How to Live as an Immortal Chapter 42

Chapter 42

It was fine, I said I could pay it if I just picked up one round of overti.

***

Up until then, I had been looking through the catalog to estimate the market price.

“From the looks of it, I thought I could buy a low-performance one for around 500 million Pia.”

“Are you asking to introduce you to a black market?”

“Yes.”

At the completely unexpected request, Fernandez let out a deep sigh. I had felt it ever since we t, but he made requests that were anything but casual in an utterly casual manner.

“Why on earth do you need sothing like that?”

“I work as a fixer, and I needed an assistant I could order around for various things. You know, right? That anything on the open market is bound to have a lot of restrictions.”

For example, jaywalking.

If a human was in a hurry, they would run across even if the signal had not changed, but an android did not even have that option to begin with.

They were designed to comply with the law to the letter.

“Why not just hire a person instead?”

“Soone who might suck out all my know-how and then run away, you an.”

That kind of thing apparently happened often enough that Fernandez could not press the issue too hard.

“You’re hopeless.”

“I’ll really only use it for my own convenience. If you think I’m crossing the line, report yourself.”

“To start with, knowing about it and being allowed in are two different things. No matter how much I introduce you, you probably won’t even get near the entrance.”

“So only verified people are allowed inside, is that it?”

“If it were a typical black market where unclaid stolen goods circulate, I could recomnd one right away, but that’s not the kind of item you’re looking for, is it?”

From the cloned human control act, the genetic protection act, and the virtual reality special act, all the way to the artificial intelligence restriction act.

The regulations commonly referred to as the Four Fundantal Laws were not enacted to guarantee the private interests of specific factions or the safety of public institutions.

They were rely sothing that naturally ford because modern society could not be maintained unless they were upheld.

If even one were to fall outside of control, it could cause massive chaos, so once a deviation was discovered, even a gacorp could not avoid being put in a difficult position.

It was only natural that even the underworld approached it cautiously.

In practice, the places where such things circulated were the darkest of the dark.

Even making contact was not easy.

No matter how much Fernandez acknowledged as a fixer nad Baek Ga-on and treated accordingly, that was, in the end, nothing more than a sense of camaraderie shared between the two of us.

It was not the opinion of the industry as a whole.

To the general public, Ga-on was still a rookie with a lot left to prove.

Even though I had carried out small requests after clashing with the Pier Gang, that was not enough to count as a solid career.

“How annoying.”

“Don’t rush it. If it’s you, you’ll reach the place you want before long. More importantly, there’s a rumor going around that the Pier Gang is looking for you. Did you know?”

“Even if the guy who supported them got knocked out of the Public Enforcent Corps, what are they supposed to do about it? There’s nothing to gain, so are they really going to step up just to get revenge?”

“Thinking rationally, lying low and avoiding trouble would be the best option, but if they understood what compromise was, they wouldn’t be called gangsters in the first place.”

If you received sothing, you paid it back.

There were no interests involved in that.

“What if you end up getting stabbed by a blind knife while walking down the street?”

“If I were going to die from sothing like that, I wouldn’t have gone through all this trouble.”

Ga-on let out a snort of laughter and stood up from his seat.

“Until I co back next ti, try taking on so decent new requests.”

***

[Military Room]

When I stepped into the gun shop located on the outskirts of District 34, a thick haze tickled my eyes.

At the center stood a middle-aged man smoking as if he were chewing on the cigarette.

His thick arms, with every muscle fiber clearly defined, were scattered with gunshot scars, and his closely trimd beard reeked of wildness.

Despite his ferocious features, he was a gunsmith who turned into a friendly neighbor as long as you paid up. Standing before Oliver Twinson, Ga-on opened his mouth.

“Mr. Trigger Happy.”

Oliver, who had been thoroughly enjoying his alone ti, twitched an eyebrow.

“You’re the fixer who ca with Fernandez, right? So that would make you…….”

“I’m Baek Ga-on.”

“Ah, right. That was the na.”

Even though he was a businessman, Oliver had not had a single sub-brain implanted because he was a man captivated by oil and gunpowder.

His creed was that there should be no interference from any devices when it ca to shooting.

If the purity dropped, the feel in the hands dropped with it, or so he said.

Even to Ga-on, who had t countless people, he was a peculiar type.

“Did Fernandez send you?”

At the sudden ntion of the na, Ga-on hesitated for a mont, but Oliver paid it no mind. He went into the warehouse and ca back out carrying a box.

The logo stamped on the surface belonged to Yamita, a gacorp renowned in the textile and apparel field.

“Protective gear? I bought so last ti.”

The coat I was wearing proved that.

“If you try to hold out with junk like that, holes will open up in your body before they do in your wallet.”

“Are you trying to force a sale?”

“I told you, didn’t I? This is sothing Fernandez left here for you.”

As if refusing to take no for an answer, Oliver handed over the packaged product. Ga-on accepted it without thinking and lowered his gaze.

[IVOD—300]

After warning so much to watch out for the Pier Gang, it seed he had sothing else in mind as well.

Despite his gloomy impression, should I say he was ticulous?

“It’s an under-armor that can be used for everything from stab resistance and bullet resistance to blast resistance. By adding carbon fiber to a ceramic composite material, it guarantees operational capability equivalent to MUG—1.”

It was a product Ga-on knew well. It was a bestseller that had been consistently loved even after fifty years.

