episode_0149

[You have arrived at your destination.]

“Really?”

As I gazed blankly at the changing city and the cars moving ahead, I arrived at my destination in an instant.

Looking around, I opened the door carefully.

I got off my seat.

This was fortunate.

The lowering handle is the same.

“Oh…”

What would you say is your first impression of seeing the cyberpunk city in person?

I felt like I was being swallowed by light.

Buildings, cars, roads.

There was not a single thing that made up this city that did not emit light.

Light even leaked from some people.

From the object you are carrying or the palm of your hand.

…Maybe it’s not a person.

Some robots that appear in novels are said to have the same appearance as humans.

Even so, I wondered if they were that similar.

Maybe he is a person whose body has been modified.

Because I said it’s common in this day and age.

I carefully entered the building closest to the vehicle.

As I entered the building, I saw a large door and a small sensor next to it.

The white door was closed tightly, with neither the keyhole nor the door lock visible.

At least I couldn’t find any devices worth trying.

“…”

I slowly stood in front of it wondering how on earth I could open this.

It rattled.

Suddenly the door opened.

[Reporter Seonghan, welcome.]

[Currently, a guest is visiting the reporter’s office.]

This time, a familiar emotionless voice was heard.

Is this artificial intelligence too?

It was a little scary.

The voice even kindly informed me that a visitor was in my office.

“…Where is my office?”

[It is the largest room on the far right on the second floor.]

Fortunately, he kindly answered my questions.

If it were a human being, the question would have been questioning why he didn’t even know his own office.

I went up the stairs and headed to the room on the far right on the second floor.

My name was written next to the door.

[Reporter Seong Han]

“Reporter…”

I laughed a little.

It was a job I never imagined I would do.

I opened the door and entered the room.

The spacious room didn’t feel like it had changed as much from modern times as I thought.

Bookshelf, desk, and even a large sofa and table.

It was all made of luxurious wood.

Except for the clothing of the woman sitting on the sofa, it was completely normal.

I looked at her sitting on the sofa blankly.

“It’s late.”

A woman greeted me with a slightly arrogant attitude.

She sounded like the woman who had called me while I was in the car.

Obviously his name was Sian.

“…That outfit…”

When I pointed out the outfit, Sian looked down at her clothes and smiled awkwardly.

“I also had no choice but to sneak out of the corporate district.”

“No, it’s my first time seeing this outfit.”

“Don’t you know this?”

I heard that it is a recently released suit that increases physical abilities.

It looks hot because it sticks to the body, but it is said to be cool on the inside, perhaps because it is future technology.

Even if it came out recently, I obviously don’t know.

You shouldn’t expect much from someone from the 2024s.

Xian crossed his arms and looked at me disapprovingly.

“You say you’re a reporter and you don’t know these things… Oh no, I’m not in a position to decide between hot and cold food right now.”

Sian sighed and slowly looked at me.

“Have you recorded the gang base well?”

“Oh, I recorded it in the car.”

“Really? It went well… but-”

Xian glanced in this direction.

There was some tension in the slightly sharp eyes.

“Did you originally speak informally?”

Oops, when we spoke on the phone before, I spoke informally because I thought we were friendly, but it seems I wasn’t.

So, I made a suggestion.

“…They look similar in age.”

Let’s speak informally from now on.

At my suggestion, Sian flicked her hair back.

The flowing hair was gently pulled back.

“Hmph, fun, do whatever you want.”

Are you saying it’s okay?

It was almost like he was telling me to do whatever I want, but I decided not to refuse and to speak informally.

For some reason, it hurt my pride to suddenly return to a respectful tone after being threatened by a woman.

“First, let’s go to the four cars that are recorded.”

“Yes.”

“…Wow, speaking informally to the reporter’s subject.”

What a reporter’s topic.

It seemed like the perception of reporters was not good.

Or, the company’s very high status seemed to have an impact.

According to information seen in the original work, in this worldview, companies were explained as being above the state or law.

There were people who were willing to do all kinds of dirty work to get into the company.

If you think about it, even in modern times, reporters were not treated very well.

It seemed to have become more so as the number of reporters writing provocative articles or writing uncertain information for scoops increased.

