NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52
A maid landing from the sky looks around.
With her arrival, Catherine, Andrea, and Drake assume a defensive posture.
Catherine is ready to draw the gun strapped to her back at any moment.
Andrea is aiming a huge firearm that fits her gigantic mechanical arm.
Drake is holding his breath, aimed with projectile launchers in both hands.
If this were a usual situation, there would be no need to act so cautiously against an unarmed maid.
But considering the aftermath brought by her appearance, their tension seemed insufficient.
The hacked ninjas were struggling to rise through clumsy movements.
Yet, not a single one succeeded in standing up, as if they were crushed by an unseen force.
She.
Perhaps ‘Eve’ walked without caring about the reactions surrounding her.
Her direction was toward Kojaka William, and his brother-in-law, Kojaka Koichiro.
“D-Don’t come closer!”
Kojaka Koichiro, sporting rainbow-colored feathers for hair, shouted.
Flustered, he looked around, but the ninja unit who could assist him had already been incapacitated and was crawling on the ground.
What reason did she have to approach them?
That question was swiftly answered.
The maid standing in front of Kojaka Koichiro.
‘Eve’ threw a punch.
“Khuh!”
With a short gasp, Kojaka Koichiro rolled on the ground like garbage.
From the moment she landed in a superhero pose from the sky, it was clear that her physical specs exceeded that of an ordinary person.
Rolling several times, the figure of Kojaka Koichiro sprawled on the floor was a pitiful sight unrecognizable as the first son of the Megacorp.
“……”
Satisfied with the sensation of the punch, Eve looked down at her fist for a few seconds.
At the same time, she turned her gaze towards Kojaka William beside him.
Her movements felt precise and swift, almost machine-like.
“Entity ‘Kojaka William.’”
“…Hmm.”
“There must be no falsehood in the fact that you oppose entity ‘Smile John,’ with whom you contracted human ‘Lee Siwoon.’”
It was such an unexpected remark.
But upon noticing the sight of Kojaka Koichiro spitting bubbles on the ground, Kojaka William nodded hurriedly.
“Lee Siwoon, huh? So you mean Shun Lee. Of course, that’s right; I already signed a digital contract with a mercenary named Drake.”
When did he sign that?
Was it during their shoulder-pat on the way here? Or maybe while in the driverless taxi?
Even hearing Kojaka William’s undisputed acknowledgment, Eve seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
Her expression remained blank, but for some reason, I felt that way.
Eve slowly opened her mouth.
“What if…”
She raised a hand.
“If the contract is not fulfilled…”
At the same time.
The surrounding amusement park.
The massive Kojaka headquarters.
Even the city lights visible from outside.
In an instant, everything was engulfed in darkness.
The 3D holograms that had been floating around just moments ago, and the neon signs, along with the lighting illuminating from inside, disappeared as if the power was cut.
“……!”
We stared in disbelief at the scene.
In that situation, Eve continued to speak.
“This is merely a light display of my skills.”
The only thing visible in the darkness was.
Eve’s white ocular implants.
And those shining eyes soon turned towards me.
Thanks to the implants, perhaps.
It was strange, but it seemed the performance wasn’t this level originally.
…I didn’t know what I had brought into this world.
I swallowed dryly.
—
A little later.
We borrowed the shower facilities at the Kojaka amusement park to clean ourselves up.
We had to throw away all the clothes we were wearing.
Thanks to rolling around in the landfill and the sewage all day.
The clothes we had on were entrusted to a professional laundry service, and now we were dressed in high-end ready-made clothes provided by Kojaka William.
Having exited the amusement park, ideally, we should have been discussing contracts or details regarding Smile John with Kojaka William.
But we were too exhausted.
Leaving him behind, looking dazed,
I briefly thought about today’s events.
Hmm.
What a spectacular day it was.
Thinking back, it didn’t make sense.
I had jumped from thousands of meters in the air without a parachute.
I inadvertently rescued the Vice President on a raid of the Megacorp’s airship.
I had escaped from the crashed airship that fell into the landfill and stopped by my hometown, the underground village.
I even encountered a ninja while exploring the filthy sewage.
If I told strangers about this day, they’d probably ask me to stop watching movies.
I was so worn out; I desperately wanted to go home and lay on my bed.
It wasn’t just the Vice President who looked dazed.
However, it seemed that such thoughts might only come after safely escaping from this situation.
Catherine’s golden eyes were looking at me.
As did Drake and Andrea, who also turned their gazes toward me.
“…So, who is she?”
I couldn’t immediately respond to Catherine.
All our eyes were drawn to one ‘woman’.
The woman…, ‘Eve’ was sipping coffee and savoring its taste.
“Molecule coffee, roughly 3Kcal of calories. While it does not contain coffee beans, it has synthesized caffeine extracts with a measured 251mg of caffeine.”
……
“This is what is called ‘bitterness.’ I am learning.”
She was observing something strange alongside the taste.
Currently,
We were at a café in the middle-class area, ‘Saint Hills.’
It was a place I had noticed when trying to catch the InfoSeller7 known as ‘Underdog’ before.
Of course, it was also because it was close to the Kojaka amusement park, ‘Pete Mc Land.’
