Chapter 81

To cut to the chase.

I didn’t kill Benedict.

It wasn’t because of any useless sympathy, but because I didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble.

Maria’s advice played a big part in making that decision.

–“If you eliminate Young Master Benedict here, the entire Stingray Group will start to crumble.”

Like it or not, Benedict was my younger brother.

Even if he was born in a lab through genetic manipulation, to the outside world, he was still family.

Silently pushing him out of power would’ve been fine, but removing him through such a violent confrontation would only worsen my image—at least, according to Maria’s analysis.

‘Once I get the image of being the older brother who killed his own sibling, there’s no coming back from that.’

Even in this kind of world, there were still lines that shouldn’t be crossed.

And there was no telling how Chairman Drake Stingray would react to the death of his second son.

‘Knowing his personality, he might not care at all, but... people’s hearts are unpredictable.’

He did say things like, “You’re my son from now on,” but if he found out I killed his ‘real’ son, he could very well flip on me.

Anyway, Benedict had already lost all the wealth and power he had.

There was no need for me to lift a finger further.

As long as I empowered the internal audit team a little, they’d take care of it on their own.

‘That side is settled now…….’

After all that effort.

It was time to check the rewards.

【System Message】

*Act 2 of Part 1 has ended.

*Rewards will be distributed.

【Achievement Unlocked】

You’ve started Act 3 of Part 1.

【System Message】

*Act 3 of Part 1 has ended.

*Rewards will be distributed.

【Achievement Unlocked】

*You’ve started Act 4 of Part 1.

【System Message】

*Act 4 of Part 1 has ended.

*Rewards will be distributed.

…… …… …

…… ……

…… …

…….

‘……That’s a hell of a lot.’

Thanks to clearing everything from Act 2 to Act 4 of Part 1 in one sweep, the rewards piled up fast.

Clearing a few side achievements along the way was just a bonus.

Reading through every line of the log gave me a headache, so I roughly tallied up the reward list and contents.

Including the midterm reward, I had accumulated a total of 12,300 Achievement Points by the end of Act 3 of Part 1.

I converted all of that into 41 tickets.

Then the combined rewards for clearing Acts 3 and 4, plus miscellaneous achievements, added up to 19,500 Points.

If I used all of that to buy Module Compatibility Increase Tickets, that would be 65 tickets.

Combined with what I already had, that totaled 106 tickets.

‘……Now we’re getting somewhere.’

Even with a rough estimate, this was more than enough to restore Aaron Stingray’s specs to his prime.

I hadn’t done an exact calculation, but if I used Miyu’s Module Compatibility Program and optimized everything, I might even end up with some left over.

While the rewards stacked up from completing multiple acts in a row, Act 4 of Part 1 in particular paid handsomely.

‘After all that trouble, they’d better give me this much.’

Just for defeating the villain ‘Aaron Stingray,’ I received almost 10,000 Achievement Points in rewards.

The reward for clearing Act 4 wasn’t far behind, either.

Doing the math, more than 60% of the 19,500 Points I earned this time came from completing Act 4 of Part 1.

Given the difficulty, it made sense.

‘Alright, now how should I use this?’

To be honest, I wanted to just throw it all into Compatibility Tickets without overthinking it.

But if I did that, I might regret it later.

It wasn’t time to let my guard down yet.

‘Let’s check the shop list first.’

For anything module-related, it would be best to consult Miyu.

She’d know the most efficient way to use the tickets, and she might even help me surpass the original specs through superior modding.

Now that I had leveled up from Lv.1 to Lv.2, I wouldn’t be too late checking out the new inventory before buying tickets.

‘Let’s see now.’

I opened the shop and started checking out the new arrivals one by one.

As expected, maybe because my level had increased, there were more items that looked useful depending on how they were used.

‘Lv.3 Arcane Module Gacha Ticket, Lv.4 Standard Module Gacha Ticket, Lv.3 Powered Armor Set…… Oh, they’re even selling Violet Hunting Ground Admission Tickets now.’

Of course, that was assuming a baseline transmigrator with average specs.

To me, they didn’t mean much.

Arcane Modules and Standard Modules?

Already equipped with three Game Changer-grade modules and military-grade standard modules plastered all over, these had no meaning for me.

Besides, I could buy something far better than the Powered Armor sold in the shop using actual money.

As for the Violet Hunting Ground Admission Ticket—I've already been there.

I even had Blue and Navy tickets from scenario rewards, so there was no need to waste points visiting a place below my level.

‘In the end, the only worthwhile thing is the Compatibility Ticket.’

Other than that, the only tempting item was the Module Output Level +1 Ticket, which cost 5000P each.

Back then, I couldn’t even dream of buying it due to lack of points, but now that I had some leeway, I figured I could afford one or two.

‘What happens if I use the Output Level Ticket on [Cloud Spider] or [Techblade]… or maybe [Corpse Eater]?’

Would it just fail to activate?

Or would a never-before-seen cheat-level module, something like a ‘Lv.6 Arcane Module’, be born?

‘Let’s buy just two for now.’

One would be for testing.

Since I didn’t know exactly what the effect was, I couldn’t recklessly use it on my main modules.

