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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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The act of gathering mana itself. I actually didn’t know how formalized it was within the magic system.
The simplest way to use magic, as taught by my teacher (a video channel), was that.
The talent of my body, created through the ‘new character’ process, was outstanding enough that I didn’t need to look for any other methods.
I don’t know about other people, but for me, it wasn’t that difficult.
To give an easy-to-understand example:
It was like consciously breathing. The amount of effort required to blink your eyes at regular intervals and swallow saliva intermittently.
For me, gathering mana felt exactly like that.
So, mana was something I could gather all day as long as I concentrated.
Of course, there was a drawback: if I unknowingly forgot or was startled and lost focus, all the gathered mana would dissipate.
Furthermore, that drawback came with a slight ‘side effect.’
The larger the amount of mana gathered, the more the dissipated mana would take on a kind of physical force, exploding like a bomb – a very minor issue.
For more details on this part, refer to the very first beginner lecture video uploaded on the 『Real Mage in the Machine Age Channel』.
Well, anyway.
The reason I suddenly went on a brief explanation about mana and magic was because I almost released the mana I’d gathered, having momentarily lost my composure after hearing Pete Mac or rather Smile John’s words.
Inside the giant monitor, the mouse character, having finished its greeting, rubbed its white-gloved hands together and said:
【I lost! I surrender!】
“?”
Then it even brought out a heated iron plate from off-screen, and text that read “zawa zawa (ざわざわ)” hovered around the character like onomatopoeia.
It didn’t end there.
【This is a traditional apology method passed down in Neo Japan, called DO-GE-ZA—.】
It was difficult to react.
Catherine, and Eve must have felt the same, but his eldest daughter, Ko-zaka Kohaku, and his son-in-law, Ko-zaka William, were even more unresponsive.
They looked like they had fainted with their eyes open.
I let out a light sigh.
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It was true that the possibility of a battle was low.
But I never imagined the situation would unfold like this.
Which megacorp chairman would declare surrender the moment they saw your face?
“……Um.”
I tried to say something but closed my mouth again.
Seemingly unconcerned about the surrounding atmosphere, the Pete Mac character continued speaking excitedly.
【I’m not just apologizing with words! First of all, I’ll transfer a satisfactory amount of credits to everyone’s accounts!】
“……No.”
【And credits alone aren’t enough! So, from now on, Ko-zaka will provide both direct and indirect support! Good?】
“So—.”
【Of course, on top of that, we can certainly arrange a position for social standing if you want—.】
“Ah, be quiet.”
【…….】
I don’t know if it was because of the consistently light atmosphere, but even the surrender felt incredibly light.
I couldn’t tell if he was serious or joking.
In the ruthless cyberpunk world, there should be a clear reason for surrendering. I wondered why he needed to be so humble inside his own headquarters building, which was practically his backyard.
I voiced my doubt.
“Isn’t this too sudden?”
That was the situation.
It was true that resolving things without fighting was the best outcome. However, perhaps because the surrender felt too light, I couldn’t trust Pete Mac’s words.
The Pete Mac character, which had been moving around restlessly, stopped at my question.
The mouse character rolled its eyes like in a cartoon.
Its gaze turned to ‘Eve.’
【…Would you believe me if I said your hacking skills were far superior to what I calculated?】
…….
He had a point.
Just like how she had brought the ninjas to their knees a moment ago.
“Even if that’s true, shouldn’t you apologize in person?”
Then, Pete Mac made a playful expression.
【Unfortunately, that’s a little difficult right now.】
“Can’t you speak properly?”
【…I’m inside a logic processing machine through brain-computer interface technology, so it’ll take some time to prepare a physical body.】
That’s better.
I took a deep breath to calm my flustered heart.
I focused on preventing the gathered mana from exploding.
“……Phew.”
Okay, what should I do now?
He offered compensation and surrendered.
I glanced back.
Ko-zaka William and Ko-zaka Kohaku were still stunned, staring blankly at the monitor, unable to comprehend the current situation.
Catherine, as if this wasn’t the situation she’d expected, yawned widely.
And Eve—.
【?】
A new character walked out from beside Pete Mac, off-screen.
It was a maid character with white hair, her design cutely rendered in chibi form.
