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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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Certainly.
It seemed they had talked about it beforehand.
Contrary to my thoughts, neither Catherine nor Eve showed much dissatisfaction with Andrea’s actions.
Eve was one thing.
But I had expected Catherine to go in the order of ‘You?’, ‘A manager?’, ‘Why?’ and then finish with something like ‘I’m against it.’
“Alright, if that’s the situation, it can’t be helped. Let’s see each other at the concert hall later.”
Were the words of Catherine, who was lazing around in a more relaxed posture than usual.
Perhaps because a change of heart had occurred after the short conversation on the rooftop, she didn’t seem to care much about Andrea’s kidnapping (hiring).
‘Our golden child has changed a lot.’
I felt a special kind of emotion.
Anyway, they say that a lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit.
The manager job I had taken on, I wanted to perform the job properly so as not to be a nuisance to Andrea.
It was a habit I had acquired because of my mercenary work.
I asked, following behind Andrea.
“Is there anything I need to know separately?”
“Not really?”
Andrea answered, shaking her head. And then she explained further.
“The coordinators and stylists are all staff hired by the concert company anyway, and besides, the dressing rooms and shops are also prepared inside.”
Andrea finished her explanation with a light step.
“And there are no other schedules set for that day, so you can just come as you are and worry only about the terrorists.”
I nodded at Andrea’s words.
“So I really just have to do security work.”
“I told you earlier. It’s a ‘disguise’.”
Well, there was no way that Andrea, who was quite professional about her work, would entrust the manager’s job to me, who knew nothing.
…….
But, she said I only had to do security.
So why did I have to start work right now?
I was about to ask Andrea about that part, but the elevator arriving at the basement level was faster.
As we arrived at the underground parking lot, I saw a black van stopped on one side.
It was Andrea’s work-tuned van, which I felt like I had seen a few times while passing by.
I remembered that a female manager had always been at the wheel. Since I was in the role of a manager today, I thought I might have to drive.
I asked Andrea a question that had suddenly occurred to me.
“Come to think of it, what about the original manager?”
“Ah…, that person?”
Andrea stopped in her tracks. She turned toward me and skillfully operated her visual interface.
The manager’s face appeared in the air.
[…Uh, hello. Ms. Andrea?]
It seemed she had called the existing manager through the hologram call function.
[What did you call for?]
“Just to see if you were having a good time.”
I looked at the screen floating in front of Andrea.
Behind the manager’s flustered face, the ‘blue sky’ was spread out.
‘What, where is she taking the call from.’
The manager, who had let out a light breath at Andrea’s question, drew a smile on her lips.
[I’m having a happy time, of course, USA City is really amazing! Look at the sky!]
I thought she was a quiet person. It seemed she had just been deliberately quiet in normal times.
[This is all possible because you gave me a vacation, Ms. Andrea! As I said last time, thank you! My parents are happy too!]
“Hmm, hmm.”
It seemed Andrea had given her a vacation.
But, as the manager’s call continued, something suspicious was bothering me.
[I wondered what was going on when you suddenly asked me to go on vacation at this time, but again, I thank you for your deep consideration, Ms. Andrea—.]
“I’m hanging up.”
[Pardon?]
As if Andrea had also noticed that part, Andrea cut off the manager’s words and hurriedly ended the call.
“……”
I stared at Andrea intently.
“She wanted to go, so I let her.”
“……”
“It’s true, I tell you.”
“……”
Andrea, who had smiled smoothly, grabbed my shoulder. A move to block my escape route.
‘…By any chance.’
‘Was all of this just Andrea’s ‘personal desire’.’
‘And was there no need for me to be a manager?’
I thought, in a short silence.
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I let out a long yawn.
After living the life of a home security guard (unemployed), who slept when he was sleepy and woke up when he opened his eyes, to wake up so early in the morning like this.
My eyes kept closing.
-Beep beep boop, beep bee—.
‘Ugh, so loud.’
I roughly turned off the clock alarm that was ringing directly in my head.
‘I feel like I’m going to get a mental illness after just one day.’
I wondered how on earth the many working people living in this era lived, enduring this sound.
I could have changed to a different alarm sound through a paid service subscription, but I didn’t use the alarm function of my neural computer chip much anyway.
Of course, I hadn’t subscribed to the paid service either.
To be honest, I had also forgotten about it.
【We will now deliver the news from NCB24 using the free advertisement data time.】
As the alarm sound disappeared, the news advertisement, which was (forcibly) delivered to free users, began.
I, who had been yawning languidly on the sofa and replenishing the insufficient air, bent my body as is.
I used the pillow I had been sleeping on last night to cover my own ears.
I was sleepy and my mind was a mess. I didn’t know what was going on around me.
For now, I just wanted to get rid of this advertisement sound.
