cyberware Expert

"Oh, right. Do you happen to know a good place to sell Used cyberware?"

I asked Tony, and he shrugged.

"There are plenty of places. I know a few junk dealers, or you could find one on the Net. But the type is probably what matters. What part it is, what it's used for, and what condition it's in are important."

Just listening to him speak for a moment gave me the distinct feeling I had met an expert.

Sey hadn't been kidding when he told me to ask Tony if I couldn't find a buyer, saying Tony knew a lot about that sort of thing.

It wasn't just his way of speaking, but his appearance too.

Shaggy hair, dark clothing, shadowed eyes, and a slouched Stance.

When working as a Bartender, he would straighten his back and Welcome customers with a tidy appearance, showing off flashy performances that made him seem like a completely different person, but...

when he wasn't, Tony looked exactly like an engineer, hacker, or net diver who stayed cooped up in a small room tinkering with machines.

To use a 21st-century analogy, he gave off the reliable vibe of someone you could trust when buying a computer with a quote or assembly.

I meant that in a good way, not a bad one.

Feeling my trust in him rapidly rising, I spoke.

"Well... it's completely broken, so the condition doesn't seem very good, but the materials and parts look Fine, so I'm trying to sell those."

At that, Tony let out an "Ah," and nodded as if he knew exactly what I was talking about.

He caught on immediately. We clicked well.

He seemed to have noticed immediately that I was talking about the Man Hunter's Hand.

"You're trying to sell that thing from yesterday. Right?"

"Yes. I don't really have a use for it."

"Hmm, then it might be better to just put it up for auction. It's Military-grade, and it's an item with symbolic value. Hold on, wait a second."

Tony said that and stood perfectly still. Only his brown eyes moved busily, darting back and forth.

He was likely accessing the Net through his Optic cyberware to find relevant information.

After about thirty seconds had passed, Tony's eyes flashed open.

That was the most accurate way to describe it.

His eyelids had been open before, but as soon as his Net Navigating finished, his pupils began to move naturally again.

The rapid shifting had been a bit creepy when I first saw it, but now that I had seen other people doing it so often, I had gotten used to it.

"Here's the Code Address. They say this is the best auction house location these days. You can access it through this. The transaction methods should all be listed on the site, so refer to that.

Try posting it in the afternoon after you get off work and take a nap. Traffic tends to be high around then. If you're lucky, you might even get over a hundred thousand for it."

"Thank you. If I sell it and get the money, I'll at least give you a commission."

I said this while checking the Net location address Tony had sent me on my Cyberwatch.

It was only polite to offer him a cut.

Finding a good buyer was by no means an easy task.

Especially when it came to Military-grade cyberware like this.

Looking into it in reality was dangerous, but looking into it on the Net meant dealing with con artists, dummy sites, and Virus areas. There were just too many risk factors either way.

The Net in 22nd-century Dusk City was completely different from the World Wide Web of the past.

It wasn't the kind of system where you could type on a keyboard into a Google search Bar, have a bunch of sites pop up, and access one immediately with a single click.

To reduce exposure to the dangers of autonomous AIs and rampant viruses and hackers, the Net had become an incredibly closed-off and unfriendly environment.

It was an Irony.

Over the course of a hundred years, Technology itself had advanced dazzlingly, but because of that very advanced Technology, the cyber World had become an unfree, confined space.

cyberspace, which once held an image of being vast and open, took on the form of an Intranet, fractured and blocked off by country and by city.

A Citizen of Dusk City could not access the Net of Neo Tokyo, and vice versa.

Even within the same city, access Rights were divided into a myriad of levels depending on residential district, income level, and Workplace.

Classes were divided not only in reality but also on the Net, and usage was restricted according to those classes.

Factors such as connection speed, Site Risk Level, the quality of information or benefits, and the distribution or number of users were considered...

Because it depended so heavily on one's authority or one's ability to handle the Net,

finding a decent site and gaining the authority to access it in this hopeless Net cyberspace was a truly difficult task.

Even I, who prided myself on being somewhat good with computers—or at least not technologically illiterate—in my Previous World, couldn't even dare to attempt a simple site search.

Actually, I had tried once, but I gave up halfway through.

Staring blankly at the Incomprehensible strings of data through the Cyberwatch Interface made me feel like a 90-year-Old Man who had fallen behind the times.

