Chapter 35
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【Risk City, District 49, Temporary Bulletin Board】
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Title: Haven't there been fewer homeless people around the Old Town streets lately?
Guess they really all got hauled off for logging work.
Fuck;; I'm avoiding going outside for a while.
─ This guy's using homeless people like canaries in a coal mine lolㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ (OP) The hit rate is better than I expected;
─ Info) Human farms and snuff factories are operating in District 49, and corporations sometimes abduct people for special experiments.
└ Wowㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ You can literally use the word “corporation” here without getting nabbed???
└ Yeah, because it's District 49.
└ As expected, District 49 has the best cyber web connections bb.
└ (OP) You bastards, if you're human, pay attention to the part where homeless people are being abducted.
└ Doesn't seem like something our canary guy gets to say;;;
─ It's all thanks to Hotdog Man.
└ (OP) Hotdog Man?
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Title: Hotdog Man???
Who is that supposed to be?
How can someone's name be Hotdog Manㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
─ um.....
─ Now that there's no bait left to burn, you're trying to heat up and eat some hot dog... Don't talk about stuff only you know ㄴㄴ
─ It can't be his real name, but what a shitty name.
─ Hotdog Man is a god, and he is probably eating hot dogs in District 49 right now...
└ (OP) So who is he, then???
─ Probably just some up-and-coming gang?
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Title: A Fact Sheet on Hotdog Man
I happened to see a topic I know something about, so I'm going to briefly summarize the information I have.
Don't ask how I know.
A gang boss made up of homeless people << Fact
Has a homeless ninja unit << Uncertain
Blew up the Bogus gang's hideout << Fact
Brought down Hole Paradise all by himself << Fact
Pulled out another gang member's teeth at an organizational meeting hosted by Sparo Rapido << Fact
He's a lunatic <<<< Absolutely a fact
I don't really know why his nickname is Hotdog Man, either.
The prevailing theory is that it looked like he was throwing someone in a barrel into an incinerator.
─ A homeless gang is kind of fresh.
So that's why homeless people haven't been showing up much lately.
─ Wow... So was this bastard behind the Bogus gang and the chaos at Hole Paradise too?
─ His actions are impossible to predict.
─ He pulled out their teethㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is he the Tooth Fairy?
─ But why is “lunatic” a fact?
└ (OP) Apparently, the outfit he wore at the organizational meeting was something no sane person could put on.
He supposedly showed up wearing a black coat, a yellow shirt, and blue pants...
└ LOLㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Since it's a homeless gang, he probably picked everything out of trash cans.
─ He really does sound like a lunaticㅋㅋ
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A building in the slums.
A late hour, when everyone was asleep.
Kanf, whom the children called Captain, was alone in the darkness, swiping through a terminal.
─ He really seems like a lunaticㅋㅋㅋㅋ….
Being blind didn't make it impossible to use a terminal or surf the cyber web.
Kanf checked the contents of the comments as a voice-synthesis engine read them aloud.
‘…Hotdog Man.’
A mysterious person who had been distributing food to them for free.
But.
(According to what he had found through cyber web searches,) his true identity was apparently the boss of a terrifying gang.
‘No wonder he never gave me a proper answer.’
If he hadn't sent Runrun to investigate separately, he would never have noticed anything strange for the rest of his life.
Kanf was worried about the condition of Rivera, his precious comrade and family.
No matter how precious food was, it wasn't worth obtaining at the cost of Rivera's pride.
─ Lately, it seems like he even carries her around sitting on his lap.... I'm starting to get scared too. Captain, is this really okay...?
The spy who had brought back the information—Runrun—testified that there seemed to be no one being deceived, only someone doing the deceiving.
At first, he thought Rivera was tricking some good person into bringing them food.
But as the days passed, the “owner of the grocery store” began to seem suspicious.
The conclusion he reached was this.
‘…He seems like no ordinary pervert.’
That was the truth.
The owner of that grocery store, the gang boss, clearly knew everything and was simply enjoying himself as he watched Rivera writhe in shame right beside them.
After all, rumors that he was a lunatic were already spreading all over the cyber web.
‘I'm truly grateful that he looks after us despite our having incurred the corporations' displeasure.’
Kanf felt an unbearable anguish.
The price was Rivera's pride.
If he hadn't known.
That might have been different.
But he couldn't stay still after realizing the truth.
Just then, someone approached without making a sound and tapped Kanf on the shoulder.
A rather playful touch.
“Runrun.”
“Why are you still awake at this hour? If you go to bed late, you'll get breakouts.”
“…I don't get those.”
“Gasp, I'm jealous.”
The girl called Runrun walked toward the candle, its wax hardened stiffly around the wick, with a shamelessly casual attitude.
“Yap.”
When she imitated the shape of a gun with her hand, a small red flame bloomed from her fingertip.
A miracle created without so much as the smell of oil.
“…Runrun.”
Kanf's voice dropped a little lower.
Kanf, unable to see, turned toward Runrun.
“Aw, no one's watching. What's the big deal?”
“Still, it would be better to be careful. Especially at times like this.”
“…Got it. Sorry.”
Since the candle was already lit, there was no need to make any more excuses.
Runrun plopped down beside Kanf and leaned her face close, as though she had never even heard the word personal space.
“So what are you worrying about this time?”
“……”
“Come on, tell me. It's about the boss again, isn't it?”
Runrun's carefree attitude gave Kanf a little confidence.
“…Then I have one favor to ask.”
“Just leave it to me. Infiltration, pursuit, assassination, ass—.”
“Enough.”
Kanf tapped Runrun's mouth with one finger.
He cut off the useless talk before it could start.
“I think I need to meet him myself.”
