Free Web NovelChapter 300: 300 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 11
David and Sasha stayed together like that, laughing and chatting, until the drinking session ended. Maine and Dorio watched them warmly. The funny thing was that Lucy also watched them warmly — probably because she was still wary of Sasha due to the previous incident.
The drinking session ended like that, and the next day, as we started running, I asked.
"Are things going well with Sasha? You two seemed to have good chemistry yesterday."
"Ah, that’s... can I tell you? Well, I suppose it’s fine since you’re not on our team. But don’t tell the Maine team."
David seemed conflicted about whether to say it or not — it seemed there was some reason.
"Alright."
"Actually, Sasha asked me to help her. She said Pilar keeps bothering her, so we decided to pretend to have a good relationship to shake him off."
"What? So the good chemistry was..."
"Yeah, it was just an act."
"I see. And here I was about to congratulate you."
With this, there was still a chance for the Rebecca ship. But Lucy, who had been listening beside me, couldn’t hide her extremely disappointed expression.
"Why not just develop it into a real relationship?"
Lucy casually said to David. Then David seemed a bit embarrassed.
"I wouldn’t mind if Sasha became my lover. She’s pretty, has a good figure, and her personality is kind of cute, you could say."
"Then you should be a bit more proactive."
Lucy, who almost never spoke to David, had become strangely talkative today. Unlike Lucy, I decided to push for Rebecca.
"It seemed to me that Rebecca also has feelings for David. Ever since David joined as a member, she’s been consistently helping him out and complimenting him. And she’s even stepped up to teach him shooting."
"Was that so?"
"Yeah, Rebecca put in some effort behind the scenes."
But when I brought up Rebecca, Lucy glared at me sharply. Her eyes clearly said, ’You should be pushing for Sasha, what are you doing!’ Feeling the pressure, I couldn’t say anything more and just ran in silence.
We finished running in silence, did our strength training, and then were eating together at David’s house with the lunchboxes I had brought. Since David’s house and our house are a bit far apart, we ate together sometimes. David kept his apartment clean, so Lucy ate without complaint. At first, we tried to eat at a nearby park, but as expected of the Cyberpunk world, there were homeless people and the smell was bad, so it was an unavoidable choice.
At that moment, David seemed to get a call — he stopped eating and talked with someone, and suddenly his expression became extremely bright.
"Is that true? I see, I’ll go right away!"
"What happened?"
"It’s Viktor! He said my mother finally regained consciousness!"
"Really? That’s good news."
David quickly prepared to go to Viktor’s clinic. But I calmed him down for a moment.
"Wait a moment. What are you going to tell your mother about becoming a mercenary?"
"Ah, right. Haa... this is bad. If she gets another shock and something happens..."
David agonized for a while, then finally took out his academy uniform, which had been tucked away in a corner, and put it on.
"You’re going to lie to her for the time being?"
"I can’t help it. Anyway, sorry, I don’t think I can train today."
"Given the situation, it can’t be helped. Go see your mother."
While David was getting ready, Lucy and I also finished eating, tidied up roughly, and went outside together.
"See you tomorrow, then."
"Yeah."
David went to Viktor’s clinic with a bright face, and Lucy and I returned home.
"It’s a relief that his mother woke up."
"I know."
"I hope she doesn’t get too shocked when she finds out David became a mercenary."
"Well, David will figure it out. Let’s shower first for now."
"Okay."
There was nothing special that day, so I just customized some guns. When the next day came, I was able to hear about Gloria from David.
"She said it’s still too soon to move her to a care facility. So she’s decided to stay at Viktor’s clinic for the time being."
"Really? What about the hospital fees?"
"She said the amount Jin paid last time is enough."
"That’s a relief."
This was Viktor lying. What I had paid was for two weeks, and now it was well past two weeks. It’s quite surprising that even in the Cyberpunk worldview, there’s someone like Viktor. I should give him a bit more tip next time Lucy goes for a check‑up.
