I fell into the world of cyberpunk games

“… Ugh!”

I woke up from the plastic bed in a cold sweat. I think I had a very eerie dream.

As he put together the scattered pieces of memory, he shook his head flutteringly.

A famous Thai massage shop employee suddenly turned into a giant dragon monster, spewing fire in the city, and while running away from it, he dreamed of meeting an iridescent mecha unicorn who called himself a detective.

In short, it’s a dream come true.

Why are dreams so wild these days?

Each time, Dragon’s Rare’s red dragon mascot character appears in his dreams, making him even more mad.

Thousands of animals chased after me last time to see my back, but this time it transforms into a giant and vomits breath.

When I first saw it, I thought it was cute, but now every time I see it, it reminds me of President Dragon, and I get annoyed.

That man these days, when he sees me every day, he brings up the Ever vending machine-Barbie story and makes fun of him. Aren’t you tired of it

With a sigh, I got up and checked the watch device.

The current time is 2:16 PM.

The date is March 26, 2107.

It’s Saturday morning, five days after the monumental first day of work.

The sun seems to be in the middle of the sky, but since I just woke up, it’s morning for me anyway.

I slept a lot today too.

As soon as I got home from work around 6 am, I fell asleep right away, but now that I just woke up, I have passed out for almost eight hours.

I still haven’t gotten used to the lifestyle. Yesterday I had a bit of a busy day… .

As I recalled it, my eyes became cold. Yesterday, I got beaten up while trying to stop fighting crazy bastards.

It was a gang that said they were going to be robot boxers, but it was definitely punchy.

And the switch in my head didn’t trigger even once while my master was being beaten with excitement.

Since the last time I was a Fallen Angel, there has been no news so far.

Obviously, the experts entrusted with the examination by the president said that as long as I am alive, I will continue to work by sucking the nutrients in my brain, but I am rather anxious because it is quiet.

It’s not like it’s going to cause a malfunction all of a sudden.

I moved and checked the mirror in the bathroom in the shower room next to the bedroom. My face is reflected on the metal mirror display on which various UIs are floating.

If it was normal, would this be good enough? I would have thought about such nonsense, but today I was busy just checking the condition of my eyes.

“What about this?”

I must say I’m lucky. I didn’t have any major bruises, and the swelling was gone… I don’t get tea that’s been beaten very much.

The area around the eyelids came up bare, but it’s not very noticeable.

I was less worried about being teased for having bruised panda eyes.

It seems that the bionic ointment or something that the chief bartender Sei received that day worked.

Rather than swelling, I was more concerned about dark circles. It’s too dark under my eyes. Is it really lack of stamina?

These days, the CEO of Dragon insists that he exercise too, so his consciousness flows in that direction.

but there is no rush Even now, it’s hard to die, but if you exercise here, you’ll really die from overwork.

“I can’t use my bloody spare time to exercise.”

Talking to himself like that, he rolled up the window shutters that seep into the dim light.

It would be nice to welcome you in bright sunlight, but today the weather was gloomy. Dark smog sky, misty ground.

It’s an ordinary Dusk City afternoon.

In the previous world, I would have slept like a Saturday, but this was a dystopian city with a 7-day week, and as always, my work at Dragon’s Rare was waiting for me today.

Even though I have just woken up, I have only three hours to go to work.

After showering and brushing my teeth, I filled my morning with a low-quality wheat pack and strawberry-flavored Coke, then left the room immediately.

I have a great calling that I must make the most of these three hours in the world.

And I finally found a good place to use it.

* * *

“Kabuki Game Center”

An entertainment facility occupying the large mall space on the first floor of the building alone.

Visitors are welcomed from the entrance.

A dazzling and painful red light flashes around the sign.

Even though it is still daytime, the green laser is radiating out in all directions in the dark inside.

Upon entering, numerous arcade game consoles are lined up like barricades.

A thick CRT monitor under the dark lights that you might think of when you think of an arcade pub, and classic game title screens popping up.

Dense lines, machinery, and large computer facilities draped over the side of the game machine, drawing attention, while the joystick-mounted arcade controllers were covered in dust.

Those are just for camouflage to obscure the view, and no one plays arcade game consoles.

Even in Korea in the 21st century, arcade game consoles were being pushed to computer, mobile, and console games to become a relic of the past.

The reason why this place is called a game center, the ‘games’ that are truly popular in Dusk have to go much further inside.

Crossing the floor full of dirty wires, we went inside, passing the rhythm game entertainment machines that were lonely shining the five-colored arrows.

It suddenly becomes dark as if you have entered a dark room. From a place I couldn’t even see an inch in front of me, someone suddenly spoke to me.

