episode_0046

“If it were Jihoon’s request, I’d honestly like to grant him anything, but I can’t help it~”

Damon, holding an iced Americano in his hand, turned around in his chair and spoke.

Ji-hoon came to her with the idea of getting an upgrade. There were of course many ripperdocs in Neo Seoul, but the only one he could trust was Damon.

Before the surgery, I could have hinted that he couldn’t harm himself, and even without the program, I could be reassured that Damon wasn’t a psychopath who played around with people’s bodies.

“If money is the problem, I’ll ask Sonagi to give it to you.”

“That’s not it~”

“Then what’s the problem? Mr. Damon, you don’t have any chronic diseases. Look, you’re healthy.”

Even though Ji-hoon pointed to his lean body and even put strength into his arms, Damon shook his head as if it was impossible.

“Mr. Ji-hoon. The thing called a ‘brain chip’ isn’t something that can be installed on your body as easily as Mr. Ji-hoon wants. ”

“But all the citizens of Neo Seoul are equipped with brain chips? Except for the nobles.”

“Yeah, these days, most noblemen get brain chips implanted… But it’s not that I don’t help Ji-hoon because I have bad intentions.”

Damon stands up from his seat as he speaks and reaches for a storage case containing various ‘implants’.

─Dalgrakdalgrak

After moving her hand for a while, she took out a ‘brain chip’ the size of a thumbnail and showed it to Ji-hoon.

“There’s a chip like this in the human brain. I guess it’s considered a natural thing in this day and age, but… Mr. Ji-hoon. The human body is designed to reject foreign substances unconditionally. ”

“That’s why there are many who say that organ transplants are difficult.”

“That’s right. It’s hard to transplant organs that are part of the same human body, so how much more rejection would there be from cyberware surgery? Most people have to undergo brain transplant surgery right after birth, and have chips inserted before puberty.”

“Then…”

Ji-hoon realized that there was nothing more to say, but he still held onto a small hope and pointed to his body.

“In Ji-hoon’s case, he has to undergo brain surgery first, but after becoming an adult, the skull becomes stronger and the brain size increases considerably, so it becomes a really dangerous surgery. If it’s done wrong, there’s a high chance of losing his life. ”

“…Huh, you can’t just put a brain chip in your head, right?”

“It’s no different than firing a bullet.”

Damon, who finished his explanation, shrugged his shoulders and took a sip of his coffee. There were countless parts scattered on her desk, but to Jihoon, it was just trash.

‘You can’t get cyberware modified without a brain chip. If you get it, you won’t be able to control it…’

I didn’t hear an explanation from Sonagi, but it was obvious. What would it be like to have cyberware arms and legs attached to someone without a chip in their head? It felt like buying Bluetooth earphones without a smartphone.

“But Jihoon, why are you trying to implant a brain chip? Isn’t there a reason why you didn’t get the surgery?”

Ji-hoon hesitated for a moment at Damon’s kind question. Sonagi had taught him that when he was asked a question that was difficult to answer, he should use it as a finishing move.

‘Is that really possible…’

Ji-hoon coughed for no reason and scratched his head.

“My family was poor.”

“Ah… Then I guess there’s nothing I can do.”

As Sonagi had said, Damon didn’t ask for any details and just smiled apologetically.

‘poverty’

It was a word that felt a bit distant to Ji-hoon, but people living in this world were familiar with the tragedy caused by ‘poverty’. The words that he couldn’t get the surgery that everyone else did or received because he was poor really worked, and the words that he got hurt to earn money were enough to draw everyone’s sympathy.

‘This really works… I guess I’ll have to use it later.’

While thinking about it, Ji-hoon licked his lips because he felt regretful. It was too inconvenient to keep touching the smartphone with his fingers and taking it out of his pocket to use it.

For some reason, I’m really thankful that the battery never dies, but it still remains inconvenient to use.

‘If you’re going to give me something like an infinite battery, put it in front of my eyes.

The screen is… . Ah!.”

