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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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The maid who landed from the sky looked around.
Her appearance put Catherine, Andrea, and Drek on guard.
Catherine was ready to draw the gun she carried on her back at any moment.
Andrea was aiming a massive firearm befitting her huge mechanical arm.
Drek held his breath, aiming the projectile launchers attached to both hands.
Normally, they wouldn’t have needed to be this cautious against an unarmed maid.
But considering the aftermath of her arrival, it still felt insufficient.
The hacked and collapsed ninjas struggled to get up with awkward movements.
But as if pressed down by something invisible, not a single one succeeded in standing.
She, presumably ‘Eve,’ moved her feet, seemingly unconcerned about the surrounding reactions.
Her direction was towards Ko-ozaka William, and his brother-in-law, Ko-ozaka Koichiro.
“D-Don’t come any closer!”
Ko-ozaka Koichiro, with his rainbow-colored rooster comb hairstyle, yelled.
He looked around frantically, but his ninja squad, already neutralized, were crawling on the ground.
What was her purpose in approaching them?
My question was quickly answered.
The maid, ‘Eve,’ who stood before Ko-ozaka Koichiro, threw a punch.
“Oof!”
With a short cry, Ko-ozaka Koichiro rolled on the floor like trash.
I knew it from the moment she landed with a hero landing pose from the sky.
Her physical specs seemed to be beyond that of an ordinary person.
Ko-ozaka Koichiro, who rolled several times and collapsed on the floor, looked nothing like the eldest son of MegaCorp.
“…….”
Eve looked down at her fist for a few seconds, seemingly satisfied with the feeling of the impact.
At the same time, she turned her gaze to Ko-ozaka William, who was standing next to her.
The movement felt precise and swift, like a machine.
“Entity ‘Ko-ozaka William’.”
“…Hmm.”
“There should be no falsehood in the fact that you oppose entity ‘Smile John,’ contracted with human ‘Lee Shiun’.”
It was a truly baffling statement.
But perhaps noticing Ko-ozaka Koichiro, collapsed and foaming at the mouth, Ko-ozaka William hastily nodded.
“Lee Shiun, you mean Shun Li. Of course, it’s obvious. I’ve already signed an electronic contract with the mercenary named Drek.”
When did he even sign that?
Was it while he was walking with Drek, arm in arm? Or maybe inside the unmanned taxi on the way here.
Despite Ko-ozaka William’s unhesitating answer,
Eve seemed somewhat dissatisfied.
Her expression remained impassive, but for some reason, I felt that way.
Eve slowly opened her mouth.
“If.”
She raised her hand.
“You fail to fulfill the contract.”
Simultaneously,
The surrounding amusement park,
The massive Ko-ozaka headquarters,
Even the city lights visible outside,
were instantly engulfed in darkness.
The 3D holograms and neon signs that were flying just moments ago, even the lights shining from inside the buildings, vanished as if someone had switched off the power.
“……!”
We stared at the scene, disbelieving our eyes.
In that darkness, Eve continued speaking.
“This is a small demonstration of my abilities.”
The only thing visible in the darkness
was the white glint of Eve’s eyes.
And those shining eyes then turned towards me.
Was it thanks to the prosthetic body?
I don’t think it originally had this level of capability.
…I don’t know what I’ve unleashed upon the world.
I swallowed hard.
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A while later,
We washed up in the shower facilities at the Ko-ozaka amusement park.
We had to take off all our clothes. Thanks to rolling around in the landfill and sewers all day.
Our original clothes were sent to a professional laundry service, and now we were wearing high-quality ready-to-wear clothes provided by Ko-ozaka William.
We left the amusement park.
Originally, we should have discussed the contract and Smile John in detail with Ko-ozaka William, but we were extremely tired, and Ko-ozaka William didn’t seem to be in any state of mind for such a conversation.
Leaving behind Ko-ozaka William, who looked somewhat dazed, I briefly reflected on the day.
Hmm.
It was a truly spectacular day.
Thinking about it, it was absurd.
I had jumped from thousands of meters in the air without a parachute.
I had raided a MegaCorp’s airship carrying the vice chairman and, unintentionally, saved him.
I had escaped the airship that crashed into the landfill and visited my hometown, the underground village.
I had explored the foul sewers and encountered ninjas.
If I told this to a stranger, they’d probably tell me to stop watching movies.
I’m exhausted.
I desperately wanted to go home and collapse on my bed.
It wasn’t just the vice chairman who was dazed.
However, I figured that would have to wait until I was safely out of this situation.
Catherine’s golden eyes looked at me.
Following her gaze, Drek and Andrea also looked at me.
“…So, who is she?”
I couldn’t answer Catherine right away.
All of our eyes turned towards one ‘woman.’
The woman… ‘Eve’ was taking a sip of coffee and savoring the taste.
“Molecular coffee, approximately 3Kcal. It doesn’t contain coffee beans, but it has synthetic caffeine extract, with a measured 251mg of caffeine.”
…….
“This is identified as ‘bitter,’ learning.”
She seemed to be analyzing the taste along with other strange things.
Currently, we were at a cafe in the mid-levels, ‘Saint Hills.’
It was a place I had noticed when I came to catch the information broker, ‘Underdog.’
