Chapter 3: Code name hs

“…Good.”

After a short while, following brief consideration, Seo-jun finally decided on a nickname.

The nickname he chose was none other than ‘Handsome,’ simply because his current appearance was exceptionally good-looking, leading him to pick it.

‘I actually thought about going with ‘Bigdick’… but if I did, everyone might mistake me for a black guy….’

Seo-jun shrugged his shoulders and pressed the ‘Register for Sale’ button.

Now, all that was left was to wait for a buyer to purchase the information.

“…Ugh!”

A moment later, Seo-jun clasped his hands together and stretched widely.

He realized he hadn’t slept a wink since possessing this body.

Had he been awake for roughly 40 hours?

‘Rapid Recovery’ was a trait that focused on physical recovery rather than mental, so going without sleep entirely was out of the question.

Feeling tired, Seo-jun threw himself onto the bed.

Soon, his consciousness grew hazy.

****

Ayakami Corp. Headquarters.

“…Ugh, this is really annoying.”

Suddenly, an exasperated female voice echoed from within the 17th Division’s floor, which was responsible for information gathering.

The woman was in her mid-twenties, with long red hair tied in a ponytail, and her identity was none other than Ichika, a manager in the 17th Division.

“No, why do *we* have to clean up the mess the 3rd Division made? We already have so much to do, when are we supposed to go looking for some android?!”

Ichika shrieked in a hysterical voice.

A week prior, a major incident had occurred at Ayakami Corp.

While a military android prototype was being transferred between research labs, a traffic accident happened, resulting in its loss.

The 3rd Division had been in charge of moving the android…!

Consequently, after that incident, the 3rd Division faced severe reprimand from upper management.

However, their mess didn’t end there.

Following the incident, her 17th Division, responsible for information gathering, had to put all other tasks aside and focus solely on finding the android’s whereabouts.

If the military android fell into the wrong hands, there was a risk of Ayakami Corp.’s military technology leaking to the outside.

The company’s stance was that the android had to be recovered quickly before such a thing could happen.

“Oh dear… our section chief is angry again.

If you keep frowning like that, you’ll get wrinkles quickly.”

“…Shut up! What do I care if I get wrinkles or not!”

At employee Ria’s mumble, Ichika snapped.

But Ria simply continued operating her computer, regardless of Ichika’s anger.

In truth, Ichika’s hysterics were all too familiar in the 17th Division.

“By the way, where are you connected to?”

“The Deepnet.”

“Why the Deepnet?”

“Hehe, who knows? Maybe there’s information about the lost android in there?”

“Ha! As if!”

Ichika scoffed.

She knew well enough that the Deepnet contained vast amounts of information.

However, even so, it was clear there wouldn’t be any information about the android Ayakami Corp. had recently lost.

Immediately after the accident, Ayakami Corp. had classified all related information as top secret.

“Stop doing useless things and keep analyzing the CCTV footage…”

“…Ch-Chief! Look at this!”

Just as Ichika was about to scold Ria, Ria suddenly raised her voice, and Ichika looked at her monitor screen.

What on earth was she supposed to be looking at?

Ichika frowned and scanned the Deepnet screen in sequence.

A short while later, she was far more surprised than Ria.

It was because of a certain title in the corner of the ‘Information for Sale’ section.

[Information about BMS-013 lost by Ayakami Corp. (Price: 10 Million Credits)]

“Wh-What on earth is this?”

Ichika felt bewildered.

Thanks to Ayakami Corp.’s information control, ordinary people wouldn’t even know that Ayakami Corp. had lost an android.

Of course, among them, a few exceptional informants might already know about it.

But even so, it shouldn’t be normal for them to know that the lost android’s name was ‘BMS-013.’

Information about it was truly top secret.

‘They even know the name of the lost android…! Who on earth is this? Could it be one of Ayakami Corp.’s employees playing a prank?’

Ichika checked the information seller’s nickname.

Handsome…!

This was the first time she had seen such a ridiculous nickname on the Deepnet.

“Uh, what should we do, Chief? Should we buy it right away?”

“Hmm…”

“You need to decide quickly.

If someone else buys this information, we won’t be able to purchase it anymore.

You know how the Deepnet handles information, Chief.”

The value of information could be seen as changing based on the number of people who knew it.

Thus, most information sold on the Deepnet was customarily sold to only one person.

If someone bought the information, it was immediately ‘sold out.’

“Hmm… this is really confusing… Ria, do you know anyone with the nickname Handsome? You use the Deepnet often, so you must know a lot of sellers.”

“That’s true, but this seller named Handsome is someone I’m seeing for the first time too.

Look at this.

They’ve never sold any information before.”

“Then isn’t there a high chance it’s a scam? They have no credibility at all.”

Ichika began twisting her long ponytail.

This was an action she typically did when she was deep in thought.

“But they know the android’s name.

I think there’s a high chance it’s not a scam.”

“Phew… that’s exactly what I’m worried about.

Who on earth is this person….”

Ichika sighed, twisting her hair roughly.

And so, perhaps about five minutes passed?

Finally, having collected her thoughts, she nodded.

“Phew, just buy it for now!

Ten million credits isn’t a huge loss, even if it turns out to be a scam!”

“It’s company money anyway, isn’t it?”

“Don’t you understand upper management yet?

If they find out we wasted company money on something useless, not only me but everyone in the 17th Division will get a pay cut!”

“Ah…!”

Ria’s expression turned to one of fear then.

For an employee, there was nothing more terrifying than a pay cut.

“Sh-Should we just not buy it?”

“Do you want to die? Didn’t I just tell you to buy it?”

“Hmph…! I was in the middle of saving up for a new bag….”

Ria mumbled with a long face.

But eventually, urged by Ichika, she had to purchase the information.

…*Flash!*

Soon, the monitor screen changed, and information about BMS-013 appeared on the screen.

Both Ichika and Ria’s pupils widened greatly.

****

Inside the room.

*Ding!*

“…Huh?”

Suddenly, a cheerful alarm sound came from the laptop, and Seo-jun’s eyes shot open.

Looking out the window, he saw that it was already night.

Seo-jun scratched his belly and sat in front of his laptop.

“Let’s see… oh? It’s already sold?”

Seo-jun looked at the screen with a surprised expression.

The information he had uploaded about BMS-013 was already sold, and 9 million credits, excluding the 10 percent commission, had been deposited into his account.

He never expected it to sell so quickly…!

Seo-jun thought he was truly lucky.

“Hehehe, earning money is so easy! Information broker is the best!”

Seo-jun grinned and checked the buyer’s information.

The buyer had a strange nickname, ‘CutieSexy.’

Of course, naturally, all information except the nickname was set to private.

“What kind of nickname is CutieSexy? Their face must be really messed up.

In the world of 『Staat 2082』, they might even have weird mechanical devices attached to their face.”

Seo-jun soon lost interest in the buyer.

The information he had sold was very detailed, so he didn’t need to worry about the buyer finding fault with it.

‘I’m hungry, I should go eat.

Come to think of it, I haven’t left the house once since possessing this game character.’

Seo-jun scratched his head.

His gamer-addict tendencies didn’t seem to have changed much even after the possession.

Seo-jun quickly washed himself, then changed into clean clothes.

After smiling wryly at himself in the mirror, he left the house.

It was his first outing.