NOVEL NEXT Chapter 8
In a dark room,
A hologram of a beautifully dressed woman is laughing in the air.
[Hahaha! How long has it been since you moved, and now you’re moving again? Are you swimming in credits?]
“I didn’t completely move! …I just bought another one.”
Tired of the argument, Catherine tilted her head back.
The ceiling, which could be described as neat in a good way and ordinary in a bad way, naturally came into her view.
‘…It really is cramped.’
Due to her profession as a mercenary, she had to travel here and there.
Because of that, Catherine also had bases in various regions.
From the garbage dump to Neon City.
She had been through many homes, but no matter how many there were, this one felt a bit too small.
‘…I really don’t get what’s so great about moving to such a tiny place.’
She thought of a wizard.
[It’s all the same, you crazy lady.]
“I’m just making one more base.”
[Oh, really? Is that so?]
The person on the hologram call kept laughing.
Catherine didn’t like their reaction.
But she was used to ignoring her colleague’s antics, which weren’t a recent occurrence.
[I thought something happened when you suddenly called during live time.]
“…I just wanted to share. We’re colleagues, right?”
[This kind of thing should be called a counseling session, my friend.]
“……”
Her urge to curse at the silly remarks surged up her throat.
The reason she didn’t let it out was that it wasn’t wrong.
Catherine quietly calmed her anger.
[Speaking of which, what happened to the person who lived in that house? …No way.]
“Don’t tell me I killed them? …I just paid them extra credits to leave.”
That was also the reason why renting this tiny room cost more than the average market price.
‘…But where the hell did this guy run off to?’
But in reality, the one who got her to find a place had run away again.
Catherine’s head started to ache.
The hologram of the woman noticed the change in her expression and shook with laughter again.
[Oh, seriously. I’m pushing this hard, and the other person doesn’t even realize it. Shouldn’t you be more proactive?]
“……It’s fine. I’ll do it my way. Anyway, they’ve been acting distant lately, so I’m being careful.”
And that was indeed the case.
For reasons unknown, Siwoon had visibly started to distance himself from Catherine.
And even more so from their colleagues.
[You might want to ask later when you get the chance? …I’m a bit curious myself.]
“I guess I’ll have to.”
Why is he running away?
Catherine’s thoughts stretched as she pondered over his behavior that seemed uncharacteristic.
[Oh, crazy.]
“What is it?”
[Turn on NCB News Channel 4 right now.]
“What’s going on this time?”
Who even had time to watch the news right now?
She thought so, but Catherine eventually followed the other person’s advice and turned on the news program.
A new screen interface popped up across from the hologram image that had been floating in the air.
《We are currently at a cafe in North Houston, which is being occupied by the extreme eco-fascist group, ‘Eco Warriors’.》
“What? Just a normal news broadcast.”
[Keep watching.]
Catherine couldn’t understand why she needed to watch it, seeing as terrorists were popping up in Neon City like it was nothing.
She continued watching the news with no particular interest.
《Here is the interior of the cafe provided by the terrorists. Many citizens of Neon City are shown to be held captive.》
“……Huh?”
Why is he there?
[Hahaha! Look at that guy’s expression! He doesn’t look fazed at all. He’s the only one who looks out of place among the hostages.]
The hologram partner laughed, but the voice didn’t reach Catherine’s ears.
“I’m hanging up.”
[Huh?]
– KRAKOW!
Soon her image vanished from the room.
All that remained where the door used to be was a trace of the door itself.
—
2. If it can’t be avoided (3)
—
So currently.
“Who the hell are you guys?! The ones who grabbed my friend!!”
…How did they even find this place?
I waved my hand, forgetting that I was being held tightly by an orc terrorist.
And just as her gaze turned toward me…
– CRACK! THUD!
I couldn’t see what was happening.
The sound of something ripping and falling over echoed.
I felt only a faint breeze brush past my face.
Clearly, the orc behind me had fallen over, but one strange thing remained.
The orc’s grip on my neck hadn’t vanished.
I cautiously turned around.
An orc whose hand had come clean off was writhing in pain.
……As I assessed the situation, I slowly moved my hand. I removed the orc’s hand that had stuck to my neck and placed it gently on the floor.
Only then did the remaining orc’s hand squirt blood as it squirmed on its own.
