episode_0083
by fnovelpiaHarmon entered the black market with a hologram over his body to hide his identity.
This black market was a place where people who had avoided Harmon’s eyes could come and make things with their own unique or twisted ideas, so it was a place that Harmon could enjoy and see.
For example, the weapon sold at that street stall has a problem with its wiring, but because of that, it has the characteristic of dispersing energy in the form of shotgun shells.
An object that was haphazardly combined somehow started to function normally, becoming a versatile tool with all sorts of functions.
Or, maybe he mixed up some random drugs and got a superhuman level that Harmon is currently targeting, and he’s running wild in the cage. Well, in that case, the health issues are serious.
Harmon was quite fond of this black market, as there were many amusing mistakes and coincidences.
There were some idiots who would get into trouble with stuff they bought on the black market, but that was to a degree that could be overlooked.
“Oh, pepperoni. Here you go.”
During this fake appearance, Harmon used the name he had previously given to the robot as an alias.
Pepperoni, which was naturally discontinued after a test run in the past and stable mass-produced robots were produced.
There was a rumor going around that this pepperoni was someone who had helped the town in the past, so he was somewhat well-liked.
‘Where should we go today?’
In addition, Harmon was thinking of using this black market to spread the ‘play culture’ to the village.
Up until now, the only games played among people were cage fighting, hugging women or men, and tag between children.
Fortunately, this black market had already established itself as a form of ‘game’ with a strong element of luck, albeit a basic one, as gambling culture developed.
Originally, gambling was gambling if you spent money, and it was just a game if you didn’t. Taking advantage of this, Pepperoni planted a good gambling in the black market by lying about ‘the culture of another town’.
There are people playing mahjong in the corner, others playing poker using all sorts of machines to read each other’s cards, and others simply playing dice to guess odd or even.
“Let’s go have some fun.”
Harmon quickly joined the dice game.
“Oh, pepperoni. It’s been a while.”
“Hello.”
“I didn’t see you in the village, where were you?”
“Mostly wandering around the wilderness.”
“Hmm.”
“There is such a nice town, and yet they manage to survive in the wilderness.”
Harmon smiled and placed his bet, and the next round of gambling began.
People bet money as well, smoking cigarettes, drugs, or drinking oil. Immediately after, when the dealer rolls the dice in the cup, everyone starts to guess the odds in their own way.
“Hmm, if you look at the shape of the dice and the sound they made when they rolled… .”
“Dealer, is it odd or even?”
“Bet on even if the coin lands on heads, or odd if it lands on tails.”
Harmon said, sipping oil.
“Um. Okay.”
“Oh. Why?”
“Because I have 10 fingers.”
“?”
“This kid doesn’t know how to save money! If you’re going to do it, you have to win!”
“That’s right, that’s right!”
“Should I pair up too?”
After a while everyone decided on odd or even and the dealer raised the cup.
“Yes, it was a match!”
“Aaak!”
“Fuck!”
The winner of this dice game divides the stakes by the number of winners.
Now that both of them have won, they can split the stakes and take home the prize.
“Just leave this alone.”
Harmon says this while ordering more after finishing one oily one.
Unlike the ones you can drink in Guldari Village, this one was oily and cheap, and had only strong ingredients to hide the nauseating taste, but it was also delicious.
Should I say that it has a nostalgic taste that reminds me of the old days?
The beef jerky that came as a side dish was also good.
It’s not delicious artificial meat, but jerky made by roughly cutting up and drying the meat of unidentified creatures that escaped from the ruins.
For most people, the hard jerky that they can’t even chew is not meant to be eaten, but rather to be chewed for a long time to make them forget about hunger.
Then, if a little bit of the jerky flavor comes out of the saliva, you can enjoy that flavor as well, which is nice.
“You’re good at eating that hard stuff.”
“My teeth hurt. Look. Me.”
When one of the gamblers showed him the inside of his mouth, where teeth should have been, with pieces of metal roughly stuffed in, Harmon said, chewing on his jerky nonchalantly.
“I’m strong. Hmm. This time too.”
“Backside! Hole!”
“Ugh. Me too!”
“I’ll do it alone this time. Since I did it in pairs before.’
“Yes, it was a match.”
