How To Live as a Cyberpunk Solver

93. party

Leonard left the Citizens Welfare Department at the city hall and sighed deeply at the gloomy sky.

It was not a personal request, but the procedure was quite complicated, but somehow I was able to get the bounty. An additional 170,000 credits were added to the account.

“Why 170,000? halfway?”

The trio defeated by Leonard were not recognized as members of the Liberation Front. The reason was that both the brain and memory chips had been destroyed, making it impossible to tell whether they were gangsters hired on the street or anti-corporate terrorists. The duo caught by the gunsmith were able to recover the recording device and were recognized as members of the Liberation Front…

“They took 15% off as tax.”

“Are you taxing the bounty?”

It didn’t make sense even with Max’s less mature common sense, but that was the reality.

“What do you want from a corporate dictatorship?”

The New People’s Federation was not a 20th century democracy. It was a daily routine to deal with things as they pleased.

Besides, since he had decided to give 30% of the 170,000 credits, or 51,000 credits, to the gunsmith, only 119,000 credits were left in Leonard’s account. Even if you postpone all 7 years of life as a solver, it is not a small amount, but compared to the assumption of a maximum of 1 million credits, it was a small achievement.

“Still, since I still have the 100,000 credits from B…”

Total earnings were 219,000 credits. After paying the balance of 170,000 credits on the hotel site, there are about 50,000 credits left. Max finished his calculations and raised an eyebrow.

“One bounty hunt is better than 10 scavenger quests.”

“Because a wanted bounty like this isn’t common.”

It seems like a profit earned in only 3 days, but it was a compensation accumulated one by one from the detention house raid, the snowball investigation, and the psycho cyborg terror. The hardships of the past passed by like a panorama.

“Are you happy though?”

“Well.”

It took a bit of time to settle my mind, as humans are more attached to what we lost than what we gained. It was very, very little.

“It is right to be happy.”

“Because it is.”

When Leonard, the land rich man of Junk Hill, smiled, so did Max, the unofficial heir. There was still a lot of work left to do, but I decided to laugh out loud first. A deep, dark laugh echoed around City Hall.

@

Leonard went to the landlord of 18th-8th Street and paid the balance. I paid back 10,000 or 20,000 every week for a debt that was expected to last up to three years, and it was settled in half a year. It seems that the solver planted the misunderstanding that the credits are incredibly high, but I didn’t care because it was the personal matter of the land owner.

“It’s a good thing. It’s something to celebrate.”

muttered the broker, Jake, fiddling with his glass. It was not cheap alcohol diluted with industrial ethanol, but regular alcohol fermented with edible sugar. Since each bottle costs 500 credits, I bought just two bottles and shared one. The broker was unhappy with that.

“But why! Why are you having a party here!”

Leonard Walker’s debt settlement celebration party was held at the 15th-9th Street broker’s office. In addition to Noah Lucas and Layla the gunsmith, who helped sign the contract, Jane the mechanic and Jack Turner the casino manager came to visit, and surprisingly, even the Twins of the Twins Gang responded to the invitation.

“What can I do? Our house is under construction.”

“Rent a restaurant and do it!”

“You have to save credit. There are a lot of places to go in the future.”

Now I just paid off the debt and got the land transferred. Let alone the construction cost, the design request was tight. I had no idea how many more credits would go into it. Knowing it or not, one of the twins complained.

“The alcohol tastes good, but the food is not good. Shouldn’t we kill a cow instead of artificial meat on a day like this?”

“The price of the cow is more expensive than the price of your body.”

There are only two bottles of high-quality alcohol, but cheap industrial alcohol is prepared so that you can drink as much as you like. From the point of view of the old people, it was a poison party for those who wanted to commit suicide, but there were no implants with less than 50% of implants except for Max.

“Don’t worry, we have the best doctor in Junk Town. If you pass out after eating, I will replace your liver, stomach, and kidneys with new ones.”

“And send thousands of credit bills? Come on, let’s drink in moderation. Moderately.”

Perhaps it was because Leonard was usually well-liked or because he didn’t want to cause a fuss in the broker’s office, the party went on smoothly.

“The difference is that we learn more from old technology than new technology. In this field, unlike biotechnology, all theories were established in the 20th century.”

“Well? I think it’s similar to saying that it’s better to send it to the ball bar neatly, like you’re giving a shit because of poor maintenance, right?”

“Don’t you agree that it played a fundamental, if not decisive, role in the downfall of the knight class? It’s because how cheaply you kill it is the cost-effectiveness.”

“That’s right. But even after World War II, knives are still the most common murder weapon, and that fact will not change even in the 22nd century.”

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Jane, a mechanic who has a similarity in fixing machines, and the Twins teamed up, and a firearms maniac, gunsmith, and a sword maniac, Noah Lucas, discussed the venerable social activity of murder.

“My name is Jack Turner, who runs a small business on 11th Street. I didn’t know this place was here and came empty-handed. If you visit our place of business, we will treat you properly…”

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Jack Turner, who was burdened by neither the boss of a huge gang nor the legendary solver, pretended to be friendly with the easygoing broker. Business is business, so it was an opportunity to get acquainted with the big hands who dominate Junk Town.

“Is there anyone who hasn’t come yet?”

“The noodle restaurant owner says he can’t come because of business, and the scavenger king doesn’t like busy streets, so he just celebrates with his heart.”

“It will be difficult to come here any longer. It’s really difficult.”

