episode_0057

“Whew—it’s even more chilling up close.”

Junk Palace.

A colossal, monstrous tower in Eclipse Point, like a replica of the Kowloon Walled City with a population density of 1,923,000 people/km².

Its drab colors and indiscriminately plastered old signboards adorned its walls. It soared high enough to touch the upper city, but in reality, it wasn’t a building designed as a single structure from the start.

The Junk Palace, which was roughly the size of four blocks, was initially designated as a low-cost residential area. However, as the population in Eclipse Point exploded, immigrants without money gradually expanded the building through illegal additions, transforming it into a single structure, much like branches from different trees intertwining and merging into one.

If one were to call it a concrete hive, others would easily understand.

“I can’t understand how it hasn’t collapsed yet, piled up like this.”

“Thanks to that, it’s one of Eclipse Point’s Seven Wonders.”

“There was such a thing…?”

Given how common bizarre urban legends are, it wouldn’t be surprising if one existed.

As I stood admiring the Junk Palace’s grandeur, Ricardo, whose head had been modified into a menacing tin can, naturally sidled up beside me.

“Haha! Friend, long time no see! I told you to come visit sometimes, but how much do you have to play hard to get to not show your face once!”

“Aaaargh!!! Damn it..! Don’t suddenly cling to me, you bastard!”

As the brightly glowing red eyes loomed in front of me, I couldn’t help but scream and throw a punch.

*Wham!* So, it’s not my fault his jaw spun about 180 degrees.

“Damn it. My smash grenade from before is gone, but your punch seems even more potent…”

The guy, who manually twisted his head *creak-creak* back into place, gasped with relief that everything above his neck was replaced with cyberware and put some distance between us.

Good. Keep it that way.

“By the way, Mason said to come see him after work.”

“Cough..! Damn it, tell him I died protecting a friend.”

“Bullshit.”

Despite being the boss of a massive gang, he’s oddly familiar.

“Hahaha! That’s that, and it’s reassuring that you guys are helping!”

“We just took a job. You were just the referrer.”

Ricardo, who had been thoroughly beaten by Luna and her comrades, tried to act familiar, but Luna lightly pushed his arm away and projected a 3D map of the Junk Palace interior into the air.

“The client, Closing Age, doesn’t want any control over entry, so we have to do our best to prevent any unexpected incidents.”

“Couldn’t we just block out the guys who seem to be from Zhuwolde, who sent the death threats? If we filter them at the entrance, it seems like nothing could be simpler.”

“Why wouldn’t I? But they said not to block them, claiming they could be fans who came to see the performance, even if they’re from Zhuwolde.”

“For crying out loud. Do you have to embrace fans who send death threats to become a mega-influencer? In that case, I’d prefer only people I know to recognize me.”

Planning a concert for a large audience at the top of this damn monstrosity that looks on the verge of collapse, or not caring about threats from a massive gang.

Closing Age was merely a musician with a few cyberware implants, but his courage could be said to rival that of most mercenaries.

No, wouldn’t it be more accurate to call him a madman?

Anyway, the concert begins tonight on the stage installed on the top floor of this Junk Palace, so our job is to identify and filter out anyone who might cause trouble among the massive crowd that will gather by then.

“Damn it, I take back what I said about it being an easy job.”

“Logan does tend to make things complicated.”

“Who’s Logan?”

“Damn it. John, what on earth do you even know! Closing Age’s real name is Logan G. Puncher!”

JQ, who seemed to be an ardent fan of Closing Age, happily collecting Closing Age’s autograph on each of his drones, started his ranting again.

Of course, since JQ wasn’t a brawler and hadn’t secretly attempted to deck me, there was no way he could win. So, in the blink of an eye, I folded him up so he could quietly sleep inside his beloved whatever-it-was-called.

“Now that it’s quiet, let’s talk again… First, the security personnel will spread throughout the Junk Palace to initially apprehend trespassers and prevent them from entering the concert hall. That’s normal, but we and Hellstream will handle the top floor where the audience seating is installed.”

“So security will filter them once, at least.”

“It’s a relief they allow a common-sense level of filtering.”

This saved us the trouble of dealing with suspicious-looking guys carrying bags that emitted a *beep-beep* sound, trying to get in just because they bought a ticket.

“Of course, when I say Hellstream, I only brought a few guys I’m close with.”

“Bring everyone.”

