Chapter 128
There is a certain trope that always appears in games or movies.
A cutscene where the protagonist, having inevitably Lost Consciousness due to falling into an enemy’s trap, taking sleeping pills, or getting struck in the back of the head, regains his or her senses and wakes up.
In those scenes, the surroundings are completely pitch-black at first, then turn blurry when the protagonist opens their eyes, and with every Blink, the scenery gradually comes into clear focus.
The cornered protagonist would then immediately spring up full of energy, Attack the off-Guard enemy, and regain their freedom.
Speaking as the one who actually experienced it, I find that impossible. It has zero realism.
That kind of thing was only possible in games or movies. Only a protagonist in a novel could pull off something like that.
First of all, as soon as I regained consciousness, my head hurt so much it felt like it would split open. It was to the point where I wished I had stayed passed out.
And when I tried opening my eyes… naturally, I couldn’t see anything.
Because there was something like a hood placed over my head. It was fastened tightly around my neck, making it hard to even breathe.
Amidst the blocked vision, ruined Sense of Direction, and terrible Headache, the only thing I could tell was that I was being transported somewhere with my arms and legs tied.
Let Alone resisting, just being dragged along while hanging like this was overwhelming. Drool leaked from my mouth, and I kept dry heaving.
How much time passed like that?
After repeatedly losing and regaining consciousness, I suddenly found that I Was Confined in a small, stuffy cubical metal room.
If I had had Claustrophobia, it would have been a location that would have made me Throw a fit right away, but fortunately, I didn’t.
Thanks to that, I had the leeway to catch my breath for a moment and look around.
“…”
As if what I had experienced was a dream, or this current situation was one, my whole body was perfectly Fine without a single scratch. There were no bindings, and no hood either.
If it weren’t for the terrible Headache pounding in my skull and the message from an unknown sender transmitted to my Cyberwatch, I might have really thought it was a dream.
[Take out the contents inside the box and hand them over. The Time Limit is 5 minutes.]
As soon as I checked that text, a question arose about the 5-minute Time Limit.
5 minutes from the moment I woke up? Or 5 minutes from the moment I saw the message?
Surely it wasn’t 5 minutes from the moment I was thrown into this room.
Whichever it was, it wasn’t a sufficiently long time.
And if I broke the Time Limit… well. Nothing good would be waiting for me.
The cyborg Ninja who kidnapped me here didn’t exactly look like the merciful type, either.
“I should at least try something for now.”
As I muttered to myself and stood up, the dull gray color of the room changed to green. The tiles shook, and a Neutral Mechanical Voice was heard.
Welcome, Customer. Welcome to the Chiba Data Account Bank. The place you have entered is currently Account Room No. 5. If you need anything else, please call an Administrator.
“Call the Administrator.”
Naturally, there was no response. Either the method was wrong, or the Call Administrator function had been blocked from the Outside.
I hadn’t tried it with high expectations, but now it seemed I really needed to focus on the mission the cyborg Ninja had given me.
“The Chiba Data Bank, I should have known.”
I should have guessed as soon as I saw the appearance of the room shaped like a futuristic Cube.
Tony had told me that because of the rooms' appearance, the face-to-face data accounts, or “account rooms” as the bank called them, were referred to as 'Boxes' in criminal slang.
The message about transmitting to Box No. 5 was also because of that. Since the Man Hunter was a criminal, he naturally would have used criminal slang.
The Account Room of Chiba boasted strict Security that allowed no one inside except clearly verified customers and left intruders unable to even salvage their bones.
I didn’t know how I was kidnapped and brought here - but this place I was in was exactly Account Room No. 5, Box No. 5.
In other words, telling me to take out the contents of the box and hand them over meant I had to find and Surrender the Man Hunter’s data.
The Ninja’s goal was precisely that data.
It seemed there was definitely something inside. To the point where, following Red Mountain, even an unidentified cyborg Ninja coveted it.
Unless the cyborg Ninja happened to be the Man Hunter’s fuck buddy, I could safely say I was less worried about it being a secretly hidden gay anal sex collection.
I didn’t know why he was making me do it instead of taking out that important data himself… but what could I do? If I was told to do it, I had to do it.
When I opened my fist, I saw the Memory Device resting on my palm. It seemed the cyborg Ninja had kindly dug through my pockets and Taken it out for me.
I was so grateful that I didn’t know what to do with myself.
When I brought the Memory Device to the small Terminal Slot on a particularly protruding Metal Tile, it fit perfectly. As I inserted it, the room’s color changed to yellow with a ringing noise.
