How to Live as an Immortal Chapter 46

Chapter 46

Kinder Than You Look

***

“Twice?”

One was probably the producer, Raju. He had been directly involved in trying to expose the truth of the industry together with Abigail.

Then who had made the remaining report?

“I heard there was soone who reported it before the person claiming to be her fiancé. A day earlier, in fact.”

“Who was it?”

“Her na is Catalina Lowen.”

It was a familiar na. Of course it was—she had been Abigail’s friend. They had stayed in close contact, enough to et even before she went missing.

I had heard that she retired long ago and pushed her down my list of priorities—

“So she was the one holding the key.”

“The interesting part is that she didn’t file a missing person report. She filed a kidnapping report.”

“Kidnapping? Don’t tell she witnessed it herself?”

“Isn’t that sothing Mr. Ga-on should look into?”

Sham had also been curious about the rest of the story, but after confirming that the contents of Catalina’s call had disappeared from the internal Public Enforcent Corps database, his interest had abruptly faded.

He must have sensed that this was beyond what he could handle.

From here on—

“Isn’t it the fixer’s turn?”

Ga-on nodded as he received the organized report from Sham on his device.

“I’ll be waiting for the scoop. I’ll upload it fresh.”

***

Catalina Lowen had been with Abigail since their trainee days, sharing hardships and joys alike. When they ford the girl group Cities, she had taken a spot as a sub-vocalist and shown her talent.

But she announced her retirent and disappeared a year ago. It had been a sudden declaration, yet few were disappointed. Everyone simply accepted that what was bound to happen had finally happened.

Cities had been on a steady decline. It had already been three years since they failed to escape chronic deficits.

Gossips speculated that Catalina, the eldest mber, had made a major decision on behalf of her younger teammates.

Even as Cities went through the steps toward disbandnt, there had been little backlash from fans for that very reason.

The first and last to successfully redebut by struggling her way into another girl group was Abigail.

The other mbers of Cities left the industry as they were.

Firmly, as if they would never return.

Recalling the information Sham had given , I quietly observed the woman sitting across from .

The woman in the hood kept her head lowered, as if unwilling to show her face. I began to wonder whether any conversation could even proceed like this.

Where should I begin to untangle this?

After so deliberation, I decided to skip the preamble and get straight to the point.

“I heard you filed a report when Abigail went missing.”

“I filed a report? I think you’ve got it wrong. I only found out after hearing it from the producer.”

That couldn’t be.

I swallowed the words that nearly slipped out and looked at Catalina. I thought she was making an excuse to get out of a tight spot, but she truly seed unaware.

That ant she truly didn’t rember—

‘Does that even make sense?’

Pushing aside the strange sense of unease rising in my chest, I moved on to the next topic.

“Then before Abigail went missing, what did you talk about when you t her?”

“It wasn’t any different from usual. Mostly small talk. You know how it is? When friends et, we talk about the latest shows or trending fashion, ugh.”

Catalina, who had been speaking up to that point, suddenly grabbed her forehead. As if that wasn’t enough, she even curled her body inward.

She only cald down after pouring painkillers out from her pocket and swallowing them as if dumping them into her mouth.

“Are you okay?”

“It happens often.”

“Have you been to a hospital?”

“I can’t. This isn’t just a simple headache. Hngh……”

As another intermittent seizure followed, her hood slipped off, revealing bloodshot eyes and twisted facial muscles.

It was a problem that inevitably occurred when foreign objects were implanted into the body.

Among those who underwent cybernetics surgery, so lived with this condition.

“It’s a rejection reaction.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Don’t tell your retirent—”

“It was because of this.”

Catalina gave a sorrowful smile and pulled her hood back over her head.

Orpheus must have been aware of it. But they probably had no intention of investing in a mber of an unpopular girl group.

Didn’t Raju say so as well?

That there were many cases of people undergoing excessive transplants just to beco idols.

“Even if you accepted a Slot that didn’t suit your body, you’re retired now. Couldn’t this be resolved if you went in while it’s still under warranty?”

“There’s no such thing.”

Her tone carried a hint of resignation.

“I paid for all the implants out of my own pocket. In the back alleys, at that.”

A groan escaped without realizing it. The skills of ripperdocs running unlicensed clinics varied wildly, so people usually had to gather information from multiple sources before going.

But what would a trainee with no connections to the underworld know?

She must have been tempted by the price alone.

“How did you end up going to a place like that? Was there a broker inside Orpheus who arranged it?”

“No, Abigail told .”

“She did?”

“Yes. There had been rumors circulating among trainees for a while. That there was a place where you could get cybernetics surgery cheaply.”

“And then your best friend suggested it to you.”

“They perform procedures for free each ti you bring a custor along, together with the first-ti visitor. Abigail probably aid for that too.”

I had nothing but a bad feeling about this. That was how pyramid sches usually began.

“From the way you’re talking, it sounds like you brought a few people too?”

“……I’m ashad to admit it.”

At the sa ti, her shoulders drooped.

Her already small fra seed to shrink even further.

I didn’t want to defend Catalina. But I didn’t want to criticize her blindly either. It was true she had chosen the wrong path, yet she was already carrying a heavy burden because of it.