“Is this your car?”

As I walked with those thoughts in mind, I soon arrived at my car in front of the first-floor building.

When I nodded, Sian opened the car door and sat in the passenger seat.

How do we connect?

I don’t know the principle.

First, we sat comfortably in the driver’s seat and passenger seat.

Can this be called the driver’s seat?

I do the driving myself.

A thought like that suddenly occurred to me, but I passed it over.

“One day, show the list of recorded places.”

[Recorded locations include home, office, and temporary storage locations.]

“Show temporarily saved locations.”

Sian began to handle the artificial intelligence, Haru, much more skillfully than I, the car owner.

The location of the gang that was saved earlier was displayed on the windshield like a map.

Xian clicked his tongue as he looked at that place.

“Insect-like guys.”

It was a rough expression that clearly conveyed hatred.

Xian gritted his teeth and glared at the location marked on the map.

I don’t know what the story is, but it didn’t seem that strange that gangs were hated.

I must have done something that would be criticized.

I glanced at Xian.

Sian was big and controlled his emotions.

“There must be their ledgers in this building. Steal it. Then I will pay you the reward.”

“…Is there any point in stealing a gang’s ledger?”

This was the question.

I’m sure their ledgers are messed up.

He must have received bad money, and he must have used that money badly.

The image in my head was that the gang didn’t spend that much money.

Sian understood my questions and explained them in an easy-to-understand manner.

“What you will find is not an ordinary ledger. It is a ledger with records of Hornet, the gang’s right-hand man, stealing money without the boss’s knowledge.”

After explaining it like that, Sian smiled.

“There will be bloodshed inside the gang.”

It seemed like he was aiming for a feud between the gang boss and his right-hand man.

I stroked my chin and thought about it.

It was better for me to take down the gang.

Not only was the existence of a gang itself undesirable, but the level of justice, one of my skills, would also increase.

However, giving money as compensation was not very attractive.

“Aside from the key money, are there any other rewards?”

“…Okay, then how about this?”

As if she had already anticipated my reaction, Sian held out a card from her arms.

At first I thought it was a credit card, but the size and shape were slightly different.

Five letters were written in large letters on the card.

“Temporary pass?”

“This is the corporate zone access card that you reporters were so curious about.”

It’s an access card to the corporate area.

Do I need this to be able to enter the corporate area?

As I reached for the card, Sian suddenly pulled back a little and warned me.

“…However, you are prohibited from telling me that you received this pass.”

“Okay.”

I smiled and took the card out of her hand.

The hand was so fast that she took the card away and looked down at her hand blankly.

“Do you have to keep it?”

“I understood.”

Looking at the reaction, it seemed like they really made up their minds to give me this pass.

At the very least, there is no place I can’t go, whether it’s a gang or a corporation.

“Then I understand you have accepted it.”

Xian said that and got out of the car.

And then he started walking away at a fast pace.

Did you say it’s a suit that increases physical abilities?

It certainly seemed to work.

The pace gradually became faster, and at some point, it became a dot in my field of vision and moved away.

“I’d like to buy it if it’s available in men’s size.”

One line has been added to the list of things to buy in this world.

“It’s a company…”

The goal of this quest was to reveal the ledgers of gangs or corporations as a just reporter.

And in that process, we had to target women.

It seemed like there was a high probability that Sian was the woman the company should target.

In fact, as soon as I first saw her, I used my emotions to identify her personality.

[Castle: Rough men, violent men, gangs]

Looking at his appearance from before, it certainly seemed like he hated gangs, but the castle wall was actually quite the opposite.

The outside and inside were so different.

If we look at the walls of Xi’an alone, they were not difficult to attack.

If it was a quest I understood well, it couldn’t have been this easy.

There must be a hidden quest hidden there.

Like becoming a real gang and attacking Xi’an.

Like getting both the gang and the company’s ledgers and revealing them in an article.

Isn’t that what it feels like?

“I’m curious about the women in the gang.”

Now it was time to check which women the gang should target.

In order to do that-

“Haru, please go to the temporary storage location.”

[yes. It takes about 36 minutes.]

I had no choice but to go and try it myself.