My cyberpsychosis is a task prompt

Chapter 265: Confession (Thanks to Alliance Leader "Bitter Gourd Face")
[Borago Club - Ground Floor Commercial Street]

John lifted the curtain made of crystal sequins and walked into a bar.

An agitated customer is pounding on the dirty bar, complaining to the bartender and his companions about his recent misfortunes.

The deafening rock music drowned out most of the conversation.

John walked along the red light strip, passing open booths where curvaceous stuntwomen were smoking.

There is no shortage of sex establishments around the Borago Club.

The girls here are of second or third tier quality. Their work intensity is not high, and they can take some time to sit here and numb themselves with alcohol and tobacco.

When sex becomes part of your job, you find that there are fewer ways to relieve stress.

They didn't have chips inserted in their necks; deep within their prosthetic eyes lay their own souls—reflecting bewilderment, exhaustion, and numbness.

"Wow~ come closer, handsome."

"Today is my day off. If it were you, I could make an exception this time."

The booths were filled with the aroma of nicotine and a string of laughter. Pairs of fair, long legs flipped and lifted under their fur coats, the fleeting spring light captivating, as if every movement was stepping on a restless flame.

John was worldly-wise; he even had a membership account at SteelGrey Forest.

His expression was calm, but a strange rustling sound came from his mind, like a vulnerable young man being suddenly attacked.

"Ah."

John sneered, shook his head, and left the booth.

The voluptuous figure he had been looking at disappeared from his field of vision, and the tense AI in his mind seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

Wow, cough, that's cool.

"Seriously? Games and super-sensory chips are everywhere. Didn't you ever date a girl in the cyber era? Why do you seem to short-circuit after just a couple of glances?"

John was talking to himself in the narrow corridor.

[This is the underlying code! Bro, Kenichi Sora was just a kid before he became a digital soul. Even if I browsed the databases of the porn industry, those images were just disassembled 1s and 0s in my eyes.]

Kong's tone was very serious.

You can tell it really wants to give a scientific explanation.

John smiled.

[This is a living, breathing person. I'm using your senses. Visual stimuli are transmitted through a chip into my database. It's no longer code, but a... well... a very strange feeling that will trigger a reaction in my personality model.]

"Alright, alright, you're as tender as a virgin, yet you insist on being stubborn."

John stopped in front of the metal door, raised his hand to signal, and interrupted the noise in his mind.

"Stop whining, this is a good thing, it makes you more like a living person than a sex doll."

What are we doing here?

"Give my friend an explanation."

[Mission target update]

Meet with Gino. (Optional)

[Waiting for Raphael's call. (Optional)]

[Experience the life of a mercenary with free time. (Optional)]

The metal magnetic door made a popping sound.

John's attention was drawn back from the task prompt, and the wind in the corridor was sucked in, stirring up the ambiguous atmosphere inside.

Two pretty girls came out—wearing only large, colorful T-shirts.

They held the glass bottles, drinking as they passed John.

The two crossed paths sideways in the narrow corridor.

Gino's voice came from the room, his tone tinged with resentment.

“Say hello! John is my friend… Damn, naughty thing.”

She shrugged at John, looking helpless.

"Sorry, they thought you were my lover. Well... you know, girls can be very possessive. I'll explain later."

This is a hidden lounge.

It was carefully decorated and furnished, and there was no musty smell like that you often see in bars. It must have had its pipes and electronic circuits secretly modified to connect to the apartment's air system.

The colors of the floor and walls match well.

The light strip was just the right brightness. I snuggled up in the clean, soft sofa bed and felt pleasantly tipsy without even needing to put on my diving gear.

This is Gino's dating spot, and also her emotional respite.

Not everything is suited to be done on the second floor of a boxing gym. *Whoosh!*

The refrigerator was opened.

They have plenty of stock, mostly items commonly found in bars.

Gino tossed him a bottle of sparkling water, then opened a bottle of beer for himself. He was about to take a sip when he froze on the spot.

She pressed her hand against the network access bay behind her ear, giving John an incredulous look.

"Are you trying to slander me?"

"...Fuck, damn it, sorry Gino."

John's hand, which was holding the drink, paused.

He frowned and muttered to himself, ignoring Gino's gaze.

"This is my friend, Kong. If you jump around like that again, I'll pull out the chip and leave it at the entrance of the internet monitoring office!"

[Ahem, sorry, I'm used to it, but I have to say, the videos on this girl's server are really... OK, OK, I'll shut up.]

"Are you... alright, buddy?"

Gino crossed his arms, his lips twitching.

She didn't mind John's hacking attempts; instead, she looked worried and cautiously observed John's expression.

"Are you talking to yourself? Um, and what is this chip called Er Gen?"

"There's some stupid AI lurking around on the chat app, and it's talking nonsense to me through it."

John took a swig of sparkling water.

It's very pungent and slightly bitter.

Gino laughed out loud.

She clearly took it as a joke.

Is this also part of the treatment?

"That's it."

"How's the effect?"

"It's just an empty promise. We've only just started working together, and we haven't seen any real substance, but we've heard a lot of nonsense."

John's tone was utterly unforgiving.

【…】

Kenichi's mind rattled in protest.

"Okay, um, John, last night the boss sent a message to the organization members saying that they would be suspending contact for a while and assigned tasks to a few people... I don't know the specifics, but I was excluded. She said she would give me a break."

Gino rubbed his hands on his arms.

Having experienced the death of the sisal rope, she now feels strangely toward the serum—she doesn't know whether to regard it as a protector in cyberspace or a cold, crazed, wandering AI.

"That's why I came here."

John gestured for Gino to sit down.

He kept his promise and confronted the truth behind the death of the serum-laced sisal rope.

I came here to relay the contents of our conversation to Gino.

"I don't think it's lying. At least so far, we have no evidence that it has harmed any member of the Wanderers' League."

"you're right."

Gino slumped onto the sofa, staring blankly at the wall.

She listened to John's retelling without saying a word, and could feel that the things weighing on her heart had loosened up a lot, but there was still a layer of gloom.

"So... the sisal rope was its experimental subject?"

Gino pulled one leg up, buried his face in his arms, and unconsciously and anxiously tapped his ankle with an empty wine bottle.

"What about the others? Including me? Are we part of another experiment, some kind of social rescue, or dependent on training? Will the skills we were taught in cyberspace ever come in handy someday?"

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes.

The empty bottle was placed on the glass coffee table, and condensation began to form.

"I do not know."

John answered honestly.

"Take good care of yourself."

(End of this chapter)