The Supporting Characters in the Game Have Become Obsessed Chapter 23

[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 seed 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 appeared in my vision. It was an interface that only I could see.

The remaining distance… about 50 ters.

The distance between my residence in North Houston and my destination, Center Plaza, was very close, just as Eve had ntioned. It was within walking distance.

I continued towards my destination, and soon a large store ca 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 ard 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 even more.

I made my way slowly towards the counter where the employee was.

“Excuse .”

“…Welco, 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 ti, I remained silent.

I couldn’t trust the information on the Net…

A situation where prices fluctuate in real-ti when a custor 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 agreent, albeit slightly more expensive than what Eve had inford .

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 .

I definitely didn’t buy it haphazardly because there was Eve’s streaming (passive inco) like auto-hunting.

Or not.

It’s been a while since I played a VR ga.

How many new gas have I missed?

I felt a surge of excitent.

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 ho.

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 ho, I sensed a disturbance in the atmosphere.

So people seed to be dropping their umbrellas and running away, while others, like , were assessing the situation.

What’s happening?

There were no screams, but sothing had definitely happened.

Did soone start urinating in public?

There was quite a distance between and the center of the disturbance.

As soone who hadn’t undergone implant surgery like MonoVision Cyberware, it was hard for to discern what was happening.

I stood there holding the bag absentmindedly when Eve’s voice ca through.

[Attempting to hack the cara… Completed.]

“Aren’t you going to ask to activate the protection protocol like last ti?”

[Voice data records approved by the human ‘Lee Siwon’ from the past are stored, I inform you.]

Ah, that ti.

I did give permission at the restaurant when I t Julia.

Once you approve, it’s a lifeti commitnt.

That’s why there needs to be thorough confirmation when signing or consenting to sothing.

[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 seed to be footage from a surveillance cara.

In the footage, there was a man standing, his entire body ard 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 ard 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 ga corps.

Why such a person was standing idly on the street, I didn’t know.

[Translator – Peptobismol]

“It seems like he’s murmuring sothing.”

[Confirmation… Capturing voice signal, amplifying lens and voice.]

The screen zood 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.

[Confird 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 soone just clone his face with implants?”

[Cross-referencing worn cyberware information and biotric signals. …Matching database information, confirming 99% possibility of being the sa individual.]

“Huh.”

Just going out in front of my house, and eting 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?”

[Na, ‘Hei Wang’. rcenary affiliated with Hei Shukwai. Eight records including cris such as killing upper-class citizens confird, classified as a Chro 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, Chro Psycho, raised his heavily built hand.

He aid his fingertips, which had been modified, at a fleeing child.

There was no one nearby to protect the child.

Then, the Chro Psycho’s palm transford.

A chanical 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 confird 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 volu as much as possible.

This ant 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 ti, 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 seed 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 confird. Estimated ti until NCPD arrival─.]

“The NCPD guys won’t be able to stop that thing even if they co, right? We need the Chro Force special unit to arrive.”

[Confirmation. Hacking into police station internal data… Completed. Ti until the Chro Force arrives is about 600 seconds, I predict.]

10 minutes.

It ant I had to endure that ti 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 Chro Psycho moved towards .

However, just then, as soon as I realized that fact, the Chro 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 was the scariest among the Chro Psychos I knew and, at the sa ti, the one who tried to kill .

I felt like I needed to find a cyber-shaman and get so blessings.

[Translator – Peptobismol]