episode_0618

Developing planetary systems are planets that cannot normally use the infrastructure of the human empire that spans the entire universe, or that are unable to interact with other planetary systems inhabited by humans on their own, and thus require support from outside groups.

It’s better than a remote planet where battles with bugs occur every once in a while, and it’s hard to find any traces of human civilization, but it’s not a very good planet for people to live on.

Frontier-7016, under the influence of House Lazarian, was one such developing planet.

Frontier-7016 had a harsher environment than other developing planetary systems.

This is because they had already attempted to install infrastructure once, but suffered a disaster in which all existing infrastructure was swept away by a cosmic disaster called the ‘Space Dust Storm’.

It’s called a cosmic dust storm, but it refers to a developing planetary system that was once destroyed by a planetary-scale cosmic storm.

Fortunately, as if it was God’s arrangement, the NGO (Non-galactic organization) Zamad, which was active in the Lazarian family’s galaxy at the time, discovered the situation in Frontier-7016 and began relief activities.

The few survivors who survived began developing Frontier-7016 again under Jamad’s leadership, and ten years later…

Tit ti ti tiㅡ

An electronic sound was heard in a very small room.

The room was so small that it seemed impossible not to hear it from any position. The metronome-like beeping sound was coming from the goggles worn by the owner of the room.

The owner of the room, who had been leaning against the chair, blinked a few times as if he had come to his senses, then took off his goggles and threw them on the bed.

“Hoo… ”

His pupils were wide dilated and his body was trembling, despite his sighs that seemed extremely tired.

There was an awkward, crooked smile on his lips.

That face that looked like it had gone bad somewhere was a side effect of the fully immersive VR goggles.

A side effect that makes users feel the pain and pleasure they experience in the VR world.

Of course, not all items had this drug-like effect, and what the man had was an illegally modified version of existing VR goggles that had the nerve protection removed.

The man roughly searched through his pockets and pulled out a Zippo lighter that resembled a small silver bar.

The Zippo lighter clicked and moved dazzlingly in his rough hands, which were covered in calluses here and there.

In the past, it was a common item that could be found on the street, and a primitive tool that those living in the center of the galaxy would not even look for. Even cigarettes have mostly been replaced by electronic ones, and the need to use fire in daily life has disappeared.

But here in Frontier-7016, it was an item that was treated as an active item at a relatively high price.

The technological imbalance of fully immersive VR goggles and Zippo lighters coexisting is not an uncommon sight in this place where civilization was once swept away.

The Zippo lighter opened and closed repeatedly, making a dull xylophone sound and a sharp metallic sound. He had been practicing this kind of trick for quite some time, so he repeated the habitual movement until his hands felt sore.

When he was sure that he had regained some feeling in his hands, he dug into his pocket and took out a small box. He put one of its contents in his mouth with a familiar manner and lit it with the Zippo he had been playing with. It was a primitive cigarette that he had purchased with difficulty on the black market.

‘… The clouds are delicious.’

The man was lost in thought, using the clouds floating in the sky as a blindfold.

Once he used the fully immersive VR goggles, he would not use them again for a few days and would just give himself over to the mental pleasure they gave him. It was like a kind of ecstasy to him, but at the same time, it was a break from using illegal VR goggles that could burn out his nerves if he got too addicted.

He didn’t want to turn his goggles over again during that period, and have the pure pleasure from before become as muddy as a loach.

The man quickly threw the cigarette, which was completely burned and had its filter blackened, into the trash can and turned on the air purifier. I don’t know if that old air purifier will work, but it’s better than the smell of black market cigarettes wafting through the room.

It was because he was the one who was in trouble if he found fault with Jamad for no reason.

The man set the timer on the air purifier and washed himself in the bathroom.

Because water was scarce, what he did was closer to disinfecting his body with chemicals under ultraviolet light than taking a luxurious shower.

The man came out into the street wearing a leather jacket, the stench of sewage emanating from the drainage hole stinging his nose.

He was impressed. He had not adapted to the new street he had moved into even after living there for several months.

‘Well, that’s where all the lower class people like us live.’

The man clicked his tongue slightly.

Thud thud…

As he walked down the alley, three men wearing masks that looked like elephants blocked his path.

The mask was a tool for taking psychotropic drugs that were popular in back alleys these days. It was quite popular among low-level drug dealers because it took care of everything from administering the drug to disposing of secretions by simply filling the cartridge and putting it on your face.

The advertisement claiming that the mask would protect the respiratory system from air pollution was a bonus.

“Hey buddy, that looks pretty cool, huh?”

An elephant pointed to Jewon’s hand.

Judging from his twisted speech, he must have been on drugs, but instead of quietly spreading out, he was wandering around the streets. This was something he wouldn’t do unless he was desperate to die. In a back alley like this, you can’t last long with that kind of mentality.

‘The collection vehicle will come and go again soon.’

“This? It’s cool. Of course, it’s not as good as your Dumbo mask.”

He showed me the Zippo lighter he was holding in his left hand. He had forgotten to put it in his pocket when he went out, and he kept fiddling with it because he was distracted by other things.

The three elephants laughed with their trunks wrinkling as they found the man’s words funny.

“Keep, keep it… Can you give that to us? I like it.”

The man snorted lightly and pushed them through like a swing door. The drugged group slumped down against the alley wall, swearing softly. They would probably spend the night like that.

Woohoo…

The dark night streets were full of trash. Robbers, murderers, sex offenders, con artists, etc. were roaming the dump looking for their own prey. Dirty hyenas. Suddenly, a snicker escaped the man’s lips.

“How long will it take… ”

He himself was no different from them.

Right now, he has his own goals and is enduring this miserable life, but when the day comes when he can no longer endure it, he too will crawl out into the night and become one of their family members. The only difference is who came first.

Woohoo

Kukukukung…!!

As I emerged from the back alley slums and entered the market I was aiming for, the faint noise grew louder and struck my eardrums.

There was no specific accident, but it was just noise generated by the rearrangement of commercial building blocks.

The sight of the entire building being assembled in time with the movements of a drone bearing the Jamad logo in the air was certainly spectacular, but here it was just an everyday sight.

The market, made up of stacked and connected commercial building blocks, was bustling with people who had come to buy goods from other planets.

Although it was a world that had once been destroyed, this place, the clean area where the market was located, was a place where you could feel tremendous energy and vitality.

And it was also the place that best showed the daily life that was 180 degrees different from 10 years ago.

Groan groan

“Mister! Please give me a two-week supply of One Day Water!”

“How many credits are there for 3 strawberry-flavored disinfectant capsules?”

“2,000 credits each! In addition to strawberry, there is also a new baby powder scent! Take a look around!”

‘Baby powder scent? I should try it sometime.’

He had never actually seen baby powder, but he moved his feet, thinking of the disinfectant capsules that were almost ready for replacement. He wasn’t really interested in luxuries, but he enjoyed shopping for such small items.

A billboard along the market street advertised products of questionable efficacy, such as health bracelets. When the man looked closely at it, he saw a cross-shaped Jamad logo drawn on one corner.

Although he was not particularly impressed with these advertisements, the reality was that many people believed in and purchased items certified by Jamad.

‘Maybe it’s an illegal product that copied the logo.’

Although unlikely, if it did happen, you could receive a reward of some credits when reporting it to Jamad.

But I have more important things to do today, so I’ll leave it for later.

The man opened the glass door of a store with tinted windows as dark as sunglasses and entered, located in the center of the market.

The strong smell of alcohol wafted into my nostrils. I felt like I could get drunk just from the strong alcohol vapors here.