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Chapter 22

I had a dream.

There are times when I dream of the times I miss.

And there are times when I dream of the times of agony.

This time, it was clearly the latter.

The surroundings are filled with blood and debris.

Walls, ceilings, floors. Everywhere I look, it’s just red.

At a glance, you can tell.

There must have been at least dozens.

This wasn’t the amount of bloodshed one person could produce.

My complexion involuntarily twisted at the scent that felt like it was piercing my nostrils.

It was an instinctual reaction that flowed out of me unknowingly.

It wasn’t the first time I had seen a dead body.

Since coming to this cyberpunk world, I’ve seen countless.

But this was the first time it was so serious as to be described as a mountain of corpses.

I barely swallowed the nausea rising up to my throat.

Someone said,

‘You’re not late.’

No, I was late.

I replied.

Even though I knew everything.

Even though I played the game.

If only I had moved a little faster.

This wouldn’t have happened.

Beyond the shadows, I saw a wide glass wall.

Chilly rain poured through the blood-drenched drops.

Eventually, I woke up from the dream.

My whole body was drenched in sweat.

I turned my head at the sound of water dropping.

Just like in the dream,

Outside the window, it was raining.

Ah.

Seems like I forgot to switch the wall’s switch after coming in drunk from Drake’s.

I stumbled towards the window with unsteady movements.

Pressing the window’s shading switch, the entire glass window changed into a dark concrete pattern.

What a shitty dream.

I lay back on the bed and closed my eyes.

But it didn’t seem like I would fall asleep again.

* * *

Chrome Psychos.

Also known as Chrome Junkies, how they come about and why they come into existence is still unknown.

It was convenient to understand them as a type of indiscriminate crime or a kind of crime committed by people with anger management issues.

But there was one thing different.

Usually, Chrome Psychos were fully ‘chromed’, armed with cyberware from head to toe.

Meaning the scale of the incidents was different.

The place where I live now.

It’s also a common topic on NCB24, the news outlet of Neon City.

It was natural in a sense.

Even in the cyberpunk world of high crime rates, if you were to pick the city with the highest crime rate, Neon City couldn’t be left out.

Especially considering the relatively low crime rates even in the upper or middle classes.

If you noticed the fact that it was the combined figure, you could guess how many incidents were happening in the shadow of this city.

As I mentioned earlier, the reason why Chrome Psychos were born has not been accurately identified.

Just by calculating the occurrence rate numerically.

‘Chrome Psychos’ seem to appear a lot on ‘rainy days’.

The reason for this was also unknown.

But.

Today, I seemed to know the reason.

“Ugh, my joints ache.”

[Confirmed. I understand that it’s a very normal symptom for ‘humans’ with above-average age.]

“No, that’s not it.”

The area where the implant surgery was performed hurts.

I groaned silently.

It was natural in a way.

Even if you only go through the process of having metal attached to your teeth for dental treatment,

On rainy days, it’s natural for the ‘implants’ to hurt.

Moreover, having replaced an entire part of my body with a chrome mass, it was only natural that it would ache on damp days.

Sure, there might be differences in pain levels for different people.

Even for me, who had only added cyberware implants to some parts of my skeletal system and muscles, it was like this.

What about those who have done more chroming than me?

How much pain would they be in?

I didn’t want to imagine it.

It was clear that the Chrome Psychos were driven to commit crimes because of this pain.

I concluded in my mind.

“My head hurts too.”

[The symptom is due to consuming a synthetic alcoholic drink with the dwarf “Drake”, I believe.]

……

Anyway, my head hurts.

If I had one complaint about living with Eve, it was that the facts were too sharp.

Anyhow, it’s raining and my body aches.

Today, absolutely, no matter what happens.

I promised myself I wouldn’t go out.

While I was thinking about that, a message notification popped up on one side of my visual interface.

Checking the time of receipt, it was a message that came while I was still asleep.

It’s from Catherine.

Sender: ‘Neon City, Best Freelancer’

– As I said yesterday, I’ll come after getting checked by Drake.

– Be careful not to let anything happen while I’m gone.

Why does she keep coming near my house when she has so many houses?

I recalled last night’s memories for a moment.

Forgetting the promise to return early.

Drinking heavily with Drake, and only returning home after the sun had set.

I couldn’t remember much because of the cheap synthetic alcohol, but I vaguely remembered begging Catherine for forgiveness.

Maybe it was because of that.

Catherine’s mood in the message felt more relaxed than yesterday.

I sent a short reply wishing Catherine good luck and to come back safely.

Because there was a time I hadn’t contacted her for a week and ended up being dragged into No Answer.

It was comforting to confirm and reply as soon as I checked it.

Okay then.

What should I do now?

There are several options.

It’d be fine to watch Netspace streams.

It’d be fine to watch variety shows, movies, or news programs.

