Toyama Nana exploded in anger.
"Hey! What are you saying! If she loses the apartment, how can she even find work! And we're co-renting this place!"
The debt collector sneered.
"Heh. She never even put your name on the lease system, and the rent payments have long since stopped. We can repossess whenever we want. You've been played and you're still paying the bill for her."
"Wh—"
Ogawa Nana panicked.
"No, Nana, that's not it! Changing the contract means paying extra tax, I just didn't have the money. You can still live here, no problem. Once I recover, I'll fix the paperwork. Just temporary—"
"Stop lying! You're just a spoiled shut-in leech who doesn't even know what's happening! Your old man already jumped! Jumped! Jumped! He's dead! You can't even find a job—who's going to pay back that 400,000 loan for you? If you're useless, have some self-awareness! File for bankruptcy before the due date! Apply for welfare! Go sleep in the trash heap! Stop dragging others down!"
"Uuuh… I—I'll pay it back. I can pay it back! Please, don't kick me out…"
Toyama Nana suddenly burst out laughing, brandishing a frying pan as she charged.
"Hahaha! You bastards are asking to die!"
The collectors scrambled back.
"Shit, she's having an episode!"
"Calm down!"
"You win, you go to prison, you lose, you go to the hospital!"
"If you don't want us to repossess, then pay up! At least 10,000 today!"
Li Pan looked around. That was the situation. Nothing more to say.
It was all too common: if you were drowning in debt, couldn't find work, and had no side income to meet the minimum monthly repayment, after a few missed months debt collection companies would show up.
For cases like Ogawa Nana—people who simply couldn't pay—the standard procedure was to push them into personal bankruptcy and welfare. Then the government fund would cover the monthly minimum payments, and the debt companies got their steady cash flow.
But for the debtor, that was a death sentence. Before bankruptcy, you were still a citizen with a chance to recover. Collectors could harass, but not much more. After bankruptcy, your welfare was siphoned to repay debts, your citizenship was frozen, rental contracts terminated, and you'd never get hired again—just another homeless outcast under a bridge.
Owe too much, and gangs would come knocking for kidneys, corneas, organs.
They wouldn't kill you, though—too wasteful. They'd strip you, replace parts with the cheapest mass-produced prosthetics, and leave you as a half-dead cyber-cripple.
Still… Li Pan looked at Ogawa Nana. Not a beauty, but her "rabbit suit" curves weren't bad. Maybe she wouldn't end up under a bridge—if she filed bankruptcy, got cosmetic surgery with a loan, maybe she could still work at Samsara Bar with Toyama Nana.
But just because her father had jumped—whether by choice or not—and she couldn't scrape up 10,000, she was being thrown from human society straight into hell. Cruel indeed.
"Nana, are you going to help her?"
Li Pan asked plainly.
Ogawa Nana threw herself at Toyama, sobbing.
"Please, Nana! Just one month! You saw it—we sang and played guitar on stream, people were tipping us! Just one month! I'll pay you back! Please!"
Watching her roommate weeping, Toyama Nana grit her teeth.
"Fine. I'll lend it to you."
Li Pan picked up the collectors and tossed them down the stairwell. He paid the installment, buying Ogawa Nana another month of breathing room.
Later, Toyama came downstairs and handed him a sparkling water.
"Thanks. Ugh. Nothing but trouble."
"Your roommate holding up?" Li Pan asked.
"Not really, but what can she do. I've got to work, she's got her streaming. Just keep pushing on."
Toyama shook her head bitterly.
"If she'd just put my name on the lease, she'd at least have rental income proof. The collectors wouldn't press so hard. But really, I only moved in because she needed the money. She's a good girl. I'll help her as much as I can."
With nothing else to do, Li Pan walked with her toward Samsara Casino—twenty minutes on foot to the subway.
"Nice area. Her dad was corporate?"
"Yeah. And by the way—she's that girl I told you about, the other Nana. Used to travel with family money. Now it's all on her."
Toyama scratched her head.
"Anyway, thanks again. When payday comes, I'll transfer the money."
"No rush… wait, that's your first paycheck, isn't it? First month's salary, and you'll spare 10,000 for me?" Li Pan asked curiously.
Toyama smiled.
"Samsara pays well. Don't get ideas—the base is 20,000, plus table commissions. Some girls earn hundreds of thousands. If a guest wins, they'll throw chips at you. Free meals, too.
But it's all dirty money. Hard to exchange to cash. If you want dirty bills, I could pay you right now."
Li Pan sighed. Why is it that they all casually find 20,000 jobs while I scrape as a temp worker…
Toyama seemed to guess his thoughts.
"Still, they are mobsters. Recruitment's strict. I didn't even know at first. Grandma scolded me by email, told me not to shame the family. Then I learned the owner had checked my background.
They only hired me because of old family connections. Self-reliance? In the end, it's all my grandmother's face."
