Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 96 74. Innocence of David

"Yo, David."

At the door of David's class, Gaius greeted David as he walked out of the classroom after class.

"Gaius"

The moment he saw Gaius, the scene he saw in his dream last night flashed through David's mind. It must be said that the impact was quite strong.

"How's the stuff I wanted?"

"I can bring it to you tomorrow, but we have to make an appointment in advance and bring it directly to the school."

"It's okay, I understand."

Gaius looked at the other students who were about to leave and pointed to a place where there were not many students. "Let's talk over there?"

"Ah."

After David followed Gaius to where he pointed, he couldn't help but ask, "Did you solve a cyberpsychopath yesterday?"

"Does news of cyberpsychosis spread so quickly?"

Gaius looked at David in surprise. "I remember the official news report said that it was the NCPD who solved the problem. How did you know it was me?"

"that."

David said a little embarrassedly: "Lieutenant James Norris has a recording software that comes with his military prosthesis. A Mewtwo editor produced a related Mewtwo within two hours after you dealt with him. Because it is a new product, I was able to try it out."

"Super Dream Editor, within two hours"

Gaius suddenly seemed to realize something: "Isn't this from the Cyber ​​Psycho series?"

"Yes, that's the editor named JK"

"It really is that bastard. I still have a score to settle with him."

"An account?"

Seeing David's puzzled expression, Gaius did not take the initiative to expose the fact that he was recorded as a cyberpsychopath. He pointed at the teaching device worn by David's face and changed the subject abruptly:

"Come to think of it, your equipment is different from the one I saw yesterday. Did you change it?"

"I went to upgrade it this morning and it cost me one thousand euros. Don't worry, I used the extra money to upgrade the equipment after I had already purchased the number of Mewtwo you requested. The quantity and quality are definitely enough."

Seeing David halfway through his words, he seemed to realize something and looked a little uneasy. Gaius waved his hand indifferently:

"It's okay. I don't care about that. Anyway, as long as you buy enough to make me famous, it's fine. Just like I said before, all the money earned from this sale will belong to you. If you don't buy enough, you will just make less money. As for spending money, what's given to you is yours. You don't have to tell me how you spend it."

After saying this, Gaius looked at the time and found that there were still fifteen minutes of break left. Because he knew someone, he came to see David after the second class. There were only three classes in the whole morning, and it was lunch time after the three classes. Gaius had no plan to stay in Arasaka Academy during the lunch time.

It's true that Arasaka Academy's indulgent attitude towards those who don't want to be introverted is the most relaxed school Gaius has ever attended. But in other words, without paying the money, even if you want to be introverted, there is no place to be introverted, and you can only accept this kind of indulgence.

"Speaking of which, are your grades good?"

Gaius had investigated David's family situation, so he understood that he was the kind of person who couldn't afford to be involuted. He was a little curious about how David, who came from such a family, would perform in school if he couldn't be involuted.

"score?"

I don’t quite understand why Gaius suddenly asked this, but David still answered quite honestly: “In the last test, I only ranked tenth in the school.”

In a time when internal competition is endless and almost every child of the powerful and wealthy has a private tutor, how could he rank tenth in the school just by relying on the meager content of the classes?
"Only ranked tenth?"

"That's right."

David was a little confused, not knowing why Gaius showed such a look of disbelief. He continued, "I used to be able to maintain seventh or eighth place, but my grades have dropped a lot recently, and I can only get tenth place."

"you"

Staring at David with his punk hair, Gaius suddenly realized that David was actually a good student.

Just relying on the little bit of class content, he was able to rank in the top ten. If there really was an opportunity for internal competition, Gaius couldn't even imagine what David's ranking in Arasaka Academy would be.

"With your grades, doesn't Arasaka Academy have a scholarship? I heard that the schools run by Ye's company all have scholarships?"

"Yes, but only university departments can get large amounts. We are in the middle school department, and the scholarships we give out are generally just for encouragement. They are given out once a semester, 300 euros each time. I save some for emergency use, and it can last me one or two months."

"Three hundred euros for a month or two?"

"For the subway, my mom topped up my account. I ate in the cafeteria, using my topped-up meal card. The college cafeteria is subsidized. Although it's cheap and the taste isn't that great, you can buy a loaf of bread for one euro. Sometimes if I'm lucky, I can buy a meat floss bread that's about to expire for five euros. It's enough for one meal. I go home for dinner."

"So these 300 euros are really for emergencies. Don't you usually buy drinks, snacks, etc?"

"I buy myself one chicken wing every week. I like to buy the Fei Fei chicken wings from Fei Fei Restaurant. I can buy a large golden and crispy chicken wing dripping with oil for 4 euros. I will eat the wing tip on the spot and save the wing root to heat in the microwave at night. My mother likes to eat the middle of the wing the most, so I will leave one wing middle for her on the table."

Listening to David's overly bitter story, Gaius remembered what Jack had described in the communication when he asked Jack to arrest David. David bought a five-euro disposable pistol while buying drinks, pretending to be careless.

At that time, the boy's heart must have been bleeding.

Looking at this young man whose eyes seemed to sparkle when he mentioned the synthetic grilled chicken wings that he would absolutely despise, Gaius could only reach out and pat him on the shoulder.

"Work hard. As long as we can make all the boys in the academy understand that they should come to me if they want to buy Mewtwo, we can start trying to develop the female side. By then, the money we earn will be enough for you to have endless chicken wings every day. By then, your mother won't have to work so hard, and you can pay your tuition by yourself."

Is this considered as the boss just making empty promises?
Looking at the expectant eyes of the innocent David, Gaius inexplicably felt an indescribable sense of shame in his heart.

My god, why are all these guys in this academy, whom I know, so innocent? This makes me, who has been in Night City for so long, totally unable to stand it.

Fortunately, the impression left by Gaius that everyone at Arasaka Academy was innocent did not last long.

Because some students came to cause trouble.

To be precise, he was looking for trouble with David, and Gaius was just a by-product.

"Poor people and street thugs really do fit together, don't you think, David?"

Gaius heaved a sigh of relief as he heard the mocking voice of the student approaching.

Fortunately, it is better not to leave a good impression of Arasaka Academy.

It’s finally here, the typical rich and powerful kid who looks down on the poor and street people.

If you don't come again, I'll start to doubt the student identity of Arasaka Academy.

(End of this chapter)