It was a figure I often saw on a certain streaming broadcast.
“……Huh?”
I, too, was taken aback by the small character that suddenly appeared on the monitor, ‘Eve.’
【What is this—, Ugh!!】
[I told you to be quiet.]
What happened next was Eve starting to punch the Pete Mac character with her small fists.
I didn’t know the principle behind it, but if Pete Mac wasn’t acting, he seemed to be feeling pain from Eve’s violence within the monitor.
A cute character was hitting another mascot character.
It looked like a scene from a cartoon.
【…How on earth! Ouch, wait!】
Groans mixed with pain escaped from the voice that had always been so confident.
I felt some of the stress that had been building up inside me dissipate.
Eve, who was punching the mouse character with a blank expression, said:
[Tell me what you did wrong, I insist.]
From outside the monitor, it looked like the force of a playful cat punch.
But it seemed to genuinely hurt.
As soon as Eve spoke, Pete Mac started shouting in fear.
【Setting a trap using my son-in-law’s voice data!】
[And?]
【Ah! Blowing up the unmanned taxi the mage was riding in! I’m really sorr—, wait, that really hurts!】
Even after that, Eve’s iron fists didn’t stop.
【Sending terrorists to the cafe—,.】
【Intentionally manipulating the stock market to drop—, Ugh!】
【Monitoring you through security cameras wherever you went—,.】
Facts I knew and facts I didn’t know were revealed.
…….
So, this was the true face of a megacorp chairman.
What was this cyberpunk world…
I regretted not having popcorn as I watched the spectacle. It truly was a sight too good to be seen by just a few people.
【Renting the apartment next door, hiring people, and, Ow! Ordering them to harass the mage!!】
“Excuse me?”
A dumbfounded voice escaped my lips.
I briefly raised my hand slightly. It was a gesture to indicate I had a question.
Somehow, Eve saw my action from within the monitor.
She briefly stopped her punching fists.
“……You mean.”
【Everyone on the same floor, or the floor above, were all hired by me! So please, just stop—,.】
“…….”
Something had felt a bit strange.
There was no way a single building could have so many troublemakers.
The ruler of noise pollution, the ajumma. The sound-sensitive freak, the madman.
And lastly—.
“You’re talking about Bill, right?”
【Yes! I’m truly sorry!】
I experienced firsthand the phenomenon of being speechless from sheer bewilderment.
It was truly something I couldn’t have imagined.
It was so absurd that I even forgot I was gathering ‘mana.’
“Ah.”
This was bad.
The mana gathered throughout my body was trying to escape.
I felt a swirling sensation and instinctively knew that all the mana was escaping my control.
In this situation, I had two choices.
The first was to just let the mana explode.
The second was to quickly use any magic, right now.
My deliberation was short, and my decision was swift.
I didn’t use magic inside the room.
There was no reason to kill anyone.
If I were to use magic, at least it would be outside the room, outside the building—.
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The next day.
I was resting while watching the news about ‘lightning’ striking Ko-zaka’s headquarters.
The people on the news were discussing the dangers of the city’s shielding system and abnormal weather patterns.
Honestly, knowing the truth, I silently apologized to the citizens in my heart, thinking about the city taxes that would go into fixing the shield.
Ding-dong.
The doorbell rang at that moment.
I wondered who it was.
It was the Japanese young man who used to live next door before Catherine moved in.
His name was Nobu…, something.
“Um, I came to apologize in person, with my physical body. I apologize again.”
“…….”
Nobu something seemed to be Nobukiro.
It was so absurd I couldn’t have imagined it.
I felt neither the will nor the energy to respond. I simply nodded weakly.
“If you need anything in the future, feel free to contact me. You look tired, so I’ll be going for now.”
I didn’t care what he did.
I briefly saw him off and closed the door.
In any case, it seemed like my ill-fated relationship with Smile John had come to an end, for now at least. Who knows about the future.
…….
“Sigh….”
I’m so tired.
Truly.
I swore to myself that I wouldn’t leave the house for the next week.
I threw myself onto the bed with that resolve.
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Andrea visited.
“…You want me to appear on the NCB24 broadcast with you?”
“Yes.”
I instinctively closed the front door.
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Fucking lmao, never would’ve expected it to end like this