Ji-Hoon had an amazing idea just as he was about to kick the trash can and grumble.

“Mr. Damon, can I ask you for something other than an upgrade?”

“I’m not an engineer, but I’ll help you as much as I can with simple things.”

“Then… here, output the screen of my external device to these sunglasses. And…”

“Do you want to control it just with Jihoon’s gaze? Okay.”

Damon understood immediately and reached for the blue sunglasses on the desk that Jihoon was pointing at.

“The technology that Mr. Ji-hoon mentioned will involve very, very primitive forms of augmented reality technology and HUD technology. ”

As she explained, Damon moved her hands very quickly. She started moving her body very quickly, like a robot arm that was tirelessly assembling products in a factory.

‘That must be possible because of cyberware surgery…’

While Ji-hoon was thinking for a moment, Damon took something and attached it to the sunglasses, welded it, and then took out a small chip and attached it again, hitting it, and repeated the process.

Despite claiming she wasn’t an engineer, she soldered without a problem, brought out a giant magnifying glass and meticulously supported something, and then finally smiled.

‘You finished it this quickly? Damn… I should’ve asked you a long time ago…’

Ji-hoon clicked his tongue and accepted the sunglasses Damon gave him. He put them on happily…

“…There’s nothing?”

“Then, of course, there’s nothing. Because I didn’t connect those sunglasses to Jihoon’s external device.”

“Ah…. Well…”

Even Bluetooth earphones required ‘pairing’ once to use. Of course, the sunglasses Damon had just made for me couldn’t be used right away.

Ji-hoon coughed in vain, thinking, “What the heck?” and reached for his smartphone.

───────────────

● Would you like to upgrade?

○ Y / N

───────────────

‘Of course I have to upgrade…’

Ji-hoon touches yes without hesitation. At that moment, sparks shoot out from his sunglasses.

“Hey, what the heck..!”

“Oh my god..!”

Damon also got up from his seat in surprise, but Jihoon didn’t take off his sunglasses.

A red HUD began to appear.

Sonagi-do, Hong Gil-dong-do, Damon-do, and Hong Seo-yeon-do.

Are we all living in a world where we see this kind of red UI? Ji-hoon takes off his sunglasses in surprise.

“…Killing.”

The red HUD was only visible when he was wearing sunglasses. When he took them off, he would immediately return to the normal world. Even though he was wearing ‘blue sunglasses’, Ji-hoon could see the world without any color change, just like when he was wearing glasses.

The HUD that entered his eyes could also be minimized or maximized if he wanted.

“Oh right, if you wear this bracelet… If possible, when Jihoon comes into contact with another network… You’ll be able to control it just like we do.”

Damon looked at Ji-hoon with a slightly worried expression and put a black bracelet that reminded him of prayer beads on his right arm.

“Thank you. As Damon said, now I can touch, tap, and control the HUD like Sonagi did.”

Even though he hadn’t been modified with cyberware, Ji-Hoon felt a strange excitement just from getting a taste of a small part of the network.

“It’s so convenient, right? But those sunglasses have limited battery life. You won’t be able to use them all day. Is that okay, Jihoon?”

【Battery: Charging】

“Thank you. Mr. Damon, I will always check the remaining battery and use it well.”

Sunglasses, too, were clearly infinitely usable, despite Damon’s words, though he couldn’t figure out why. Was it because of the power of the smartphone? Ji-hoon didn’t want to know the principle. Even if he didn’t know the principle, he could eat up as many results as he wanted.

“Then… Mr. Damon, I’ll just do a little test. ”

Ji-hoon immediately brings his eyes to Damon.

[Daimon (daimon-6666)]

《Brain Chip》

[Please select the program to upload]

《From the present to one hour ago》

‘I’m sorry, Mr. Damon, but I can’t help it.’

Ji-hoon erased Damon’s memories without a moment’s hesitation. Unlike before, he didn’t have to take out his smartphone or move his fingers.

I was able to select and upload programs just by blinking or ‘thinking’ at the HUD and text in front of my eyes.

