Chapter 160
The inside of the letter was snow-white, contrasting with its pitch-black exterior. Cursive handwriting flowed elegantly from a fountain pen onto the rough, thick texture of the high-quality paper. It was a truly rare luxury in the Cyberpunk World.
Just the powerful and dignified strokes of the handwriting were enough to guess who the owner was, which sent a thrill down my neck.
“Dear Aaron Nakamura,”
I invite you to the 13th gathering of the Multinational Corporate Alliance, The Consortium Club.
The Consortium Club is a banquet for prestigious figures that originated from the meetings of the Dusk Founders, and the Schneider Family has taken the host position for this occasion.
The location is 4 Aken Street in Dollarville, the membership hotel on the 165th Floor of the Plaza Building.
The appointed date and time are May 5th at 18:00, and you may bring one companion.
It would be mutually beneficial if you could grace the occasion with your presence, so I will be looking forward to it.
Your Friend,
Host Eugene Schneider.”
Just how many meanings were implied in this single, short, and dry letter?
The data on the Schneider Family, which had been submerged while I went through various incidents, revived on its own. I racked my brain as a headache stabbed at it like a knife.
“The Consortium Club.”
A conspiracy theory I had heard in passing during the 21st century came to mind.
It was that a secretive meeting called the Bilderberg Club existed behind the scenes of the global economy, and that terrifying magnates such as high-ranking politicians, nobles, and chaebols gathered there to determine the direction of international affairs.
I remembered snorting and wondering if such a thing could exist, only to be shocked to learn that this Bilderberg Meeting where magnates gathered actually did exist, and while it was unknown if they truly determined international affairs, the contents of the meeting were kept strictly secret.
This Consortium Club was similar.
It was a secretive meeting where those in power who determined the direction of Dusk City gathered.
It was a special gathering that absolutely no one could enter unless they were a selected member.
Security was maintained so thoroughly that most didn’t even know of its identity, but those who did know all feared and simultaneously craved the Club’s power and influence.
Godfather
The Schneider Family Head, Eugene, had invited me to such a banquet.
Tacking on friendly phrases like “It would be mutually beneficial if you could grace the occasion with your presence.” and “I will be looking forward to it. Your Friend.”
What this meant was, 'I’m showing you this much courtesy, so you know what happens if you don’t come, right? The Consortium will bury you.'
And what that meant was that I was completely fucked.
The date specified in the letter was today, and there wasn’t much time left.
This is why I’m doing this right now.
I slipped the letter I was reading into my pocket carefully, lest it get crumpled and become an insult to Eugene Schneider.
I wriggled my legs uncomfortably in the backseat of the vehicle. The smell of the artificial leather from the pristine seats, which seemed rarely used, tickled my nose.
Looking out the window, laser beams shot up, piercing even the fog and the dark night sky.
The Cloud Surface Drone Commercial for the wealthy, utilizing aerial transport, and the orange hologram guideline meant to manifest physically unformed roads, unlike those on The Mortal World.
Beneath the elegant curves of the smoothly gliding, swayless chassis, buildings blinked like stars embedded in the night.
Without a doubt, I was currently riding in a flying car.
It was the symbol of the rich here, an aerial vehicle equivalent to the very status held by Lamborghinis, Porsches, and Bugattis of the previous world.
Naturally, it wasn’t my car, but Seira’s.
A fact I hadn’t known despite living together all this time: the 53rd Floor penthouse had a hidden garage and an AV Landing Facility beyond the ceiling.
I had been consistently curious for a while about that endless wealth, which would be impossible to amass on the bartender salary I knew of even if she had worked non-stop from the 21st century until now, but once again, I was still in a position of indebtedness to her.
I couldn’t exactly pry and ask where on earth all this money came from.
Not when bowing a hundred times in gratitude wouldn’t even be enough.
“I said this earlier, but thank you for coming with me. I’m always just receiving help from you.”
As I parted my dry lips and spoke shyly, an answer returned immediately.
[Uhehehe, why say such hurtful words? If it is to help the patron, this Monk can face any trial and adversity, and I shall repay your faith!]
Fucking hell.
I had definitely been talking to the beautiful woman with dark blue hair in the driver’s seat, who had stepped up to help me out of pure, unconditional goodwill.
Instead, the wicked minion who had pushed me into this desperate crisis, the bald cultist who was the assistant, was the one who quickly replied.