Harmon, who had swept up the pot, bet the same amount again, and the gamblers who saw Harmon’s pot increase began to take out money from their pockets and bet it, thinking that they just had to win at least once and eat it.
Like that several times.
Harmon sometimes lost money and sometimes won, but since there were many people who won with him, his money actually decreased. However, when he played odds or evens for more than 20 games, he recorded an overwhelming winning percentage.
“Ugh.”
“Hey, dealer! That’s weird! Are you scamming me? ”
“Oh, no! That can’t be! If there was something like that, this security device would have reacted.”
“I’m just lucky.”
Although he wasn’t as lucky as some boy who had discovered humanoids several times, from Chance to the existence of the basement, it was true that Harmon was also quite lucky.
However, the difference was that Harmon’s luck was a bit ambiguous, as it was basically useless just by discovering it and required difficult efforts and skills to handle it.
Harmon, who had been spending his time mindlessly enjoying gambling and chatting with the gamblers who came and went, felt his head lighten.
‘Hmm. I’m okay. My head feels a little clearer.’
After clearing my head, I took a walk around the black market and was about to head home… … .
“[Me too.]”
Someone sat down near Harmon, speaking in a robotic voice. It was a man whose entire face was covered by an iron mask, making it impossible to identify him.
“… … .”
“… … .”
When a person suddenly appears, the people around them stop moving and look at him.
A body made entirely of machines. A voice filled with mechanical sounds. In order to ensure fair gambling, no one is supposed to be holding anything, but when a man wrapped in mechanical equipment appears like that, you can’t help but be wary.
Everyone is trying to carefully take out their hidden weapons so as not to be detected by the security system… .
“[It’s okay. I’m not scamming you.]”
The man calmed them down by raising both hands quietly.
“Hmm. Okay, I understand. Looking at the device, it doesn’t seem to have any equipment that can see through the cup.”
The gamblers all become quiet as the dealer admits their participation.
“… … .”
Although Harmon’s voice sounded strangely familiar, he couldn’t recognize Domi because of the physique that had changed so much since he was converted into a cyborg, the iron mask that covered his face, and his clothes that hid the mechanical parts that were exposed in the shape of a scar on his chest.
Likewise, Domi also had locked the ability to detect and track targets by sending waves in order to participate in the gambling, so she did not recognize Harmon, who was hiding under the hologram.
So, the two began to gamble and chat, with a chair between them.
“Um. Hole.”
“Ah, I should do it alone too.”
Likewise, the two roughly chose odd or even.
Harmon was drinking oily soda, and Domi was chewing on something like a battery he had bought while wandering around the black market, and they were talking.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you around here.”
Although the body and other parts were hidden, the state of the iron mask covering the face and the mechanical arms clearly visible due to the sleeveless clothes gave the impression that it was something out of the ordinary.
‘Was there anyone in the black market with the technology to make something like that? At least, there weren’t any customers who asked the repair shops in the village to make something like that.’
Harmon thought as he roughly rolled another coin between his fingers.
‘That guy from Muntri. He can make things like that. Hmm… If that’s true, then the enemy’s power is much higher than I or Candy thought.’
Domi tasted the food that he could no longer sense as he absorbed the energy flowing out of the battery, then spat out the chewed battery and said.
“I said pepperoni.”
“Yeah.”
“Looks strong. Are you a designer?”
The function was locked so I couldn’t see the hologram, but I could see the body temperature.
Harmon’s body temperature with metal cells was much higher than that of a normal person, and this high body temperature was also a characteristic of pure-blooded designers.
Because a large amount of blood circulates through the body, supplying and moving the body with much more energy and oxygen than the average person, the body temperature is naturally high.
“Designer. It’s similar.”
“Similar?’
“Yeah. I’m a modified human. In that sense, I’m a designer… But I’m not an artificial human, so I’m not a designer.”
Harmon examined Domi as he explained himself.
Likewise, Domi also quietly observed Hamon.
‘You’re not a designer…?’
Although Domi didn’t know it, there was one reason why he suddenly cared so much about designers.
This is because when Muntri reformed him, he naturally developed a hatred for Amili and her creatures.
‘Is it real?’
That’s why Domi quietly kept his suspicious gaze directed at Harmon.
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