Free Web NovelChapter 294: 294 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 5
The Afterlife is a legendary ’bar’ in Night City. It’s not just a simple pub — it’s a sacred place, like a holy ground, where famous mercenaries and top‑tier fixers gather. A no‑name mercenary can’t even set foot inside. Being able to enter this place is also a measure of how spectacularly you’ve been active.
I had received requests from ’Rogue Amendiares’, the owner of the Afterlife and queen of fixers, a few times. They were all done over the phone, so I’d never actually seen her, but from the fact that Rogue knows me, it seems I had also received requests directly at the Afterlife, the bar she runs.
I made about four pizzas, loaded them into the car with drinks, and as we drove, I explained the Afterlife to Lucy.
"So there’s a place like that?"
"Yeah. Some mercenaries even dream of working at the Afterlife. Working at the Afterlife means you’ve been recognized in this industry, that much."
"I see. Then, what kind of person is this Rogue Amendiares?"
"She worked as a mercenary once, then retired. Now she runs the Afterlife, standing at the top of fixers, called the ’Queen of Fixers’."
"She’s an amazing person. So why are we going to a place like that?"
"I have something to give to Rogue."
The reason I wanted to meet Rogue was so that later, V — the protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077 — and Rogue wouldn’t waste time looking for Jeremiah Grayson, whom I had killed. I also wanted to visit the place at least once, and I wanted to introduce Lucy to the Afterlife. And if something happened, I could also have Lucy take refuge at the Afterlife. Because in Night City, there was no place as safe as that.
We arrived at the Afterlife’s parking lot, parked the car, took out the pizzas and drinks, and went down to the basement where the Afterlife is located. The entrance was guarded by ’Emmerick Bronson’, who greeted me when he saw me and opened the way.
"Long time no see, Jin."
"Long time no see. Is Rogue in?"
"She’s inside."
He opened the way for me, but blocked Lucy.
"She’s my partner."
At my words, he opened the way for Lucy as well.
Entering the bar like that, the Afterlife’s bartender ’Claire Russell’ greeted me warmly. I also greeted her.
"Long time no see, Jin."
"Long time no see, Claire."
After that, I went straight to Rogue. Then Rogue saw me and spoke.
"You haven’t been coming here often for a while — what’s up?"
"I wanted to eat together, and I also have something to tell you."
"You know the rules here, don’t you? Food is forbidden."
"We can eat in your office, can’t we? The office is safe, isn’t it? And what I have to say is a bit much for other people to hear."
"From you saying that, it must be something important. And who’s the girl behind you?"
"She’s a partner I took on recently. A netrunner."
"You always worked alone... ah~ so that’s what it was."
Rogue glanced at Lucy and immediately caught on to my relationship with Lucy, smirking. As expected of Rogue, having a lot of experience and having lived a long time, she was very sharp about these things.
"Then let’s go to the office. I’m curious what story you’ve brought."
Rogue stood up and moved to the office at the back of the bar with us. I arrived at the office and roughly laid out the pizzas on a barrel.
"Let’s eat and talk first."
"I happen to be hungry too — good timing."
Rogue took a bite of pizza and spoke, extremely surprised.
"You, where did you buy this??? It’s really delicious???"
"I made it myself."
"No way... It’s better than any pizza I’ve ever eaten. How does it taste like this?"
As expected, Rogue, who had been eating garbage food, after eating real food, seemed extremely surprised, just like Lucy.
"Food like this is always welcome."
"But it’s against the rules, isn’t it?"
"The office is safe."
"I see."
Lucy, who had been listening, smirked.
After we ate the pizza with them and properly filled our stomachs, I gradually brought up the topic.
"You know Jeremiah Grayson, don’t you?"
At my words, Rogue stopped eating her pizza deliciously and frowned deeply.
"Why is that bastard’s name coming up all of a sudden?"
"I took care of him before. And that guy told me a very interesting story."
I had the AI nicely edit just the scene where Grayson was talking about Johnny’s grave location and the scene of him dying, and sent it to Rogue. Then Rogue was watching the video seriously.
"Johnny Silverhand, wasn’t he a comrade you used to work with back in the day?"
"Don’t lump me in with that bastard. Anyway, it’s good news that he’s dead. If you hadn’t killed him, I would have killed him myself."
As expected, Rogue was being tsundere, saying things she didn’t mean, like in the original.
"Did that bastard say anything else?"
"He said he knew a day like this would come, and he badmouthed you a lot. And before he died, he was cleaning up what Adam Smasher left behind."
"I see."
"Are you going to go?"
"Where?"
"The place where Johnny Silverhand is buried."
"Forget it. Even if I went now, like he said, all I’d find is a silver arm soaked in shit. Anyway, thanks for the story. And keep what he said about me a secret."
