Chapter 9

The cyberpunk genre usually has similar content.

A dark society appears. It’s called dystopia.

A fixer appears. Usually, the protagonist does this.

And then there’s the mega corporation behind everything.

In short, cyberpunk is about the protagonist fixer getting closer to the truth of the world.

At least, that’s what this game seemed like.

“Mr. Softhead. Don’t you think this Stella Corporation is suspicious? They’re meddling everywhere.”

I waved the Stella Corporation emblem I picked up in the abandoned warehouse.

All three requests I’ve completed so far had traces of Stella.

At first, I thought it was just a successful company, but at this point, the creator’s intention was clear.

This shallow setup was the creator telling the users, “Hey, isn’t Stella suspicious?”

“……”

“What’s going on?”

Mos stared at me.

Do you have something to say?

When I tilted my head, Mos slowly opened his mouth.

“Did you just delegate to others and not get involved in the game development yourself?”

“This is a solo development.”

What is this guy talking about?

At my words, Mos made a strange expression.

“Solo development…?”

“That’s why only my name is on the creator list. Not listing co-authors is a violation of research ethics. Please spare the graduate students.”

“This quality is solo development?”

Mos was slightly surprised.

I puffed out my chest with pride and said,

“Coding, art, modeling, music, story, etc. I did everything.”

“But why is your tone like that?”

“My tone?”

“Why are you acting like we just met?”

Ah.

So that’s what it was.

“I told you. I forget things easily.”

“It seems like it’s beyond that level.”

“I really forget things easily.”

I changed the subject and went inside the abandoned warehouse.

There, a guy who looked like the Security Chief was waiting with his subordinates.

I drew my sword.

Petals bloomed, and the enemies were destroyed. The following bullets were smoothly deflected in a circular motion.

After defeating all the enemies, Mos said incredulously,

“Is this a developer account? Why are you using two martial arts?”

“If you do everything manually, theoretically, you can use all martial arts. The system assist was toggling on and off, so I thought I’d try it, and it worked.”

“…You thought you’d try it?”

Mos made a strange expression again.

I picked up the serum in the warehouse.

Mission clear!

“Why did Stella Corporation get involved?”

The broker muttered as he checked the serum we brought.

After that, it was the usual cliché.

Rumors that Stella Corporation is recently interested in life technology and the Chairman’s life hanging by a thread. It was a clear hint that Stella Corporation is doing crazy things to extend the Chairman’s life.

The creator’s thoughts. All read. That rookie.

I smiled and looked at Mos.

Did Mos really catch all the creator’s shallow tricks?

“……”

Mos covered his mouth with his hand and fell into thought.

Taking time to deduce such an obvious story. What a waste of the time I put into the game.

Mos. Disqualified as a gamer.

“Mr. Softhead. Do you need a story understanding expert?”

“…Just one question, Yoorim.”

“Ask away.”

“Does this game even make sense?”

“My game won’t crash due to errors.”

Developers fight bugs, but I’m different. I have that ability from the start.

“That’s… not what I meant, but I get it.”

“No?”

“Let’s go.”

It was definitely strange to talk about errors. ‘Does this game even make sense?’ It sounds like something you’d say when the balance is broken.

I looked at him suspiciously, but Mos ignored me and resumed the game.

I followed Mos.

It’s probably nothing.

As the game progressed, the outline of the story became clear.

My guess is this.

Stella Corporation is secretly researching immortality. If successful, this world will be monopolized by those who even have extended lifespans.

But the results are not clear. From telomere reversal to designer babies and cyberization, traces of various researches were found, but none of them even produced a prototype.

It means they failed.

So, I understood why Stella is desperate to produce results.

What I’m curious about is this.

Why did Stella get involved in so many back-alley dealings?

It’s common for corporations to use fixers to handle dirty work. If they didn’t, the fixer profession wouldn’t have existed in the first place.

But there’s a limit. Leaving traces everywhere like this is excessive.

What kind of research requires meddling from brothels to drug dens? If it’s just normal aging research, this wouldn’t be necessary, right?

“Maybe they did human experiments? Looking closely, all the lists are good for sneaking people in.”