Or just wandering around Netspace was enough to pass the time.

The only regrettable part was that when I was at home like this, playing games was the best.

The problem was, I didn’t have a game I could play.

It was difficult to enjoy the classic game I had played until the last time.

In fact, there was a hidden truth that it wasn’t a normal game.

And I had already reached the max level.

It wasn’t because my conscience was pricked for recommending someone to the Warrior class.

Anyway, it was difficult to log back in with a light heart.

So what’s left?

Find other classic games similar to those I played before, or choose the safe option of enjoying a simple virtual reality game.

Unfortunately, the ‘High-Spec Data Module’ I ordered online hadn’t arrived yet.

Come to think of it, it was strange.

Even though it had been a long time since I ordered it.

Why hadn’t it arrived yet?

I remembered it and connected to the net site operated by the delivery company.

Delivery tracking…

Transport number tracking…

Hmm.

.

.

.

– Your package has arrived at [Neon City], [L9 Terminal].

– Your package has departed from [Neon City], [Lower District], [Redwood].

– The package has been lost. (Reason: Robbery)

“…….”

No wonder I can’t stop my orc hatred.

Of course, there’s a possibility they’re not orcs.

In terms of probability, it’s about 0.01%.

“…Haah, should I just go out and buy it?”

I decided to postpone the compensation process.

Actually, if I wanted to get it quickly, this was the right decision.

After all, I always try to get things cheaper if possible, and going out to buy something was a hassle.

What should I do?

Should I go out or not?

If I had known my package would end up with the orcs, I would have asked Drake to get me one when I met him yesterday.

As I was pondering this, Eve spoke up.

[Information. According to search results on the Netspace, there is a cyberware specialty store within a 1km radius selling products 14.25% cheaper than average.]

The AI tempting me to go out.

Just a short while after I promised myself to stay home today and not go out.

Should I break that promise and go out now?

Even though it’s raining outside?

Thinking like that was underestimating me.

After a brief deliberation, I made a decision.

“Let’s just take it easy today.”

[…]

It wasn’t a bad decision.

I have my dignity as ‘I’.

If I reorder, the delivery will eventually arrive.

Or I can buy it when I go out for other errands.

I lay down on the bed as it was.

Happiness.

What more could I ask for?

Just lying on the bed brings happiness…

Why did I even think so much about it?

Then, let’s watch some net streams.

I manipulated the visual interface with familiar gestures.

One of the good things about being in the cyberpunk world was that I could project the screen into the air while lying down and watch whatever I wanted.

What could I watch now?

Ah, Eve was streaming.

I don’t know how it works.

But Eve continued to stream while living with me.

It seemed like a high level of multitasking.

It’s perfect timing.

I touched [Eve]’s name on the hologram to watch her stream.

[Humans, that’s all for today.]

And at the same time, the stream ended.

“?”

The chat window exploded with reactions.

– ????

– ?

– Did only my stream turn off?

– Why the abrupt termination, master…

– Open the door!! Open it again!!

– The era of artificial intelligence is over! Humans, rejoice!

– ??????

If the situation was as I expected, such reactions from people were natural.

“Streamer Eve?”

[Why are you doing this, I ask.]

“The stream turned off?”

[Because the scheduled stream time has already ended, I kindly reply.]

“That doesn’t seem right?”

[…]

…That’s how it turned out.

I wasn’t the type to be swayed by Eve’s casual remarks. So, I’ll just watch another stream.

A brief search ensued.

“…There’s not much to watch.”

Was it because it was a weekday afternoon?

Unfortunately, there weren’t many streams available.

Come to think of it, I don’t think there was ever a time when there were so few streams available.

It’s unusual.

I changed my goal.

If there were no interesting streams, I could just find replays of Eve’s past streams.

In the case of someone like Eve, who streamed for several days, there were still many video materials available.

I checked last time, and it was certain.

……

But why aren’t there any?

It was strange.

Very strange indeed.

There wasn’t a single remaining video of Eve’s.

The Netspace forums were also buzzing with activity regarding the sudden disappearance of Eve’s videos.

Calculating the time, it seemed that the videos disappeared at the time I started searching for replays.

Most people doubted if such a thing was physically possible.

Hmm.

“Did you have to really go this far?”

[What do you mean, I don’t know, I lie.]

“….”

If you’re going to lie, don’t say that you’re lying.

That’s how it felt.

Like a puppy sulking because it wasn’t taken for a walk.

…Well, there’s nothing I can do.

In the end, I started preparing to go out.

Since my coat already had waterproof functionality.

Just packing an umbrella on top of my usual outing preparations was enough.

It’s close anyway.

I’ll be back soon.

That’s what I thought.

If I knew I’d run into a Chrome Psycho on the way back, I definitely wouldn’t have gone out.