“For soone who just beca a fixer, it’s essential equipnt. It seed Fernandez was seriously thinking about raising you properly.”

I took off my coat and put it on underneath.

The under armor clung to with a click. I had no idea when he had checked the size, but there were no uncomfortable spots.

Should I take it as a gift of reconciliation?

It put in a fairly good mood.

“How was the Clock you bought last ti? Was it usable?”

“It was usable, just like you recomnded. Though I guess the downside was the lack of firepower.”

As you could tell just by looking at Gesto, against guys who reinforced their skeletal systems with slots, it felt like it lacked the ability to break through.

Through my previous encounter with Jin Geon, I had once again confird that I was in a position where I couldn’t casually use a blade.

That was why I had stopped by the Military Room, to make up for those shortcomings.

“These days, submachine guns are the trend. They can fire in bursts, and so are even compatible with rifle rounds in a pinch. On top of that, you can attach firearm accessories, so they’re adaptable to various situations.”

“If possible, I want to make use of what I already have.”

I had just decided to buy an android. Honestly, I wanted to save even a single Pia if I could.

“Looks like our fixer is searching for sothing special.”

As if he had been waiting for that, Oliver pulled out a large case from the display shelf. Inside were 9mm rounds compatible with the Clock.

Among them, Oliver chose the ones with especially sharp tips.

“They’re rounds loaded with a specially blended propellant to increase firepower. Compared to what you were using, they’ll be about twice as strong. Even if guys who recklessly throw their bodies around show up, you’ll at least be able to leave so scratches.”

It wasn’t comparable to an automatic rifle, but it ant it was at least a tier below that.

“That’s impressive. Why did you hide sothing like this until now?”

“They’re 2,000 Pia per round.”

“The tail’s wagging the dog.”

When I made a shocked expression, Oliver imdiately changed his sales strategy after reading my face.

“But if you buy 100 rounds right now, I’ll give you a 15 percent discount.”

At the tempting offer, I proposed a compromise.

“Then put it on credit. From the looks of it, they’re useless stock that doesn’t sell anyway. I’m probably the only one who’d buy them.”

“What?”

“It’s fine. I can pay it if I just pick up one round of overti.”

No, I wasn’t fine at all.

Before Oliver could even open his mouth, I gathered the ammunition and left the Military Room.

***

What a chick fixer-in-training first set their sights on was bounty hunting.

If soone was wanted badly enough to be officially listed, it ant they had committed heinous cris, which in turn ant that even if you made a mistake and killed them along the way, there would be no one to hold you accountable.

It could be said that there was no stage more suitable for testing my abilities.

Moreover, since it was even posted in a space anyone could see, the accessibility was exceptional.

Perhaps because of these characteristics, even fixers who had just shed their trainee label often threw themselves into bounty hunting to earn so pocket money.

Ga-on was no different.

The target he was after was Joshua Müver.

He was an arsonist who, at the behest of a gang, had set fire to the Public Enforcent Office of that district. The mont his own charges were revealed during the follow-up investigation, he went into hiding and had been on the run ever since.

Of course, it wasn’t because the bastard was particularly capable that he had survived until now. It was more a matter of cost-effectiveness. The resources consud during the search phase were simply too great.

The mont his identity was specified, he used Unknown to erase his trail.

‘Unknown.’

If a Noise Worm emitted jamming waves during recording or filming, and Lock Down shut down the functions of devices, then Unknown was a device that blocked signals heading to navigation systems.

If there was one area where the Public Enforcent Corps held an advantage over other organizations, it was that they could officially track an individual’s location, and this device completely nullified that advantage.

Since devices could not be tracked, there was no choice but to conduct endless stakeouts and arrests. Compared to the effort put in, the results obtained were hopeless.

There was a reason the Public Enforcent Corps avoided cases like this.

To prevent security vacuums, a dedicated departnt should have been established, but as described earlier, with an ecosystem forming around fixers, the two sides had entered into a symbiotic relationship.

Receiving information about targets was an extension of that.

In Ga-on’s view, Joshua was a textbook case of a ruined life.

Before committing the cri, he hadn’t just gambled away his entire fortune, he had even dragged in loan sharks.

That was how he got tangled up with a gang.

All he heard was that his debts would be forgiven, so he set fire to the Public Enforcent Office. There was no room for sympathy.

Joshua hadn’t known it at the ti, but amid the chaos, several gang mbers had even managed to escape.

That was probably what the gang had been aiming for, but it surely wasn’t what Joshua himself had wanted.

The fact that he vanished without a trace like a dead mouse was likely the result of at least a minimal survival instinct kicking in.

But Ga-on could be certain.

Old habits died hard, and Joshua was repeating his mistakes sowhere.

Sure enough, after making the rounds of illegal gambling dens, I was able to identify the establishnt he showed up at every week.

As I waited until the sun went down, I spotted a man stumbling out, looking half out of his mind.

A beard grown haphazardly like wire, and dull, clouded eyes.

They matched Joshua’s face exactly.

Naturally, I followed quietly behind him.

Perhaps aware that he was a fugitive, Joshua deliberately chose only deserted alleys.

That suited Ga-on just fine.

There was no need to lure him separately.

I gradually closed the distance, gauging the timing.

When the sound of a horn echoed from afar, Joshua flinched and turned around.

‘Now.’