episode_0035

“In the old days, you could go to the subway through here…”

Next to Ji-hoon, who was talking about the vague memories of the disco mart, was Sonagi.

“When did you say that? Lucky Venus bought the subway. It’s been privatized longer than we’re old enough.”

“So why are you mad at me for taking the subway…”

Ji-hoon laughs as if he can’t believe it.

Whenever I went to the disco mart in my memory, I always used the underpass, but that wasn’t the case at Neo Seoul.

The disco-mart was owned by Mirae Enterprise and the subway was owned by Lucky Venus, so the two groups, not wanting to benefit each other, blocked the underground passage. The space in Ji-hoon’s memory is now just a huge concrete wall.

“The movie theater up there was nice too…”

“Did you watch some documentary with Mr. Hong Gil-dong? Are we really talking about something from back then…”

Even though he was talking nonsense, Sonagi had a black bag full of guns on his back. Their goal was always to ‘rescue Hong Gil-dong’. The two of them had some time to spare as they were backing up the troubleshooters who had rushed into the disco-mart.

There were still ten minutes left until the operation time. Ji-hoon, who thought that he could just enter the building and take the escalator down within the time limit, had some time to spare.

“What is this…”

Ji-hoon’s thoughts were shattered the moment he arrived at the entrance of the disco mart.

“Wow what the fuck.. It smells like I haven’t washed in 10 years…”

Ji-hoon quickly covers his nose at the stench coming from the bodies of the people he sees in front of him, the homeless people. The rain has already blocked his sense of smell, so he snorts and laughs.

“Welcome~ Mr. Kim Ji-hoon. The people here are homeless people who live their whole lives in the disco mart~”

Sonagi teases Jihoon by spreading out both hands and speaking.

“No.. what the heck… . You said it was a future company?”

The massive building did not bear the name “Future Enterprise.” There were no billboards, not even the neon signs so common in Neo Seoul.

Without the flashing lights, the building feels completely dead, and the homeless people you meet at the entrance of the building feel like parasites.

It’s not a good idea to think of bugs when you see people, but these homeless people were bugs, parasites, vermin themselves.

“Then it’s the future of the company.”

“Then shouldn’t we get rid of these homeless people? It’ll hurt their image too.”

“Why would you clean it up? And who cares about image? Everyone knows that Future Enterprise is a bunch of idiots, and who doesn’t know that Lucky Venus is a company that grew by eating the idiots?”

“Hey, still…”

“And money goes out. Money.”

Sonagi, who made a circle with his thumb and index finger, entered the disco-mart. The stench remained even after he entered, but Ji-hoon’s sense of smell had long since faded away.

Rather, he felt a strangely warm temperature, and Ji-hoon thought that it was warmer inside than outside.

‘…The homeless people living outside seem to be powerless…’

A large tent sagging inside.

The blank-faced homeless people sitting inside looked a little cleaner than those outside, but they still looked dirty and unpleasant.

“…Hey, no way. I feel bad about wasting money on chasing these people away and paying security..”

“Yeah, that’s right. This disco mart is useless anyway. I thought it was just thrown away.. Anyway, if you’re only using the basement, you only have to manage the basement. That’s what they think.”

Sonagi goes inside without even blinking an eye at the sight of the homeless people sprawled on the ground.

“Oppa, I’ll make you feel better than your girlfriend over there.”

“Come here, oppa.”

“Ah.. Okay.”

The women who suddenly called Ji-hoon oppa were almost naked. They were wearing only a black skirt and a shirt, and they looked very uneasy.

Anyone could tell that making them feel good meant they were going to do prostitution. Ji-hoon was horrified when he saw the piercings on their eyebrows, noses, and corners of their mouths, and he had never even thought about having sex with a woman here in the first place.

“Oh.. What is this, Kim Ji-hoon? Unlike when Mr. Damon tried to seduce me, you’re rejecting me so clearly?”

“Hey.. I told you that was the best way back then.”

“I agree too, but~”

Sonagi snorted and laughed, then gently grabbed Jihoon’s waist. They arrived near the escalator that would take them down to the basement.

“But why are these people here?”

“You know that’s a really philosophical question, right? And you know that I can’t answer that kind of sociological question.”

