Chapter 27
Basically, my daily range was largely restricted to the inside of the grocery store.
Even when I went out, I only went as far as the vacant lot behind the building.
In practice, it was no different from going outside to breathe air thick with fine dust.
If someone were to ask why my daily routine had become so monotonous,
I could cite security concerns as the first reason,
the fact that there was nothing in particular to do even if I went out as the second,
and finally, the biggest reason was that I had recently managed to purchase a terminal and could now use the so-called Cyber Web—in other words, the cyberpunk version of the internet.
Since I had to live in this world for the time being, shouldn't I first find out what kind of place it was?
“I baited them just to show you this….”
[What are you doing right now?]
“Trolling.”
[…??]
Of course, I didn't devote 100 percent of my time to gathering information.
But comparing myself when I had first fallen into this world to myself now, even if the difference wasn't quite heaven and earth, I could at least say it was the difference between a bean sprout and a tree.
‘The dopamine is something else.’
While I was looking at an internet news article of uncertain authenticity about someone having slammed a bunker buster into the rooftop of another corporation's headquarters as part of a corporate war,
Ding-ding.
I heard the sound of the building's entrance opening.
Right.
They had finally fixed it. The grocery store entrance.
And made it even cleaner.
Honestly, I thought it would take a little longer, but some strange-looking machines and drones came and fixed everything in the blink of an eye.
As someone who had expected interior contractors or construction workers to show up, I was a little flustered.
Anyway.
I looked toward the entrance as it opened with a classic chime.
I quickly scanned the other party with my eyes.
Although his clothes looked a little worn, he didn't look like an ordinary homeless person wandering around the neighborhood.
A man dressed in a yellowish-white suit that must once have been white looked around before spotting me sitting at the counter and grinning.
Could this finally be my first customer?
For a moment, I secretly felt moved.
“Welco─.”
“A fully loaded sex toy you can play with however you want for a whole day, just $300. How about it?”
“……”
I immediately shut my mouth.
No, fuck.
He wasn't a customer. He was a peddler.
‘Is this guy fucking with me….’
My expression automatically crumpled.
It felt like peacefully taking a nap on the weekend, only to answer the doorbell and find a group of women saying, ‘Come to church with us~.’
Other products in the same vein included voice-phishing calls, insurance sales pitches, and ARS surveys.
Suppressing my anger, I slowly and calmly opened my mouth.
“I’m not buying.”
“Aw, don't be like that.”
“I’m not looking. I’m not going. I’m not doing it. Can't you just get lost?”
“Come on, calm down and hear me out. I replaced all their skin parts with brand-new ones this time, so they're clean and don't have any ugly spots. Their skin is completely soft and firm, too. How about it? Doesn't that tempt you?”
The man's hand moved in an indecent gesture.
Tempt me, my ass….
It would be a lie to say I wasn't interested at all, but giving in to lust just like that would make me no better than a monkey, not a civilized person.
“$300 is 150 hotdogs. With that money, I could eat my fill for five days by myself.”
“If $300 seems too expensive, I can go as low as $250─wait. Five days?”
“Shut up.”
I waved my hand dismissively.
“If you're not a customer, get out.”
“I can match your exact preferences! Slender? Glamorous? Or are you the type who cares about the number on the chest? A slightly hardcore preference is fine, too. Come on, just tell me secretly….”
As the man continued talking noisily, his head gradually tilted upward.
[Dyu.]
A turret as large as he was had appeared from the previously empty ceiling.
He couldn't help but look at it.
“What the hell is a turret like you'd find in a city government facility doing here….”
I knew from experience.
The moment that turret locked onto you, it was hard even to open your mouth.
That was how powerful and fearsome the destructive force of a 20mm-caliber turret was.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down the man's forehead,
and I slowly began counting.
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4─.”
“I-I’m leaving!!”
Hearing the numbers grow faster, the man fled in a panic.
Seeing as he had suddenly acquired manners he hadn't possessed before, he probably wouldn't come back again.
Before long, the grocery store was quiet once more.
A business card that seemed to have been dropped by the man lay on the floor.
I had no way of knowing whether he had dropped it by accident or secretly left it behind in the middle of all that,
but I did think his dedication to sales was truly impressive.
I bent down and picked up the fallen business card.
‘…Whole Paradise, huh.’
A fairly straightforward name.
Not a particularly tasteful one.
After falling into a world from a game, all sorts of things really did happen….
‘What does he mean, the number on the chest?’
This isn't Total Recall.
I stuffed the crumpled business card into my pocket.
Just then, Nova's voice came from the speaker on the counter.
[May I ask why you took that discarded item separately?]
“I'll throw it out later. I can't keep leaving trash on the floor.”
[…Understood.]
Knowing how serious I was about cleaning the grocery store, Nova quietly accepted my answer.
I was a little curious about android prostitutes, but I would never contact the number on the card for the usual purpose.
Unless it was perfectly safe and legal, of course.
…….
Anyway, that was that.
* * *
We were in the vacant lot behind the grocery store,
spending time at the place that had now become the homeless people's hideout while (Michael) handed out food as usual.
“…Hmm?”
Then I noticed someone covering their entire body with scraps of cloth that were practically rags.