“Was there anything different after that? Did the ripperdoc suddenly demand an absurd amount of money, or did any suspicious people approach you? Anything you can think of is fine.”

“Well, aside from losing contact with the friends I introduced, nothing really stands out.”

“I see.”

The deeper I dug, the more suspicious it beca.

They must have had sothing to gain if they were willing to take losses and lure in custors like that, yet nothing tangible had surfaced. Even if it crossed a line, it still fell within the realm of aggressive marketing.

If soone asked whether this could escalate into a social issue, I would only be able to tilt my head.

‘But…….’

Abigail must have found out. Sothing significant enough that rely deciding to expose it led to her disappearance.

There was still a missing piece of the puzzle.

Trusting that intuition, I decided to retrace Abigail’s steps. If Catalina had entered the underworld through Abigail’s recomndation—

“Abigail must have been recomnded by soone at first too. Do you happen to know who it was?”

At that mont, Catalina clutched her head and her shoulders began trembling in small shakes. A more violent rejection reaction than before.

Wiping the cold sweat from her forehead, she answered as if retching the words out.

“I’m not, not certain, but I think the na was Handel.”

“The one who appeared on Mystic Hundred?”

“Mystic Hundred?”

At her gesture as if asking what that was, I cut my words short. This wasn’t the ti for a leisurely explanation. Sothing else mattered more.

“You know where the procedure was done, right?”

“Of course……, ngh. Urgh.”

Suddenly, Catalina let out a silent scream and collapsed. Her complexion darkened as she lost consciousness, but I couldn’t call an ambulance.

If it were revealed that she had illegally implanted a Slot, punishnt would be inevitable.

That left only one choice.

‘I’ll go there.’

***

An unlicensed clinic located in District 39.

Having personally experienced that the old man who ran the place possessed no ordinary skills, I knocked on the door without hesitation.

However, perhaps because I had brought an unannounced and troubleso burden with , no pleasant words ca from the old man’s mouth.

“This is a private business, not so real estate office where people drop by to rest. And if soone’s this sick, you should take her to a hospital. Why bring her to a place like this? Will you only be satisfied after soone dies?”

That was already the third scolding.

It wasn’t as if I had co here thoughtlessly. The old man owed a debt.

“You’ve been living peacefully since the Pier Gang disappeared. Let’s call it even with that, Mr. Shah Rukh Khan.”

The old man’s nickna had been taken from the na of an actor who represented India before the Third World War. He even bore a similar appearance, so there was little room for dispute.

Naturally, the old man pointed out sothing else first.

“How shaless. Anyone would think I was the one who put in the request.”

Clicking his tongue briefly, he seed to realize that further nagging would be pointless and shrugged.

“Fine. It’s true I owe you, so I’ll let it slide this ti.”

“I like how quick you are to understand. So how’s the girl?”

“Catalina, was it? I’m the one who wants to ask what kind of nonsense was done to her body.”

At the old man’s gesture, examination footage appeared on the screen covering one wall.

“All of her implanted Slots showed signs of modification, right from the circuit design stage. Needless to say, it’s the work of a professional. In the underworld, there are probably only a handful of people capable of this level of work.”

That ant it was unquestionably top-tier craftsmanship. Petty, though, to be making money off trainees.

“Are the headaches and seizures caused by that?”

“You could say yes, and you could say no. Excessive electrical signals have been pressuring her nervous system, causing abnormalities in her pain perception.”

“Explain it a bit more.”

“Hm. This is only my personal opinion, but it resembles the pattern that appears during brain washing.”

Brain washing—another term for brainwashing.

Applying external stimuli to limit or add certain functions of the brain.

In this case, it seed the Slot had taken over that role.

“Is it advanced enough to erase mories?”

“Only that? It’s capable of issuing simple commands too, without the person even realizing it. Judging by how delicately it’s handled, they must have accumulated considerable know-how.”

I felt like I finally understood what Abigail had been trying to expose. She must have broken free from the brainwashing on her own and realized the truth.

“The Slots can be removed without side effects, right?”

“What do you take for? No matter how much of an expert worked on them, I could excise sothing like that with my eyes closed. Though I’ll need her consent. For now, I’ve blocked all the problematic electrical signals. If her condition improves, the mories she lost should gradually return.”

“You’re kinder than you look.”

“Isn’t this the doing of trash working in the sa line of business? As a senior in the field, I can’t help but feel a sense of debt.”

There was a trace of regret in the old man’s voice, and I sensed sothing from it.

“Do you know who it is?”

“If my guess is correct, the one who perford the procedure is from the Mafia.”

“The Mafia?”

“To be precise, a ripperdoc under exclusive contract with the Mafia.”

At the unexpected ergence of such a major player, I frowned.

The Mafia.

Among criminal organizations, they were at least sowhat open to dialogue. Each had established and revered its own set of rules.

Of course, those foundations existed only to prevent crossing the very last line.

If they chose to beco brutal, they could be even more ruthless than street gangs.

“They don’t touch innocent civilians. That’s a rule most Mafia groups share, isn’t it?”