Read Online Slum Online by Hiroshi Sakurazaka - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Hiroshi Sakurazaka
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. Unlike role-playing games, fighting games didn’t have rare items or experience points. So it surprised me to see a bartender controlled by a real person.
One by one, the text bubbles over the heads of the other characters in the dim cavern of the bar faded. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room move to Tetsuo. The characters were as still as statues. The textures that passed for their eyes stared blankly. But all across RL, over mile after mile of network cable, the players were watching every move of this newcomer on their television screens.
Tetsuo turned toward the bartender.
> I’m looking for someone.
> This here’s a bar, son.
> Huh?
> You gotta order somethin’.
> I don’t have any money.
> Don’t need no money. So what’ll it be? We got whisky-and-water, bottled beer, and mineral water. Them’s the only three drinks on offer.
> Gimme a mineral water, then.
> Comin’ right up.
The bartender slammed down the glass, generating a loud clink sound FX. I input a complex command and Tetsuo extended his hand above the counter. I had seen the command in the manual but never used it until now. Tetsuo failed to grasp the glass on his first two attempts. In the process, I managed to send the polygonal glass rolling along the countertop. The glass emitted a gravelly rumble sound FX as it moved, but not a drop of its contents spilled. Not so much as a ripple disturbed the surface of the transparent substance filling the glass. The water in Versus Town was just a mass of polygons rendered using matrix calculus. You could drop a crystal glass on the floor and it wouldn’t break.
> You new?
The woman had waited for Tetsuo to pick up the glass before approaching him.
> I’ve had my account a little over a month.
> This your first time here?
> Yeah, you could say that.
She was wearing a skin-tight purple suit with high heels to match. Her hair was long and black. A lightweight. Drunken fist. The sake bottle hanging from her hip clashed horribly with the suit, but if she hadn’t been made of polygons, she wouldn’t have looked half-bad.
People said the person who played Keith, one of the top four, was actually some high school girl. But just because a character spoke like a woman didn’t necessarily mean the player was female. In fact, most of the time it probably wasn’t. The ratio of male-to-female accounts in Versus Town was nine-to-one.
> I’m looking for someone. Maybe you’ve heard of him.
> What’s his name?
> Ganker Jack.
> You too, huh?
> There are other people looking for him?
> Plenty.
She gave an exaggerated shrug. The fact that she’d chosen to play a drunken fist spoke well of her skill. She continued.
> Seems like everyone is talking about him these days. It’s getting a little old.
> Do you know anyone who’s seen him?
> Hard to say. I couldn’t care less, personally. Hashimoto’s the person to ask, but he isn’t here today.
> Too bad.
> It’s a pain in the ass is what it is. We haven’t seen 963 since Jack beat him, and the hardcore keep hanging around.
> 963 used to come here?
> Not just him. Pak and Keith drop by sometimes. Tanaka’s the only one of the top four who never comes. But he’s always been hardcore.
> What’s all this hardcore stuff?
> Just the way it sounds.
Before she could continue, a man with long hair broke into the conversation.
> You’re wasting your breath on that one, Masumi.
He was wearing a light brown vest over a white shirt with a raised collar. An intricate pattern decorated his boots, which reached to just below his knees. His hair matched the color of his vest, and he wore it parted down the middle of his head. He was a middleweight snake boxer, and he had on a black wristband. A streetfighter like Tetsuo.
He caught the leg of a nearby chair with a middle foot sweep, pulling it close enough for him to sit down and cross his legs.
> Listen up, scrub. You wanna fight, you go down to the arena.
One by one, the text bubbles over the heads of the other characters in the dim cavern of the bar faded. I could feel the eyes of everyone in the room move to Tetsuo. The characters were as still as statues. The textures that passed for their eyes stared blankly. But all across RL, over mile after mile of network cable, the players were watching every move of this newcomer on their television screens.
Tetsuo turned toward the bartender.
> I’m looking for someone.
> This here’s a bar, son.
> Huh?
> You gotta order somethin’.
> I don’t have any money.
> Don’t need no money. So what’ll it be? We got whisky-and-water, bottled beer, and mineral water. Them’s the only three drinks on offer.
> Gimme a mineral water, then.
> Comin’ right up.
The bartender slammed down the glass, generating a loud clink sound FX. I input a complex command and Tetsuo extended his hand above the counter. I had seen the command in the manual but never used it until now. Tetsuo failed to grasp the glass on his first two attempts. In the process, I managed to send the polygonal glass rolling along the countertop. The glass emitted a gravelly rumble sound FX as it moved, but not a drop of its contents spilled. Not so much as a ripple disturbed the surface of the transparent substance filling the glass. The water in Versus Town was just a mass of polygons rendered using matrix calculus. You could drop a crystal glass on the floor and it wouldn’t break.
> You new?
The woman had waited for Tetsuo to pick up the glass before approaching him.
> I’ve had my account a little over a month.
> This your first time here?
> Yeah, you could say that.
She was wearing a skin-tight purple suit with high heels to match. Her hair was long and black. A lightweight. Drunken fist. The sake bottle hanging from her hip clashed horribly with the suit, but if she hadn’t been made of polygons, she wouldn’t have looked half-bad.
People said the person who played Keith, one of the top four, was actually some high school girl. But just because a character spoke like a woman didn’t necessarily mean the player was female. In fact, most of the time it probably wasn’t. The ratio of male-to-female accounts in Versus Town was nine-to-one.
> I’m looking for someone. Maybe you’ve heard of him.
> What’s his name?
> Ganker Jack.
> You too, huh?
> There are other people looking for him?
> Plenty.
She gave an exaggerated shrug. The fact that she’d chosen to play a drunken fist spoke well of her skill. She continued.
> Seems like everyone is talking about him these days. It’s getting a little old.
> Do you know anyone who’s seen him?
> Hard to say. I couldn’t care less, personally. Hashimoto’s the person to ask, but he isn’t here today.
> Too bad.
> It’s a pain in the ass is what it is. We haven’t seen 963 since Jack beat him, and the hardcore keep hanging around.
> 963 used to come here?
> Not just him. Pak and Keith drop by sometimes. Tanaka’s the only one of the top four who never comes. But he’s always been hardcore.
> What’s all this hardcore stuff?
> Just the way it sounds.
Before she could continue, a man with long hair broke into the conversation.
> You’re wasting your breath on that one, Masumi.
He was wearing a light brown vest over a white shirt with a raised collar. An intricate pattern decorated his boots, which reached to just below his knees. His hair matched the color of his vest, and he wore it parted down the middle of his head. He was a middleweight snake boxer, and he had on a black wristband. A streetfighter like Tetsuo.
He caught the leg of a nearby chair with a middle foot sweep, pulling it close enough for him to sit down and cross his legs.
> Listen up, scrub. You wanna fight, you go down to the arena.
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