Catherine spoke to me in a panicked voice.
“Are you okay?”
“…Yeah, I’m fine?”
“……Phew.”
This time, I asked Catherine, who let out a sigh of relief.
“But how did you find this place?”
Catherine pointed her chin toward the camera.
Ah, the camera.
It was broadcasted so they could see what was happening.
I thought maybe there was a tracking device in place or something.
Just when we were having a surprisingly peaceful conversation as if we were out for a stroll,
“What the hell is this chick?!!”
The orc terrorists, who finally regained their senses, shouted in disbelief.
It was only natural that they would start firing their guns at the same time.
I lowered my posture, preparing for defense.
I focused my mana just thinking about blocking the bullets flying toward me.
After all, if she was here,
There was nothing I needed to do.
She—Catherine—sprang into action amid the gunfire.
With just a flick of her palm, she deflected the bullets pouring down like rain.
Her speed was several times faster than anyone else’s.
Using cyberware neural acceleration for her movement.
The specs of the implants embedded in her body were of a different caliber.
To the orc terrorists, she was like an uninvited natural disaster that had suddenly appeared.
In one swift cycle, Catherine blocked the rain of bullets and then moved forward.
With a kick, one orc’s abdomen was crushed, and with a punch, another’s neck snapped as blood poured from his mouth.
She even effortlessly snatched the gun from one of the shooters and fired back.
Every time she pulled the trigger, blood sprayed from the unarmored areas on her body.
In just a matter of seconds, everything came to a halt.
This level of confrontation couldn’t even be called a fight against Catherine.
“Who even uses such outdated guns these days?”
She casually tossed the assault rifle she had used onto the floor while casually indulging in a sense of ease.
All the terrorists were either dead or collapsed without even a groan.
She truly is the protagonist.
“Let’s head back home.”
“…Yeah, that seems like a good idea.”
Hmm.
If I thought about running away from here, I’d truly be insane, right?
I fought back the urge to imagine how I’d be dusted if I actually took off.
Just then, one orc who had been down was struggling to rise again.
Whoa, wait a second.
Isn’t that the guy who got punched and broke his neck?
How is he still alive?
“……If it weren’t for the artificial skeleton, I would’ve been dead right away.”
I see.
Catherine, who frowned slightly, looked back at the orc again.
Her weight shifted forward, as if she was about to leap and kick the orc.
But all movements froze at the orc’s words, as he persisted through the pain.
“Cough, everyone freeze!! I’ve activated a bomb!”
The orc revealed a device hidden beneath a tarp, something I couldn’t identify earlier.
So that’s what it was, hidden under a cover.
As the tarp was peeled away, it revealed a design that indeed looked like a bomb.
Why are we suddenly dealing with a bomb?
On the black screen of the device, a white number was decreasing steadily. It was a timer.
Three minutes… left?
If they were only giving us this little time, what were they expecting us to do?
“I didn’t even plan to use this bomb! This is all your fault! The whole building will blow up!”
“If you’re planning to blow it up anyway, doesn’t that mean your life is irrelevant?”
“……Huh?”
And that was the orc’s last words.
Catherine wiped her bloodied hands with a cloth she had pulled from who-knows-where.
“Hey, what now? Should we run away?”
The orc terrorists were in no condition to talk or be persuaded.
Rather than wasting time trying to convince them, it’d be better to deal with the problem before it escalated more.
“Can’t we do something with hacking?”
“I’m not some hack-and-machine expert like ‘Drake,’ so how would I know? I don’t have the equipment for it, and besides, the security locks look thick enough that I can’t even poke them.”
Carelessly, Catherine kicked at the ticking bomb.
To be frank, running away wouldn’t matter much.
Although the orc terrorist said it, it wouldn’t actually explode because of us.
But for those who couldn’t evacuate within three minutes, their insurance policies would kick in.
I had no idea how powerful that bomb was, but considering the orc terrorist’s words about it blowing the whole building, the collateral damage would most likely be severe.
Still, I had no means to act on that.
With time running low, I was about to suggest we escape when Catherine suddenly spoke.
[There’s no other way, I confess.]
“Uh?”
[Initiating hacking… Done. The bomb has been stopped.]
“Eh?”
