Chapter 13
It’s raining.
Next to the bus stop, on the road.
To avoid the drizzling rain, a woman stood in front of an electronics store.
When she exhaled, a cloud of white breath dispersed into the air.
“…….”
The time was 6 a.m.
The electronics store hadn’t opened yet, but for some reason, the display TV was turned on, and the morning news was playing from it.
[Here’s today’s weather.]
[The Level 5 Anti-Rain that began falling last night is expected to stop only by 11 p.m. tonight.]
[This is in preparation for the G20 Corporate Summit scheduled for the 28th of this month, and the government has announced it as a measure to ensure the safety of entrepreneurs and citizens.]
[Citizens are advised to refrain from going out, and if necessary, to take umbrellas and raincoats to avoid inconvenience…….]
Anti-Rain.
To stop the [Mysteries] that constantly tried to sneak into the city and devour people, the government spread artificial rain mixed with chemicals the creatures hated all over the city year-round.
Thanks to that, New Valhalla City remained cold and chilly throughout the entire year.
Of course, the seasons still had some effect, but summer was cold, and winter was freezing — that was the only difference.
Artificial clouds blocked out the sun all day, so it couldn’t be helped.
In the warmer downtown areas, evaporated moisture mixed with cigarette smoke and exhaust fumes to create thick fog.
Honestly, it didn’t smell pleasant.
No, to be blunt, it was disgusting.
The only upside to that damned fog was that it dimmed the piercing brightness of neon signs that hurt your eyes.
But maybe, in a way, that was a blessing.
Fog meant that rain — which protected people from monsters — was falling, and it also meant it was warm enough for water to evaporate.
For some people, even that wretched smog was—
An extravagant luxury.
Vroooom—.
A bus stopped in front of the woman.
With a soft hiss, the door opened, and a man who looked like a soldier appeared inside, wearing a mask.
He looked between the tablet in his hand and the woman’s face, then asked,
“Iri Elisbell?”
“Yes.”
“You’re on time. But… your luggage?”
“This is all I have.”
Iri held out an old bag.
She had had very few possessions in her life.
So, naturally, she had almost nothing she was attached to.
In the bag were a few sets of worn-out clothes.
Rare in this age, they served only the basic function of clothing, with no added features.
The soldier-like guide frowned slightly at Iri’s cold answer but soon dropped it.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. You’ll be provided with what you need at the Academy.”
“That’s what I heard.”
“Good. Sit in seat number 12.”
Iri followed the instruction.
There were others on the bus who looked about the same age as her.
Just past twenty, their youthful features still lingered.
They would all become her peers.
But there was no sense of camaraderie.
Iri didn’t make eye contact with anyone as she sat down.
Then she quietly gazed out the window at the rain-soaked city.
Hisss—!
The bus doors closed.
And with that, the view Iri watched began to pass by.
Even the bus stop where she had stood faded into the distance.
“Brother……”
Touching the module socket at the back of her neck, she murmured softly so that no one could hear.
At that moment, something flew across the sky.
A high-end flying sedan.
The kind only rich people from Sector A or higher could afford.
‘Why is a car like that here……?’
What’s more, the car was headed toward Sector E.
A place mainly inhabited by thugs and the city’s lower-class laborers — what business would a bourgeois have there?
‘……It’s none of my concern.’
The budding curiosity withered away almost immediately.
Let those bourgeois bastards live or die however they want.
‘I just need to focus on my goal.’
Finding traces of her brother at the Academy.
And……
‘Destroying the Stingray from the inside.’
The girl dreaming of revenge—
In the early dawn, she was headed to the Academy.
* * *
The morning of the Academy entrance day.
Two weeks after the match with the first-year students of the Technology Department ended, I visited Miyu’s workshop again.
It was about three days since my last visit.
“Ah, Aaron! You came at just the right time! I’ve finally uncovered the secret behind the [Corpse Eater] module!”
Miyu greeted me with sparkling eyes.
The dark circles under her eyes made it clear she had pulled another all-nighter on her research.
As always, she was endlessly passionate about the things she loved.
To the point where it made me worry about her health.
Still, it was good news for me too.
“That’s great to hear.”
“You seeee, this module turned out to have a similar function to something called ‘ERDE’!”
“ERDE?”
Even I, who was deeply familiar with the original story’s lore, had never heard that name before.