"That's society for you," Li Pan muttered, then brightened. "Oh—Nana, can you fly a spaceship?"
"…Hah? A spaceship?"
She blinked.
"You mean a real spaceship? Or is this some dirty joke? I'm working—ask me later."
"What dirty joke! I'm serious."
Li Pan explained.
"You graduated from the Starfleet Academy as a navigator, right? If I had a freighter, could you pilot deep-space runs?"
She gave him a curious look.
"Spaceship? A real one? Deep-space, off route? What kind? Do you have the ship? A license? Charts? Most importantly—do you have spice?"
"…Spice?"
Li Pan glanced at some junkies by the road.
Toyama nodded.
"Think of it that way. For us, it's a stimulant. Boosts perception and willpower, widens range, sharpens focus, extends endurance. Called épice—spice."
Li Pan frowned.
"Spice?"
"Yes. It's an aromatic organic compound. Pure spice doesn't exist on 0791, only mined from specific offworlds. Strategic resource. Using it during deep-space navigation makes things far safer."
"But the war's over."
"Even so, supply is limited. Rich people even mix it into perfumes—perfumes that sharpen the mind, strengthen will, and… enhance stamina in bed."
Of course. Anything linked to virility would skyrocket in price.
"Many are addicted. Every corporate war, the spice worlds become battlefields—always bloody."
"Navigator's fuel, then…"
"Pretty much. If you just run official routes, auto-cruise is fine. But if you want me to chart unsanctioned jumps—no charts, no coordinates, illegal runs—then you'd better get me some spice."
She thought a moment.
"One gram's enough. Fleet price: 500,000. Civilian, who knows. Hard to get legally—must report to the Bureau. Black market, it's astronomical. Get caught with 300 grams unregistered? Citizenship revoked, arrest on the spot—or immediate execution."
Li Pan sweated.
"That harsh, huh…"
"Of course. You've helped me before, so I'll help. I'd love a spin myself. But navigation burns the brain. I can't bring my own spice—I can't even buy it.
Besides, your ship would need checks—battery, fuel, eco-supplements, gravity tar, weapons for pirates, OS overhaul… at least three months prep. A test cruise, too. Would you trust an untested ship?"
Li Pan cursed inwardly. The Iron Queen's offer of a ship suddenly felt dubious. Her vessel could easily be tagged.
Still, at least now he knew Toyama could navigate. If he'd received the 35 million and hadn't thought about spice, he'd have been screwed.
So Nana agreed to draft a checklist, and would ask around Samsara for black-market starship suppliers. Li Pan would look for spice sources himself.
The Bureau could provide spice—if he solved the Goldshine case. But then Uncle Chen would notice his side operations. And buying spice directly from the Bureau was like announcing he planned to smuggle. Dangerous.
Safer to find other channels.
He'd need his own ship, his own warehouse. Black market trades were cutthroat—trust no one. One slip and you were sold out.
Six months left. Enough time to prepare.
But the settlement day was near. As Li Pan calculated his next move, a comm pinged.
Akiyama Masako.
What the hell, today of all days…
Li Pan hesitated, then shamelessly answered.
"Yo, Lady Akiyama. Calling to drink with me?"
She snarled.
"Li Pan! You used the blade I gave you—to cut off my daughter's head! How dare you!"
"Ohhh, I get it. Perfect timing. You're challenging me, right? Time and place, I'll be there."
"Wh-what? Challenge? You—you bastard, after using us you turn on us? And now you mock me!?"
Li Pan scratched his head.
"Come on, it was your family sending them to me. Don't blame me. Stop with the theatrics. You want revenge? Fine—five million if you lose."
"You—hmph! The Akiyama family has nothing more to do with you! Touch my daughter again and I'll call the police!"
Li Pan blinked.
"Then why call me? Wait… are you really trying to meet me? Seriously? Affair's not enough—you want your enemy too? Into the thrill, are we?"
"You! You—ugh… ptooey! Don't flatter yourself!"
She took a deep breath, struggling to rein in her fury.
"We have someone who wants to meet you. You can pick the time and place."
We?
Takamagahara? Oda? Onmyō remnants? Tokugawa? Or… Akaten Dogs?
The Akiyama family's ties were messy. For them to openly cross Monster Corp showed how insane they were.
Now her backers wanted to meet him. Why?
"Fine. Samsara then. I'm right outside."
No big deal. Worst case, a fight. Kill someone, loot their gear.
"Good. Samsara works. Go to the 'Midsummer Night's Dream' Dream Club. Get a room. I'll be there."
.
.
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⚠️ 30 CHAPTERS AHEAD — I'm Not a Cyberpsycho ⚠️
The system says: Kill.Mercs obey. Corporates obey. Monsters obey.One man didn't.
🧠💀 "I'm not a cyberpsycho. I just think... differently."
💥 High-voltage cyberpunk. Urban warfare. AI paranoia.Read 30 chapters ahead, only on Patreon.
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