Of course, it was also because the cafe was located near the Ko-ozaka amusement park, ‘Pete Mac Land.’
The reason we came to the cafe was because my colleagues, eager to have their immediate curiosity satisfied, had insisted with their burning gazes.
Eve sipped her coffee without answering.
As time passed and Eve showed no signs of answering, their gazes shifted to me, the one who presumably knew her identity.
“Hmm.”
It was quite burdensome.
I casually opened my mouth.
“Let’s talk after everyone gets their drinks. Oh right, come to think of it, the interior here is quite nice, or maybe we could just look around─.”
“Cut the crap and explain.”
“……Alright.”
I coughed a few times on purpose.
Right.
They had witnessed a maid landing from the sky with a hero landing, hacking the Ko-ozaka headquarters building, a part of the city, and a ninja squad of dozens in one fell swoop.
It would be a lie if they weren’t curious about Eve’s identity.
By the way, because of Eve’s attire, the people inside the cafe were also sneaking glances at our table.
Even in a cyberpunk world, a maid outfit was a very unusual sight.
“Whoa, those boobs are insane─.”
The man in the cafe who was looking at us collapsed after those words.
I thought he might have had a heart attack,
but judging by the way he was clutching his eyes, it seemed like his ocular implants had malfunctioned.
Oh dear, that’s why it’s important to get regular implant scaling.
Anyway, I sat in my chair and tapped the table.
How much should I explain?
I pondered for a moment.
…….
I should just be honest.
I no longer felt the need to lie.
Catherine had already heard ‘Eve’s name, and everyone had witnessed her abilities.
At this point, I thought it best to start from the beginning, when I first met Eve.
Honestly, it wasn’t a suitable topic for a cafe, but with those eyes demanding immediate answers, I couldn’t help it.
I calmly looked at my colleagues.
“Do you remember the last request we took? The one from Neon City.”
“…Of course, the one related to ‘Rise Corporation’.”
Drek replied to my words.
I nodded and continued.
“Yeah, the tactical nuclear bomb terrorist incident.”
I lowered my voice a little.
“Eve is the AI I brought from there.”
“…She doesn’t seem like an ordinary AI.”
Drek said with an incredulous expression.
He was certainly right.
What kind of AI in the world possesses a synthetic body?
“I think she’s probably the only Super AI in the world.”
It was a story I intended to keep secret for the rest of my life.
I never thought I’d be telling it in a place where everyone could hear.
Andrea, who had been listening to our conversation, quietly spoke.
“Then her body is a full-body synthetic prosthetic. …But, isn’t that kind of prosthetic body restricted?”
I agreed with Andrea.
“The price is high, and the conditions are difficult.”
Just then, the cafe’s serving robot arrived at our table.
I skillfully placed the drinks we ordered, each according to our preferences, onto the table.
By the way, I ordered a fruit juice made from sweet artificial pulp.
Perhaps because of the short period of hardship, I craved something sweet.
I calmed my mind with the drink and said,
“Actually, I don’t know much about that part. I think the credits to buy it probably came from broadcasting.”
“……Broadcasting?”
“Yeah, net streaming.”
“…….”
Streamer Eve.
A rising star and a new legend in the virtual streamer world.
Of course, I doubted she earned that much, but it was just a guess.
It wasn’t impossible.
I looked at Eve as I spoke.
Eve met my gaze.
Her transparent eyes pierced through me.
I remembered her strangely luminous eyes.
“I also engaged in stock trading.”
Perhaps due to having a human body, Eve’s characteristic way of speaking had also changed.
Wait, she traded stocks?
“Then I should also trade stocks─.”
“Negative.”
“…….”
Leaving behind my instantly rejected suggestion, Catherine, who had been silent until now, asked Eve a question.
“Well, let’s say you’re an AI, and let’s say everything else Shiun said is true.”
Without touching the drink that arrived in front of her, Catherine continued.
“But what’s with that outfit? Is it a maid outfit?”
Hmm.
“And also, why did you choose a female body for your synthetic prosthetic? A male body would be more efficient for an AI, considering physical specs.”
I looked at Eve for this part.
Honestly, I was curious too.
Eve, an AI (artificial intelligence).
She had rejected the name ‘Adam’ I tried to give her.
Also, when I asked about her gender a few times before, she only replied, ‘This AI has no gender.’
Yet the Eve who appeared with a synthetic body had a very beautiful female form.
And as the dying words of the cafe customer suggested, the size of her chest drew everyone’s attention.
By the way, I cautiously assumed that Catherine’s sharp reaction wasn’t entirely unaffected by the size of Eve’s chest.
Incidentally, it was my type.
Anyway, everyone at the table looked at Eve.
They awaited her answer.
Eve didn’t seem to feel even the slightest bit of pressure in that situation.
Maintaining her impassive expression,
she sipped her molecular coffee.
After a short time, Eve placed the empty cup on the table.
“That is.”
Eve slowly opened her mouth.
“To serve human ‘Lee Shiun’.”
…….
A brief silence.
Everyone’s gaze shifted to me.
For some reason, their gazes seemed very sharp.
“……Shiun.”
“Wait, why are you looking at me?”
This made it seem like I had asked Eve to do that (maid outfit, female body).
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Omg Eve, you did it on purpose