When I asked what it was—
“‘ERDE’! ‘Essence Redesign Equipment’! In simple terms, an essence redesign device! Isn’t it amazinggg?”
“I see.”
A technical term.
It must have referred to the equipment I saw during the scholarship reevaluation test.
Those robotic arms hanging from the ceiling.
“Isn’t it incredible?! It reshapes the user’s body and nanomachines into a pseudo-redesign configuration! Not only that, but it also automatically reconfigures the design of other equipped modules to fit the user's physique! And if you look at the TRX values during this process……!”
Miyu continued excitedly, mixing in technical jargon.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t understand most of it.
Not only was it never covered in the novel, but unlike Benedict, Aaron lacked deep knowledge as a module engineer.
Still, maybe because I’d been indulging her rambles over the past month, Miyu went on chatting like she had a motor in her mouth, undeterred.
Seeing a beloved character talking so happily was a rare joy.
I secretly saved the video recorded through my eye camera into the internal hard drive as a critical file and then spoke.
“So, do you know what kind of [Mystery] this module was made from?”
“Unfortunately, not yet…… b-but I did find a clueee!”
“A clue?”
“I was building a module redesign program based on the [Corpse Eater]’s algorithm! Once that’s done, you’ll be able to use your old modules again, Aaron!”
“……!”
This was an unexpected reward.
Well, I had some hope that this kind of result might come, but I didn’t think she’d deliver something this significant in just one month.
‘Even in the original story, the identity of [Corpse Eater] was never revealed until the end…….’
The protagonist of the original, Shade Wells, was so attached to the module left by his father that he didn’t even allow Miyu, the modular, to study it.
In a way, this was a remarkable achievement only made possible because Shade had died after I meet him.
Of course, Miyu’s genius needed no further praise.
“So when can I start using my old modules again without relying on [Corpse Eater]?”
“Umm… many of your previous modules have very high output levels…… and the program’s still not optimized, so it takes a long time to process…… For Lv.5 modules, it’s going to take over a month per module……?”
“I see.”
That was unfortunate.
I had about 20 modules I couldn’t use right now, and if it takes one month per module, that’s a year and eight months.
By then, several major events that shook the city in the original story would have already passed.
“Then for now, I’ll have to keep relying on [Corpse Eater]. Forget the module—how’s the research on the ticket going?”
Specifically, the Module Compatibility Boost Ticket.
It was an item I purchased from my exclusive Transmigrator’s Special Shop and had given to Miyu for research along with the [Corpse Eater] module.
At the mention of that, Miyu’s face quickly fell.
“S-sorryyy…… no matter what I did, I couldn’t figure it out…… not even the material it’s made of, let alone the mechanism……”
Saying that, Miyu picked up the unused ticket from her desk and returned it to me.
That was also unexpected.
‘For Miyu to give up because she couldn’t find a single lead……’
Maybe it’s because the ticket was deeply connected to the secret of how I came to possess this world.
“If you had given me permission to use it, I might have made more progressss……”
“……No, it’s fine.”
I shook my head lightly.
For now, I still needed the ticket, and more importantly, I had a feeling that digging deeper might be dangerous.
If Miyu failed to uncover its secret not due to lack of skill or time—
‘Then maybe it’s governed by a transcendent rule that characters in this world aren’t allowed to know.’
Spending more time might be meaningless, and on the other hand, digging too deep might even trigger a penalty.
That made sense, since this ticket was what brought me into this novel’s world…
In other words, it was likely an item deeply tied to the ‘god’ of this world.
‘I’ll postpone researching the ticket until I’ve gathered enough points.’
For now, both Miyu and I needed to focus on other matters.
“Regardless, good work. As expected of my exclusive modular.”
“Ah… th-thank youuu…”
“Ehehe,” Miyu giggled like a fool.
She was weak to compliments.
“Well, it’s a bit disappointing, but as promised, I’ll be taking back the module and the ticket. I’ll let you resume the research later when we have more time.”
“…….”
“Don’t make such a disappointed face. Didn’t I say I’d give you another chance later?”
“T-that’s not ittt……!”
“Don’t lie to me.”
“Y-yes……”
Miyu’s cheeks drooped in disappointment.
I secretly saved that expression into my internal hard drive and changed the subject.
“Anyway, are you ready?”