If either [Techblade] or [Cloud Spider] got ruined, the loss would be unbearable.

‘I’ll have to find a Lv.5 module that’s kind of like a chicken rib—something I wouldn’t mind losing.’

If it worked, I’d profit.

If it failed, it wouldn’t be a huge loss.

I spent 10,000 Points to buy two Module Output Level +1 Tickets.

Now I had 9500P left.

I combed through the rest of the shop, but nothing else particularly caught my eye.

The only thing worth noting was that the conversion rate of points to cash had doubled.

‘Huh?’

That’s when I noticed something new.

‘Selling?’

A sell function had been added to the shop.

Out of curiosity, I tried a few things, and within minutes, I figured out how it worked.

‘You can’t sell regular items—only stuff bought from the shop or obtained in the Hunting Grounds can be sold. And the items are exchanged for points.’

Not a bad feature.

Items I could sell right away were the ‘Mimic’ module I got from the Hunting Ground and the ‘Liberator’.

‘So I never ended up using this.’

The Liberator.

It was a key item used during the Android Rebellion in Act 3 of Part 1, but since Act 3 was practically skipped, it turned into a MacGuffin.

‘Seriously. This thing was supposed to be really important…….’

In the original story, it was connected to Ashita-kyo and triggered multiple events.

But now it had become completely useless.

I couldn’t just hand over something this important to someone else, so the shop’s new sell function came at just the right time……

‘Should I try selling this first?’

I probably wouldn’t use it in the future anyway.

Since Act 3 of Part 1 was over, I briefly considered gifting it to Miyu for research, but the thought of her becoming obsessed and skipping classes again made me hesitate.

For her, this kind of stuff was basically a new game.

After much deliberation, I made a decision.

‘Hmm. Put it on hold for now.’

It was still too early to sell it.

I wasn’t desperate for points, and I hadn’t even confirmed the item’s true identity or its link to Ashita-kyo.

Even if I sold it to the shop, there was no guarantee I’d get a fair price.

I should try selling a different item first, just to test the function.

The Mimic module, despite its high overload and substitution rates, was surprisingly useful in various situations.

So naturally, the test item for selling would have to be……

‘Guess I’ll have to fetch something from the Hunting Grounds.’

I had one Navy Hunting Ground Admission Ticket and one Blue one—two tickets in total.

Originally, I should’ve had one more Navy ticket, but I’d used it inefficiently while working on that ‘Replicated Personality’.

‘Maybe this time I should do a proper exploration.’

Part 2 would be starting soon.

If Part 1 of the original was focused on Shade Wells gathering new allies, then Part 2 kicked off the actual academy life, including monster battles.

‘Now I can finally enjoy my fandom stuff in peace.’

I wouldn’t need to worry about Murderous Urge anymore.

And with the modules practically restored, I could now devote more time to my original goal in this world: “fandom.”

Of course, there were still things to take care of—Stingray’s internal politics, the butterfly effect from Shade Wells’s death, and other transmigrator issues like ‘Araya’.

Especially with ‘Araya’ still alive and no doubt up to something stupid, I couldn’t let my guard down yet.

‘……Still, it’s true I have more breathing room now. It might not be a bad idea to take a break and go explore before things get hectic again.’

From Elysium to Sector E.

It wouldn’t be bad to stroll around, immersing myself in the scent of cyberpunk.

With the power of the ‘Mimic’ module, it wouldn’t be hard to avoid the public eye.

‘Ah, should I bring “that character” in while I’m at it? Or maybe overturn the Black Dragon Gang and prepare for Part 2? Or head out to the colony…….’

As I was casually planning different options with peace of mind, a new message arrived.

It was from Maria.

There were two main topics.

‘One is the Ashita-kyo issue.’

Since Ashita-kyo was such a large organization, it seemed like there were many obstacles to fully eradicating them.

Lately, they’d been going underground like cockroaches, making it even harder to root them out.

Other corporations had joined forces to wipe them out, but like any cult, no matter how many times you smash them, they wouldn’t go extinct so easily.

‘Guess I really do need to bring in “that person” from Sector E. I’ll have to go find them soon.’

Before Araya and the other transmigrators could lay a hand on the supporting characters, I needed to act first.

If I brought them into my fence, those bastards wouldn’t be able to touch them.

With that settled, I turned to the next item.

‘The second topic is…… Iri?’

I tilted my head.

Iri had come to Maria for a consultation, and Maria was asking my opinion on how to handle it.

Normally, this would be something to ignore or for Maria to take care of on her own.

But since I was particularly fond of the Special Class kids, she’d deliberately included it in the report.

‘A consultation, huh…….’

Why did she go to Maria?

Why not me?

I wondered for a moment, but then brushed it off.

Considering how they studied together for the midterms, maybe the two of them had gotten close like sisters.

‘Well, I guess it’s a little bitter, but no need to be petty and jealous about something like that…….’

Just as I calmed myself and continued reading the report—my hand nearly flew to the back of my neck.

“……!!”

The content of the email was this:

‘Iri received a love letter.’

Who the hell was it.

If I catch them, they’re dead.

Anyone messing with my girl is getting wrecked.

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