## Chapter 155 – (7)
“The ledger?”
When I asked Xian about the ledger after waking up, she tilted her head and replied.
Before I knew it, Xian’s tone had changed to a polite one.
And her attitude had changed too.
[Attitude: Manly, rough.]
At this point, it could be said that she was relatively well-trained.
“I don’t know much about ledgers, but…”
She seemed to have something in mind, as she pondered for a moment before speaking.
“My boyfriend might know a little bit.”
“Didn’t you say he was a researcher?”
It was a job somewhat distant from ledgers, but Xian’s boyfriend apparently handled them.
“The research department keeps its own ledgers.”
To be precise, ledgers specific to the research department.
“Hmm…”
I had a feeling that this ledger might be the answer.
I stored the information in my head for now and approached the window.
Opening the curtains, bright light struck my eyes.
“Time to go.”
“…I guess so…”
Since it was already morning, we decided to part ways.
When we came in, I had practically dragged Xian in, but now, as we left, we walked out side by side, looking friendly.
Xian walked right next to me without me having to say anything.
At least, to other people, we probably looked like a couple who had spent a hot night together in a motel.
For the record, the motel of the future was pay-later.
It seemed like you paid on a screen that looked like a kiosk.
“…Come to think of it, I don’t have any money…”
“I’ll pay.”
As I was about to search my pockets, she nonchalantly reached her hand towards the machine.
[Payment complete.]
The payment was completed just like that.
Even though she wasn’t holding anything in her hand.
“…How did you pay?”
“Oh, I have my fingerprint registered.”
Fingerprint payment, huh.
It seemed convenient.
Watching that, I asked.
“Do you know of any places to sell gold?”
“Gold?”
Xian looked surprised at my words, then seemed to ponder for a moment.
“It’s not common for individuals to trade gold… but if you go to a gold exchange…”
The scarcity of gold seemed to be increasing in the future as well, and now it seemed that individual trading had decreased a lot.
It was said that most cases involved companies buying gold for investment.
“Is that so?”
That was enough for me.
I was relieved just knowing that the value of gold hadn’t decreased.
I was worried that the demand or value of gold might have decreased in the future.
Then Xian stared at me intently.
“…Here, take this.”
It was a card.
“If you don’t need a lot of money, don’t sell the gold, and use this card.”
It seemed to be her own way of showing consideration.
“I earn quite a bit, so don’t feel burdened and use it. If you really feel burdened… let’s have dinner sometime.”
Xian looked down at the floor and glanced at me.
It was a slightly grumpy, blunt tone, but her face was bright red.
Was this her own way of flirting?
She subtly made a dinner appointment.
It felt different from the phrase “Let’s grab a meal sometime,” which is one of the lies Koreans always tell.
It felt a little more sincere.
I still needed Xian, so I replied casually.
“Okay, I’ll contact you.”
Yuri still had Xian’s number on her phone.
She had blocked her on social media, but leaving the number meant she was hesitant to completely cut ties.
I took the card from Xian.
So she did have a card.
I thought she just paid with her fingerprint.
Maybe this card was linked to her fingerprint.
I took the card and nodded.
At least I had secured some money to use right away.
For now, I was planning to use it without feeling burdened, just like Xian said.
I’ll just pay her back later for the amount I used.
I slowly got into the car and ordered the AI, Haru.
“Take me to a place that sells suits.”
***
“Men’s suits are on the 2nd and 3rd floors. For you, sir… I think you should go to the plus-size suit section on the 3rd floor.”
“Okay.”
Following the kind guidance of the information desk, I went up to the 3rd floor.
I was now at a company that sold the physical ability enhancement suits that Xian had worn before, or suits for short.
Like Nobody, this place also directly sold goods from the 1st to 4th floors, and it seemed like they were running the company above the 4th floor.
Is this some kind of trend for companies?
“Hmm…”
Even as I rode the escalator up to the 3rd floor, my eyes were drawn to the suits on display.
It felt like I had come to a hero’s clothing store.
Uniquely designed suits were displayed in a long line.
It was amazing that most of these suits weren’t just for looks, but actually had functional features.
