NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40
Kojaka Corporation (코오자카 社).
It was famous for having numerous subsidiaries and expanding its business into any lucrative venture like an octopus.
It boasted the second-highest market capitalization among the military-industrial complexes and was a mega-corporation (Megacorps).
The chairman’s name is Mr. Pete Mack.
I’ve mentioned this before, but he resembles a certain mouse character who is very sensitive about copyrights from my previous life.
In reality, he has established himself as a mascot character and is famous as the most well-known character in this Cyberpunk world.
If you were to describe the feeling,
it’s like the chairman of a certain company is Super Mo.
Therefore, almost everyone thinks that the real chairman of Kojaka is the vice chairman, Kojaka William.
That was only natural.
Anyway, that’s not important right now.
It was still just a story of possibilities.
Of course, a little higher than other possibilities.
But if, by any chance, his hidden identity is a terrorist targeting Eve,
It would be hard to find a worse situation.
The neatly groomed middle-aged man, Kojaka William, spoke to us.
“Chairman Monolith, it’s been quite a while.”
[The probability of ‘Smile John’ has increased to 67%.]
“I just happened to stop by while passing through…, I didn’t expect you would be here as well, Chairman.”
[…Increased to 73%.]
“Is this new employee here? Nice to meet you, I’m Kojaka William.”
[……79%]
So.
Just stop rising already.
I silently shouted.
11. Party, Quantum Nexus (4)
If his hidden identity is indeed Smile John, then all the misfortunes that have happened to me so far would all make sense.
I’m not just talking about the terrorist attack or Maya escaping from prison.
All the misfortunes I faced weren’t limited to those.
“…So it wasn’t because I couldn’t invest in stocks that I went broke.”
I muttered quietly without realizing it.
“Um, what did you say?”
“I said it’s an honor to meet you.”
Fortunately, it seemed that Kojaka William didn’t hear my voice.
I naturally accepted the handshake he offered.
[It might really be ‘Kojaka’ targeting human ‘Lee Siwoon’, but it’s also true that I didn’t invest in stocks, I conclude.]
Because I was winning in my own mind.
Shut up.
I faced Kojaka William before me.
Whether he is Smile John or not is still a mystery.
It was just that the possibility is high, not certain.
For now, his expression showed no emotion toward me.
No suspicion, no hostility—none at all.
Just a pure face of ‘Employee brought by Chairman Monolith.’
He didn’t seem particularly interested either.
Not ignoring me entirely either.
Just that much.
Once the formal introductions were over, Kojaka William left for a place where other people were gathered.
It looked like he really came to greet Chairman Monolith.
Only then did I exhale the breath I had been holding.
I guess I was tense without realizing it.
I let out a big sigh, which had been frequent lately.
I slowly calmed my breath.
Soon, I felt my mind clear a little.
The chairman looked at me and said.
“Is that guy the one?”
“…What?”
“Smile John.”
…He’s already figuring it out and asking about it without me saying a word.
“Well, the probability is the highest.”
“Hmmm, it’s not impossible to tamper with the data. Think about it considering that.”
He was right.
In a world where if you have data, you can easily synthesize voices with deepfake technology.
But even so,
the fact remains that the person with the highest probability is him.
The chairman pointed his finger at the air a few times.
It looked like he was manipulating the visual interface.
“Kojaka William, 79 years old. A corporate elite who rose rapidly due to outstanding talent at a young age.”
“…Young age?”
“He originally didn’t carry the Kojaka surname. His original surname was Robert, but he secretly married Kojaka Nobukuro’s daughter, Kojaka Kohaku, the founder of Kojaka, and that led to the birth of Kojaka William.”
He talks about secrets while spilling all this information.
Well, when you’re the head of a mega-corp, all sorts of news would certainly come in.
Hearing that explanation only made my head more complicated.
Is he really Smile John?
If Smile John is correct, what should my next action be?
Assassination?
To be honest, the success probability was close to zero.
Even seeing his face up close was already a miraculous situation.
It was only by chance that I could see his face in such a special setting.
In a normal situation, it would be tough to approach within 100 meters.
Moreover, pulling off an assassination without being discovered would require many conditions.
This too was nearly impossible.
No matter how much Eve helped me with hacking, eventually the traces would pile up over time.
What if I got caught?
I’d have to flee to another city or hide in the slum-like underground levels.
That wouldn’t be a sustainable life either.
So what I can do is—
“Wait, should I go get some fresh air?”
“Pardon?”
I halted my thoughts and looked at the chairman.