"Okay."
Rogue stood up and said to us.
"Have a drink or something before you go. I’ll pay. And I’ll take some of the leftover pizza."
"Okay."
After finishing our meal, Lucy and I sat on the bar stools in front of the Afterlife bartender and talked with ’Claire Russell’.
"Really long time no see. You doing well?"
"Doing well, just taking requests, nothing special."
"And this is?"
"This is Lucy — a partner I took on recently."
"That’s unusual. You always worked alone. So, what’ll you have? I got a message that Rogue is paying for you two today, so how about trying some expensive liquor?"
"It’s Lucy’s first time here, so give her something that tastes good for women to drink, and I’ll have a ’Johnny Silverhand’."
"Okay."
The Afterlife treats those among mercenaries who died while going out in a blaze of glory as legends, and sells cocktails named after them. As a fan of the original, I couldn’t not try them.
When the drinks came, Lucy sipped hers and looked around the Afterlife, glancing about. Then Claire quietly warned Lucy.
"Cutie, it’s best not to do that. I know it’s your first time here, but if you keep glancing around like that, other guys might think you’re a rookie and try to hit on you."
At those words, Lucy stopped looking around and asked me.
"Are all the mercenaries here as strong as Jin?"
"Well, there are some who are like that and some who aren’t. And your question is wrong. In the mercenary world, how well you handle a job is more important than being strong."
At those words, Claire agreed and added an explanation.
"Jin’s right. Mercenaries are judged by the size of their name. Being strong doesn’t become a topic of discussion unless you’re a monster like Adam Smasher."
"You’ve been mentioning the name Adam Smasher for a while — who is that?"
Lucy, having not been here long, didn’t know who Adam Smasher was.
"He’s a monster who replaced almost his entire body with cyberware. He’s quite famous in this business."
"That’s possible... so he’s immune to cyberpsychosis, you mean?"
"Some say he’s immune, some say he’s already a cyberpsycho. I don’t know the details. Anyway, among mercenaries, they pray they don’t run into that monster."
Adam Smasher is an endgame‑level figure in the Cyberpunk worldview, quite famous as a successful full‑body cyborg conversion. In fact, in the work, aside from ’Songbird’ appearing in Phantom Liberty, there’s almost no one else who has modified their entire body to this extent, almost to the level of a robot.
"Anything else you’re curious about?"
"No, it’s just surprising that such a monster exists in the world."
I also ordered the next drink from Claire.
"Morgan Blackhand, please."
"Okay."
I tried all the cocktails named after the mercenaries who became legends like that, and headed home with Lucy. Lucy drove instead, since I had drunk a lot.
Continuing to take requests with Lucy like that, a year had already passed since I came here.
Because Lucy and I had earned quite a bit of money during that time, we moved our apartment to a penthouse. We could have gone to Corporate Plaza, but there were many Arasaka agents and employees there, which Lucy didn’t like. So, although it was a bit expensive, we moved directly into a penthouse. This time, it wasn’t a rental but a full purchase, so aside from maintenance fees, there were no other outgoing costs.
The location wasn’t the penthouse next to Megabuilding H10, where V stays at the end of the original, but a penthouse in a building located somewhere between Corporate Plaza and Downtown. It was easy to move to Little Chinatown or Japantown, and since there were no buildings of similar or greater height nearby, there were also no privacy issues.
We also changed our car — to a modified version of the ’Quadra Type‑66’. I could have driven a nicer car, but the work I do is rough, so I ended up choosing a car with high defense that could also run in the desert. I didn’t change the bike. Because the Murakami wasn’t even released yet, so I decided to keep using the Arch Nazaré.
Lucy also changed her car — she purchased a ’Herrera Outlaw’. She said she needed a car with good ride comfort for everyday use, not a brutally modified vehicle, so she picked and chose before buying it — she seemed quite satisfied. And she strongly insisted that I not use her car when I go on missions. I had already duplicated it with [Material Copy], so it wouldn’t matter if I used it, but I just said okay.
And while working, I also collected many weapons from the Cyberpunk world. As a result, I also developed a hobby of modifying guns. So I also custom‑made Lucy’s weapons nicely.
"Modifying guns again?"
"Yeah, I’ve gotten into it lately."
"Instead of that, how about we go out somewhere?"
"Bored, I guess? Where to?"
"I don’t know — a drive would be good, or maybe go see a show."
"Then how about camping? We could grill some meat in the desert and spend a day off."
"That’s a good idea."
We drove, bought the necessary supplies at the market, then moved to a quiet spot in the Badlands, set up a tent, grilled meat and vegetables, and looked at the night sky.
