I Became a Cyberpunk Tycoon

Refining (1)

It was cold. It was a clean and perfect implant research lab made of straight lines joined together.

And this place was inevitably quite a high-level hospital as well.

Installing implants was essentially a declaration that you would be tearing into people's bodies, and there was a need to heal those cut and torn bodies again.

It was a design that didn't consider patient comfort, human rights, or emotions. In fact, there was no need to consider them.

The patients were peacefully sleeping in artificial sleep facilities, waiting for their bodies to recover.

"Aren't you investing too many resources?"

Suhwa approached my side.

"I need my own people too. One person like you isn't enough, right?"

"It's dangerous to trust mercenaries too much."

"Those people are especially dangerous."

I knew well what kind of things Doris, who had 'seized the opportunity,' was capable of.

"It's okay. I won't trust them forever."

From the start, trying to save people from outside Hansan was an extremely dangerous thing.

Hansan is the best company. It's an entity that can promise the best treatment among employers in Stella City.

If someone wasn't employed by Hansan, it means there was a reason for it.

Very rarely, there were talented individuals who 'had ability but weren't discovered' that Hansan hadn't acquired, but those were extremely few.

They're people who lack either ability or character. Since I didn't need people who lacked ability either, I inevitably had to use people who lacked character.

Lacking character didn't really mean lacking 'humanity.'

They were people who held grudges against Hansan, who repeatedly engaged in antisocial behavior and committed dangerous acts.

Using such people was no different from carrying a bomb that could go off at any time. Even if I saved people other than the Doris mercenary group, it wouldn't be much different.

The important thing was not to light the fuse.

"It's regrettable to think that way. To have to give Hansan's highest-grade implants to such humans."

"It's not like we could use them anyway, right?"

"Even so..."

"Those folks can't even use the implants as they are, right? Let's consider it workers' compensation, workers' compensation."

Electronic disruption bombs don't disappear easily. They scatter nanobots everywhere, persistently paralyzing the implants' operation.

The fact that they could hold out until the end was entirely thanks to the implants.

While ordinary people wouldn't immediately lose consciousness if their implants stopped working, they collapsed helplessly right away.

"I don't know where those back alley trash got that item from... but shouldn't we kill them?"

"Let's wait on that for now."

Brown Hood was a force that could become an enemy of 'that alphabet' depending on the route.

If they took the 'corporate route' cooperating with companies other than me, they would display boss-worthy dignity and block the protagonist in my place.

"Surely... are you thinking of cooperating with them as well?"

"That's a last resort. I have no plans for now."

I could give them money. Once my position stabilizes, I could give decent jobs to all Brown Hood members.

But it was uncertain whether their madness-filled extremism would be reduced by that much. The situation was pitiful, but I had to be prepared to give up at any time.

"More than that, we need to eliminate the enemy within us. That comes first."

"While it's certainly dangerous... it doesn't seem to be related to that incident."

"I know."

I answered her casually.

Though I was a bit uncertain, I had known the answer from the start.

"What? Then why..."

"That's not something we can solve right away. For a moment..."

Of course, this lab was also filled with recording devices and CCTVs. This wasn't the kind of conversation to have in a public place.

After thinking for a moment, I went behind her back.

"Young master?"

"Wait a moment."

And I slowly lifted her top. The white shirt didn't come up easily.

"Wh-wh-wh-what! I-I'm fine, but here..."

"Be quiet. Stay still."

Her back was smooth and firm, beautiful like a whiteboard. Even without seeing it, I could feel it with my hands.

I put my hand inside her clothes and started writing letters on her back.

[Don't answer.]

Her body, which had momentarily relaxed, instantly froze with tension.

She's wise. Quick-witted.

As soon as I wrote on her back, she noticed that I was in a state of 'doubting everything.'

[The man in the dark blue shirt you said you saw after joining.]

Although I had worried about whether we should enter the police station to block the enemy's pursuit, fortunately, the attacks stopped after Brown Hood.

Since it was a place where an electronic disruption bomb had gone off, even decent mercenaries wouldn't have been able to find traces inside.

Just as someone who carries thousands of phone numbers stored in their smartphone forgets 'the ability to memorize others' phone numbers,' someone who takes for granted tracking people with advanced devices forgets how to track people with ordinary traces.

What was important was after that, when Suhwa rejoined me.

I was mindlessly holding the women and moving to a safe place, but Suhwa couldn't do that.

She was wary of 'the man in the dark blue shirt' who kept watching us.

[I didn't see him.]

According to her, he wasn't even that far away. Why couldn't I see him, while she could?

It's quite a deep secret. Among people not from the Hansan family, not many would know this fact.

Implants are convenient. Even if you have several convenient servants nearby, that convenience doesn't decrease. Hansan knows that too.

Even Han Sanmok, who thinks the future lies in life science, wouldn't issue an 'implant wear prohibition' order to all family members for no reason.

It wasn't a plot point that would be clearly resolved even in the game. It was just something that a few people who enjoyed making deductions suggested as 'how about this hypothesis?'

We can't talk verbally. As long as there are devices that can detect vibrations in this space, it's absolutely not safe.

The implant attached to her eyes would digitize all incoming visual information and transmit it to the main implant attached to her brain. Written communication isn't safe either.

But the sensation on her back is different. This is information that connects only between Suhwa's back, my fingers, and her brain.

"Anyway, let's focus on internal control for now. I need to... make Hansan in Stella City completely mine."

I spoke after roughly fixing her clothes.

"Ah, um, ah... Understood. I'll do my best for you, young master."

Suhwa couldn't hide her confusion. But she didn't seem afraid either.

She'll follow me for the time being.

"Good, then shall we wait to see when these sleeping beauties wake up..."

I briefly turned my gaze to look at Doris locked in the recovery device.

"They should wake up soon. There's a lot of work to be done."

***

"Citizens are anxious due to the recent violent conflict incident at the abandoned factory. The police have declared that 'we will grasp the situation as quickly as possible and transparently announce the information revealed.'-"

The announcer's voice on TV didn't give much impression to most Stella City citizens.

It's quite scary, but anyone who would tremble in fear at just a few 'violent conflicts' had already left Stella City.

The wealthy thought, 'Indeed, I shouldn't enter dangerous places.' The poor were just grateful they hadn't died that day.

Violent conflicts without civilian casualties don't attract people's attention.

It doesn't matter who dies. As long as it's not oneself. Empathy was a serious sin for people living in Stella City.

"Damn it!"

But Jeong Chansu, an executive of Hansan, couldn't think that way.

It wasn't because he had particularly strong empathy. He was just involved in that incident.

"Have all the mercenaries we could use been wiped out?"

He hadn't let his guard down. Just as a lion gives its all even when catching a rabbit, he had poured out all the mercenaries he could hire without holding back.

But the rabbit was much stronger than he thought, and proudly cut off the lion's neck and ran away.

"I-I'm sorry."

"No, this is good. This is ve-ery good! If I had entrusted really important missions to such guys, it would have been just a matter of time before my neck was gone!"

Hansan also needs secret requests. Mercenaries who are tight-lipped and skilled, and who would move whenever paid, were important assets.

"Just what made things go wrong, why!"

Targeting the Doris mercenary group was simple venting.

The people who were already under his protection had scattered like kites with broken strings, and his power was greatly weakened.

Jeong Chansu's life wasn't in immediate danger. He was still an executive of Hansan, and with a little time, he could restore what he had lost.

But he was anxious. A groundless intuition was tormenting him.

"I feel like... we don't have time."

-------

To support the story, you can read advance chapters @https://stellarrealm.net/series/i-became-a-cyberpunk-tycoon