“R-ready for whattt……?”
“Don’t play dumb. Didn’t I tell you we’re going to the Academy today? You’ve packed your stuff…… or not, it seems.”
I knew it.
I had clearly told her today was Academy day, but instead of packing, Miyu had left the room messier than before.
Hoo.
As I sighed, Miyu began to step back from me with a frightened look.
“A-Aaron……?”
“You brought this on yourself.”
“N-noooo……!”
I immediately summoned the people waiting outside.
Soon, women in suits swarmed into Miyu’s workshop.
“You called for us, Young Master?”
“W-who are they……?”
“They’re from the Stingray Human Resources Development Foundation Facility Management Team.”
“W-wait, don’t tell me… they’re androids?”
“That’s right.”
All the women were androids.
As proof, the ring-shaped LED lights on their necks glowed blue.
I could have used human staff, but I didn’t want anyone from Stingray contacting Miyu.
‘Who knows what those who resent me would try to do to her?’
That’s also why I had Maria stationed far away right now.
“Please give us your orders, Young Master.”
I gave a brief command to the androids, who bowed their heads respectfully.
“Handle it.”
“Yes.”
The androids immediately moved in perfect synchronization and began organizing Miyu’s workshop.
They cleaned up the scattered clothes and junk, and started packing essential items into the trunks they had brought.
“N-no… y-you can’ttttt……!”
Miyu’s face turned pale.
She probably wanted to stop them, but with so many unfamiliar (looking) androids around, she couldn’t bring herself to do anything.
Regardless, I quietly stepped away from the scene.
I climbed the stairs and stood beside the talking vending machine that served as the front gate.
Then, I attached the [Corpse Eater] module, which I had retrieved from Miyu, into the socket at the back of my neck.
[Applying module…… Failed]
[Warning: Incompatible module.]
[Function unavailable.]
[Error Number: 411]
A warning popup appeared in my vision.
I tore the Compatibility Boost Ticket, and the warning that had been blocking my view vanished instantly.
The used ticket scattered into the air without leaving a trace.
“So this is how it works…….”
I didn’t feel much of a difference physically.
Maybe because the module compatibility was barely met — it still felt a bit uncomfortable.
Then I inserted several of my previous modules into the sockets.
Warnings popped up briefly upon installation but disappeared soon after.
‘At least they’re functioning properly.’
As the modules activated, I could feel each cell in my body being replaced with a different material.
The change started from my neck and gradually spread to the extremities.
After giving my body enough time to adjust to the modules, I checked my status.
Serial Number: AST-000
Operating System: PANDORA v.1.1
User: Aaron Stingray
Substitution Rate: 38.2%
Equipped Combat Modules
[Strength Lv.3] - Active
[Haste Lv.5] - Active
[Hawkeye Lv.5] - Active
[Cell Regenerator Lv.2] - Active
[Neural Booster Lv.3] - Active
[Cloud Spider (Mono Weapon) Lv.5] - Inactive
·
·
·
Active Combat Modules: 5
Inactive Combat Modules: 1
Overload: 24%
‘The overload value has increased quite a bit.’
That meant the nanomachines inside my body were working overtime.
Even though I was using [Corpse Eater], the low compatibility couldn’t be helped.
I was forcing modules that didn’t suit my body to function — of course it would cause strain.
‘Looking at it now, [Corpse Eater] isn’t all-powerful after all.’
The ability to use any module freely was undoubtedly overpowered.
But with compatibility limits, it was hard to draw out the full potential of the modules.
‘Judging by the values, even if I equip all my old modules, 70% of my prime performance is probably the best I can manage.’
Still, that was already stronger than the protagonist in the mid-to-late part of the novel.
But I wanted more.
A power no one could match.
A power that even other Transmigrators, no matter how much they used their perks or knowledge of the original, couldn’t overcome.
And a power that could defeat any enemy that appeared.
Therefore, I reached a conclusion.
‘I need to find new modules.’
Fortunately, “that” is hidden within the Academy.
Part of me wanted to follow the original flow and let the main heroine, “Iri,” have it…
But for now, I thought it would be better for me to use it.
‘……I can’t wait to meet her.’
My absolute favorite, Iri Elisbell.
Just the thought that I’d soon meet the character who had been so charming in the original made my heart swell with anticipation.