“I don’t know.”

“Mr. Softhead. Why are you so unmotivated? I’ll add a maid in the DLC, so please deduce diligently.”

“I do like maids, but I don’t expect maids to appear in every game.”

“It’s not like that…”

Stella Corporation has been caught conducting human experiments for aging research.

But I still don’t know who the final boss is. The story is heading towards its climax, but I can’t even guess.

The chairman of Stella Corporation? Is that old man going to rejuvenate himself and face us?

It was ambiguous.

First of all, we had absolutely no connection with Stella Corporation.

Even though Stella Corporation appeared a lot in the game, it didn’t mean we were in a hostile relationship with them.

We just took on a request. Frankly, from the player’s perspective, whether the chairman of Stella Corporation achieves immortality or not doesn’t matter.

If we fight the chairman of Stella Corporation in this state… it would feel forced.

Then it would be a trash game. What are they planning for the ending?

Could it be?

A light bulb flickered on in my head.

Why do we keep encountering Stella Corporation? The answer came to me.

The tax accountant is the culprit.

After all, the one who gave us the request was the intermediary, the tax accountant. Therefore, the tax accountant could manipulate our actions if they wanted.

They must have heard rumors about the immortality technique and got greedy. I should have noticed when their tone became sinister. This dirty traitor.

We’ll probably have to raid Stella Corporation soon. It’ll be easy if the tax accountant intervenes.

There, all the truth will be revealed, and the moment we try to get our hands on the aging technology, the tax accountant will surely shoot us in the back.

I looked at Mos.

I could have told him the truth, but I hid it.

It’ll be more fun to enjoy the twist that way.

My prediction was correct, and the situation changed rapidly.

Stella’s hunting dogs are chasing us. It was an excessive response for just ruining a few workshops.

It also violates the principle that back-alley matters should stay in the back alley.

It must be because the tax accountant manipulated the information in between. So obvious.

I, along with Mos, avoided the hunting dogs and stormed into the chairman’s villa.

The goal of this mission was to negotiate with the chairman and cancel the hunting order.

The villa was a mansion with a swimming pool. Naturally, there was heavy security.

We had a final showdown with the head of security.

Every time he moved, the surroundings seemed to collapse.

It was truly the presence of a final boss, but something felt off.

For a final battle, it was a bit dull. If this was the last fight, it should have been more spectacular. If not now, the opportunity to include what I thought would be lost.

From a developer’s perspective, this was a production that left a lot of room.

Indeed. It was clear that the real final battle with the tax accountant was still to come.

After almost 8 hours of coordination, we quickly defeated the head of security.

I went down to the basement of the mansion with Mos.

Stopping in front of a huge iron door, I muttered softly.

“Is this supposed to open?”

“Probably.”

As I placed my hand on the panel in front of the iron door, it opened.

[Activation level: 89%]

Activation level…?

The number that appeared on the panel bothered me, but I went inside first.

The basement of the mansion was covered in white tiles, resembling a hospital’s sterile room.

All sorts of machines were set up in the sterile room, like a laboratory.

Looking around, I soon found the target.

A bed in the center. As I approached, the chairman of Stella Corporation was lying there with an oxygen mask.

“……?”

I frowned.

Humans cannot live without oxygen. All living beings breathe to take in oxygen, and humans are no exception.

But the chairman’s chest wasn’t moving at all.

What’s going on?

Did the tax accountant already intervene? Or was it earlier? Then who released the hunting dogs chasing us? If he gave the order and then died, it would make sense…

There was a crucial piece of the puzzle missing.

But I don’t know what it is.

“Malangmabang. This is weird.”

“What is?”

“The nasty developer must have hidden some information on purpose. Otherwise, it doesn’t make sense.”

“That seems right.”

Click.

The sound of a gun being loaded came from behind.

And there are only two people here now.

I carefully turned my body and opened my mouth.

“Malangmabang?”

Bang!

The gun fired.

Quickly twisting my body to dodge the bullet, I shouted in shock.

“What if it’s not the tax accountant but the original who betrays us!”

“Why are you asking me? The one who made this game is Yoorim.”