Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed

The interior of the cinema where the movie was being screened always had to maintain silence.

In the corrupted world of Cyberpunk soaked in all sorts of Capitalism spirit, this was, of course, a common practice.

In this (crazy Game) world, I couldn’t help but think that such decorum existed mainly because even the average citizens carried around a cheap gun.

Anyway.

So we quietly kept the decorum and enjoyed the movie.

[Wow, despite all that racket, not a single bullet landed. How many shots have already been fired? If it’s the RKM series from Rapid, it’s a low-end product, right? What a joke. And if you shot from that distance, at least hit the toes, huh? Missed? What’s the deal with those guys being mercenaries?]

That said, we didn’t have a complete lack of conversation.

I read a message from Catherine that popped up on my interface and typed a reply.

[The Blue Rapid Corporation is a subsidiary of Heishukai anyway. I searched earlier, and it turns out it’s a film made with their capital, so it makes sense.]

A movie is just a movie.

Knowing that fact from experiences before falling into the Game, I found that while Catherine was hyper-fixated on everything, I was more relaxed.

[Wow, that’s a Kojaka military tank. Did it blow up from just a few hits of 7.62mm rounds? Ridiculous. And why does that damn cola keep appearing?]

[PPL.]

[Wait, so Neon City and Heishukai are teaming up to push out other Megacorps? Seriously, this is some crazy nonsense.]

[Investor’s preferences.]

[…I don’t even know where to point out anymore. What’s with the dinosaur waking up from the Underground Level to appear as the final boss?]

[… I have no idea about that either.]

I could only think that the director was insane…

However, you chose the movie.

Just endure with guts.

So I endured the pain of watching a trash movie along with Catherine.

*

Catherine, sitting on the cafe chair, said, “That was pretty fun.”

“?”

What was that about her complaining the whole time…?

As I thought that while looking at Catherine, she sucked down her ordered strawberry drink (0% fruit content).

“The story was… well, to be honest, there were many parts that didn’t make sense. Is that what they call illogicality?”

“True.”

I nodded at Catherine’s words.

Honestly, I should have realized something was off when I saw ‘Dinosaur’ printed on the movie poster.

In my personal opinion, I could rate it 1.5 out of 5.

“But still, it was my first time at a cinema, so I had fun. I think I understand why people take time to come here.”

In contrast to my evaluation, Catherine’s review was quite positive.

… Well, the visual representation was nice.

Honestly, I had initially thought of selecting a romance movie to get in the mood and maybe hold her hand or something.

“Thanks for bringing me here.”

“Aw, it was nothing.”

Yeah, as long as Catherine was happy, that was all that mattered.

I thought while drinking the coffee in front of me.

Catherine, looking at me playfully, asked, “By the way… I came because you said it was a date, but what on earth made you want to do that?”

“…Umm.”

“I was really surprised. Isn’t this the first time we talked about going somewhere together?”

I had no words about that part.

“Heh heh…”

“What’s that weird laugh?”

“Haha…”

As I awkwardly laughed while sipping my drink, Catherine narrowed her eyes a bit and leaned back in her chair.

“…Well, either way, it’s not that I disliked it; I just found it surprising. In fact, I’m happy. You probably haven’t asked anyone else for a date before, right?”

I briefly nodded while looking at Catherine’s chair, which was crying out due to the weight of her cyberware.

“Anyway, I had fun today. Really.”

Catherine said with a shy expression, a light flush evident on her face.

“…I’d appreciate it if you could take me out again sometime.”

Huh?

I frowned a bit at Catherine’s unexpected statement.

“What do you mean?”

Since I wasn’t wearing a mask, my confusion must have been clearly conveyed to Catherine.

In response to my reaction, Catherine began to mumble a bit defensively.

“I mean once a month or so… No, if it’s a bit tough, even once every three months is fine… I’m asking you to ask me out again.”

“Oh.”

I realized that Catherine must have misunderstood something as I watched her lose confidence as if she wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.

“Stop saying weird stuff. Let’s get moving.”

“…Okay.”

“After the cinema, we should go eat something.”

“…Huh?”

I said while looking at Catherine.

“There are still many places left to go. But first, let’s go buy some clothes. I heard there’s a nice clothing store on the 3rd floor of this department store.”

I even heard that Eve made a reservation at the clothing store.

There was no reason not to go.

[Very good.]

I felt like I heard a voice giving a real-time evaluation. I pretended not to hear and looked at Catherine.

Catherine dropped the strawberry drink she was holding onto the table.

“…Really?”

I see her showing a lot of new sides today.

Her distracted voice came, too.

*

The date was, quite literally, enjoyable.

– ‘… I picked out a few pieces of clothing and it already costs thirty thousand credits. Isn’t this a scam? With this amount, I could buy a decent tactical suit.’

