I Became a Sub Heroine in a Cyberpunk Game

……The power player in front of me. A suspicious figure just by being still.

Aaron seems really suspicious. His excessive kindness is driving me crazy.

“Partnership contract… Do you have a copy you made in advance? If not, a rough draft would be fine! It’s quite thrilling, since this is my first personal agreement without the company involved!”

I couldn’t even guess why I was so excited and happy.

No, even a fool could tell when his attitude changed. Once when I rejected his ultimatum, and again when I requested cooperation in return.

“What about the notary? Should I contact the branch manager of Elysium, who would be above suspicion if we summoned him here right away?”

I was indeed trying to escape from a disadvantage by proposing an unexpected direction.

However, it was hard to logically explain why a reverse suggestion filled with sinister intentions like ‘Let’s secretly help each other behind the company’s back!’ would provoke such a reaction.

Could he be some sort of bizarre corporate executive with a strange obsession with contracts…?

If not… Dissociative identity disorder? Just recently, I suffered greatly because of a person battling mental illness. Again?

Or maybe this man, who looks like he wouldn’t shed a drop of blood, is actually under so much corporate stress that he desperately yearns for a break?

“The original contract will, of course, be kept in the New Century Bank vault? …Ah! It wouldn’t be bad to use a reliable private bank, too.”

“Stop… Stop!”

That was a method used by rebels in the original story or the Five Eyes, wasn’t it?!

Who are you treating as being on the same level as a high-priority fugitive…!

I halted Aaron, whose sparkling eyes were shiny enough to defy description.

If I were to lose my cool due to his momentum, it would clearly be difficult to predict where the flow of this situation would head, so I needed to proceed cautiously.

“…What a rudeness! I must have gotten overly excited with the proposer present here. I will first listen to Miss Anastasia’s wishes.”

“Listening is a bit too much…”

The more we exchanged words, the more I felt his sudden change in attitude.

There’s no sweeter poison than a goodwill without expectation.

But isn’t that only possible when there’s room for the other party to be fooled? It’s not like I was just trying a good cop, bad cop strategy alone. If he thought I would obediently follow along just because he returned to a gentle attitude, that was a big mistake.

“…Ah?”

…No, what if Aaron’s actions were not driven by such uncertain expectations?

Perhaps something much simpler. If he was just buying time to create another variable…!

At the moment when my rigid thinking barely reached that point, the plan he had been waiting for appeared.

Thud—!!

I turned my head at the heavy footsteps.

I felt it in the Wise-man’s office as well, but the smooth automatic doors here perfectly block any presence, making it hard for an ordinary person like me to notice unless concentrating, and they opened without any unusual noise.

As a result… I made direct eye contact with the collection squad that hadn’t even prepared to disperse the virus.

“…Hah.”

They say if you don’t pay attention, you’ll cut your nose even with your eyes open. It was indeed a mistake to let my guard down recklessly in the middle of enemy territory, especially before someone who could make even trivial jokes a reality.

Fortunately, they seemed to carry tasers and rubber bullets in their guns, indicating they had no intention to kill.

…Damn. That would still hurt like hell, but I had no intention of going down easily.

I needed to inflict significant damage on the internal documents before they fired, or even later, there would be no ground for negotiation.

With no room to consider what side effects might occur if connections were severed due to physical shock, I closed my eyes and sent out a signal….

“…Oh dear, I forgot to rescind the calling order… I was too hasty. You can all leave. No, I’ll terminate the protective duty of all teams effective immediately.”

“……?”

In an instant, the smile faded completely from the face of Aaron Drayfuscus.

With a voice that became unnaturally rigid and emotionally suppressed, I stood up abruptly, and the troops that entered the office stiffened as well.

“Mr. Drayfuscus, I’ve completed the indoor scanning and checked the target’s armament status. There are no overlooked threats; we can proceed to neutralize immediately…”

Perhaps thinking I was threatening Aaron to compel a retreat, the soldier I sent out stepped forward to brief the situation.

Creeeak…!!

Before the member’s words could finish, Aaron slammed his arms down, seemingly intending to break the table, and lifted only his upper body from the chair.

“Get out. All of you. Do I need to repeat myself multiple times for you to understand?”

“…….”

Uh… um….

It’s not like trained personnel in a corporation fall from the sky, so he wouldn’t recklessly reduce staff just because he was upset.

However, the atmosphere felt like a few of them would genuinely go missing as a lesson if they didn’t hurry, and they withdrew outside faster than they had entered.

“…I truly have no words to express my embarrassment for showing such low-level behavior. I apologize, Miss Anastasia.”

I watched as the troops I had previously seized the chance from retreated. His profound intent, which he unnecessarily showed, left me puzzled.

But one thing I could be sure of was that regardless of his loose demeanor, the person in front of me was undoubtedly a monster and disliked being interrupted very much.

And… if he really is a multiple personality person, then I have to wrap things up and finish quickly while he is genuinely interested in this partnership contract.

“…I won’t leave behind a physical contract. I don’t want to leave any chances for it to be used differently.”

“That’s… pretty disappointing.”

I cautiously observed him as he muttered bitterly.

Despite recently showing that kind of behavior, he seemed to imply that he couldn’t tell me not to be cautious, yet I had no intention of letting it slide without any symbolism either.

“In exchange… let’s disclose what we aim for, as the tokens of this precarious cooperative relationship—our goals and ambitions to help each other. I swear to only speak the truth, without any lies.”

“…Oh, I see.”

As equals. As perfectly intact.

If we’re both utilizing each other, it would be fair to hand over our weaknesses to the other party, but I had no intention of revealing what I had tried to hide. Moreover, the stories I might bring up from now could become an obstacle in the future.

As I synthesized a different mass of code in my head from the ransomware virus I had prepared, I extended one hand towards Aaron as if asking for a handshake.

“I, Anastasia Valentine… have the goal of completing an advanced device that cannot be made with materials that exist in this world.”

Since he was not a person I could easily fool with a pretty act and proper excuses, I threw him only the facts that had been squeezed to the limit that I could actually disclose.

…I didn’t really expect to receive much help.

I just hoped that as long as he didn’t become hostile, we could finish this tiresome entanglement well.

“I, Aaron Drayfuscus, must first establish myself as the second-in-command of the unshakeable Paradise. My goal is… well, should I experience Miss Anastasia’s assistance and let you know gradually?”

“…How cowardly.”

I knew he would do this.

Trying to conceal his intentions by diving deep into details while excluding my information… Still, this was within the anticipated range of results.

That way, he would either feel he gained something and show some generosity or agree even to a contract that seemed more like nonsense.

I lightly grasped the hand extended towards me and sent out a signal.

I wasn’t trying to touch the implant and cause a clash of consciousness like last time, so it didn’t take long to transfer the document file completed with Aaron’s cyberware.

“This… is this a trace of the contract?”

“…It’s an exceedingly simple symbol.”

It’s too easy to forge or manipulate, and only two people have verified it, making it convenient for excuses. In this age, no one trusts an electronic contract.

That document hastily created just to match the formalities contains only the words we exchanged, resembling a declaration.

Yet, he nodded with satisfaction at such a crude piece of data.

…Phew, there’s truly no way to lose by putting in effort….

“Well then, we are now partners!”

“…Don’t emphasize that in a weird tone; just call us strategic partners.”

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