Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed

Since ancient times, it has been said that humans cannot overcome natural disasters.

Ah, but just saying ‘humans’ could lead to accusations of species discrimination in this world.

Let me rephrase that.

Since ancient times, it has been said that humans (along with all other races) cannot overcome natural disasters.

It was the same in the past.

Typhoons, droughts, earthquakes, floods, tsunamis.

The might of nature immediately snatches away everything created by humans (including all other races).

Of course, that wasn’t the case in Neon City.

The recurring typhoons, including toxic gas, couldn’t penetrate the sturdy outer wall of Neon City. Only the people living in the garbage dump outside continued to die.

However, Neon City is the anomaly, as it is normal for natural disasters to be overwhelming in typical scenarios.

In other words, being swept away by natural disasters isn’t unusual.

I, too, am just an unfortunate commoner who experienced such a process.

“They say not to fear failure.”

I thought that while looking at the shaking graph.

Even though I had blown nearly all my credits due to a single natural disaster (corporate war).

A second chance came to me.

Thank you, Eve!

I’ll definitely repay you!

Humans are creatures that learn from failure.

This time was truly different.

Safer.

I increased the proportion of diversified investments, focusing on companies with high growth potential.

I reduced the risks and increased returns.

I had firm belief and confidence in myself.

“……”

P-COLA Company (-17.2%)

LAD Corporation (-47.2%)

Blue Rapid Corporation (-22.4%)

黑輸會 (-13.0%)

.

.

At that moment, Bogdanov appeared in my imagination, raising his cellphone.

‘He bought it.’

‘Dump it.’

Is this supposed to make sense?

I could only stare blankly at the screen interface.

3. Things That Make No Sense (3)

[From this moment, I declare a complete ban on human ‘Lee Siwoon’s stock activities.]

My pride as a human fell to the ground.

I wanted to make some excuses, but.

The truth was, a lot of credits had actually flown away.

I had no excuses to offer.

“…I haven’t sold yet, so if I wait a little longer, won’t it go back up?”

[Information. The AI has already sold the stocks, it informs me.]

“……”

[Human ‘Lee Siwoon’ is assessed to be very talentless in stocks.]

“Urgh.”

It felt like being stabbed in the gut.

I swallowed hard against the blunt force of the fact.

Even the news channels I had open out of boredom were reporting breaking news about the matter here and there.

I enlarged the screen interface a bit.

《Introducing! A new product announced by Kojaka! Rainbow tasty cola with seven flavors and colors! Now on special discount!》

Beep.

《Due to aggressive corporate activities of Kojaka Co., many companies’ stocks are plummeting. Some argue that restrictions should be placed on the activities of mega-corporations. ─》

Beep.

《This is currently in front of the building owned by Kojaka Co. in Neon City. Many citizens are gathering and holding an illegal assembly, while NCPD is─.》

I then turned off the screen interface.

Hmm.

“Today, the city is even more of a mess.”

[I agree.]

Kojaka must have some kind of vendetta against me.

Thinking back carefully.

The reason my stocks completely tanked last time was due to the corporate war started by Kojaka.

I couldn’t understand why they were targeting only the companies whose stocks I bought at this time.

I truly felt like the sky was shouting at me not to invest in stocks.

If you’re unlucky, there should be a limit to it.

This is unbearable.

I need to look for some people like me to find comfort.

I naturally activated the Net Space.

Kojaka’s site is… here it is.

【Kojaka Corporation コオザカ 社】

《Anything, Everything!》

As I logged into the site, the company’s name and its motto appeared prominently on the screen.

Kojaka.

Here, in this cyberpunk world, is an undisputed megacorp boasting the second-largest market capitalization in the world.

Plus, it’s also a crazy company.

For starters, the company’s chairman was a character.

They called it a mascot character, designed in a cute, cartoonish way of a mouse.

I was reminded of a certain mouse character that was sensitive to copyrights in my past life.

However, that previous company didn’t make that mouse character their chairman.

If you ask how a character can become the chairman, I don’t really know either.

…How can the chairman be a mouse VeTuber?

Whose idea was this? It’s really unique.

His name is Mr. Pete Mac.

Maybe because of the cute design, he was quite popular among children.

They accumulated related toys and affectionately called him Uncle Pete Mac.

They also operated in the light with industries like toys and amusement parks, boasting various subsidiaries.

But in the underworld, like the mercenary business, the image wasn’t so good.

They would get involved in any profitable venture and wouldn’t hesitate to step into dubious places.

Also, being part of the ArmaCorps military-industrial complex, they were among the top in weapon exports and private mercenary fields worldwide.

【Hello! I’m Mr. Pete Mac! Nice to meet you!】

The Pete Mac character waved from the front of the site.

