Headhunting (1)

Area 21, Central Business District─.

At the very top of the Ryan Alliance Company headquarters, on the highest floor of that skyscraper, a man stared pensively down at a chessboard covered in complicated pieces.

The chessboard was filled with chess, janggi, and go pieces, along with outdated toys that did not even look as though children would want to play with them, making it look like a pile of miscellaneous junk thrown together.

However, perhaps Chairman Solar Faust saw something different in the chessboard, because he continued examining it with an expression of keen interest.

“Hooh, in this situation….”

Chairman Solar Faust tore his gaze away from the chessboard he had been peering down into and waited for the report from an android head dangling from a bundle of wires.

The android head serving as his secretary vigorously nodded its seemingly half-dislocated jaw.

[We have confirmed that the space shuttle to Mars carrying Frederick Kessler, chief executive officer of Velltech International Solutions, left Earth several hours ago. Its estimated arrival time is approximately 16,229,401 seconds─.]

“…Pff, heh heh heh.”

At last, Chairman Solar Faust let out a breathy laugh upon hearing the report...