The broker’s office wasn’t small, but it was as dense as bean sprouts as Jack Turner’s bodyguards and the Twins roamed around. So, there was one good point. I came to the house next door or downstairs with an iron pipe to protest the commotion, but suddenly possessed as a mechanic to the ramshackle implant gangs and went back, worrying about the waterproofing of the ceiling.

In fact, objectively speaking, it wasn’t such a loud party. There were no terminal gangs, where many of Junktown’s tycoons congregated and made a fuss. It was just a high-pitched song and a few fist fights.

When the alcohol, food, and sane mind ran out, one by one they left without a sound.

“The solver.”

The broker, Jake, spoke with a slightly loose tongue. I am the landlord, but I am not a host, I am drunk to my heart’s content. Leonard, who hadn’t had a drop of alcohol in his mouth, asked back.

“me?”

“Not an Old Fixer like you, but a Newbie.”

I don’t like the choice of words, but since I can’t hit a drunk, I just let it go.

“I found a guy who seduces those fledglings and gives them jobs.”

A dog or a calf is a floor that becomes a solver if you say ‘I’m a solver’, but winning a job was different. A newcomer with no reputation and no connections could not receive a request for 1 credit without a broker. It was only natural that there was a broker who asked for work behind the fearless rookie solver.

“who?”

The broker struggled to straighten his body leaning under the sofa.

“While you’re running around outside the city, I’m busy researching…”

“Oh, who are you?”

I would not let go of this if I asked for information, but fortunately it was a simple injection.

“Who is the middleman who would do such a dirty thing? Damn… it’s actually obvious, but…”

It’s not a name, but something similar came out. Leonard said, “I’m going? Am I really going?” He gestured to Noah Lucas, who was screaming, to please go and asked to confirm.

“Are you Dirty Hancock?”

The broker’s head moved up and down. I think I was drunk and dozed off, but the answer came anyway.

@

Leonard has been busy for a while.

It is a junk town that seems to be living haphazardly, but in order to build a building and run a business, there were surprisingly a lot of things that had to be reported, inspected, and submitted. It’s been a week since I’ve been wandering around like crazy, but I didn’t even care about the intermediary’s scolding why I didn’t leave the room.

“I’ve never seen firefighters go to a fire, so why are there so many fire-related reports?”

“It’s just to rip off taxes.”

When the New People’s Federal Law was mentioned beyond real estate laws, I couldn’t handle it alone. In the end, I had to go to Cooper, the rattle, who had a lot of connections in White Town, and be introduced to an expert. It wasn’t something I liked very much.

“Who is this? Isn’t that Leonard Walker discriminating against people?”

“What?”

“It’s nice to meet you and I don’t want to see you again when we part, but isn’t it a relationship where we can call each other if something good happens?”

“…What?”

He seems very sad that he was not invited to the party last time. Leonard didn’t sneer, saying, “I’m skipping the news of the obituary because it’s a waste of phone bills.” There was a lot of regret in that position.

“Because I know very well that corporate executives are busy licking their buttholes.”

At this point, it was a decent excuse. The rattle chuckled and offered a seat.

“Would you like me to introduce you to a real estate expert? It’s not difficult. Because I once handled that request cheaply. You just have to put in a fair amount of fees.”

“That’s good.”

Rattle made several phone calls and remotely obtained a digital business card and gave it to Leonard. After all, networking was a skill and ability.

“Shall we have a cup of coffee?”

Leonard’s errands were over, but the rattle’s errands had just begun. For some reason, he gave me a high-quality coffee.

“You’re not quitting your job, are you?”

When Leonard quit his job, it was a loss for the entire industry because of the exaggeration. Knives and gunslingers are as common as roadside weeds, but implant hackers haven’t reached triple digits throughout A-044 City. Among them, the ‘fixer’ hacker who had both skills and trust was virtually the only one.

“You have to quit at some point.”

“Isn’t that today or tomorrow?”

Leonard put his weight on the back of his chair and crossed one leg. In other words, he became very arrogant.

“How come you help me, but…”

I knew everything I would have known in 7 years. Leonard spoke softly, in a spirit of reciprocity.

“try.”

“What?”

“Speak sorry.”

The expression on the rattle’s face became uncomfortable in many ways.

“It’s not even a pity. It’s not a bad request for you either.”

“I don’t know if you’ve heard the news, but I haven’t had any regrets since I recently touched a lump sum.”

“How many people did you hand over to the Liberation Front?”

It was not difficult to reason, as the news reported that some of the terrorists had been wiped out every day, and rumors spread that Leonard Walker had bought a piece of land with a good view in Junk Hill.

“I wouldn’t have hit my head if I saw that I couldn’t get off the floor.”

“If you’re curious about that, just ask. It’s not information to hide.”

Leonard’s posture changed again. I decided to put the arrogance aside for a while. The rattle unfolded some data.

“If you’re going to keep doing this, that’s a good thing. You can also reduce the regret of being a target for a terrorist organization.”

As soon as the hotel was raised, a terrorist with a bomb on his belly appeared and boom! It was very difficult to do. It is unlikely that the Liberation Front, with its anti-corporate base, will attack the lodging and entertainment establishments in Junk Town.

“Let’s do something good for sister and brother-in-law. Even if you can’t hit the head, you have to grab the body.”

Leonard flipped through the digital data spread out by the rattle. I thought there would be Liberation Front, Terrorist Organization, B, etc., but surprisingly dirty names were mentioned.