However, there was no way I could block the news (advertisement) coming from inside my head with just that much action.
The advertisement was continuously delivered to my bowed ear.
In that state, I moved only my hands and searched for the credit payment process.
【It is said that there has been a threat from terrorists against the ‘Iron Heart Festival,’ the most famous concert in Neon City. The said terrorist group is known as the extreme Luddite ideologues—.】
The subscription credits were withdrawn from my account.
Soon, the sound of the advertisement news also disappeared.
Only then was I able to get up.
I slowly assessed my situation.
……Hmm.
Come to think of it, I had come to Andrea’s house yesterday because of my manager duties and had slept here.
When she had said there was only one bed, I had said I would just sleep on the sofa.
There had also been Andrea’s persistent request to sleep in the same bed, saying she was fine.
But Andrea had not been able to overcome my stubbornness, which had been tempered countless times through the golden child.
I stretched with all my might.
Still, perhaps because the sofa was soft, I hadn’t had a rough night’s sleep.
The time I had set the alarm for was the time Andrea had told me in advance. She had said we had to start preparing from then.
‘The concert itself starts in the evening.’
‘Why do we have to start preparing from the early morning.’
Since it was me who had agreed to take on the manager’s job, it was a grave I had dug for myself.
And that’s why I was now suffering from fatigue and sleepiness.
‘…Is Andrea awake.’
I thought so and got up from the sofa. The blanket I was covering myself with slid off my body with a rustle.
…….
‘Something’s kicking my foot.’
I scratched my head and looked down at my feet.
And.
I froze at the same time.
“……”
Because someone who was letting out a shallow breath, saek-, was sleeping on the floor.
She was also the star of the song concert that had just been on the news, and an influencer whose related news could be easily found on net space.
A mercenary colleague, and a famous singer.
I let out a short sigh.
“…Why is she sleeping here too.”
Seeing as she had even brought a blanket to cover herself, it seemed she had spent the entire night here.
‘I don’t even know when she came.’
‘I’m pretty sure I saw her lying down in bed to sleep.’
For now, I very carefully killed the sound and sat back down on the sofa so that Andrea wouldn’t wake up.
The sunlight, which could only be seen in the upper level, brightly illuminated the living room through the wall, the huge glass door.
‘…She’s sleeping well even though it’s so bright.’
I propped my chin on my hand and looked down at Andrea.
Normally, if you had slept on the floor, your hair should have become a bird’s nest.
But Andrea’s hairstyle flowed down smoothly as if someone had styled it.
‘Do celebrities’ hair not get messy?’
I thought, smoothing down my own messy hair.
A sweet scent was wafting elegantly on the wind from the air purifier from somewhere.
Having grasped the situation up to that point, I shot up from my seat.
‘First, I’ll wash my face.’
‘And I’ll get a grip.’
‘I can wake Andrea up after that.’
“Mnya….”
With a large stride, I stepped over Andrea, who was clinging to the bottom of the sofa and muttering in her sleep.
When I had arrived at Andrea’s house yesterday, I had roughly grasped the layout of the house, so I didn’t get lost on my way to the washroom.
I lifted the handle of the sink faucet.
With a clean and refreshing sound, cold water fell with a strong water pressure.
I lightly washed my face.
‘Now I’m a little more awake.’
Before long, I lifted my head and faced my reflection in the mirror.
Perhaps because I had woken up from an alarm, the dark circles, a deeper color than usual, were the first thing that caught my eye.
‘Should I take a shower first.’
‘No, I should probably wake Andrea up first.’
Looking around at my reflection in the mirror, I noticed something strange.
A little while ago, it seemed the sweet scent that had been coming from where Andrea was was still wafting nearby.
‘Do rich people’s houses have a different scent?’
‘I don’t think it was like this yesterday.’
Since there was no one around, I sniffed and sniffed and looked for the source of the scent.
…….
‘Strange.’
‘I haven’t even put on perfume.’
‘Why does it seem like the scent is coming from my chest.’
Looking closely through the mirror, it seemed like a little bit of cosmetic powder was on it….
Hmm. I thought, based on that situation.
‘If my guess is right. When I was asleep, Andrea had secretly approached the sofa I was sleeping on and had rubbed her face on my chest—.’
I shook my head roughly and denied it.
‘No, it can’t be this.’
But if so, what was the identity of the scent that had seeped into my clothes.
I thought I might know if I asked Eve, but I didn’t have the courage to open Pandora’s box and face the truth.
I came to a short conclusion.
‘It’s probably the scent of the sofa.’
‘If it’s an expensive sofa, it would have that kind of function.’
“……”
Right. My thought must be right.
I erased the inner demon that had arisen in my heart.
It was about time to wake Andrea up.
I moved my steps toward the living room again, trying hard to maintain my composure.
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