IBACT Chapter 25

Devaluation (13)

I put a cigarette in my mouth.

It wasn’t particularly good manners for someone driving a car, but at this moment, it couldn’t be helped.

The car’s air purification system activated. The expensive vehicle greedily sucked in the cigarette smoke.

“Phew……”

After taking a few puffs of the cigarette, acrid smoke enters my lungs.

I couldn’t understand it.

“Was… the money I gave not enough?”

“No. If they opened a new store or… used it wisely, it was enough money for someone in the slums to live for several years, maybe even longer.”

“That’s right.”

There’s no way he would have thrown it away without even looking at it, and he must have known how much money I had given him.

“But he probably had no intention of quitting his job. In Stella City, there’s a big difference between being employed by a corporation in production work and not being employed at all.”

It remained an unchanging fact that corporations treated their employees like dogs.

But it’s not like nature is particularly friendly to stray dogs either.

They have to endure threats from numerous predators, find shelter on cold or hot days, and have no choice but to rummage through garbage heaps for food.

He couldn’t have gone around spending money freely either. This city doesn’t respect people who have money but no power.

All sorts of gangs would try to fleece them for ‘extra income,’ and mercenaries would threaten his money while wearing masks.

Even people who just knew he had money would try to sell that information for personal gain.

If he really had a lot of money, he could have hired mercenaries, but even that had clear limitations.

Finding trustworthy mercenaries in this city isn’t an easy task. Even if you find them, there’s no guarantee of safety.

“You don’t need to blame yourself. Young master, you did everything you could for him… no, even more than that.”

Medical expenses, electricity bills, and other fixed and essential expenses that affect quality of life.

People not enrolled in corporate health insurance have no choice but to suffer alone without medical help even for common illnesses.

Since it would have been known that he was unfairly dismissed due to my needless anger, it might have been natural for him to look for another job.

“…I didn’t expect it to turn out like this.”

“It was necessary.”

“Was it?”

It was simply to set the mood.

Using a different method might not have made much difference. Maybe his dismissal wasn’t absolutely necessary to show that ‘I don’t calculate before acting.’

But I soon shook my head.

“…I guess it was.”

Hansan’s factory wasn’t free from this kind of incident either.

At the food factory where I had made a mess, there were no additional casualties since people were being cautious.

But the accident rates at other factories weren’t much different from other corporations.

If someone was meant to die, they would have died anywhere. Even thinking that way didn’t make me feel much better.

I put another cigarette in my mouth.

As a citizen of Stella City, becoming accustomed to death was an essential virtue for survival. This was just part of the adaptation process.

I swallow saliva dirtied by smoke. The disgusting sensation makes me want to retch.

It was too cheap a sacrifice. I had no intention of arguing the idealistic value that human life is more important than anything else.

But I at least thought that human life should be worth more than this.

If the corporation had given up some amount, could they have created a system where such accidents wouldn’t happen?

“We can’t bring back the dead. It’s a common death in Stella City… and it’s not good for you to be so depressed. It’s not your fault, young master.”

The secretary tried to comfort me. But even that comfort felt frustrating because I couldn’t fully accept it in this situation.

The reason she comforts me is simply because I’m Hansan’s descendant and the ‘young master’ she serves. She probably hadn’t thought deeply about ‘John’s death’ with sincerity.

That’s not all. Although it could be thought of more lightly because no one died, saving that wounded veteran was no different from ‘buying people cheaply’ in a way.

There are too many things I can do. Even the smallest change in emotion can determine whether people live or die.

The world looks too small. Maybe because of the towering buildings, the sky seems narrow.

After throwing away the cigarette burned black to its filter in the trash, I put another one in my mouth.

“You’re grieving too much.”

“…I’m not that sad.”

Even though I had seen his face once, we weren’t close enough for me to panic just because he died.

I just hated this city.

I hate this city that forces guilt on me for just this much. I hate this cyberpunk world that forces such choices.

Being treated like a thug was half-intentional on my part.

Even if people dislike it, they won’t look at Han Sanwoo differently, but it wasn’t a bad perspective for me.

But having Lisa look at me with eyes that see trash.

It was sad that she saw me not with personal hatred, but as a disgusting being who uses human death.

I couldn’t be sure I could endure this forever. Moreover, it wasn’t entirely wrong.

Whatever the goal, my actions involve using others’ deaths and arbitrarily using others’ lives.

Buying their infinitely depreciated values with cheap money.

I’m not even confident that this will create a better world. Words like not letting their deaths be in vain or that the dead would have wanted this ring hollow.

My goal is ultimately my own security, and to make Hansan a bit more ‘coexistence-possible’ level for that.

