us.”
“Just asking wouldn’t hurt, and if the boss gives permission, that’s fine.”
……
She definitely wouldn’t give permission.
It follows the strict rule of No Answer.
“Then how do we get out of the city, and how are we going to kidnap the exclusive jet the vice president rides, how do we plan─.”
“Oh, it’s fine! Let’s just sketch a plan from now on. We’ll have to ask Drake and Andrea anyway.”
“…….”
I felt the situation gradually escalating.
I had just washed up, and a drop of cold sweat ran down my back.
At this point,
I could only pray that others would refuse.
Saying it was easy.
We were talking about kidnapping a vice president from Megacorp.
Yeah, that’ll be it.
It’s just my paranoia.
If we messed up, we could turn Neon City, or even the entire world, against us.
Personally, I hated the idea that the people around me would suffer or be in danger because of me,
so I wanted to oppose Catherine’s plan.
However,
I didn’t think anything I said would change Catherine or Eve’s minds.
“……Alright, I guess I’ll contact the others.”
“Mm-mm.”
Catherine smiled with a satisfied expression.
Yeah….
Surely others would oppose too.
It wasn’t even certain that Smile John was the real deal.
And other methods weren’t completely off the table either.
Um.
But what was it?
This uneasy feeling.
…….
The next day.
“Drake and Andrea said they’d help.”
“…That’s possible.”
“They were angry that we were discussing things without them. You should apologize later.”
“……Yeah, I guess.”
I had anticipated that both of them would help me.
Still, we had been through a lot together as comrades.
We had practically owed each other lives.
But they wouldn’t be the last.
I expected that much.
“Oh, and Julia said she’d help too. I ran into her in the hallway, and she said she’d dig up information through her underworld connections.”
“……Hmm.”
That’s right.
She mentioned she was my fan last time.
It felt strangely coincidental that we ran into each other in the hallway, but I shrugged it off as my imagination.
……It’s fine.
I was still okay.
The situation wouldn’t change much just because Julia was helping.
There was a glaring reason why this plan could never come to fruition.
The boss of No Answer, Natasha.
She had no reason to help us, especially not on my behalf, even if it meant breaking the rules she set for herself.
Really.
Absolutely.
There was no way that could happen.
“And the boss said she’d gather all the information about the vice president. She said she’d let us know when all the schedules are in. We can brainstorm the plan then.”
“……Why?”
I let out a sincere question without thinking.
“Why even ask?”
“No, this is strange, isn’t it?”
Am I the only one thinking this is odd?
The fact that we were moving forward with a kidnapping plan against the vice president of Megacorp based on mere possibility that Smile John might actually be him.
…….
They were probably just giving lip service, right?
There was no way their words were genuine.
I calmed my mind.
There was no way this absurd plan of kidnapping a vice president from Megacorp could actually work.
*
“Okay, here’s my plan.”
Drake, Andrea, Catherine,
And me, sitting down.
Natasha began her explanation with various graphics on a hologram before us.
Honestly, I couldn’t understand how this crazy plan was actually being put into motion.
I held my throbbing head and eyelids.
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