“Ah… umm… . Jihoon… what are you doing here… Ah…”

Damon feels a headache and presses his head with both hands, drops the coffee he is holding onto the floor, and slams his face against the desk.

It was really unfortunate for her, but Ji-hoon had no choice. He wanted to test his abilities, but there was no benefit to anyone finding out that Damon had ‘upgraded’ him.

‘I think it would be okay to just tell Sonagi that I like sunglasses and wear them…’

Damon is asleep. There’s no reason to stay in this room for long.

Ji-hoon patted the sleeping Damon’s shoulder a few times, thanked him in his own way, and left the room without hesitation.

* * * *

“So, you want me to believe that? Sunglasses, prayer beads… Seriously, your fashion sense is… . Ugh”

Sonagi, who wears a bodysuit that accentuates her body 365 days a year, pouts as if she really doesn’t like the way Jihoon looks.

“Hey, I’m telling you, this is trendy these days. Even Mr. Hong Gil-dong wears it.”

“You’re the Taegeukgi? I wear red and you wear blue? You’re really old…”

Sonagi sighed deeply, as if she really didn’t like it, but as she watched, she started to like it again, and in the end, she snorted and looked at Jihoon with a smile.

“Awesome.”

“Hey, Lee Ji-ah. You… wanna flirt with my boyfriend?”

Lee Ji-ah, who was sitting next to him, also said something, which made Sonagi get angry for no reason.

The sight of the two of them was really nice, and it looked good in Ji-hoon’s eyes too.

[Shower (Problem Solver-02077)]

Her ID was floating naturally above Sonagi’s head.

It seemed like she was whispering to Ji-hoon that he could hack her at will and upload whatever programs he wanted.

‘…once and for all…’

Ji-hoon swallows hard and uploads the program right away.

Hint? Charm? Sensitivity control? Ji-hoon had no intention of using any of those.

‘…I hope it won’t be a problem. You’re not planning to kill me, are you?’

Ji-hoon gets nervous and uploads the program. Sonagi’s eyes light up red once and the upload is finished.

In this tense moment, Ji-hoon coughs once and points to his sunglasses.

“Hey, is this rain really that bad?”

“It’s not that I can’t see it… . Just wear it in front of me. Got it? Because it’s really lame. ”

『The more I look at it, the more it seems to fit together…』

Sonagi’s inner thoughts floated up as a small box above her ID.

Ji-hoon didn’t have to worry, Sonagi’s heart was really completely revealed, not a single thing was hidden.

“Nagiya. But you know what I’m doing in my room, right?”

People tend to want to open boxes that they shouldn’t open. It doesn’t matter whether there is hope inside or not.

I was curious. Ji-hoon really wanted to know what Sonagi thought about him hugging another woman.

“What, why are you asking again? Did something happen?”

“Of course I know. Why?”

“Aren’t you upset? Even though I’m a clone, you know what I’m doing.”

Sonagi blinks at Jihoon’s words.

“I don’t know if Jihoon is really weak-hearted or strong, they’re not even human anyway.”

Sonagi thinks to himself and chuckles.

“I told you. I don’t care what you do with other women. Have sex, rape… do whatever you want. Instead.”

“You mean I can’t love you? Hey. Then can I do the same thing to Hong Seo-yeon?”

“What? Why are you asking such a thing? Of course..”

The rain is falling and smiling.

“Of course you should do something worse than that! That woman tried to kill you and me, right? She tried to capture us and kill us, and you’re just playing around with a weird program and getting away with it!”

The rain that was falling softly didn’t think about anything.

This was most likely her true intention.

“Okay, thanks Sonagi.”

There was no need to install any special programs for Sonagi right now. Jihoon was grateful for that fact and hugged Sonagi’s body.

『What, really? You’re suddenly hugging me? Hmm… But it feels good, so I guess that’s okay…』

Until the last moment, Sonagi’s heart was visible, and Jihoon couldn’t help but smile.