To avoid the blade of the ‘protagonist’ who will appear someday, to create someone who will fight instead of me, or with me, when that sword is pointed at me.

Maybe it was wrong.

Whether it’s the protagonist or other violent forces besides the protagonist. Maybe it would be better for Stella City if the corporate order was overturned once.

No matter how much someone who has been part of Hansan wears a mask saying ‘this is for the people,’ it’s like a predator considering the circumstances of its prey.

Cigarette smoke fills my lungs, and the flame flickering at the end of the second cigarette has already reached its end.

The filterless cigarette only brought the heat of burning paper to my mouth, without any flavor.

I swallowed it all. Without spilling a single puff, I drank it while holding back my nausea.

***

“Hey, that. Isn’t that the data we got? It’s on the news?”

“What nonsense……”

At Ravina’s question, Doris turned her head annoyed.

But even she had to prick up her ears when she heard the voice flowing from the TV.

[This behavior shows how serious the moral hazard is throughout factories and corporations.]

“That guy is saying such things?”

Even in Stella City where numerous corporations are fighting, if asked to pick the most vicious and dangerous person, Han Sanwoo could be chosen.

Just by his position alone, he exuded influence on a different level from others.

“Look at that. It’s the data we stole, right?”

“…He’s crazy. He’s not using it to make money or negotiate, he’s just pouring it on the ground?”

When a corporation uncovers dangerous information about another corporation, the most efficient way to use that information was not to distribute it.

If the matter was trivial, they might casually expose it and enjoy watching the other party panic, but this was clearly self-destructive from any angle.

“What benefit… can Hansan gain from this?”

“Well. I can’t think of any.”

“Is Han Sanwoo just going crazy and running wild?”

“At this level, it seems like there’s a grudge against Hansan itself, not just other corporations?”

Until now, Han Sanwoo, for better or worse, had not taken action.

Except for appearing once or twice to add weight in ‘situations where Hansan’s successor was absolutely necessary,’ he hadn’t shown himself at official events or even when Hansan’s voice was needed.

There were rumors a few times about him causing trouble at upscale bars, but they were quickly buried by the ruthless suppression of Hansan’s media management team.

“Maybe he’s found some motivation to act. Well, it’s not our concern.”

“It is our concern. The person who gave us the request has connections with Han Sanwoo, a big shot.”

Luna coldly refuted Doris’s carefree words.

“Things work out that way?”

“You saw it too, right? The person who came to save us, they brought along guards covered in implants.”

“It was terrifying.”

Enhanced exoskeletons were not just expensive, but finding people who could wear them was not an easy task either.

Unless someone was incredibly talented, they would be staggering so much they couldn’t even handle daily life, let alone follow orders, after just a few hours or days.

[Look here. After killing Stella City’s citizens so ruthlessly, those responsible are still shamelessly walking the streets!]

“It’s not wrong but… it’s funny hearing those words from Han Sanwoo’s mouth.”

“Yeah, it’s… funny.”

Doris bit her lip. If he was now planning to make excuses starting with ‘Actually, I’m clean but my subordinates…,’ she felt she couldn’t stand the disgust.

“The Brown Hood guys, thinking about it now, they might be glad they didn’t steal this information.”

“You think so? Well, no matter how much they try… compared to Han Sanwoo appearing once on TV and releasing the information, it’s child’s play.”

“Han Sanwoo might be crazier than we thought.”

No matter how much they thought about it, they couldn’t see any elements that could turn this into a benefit for Hansan.

While the world might be a jungle of survival of the fittest, there are still symbiotic relationships.

Even for corporations, there were many cases where simply cooperating was more beneficial than using cowardly methods to slander and attack each other.

Because money doesn’t lie. They could attack other corporations to earn more money and secure influence, but they didn’t cross the line of ‘for each other’s benefit.’

And Hansan broke that line. Now numerous corporations will unite to attack Hansan.

“And we’ve joined hands with that lunatic. How do you feel, Doris?”

“Well. It’s not my business if Hansan collapses.”

“That’s it?”

“No. If we gain Hansan’s trust… it means there’s a possibility I can end it myself.”

The apartment she was living in was fairly high. At least, it was hard to find taller buildings around it.

And in this Stella City, being able to see the sky without lifting your head vertically meant being able to see Hansan Tower.

That overwhelming height and size, plus the symbolism of being planted in the exact center of the city.

“Can it be changed?”

Doris looked up at the window with a dejected smile.

The people up there probably saw the people down here as dots.

Like small specks of dust that could be swept away with a slight brush of a finger whenever they became bothersome.

That fact newly made Doris’s heart feel heavy.