“Have you lost your mind?”
No.
I double-checked the bomb just to be sure.
The timer had indeed stopped.
Catherine, who hadn’t heard Eve’s voice, pondered over what was happening and turned to see the bomb, saying,
“What? How did it stop?”
“…Uh. Well, um… I studied?”
For now, I lied to brush off the situation.
Or would they have not known if I just said it stopped on its own?
But I couldn’t take back the lie that had already slipped out.
“Funny. Didn’t you say you wouldn’t study because you’re a wizard? Heroes don’t study? But you say you’ve not learned hacking?”
“……Let’s skip the details.”
I struggled to avoid Catherine’s gaze, which was packed with questions.
Right now, the important thing wasn’t making excuses to Catherine.
Eve.
A rather unique AI.
There’s no way she could have been in the network.
How did she initiate and succeed in ‘hacking’?
As Catherine moved away to check what the orcs had,
I quietly uttered a small voice.
“…Let’s talk about it later.”
[…I’m confirming.]
Suddenly, I felt a headache coming on.
Honestly, it was giving me a worse headache than the appearance of the terrorists earlier.
While I clutched my head in confusion,
The delayed NCPD team entered the cafe.
…They sure were quick.
They scanned the area once and walked toward us.
“NCPD here. Is anyone able to explain the situation?”
Didn’t they see the camera and know everything?
The cameras the terrorists had set up must have been filming continuously.
As for how Catherine had moved to clear things up, that must have been broadcast as well.
[…I also hacked that, I confess.]
…That.
So, they might not know then.
“It’s just as you see it.”
“So you two handled all the terrorists by yourselves…?”
“No, I didn’t do anything. That friend over there did.”
At that moment, Catherine, who looked like she had raided all the orc’s pockets, walked toward us.
“What now?”
“NCPD here. Sorry, but could I see some identification?”
The demeanor of the NCPD changed upon hearing my statement that it was a single person who had taken down all the terrorists.
Catherine pulled out a card from her pocket.
It was not the biometric ID provided by the city.
It was issued by a corporation. Such IDs are made in card form to prevent forgery and hacking.
The face of the NCPD officer confirmed the ID, his expression shifting visibly.
“…Confirmed. Catherine Lee. You are free to leave the scene.”
Behind that NCPD officer’s voice, another officer, seemingly a subordinate, raised his voice.
“Senpai! But we still have to investigate…”
“…Just shut up for a bit.”
“Huh?”
“Have you ever seen a Monolith Corps type 1 ID? ……It’s not something anyone carries around.”
“…Ah.”
Even though he lowered his voice to speak softly at the end, it was still loud enough for everyone to hear.
By the way, I also have one of those.
Am I not being checked?
“Should I show mine too?”
“No, your companion may leave as well.”
I felt a strange sense of disappointment.
Why aren’t they checking mine?
Catherine received the ID from the NCPD officer with a familiar expression.
I said to her,
“Let’s head home now.”
“…Nah. Since we came out together, let’s go out and have some fun. You’ll take me, right?”
“……That sounds bothersome.”
Hmm.
I hesitated while looking at Catherine.
Her golden eyes sparkled.
…It’s hard to refuse when she looks that beautiful for no reason.
But she had just saved me from the terrorists, and besides, we wouldn’t be wandering around all day anyway.
If I can’t avoid it, I might as well enjoy it.
“Okay, let’s do that.”
“Great! Then follow me.”
It was quite a long time since we had gone out, just the two of us.
…It almost felt like a date.
‘Am I getting silly? We’re not even that close.’
I tried to calm my unnecessarily fluttering heart.
….
…..
Not really.
……A date, my foot.
Our itinerary for today was as follows.
Checking out new products at a gun shop, looking at combat implants at a specialist shop, shooting just for the sake of shooting at a shooting range, and finally visiting the black market in the lower-class area to ogle at illegal weapons.
Moreover, I ended up being dragged around all day.
…What kind of date was this?
I guess I was wrong to have expectations.
Whatever was so good about this,
Catherine’s own expression was radiantly bright.
And thus, the day came to a close.
—
And the next day.
“Shit, this is bad.”
I looked at the blue graph flashing down through the floor into the basement.
My stocks (that used to be mine) went belly up.
It was summer.