“If I’d brought all my guys, it would have been a war with Zhuwolde. How could I bring everyone?”

Indeed, Hellstream and Zhuwolde were already known for their bad relationship, so there was a high chance of a chaotic mess.

Furthermore, if the audience, gathered from various places instead of just the Junk Palace residents, got caught in a shootout and died in large numbers, there’s no telling how big of a disaster it would be.

“Hellstream will be by the stage and in the audience seating, and we’ll be on standby backstage and in the top floor corridors.”

Collaboration between security, mercenaries, and a gang.

Thinking, “So this is the kind of job I get in life,” we divided into teams.

Team 1 consisted of Ricardo and Hellstream executives; Team 2, Blake and Raleigh; Team 3, me and Luna; and finally, JQ, who handled external surveillance using drones.

“Alright, friends. I’m counting on you.”

“If you spot Zhuwolde, don’t just fight them; make sure to radio us.”

“That depends on the situation.”

***

*Thump-thump-thump-thump!* Heavy beats reverberating through the building echoed repeatedly down the utterly dilapidated and unsanitary corridor.

I don’t think even the elevators in the mega-apartment I used to live in were this bad.

If you went into any slightly secluded spot, you’d see walls smeared with foul-smelling dried excrement, as if some bastard with scatological tastes lived there, and unsanitarily bred protein-supplement insects crawling around.

People live in a place like this.

More than that, I can’t understand the musician holding a concert in a place like this, or the madmen who rush here, even paying expensive credits, to see it.

At least as we ascended to the top floor, heading towards our designated positions, it became clean enough to breathe comfortably, as if someone had tidied up beforehand.

“My first concert in my life is a security gig, of all things.”

“First time?”

“Yeah, it’s not like I particularly liked any singer, nor was my life easy enough, so there was no reason for me to go.”

I nodded at Luna’s question, which was a reaction to my muttering.

Even before coming to Eclipse Point ten years ago, I had never been a fan enough to pay a lot of money to go see someone.

“Luna, have you been to many?”

“Wouldn’t say ‘many’… but I had a chance a few times when I was young.”

Luna’s childhood… I’d like to see it sometime.

Come to think of it, even though we’ve been friends for ten years, I didn’t know much about Luna.

Partly because I was just a salaryman barely making it through the day, squeezed by corporations, and had no time to care about anyone. But also because I knew Luna didn’t like talking about her past, so I didn’t press her.

Of course, I’m hiding things too, as I’d be sent straight to a mental hospital if I spoke candidly.

The fact that she’s maintained a bar for ten years since a young age—a bar that costs a lot of money but doesn’t even attract customers—and created a team that everyone in the mercenary industry recognizes as major players, only leads me to assume that her past is anything but ordinary.

“It’s not a field I’m interested in either, so I don’t know much about recent celebrities. Of course, Closing Age is so famous that I know his name.”

Indeed, Luna does have a workaholic side.

Her fixer work must be busy, as she was always organizing data whenever I visited.

“Then how about we just quickly catch all of Zhuwolde and kick them out, and then watch the concert together?”

“Closing Age might get angry… Just the two of us?”

“If we finish it secretly, then it’s just the two of us enjoying ourselves.”

At my suggestion to half-ass the job, Luna, an excellent mercenary, made a reluctant, sour face.

But, as if she didn’t dislike it, I subtly placed my hand on Luna’s waist as she pondered.

Unlike the bartender uniform she usually wore at the bar or the athleisure wear she wore at the gym, her shiny thighs were revealed by short pants, and even with a thick hoodie, her explosive curves couldn’t be hidden.

Luna, whose sexy body couldn’t be hidden, subtly moved my hand to her hip and leaned closer, as if resigned.

“Whose permission did you get to put your hand there?”

“Should I take it off, then?”

As if she didn’t want that either, Luna nudged my foot with her shoe, and I laughed and pulled her into a hug.

As Luna and I walked down the humming corridor, to the beat blasting from the amplifier, we paused when we heard voices from behind us.

“Hmm? Wait a minute, Kana. Is that Jun there, by any chance?”

“Yuki, is that really Jun?”

It was a familiar voice, slightly alluring but clumsy, giving it a strong cute impression.

More precisely, a voice that seemed like it should be in Japantown.

As my head turned, at the edge of my rotating vision, the black and white twins were pointing directly at me.

Wagging their tails as if happy to see me.