Blinking, Sonagi looked around for a moment. Following his gaze, he looked near the escalator. Jihoon also looked at the homeless people sitting inside the first floor, and a complicated thought came to his mind.

‘How can there be this many homeless people? What the fuck is the country doing…’

That was the first thought that came to mind. It wasn’t just one or two people. The first floor of the disco-mart, which could accommodate numerous shops, was teeming with homeless people.

They looked like civilized people with a slightly primitive appearance. They didn’t even antagonize Sonagi and Jihoon or pick a fight with them.

“See those girls over there?”

The word ‘Sonagi’ refers to the women who tried to sell to Ji-hoon earlier but failed and are now mumbling.

“Oh, I can see it.”

“They probably won’t see it.”

“…What?”

“They’re probably women with STDs or broken cyberware from cheap surgery. That’s why they don’t show their sales tools.”

“Hey.. Then how do you have sex?”

“What would you do? You could cleverly insert something like an artificial vagina into your lower abdomen.”

Ji-hoon was in his right mind. However, that explanation didn’t explain the numerous homeless people here.

“And you see those big guys over there? They’re all missing an arm or a leg, right?”

“Uh…what is it? That’s right.”

“Those people have problems with their cyberware arms and legs, so they’re like that. They can’t make a living because their trading tools are broken, right?”

“Then what are those guys over there doing? They’re just sitting there wearing black sunglasses.”

In the place Ji-hoon pointed to, there was a group of people wearing really black sunglasses and sitting blankly, leaning against a pillar.

“What is it… It’s just reminiscing about happy memories.”

“..Are you on drugs?”

“It’s not drugs. You could call it drugs. People who have gone bankrupt or whose brain chips are damaged and can’t make more money are basically finished in Neo Seoul.”

“So?”

“Sit over there… and use those sunglasses to keep replaying your brain data.”

“It’s like looking at memories of when you had a girlfriend or when you were successful…”

Sonagi shakes her head at Jihoon’s words.

“No, it’s playing. It’s on a different level from watching.”

“What’s different? Isn’t the video just coming out of the sunglasses?”

“No. There is no video or anything in those sunglasses. They are just accessories that help you use certain functions of your brain chip. Playing back brain data means you can relive the joy, happiness, ecstasy, and heart-pounding emotions you felt at that moment.”

At those words, Ji-hoon looks at the woman and man wearing sunglasses sitting far away. Their expressions haven’t changed at all. They just sit there like broken dolls.

“Just sit there and…forever…”

“That’s right. If you keep playing the brain data like that, you’ll die of hunger or something… . Well, that’s it. Most people die.”

Sonagi turns around as if she has nothing more to say. There is not much time left.

Ji-hoon, a 21st century man, opens his mouth, unable to bring himself to end the story of these homeless people.

“Hey… But all these people… Aren’t they all working for some company? Damon said that most of the people here at Neo Seoul work for companies? ”

“People who worked at the company, right?”

“Then, of course, you should take responsibility if your arms or legs are cut off.”

“Why?”

“Well, welfare… no, morally…”

“Jihoon.”

Sonagi turns around and looks at Jihoon’s face.

“Do you think that will make money for the company? If you provide good welfare, money will suddenly fall from the sky? If you keep your morals, who will give you 1 billion won?”

“No.. That’s not necessarily… . You don’t have to give me the money right away..”

“If your scissors break while you’re using them, do you fix them?”

“If your cell phone breaks, it’s expensive to fix.”

“In the company, we are not even as good as scissors. And there are employees who fix and reuse it like a cell phone. The people here are worthless. That’s all.”

“…Oh my…”

Ji-hoon rubbed his face with both hands.

“Then does Mr. Hong Gil-dong help these people?”

“I know that.”

Ji-hoon followed the rain and went down the escalator. Surprisingly, the escalator was working.

As I went down to the basement, I saw people. Next to their feet, I saw clone guards from the Future Corporation wearing black clothes.

Although no blood is flowing out of their bodies, you can guess their condition by looking at the fact that they aren’t moving a single finger.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, come here.”

The shower naturally gathers the problem solvers who are waiting, clapping their hands.