"You know, I always wanted to go to the moon. Thinking about it now, I was always living a life on the run, so I guess I saw the moon as a refuge. That’s really nonsense, isn’t it? Even if I moved there, it wouldn’t be easy. But after I met you, living peacefully, I don’t think about it much anymore. Maybe the moon in my heart is you."
"I’m glad you think of me that way. I’ve been very happy since I met you too. The time I’ve spent with you will be irreplaceable by anything."
I looked up at the moon in the sky and said to Lucy.
"Right! Since we’re on the topic, how about we make time sometime and go to the moon? It’s not like we’re short on money."
When I spoke, looking at Lucy, Lucy answered happily.
"Okay!"
We made that promise like that, spent the night in the tent, and then returned home.
That day, after finishing a simple request, we returned home and were looking at tourist moon travel packages online, when I received a call from ’Rogue Amendiares’.
– Jin, long time no see. It’s hard to give the job to a team that just got to the Afterlife, so I contacted you. I’d like you to show them what it’s like to work in the big leagues — your share would be 50% of the request fee. How about it, want to do it?
"From the Queen herself asking me to mentor them, they must be promising, right?"
– Yeah, they seemed to have some grit. Anyway, come to the Afterlife tonight. I’ll introduce you to the newbies you’ll be working with.
After finishing dinner with Lucy, I prepared and moved to the Afterlife.
When I arrived and went inside, I could finally see the main characters of Edgerunners. The team Rogue mentioned was exactly the Maine team. I was slightly surprised, but I didn’t show it outwardly. The team members were the leader Maine, the solos Rebecca and Dorio, and the netrunner Sasha Yakovleva, who was still alive. Only Pilar, who was in charge of tech, was not visible.
Maine, true to his strong solo reputation, had reinforced most of his body with implants and boasted a huge build. He had military‑style blond hair swept upward, giving off an ex‑soldier vibe, and dark skin. He also had a beard, but it was neatly trimmed, so a neatness could be seen even within his rough appearance.
"Wow... what’s this, a harem team? Everyone except the big guy is a woman."
When I said that, Maine stood up, offered a handshake, and greeted me.
"So you’re Jin, the one closest to a legend. Nice to meet you. I’m Maine, the team leader."
I also accepted the handshake and greeted him.
"Nice to meet you. I’m Jin, and the young lady next to me is Lucy. A netrunner."
Then Lucy also slightly bowed her head and greeted him. Maine introduced his team members.
"This is Dorio — a solo."
"Nice to work with you."
Even though Dorio was a woman, she was a strong solo like Maine, so she had a big build. She also had short blond hair, like Maine. She and Maine were lovers. This might be rude to say to a woman, but she had a very handsome face.
"This is Rebecca — also a solo."
"Nice to meet you."
Rebecca had a cute appearance, a small build, and pale skin. She also had her long teal hair tied in twintails. What particularly stood out were her outfit and her eyes. Aside from a large jacket, she was only wearing black panties and a bra — hearing only that, it would sound very lewd, but because her body was childlike, that thought didn’t come at all. Her eyes were pale red with green irises — they matched harmoniously, so there was no particular sense of incongruity.
"And this is Sasha — a netrunner."
"Nice to meet you."
Sasha had an appearance with a distinctly Japanese sensibility, with a short hime cut. The parts where implants were installed on her face looked like fox whiskers, like in Naruto. As a netrunner, she was wearing a black temperature‑regulating suit that revealed her figure, with a very short pink jacket over it. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"And there’s one more, but he couldn’t make it today because he’s repairing equipment."
When Maine finished his introductions, I stared intently at Rebecca. Then Rebecca, flustered, asked.
"Wh-what? Is there something on my face?"
"You’re a cute kid. Mind if I pat your head?" fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
"What are you saying, you bastard!!!"
At my words, Rebecca snapped and tried to take out her gun, but Dorio, who was sitting next to her, quickly grabbed Rebecca.
"Let go! Let go of me! That bastard is ignoring me!"
"Haha, even though Rebecca looks young, she’s an adult, and her shooting is really, really good, and she’s got a temper, so you’d better be careful."
Maine laughed and told me about Rebecca.
"A cute kid with a temper — interesting."
At those words, Rebecca started to freak out even more.
"You bastard!!! I’ll kill you!!!"
I said it because I genuinely thought she was cute, but Rebecca freaked out, even veins bulging on her forehead.
"Hey! Don’t you know the rules here?"
At that moment, Rogue appeared and warned Rebecca, and only then did Rebecca’s freak‑out begin to calm down. But she was still frowning and glaring at me.
"Well, from the looks of it, you’ve all greeted each other. We’ll brief you right away, so everyone follow me."
