episode_0126

Officially, all subway line operations in Eclipse Point are known to have been suspended, no longer functioning as a means of transportation.

If you ask why they bothered to terminate the service of a perfectly functioning subway…

Whoosh──

A single-car train, boasting immense speed, whizzes by inside a vacuum tube.

Before the vibrating tube could even settle, another high-speed train shot towards the next station, as if following close behind.

Hyperloop.

A maglev train capable of ultra-high-speed operation by minimizing friction and air resistance within a vacuum tube.

It is a ground-level train that corporations self-praise and describe as the pinnacle of engineering, boasting incredible speed that covers Eclipse Point from end to end in less than 5 minutes.

Getting back to the point, that Hyperloop is precisely what completely blocked the subway.

Was that Hyperloop good enough to completely replace the subway, which was a gathering place for all sorts of eccentric individuals?

No. The Eclipse Point Railway Corporation simply implemented an ‘amazing’ policy to eliminate the cheaper subway and increase profits, since Hyperloop fares are more expensive.

Thanks to this, those who had to commute from distant sectors without personal vehicles were forced to pay three times the subway fare and ride the Hyperloop, grumbling all the way.

Of course, even with a car, considering the hellish traffic during rush hour, I wouldn’t want to imagine either option.

Why do I know so much about this?

Well, I was a salaryman who used to commute to a corporation too!

‘Ugh… Remembering that makes my stomach turn… Why does it feel like my stomach burns just thinking about it?’

‘I recommend mental therapy for stress-induced gastric acid hypersecretion.’

‘I don’t want to stick needles in my brain and run electricity through them.’

They say there are no pain nerves in the brain, but I still don’t like it because it feels like it would hurt.

And those damn bastards routinely cover up accidents even if they make mistakes, so I can’t trust them either.

Anyway, as Furida explained, I arrived at the subway entrance in Japantown, which is apparently still there.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here, and it’s eerie.”

The incredibly messy, unlit stairs leading down to the underground seemed to announce that the line was out of service.

The display that would normally show the station name was shattered as if someone had beaten it with a club, only showing a cracked black screen, and an eerie, whooshing sound of wind could be heard.

“Still, there are signs that someone has been in and out.”

If it had been abandoned and unused, dust would have accumulated, making it grayish, but it looked like a regularly used staircase, as if many people had passed through.

Ordinary people, unaware of the truth, might think that a abandoned subway station is being used as a gang hideout.

I might have thought the same if I had come here without an explanation.

Tap-tap-

Slowly, I stepped towards the underground.

The stairs were quite long, and as I descended, the light diminished. Past the halfway point, it became so dark that without a flashlight, infrared detection, or night vision-equipped eyes, one would stumble and fall down.

Of course, it was perfectly visible to my eyes, which had been replaced with top-grade combat-spec cybernetic eyes.

As I walked down the quiet stairs, at the beginning of the station I arrived at, two burly figures like gatekeepers looked down at me, their cyberware eyes glinting red.

“I’d like to pass. Could you move aside, friends?”

“Admission ticket.”

Did I need an admission ticket? Furida, that bastard, didn’t say anything about that.

Muttering curses about Furida inwardly, I put my hand in my pocket and clicked my tongue.

“Admission ticket… How many credits do I need to pay?”

“Only invited members can enter. If you don’t have a ticket, get lost.”

Annoyed by the unnecessarily diligent gatekeepers, I scratched the back of my head in exasperation.

“Hmm… How about 2,000 credits? Not 2,000 combined, but 2,000 each, so 4,000 credits. Isn’t that enough money to drink, call escorts, and have a grand time after work, with plenty left over?”

“I said if you don’t have a ticket, get lost.”

“Ugh… These idiotic bastards who aren’t even affiliated with a corporation won’t even take a bribe… Aren’t they living too honestly?”

People should know how to let things slide when someone offers a backroom deal.

Annoyed, I pouted.

“This arrogant brat…!!”

“Philip. Wait..! This guy… The young master of that Ayakashi…”

“What…?”

The seemingly quicker-witted burly figure elbowed his companion in the side and whispered.

“He fought that Titan one-on-one… And he’s a PMC president…”

Every time he heard another whisper, the burly figure who had been about to draw his pistol from his pocket turned pale.

It would have been clearer if it were brighter.

Soon, the two flashy-haired individuals, one with lime green hair and the other blue, finished their conversation and bowed respectfully to me.

“We didn’t recognize you─!! We’re so sorryyy─!”

The guy’s booming voice, vigorously begging for forgiveness, echoed all the way inside, making me wince and kick him in the shin.

Gently, of course, lest I break it if I kicked too hard.

Thwack!

“Aaaargh…!!”