They said that unless you received specialized education in the first place, scouring the Net through self-study was close to impossible.

There was a reason they used the word navigating (to find a path, to sail) instead of googling.

It was a Cyber Space so rugged and dangerous that you truly needed a navigator or a Guide.

Yet, seeing as Tony had found and shared a site access address with me in a mere thirty seconds, it seemed his navigating skills were considerable, or he was a high-level Net authority holder.

Either way, thanks to him, I had saved myself the trouble without spending a single dime, so I had to repay him.

That was why I had offered to give him a commission, but unexpectedly, he shook his head.

"It's nothing much, and I just told you purely out of goodwill, so there's no need for a commission. Plus, I feel bad for not paying Attention to you yesterday."

Was this the kind of consideration you received from a company senior?

As I looked at Tony with an expression full of deep emotion, a somewhat disgruntled voice rang out from the side.

"What are you two talking about so entertainingly? Let me in on it too. I heard something about cyberware trades and sites."

"Whoops, I should get back to my Cocktail Mixing."

If I stayed there, there was a very high chance the Troublemaker Detective's cyberware-related conspiracy theories would pop out, so I quickly moved and entered the Manufacturing Room.

Looking inside the humming, vibrating machine, I saw that the cooling Process after heating was already well underway.

In Step with the inputted Process, the cocktail inside the radiator turned into a gas, then began to change back into a liquid.

Most substances turn into gas at high temperatures and solid at low temperatures, but after various chemical additives are added and the beverage is compressed to an ultra-high density to lower its freezing point...

A beverage is born that maintains a liquid state, rather than a solid one, even after undergoing an ultra-high-speed cooling Process.

, a form where gas and liquid are half-mixed, emitting white steam and sparkling with a dangerous blue light.

A result that made you think this was what a cocktail would look like if it were made into liquid nitrogen.

This was the Advanced Cocktail, Cold Heart.

BEE-EEP—

I turned off the power to the cooler, which was flashing red and sounding a WARNING beep, opened the stiff lid, and pulled out the Borosilicate Container from the pure white smoke.

Naturally, I was wearing Silicone Gloves. Even so, the Cold sensation was transmitted as if it were touching my skin directly.

If I had touched it directly with my bare hands, my skin would have stuck to it, frostbite would have caused necrosis... it was terrible just imagining it.

In many ways, it was a cocktail where there could be no mistakes in the Production Process.

Holding the steaming container, I stepped out of the room and placed it down with a thud on the wide Bar Table.

"Cold Heart is Serving now."

I held the container and carefully tilted it over the Shot Glass, which was slightly larger than a soju glass, placed in front of the Customer.

First was the Troublemaker Detective.

Smoke covered the face of the self-proclaimed Sherlock, who was rubbing his hands together in sheer excitement.

Sizzle—

With that sound, the transparent liquid poured out, covering the glass along with the overflowing gas.

The optimal way to enjoy a Cold Heart was to drink it immediately upon Serving like this.

Because the temperature would continue to rise just by leaving it at room temperature, it had to be downed when it was at its coldest.

And the Troublemaker Detective, who was more sincere about cocktails than anyone else, did not disappoint.

He downed the Cold Heart, a cocktail reaching tens of degrees below zero, in a single shot!

Pure white steam spewed from his mouth and nose as the vapor of the Liquefied Alcohol traveled down his throat.

His Adam's Apple bobbed vividly, and the self-proclaimed Holmes closed his eyes, shivering all over, full of a thrill.

Having only seen the recipe and related videos, I was actually making it or seeing someone drink it for the first time, so I couldn't tear my eyes away out of curiosity.

However, there was still a Customer left to serve.

I forced myself to look away and moved my body.

I tilted the container all the way over Tony's remaining glass as well, pouring in all the remaining Liquefied Gas Cocktail,

and Tony swallowed it in one gulp, then immediately flashed his Eyes Wide Open as if his drowsiness had completely vanished, exhaling a pure white breath.

"Whoo

—

That really wakes you up."

He said this while moving his body with a creak, as if he were truly frozen to the core, letting out a thick, Deep Breath.

Seeing that, I wondered what it felt like.

What would a cocktail that supposedly froze even the heart taste like?

Would you even be able to taste it?

Unbeknownst to me, my eyes drifted toward the heat-resistant container.