Free Web NovelChapter 291: 291 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2
Seeing that even Jackie recognized me, it seemed I had probably grown up in Heywood.
Jackie, as expected, had a considerable build from exercising. He had a short ponytail at the back, and the top of his hair was styled with an oddly carved hexagonal shape. His appearance was a bit rough, but having played the original game, he was a character I felt quite fond of.
"I thought since you were playing in the big leagues, you wouldn’t even look at this place anymore, but coming here shows you missed my mother’s cooking, right?"
"Yeah, I missed it."
I said to Pepe.
"Please give my friend here the same thing."
"Got it."
When I paid right away, Pepe poured the same drink for Jackie.
"Oh~ isn’t this the liquor Mother went through a lot of trouble to get? I heard it’s a whiskey made from 100% grain. She told me not to steal it because she was going to sell it at a high price. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity, and now I get to try it."
Jackie was wrong. The drink he was drinking was not made from 100% grain. About 20% of it had additives. But I didn’t tell them that fact.
"So, how have you been? Still active in the Valentinos gang?"
When I asked that, Jackie answered.
"Nah, I quit. Right now, I’m just doing small‑time gigs, dealing with troublemakers at bars."
"Really? And Mama Wells, is she doing well?"
"Mother’s always doing well. Her nagging has gotten a bit worse lately, though. Still, her cooking skills at least haven’t changed, so don’t worry."
"I see."
"More than that, why don’t you tell me some stories about the big leagues? Is the work good?"
Jackie seemed very interested in the work I do. Well, in the original, he always had the big leagues on his lips, so it was natural he’d be interested.
"Well, let’s just say I’m always flirting with death. One wrong move and my life’s on the line. You can definitely earn good money and gain fame, but you never know when you’ll die. It feels like walking on thin ice."
"I suppose so. Speaking of which, if any work comes up, could you include me?"
"Why? You want to play in the big leagues?"
"Yeah, I want to."
At Jackie’s words, I pretended to think for a moment.
"Hmm... this is a dilemma. With you, I think our personalities would match, and it would be good to work together, but if something happens to you, I wouldn’t be able to face Mama Wells..."
"Come on, you’re treating me like a mama’s boy. Mother has her own life, and I have mine!"
Just then, Mama Wells suddenly appeared and delivered a powerful smack to Jackie’s back.
SMACK!!!
"Yow!! Mom!"
"You brat! I was a bit relieved when you left the gang, and now you’re saying you want to play in the big leagues? Are you trying to get yourself killed!?"
From Mama Wells’s actions, she must have been listening to our conversation.
"No, wait, let me explain..."
Mama Wells immediately grabbed Jackie by the ear and dragged him to the back of the bar. Pepe and I covered our mouths and giggled at the sight.
"Good drinking snack today."
"Pfft... I know, right. I haven’t seen something this funny in a long time either."
I drank like that, gave Pepe a bit of a tip, and left the bar. Then, catching a glimpse of Jackie still being nagged by Mama Wells in the back alley, I pretended not to see and drove home. But then, suddenly, screams and gunshots were heard from somewhere. As expected of Night City.
I arrived home that day, took out a pizza from my inventory, ate it, then washed up and went to sleep. freewёbnoνel.com
When the next day came, I received a call on my phone early in the morning. I answered, and it was from Wakako Okada, one of the fixers who arranges jobs.
– Wouldn’t it be better to just get basic implants? You have the skill, so a lot of requests come in, but it’s hard to deliver the details. From a fixer’s perspective, it’s hard to brief you — you’re the worst kind of mercenary.
Wakako grumbled as soon as she answered.
"That won’t be a problem anymore. I got basic implants."
– Oh~ that’s good news. Then I’ll connect you right away.
I immediately synced my phone to my helmet.
"All set. So, what’s the job?"
– An executive’s child must have fallen in with the wrong crowd. They’re being held for ransom. The client seems very angry about this. Take out all the kidnappers and rescue the child unharmed. From now on, you won’t need to come all the way here — I’ll just send you the data. Take a look and take care of it quickly.
"Alright, got it."
When the call ended like that, a data package containing a map and various information was sent to my helmet. As expected of the famous fixer Wakako, she knew where they were being held. Since information is life to a fixer, it seemed she had her own information network.
I quickly prepared and rode my bike, the Arch Nazaré, to an abandoned factory warehouse in Westbrook. When I used Spectral Vision to look inside, I saw a group of Scavengers either resting while armed or keeping watch outside.
Schlick!
Thud!
I started from the perimeter, quickly cutting the Scavengers’ throats and thinning them out. These guys wouldn’t even know why they died.
"Huh, that’s weird. I can’t reach the outside."
"Yeah? They’re probably just high."
"No, it’s not just one or two people I can’t reach... I should go check."
"I told you, they’re just high."
Schlick! Schlick!
Thud! Thud! frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓
All of the Scavengers died without even realizing that I had infiltrated. When the job was done like that, I opened the container at the end of the warehouse, and a girl who looked about eighteen was trembling inside. But thinking about it quietly, something seemed a bit strange.
If it was an executive’s family, they would have attached a tracking device for safety, and they could have used corporate soldiers, so why did they hire a fixer? So I briefly read her memories, and she wasn’t family, just a young lover. Probably what you’d call a ’sugar daddy’ situation. It seemed he had hired a fixer to quietly take care of it.
’No wonder she had a good figure and was pretty... so there were circumstances like that.’
In the Cyberpunk worldview, this kind of thing falls on the very cute end of the spectrum. Because it’s a worldview where truly unbelievable crimes also occur, I just ignored their circumstances and contacted Wakako immediately.
"Done."
– Fast as always. I made the right choice entrusting it to you. I’ll send a vehicle to the front of the warehouse, so put her in that. I’ll send the payment right away.
