Supporting Characters in the Game are Obsessed – Chapter 22

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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I had a dream.

Sometimes I dream of nostalgic times, other times I dream of painful times.

This time, it was clearly the latter.

The surroundings were filled with blood and debris.

Walls, ceiling, floor. Everywhere I looked, there was only red.

I could tell at a glance.

It would take at least dozens of people to create this.

This wasn’t the amount of blood a single person could spill.

The metallic scent of blood stung my nose, and my face contorted involuntarily.

It was an instinctive reaction that flowed out of me unconsciously.

It wasn’t the first time I’d seen a human corpse.

I’d seen countless bodies since I came to this cyberpunk world.

However, this was the first time I’d encountered a situation so severe that the phrase “mountain of corpses” came to mind.

I barely managed to swallow the nausea that rose to my throat.

Someone spoke.

“It’s not that you were late.”

“No, I was late.”

I replied.

Even though I knew everything, even though I was playing a game.

If I had moved even a little faster, this wouldn’t have happened.

Beyond the shadows, I saw a large glass wall.
Cold, heavy rain poured through the smeared bloodstains.

Eventually, I woke up from the dream.

My whole body was drenched in sweat.

I heard the sound of swooshing and turned my head.

Just like in my dream, rain was falling outside the large glass window.

Ah.

I must have forgotten to flip the wall switch after drinking with Drek last night.

With sluggish movements, I approached the window.

As I pressed the window’s shading switch, the entire pane changed to a dark concrete pattern.

What a shitty dream.

I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes.

But I didn’t think I’d fall asleep again.

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Chrome Psycho.

Also called Chrome Junkies, how they emerge and what causes their creation was still unknown.

It was easier to understand them as a type of indiscriminate, random crime, or a crime committed by those with anger management issues.

But there was one difference.

Usually, Chrome Psychos had their entire bodies armed with “chrome,” or cyberware.

In other words, the scale of the incident was different.

NCB24, the news station of Neon City where I currently live, frequently covers this topic.

In a way, it was natural.

Even in a cyberpunk game world, already known for its high crime rate, Neon City couldn’t be left out when choosing the city with the highest crime rate.

If you realize that even the upper and middle levels, where crime is relatively rare, are included in these statistics, you can guess how many incidents occur in the shadows of this city.

As I mentioned earlier, the exact cause of Chrome Psychos hasn’t been identified yet.

However, based on statistical calculations of occurrence rates, “Chrome Psychos” appear particularly frequently on “rainy days.”

For some reason, the reason for this was also unknown.

But,

Today, I thought I knew the reason.

“Ugh, my joints ache.”

[Confirmation. I understand this is a perfectly normal symptom that occurs in ‘humans’ of average or above average age.]

“No, that’s not it.”

My implant sites hurt.

I groaned softly.

In a way, it was natural.

Even the simple process of getting a metal crown on a tooth at the dentist can cause pain in the “implant” on rainy days.

This was far beyond that; a part of my body was replaced with a chunk of chrome.

It was natural for it to hurt on humid days.

Of course, the degree would vary from person to person, but even I, who simply had additional cyberware implants in my skeletal system and some muscles, felt this much pain.

What about those who have more chrome than me? And how much pain would they be in?

I didn’t even want to imagine it.

It was clear that Chrome Psychos committed crimes because of this pain. I confirmed it in my mind.

“I even have a headache.”

[I believe the headache is due to the consumption of a beverage combining dwarven ‘Drek’ and alcohol.]

…….

Anyway, I had a headache. If there was one complaint I had about living with Eve, it was that she was too blunt with facts.

Regardless, it was raining and my body ached.

I vowed that today, absolutely, no matter what, I would not go outside.

Just then, a message notification caught my eye on one side of my visual interface.

Checking the received time, it was a message that arrived while I was still asleep.

It was Catherine.

I don’t know why she keeps trying to come near my place when she has so many houses.

I briefly recalled last night’s memories.

I had forgotten my promise to go home early and ended up drinking heavily with Drek, only returning home after sunset.

I couldn’t remember clearly because of the cheap synthetic alcohol, but I vaguely remembered performing a full-fledged, apologetic grand kowtow to Catherine.

Perhaps thanks to that, Catherine’s mood, as seen in the message, seemed to have improved compared to yesterday.

I sent Catherine a short reply, telling her to take care and come back safely.

There was a time I didn’t contact her for a week and ended up being dragged away to no answer.

It was easier on my mind to reply as soon as I checked, unless there was something urgent.

Now then.

What should I do?

There were several options.

I could watch net streaming, variety shows, movies, or news programs. Even just browsing the netspace would be enough to pass the time.

