Chapter 0

[Translator – Peptobismol]

Chapter 0: Prologue

An elf doctor in the cyberpunk world said to me.

“You’ve been diagnosed with depression.”

“Huh?”

The elf doctor continued speaking, as if my reaction was familiar to them and without even glancing at me.

“Statistically, over 75% of citizens living in Neon City have experienced feelings of depression at some point, so you don’t have to be too surprised.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Of course, if you’re diagnosed with true depression, your Social Score may drop, resulting in disadvantages.”

Well, what am I supposed to do then?

I frowned at the doctor’s rhetoric, seeming to know or not know.

If the Social Score drops, it turns to a censorship system that a certain communist country had in my past life.

It incurs disadvantages in the overall social system.

It was just an issue that couldn’t be overlooked.

The doctor seemed to have undergone eye implant surgery.

A green light mechanically flickered in with the elf doctor’s iris.

“First, it’s the first detailed question. When did you start feeling depressed?”

“I never felt that way before, though?”

I’ve never been depressed before, so what is this?

Of course, for the sake of my precious Social Score, I could never be depressed.

If you were a normal citizen living in Neon City, rampant with extreme ‘capitalism’ and indiscriminate ‘trans-humanism’, you would have given the same answer, a hundred out of a hundred.

A plummeting Social Score?

It must be absolutely prevented.

For example, the interest rate on my loan suddenly increased fivefold.

‘That’s not much of an increase, is it?’

It would have been a situation to be congratulated for.

Whether the doctor knew my feelings or not (probably knew), they continued speaking in a businesslike manner.

“It’s okay to think back to when you were young. You don’t have to think about it too hard.”

“…No, it’s not that.”

It’s not that the question is difficult, it’s that this situation could ruin my Social Score.

My statement that I wasn’t depressed in the first place was completely ignored.

“…Haa.”

This is giving me a headache.

It seems like it’s not a situation I can just overlook.

When I was young….

Come to think of it, quite some time has passed.

Since I ended up in the game world.

[Translator – Peptobismol]