"Alright, fine."
Riku sighed, accepting the market's reality. He couldn't force people to pay up.
Non-essentials were like that—especially overpriced ones. Nobody needed real meat to survive, especially not at 1,000 eddies per kilo. One meal could cost more than two months' living expenses for most. Synthetic meat provided protein just fine, and even that was a luxury. Most folks scraped by on protein blocks.
For a regular wage slave, a job offering protein blocks, veggie paste, and kombucha was already a rare find.
"Alright, just deliver to the designated spot," Father replied, sounding relieved. This was his first time dealing in this kind of trade.
The black market wasn't easy, especially for food. Unlike guns or vehicles with clear value, rare items like real meat should fetch a fortune in theory. But set a sky-high price, and you still needed buyers willing to bite. The problem? Those who could afford it had legit channels and no reason to touch shady goods.
"Take it slow," Riku said, weighing out ten kilos of venison and tossing in an extra half-kilo for good measure, aiming for repeat business. Dreams of overnight riches were unrealistic, but that wasn't necessarily bad. Too much profit attracted greedy eyes—corpo dogs and rivals were like cats sniffing out fishy opportunities. High profits meant high risks.
At this price, with his unique product, Riku was already drawing attention. But since this was his first deal and the volume was small, it'd likely fly under the radar—unless the buyer blabbed. Riku figured no sane person would. Even if they wanted to brag, they'd claim it was from a legit source. Admitting to buying black-market meat? That'd just make their flex fall flat.
"Jack, you free right now?" Riku messaged Jack Welles, planning to hand off the delivery.
He could've done it himself, but he wanted to give Jack and V some involvement. Knowing their personalities, they wouldn't just take eddies without pulling their weight.
"Sure, choom, I'm at Misty's. What's up?" Jack replied. He'd dropped V off at Vik's and gone to see Misty.
"Meat shop's got a job. Handle the handoff," Riku said, sending the location and details.
"! On it!" Jack's enthusiasm spiked at the sight of a 20,000-eddy deal.
Soon, Riku met Jack and V at the door. V had tagged along—Vik had made quick work of removing the projectile launcher.
"This is the 20,000?" Jack asked, taking the meat, his tone skeptical, like it didn't feel real.
"Don't complain. That's a solid price for the black market," Riku said, having made peace with it. Treating the 20,000 as found money made it easier to swallow.
"Uh…" Jack froze, exchanging a glance with V. He wasn't complaining—far from it. A can of synthetic meat cost 15-20 eddies. Selling at 1,000 per kilo? That was insane.
They didn't ask where Riku got it, sensing it wasn't their place. They packed the meat in a black bag and left.
Once they were gone, Riku pulled out a looted submachine gun and repeated the flesh activation process. Melee weapons could be flesh-activated, and ranged ones were no exception. Soon, the gun was enveloped in his blood and flesh.
He set it aside and resumed training. After about an hour, he got feedback that the activation was complete. Picking up the submachine gun, Riku examined it closely.
Its appearance had changed—now blood-red, etched with eerie dark patterns. Its new ability let Riku manipulate the bullets' trajectory at will. Even better, if he ran out of ammo, he could replenish it with his flesh.
As long as Riku held the gun, it was essentially aimbot with infinite, recyclable ammo.
Bang!
Riku fired at the wall. The bullet veered, drifting through the room in loops before dropping weakly to the floor. He picked it up, and it melted back into his hand as flesh.
"No change in raw firepower, but I can control the trajectory. Too many redirects weaken it, though," Riku noted. The ability was like a smart weapon, but smoother and more precise. The infinite ammo was the real win—saving eddies and reload time.
Riku experimented further. Without the weapon as a medium, he couldn't activate bullets alone, just like he couldn't grow a katana from his hand without a blade. "What about this?" he wondered, activating an armor-piercing round. He couldn't replicate it independently, but he could load it into the flesh-activated gun.
"So, I can swap bullet types?" Riku realized. Any bullet compatible with the gun, once flesh-activated, could be loaded with his flesh.
"Could a bullet explode inside an enemy for extra damage?" The gun's quality was higher than the katana's, offering more abilities. Riku kept testing, gunfire echoing through the room.
Boom!
"Shit, Riku! You okay?!" The door burst open, Jack Welles charging in with V close behind, both armed and tense.
"Uh…" Riku, caught off guard, had already stashed the gun after sensing their approach. But they'd clearly heard the shots.
"Dammit, no one's here?! What're you doing?" V lowered her gun, exasperated. They'd thought the meat deal had gone south and Riku was under attack.
"Deal's done?" Riku asked, dodging the question.
"Of course. What could go wrong?" V said, flopping into a chair and picking up the flesh-activated submachine gun. "What's this paint job? Pretty cool."
"Uh… you good?" V asked, noticing Riku's odd expression, like he was holding something back.
"…"
Riku was indeed holding back. V handling the gun felt like someone was stroking his very flesh—a bizarre, unsettling sensation.
(End of Chapter)