The slightly disappointing part was that it was best to play games when I was just staying home like this.

The problem was that I didn’t have any games to play.

It was a bit much to continue enjoying the classic, retro game I’d been playing.

Actually, there was a hidden truth that it wasn’t a normal game, and I had already reached the max level.

It definitely wasn’t because I felt guilty for recommending Warrior to someone after quitting the game.

In any case, it was hard to casually log back in.

Then, the remaining options were finding a similar classic game or enjoying a standard virtual reality game.

Unfortunately, the “high-spec data module” I had ordered online hadn’t arrived yet.

Come to think of it, it was strange.

It had been a while since I ordered it.

Why hasn’t it arrived yet?

I decided to access the net site run by the delivery company.

Delivery tracking….

Tracking number lookup….

Hmm.

·
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“…….”

This is why I can’t stop hating Orcs.

Of course, there was a possibility it wasn’t Orcs.

About a 0.01% chance.

“…Sigh, should I just go out and buy it?”

I’ll deal with the compensation process later.

Actually, if I wanted to get it quickly, this was the right way.

As for me.

I wanted to buy it as cheaply as possible, and I was too lazy to go out and buy something.

What should I do? Go out or not?

If I had known my package would end up in the hands of Orcs, I should have asked Drek to get me one when I met him yesterday.

As I was pondering this, Eve spoke.

[Information. A search of the netspace indicates a cyberware specialty store within a 1km radius selling the product at a price 14.25% lower than average.]

An AI who wants to go out was tempting me.

It hadn’t even been long since I decided not to go out and stay home all day.

Should I break that resolution and go out now?
Even though it’s raining outside?

If you think that, you underestimate me.

After a long or short period of contemplation, I made a decision.

“Let’s just relax today.”

[…….]

No means no.

I have my ‘I’ pride.

If I order it again, it’ll arrive eventually.

Or I could buy it when I’m out for other errands.

I lay down on the bed.

Happiness.

What’s so special about it?

It’s something you can obtain just by rolling around in bed….

I wondered why I bothered so much. Then, should I watch some net streaming?

With familiar hand movements, I manipulated the visual interface.

One of the good things about being dropped into a cyberpunk world was being able to project a screen in mid-air and watch whatever I wanted while lying down.

What’s there to watch now?

Oh, Eve was broadcasting.

I don’t know how it works.

But Eve continued broadcasting without interruption, even while living with me.

It seemed like a high level of multitasking.

Perfect timing.

I touched [Eve]’s name on the hologram to watch her broadcast.

[Humans, that’s all for today.]

And at the same time, the broadcast went off.

“?”

The chat window exploded with reactions.

ㅡ ????

ㅡ ?

ㅡ Is the broadcast off for just me?

ㅡ Sudden end, what’s going on Master…?

ㅡ Open the door!! Open it again!!

ㅡ The age of artificial intelligence is over! Rise up, humans!

ㅡ ??????

If this situation was what I expected, then
These reactions were also natural.

“Streamer Eve?”

[I ask why you are saying this.]

“The broadcast is off.”

[I kindly inform you that the scheduled broadcast time is over.]

“I don’t think so.”

[…….]

…So this is how it is.

I’m not the type to fall for Eve’s cheap tricks. If there’s no Eve broadcast, I can watch something else.

A brief search followed.

“……There’s not much to watch.”

Perhaps because it was a weekday afternoon. Unfortunately, there weren’t many broadcasts on.

Come to think of it, I don’t think there’s ever been a time when there were this few broadcasts.

Strange.

I decided to change my objective.

If there weren’t any good broadcasts, I could just find reruns of Eve’s past broadcasts.

In Eve’s case, since she broadcasts for several days, there should be plenty of recorded videos left.

I checked last time, so I was sure.

…….

But why aren’t there any?

This was strange.

Very strange.

There wasn’t a single video of Eve left.

Looking at the reactions on the netspace bulletin board, it was also chaotic.

Many people were discussing Eve’s suddenly vanished videos. Calculating the time, it seemed they disappeared around the time I started looking for reruns.

Most people were saying they didn’t know if such a thing was physically possible.

Hmm.

“Do you really have to go this far?”

[I falsely state that I do not understand what you are talking about.]

“…….”

Then at least don’t say you’re lying.

It felt like that.

Like a puppy throwing a tantrum because I wouldn’t take it for a walk.

…Well, I guess it can’t be helped.

In the end, I started getting ready to go out.

The coat itself had a waterproof function. I just had to add an umbrella to my usual preparations for going out.

It was close, so I should be back soon.

I thought so.

If I had known I would run into a Chrome Psycho on my way back, I really wouldn’t have gone out.

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