Chapter 171
2107-05-06
T07: 18:10
Bar, dragons Lair.
“Wait, wait. Let me just summarize what I’ve heard first. Is that alright?”
“Yeah, sure.”
I nodded reluctantly, somehow knowing what was about to come out of his mouth.
“So you met with Eugene Elijah Schneider, the head of the family of the great Family Schneider, which is a core member of the corporation alliance and is tied to the founding history of Dusk.”
“Yes.”
“And Eugene Schneider even invited you personally to The Consortium Club held in the hidden space on the 165th Floor of the Plaza Hotel, a secret banquet where only the world’s most powerful and rich people can go.”
“Right.”
“And there you finally met Eugene Schneider. One thing led to another, and you played a soul chess match with everything on the line against him.”
“It wasn’t exactly with everything on the line, but that’s roughly close enough.”
At my words, Tony looked at me with a deeply serious and profound gaze and said…
“Are you sick or something?”
“…”
“Hey, if you’re sick, rest at home. I was wondering why you didn’t come to work yesterday, but now I see it was because you were sick. Are you still not fully recovered? Did you take medicine?”
“I’m not sick.”
“Then are you drunk? Man, how can you be drunk after drinking just a little bit of that. Why does your alcohol tolerance keep going down instead of up?”
Saying that, Tony snatched away my Dusk Iced Tea, which I had been sipping on after making it for practice.
“Hey, why are you taking that?”
“You’re talking nonsense because you keep drinking this and getting drunk. The alcohol content is pretty high, too. You really like Dusk Iced Tea, huh? Let’s see. Was the first time you drank it on the day of your interview? Was the one I made for you back then that delicious?”
“Well, it was delicious.”
It was also the first proper cocktail I had ever tasted in my life.
When I flattered him a little like that, Tony’s expression grew pleased, creating a heartwarming atmosphere for a moment.
“No, but I’m telling the truth. It’s not drunken nonsense. You can’t go around telling people about this. Though looking at your reaction now, I doubt anyone else would believe it anyway.”
“Right. I’m sure. If I didn’t know anything about The Consortium Club, I might have been fooled just a tiny bit. It was pretty plausible.”
Ho?
Tony’s words piqued my interest.
Come to think of it, this guy was a former Net Diver.
As someone whose job was to dive into cyberspace and dig up all sorts of hidden information within the data, he might know something about this upper-class secret banquet.
“What do you know about The Consortium Club?”
“First of all, the security is so strict that extracting data records from The Consortium Club’s inner circle is a near-impossible suicide mission that no renowned Net Diver has ever succeeded at. A lot of them died like moths to a flame because of it.”
“Seeing as you’re still perfectly alive, I guess you never tried it, Tony.”
At my joke, Tony shrugged and replied.
“Well. Why do you think I’m retired and doing this here right now?”
He grinned as he said that.
…Is he saying he ended up in his current situation because he failed to extract The Consortium Club data and ran away?
Given Tony’s personality, it felt like a joke, but it also felt like the truth spoken as a joke. I wasn’t sure.
It didn’t seem like he would tell me even if I pried further, so I just continued the topic for now.
“The security did seem strict. But that doesn’t apply to me, does it? I went there after being officially invited.”
“Hey, do you know why the security there is so strict? Not to brag, but I was a big shot back in my active days. If I set my mind to it, there was nothing in the world I couldn’t breach. But why did everyone, not just me, shake their heads and give up?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“An outstanding Net Diver like me can breach anything in the world if they set their mind to it, but at the same time, if there’s exactly one thing that can stop such an outstanding Net Diver, it’s an equally outstanding Net Diver. So here’s a question. When The Consortium Club is held, how many Net Divers do you think the organizers deploy for security?”
“Well… about three?”
Since breaching it was near impossible, I figured there would be about three.
Even this was a high estimate.
Wasn’t each and every Net Diver a talented person of astronomical value?
Even across the entirety of Dusk City, the total number of Net Divers was probably less than 50, so just three of them represented a huge asset.
But Tony shook his head.
“If it were three, I could have somehow managed it with my skills during my prime. If worse came to worst, I could have formed a team and rammed into it. Either way, it’s a bit too early a number to be discussing impossibilities. The correct answer is five. There’s a reason why I gave up.”
Five?
My jaw dropped.
My god, with that many, the Net Divers must have been thoroughly tearing through and surveilling all the hotel’s data.
I suddenly felt a chill, wondering if every single action and movement I made that day had been recorded somewhere.
If I got caught spying on El Valentine… the chairman would have taken some sort of measure since she was the one who ordered it, right?