The reason we had come to the café?
Because my companions, with their eyes wide open, wanted immediate answers to the questions they had.
Eve sipped her coffee without offering any response.
As time passed and it seemed Eve wouldn’t answer, this time the gaze focused on me, who was expected to know her identity.
“Hmm.”
I felt extremely pressured.
I opened my mouth nonchalantly.
“Let’s talk once all the drinks arrive. Oh, right. By the way, this café has nice decor; maybe we can check it out—”
“Stop the nonsense and explain!”
“……Should I?”
I cleared my throat intentionally several times.
Yeah.
I had witnessed the maid who landed from the air perform a superhero landing, hack the Kojaka headquarters, and consequently disable dozens of ninjas in a single sweep.
To say they were not curious about her identity would be a lie.
By the way, due to Eve’s appearance, people in the café were also secretly glancing at our table.
Even in a cyberpunk world, maid outfits are still a very peculiar attire.
“Ooh, the chest is insane—”
A man watching us in the café suddenly collapsed.
I thought maybe he had a heart attack.
But seeing him clutching his eyes, it seemed his eye implants malfunctioned.
Oh dear, that’s why you need to keep up with your implant scaling.
Well, anyway.
I sat down at the table and tapped it lightly.
Where do I even start explaining?
I fell into a moment of contemplation.
……
I suppose I should just be honest.
I felt no need to lie anymore.
After all, Catherine had already heard Eve’s name, and everyone had witnessed her abilities.
Given this situation, I thought it was best to recount everything from when I first met Eve.
To be honest, it wasn’t a topic suitable for a café.
But the looks urging for answers were unavoidable.
Calmly, I gazed at my companions.
“Remember the mission we did last time? The one that came out of Neon City.”
“…Of course, it was related to ‘Rise Corporation.’”
Drake responded to my words.
I nodded, continuing my train of thought.
“Uh-huh, during that tactical nuclear bomb terror incident.”
I lowered my voice slightly.
“Eve is the AI I brought back from there.”
“…She doesn’t seem like an ordinary AI, though.”
Drake said with an expression of disbelief.
That was indeed true.
What kind of AI shows up with an artificial body?
“I think she’s probably the only super AI in the world.”
I never thought I’d be sharing a secret I intended to keep forever in front of everyone.
Hearing our conversation, Andrea quietly interjected.
“If that’s the case, her body must be a whole-body artificial body… But, such a body can’t be just possessed by anyone, can it?”
I agreed with Andrea’s statement.
“The price is one thing, and the conditions are quite stringent.”
Just then, a serving robot from the café arrived at our table.
It skillfully placed the drinks ordered according to each person’s preferences on the table.
By the way, the drink I ordered was a fruit juice made from sweet artificial pulp.
I got the feeling that I had worked so hard for such a short time, I was craving something sweet.
Calming my brain with the drink, I spoke up.
“To be honest, I’m not sure about that either; the credits spent on it were probably earned through streaming.”
“……Streaming?”
“Uh-huh, net streaming.”
“…….”
If we’re talking about streamer Eve,
She’s a rising star and a new legend in the VeTuber realm, after all.
Though, I didn’t suspect she earned that much.
While it was only a guess, it wasn’t impossible.
As I spoke, I looked at Eve.
Eve met my gaze.
Her transparent eyes pierced through me.
Those strangely shining eyes left an impression.
“Of course, I also engaged in stock activities.”
Due to having a human body, perhaps.
Eve’s unique manner of speaking had changed.
Wait, did she say she was doing stocks?
“Then I can do stocks too—”
“No.”
“…….”
While I was promptly shot down,
Catherine, who had maintained silence until now, asked Eve.
“Well, even if you say you are AI, let’s assume that everything Siwoon said is true.”
She didn’t touch the drink that had arrived in front of her and continued.
“But what’s with the outfit? Is it a maid outfit or something?”
Hmm.
“And also, why did you choose to have a female form for the artificial body? From a physical spec standpoint, a male form would be more efficient for AI.”
Concerning that part, I turned to look at Eve.
Honestly, I was curious too.
Eve.
AI intelligence.
The fact she rejected the name ‘Adam’ I wanted to give her was also puzzling.
And every time I asked her gender in the past, she only replied, “This AI has no gender.”
Yet, the Eve who appeared with an artificial body was.
In a beautifully feminine form.
Moreover, just like the dying café customer had exclaimed while passing by,
Her chest size drew everyone’s gaze.
By the way, I speculate that Catherine’s sharp reaction was, in fact, not unaffected by Eve’s breast size.
And incidentally, it was my taste.
Anyway.
Everyone sat at the table was staring at Eve.
They were waiting for her answer.
Even in such a situation, Eve seemed to show no signs of pressure.
Still maintaining her blank expression,
She sipped her molecular coffee.
A moment passed, and Eve set her empty cup down on the table.
“That’s for…”
Eve slowly began to speak.
“To serve human ‘Lee Siwoon.’”
……
A brief silence.
Everyone’s gaze turned towards me.
For some reason,
They looked incredibly sharp.
“……Siwoon.”
“Wait, why are you looking at me like that?”
This feels as if I had instructed Eve to do so (the maid outfit, female form).