"Got it."
I ended the call like that, took the hostage, and went outside the warehouse. Then a car arrived right away. The woman, seeing the car, was relieved and thanked me quite a lot.
"Thank you. Thank you for saving me. I really thought I was going to die."
"I just did my job."
I put the woman in the car and sent her off, then ate a hamburger for brunch while looking around the monorail stations. Just in case I might find Lucy. I could just use [Jack Sparrow’s Compass] to find her immediately, but I thought it would be more natural to catch her pickpocketing shards, like in the original. At the same time, I also did some sightseeing and people‑watching.
I was slowly looking around the city. At the monorail stations, there were people high on drugs sleeping in corners, and unknown filth — whether it was vomit stains or feces — could be seen here and there, and the smell was a bit unpleasant, but people walked past as if it were an everyday occurrence. The fortunate thing was that the monorail cars themselves were clean — they must get cleaned.
I didn’t see Lucy that day, so I just rode the monorail with a tourist’s mindset, took a lap around Night City, and arrived home.
When the next day came, the next request came in right away. This time, it was from ’Regina Jones’.
– A cyberpsycho has appeared, and I’d like you to take care of it before the police make a mess. You’ve taken on a few cyberpsycho jobs before, so you know, but don’t kill them. Just subdue them.
"Got it. I’ll go right away."
In the Cyberpunk worldview, there is a unique mental disorder called ’cyberpsychosis’. It occurs in the process of replacing the body with machines through excessive cyberware (implant) installation, and gradually, the ability to empathize with others is lost. Even people with a small amount of cyberware can turn into cyberpsychos if they experience extreme trauma or mental shock.
This disorder began to appear in humanity when they started implanting cyberware into their bodies. In the early stages, symptoms like auditory hallucinations, nightmares, and loss of reality appear, and from the middle stage onward, it leads to severed interpersonal relationships, impulsive violence, ego disintegration, indiscriminate killing, and schizophrenia‑like symptoms, reaching a very dangerous state.
Simply put, cyberpsychosis can be described as a mental disorder that occurs in the process of losing one’s humanity through cyberware.
Regina Jones is a fixer who used to be a journalist, and she is a person who runs around busily trying to solve the cyberpsycho problem. Among the fixers of Night City, she is one of the rare few with a human side, so even though the payment wasn’t very large, I decided to take the job.
According to the information, it occurred under a bridge in the Watson district, a quiet area where homeless people often stay. Perhaps because of that, the stench of garbage stung my nose as soon as I arrived. No matter how much, I didn’t want to stay in a place like this for long, so I wanted to deal with it quickly and get out of this area.
So I used [Observation Haki] to survey the area. I heard screaming nearby, so I went to check, and saw a person in military uniform indiscriminately killing homeless people. So I quickly moved, struck the back of his neck to knock him out immediately, then tied him up with wire and contacted Regina Jones.
"Done. The location is..."
– Fast as always. We’ll take care of the rest.
"Got it."
I left him to them, quickly left that place, washed myself with [Life Magic], then returned home and had a meal. After that, I went out to the monorail stations again, but didn’t see Lucy today as well.
’Could it be that she hasn’t come to Night City yet? Should I try looking for her?’
While I was thinking this, I got another call from a fixer. So I quickly handled the request and just went home to rest that day.
– Good morning, Night City! Is your cyberware working well today? NCN brings you today’s peaceful news amidst the chaos — starting now.
Again, the next morning, I absentmindedly turned on the news while eating. The anchor on the screen was delivering the news that several people had died in a surprisingly bright voice. In modern society, it would have caused an uproar, but this is Night City. A city where things like that just pass by as everyday life.
For several days, receiving and handling requests, and people‑watching at the monorail, was becoming my daily routine. Then, finally, I was able to find her.
"Finally found you."
Lucy, wearing a backpack, was moving through the monorail car, stealing shards from people.
Lucy, like in the original, had short hair dyed in pastel rainbow colors, and her short off‑the‑shoulder jacket and high‑leg cut hotpants accentuated her lean silhouette. She still had a young face — probably because it was still three years before the original’s timeline. With an extremely excited heart, I approached Lucy and caught her pickpocketing arm.
"Ah!"
Lucy shook her arm, trying to shake off my hand, but I shook my arm along with hers and didn’t let go. It was a funny sight — to anyone watching, it would have looked like we were vigorously shaking hands.
"Let’s step outside and talk."
When I said that, Lucy just glared at me and stayed quiet. Having been caught stealing, she must have known that causing a commotion here would only hurt her.
We waited quietly like that and got off at the next station. Then, immediately, a hacking attack came in. But since my helmet was equipped with cutting‑edge AI made from Marvel, there was no way the hacking would work.
Lucy, surprised that the hacking didn’t work, spoke.
"Th-this can’t be. Blocked immediately... Just who are you?"
"Well, you could call me a mercenary. I’m quite famous. From the fact that you don’t know me in this business, you must not have been here long."
"Whether I’ve been here long or not, what business is it of yours! You’re interfering with my work."
"Pickpocketing is work? That’s ridiculous. And from your hacking, I smell Arasaka... Are you a fugitive, by any chance?"
At those words, Lucy suddenly became extremely flustered and couldn’t say anything.
"Don’t worry. I hate Arasaka. And let me give you a warning — if a fugitive keeps pickpocketing like that, you’ll get caught right away."
"Whether my tail gets caught or not... just let go of my hand already."
I stared at Lucy for a moment, thought for a bit, then spoke.
"Work as my assistant. From the hacking just now, your skill seems quite decent. I’ll start you at 20% of the request payment, and as you get better, I’ll increase it little by little. How about it?"