“Who? You mean, surely….”
Of course.
He meant the manager of a certain grocery store.
* * *
I dreamed about Animal Crossing again today.
The content was a little disappointing, though.
It was a dream about being tricked by a damn raccoon into owing a debt of nearly several million.
Still, it was much better than living in a cyberpunk world where danger to one's life lurked everywhere—but I woke up just before I could grab that raccoon by the scruff of its neck.
So I had a rather unpleasant feeling from the moment I woke up.
Then I heard a monotonous female voice.
[I have confirmed that you are awake. Have a good lunch today as well.]
“Yeah, good morning.”
[…For your information, the current time is 1:31:11 p.m.]
“Yeah, good morning.”
[……. ]
Even being greeted by a huge turret the moment I opened my eyes no longer felt particularly strange.
It seemed I had become an honorary cyberpunk resident without even realizing it.
“Did I sleep for about three hours?”
[To be precise, three hours and fourteen minutes.]
“Still, I slept for more than three hours today.”
The fatigue in my body had already completely faded, but mentally, I was in a fairly exhausted state.
‘I wish I could have longer dreams, at least….’
It was simply a shame.
I never thought I would miss sleeping for more than six hours this much.
Tsk.
I neatly straightened the sheet made of blue polyurethane fiber, then walked from the warehouse to the entrance of the grocery store.
[Dyu.]
The turret naturally changed position as well.
Was that mechanical sound something it made unconsciously?
“Dyu.”
[…Dyu, dyu-dyu.]
“Yeah, Dyu.”
Without a speaker, I couldn't understand what Nova was saying.
“Now that we have plenty of money, maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to get an android body instead of just a speaker….”
[…Dyu.]
“Though I'd have to get the boss's permission first.”
I still didn't have a terminal I could use to contact anyone.
Walter would probably wake up sometime today, too, so I figured it would be all right to ask him for a terminal as payment—with interest—for saving his life.
While organizing my thoughts, I turned the sign hanging at the grocery store entrance around.
From 『Preparing to Open』 to 『Open』.
Well, it didn't seem like there would be any customers today, either….
“Greetings.”
“……!!”
I was genuinely startled.
If I'd been only moderately surprised, I would have said, “Oh! You startled me,” and acted embarrassed.
‘There definitely wasn't anyone here….’
She was a girl with an eerily faint presence.
The gray-haired little girl struck a proud pose and planted one hand on her hip.
“Sorry for startling you. I was waiting for the store to open without being noticed, so I just came out.”
Her stiff way of speaking reminded me of my days in the military.
Though her pronunciation was strangely soft.
“Without being noticed?”
“Ah, it's a secret from Rivera.”
I looked down at the little girl with my eyes half narrowed.
Now that I looked more closely, the girl was awkwardly covering her face with her gray hair.
Just like Rivera.
“You don't have to be so wary. Rivera and I are family. Family. Fam-i-ly. …I don't mean some weird gang or anything.”
“You're Rivera's family?”
“That's right.”
There were definitely similarities.
Her faint presence, and the way she covered her face.
The little girl bent at the waist until her upper body was perpendicular to the floor.
“First, I'd like to thank you for always making sure we have food. It seems like there have been fewer sandwiches lately, so we'd be even more grateful if you could give us a few extra next time.”
Sandwiches were tasty.
I instinctively realized that this little girl really was Rivera's family.
“They're things I have to throw away anyway. You don't have to be so grateful.”
“That's not true. Thanks to you, our family isn't starving and gets to eat properly, doesn't it?”
She was remarkably polite.
I was wearing a pleased smile for only a moment when—
“So, why has Rivera's family come here?”
“Our Captain…. I mean, my big sister wanted to meet Hotdog Man for a moment, so—.”
“Wait.”
I cut the little girl's words off midway.
I didn't want to hear the nickname Hotdog Man even in a situation like this.
“Hey, kid, what's your name first?”
“…Am I a kid too?”
Of course she was a kid. What else would she be?
Children that age always wanted to become adults.
I nodded, taking the little girl's reaction in stride.
“Yeah, you.”
“…My name is Runrun.”
“Right, Runrun. That's a cute name. I'm… Abel. Abel Anderson. You can just call me Abel.”
I was done hearing Hotdog Man.
It was still a name I wasn't used to, but it was at least better than Hotdog Man.
“Your big sister wants to see me?”
“That's right. My sister's body is weak, so she has trouble coming outside. That's why I came to find you like this.”
“I see.”
Rivera's family….
Their parents must be gone, then.
The image of a poor young girl taking care of her younger siblings nearly brought tears to my eyes.
“Is your sister far from here?”
“Nope. It's close enough to walk.”
That made sense. If it were far away, Rivera would have had trouble going back and forth, too.
I turned around for a moment and looked toward the inside of the grocery store.
It was still morning—lunchtime, technically—and I hadn't seen Michael or Rivera yet, but I figured it would be fine if I only went for a little while.
I changed the grocery store sign back to 『Preparing to Open』.
“Well, you said it wouldn't take long.”
“Thank you…!”
I waved toward Nova, who had been watching us from inside the grocery store.
“You heard that, right? I'll just be gone for a little while.”
[…Dyu.]
The turret with a speaker in the warehouse could only mutter a bland mechanical sound.
“Who were you talking to?”
“Oh, our home turret.”
“…….”
Runrun's mouth opened slightly, then closed again.
And she muttered without realizing it,
“……He really is a little…”
“What did you say?”
“No, nothing. Um, this way.”
And so I followed Runrun out of the grocery store.
* * *
“Come to think of it, how old are you, Runrun?”
“I'm twenty-three.”-?