CHAMPION | NCT

o26

A/n: 2nd update for today! Hope you like it :))

C H A P T E R
T W E N T Y - S I X

VALUE EQUALS PRICE

At every trading station we passed by, those words always appear at their shop's headline.

Around a few blocks away from us was a gigantic vehicle that had recently parked. Passengers disembarked from it, shoving past each other. They were in a hurry to who finds the best deal first.

Center of gambling was a more fitting name for this place rather than center of transaction. This is no place for honest businessmen.

A man wearing a luxurious attire traded with a man, pale and funny-looking, a necklace made up of diamond beads. Meanwhile, the other gave him a personally crafted woodpiece in return.

"What was that? A diamond in exchange of wood?"

I was confused, but Kun put an end to my puzzlement.

"Value equals price. To the other man, he might value that wooden thing as highly as the other man values the diamond necklace. There are no rules in the trading really, you can give and take anything you want as long as it's with the right person."

"Interesting."

"Satisfying," added Kun. "In this place, there is no rich and poor. Everyone has their own value, unlike the city. There, discrimination's unavoidable. It's everywhere."

"How ironic. Why did those man scan our wrists then? If this city is all about 'equality', why do they need to find out our class?"

"That's a different setting. Those man, don't forget, are from the city. I'm pretty sure that the people here want them to be gone."

"Do they really imprison the non-chip holders?"

"That's what I've heard."

I looked around. "That means none of the traders in this place are Chipless then?"

"None. Most of them are Cyan," Kun said and glanced at me. "Have you ever met a Cyan?"

"I've met some. But I never became friends with them," I lifted my gaze. "What kind of a person are they?"

"They are the best, if you ask me. Humble. Opinionated. Generous. And kind. Like really, really kind. They don't really stand out in the society, since most of the spotlight are concentrated among the Colorless, the Neons, and the Chipless. But I think that's what makes them the best. They're satisfied at what they have, like those guys are in the middle of a seesaw but us, the other chip holders, we're at the edge of it. I sometimes wished I was born a Cyan."

"Do you think I'd get along with them?" I asked simply because I was curious.

"I don't know. We're about to find out."

"What do you mean?"

Kun deccelerated his steps to match mine. "Where are the goggles that Mark gave you? Wear them."

"Right now?"

"Yeah. Right now. And remember what Mark told you, you need to--"

"Read until the end," I finished the sentence for him. "Okay."

I grabbed the goggles and wore them. Then following Mark's command, I pressed my thumb on one of its lenses. A green arc appeared on the glass, sorrounding my thumb to where it had been. I could hear the goggles making tiny ticking sounds, until it determined that I was a "Borrower" as indicated by the speaker talking in the device.