At the same time, but the crazy

Chapter 481 David Martinez
The pungent smell of hospital disinfectant, mixed with a faint odor of blood, entered his nasal cavity and made his stomach churn.

David was curled up, his hands in his pockets, his knuckles white from the effort.

The stark white light shone down from above, casting a long, thin shadow on the equally cold floor.

It's all his fault!
It's all his fault for being so clever!

Using that damn pirated Mewtwo software at school caused the system to crash and the devices to short-circuit!
The results of it?
The principal summoned his mother to the school, gave her a severe dressing-down, and demanded compensation for the equipment damage.

On the way home, because his mother was upset, she didn't notice the gang fight that broke out around the street corner and was hit by a stray bullet...

"Hold!"

David cursed under his breath and slammed his fist hard on the empty chair next to him, making a dull thud.

He just... just didn't want his mom to be so tired!

Gloria, his mother, worked tirelessly like a spinning top every day to get him into Arasaka Academy, doing the most tiring work at the emergency center for a meager salary.

All because of his damn, outrageously expensive tuition at Arakawa Academy!!
"David, you're so smart, you'll definitely get into Arasaka and become a big shot! Then we'll leave this hellhole!"

What kept his mother working day and night was this simple dream!

I hope he can join the Arasaka Group after graduation and become an elite!
but……

He tried hard.

I really tried my best.

But damn it, those rich kids in their smart uniforms, covered in shiny implants, looked at him like he was a rat in the sewer!

He couldn't fit in.

From the very beginning, he knew that he was not from their world.

No matter how good his grades are, no matter how much he imitates the mannerisms of those "superior people," the poverty and inferiority complex in his bones are like something etched into his genes, impossible to wash away.

Fuck fate! Fuck big corporations! Fuck the elite!
David suddenly raised his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the window at the end of the corridor.

Outside the window, the city lights shone brightly, and the light pollution from the neon lights dyed the sky an eerie purple.

A colossal, black obelisk-like structure pierced the sky.

That was Arasaka Tower, a symbol of power and wealth, the end of his mother's dream, and the source of his current hatred.

Why?
Why should they have to live such a miserable life?
Why should they be dragged into those damn gang fights?

Why should his mother be forced to lie in a regular ward and wait to die just because she can't afford the astronomical fees for a trauma support platinum membership?!
They just want to live! To live like human beings! Is that so hard?!
Anger surged and churned in his chest like magma, almost setting him ablaze!

"Oh shit……"

He gritted his teeth, his body trembling slightly with extreme anger.

Shila-

A faint electrical hum rang in his ears, and a slight tingling sensation spread across his skin.

He instinctively shook his head, thinking that his prosthetic body had malfunctioned.

But at that moment, a strange sense of perception surged into his brain like a tide, and several indistinct sounds, as if coming through a layer of frosted glass, came intermittently.

"...The vital signs are very unstable, there is severe internal bleeding, and multiple organs have ruptured..."

A cold male voice rang out, sounding somewhat weary.

"Boss, what do you think... should we save him?"

Another, slightly younger voice asked, its tone hesitant.

"Help me!"

The first voice interrupted without any politeness.

"Look at the trauma report, and then look at what this woman and that kid outside are wearing. Poor bastards! Typical poor bastards from the downtown area! Surgery fees, high-end medications, follow-up ICU care... can they afford it? Don't be ridiculous!"

A brief silence. "So... we'll just leave it like this?"

The young voice seemed somewhat reluctant.

"Just leave it there? Are you out of your mind?"

The voice that was referred to as the boss sneered.

"What a waste of resources! Notify the black market to check her implant model and organ matching. Remove everything that's still usable and sell it; we can recoup some of the cost and ease the burden on her son—it's a win-win situation!"

Right? It'll save you from accumulating a mountain of medical debt that you could never repay in your next life.

"Yes, yes, boss! This is called making use of waste, and it can even earn us some extra money!"

A third, obsequious voice chimed in.

"That's right, rather than letting her die painfully in a hospital bed, burdened with a mountain of debt, it's better to give her a quick death now, so she can still make some last contribution. We're doing a good deed, hehe..."

"It's settled then. Prepare for 'euthanasia'. Be quick and efficient, and don't leave any traces."

"Roger that!"

This...this is...

Upon hearing this sound, David outside suddenly looked up towards the operating room, his face instantly draining of all color.

My whole body was stiff, and my mind went blank.

Those voices... those cold, inhuman conversations...

is that true?

What...what are they saying?
Who are they talking about?
Reduce the burden? Utilize waste? Euthanasia?

That woman…the “woman” they were talking about, the one who was to be dismantled, sold, and “euthanized”…

It's his mother!
Gloria Martinez!

"Do not……"

David's lips moved silently, his throat felt like it was filled with cement, and he couldn't make a sound.

An extreme chill instantly shot from the soles of my feet to the top of my head.

He had seen a post online that said some doctors in unregulated, black-market hospitals would sell their implants if they determined that the money they could get from the patient's family would be less than the value of the implant itself.

That would mean, just like he had just heard, euthanizing the patient and selling their organs and implants for money.

In the end, the patient's family will only receive a cold death notice and a jar of ashes...

Those doctors... were street cleaners...

anger?
No, that's no longer anger.

A feeling deeper, darker, and more...despairing than anger welled up from the depths of David's heart.

He felt as if he had sunk to the bottom of a cold sea, surrounded by endless darkness and suffocating pressure.

Those people... those doctors in white coats, who were supposed to save lives...

They're going to kill his mother!
Just because they're poor!

Just because they can't afford it!
They want to dispose of her like trash! And they want to extract the last bit of value from her!
What should he do?
Pretending not to hear, only to receive a death notice in the end?!

No, absolutely not!!
"Ho..."

He took a deep breath, a breath that seemed to carry the smell of rust and blood, and the last trace of hesitation in his eyes was completely crushed.

Regardless of what's behind that door, all he wants right now is to prevent his mother from dying!
He lunged forward, and with all his might, kicked the cold operating room door hard...

(End of this chapter)