Such an overreactor.

“Alright, please enter! The Black Market always welcomes you, big bro─!”

“Yeah, yeah. Do well.”

The blue-haired thug, who was quicker on the uptake, spread his palm to gesture towards the subway station interior, bowing deferentially and telling me I could enter.

How much better would it have been if they’d done this earlier?

Of course, from their perspective, I’m the bastard for not bringing an admission ticket.

I patted the blue-haired guy’s cheek and walked past them, heading inside.

“Martina, send 2,000 credits to each of their accounts.”

‘Unnecessary expenditure.’

“I said I’d give it to them.”

It’s like giving them a natural disaster relief fund.

Besides, that amount isn’t even significant at this point.

Wouldn’t they just think they hit the jackpot if they got it as pocket money?

After passing the guards who had bothered me for a moment, I stepped inside and, after turning a corner, I finally saw the significantly modified ticket gates, which were lit up.

Concrete barricades stood intermittently in the hallway, ticket machines were torn out, and flap gates had their barriers removed as if they were annoying—it looked like several gunfights had taken place.

At the sight of the ticket gates, which looked like a riot had occurred, I whistled and mingled with those who had already arrived.

This Black Market community seemed to be larger than I expected; nearly thirty people were at this ticket gate alone, excluding me, and at least a dozen or so were visible at each of the four divided lines’ stations that I glimpsed as I passed by.

‘And not all of them, but quite a few had augmentations… and guns.’

Most of the people I saw seemed to be involved in this line of work, as they were heavily armed.

However, it seemed to be an unwritten rule here to avoid conflict; though they watched each other, there was no deep tension or wariness.

There were also guys wearing the same uniforms as the blue-haired and green-haired thugs I’d met earlier, explicitly looking like guards, walking around.

‘But they call it a black market, yet I don’t see anywhere selling goods… Oh, there’s a vending machine.’

From the vending machine that sold drinks and condoms together, I avoided the chlorella-flavored cola and for the first time in a long time, picked two mint-lime colas, a lucky draw. As I tasted the carbonated drink that seemed to imitate a non-alcoholic cocktail, I explored the Black Market.

‘Is this a section that opens at a set time?’

I busily scurried around, but the others only checked the time, bought drinks from vending machines like me, or went to the restroom; there was no sign of anyone trying to buy anything.

Could I have come to the wrong place?

Scratching my head, I decided to go deeper and moved into an area that seemed to be the station’s control room, revealing a long, dark corridor with the lights off.

It seems they only keep the lights on at the ticket gates and the main station area.

Since the guards didn’t stop me, I walked comfortably down the dark corridor, noting the locked and rusted doors lining both sides, and headed towards the open room at the end of the hallway.

Just as I was about to reach the end of the corridor.

Something warm covered my eyes, and my vision turned black.

“Guess who~?”

An familiar voice.

Actually, even if she hadn’t spoken, I would have guessed it given enough time.

“You chose a perfume for your scent-regulating exocrine glands, a mix of an animalistic base topped with sweetness. A slightly sweet fruity scent mixed with an alcoholic aroma. They don’t sell Super High Peach Punch at the vending machine. By the way, aren’t you here for work? Are you drinking again?”

Sniff-sniff—The information entering my nose, which is highly sensitive even among my human-limit-enhanced sensory organs, precisely told me who the audacious person behind me was.

“Ah~ You’re too good at guessing!”

“Don’t you think the problem is too easy?”

“So, you came to see me?”

“Yeah.”

She had been grumbling, as if pretending to be sulky, but at that short answer, she immediately smiled sweetly as if her mood had completely brightened.

Yuki, flapping her perked-up fox ears, rubbed my cheek with the sleeve of her loose yukata.

“I’m happy you guessed right away, but still, guessing by smell is a little scary, I guess~”

“Seriously, which tune should I dance to? Huh?”

I gently hugged the climbing Yuki close and firmly grasped her plump bottom.

“Kyaa~”

Yuki let out a weak shriek, as if not at all surprised, and swung her tail like a brush to tickle the hand that was holding her wiggling bottom.

Burying my nose in her ear, I smelled the subtly savory scent and spun her around.

After Yuki’s legs woosh-wooshed in the air and hit the ground several times, she stumbled unsteadily, as if she couldn’t adapt, and fell out of my arms.

“Hehe~ There are three Juns~”

“Stop being dizzy and drink this.”

“I’ll drink it. Yeah~”

When I handed her the cola, Yuki spun around for a while, then struck a strange, gymnastics-like pose, completely revived, and leaped to hug me again.

I chuckled, now with Yuki clinging to me like an accessory, vigorously rubbing her head against me and trying to imprint her scent.