Wearing them not only increased physical abilities, but some suits even shot out fire.
The atmosphere was a little different on the 3rd floor compared to the suits I had seen earlier.
Perhaps it was because the 3rd floor only dealt with men’s suits.
The designs were a bit darker, and there were more extreme designs that a biker gang would like.
From here, it felt like I had come to a villain’s clothing store.
“Why are the designs all like this…”
Fashion is cyclical, they say.
I couldn’t understand the fashion sense of this cyberpunk world.
It was like fashion had gone crazy in a different way.
“What is this?”
There were pointless horns attached to the shoulder area, and silver chains dangled.
Especially the plus-size section, which was the size I needed, was terrible.
If this were a hero world, I would have been arrested just for wearing them, mistaken for a villain.
If I wasn’t arrested, I would do it myself.
There’s no way anyone who wears these kinds of clothes is normal.
Maybe my level of righteous justice would increase.
The designs were all similar, so I decided to just choose based on function.
Overall, the physical ability enhancement aspect was the same.
Instead, the additional features that were attached were slightly different.
“Lightweight, built-in alarm button, filming function, what’s with the lots of storage space?”
I chuckled as I saw a suit with pockets all over it.
Anyway, all sorts of features were attached.
The suit that caught my eye the most was the one with bulletproof capabilities.
It seemed like it focused entirely on defensive abilities.
It was bulletproof, stab-proof, and even resistant to fire and cold.
As many features as it had, there was a penalty of being twice as heavy as other suits.
Considering that the suit itself already weighed a considerable amount, being twice as heavy was a big penalty.
Fortunately, the weight didn’t feel that heavy to me.
“It’s decent.”
It felt like a decent weight when I lifted it with one hand.
I could probably wear it without any problems.
There was one more thing that bothered me, and that was the design.
“Why is it so blue…”
It would have been fine if it was just blue, but it was also stained red in places.
In a way, it looked the most like a hero suit.
It was so flashy that you could be sure it was a hero even from a hundred meters away.
“That’s a suit modeled after a hero from the past.”
Someone answered my muttering.
An old man in a suit approached.
He looked more like an employee than a customer.
“It’s modeled after a character who was a reporter and a hero.”
I was momentarily surprised by the word “reporter,” but I managed to control my expression.
Anyway, a reporter and a hero.
There was a hero that immediately came to mind in my head.
“Superman?”
“H-how did you know that?”
How did I know that?
I’ve watched about four Superman movies in real time, so it’s nothing new.
When you think of a reporter and a hero, it’s Superman.
Perhaps, in this future setting, Superman has become a forgotten hero that only a few people know about.
Thinking that way, I suddenly felt a little sad.
“D-do you know other heroes too?”
The old man was surprised, then began to rattle off the names of heroes who were famous in the past, that is, heroes who dominated my era.
The names of heroes that you couldn’t not know in an era where hero movies were watched by ten million people came out.
I felt a little happy for some reason, so I added explanations every time he said a hero’s name.
“A hero with a shield? Ah, one with spiderwebs coming out of his hands…”
Then, the old man grabbed my hand.
“What a talent!”
Then he forced me to interview for the suit design department he belonged to.
In addition, he also said that he would just give me this suit.
“I wanted someone who knew its value to wear it in the first place.”
With those words.
Ironically, I, who have the job of a reporter in this world, got a suit modeled after Superman for free.
“I’ll think about the interview.”
“Don’t think, just come! I’ll take care of you as much as a experienced worker!”
I told the old man that I would think about it and quickly took the suit and got out.
It was a really unexpected gain.
“I’m glad I watched the movies.”
I didn’t know that the movies I watched as a hobby would be helpful in times like this.
I got in the car and ordered the AI to drive out of the corporate area.
Inside the car that was moving with autonomous driving, I changed into the suit.
There was a reason why I looked for the suit first.
From now on, I will infiltrate the gang’s base.
I will find the ledger as much as possible.
If it doesn’t come out—
I was thinking of kidnapping Yuri and running away.
I was thinking of blackmailing Hornet with that.
“…”
I looked down at the suit I was wearing.
It certainly wasn’t something a hero would do.
