Only 998 Chapter 2 - #001. This piece of junk still costs 998?
This is the outermost public housing area of Tsushima. Although the energy pipelines have already been laid throughout the entire island, this place still feels like it’s a hundred years behind the inner districts, filled with the lingering smell of old poverty. Qiao Yu, male, twenty-one years old, a university student, receives a monthly “citizen’s welfare allowance” and lives in a twenty-square-meter low-income apartment on the outermost edge of Tsushima, relies on three or four part-time jobs outside of school hours to make a living.
His biggest dream is to move into a high-end apartment within the inner circle and to own a humanoid AI of his own. That dream was halfway realized just the day after he saw a special offer ad—basically, now. When he heard the AI disdainfully reject the name he had given it, Qiao Yu’s smile stiffened, and his temper flared instantly. But then he thought, maybe the name “Qiao Er” really doesn’t match the current aesthetic trend, so he reluctantly said, “…then how about calling you Xiao Mi.”
“…Ugly, no.” Qiao Yu irritably glanced down at his crotch, then looked back with a meaningful expression and said, “Then what about Da Mi?” “Go away, no.” “…Then, how about Qiao Fa Cai?”
As a result, the AI made a move before he could, furrowing its brows, lifting its chin, with an expression as arrogant as the boss of this street: “…Who would give such a trash name?” “……..” Qiao Yu stared at the beautiful AI in front of him. The AI looked back without any hesitation, its gray eyes full of contempt. Without the number on its face, the difference between a humanoid AI and a human was truly minimal; at least, you couldn’t tell with the naked eye. In Qiao Yu’s perception, what stood before him was just a handsome younger brother repeatedly provoking him. Anger level: 95%. In the end, the handsome younger brother was the first to look away, glancing around Qiao Yu’s low-income apartment that reeked of poverty, and said, “Tch, what a shabby place.”
Anger level: 100%. Qiao Yu froze motionless for two seconds, then suddenly struck, slapping the AI’s face and shoving him back into the cardboard box. “Hey, what are you doing…!”
Qiao Yu turned a deaf ear to the AI’s words. He moved with the efficiency of someone packing goods in a factory, quickly closing the box and then expertly flipping open a drawer to grab tape and scissors, before starting to pack. This is definitely the wrong order, absolutely! It must be that some wealthy customer with a taste for quirks and a love for tsundere paid for a custom model; otherwise, what AI would be this annoying?! Where’s the ‘thoughtful and warm,’ 'all-rounded housekeeper,’ 'perfect companion for solo living’ that the advertisement promised?“
Qiao Yu even began to regret not opening the box and turning it on in front of the delivery guy; that way he could have just handed it to the delivery person to return it on the spot. He ripped the tape with a 'swish’ sound and wrapped it around the cardboard box. The AI inside was muttering something muffled, definitely not anything pleasant. The AI struggled fiercely, so Qiao Yu decided to use the brute strength he usually applied at his part-time jobs. He lifted a leg, straddled the middle of the box, and pressed down with his weight: 'This junk costs 998? Let’s see if I want to pay 98!’ "Hmm!! Hmmm! Hmm!! ” 'Don’t worry, I’m contacting the store for a return right now.’ Qiao Yu said as he stepped off the noisy box and went to the old-fashioned PC on the floor. Low-income housing only provides basic furniture, like a fridge, a fan, and lights. Not only did Qiao Yu’s place have no bed, he only had a small desk he bought himself. The small desk doubled as his workstation, so the PC had to sit on the floor. Setting aside the fact that the fancy AI was rude, what it said wasn’t wrong: even among low-income households, Qiao Yu was poor—extremely poor. The screen lit up, Qiao Yu sat cross-legged on the floor, leaned forward, and started operating the keyboard and mouse, opening his purchase history. Yesterday’s advertisement was still floating at the top of the shopping platform: Only 998! Bring a humanoid AI home! Buying it is a bargain!
Qiao Yu cursed in his heart, 'Bah, false advertising.’ He glanced back, somewhat intentionally, at the oversized box that was still making a 'thump thump thump’ noise, and the sound of his keyboard typing grew a few decibels louder. 'I… want to r… retu—’ Before he could finish typing the word 'return,’ a sudden 'shred’ sound came from behind Qiao Yu, as if something had been violently torn apart. He whipped around and saw the orange-headed AI sitting in the wreckage of the cardboard box, its face full of rage. 'Stay still!’ Qiao Yu cursed. 'I’ll return you right now!’ According to Qiao Yu’s friends, he definitely looked like the kind of person who came across as intimidating. Coupled with his quick temper, the natural label was 'keep your distance’; but the AI was not only unfazed by his fierce expression, it was even fiercer than him: 'How dare you use violence on me?!’ 'Huh?!’ And then Qiao Yu was tackled and had his throat grabbed by the AI.
The AI’s knee suddenly jabbed into his lower back, making him let out a muffled groan from the pain. Decades ago, humanoid AI technology had already advanced to its current state. Researchers prioritized making AI 'human-like,’ but in terms of various abilities, AI far surpassed humans. Take computational ability, for example: humans make mistakes, but AI doesn’t; or consider physical capability: levels that humans can only reach after long-term training, AI could achieve easily just by following programmed instructions… The reason for saying all this is that Qiao Yu, who fancied himself capable of easily taking on three opponents at once, simply couldn’t defeat this damn bargain-model machine. He barely managed to break free from the AI’s grip and turned to throw a punch, but it landed on a steel plate instead. The surface was high-quality silicone mimicking human skin, but beneath it was still metal. His punch amounted to nothing against the bargain model; instead, he himself felt pain that twisted his expression: 'Ugh…!’ Taking advantage of the moment, the bargain model grabbed his wrist, flipped him backward, and mercilessly taunted, 'What a loser.’