Please input the code.
Aha, now I knew why he was making me do it.
The cyborg Ninja didn’t know what the code was. So he must have locked me up here thinking I might know it.
The problem was that I didn’t know it either, though.
“Hmm… I’m fucked.”
If it were a four-digit number or a string-format code, I would have at least tried the standard default passwords, but it wasn’t even that.
It was a Three-Dimensional Code Input Device that you’d only see in movies.
I had to connect the eight vertices of the Cube Model floating in the air with the densely packed dots nearby, transforming it into a specific shape.
The possible variables Alone numbered in the tens of thousands.
Even just thinking a little brought me to the conclusion that I could never solve it by guessing, even if I died trying.
The remaining time was roughly 3 minutes.
Now, my only reliable resource was… ultimately, as always, the Microchip embedded in my frontal lobe.
The Microchip, which I initially thought was a failure but now had a track record of saving my life so often it was hard to count.
Hadn’t I just unlocked the Hidden Function of Schneider’s Treasured Sword - Kokuyōtō - a few days ago using its Mysterious Performance?
If I could dig up the Schneider Family’s Genetic Code in cyberspace back then, there was no reason I couldn’t obtain the Data Bank’s Security Code this time.
‘Surely he didn’t kidnap me even knowing that.’
I knew the probability of that was low, but I felt uneasy.
But it couldn’t be helped.
Whether the cyborg Ninja knew about my ability or not, I had no other choice for now if I wanted to survive.
I had to try. Sink or swim.
“…”
I concentrated my mind, waiting only for the Mental Switch to react.
Glaring fiercely at the Holographic Three-Dimensional Code, I tried to Activate the cyberware embedded in my brain.
Then, along with a floating sensation and a stinging Headache, dizziness washed over me -
- and nothing happened.
The Microchip wasn’t responding at all.
“Fuck.”
I’m really, completely fucked.
* * *
2 minutes, 1 minute…
Time flowed by endlessly.
The Mental Switch remained completely silent. The situation I had feared had come to pass.
I was well aware that I couldn’t control it at will, but it had recently activated right on cue whenever I needed it, so I had been hopeful.
To think it would stab me in the back at such a Critical Moment.
My hands trembled at the thought that death was right before my eyes.
I had almost died plenty of times, but this was the first time I had been reduced to the state of a condemned prisoner helplessly waiting for the guillotine’s blade.
In my urgency, I tried smacking my own head and closing my eyes to concentrate with all my might, but with less than a minute left, there was no way it would work properly.
Suddenly, the hallucination of the Ninja’s blade piercing through the cubical metal room like tofu flashed through my mind, making me flinch in terror.
And when I opened my eyes, I realized I hadn’t seen it wrong.
“Motherfucker!”
Ssssssst - .
The tip of the Jet-Black Katana smoothly sliced through the wall and was protruding inside.
It cleaved through the Data Bank’s Titanium Alloy, which had to be incredibly hard, without any resistance, carving out a door for its Owner to enter through.
The Ninja was coming.
The 5 minutes had passed.
It was a sight terrifying enough to appear in my nightmares.
I backed away, thinking things like: 'There’s a Crazy cyborg Ninja trying to trespass here, so what the Hell is the supposedly strict Security system of the Chiba Bank doing - '
Figuring I had nowhere to run and no option but to fight, I raised both fists, but it was painfully obvious I had no chance of winning.
I had been miserably crushed even when we fought barehanded, let Alone now, when he was holding a sword.
Just as it was common sense that a Shaolin Monk was strong, it was also common sense that a cyborg Ninja was strong, and I could never win in a Head-on Confrontation.
I needed another method. But what about at this point?
Shhhk.
The Ninja didn’t give me time to think. He finally cut away the entire outer wall and shoved his body inside. Approaching silently with a single katana in hand, he looked like the grim reaper himself.
Feeling like I had to do something, I reached my hand toward the Code Input Device. It was a feeble hope that the Microchip might react at the very last moment.
But naturally, right up to the very end, there was no Supernatural Inspiration flashing through my mind, and all I could do was draw any random Three-Dimensional Pattern I could think of.
Yeah, let’s make one last Desperate Struggle before I die…
It was when I had roughly scribbled it in and was about to Activate the suit’s Combat Mode to try something.
Ring-
The inputted code has been approved.
The entire punctured room glowed with a blue light, and a sound that made me doubt my ears rang out.