It wasn't because of their clothes in particular.
That was actually a style I saw fairly often among the homeless,
so it was simply because I had noticed one odd thing.
‘They're just looking at the food.’
Normally, homeless people who came to receive expired groceries devoured the food the moment they got it.
Rather than picking rotten food out of trash cans or buying food from street vendors in the Old Town made with unidentified meat,
the delicious corporate groceries, though past their expiration date, were still well within their consumption date and much better.
However,
that person was merely holding the food and staring blankly at it, with no apparent intention of eating.
Perhaps Rivera had noticed that I was watching someone, because she appeared silently from behind and spoke to me.
“Is there a problem?”
“Ah! You startled me.”
The situation felt strangely familiar.
A gloomy voice emerged immediately.
“……I’m sorry.”
“No, no, it's not that.”
I barely managed to catch Rivera as she tried to erase her presence and disappear again.
Why was this kid so fast?
Rivera's presence was so strangely faint that I could lose track of her immediately if I didn't keep her in sight.
Maybe it was because she was so small….
Her shaggy hair covered her cute face, making her expression difficult to read, but she was probably making a face like a child who had been scolded.
I naturally lifted Rivera up and seated her on my lap.
“……!!!”
The little girl had been about to spring away like a coiled spring, but when I began stroking her head, she hunched her shoulders and shrank back down.
“I can't believe that woman is this docile….”
“…I keep telling you his tastes are weird. Maybe the rumor about what happened at the organization's meeting is true.”
For some reason, the eyes of the homeless people looking at us—or rather, at me—began to tremble.
Having practically raised my younger sister, I felt nothing strange about taking care of a child.
Ssssss….
Keeping Rivera seated on my lap as she radiated heat intense enough to warrant that sort of sound effect, I looked back at the unknown homeless person.
Why were they having a staring contest with perfectly good food….
The person seemed to make a firm decision, nodded once, and opened their mouth wide.
And then.
After chewing for quite some time, they spat it back out.
“Wh-What the hell is she….”
Murderous intent seeped into the gazes of the surrounding homeless people.
Someone even naturally pulled a pipe from where it had been tucked into their waistband.
The food, chewed into tiny granules, fell to the ground with soft taps.
I set Rivera, who had gone stiff as a stone, down for a moment where I had been sitting, then slowly walked toward the person.
“Looks like Hotdog Man is going to deal with her personally.”
“…Is that really Hotdog Man? The one who blew up the Bogus gang all by himself?”
“I’m telling you, it is.”
I really wished someone would do something about that name.
There were still many faces among the homeless that I didn't know, but listening to their conversation, I could understand why rumors about me were spreading in increasingly strange ways.
“…Uh, um, well….”
The voice coming from inside the ragged cloth was remarkably soft.
A voice closer to that of a young girl, like Rivera's.
But I focused on something else.
“Just as I thought.”
“S-Sorry. I didn't mean to throw the food away on purpose.”
“You’re an android.”
“……!!”
There was no heartbeat at all.
Like standing in front of an electric car, all I could hear was silence.
Beyond the deeply bowed head, a metallic sheen glinted.
After an android had recently made a huge fuss and left, the homeless people's opinion of androids had hit rock bottom.
The hostility in their gazes grew even stronger.
Apparently unaware of that fact, the android girl muttered in a flustered voice.
“I-I’m really sorry. Truly. I know very well that I shouldn't accept it, but before I knew it, I just….”
“No, that's fine, but….”
It would have been different if she had been trying to take boxes like the android I saw last time.
But knowing that she couldn't eat food, it felt a little strange that she had nevertheless tried so hard to swallow it.
“Why were you trying to eat the food─.”
Just as I was about to ask that,
“Anna!!”
A voice I had grown fairly accustomed to rang in my ears.
“Please, if she isn't here either….”
The owner of the frantic voice kept looking around before spotting me and coming to a stop.
I looked at him and tilted my head.
“Walter?”
“You are….”
The old man who ran the recycling shop nearby looked at me, then froze when he saw the ragged figure standing in front of me.
His expression was difficult to describe.
Relief, surprise, anger, sadness.
All sorts of emotions flashed across his face in an instant.
I pointed my chin toward the android in front of me.
“Do you know this child?”
“That child, well….”
His usual easygoing attitude was nowhere to be seen. All I saw was an old man trembling with anxiety.
His trembling voice continued as if it might break off at any moment.
“She’s m-my daughter….”
“…Pardon?”
Hadn't he said he was single last time?
An android daughter?
I knew cyberpunk science had already reached outer space, but I hadn't realized it had advanced far enough to produce children from machines.
But even so.
The reactions of the homeless people around us didn't look particularly good.
It felt similar to the gazes people had directed at me when I attended the party held by the Mafia Family.
As if I were some kind of lunatic… No, that wouldn't do. Then it would mean I was the lunatic.
I'll just say they weren't exactly friendly.
Anyway, in the increasingly awkward atmosphere, I scratched my head, and then—
【Increased probability of a random encounter occurring!】
I looked at Walter and the girl android and calmly pointed toward the grocery store.
“…Let’s go inside and talk for now.”