I had no choice but to believe she did.
“Now do you understand what level that place is? The Consortium Club is a place where only high-ranking corporation chairmen, Megacorp executives, heads of noble families, or Yangban on the level of an elder can enter, and even among people of that caliber, there are tons who aren’t regular members, you punk.”
But you, with no money, no backing, and an uncertain identity, visited there after receiving a single invitation? It’s impossible, if only to maintain that strict security. Even more so if it was for the absurd reason of playing a game of betting chess. Calling you all the way there just to play chess? Does that make sense? Is that guy bored? Hey, if he’s that bored, tell him to come here since I’ll play with him today.”
“Ouch! That’s a bit harsh.”
No money, no backing, and an uncertain identity.
Every single word was right, so I couldn’t even refute it. Tony’s scathing truth bomb hurt my feelings.
His logic refuting my claim of having been to The Consortium Club was also very plausible. It was to the point where even I was persuaded, thinking, “I think he’s right?'
Then again, even I would find it hard to believe that I went to such a tremendous place just to play a game of chess, even though it was something I experienced myself.
“But it’s the truth. I’m not drunk, I’m not sick, and it’s not nonsense; it’s 100% pure truth. Why would I tell such a ridiculous lie?”
“Well. Several possible reasons come to mind.”
At Tony’s apathetic reaction, I sighed and said.
“Then let’s just assume it is for now. It might be hard to believe, but let’s talk under the premise that it’s the truth.”
“I can do that much. If we consider it a less important irregular banquet focused on socializing hosted by the club, rather than a meeting of the inner circle where regular members gather - the so-called “real Consortium” - then making a hundred concessions, I can look at it with a very open mind and say it’s not entirely impossible.”
“Oh, now that I hear it, an irregular banquet, I think that’s right. Honestly, it wasn’t a heavy meeting atmosphere discussing world affairs or the future of Dusk. It was closer to just an ultra-upper class party.”
“Wow, did you just add lore to your story after hearing what I said? You have quite the talent for writing.”
Tony, who had thrown his signature sarcastic joke, raised both hands in a sign of surrender at my glaring gaze and said:
“Alright, got it. Let’s say you and Eugene Schneider played chess at The Consortium Club. So who won?”
“Who do you think won?”
“Obviously you lost.”
At his resolute answer without a single moment of hesitation, I frowned.
No, why does he naturally assume I lost? This hurts my pride a bit.
“I could have won, couldn’t I?”
“Yeah, right. I doubt someone on the level of a head of the family of a great Family would take such a gamble without being absolutely confident. If your story about him inviting you all the way there just to play betting chess is true, wouldn’t it be because he was absolutely confident he wouldn’t lose?”
My god. Today of all days, Tony keeps saying nothing but the right things every time he opens his mouth.
Once again, I couldn’t refute it at all, because it was the truth.
I lost. And quite one-sidedly at that.
It seems someone on the level of a head of the family of a great Family is also good at playing chess.
It used to be a hobby I enjoyed casually, and since I had even participated in a Youth Tournament when I was young (recording 1 draw and 2 losses, after which I gave up on the dream), I thought it would still be a doable match, but I was miserably defeated.
Whether it was due to the future’s chess theory that had developed over a century, or just because my skills were trash.
'It’s probably both.'
If it’s Schneider, isn’t that of German descent? But damn it, he chose the French Defense. His choice of opening was quite exquisite.
Once the board turned disadvantageous, did I think about using the In-Head AI? Honestly, it’s not like the thought didn’t cross my mind at all. Wasn’t chess the exact field where artificial intelligence had already taken the crown a long time ago?
However, not only was the System Assistant not equipped with a chess engine or related data in the first place, but even if it were possible, the risk was too great.
Even in the 21st century chess world, Engine Cheating was thoroughly caught through an algorithm, so there was no way it would work in the 22nd century - especially against someone on the level of the Schneider head of the family. I figured there was some sort of safety mechanism in place, and I would get caught if I tried.
Putting all that aside, I also didn’t like the fact that it was cheating.
In the end, I played fairly, and I lost fairly.
Since I didn’t cheat, the opponent was the only one left, but there was no way someone on the level of the Schneider head of the family would have used Engine Cheating just to uglily beat me. It was definitely a fair game.
“Seeing as you’re quiet, let’s assume you did lose. So, what did the Schneider head of the family in your novel demand as the price of victory?”
“Well… um.”
I shrugged. Can I say it?
It was obvious Tony would be appalled and tell me to keep my bullshit to a reasonable level, but…
Whatever. No matter what anyone says, it’s the truth.
“He asked if I wanted to do a job together.”