My insides were just boiling over.
I wanted to snap at him that I wasn’t talking to him, but even if I did, he’d just laugh pointlessly and say, “Uhehe, is that so?” I’d only be the one losing out if we got into a verbal spat.
“This is driving me absolutely crazy.”
Chairman They called it an escort, but wasn’t it practically surveillance and a threat? Like, they were going to watch and make sure I actually showed up.
It wasn’t like he was any help as a guide, either.
If it hadn’t been for Seira, I wouldn’t have even known that an upper levels executive place like the membership Plaza Hotel had restricted access qualifications, meaning you could only enter via an aerial transport method like this.
When I thought of Seira - who had quietly explained things to me as I foolishly tried to somehow find my way there using the monorail and ground transport, sighed, and then coolly pulled out her car keys - I felt embarrassed.
I had almost been turned away at the door, unable to even get in despite receiving an invitation.
And in the midst of all that, that Yangban had acted like it was his first time hearing it too, spouting bullshit like, “Ooh, so that was how it worked! Thanks to you, I have learned another piece of worldly knowledge.”
I really wanted to punch him.
I let out a sigh and closed my eyes.
Anyway, I was saved thanks to Seira.
I recalled how, after I received that pitch-black invitation that seemed delivered straight from Hell and froze up, unable to cope properly, she immediately called Dragon President to flatly notify him that I wouldn’t be able to come into work today. She then lightly ignored Dragon’s scream of “Dame (No)! Our shop will be ruined without you!” that seemed to pierce right through the interface, and coolly told me to get dressed and ready because she would go with me.
In that moment, she was truly a savior and a goddess.
Thanks to her, I gained at least a little bit of breathing room.
Of course, Seira wasn’t invincible either.
I knew that even for Seira, if a magnate on the level of Eugene Schneider made up his mind to destroy me, there would be no way out, and that due to her restrictions, she couldn’t properly display her skills in front of others.
However, I decided not to keep such realistic limitations in my head.
This was a much more personal and psychological matter.
Just having someone I trusted by my side gave me the optimistic thought that things would somehow work out.
Even in this chaotic situation, I felt reassured because I wasn’t alone.
Because my heart was warm, my head could remain cool.
“It was something I expected anyway.”
I hadn’t been able to pay much attention to it because so many things had happened lately, but I had guessed right after the Ned Ludd Incident that the Schneider Family Head would take an interest in me.
It was actually baffling that the contact had been delayed this long.
Excluding the variable of The Consortium Club invitation, what was bound to come had simply arrived.
If I couldn’t avoid it, I had no choice but to accept it calmly.
“Entering Dollarville Station.”
Seira’s voice, without a hint of a tremor, was as calm as its everyday temperature.
I also took a deep breath, grabbed the collar of my Nanosuit that fit the dress code, and brushed off non-existent dust.
Whiiir…
As we passed through the Aerial Tollgate, a laser swept over the chassis.
I rolled down the window in the direction of the approaching control drone. The cold night air awakened my mind.
gay
When Seira nodded and gave me a signal, I cleared my throat and opened my mouth.
“I received a Club invitation.”
I awkwardly put my hand in my pocket, wondering if I should pull out the invitation letter, but the movement of the drone emitting a blue light stopped unnaturally.
Then, it scanned my face up and down.
Perhaps it was the action of the microchip, but I naturally felt the invisible scanner operating and checking my bio-ID.
Hmm… I wouldn’t get caught, right?
I gulped as I listened to the tenant in my head chattering that such a thing wouldn’t happen.
[Confirmed. Please have a good time. I will guide you personally.]
Simultaneously with the drone’s mechanical voice, the vehicle’s steering wheel moved on its own. The indicator for the autonomous driving mode, which hadn’t been touched, lit up as the AV smoothly slipped out of the traffic line.
We passed through the exhaust fumes and dark clouds for a long time, as if searching for a secret entrance.
Just as my sense of how high we had climbed and how many buildings we had passed began to fade.
The trajectory twisted, and it flipped up and down. As if gravity were acting differently than before, we parted the corals in the black center.
Gradually, it grew brighter outside the window. A subtle and natural aurora of bioluminescent organisms, different from the vulgar neon, enveloped my eyes.
As we crossed the edge of the oceanic trench of The Deep like that, it was the entrance to the Club.
[We have arrived.]