[who… Oh, is it Masked Asian?]

When I turned around, a masked center employee was looking at me with a red light amplifying lens on.

Looks like you knew who I was at first sight.

It feels like this thick Darth Vader mask has become its own identity card.

[You always come at this time of day these days. good to come in You must not have forgotten the rules of the Game Center.]

“of course.”

As for the rules, there’s nothing wrong with that.

The fact that only recommended members can enter, and that if an accident occurs, you will be permanently expelled immediately.

And if you report a game center facility to City Police by any chance, bad things may happen to the reporter.

That was it.

I don’t need to worry too much about it. There will be no accidents, and no reports will be made.

It’s not that he’s burning with a sense of justice, and he’s not friendly with the DCPD either.

It’s a pity that we’re close, but I hope we don’t run into each other.

Even if I report it anyway, all the cops who come will be there, so they will pretend to look around the room with arcade game machines in front of me a few times before leaving.

[Then, follow me this way.]

There was a strange feeling of descent as if the darkroom was descending into the basement, and the masked employee pulled the curtain back and stepped forward.

Without fear, I followed him, accustomed to it.

Is there any reason to hesitate, I am also a member of this place who was officially recommended.

It was obvious to whom the recommendation was made. Does this Kabuki building have any other people I’ve connected with other than one?

It was a membership card that I got a while ago by asking the chicken boss Yakuza and Shimizu Dick next door.

As belonging to the Yakuza clan that dominates Asian towns, they have wide feet, so it was perfect for this type of thing.

He looked at me with a very surprised expression and gladly helped me to enter the game center.

This was the only game center I could go to nearby, but thanks to that, things went smoothly.

Wow-.

The machine noise gradually gets louder as you go forward following the staff. There was a scorching heat that could not be put to sleep with a cooler and a thermostat alone.

What was soon revealed was a spectacle of dozens or hundreds of people standing in a row, wearing electrode helmets connected to electronic equipment and sitting idly.

I’ve seen it many times already, but it’s terrifying every time.

Buried in the capsule seat, those dead fish eyes staring into the air in their flickering helmets.

There are so many people and no one speaks, so it’s bizarrely quiet.

In the midst of silence, only the buzzing noise of machines seemed to be in an industrial facility rather than a game center.

In fact, it’s closer to a factory than a PC room or arcade.

Addicts, delinquents, slaves to game money, daily virtual currency miners… The dark side of the net that produced all of that was right in front of me.

“… … .”

It wasn’t for nothing that I was puzzled when the chicken boss Yakuza said that he wanted to join the game center.

In Dusk City, ‘game’ is a term for e-drugs, and going to a game center is the same as being pickled in peripheral pleasure through a sensory amplification VR program.

And now, in front of my eyes, the faces of zombies soaked in pleasure were exposed very nakedly.

Computing machines connected to illegally modified wires that wrap around their bloodshot eyes, bare faces and dirty skin.

Small letters are engraved on the outer surface of the large hardware body. It’s the one common to all machines.

Isiho (Ishiho) Corp.

As soon as I saw the name, I sighed.

It was a company I knew.

It was Megacorp, which was ranked 4th in the overall corporate ranking that anyone could not help but know.

If Milicia International is the best military company in Dusk City, Siho Lee Corporation is the worst tech company in Dusk.

The catch prize is BTL (Better-Than-Life). It means to provide a better pleasure than life.

Although it has reached out to various industries, it is a company that has provided tremendous pleasure and terrible addiction to citizens through e-drugs and rubber bots, as representative of its slogan.

A company with deep ties to the Yakuza that almost dominates the Asian Town in the dark.

As you can see from the bizarre name, it is a Japanese company, and at the same time, it is a terrible black company that will do anything for its own profit.

This is the company that makes and manages the Kabuki Building, and it is Megacorp under the ownership of the chairman with the alias of Iron Blood.

At this point, I think I’ve said everything.

Yes.

It was our headquarters.

Why could I possibly get a house here in a condominium in a Kabuki building? Because the whole area of this building belongs to the company.

Because the name of the place where I belong, where I receive my salary, is Ishiho Ishiho.

did you say Our company is a very, very bad company.

It’s not that I’m afraid of going against the president of the headquarters for nothing.

Hotel management and high-end restaurant and bar franchises are just the president’s hobbies of making small money.

It’s not like that, but dangerous big fish like e-drugs and sex robots. He is bigger than he imagined and plays in dirty water.

I, Aaron Nakamura, was the site manager of Dragon’s Rare and an employee who was handpicked by the Iron Blood Chairman of such a black company ‘Ishiho Corporation’.