Chapter 38: Internet Stripper

The woman was very proactive, and it seemed that she was socially adept. Despite the fact that she was meeting complete strangers in an unfamiliar place, she didn't appear to be feeling awkward at all.

"80,000 is the starting price. Only the cases that present no danger and are the most easily resolved will cost 80,000." Kim Hee-cho naturally excelled more than Adam and his friends when it came to talking business. He maintained a polite smile as he continued, "I can confirm that the services of three adapters are being offered. The three people standing in front of you right now are psychotherapists with extensive experience."

"Is that right?" The woman took a puff of her Metaverse e-cigarette as she examined Adam's trio. "They look very young. Have they bought Metaverse skins to give themselves a younger appearance?"

"You're correct in your assessment. If we weren't so young, we wouldn't be charging such low prices," Adam said. "If you were dealing with seasoned adapter psychotherapists, you might not even be able to recruit their services for 800,000, let alone 80,000."

The woman faltered slightly upon hearing this, then gave a nod of approval.

"That's very reasonable, and you're being very genuine with me. I like that. Let's discuss some terms."

The woman began to introduce herself.

"My name is Karen, and in the Metaverse, people like to call me Twerking Karen. Yes, I am an internet stripper," Karen said as she took a puff of her cigarette. "I'm not telling you this to make a point or anything like that, so don't think too much of it. It's just that my daughter's condition may have something to do with my occupation, and I'm here for her sake."

"I understand. It's a perfectly legal occupation."

Kim Hee-cho nodded in response, indicating that he harbored no biases toward occupations.

Ever since the creation of the Metaverse, business for internet strippers had been booming.

Haptic technology allowed one to touch and feel internet strippers, and in addition to that, there were many special skin effects and many types of moves that could be performed on the internet. Given these advantages, many people flocked to internet prostitution in preference over its real-world equivalent.

However, during the past couple of years, business for internet strippers had been on the decline. As virtual idols became more and more popular, purely virtual strippers that were perfect in every way were gradually phasing out their flawed human counterparts. If it weren't for the fact that human internet strippers still had a selling point in the form of realism, the entire industry would've already been completely taken over by virtual strippers.

"I'm gonna be honest here. I'm a casual and easygoing person, and I don't really care about pride or reputation. In this industry, I've met all types of clients and heard more nasty insults than I can count, but I don't care. If I'm happy and earning money, who cares what other people think? The problem is that my daughter is different." Karen picked up an ashtray to snuff out her cigarette in it as she spoke. "My daughter is a smart, sensitive, and fragile girl. She despises me, and she feels like my occupation makes her the laughingstock of all of the other students at school."

Kim Hee-cho nodded in response.

"I see, but surely that's not a severe enough problem for you to turn to adapters."

"You're right. In the beginning, she was only a little rebellious, but during the past half a year or so, things have become a lot more serious, and she would occasionally even fly into a blind rage. One time, I saw her beating a stray dog, and it was like she had gone insane. After that, I took her to see a therapist, and I was told that perhaps she had suffered some kind of traumatic incident at school, but he's unable to convince her to tell him exactly what happened, which is why I've decided to turn to you. I want you to find out the reason for her worsening mental condition. That should be a very simple task that can be covered by 80,000, right?"

Karen was constantly emphasizing the base price of 80,000, so it was clear that she wasn't very wealthy.

Internet strippers earned far higher incomes than people in normal occupations, but even for them, amassing a massive amount of wealth was nothing more than a distant dream.

"We'll go and take a look. If all you need us to do is find out the reason for her behavior, then I think 80,000 should be enough."

Kim Hee-cho gave Adam an inquisitive glance as he spoke, and Adam nodded in agreement.

Indeed, simply finding out the reason wasn't a difficult task.

Even if the girl didn't want to tell anyone or even if she had already forgotten what had happened, this was still a simple task.

What was difficult was resolving the problem and fighting the anomaly.

"We operate primarily in the Sandrise City area. May I ask where you're from?"

"I'm from Sandrise City. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to you."

"I see. Alright, let's decide on a time. I think tomorrow..."

"Now is fine. My daughter just so happens to be home now."

Karen was a quick-tempered woman, and she didn't want there to be any unnecessary delays. Adam and the others had a quick discussion, and they decided that they had nothing else to do at the moment anyway, so there was no point in delaying the session until the next day.

Thus, both parties arrived at an agreement, and they all left the Metaverse after exchanging addresses and contact details.

After removing his helmet and returning to the real world, Adam found himself back in his dorm room.

This was the first time he had entered the Metaverse, and the jarring sensation of phasing through reality and cyberspace left him with a few seconds of residual discomfort.

In contrast, Hook and Nie Yiyi were faring much better. They weren't blank slates, and they already entered the Metaverse countless times in the past.

"I didn't think we'd get a job as soon as we released our advertisement. Looks like it's even easier than I expected to earn money in this field," Hook mused. "We've already got 80,000 in the bag. The Perspiration Pub that my family runs may not be able to earn 80,000 even in half a year."

"The 80,000 isn't all going to you. 30% has to be given to the landlord, and after the rest has to be split between the three of us, so it's really not much," Nie Yiyi said with a shake of her head. "I decided to join this venture not just to earn money, but also for training. Emotional anomalies are some of the best opponents to train against. If it's just investigating the cause of the patient's condition, then I'll leave the job to you two. That way, you don't have to split the money three ways."

After expressing her desire to back out of the job, Nie Yiyi immediately departed, and Adam didn't try to dissuade her.

They had agreed that she was going to be external personnel, so she had a great degree of freedom.

Furthermore, Hook was clearly more adept when it came to investigation.

However, Adam wasn't very interested in the job, either. His objective was the same as Nie Yiyi, and for him, the emotional anomalies themselves yielded higher value than the financial compensation. However, this was the first day of their business, and it was very much necessary for him to go through the business process and familiarize himself with the procedure for taking on missions, so he didn't turn down the job.

After departing from the academy with Hook, the two of them took the void rail to leave the area where Layton Academy was situated.

The void rail was extremely fast, and despite the fact that Sandrise City was a massive metropolis capable of housing a population in the hundreds of millions, the void rail was able to reach any area in the city within two hours.

After arriving at a normal residential area, they met Karen in front of an apartment building with over 100 levels. Kim Hee-cho had arrived earlier than them, so he was also present.

Aside from the fact that their attire was different, the two of them were very similar in appearance to their Metaverse selves, so Adam and Hook identified them right away.

"Hello."

"Where's that girl from before?"

Karen was rather displeased to see that only two adapters had arrived.

"She's a battle personnel, so she'll only be present if battle is required." Adam had already thought of an excuse before coming here. "Rest assured, if we can't resolve the problem, we won't charge you any money."

Karen nodded with a reassuring expression upon hearing this.

"Make sure to include that clause in the contract."

After that, she made her way over to the apartment building before unlocking a flying elevator with her fingerprint.

Everyone entered the flying elevator, which had been designed to resemble a small airship, and they soon arrived on the balcony of Karen's home, which was situated on a level in the eighties.