22 Begins, 2075

"Boss, we'll just drop these things off and be right back to get them."

Karl said this as he walked towards the door. He wasn't really sure what was happening outside, but Oliver's car was parked not far from the entrance, and he had to check if it was okay. If the car was damaged, they'd have to walk back with the stuff.

Looking out through the smashed door, Karl saw a chaotic street. In the road, a burly man with a mohawk, sunglasses, and a 'Militech MK. 31 Heavy Machine Gun' was spraying bullets at a truck that had been intercepted.

Closer to Karl, on the side of the road, lay two familiar corpses wearing hoods, with Euros scattered around them and riddled with bullet holes. Judging by the bullet wounds, these robbers who had just hit the braindance shop had suffered some kind of misfortune.

"What's going on?"

Jack crowded next to the door to look outside, but he quickly retreated after seeing the scene. "A heavy machine gun? What is all this?"

"My car!"

Oliver saw the obvious bullet dent in the door of his car, as if it had been hit by a stray bullet from the truck. His eyes immediately turned red at the sight of the damage.

"That was a birthday gift from my sister!"

"So?"

Karl gripped his weapon and reached for the grenade he'd picked up from the Maelstrom on his waist. "Should we take out both sides?"

With a grenade, he was confident he could handle even enemies with Subdermal Armor like the Maelstrom members he'd encountered before, not to mention that Jack was carrying a Crusher on his back.

"You're too aggressive."

Oliver wasn't about to risk his life over a stray bullet denting his car. The guy with the heavy machine gun and the people shooting back from the truck were not to be trifled with. He could tolerate this much.

After all, the guy with the heavy weapon could be reasoned with, and Oliver happened to be a reasonable person.

"Too aggressive?"

Karl felt he was being quite moderate. Compared to those who liked to kill entire families and wipe out the root of all evil, he was practically conservative.

Isn't there a saying, who said we like to kill entire families, do I want to kill his entire family?

The gunfight outside ended sooner than expected. As the people escaping from the truck's driver's seat exchanged fire with the yellow-haired man, a group of people who seemed to be with him flanked the truck.

The first to open fire was a black mohawked man with a mechanical hand wielding a Copperhead, followed closely by a pale, petite girl with green pigtails and a pink 'M-76 E Omaha' pistol. With their help, the truck's personnel were quickly overwhelmed and fell to the ground, never to rise again.

"Maine!"

After taking care of the truck's crew, the green-haired girl waved at the big man. "All done!"

"Rebecca."

The yellow-haired man, called Maine, nodded to the green-haired girl and called out to the mohawked man beside her, "Pillar, find the stuff quickly, let's go."

"Got it."

Watching the three of them efficiently rummage through the truck, Jack said, "Looks like they're mercenaries too, just like us."

"Then there's nothing to see here."

Karl turned back to grab his braindance and headset. "Want to get your car fixed first, Oliver?"

"It's fine, I can fix the dent myself. Let's check out the apartment first."

As the two talked, the braindance shop owner, having packed up his gear, ran out of the store and picked up the Euros next to the corpses. These were taken from his store, so he had to get them back.

As Karl and Jack squeezed back into the passenger seat and Oliver started driving, the mercenary team led by the man named Maine also retrieved what they wanted from the truck. As they drove away, Oliver's car passed by the truck.

Maine glanced at the passing vehicle without paying much attention, but Karl in the passenger seat took a longer look at him.

His Subdermal Armor is quite something, to be able to stand in the street and shoot for so long.

The thought flashed through his mind and quickly disappeared. This minor incident didn't linger in Karl's thoughts for long.

Oliver drove all the way to the Megabuilding without further incident. They successfully contacted the apartment manager and discussed the rental.

The Megabuilding was built by a company, and the apartment manager was just an employee of that company. However, he was as strict as a landlord when it came to commissions. After listing a bunch of terms and reminders, Oliver and Karl rented apartments on the fifth and fourth floors for 1000 Euros a month each. Oliver had wanted to be Karl's neighbor, but there was only one vacant apartment left on the fourth floor, so he had to settle for the floor above Karl.

The apartments were fully furnished, so Karl and Oliver could move in right away. However, the company-managed apartments were only so generous with the furnishings, and everything definitely had its issues.

"A private phone costs 10 Euros for the initial fee, and then 0.75 Euros per minute. The TV requires a 50 Euro deposit, and then it costs 1 Euro per hour to use. Hmm, there's even a vending machine in the room. This business is really reaching into the rooms."

Karl walked to the vending machine and spent fifteen Euros on three mini-cokes, giving two of them to Jack and Oliver. He didn't really like mini-cokes, but the vending machine didn't seem to have any other colas, probably due to some vendor pressure, so he had to make do with the astringent coke.

"How does it feel, Karl?"

Jack lay on the sofa in the room. It was his first time in an apartment like this.

"Overall, it's livable, I guess."

"Just livable?"

Oliver hadn't had time to check out his own room yet, but both rooms were the same type, so looking at Karl's was pretty much the same as looking at his own. He was a little surprised by Karl's understated attitude.

"Since I became independent at eighteen, I haven't lived in a better place than this."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-four. Didn't you ask me when we first met?"

"Forgot."

A thousand Euros a month and you haven't managed to live better after six years of independence, your life must be pretty miserable.

Having only transmigrated the day before, Karl didn't feel the slightest bit of glory living in a place like this.

But regardless.

Looking at Oliver and Jack, who were sprawled out on the sofa like salted fish, Karl popped open a can and took a swig.

His 2075 story had officially begun.

"Glug."

"So sweet."