– ‘I think so too…’

– ‘But why would someone who knows that buy this!’

– ‘Because it’s a date…’

Although it was a disaster where my hand trembled while paying the credits, I ultimately finished delightful shopping at a high-end clothing store.

– ‘… Home-cooked meals seem tastier somehow…’

– ‘……’

Catherine, who usually enjoyed the hacking-provided dietary recipes of the Monolith Chairman, found herself puzzled at a high-end restaurant as well.

– ‘Is it time for the gangsters to show up?’

– ‘…That might be a bit difficult.’

– ‘……Tch.’

– ‘?’

Catherine’s small dream of wanting to become the heroine of a drama slightly crumbled.

And.

The last place we arrived at was a vast park located on a rooftop of a building, which needed quite an expensive entry fee.

Honestly, the ‘Park of Blooming Petals’ was somewhat physically difficult. Maybe during Spring, I could see Redwood, but at this time, it would just be a shower of metal flakes.

This should satisfy Catherine to some extent.

… Let’s see.

Cinema check.

Nice meal check.

Gangsters failed.

And finally, a walk in the park.

I carefully observed Catherine’s expression as I recalled the date schedule she initially mentioned in my head.

Fortunately, Catherine’s expression was not dark.

“Nice view.”

“Yeah.”

“It reminds me of when I fell from a plane before. Should I tell the Boss to do it again?”

“…Please hold off on that.”

With a light smile, Catherine leaned comfortably against the park railing.

The higher the place, the stronger the wind.

Catherine’s

golden hair fluttered in the wind.

As if it bothered her, Catherine simply brushed her bangs back to tidy her hair.

The skirt of her white dress fluttered at the same time.

“Wow, isn’t the wind too strong?”

Normally preferring pants, Catherine pressed down on her skirt with one hand, making it seem even more embarrassing.

Being a park situated on the rooftop, a sparkling city view unfolded below.

The heart of Neon City, the scenes of the middle-class district spread out below.

It was much more entertaining than the view seen from the upper-class viewing platform a long time ago. Back then, it was so high that I could only see clouds, so naturally.

Moving hologram billboards fluttered between buildings.

Moreover, hologram light beams shot above the buildings, reaching up into the clouds.

Amid appreciating such scenery, Catherine whispered softly, almost as if she were reminiscing.

“I remember back then.”

“When?”

I turned to look at Catherine while gazing at the cityscape below.

“Remember when we explored the city from the sewage together?”

“Oh.”

I nodded at her words.

Back then, I could only gaze upon the city’s barricades from the landfill, but now, here we are on a date in the city like this.

It felt peculiar.

A brief silence followed.

“… So.”

Catherine opened her mouth next.

“What was today?”

Her golden eyes stared directly at me.

“… Well, it’s not like I disliked it. It was really great. But suddenly you asking me out feels a bit strange.”

“……”

That is true.

Even I thought it was strange.

Finding it strange to not feel odd.

I let out a gentle deep breath.

“… I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“Just for everything.”

Unlike Catherine, whose enjoyment grew throughout the date, my feeling of apology grew heavier as the date progressed.

She was so fond of me.

Why did it only come to me to ask her out now?

Or, did I only start thinking like this after getting closer to Eve and the Chairman?

It wasn’t regret, but I did feel bad.

After I stopped speaking, Catherine squinted her eyes and stared at me.

“Hey, stop being genuinely sorry. I mean, I jumped into this relationship knowing it would be like this.”

Smiling, Catherine leaned against the railing.

She looked up at the low-hanging clouds.

“Even now, it’s not bad. It’s fun. If I truly hated these kinds of relationships, I wouldn’t have sent that polygamy message to Andrea long ago.”

“……?”

I had no idea about this.

As I turned my head to look at Catherine, who had been gazing at the sky, she had already turned back and was looking at me.

“Really, it’s fine. Thank you for caring.”

As the cool wind swayed Catherine’s white dress gently.

“Geez, this wind is really something. That’s why I usually don’t wear skirts.”

Catherine, trying to change the mood intentionally, pouted as she playfully grinned at me.

“Or do you have something else you’re hiding or what?”

“……”

Um, well. That’s…

I slowly chose my words in my mind.

However, this had the opposite effect and seemingly raised Catherine’s suspicions.

“What is it? Do you really have something? Spill it out. I’m feeling good now so if there’s something wrong, I’ll let it slide this time.”

………

Right.

I couldn’t hide it anymore after coming this far.

“… What happened was─.”

I slowly began to speak.

*

I’ll get straight to the conclusion.

Catherine just said she would forgive me.

She never said she would let it go.

Indeed.

That day, it was only natural I couldn’t return home nicely.

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