Wondering if there was some interaction available, I clicked around, but there was no reaction whatsoever.

It was just decoration.

Anyway, I didn’t come here to admire characters like the kids.

I put aside my concern for the character.

The reason I found this site was to check the ‘opinion bulletin board.’

And, as I expected.

The bulletin board was ablaze with comments.

[If you came to observe because you don’t invest in stocks, thumbs up]

First off, me.

—I scream and thumbs up, lol.

—Lol, I came here because I heard there are suckers who know very well that companies are colluding yet still invest in stocks.

[Evil corporation attacking other companies]

I’m just a poor citizen living day by day…

With a single resolve to escape the lower class, I started investing in stocks, and now it feels like my world has collapsed overnight…

Kojaka should officially apologize and compensate ordinary citizens.

—My world collapsed yesterday or something.

—Are there still fools out there investing in mega-corp stocks without buying them?

—Leave the denture implants behind.

[Lol, I told you]

If everyone bought Kojaka stocks like me, a happy world would descend.

So why don’t they buy?

Is someone threatening them with a gun to stop them?

If you despise it, you should have bought it, lololol.

The Kojaka stocks I bought the other day are so red I can’t even look at them, kyaaaa.

Dinner tonight is definitely chicken!

—That means how much credits did you earn to eat real chicken instead of cultured meat;;
—Are you a sage? After reading this, I fully invested in Kojaka.

No, after reading this, I sold everything.

—I’ve been starving for three days now. Please send me just enough for a meal to this account. My account is──.

“Woah.”

Sounds plausible.

Thinking about it, it was true.

Every stock I purchased so far had seen Kojaka come in and wreck the prices.

In contrast, if I bought Kojaka stocks, it would mean I could hunker down comfortably.

[Not allowed.]

“What do you mean.”

[I predict the actions of human ‘Lee Siwoon.’ Are you thinking of purchasing Kojaka Corporation stocks?]

“There’s no way that’s happening.”

Are you seriously reading my mind now?

I coughed awkwardly and lied.

[Human ‘Lee Siwoon’s stock activities are prohibited, I explain. If you continue stock activities, this AI will no longer provide streaming credits, I strike.]

Well, that’s not okay.

Living under the rule of an AI is.

So wretched and sad.

I will never forget this grudge.

Mr. Pete Mac…!

It’s definitely not because I lost credits that I couldn’t invest in stocks.

I was just swept up by the natural disaster known as Kojaka.

With that self-justification concluded.

Phew, thinking like this puts me at ease.

– Ding dong.

At that moment, someone rang the bell at my house.

Who could it be?

I quietly made my way to the intercom.

If the crazy old men (Male Bill and the eerie noise-sensitive monster) living near me come to visit, I was planning to pretend not to be home.

A familiar voice came through the intercom.

[It’s me, open the door.]

“Ah.”

It was Catherine.

Well, she’s basically my next-door neighbor now.

Looks like she’ll be visiting often.

Reluctantly, I opened the door.

Truthfully, I wanted to pretend not to be home a little.

But thinking about her impressive physical abilities, the outcome was obvious.

She could easily hear whether there was someone inside or not.

It’s better for my wellbeing to open the door rather than foolishly pretending I’m not home and facing her wrath.

Actually, I had already been caught pretending to be out before in the past.

That was during my naive days.

“What’s up?”

“Do you need a reason to visit?”

…Isn’t that obvious?

Of course, people come when there’s something going on.

But if I honestly voiced that, I wouldn’t be able to handle the backlash.

“That’s not right.”

Feeling the sorrow of not being able to call my father, ‘father,’ and also not being able to refer to what’s correct as correct.

Catherine’s golden eyes were watching me closely.

Did my inner thoughts slip out?

I grew scared under her sudden gaze.

Many people in Neon City loved the color gold.

Thus, many dyed their eye color golden as a fashion statement.

However, that wasn’t the case for her eyes.

Since the first time we met in the garbage dump, her eyes had shone golden brighter than anyone else’s.

Maybe it’s because she’s the protagonist.

It was starting to feel burdensome with her gaze fixed on me.

“You don’t have any plans, do you?”

Of course, I had plenty of things to do.

I had to continue exploring the Net Space, watch Eve’s replays again, play the delayed new games.

And I still needed to level up in the MMO RPG I was playing.

…Hmm.

The problem was that none of these activities would pass as valid ‘plans’ in Catherine’s eyes.

“……So where are we going?”

Surrendering quickly.

At this point, my strategy was to play along quickly and return home soon.

I thought it would just be like last time where we were browsing gun shops.

“Concert hall.”

“Huh?”

Why would I go there?

I couldn’t understand.

In the end, it didn’t take long for me to get dragged out by Catherine.

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