Chapter 8
#008
1.
In Necropolis, height is status.
The worst population density had divided living space into vertical castes.
The quality of life you get depends on whether your home is underground, on the first floor, or on the second.
For that reason, house prices double with every staircase you climb.
In other words, how many people you have beneath your feet is the measure of status.
At the pinnacle of that caste map stands ‘Hang House’ (Hang House).
A building carved into one side of a cliff and stuck there like a barnacle, instead of on the bustling surface crammed like a bean-sprout steamer.
Of course, pulling off a stunt like that and even installing a private elevator would cost astronomical sums.
You could call it a penthouse that only the city’s topmost privileged class can get their hands on.
“Hmm, nice.”
From in front of the enormous Hang House’s floor-to-ceiling windows, I looked down on Necropolis’s nightscape.
A stream of green smog, lights leaking through the cracks.
A pitiful glow, the lights of mayflies who burn their lives just to exist.
The space that only felt like hell while I was inside it was, when looked at from so far above, nothing more than a decorative ornament.
“What are you thinking about?”
A sweet voice.
A sharp chin settled on the crown of my head.
A chest with unbelievable softness wrapped around my neck and shoulders like a neck pillow.
After a moment’s thought, I answered.
“I was thinking people looked like ants.”
“That’s an amusing impression.”
A faint laugh drifted down from above my head.
The warmth slipped away.
When I turned around, the tallest woman I had ever seen in my life was standing there.
The owner of this penthouse, a director of Twilight Resource Development, and a mage.
Ceres Cassian.
So, then, why was I here?
‘I’ll buy your corpse. But there are too many eyes here.’
‘Huh?’
‘Your corpse is “special,” isn’t it? Let’s go to my workshop. I’ll pay you handsomely.’
The woman I met in front of the charnel house invited me to her workshop.
Honestly, I didn’t want to sell the corpse when I had no idea what sort of snowball effect it might trigger.
I didn’t want to go to the invitation either.
But it would be a mistake to take this as a literal ‘invitation.’
The other party was a conglomerate director.
A director of a monstrous conglomerate that legally buys corpses in bulk in this stench-ridden world.
In the end, weren’t my only choices to leave politely or leave as a corpse?
‘I’m honored to be invited!’
‘My, how spirited.’
I obediently accepted the invitation.
Absolutely not.
I swear it.
Ceres was tall and beautiful, and her chest was as big as my head....
I wasn’t accepting the invitation because I was curious what it would feel like to sleep with a woman nearly 250 centimeters tall.
Anyway, that wasn’t what I was hoping for.
“The inspection is basically over. A rank-one mage’s corpse, huh. You’re carrying around an absurd treasure, aren’t you, kid?”
“That much?”
“It’s a treasure I’d rather not have snatched away by the other directors.”
“Ah, so that’s why we’re doing direct business.”
“You could call it corporate politics.”
I immediately greased my tongue.
“Even people in such an amazing position as Lady Ceres have their own troubles, huh.”
“You’re quite the smooth talker, aren’t you?”
It was an unexpected invitation.
But I had a hunch that if I broke through this properly, it could become a good opportunity in many ways.
“If I had to pick one disappointment, it’d be how severe the damage to the mana circuit is, I suppose?”
Tch.
The kind of line that says, ‘No scratches in the photo, but there’s a little wear here.’?
Pretty good.
“I can shave a little off the price.”
Ceres opened her eyes wide, then burst out laughing.
“No need for that. But before I pay.... can you tell me where you got this corpse?”
Her tone was remarkably natural and matter-of-fact.
But I felt the adrenaline in my blood surge.
Here it was.
The first fork in the road.
This was probably the question that would decide my future with a very high probability.
If I were the one who found a treasure goblin, I’d ask, “Where the hell did you get this gold?!”
If they didn’t get a proper answer, they’d rip out your fingernails, toenails, and teeth and go, ‘Tough, huh? Damn tough! Still not talking?’
“She’s my older sister. I don’t know the details either, but one day our family was suddenly attacked. My sister was injured in the process.”
“A family? You....”
“Yes, I’m the eldest son of House Montrevan.”
Once I’d been dragged this far, a clumsy lie was meaningless.
Rather than babbling until my fingernails, toenails, and teeth were all ripped out, I decided to tell the truth and bet that Ceres had nothing to do with the raiders.
I gave her the rough outline and asked:
“By any chance, do you have any leads on this attack...?”
Ceres tapped her cheek with the tips of her fingers, as if thinking it over.
“Let’s see? I don’t really have much contact with Aden either. The last time I went there was three years ago. I’ve never even heard the name House Montrevan. It must’ve been a pretty fallen house.”
No, our family was that bad?
We were seriously complete fucking nobodies.
“Anyway, that was interesting. And I’ll keep this to myself. Instead....”
“Yes, I’ll keep this transaction buried to the grave. I’ll make sure those nasty director bastards never learn about Lady Ceres’s windfall.”
“You really know how to talk, don’t you? I should probably throw in a tip.”
Ceres smiled softly and only then reached for her wallet.
Then, a beat late, she ordered me to keep quiet.
I had a hunch.
If I’d made even one mistake in that exchange, she wouldn’t have taken out her wallet.
“Then what would you like as a reward?”
Here it came.
The second fork in the road.