Unlike my complicated expression,
the chairman was still wearing a relaxed look while looking at me.
The posture in which she had her arms crossed was now released, and she was clasping her hands behind her back.
She looked up at me.
“You seem to have a lot on your mind. Want to come this way?”
Without waiting for my answer,
the chairman began to move.
A few gazes stuck to us behind, but no one followed directly.
As we walked to the end of the banquet hall.
A large balcony came into view.
Fortunately, there was no one on the balcony.
The sun was already setting outside.
The breathtaking view of the vast Neon City reflected gloriously under the red sunset.
Since the upper-class area itself was located at a relatively high position compared to other zones.
The high-rise buildings in the middle-class seemed lower.
“Honestly, the view from the upper-class is nice, isn’t it?”
“……It is.”
A cool breeze brushed against my nose.
Clean air filled my lungs.
The refreshing air from the upper-class pierced pleasantly as I took off my mask.
The throbbing headache had already eased away.
“Feeling a bit better?”
The chairman’s bright lavender roll hair was fluttering in the wind.
“…Yes, thank you for your concern.”
“Hoho.”
The chairman let out a short laugh at my thanks.
With every action of hers, there’s a sense of leisure and elegance.
I now understood why she was called a ‘sovereign’ in news outlets.
Of course, I thought that a nickname like ‘queen’ suited her more than ‘sovereign’ at this point.
“So, if that guy really is Smile John, what are you planning to do?”
“……Well, I guess I need to think a bit more.”
There’s no need to rush it.
There’s nothing definitive yet, and even if there were, my options would still be limited.
Hmm.
If Smile John’s identity truly is.
If he is the vice chairman of a mega-corp ranked second in the corporate hierarchy…
Honestly, that would seem like the smartest choice—to change my identity and hide or escape.
Anyway, it wasn’t a decision to make right now.
“If you ever need help, just let me know. I can help out like this time. Or maybe I should gather some Kojaka stocks?”
“……Haha, I’m fine.”
It was a problem since even the jokes didn’t sound like jokes.
But her saying she would help was probably true. The problem was that I couldn’t readily ask her without feeling burdensome.
If I pushed too much, the Executive Secretary’s gaze would become more and more intimidating.
Anyway.
I decided to think positively.
Smile John could still be the vice chairman of Kojaka.
He isn’t the chairman, right?
I nodded my head alone.
Now that it looked like no one else would come to the banquet hall.
Should I start preparing to leave?
Honestly, there was no way anyone would show up later than Chairman Monolith or Vice Chairman Kojaka.
“Thank you for taking the time for me.”
“…Are you already going back?”
“I’ve accomplished my original goal. I don’t expect anyone else to show up.”
My mental energy spent from the outing was wearing thin.
Resting under the covers on my bed and chilling in the Net Space would help me recover.
Was the chairman noticing my atmosphere?
Usually, she would have insisted I stay for dinner.
Instead, it was impressive to see her nodding with a sulky expression.
It was fascinating how her tone and actions changed with her mood.
“Then I guess I should go too.”
“Oh, you’re free to stay longer, Chairman—.”
I cut off my words midway.
The chairman stared at me with piercing eyes.
Did I say something wrong?
I felt a bit scared.
Eventually, the chairman smiled lightly.
“Well, it’d be nice to chat about life on the way back. I rarely have anyone I can comfortably talk with.”
“…Ah.”
That also meant the chairman had her own troubles.
“Then let’s go together.”
“Please escort me.”
What kind of escort are you talking about?
Thus we exited the balcony and walked back into the banquet hall.
As we were walking outside, Mr. Pete Mack, the mascot chairman of Kojaka, suddenly appeared on the screen, surprising the onlookers.
Even though he’s the chairman, is he really on air at a place like this?
I wondered who was acting inside; it must be tough for them.
The chairman and I stepped into the unmanned vehicle outside.
Though I wondered why she didn’t call for an air vehicle, I couldn’t question the chairman about it.
It wasn’t because there were heavily armed security vehicles following us that I couldn’t.
Anyway, it took quite a while to get back because of that.
My suggestion that it was fine to drop me off along the way was easily dismissed.
I watched the chairman’s back as she returned in front of my house.
“Phew.”
I gently stretched my body.
So now.
It was truly time to find out whether ‘Smile John’ really was ‘the Vice Chairman of Kojaka.’
*
“Let’s kidnap him.”
[Regarding human ‘Catherine’s opinion, I agree.]
What should I do with these Gyeomjok?
My head started to hurt again.