The troubleshooters were all dressed in a variety of clothing. Some wore body suits like a shower, others wore coats that gave off a lonely feeling like Hong Gil-dong, and some were armed with bulletproof vests that gave off a sturdy feel.

The most unusual appearance was that of a person wearing an exoskeleton made of steel, but the body’s curves were not expressed at all, making it difficult to tell whether the person inside was a man or a woman.

“One, two, three.. Let’s see.. Sixteen people. They’re all here.”

The shower smiled and her eyes glowed red. She had sent them the information and maps they needed for this operation.

“Okay, everyone, did you check it out? I think Mr. Hong Gil-dong will be in the deepest part. Do you know that the person who checks Mr. Hong Gil-dong’s face first and rescues him safely gets 50% of the money first?”

The troubleshooters nod their heads at Sonagi’s explanation.

They have already talked enough about the operation through the network that they don’t even discuss what to do in reality.

‘I feel like I’m the only one who’s been awkwardly bullied.’

Without a brain chip, Ji-hoon can only tell if the people in front of him have red eyes or nod their heads, so he takes a step back.

He had no intention of taking part in this fight. To be honest, he couldn’t possibly take part. Fighting was something Sonagi was good at. I asked Damon just in case, and he told me that the clone guards were better marksmen than normal people.

‘There’s no way someone like me who’s used a gun in the military would be of any help…’

Let’s not be a burden. Ji-hoon thought as he turned on his smartphone. When he pressed the scan button, he saw a lot of meaningless IDs being printed out.

They’re all probably clone guards. I could seriously brief the troubleshooters on their location after seeing this…

“Okay, let’s wait here.”

Even Sonagi, who had pulled a huge sniper rifle out of his bag, didn’t seem to have any intention of making much of a move.

“Hey, can we wait here? I saw you moving around like a leader earlier.”

“I’m the leader, so I can’t die. Mr. Damon isn’t here, and I’m the one who received the card with the coins stored on it. I have to pay the bill too.”

“You didn’t do it like this last time. Is that because you have a fixer?”

“That’s right. It’s like a direct transaction.”

Sonagi explained, and while holding the sniper rifle in one hand, she listened quietly to the sound of gunfire coming from far away. Ji-hoon couldn’t tell, but she was also checking the visual information being shared in real time.

“Hmm…”

With that information, he identifies the enemy in a difficult position and aims his gun at them. He loads a heavy gun that can easily penetrate even a thick concrete wall and pulls the trigger.

─Taang!

A smaller sound than expected burst out from the huge sniper rifle. Sonagi’s attack hit the enemy accurately. Ji-hoon didn’t know how the situation was going, but at least he could see that every time Sonagi pulled the trigger, the shabby IDs floating on the scan list disappeared.

‘As expected, you’re doing well even without me…’

Ji-hoon clicks his tongue and looks around. In this tense situation, he even thinks, ‘Is there anything fun? “‘ and grabs a nearby red door and opens it.

“…There’s no one.”

There was nothing special inside the door. There were just boxes that smelled musty.

If you glance inside the box, you will see arms and legs. There was nothing grotesque about them, but they were prosthetic limbs that gave off a strong sense of science fiction no matter where you looked.

“…Hmm?”

Just as he was about to leave in disappointment, Ji-hoon discovered something.

It was paper.

“I said there’s no such thing as a shower… There’s no way there wouldn’t be an advertisement, damn it…”

Ji-hoon clicks his tongue and looks at the flyer, thinking about teasing Sonagi later. If the content is strange, it would be awkward to show it to her and tease her.

“Let’s see… You’ll have your own girl. Pet girl.. Special discount only 67….”

Ji-hoon, who read the advertisement with a smile, ended up with his face frozen hard.

“What the…”

The picture on the flyer was of a naked girl

[Princess Korea 32nd Winner Idol! Lee Ye-ah’s DNA!]

[Don’t worry when it’s over! Future companies will collect it!]

［Various options available! Please check the back or contact the number below!］

Ji-hoon checks the box containing the advertisements, which are dizzyingly written. There are not just one, but dozens or even hundreds of identical advertisements packed tightly together.

“..What the fuck is this? What are these guys selling?”