I had some idea about this part.
Ceres had been favorably disposed toward me from the very start.
Her touches were subtly natural, too.
It was a breeze that was almost impossible to pin down, but....
This was the sort of undercurrent that passes between a man and a woman before something happens.
“Could I have a glass of wine with Lady Ceres? Just the two of us, in private.”
Ceres’s eyes widened again.
“My, what a bold little brat.”
Even so, there was no sign she was displeased.
I didn’t miss the mischievous sensuality that had seeped into her narrowed eyes.
Again, the right answer.
This is the best way to get the best reward.
How generous a woman can be toward a man who satisfies her,
I knew all too well, from working at a Gangnam host bar during the eleventh-round cleanup,
And....
I can’t resist curiosity.
She’s 240 centimeters tall. And she’s still a sultry beauty.
I even doubted she was the same species as me.
When else would I get a chance like this?
“If you don’t feel like drinking right away, should we shower first?”
“Huh? A-ah? Should we...?”
“This way.”
I grabbed her wrist and headed for the shower room.
We had a pleasant time in the shower, teasing each other with soap bubbles.
“Now, should we turn the lights off for a bit?”
“Why turn them off? I want to etch Lady Ceres’s beautiful body clearly into my eyes.”
That night.
We were one hell of a pair of beasts.
2.
After the madness had ended, the bedroom felt a little more humid.
Ceres brushed back her sweat-soaked hair, then put a cigarette to her lips.
When I lit it for her on cue, she expertly blew out the smoke.
“Hoo, that was fun after so long. You were way better than my husband.”
“Huh?”
Wait, what?
“I said you were much better than my husband.”
Husband? This woman was married?
My heart sank.
You should’ve told me that before!
If I’d known you were married, the guilt would’ve made this a double-dopamine event!
“Don’t be scared. My angry husband won’t be coming to kill you. He’s already dead.”
“Ah, yes....”
“I wasn’t originally planning to give you this much, but.... you did make me happy.”
Ceres, chuckling at my dejected face, walked over to a giant painting hanging in one corner of the bedroom.
When she pushed the painting aside a little, there was a gigantic safe that even a thief wouldn’t dare try to steal.
“It was fun after so long. I’ll throw in a service fee on top of your sister’s price.”
After entering the code, she took a single dazzling gold coin from the safe.
A gold coin is worth 100,000 Bios apiece.
Meaning it was a rather meager reward for someone of her status to hand out so casually.
And yet.
“No way, this precious thing....!”
A strange golden aura spread softly, as though it had been dusted with fairy powder.
This wasn’t an ordinary gold coin.
The true identity of this gold coin....
The Ark City’s reserve currency.
The reason Ark City, surrounded by black matter and monsters, had still been able to remain self-sufficient.
The reason mages could break free of the shackles of lifespan and aging.
The reason fixers were constantly being sent to exterminate monsters.
The one and only currency that could be exchanged with the ‘world’.
It was a Universal Coin.
“Heh-heh, I made sure to give you a pretty hefty one.”
I swallowed hard.
The going market rate for a Universal Coin was around 10 million Bios.
An amount 90% of Necropolis’s citizens could never earn in a lifetime.
…….
A conflict arose.
If it were up to me, I’d wag my tail and say, Please take me in as your kept man, woof woof woof woof woof!
But I mustn’t forget.
This is playing with fire.
What’s more, the gap between the two of us was the slums on Basement Level 1 and a Hang House hundreds of meters above ground.
To Ceres, the widow mage, I was nothing more than a butter dog who knew how to lick butter.
“Are you leaving already?”
Look at that.
She’s already subtly telling me to get lost.
“Ah, yes. I do have to go to work tomorrow.”
“Where do you work?”
“Ah, I work at Big Dick Office.”
“Big Dick Office... good, I’ve memorized it. I’ll send in requests from time to time.”
For today, I had to be satisfied with having made a strong impression.
“I’ll escort you to the elevator.”
We passed through a long gallery displaying artworks and reached the foyer where the elevator was installed.
When I pulled the lever, the lattice-patterned brass door opened.
“I look forward to seeing you again.”
“Me too. I’m looking forward to it.”
I boarded the elevator, pressed the button, and turned around.
Then I saw a gleaming marble floor and lights reflecting off all sorts of artworks.
Splendor, silence, comfortable air.
Things that could never be found at the very bottom.
I want this.
I suddenly don’t want to go back.
“I want to keep living in a place like this, too.”
My true feelings slipped out.
“Did you know?”
Ceres, who had paused, gave a meaningful smile.
“I didn’t speak to you in the charnel house because of your older sister.”
“Huh?”
“Back then, I saw ‘you’ first.”
“What do you mean....”
-clank
The brass lattice door shut, separating us.
Find the ugliest arrogance inside you.
Her lips parted.
“Go madder. More than you are now, more, more, more. Let your madness swallow you. Even if the world points fingers at you, dig in your heels and see it through.”
The elevator descends.
I descend.
Ceres’s figure grows farther and farther away.
“If you do that....”
But the final words, whispered as if right beside my ear, were....
“You might be able to become like me.”
I clearly heard them.
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::: Challenges (NEW!) :::
- Have sex with a female mage for the first time. +2pt
- Sell your body. +1pt
- Obtain a Universal Coin. +1pt
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