"Ah, and about care facilities — don’t go to Night City Hospital in Rancho Coronado, Santo Domingo. That place is seriously rotten. It’s a place that ruins even healthy people. There are rumors they intentionally kill living people and traffic their organs, you know."
"Really? But if not there, there are no other hospitals..."
"Even if it costs a bit more, it’s better to go to a care facility run by Militech or Arasaka in ’Charter Hill’. If circumstances are really that bad, it might be better to just recuperate at home and visit Viktor occasionally. Even if your mother is stubborn, you must stop her on this."
"Ah, got it."
Just bringing up this kind of talk was bitter. Because in the Cyberpunk worldview, there are no hospitals you can truly trust and leave someone with. Hospitals run by Militech or Arasaka are used by the middle class, so they are considered relatively safe, but you never know what they’re doing behind the scenes either. In Heywood, there is a hospital run with the support of the Valentinos gang, but there, priority is given to gang members, so ordinary people come second, and the facilities are poor as well.
"And now that you’re starting to earn money, I’m assuming you’re going to get implants, so I’m warning you — do you remember what I told you before?"
"Ah, I remember. That you shouldn’t rely only on implants."
"Guys who rely on implants always think they’re special. Without even knowing that it’s the power of the implants. When they cross the line, the end is decided. So it’s best to only install as many as you can utilize. That’s the way to survive long in this business. When you get implants, always make sure to consider whether you really need them."
"Yeah. I understand."
Even if it sounded like nagging to David, these warnings were words that needed to be repeated over and over. To mercenaries, implants are like drugs. The desire to become stronger is a shortcut to ruin.
Several days passed like that, and there was a request with Maine and the others for the first time in a while.
"Me, Maine, and Dorio will herd them toward the entrance, so Kiwi and Lucy, support us from there. Sasha, watch the overall situation, check for any escapees, and block paths. Pilar, lay traps at the entrance once the operation starts. Rebecca and David, stay with Pilar and take out anyone caught in the traps or coming out to the entrance."
"Okay!"
"Today will be fun. A rabbit hunt."
"You’re comparing Maelstrom to rabbits? Apologize to the rabbits! At least they’re cute."
"Hahaha, that’s true."
We drove a large truck, blocked all entrances except the main one, and entered the building. The Maelstrom guys, when they saw me, panicked and were herded toward the entrance.
Bang bang bang! Crash!
"Fuck!! He’s here! Run, quick!!"
"I’m using one of Jin’s custom guns — do you think I could get an autograph on it??"
"What the fuck are you talking about! You’re about to get a hole in your head!!"
Certainly, the Maelstrom guys were cheerfully insane. We herded the Maelstrom guys quickly toward the entrance, as per the operation.
"Gah! It’s a trap!"
"Aaaah!!! Fuck!!!"
Whether the high‑voltage wire traps laid by Pilar worked well or not, the Maelstrom guys who had been herded toward the entrance were wiped out without being able to resist properly.
Bang! Bang! Crash!! Crack!! Tatata-bang!! Boom!!!
We finished the job like that and cleaned up.
"Oh~! Lucky! Made some money!"
Rebecca had picked up one of my custom guns that a Maelstrom guy had been using and was happy about it.
"That gun looks a bit damaged — wouldn’t it be better to just throw it away?"
"Tsk tsk, you clearly don’t know. Your custom guns are now being traded like cash in the underworld."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"Your guns are used when gangs trade with each other, or when exchanging stolen cars or illegal implants. You could call them a kind of untraceable cash. Plus, even if they’re a bit damaged, there are collectors, so their value doesn’t drop."
Somehow, the guns I customized had become like a cryptocurrency used in the underworld.
"Jin’s custom guns can’t be duplicated, and each gun has a different design, so they’re rare. Now, when there’s a job, we even check if there are any guys using custom guns. It’s quite profitable."
Now that my custom guns had been released into the market a bit, and to prevent strange guys from duplicating my guns and lowering their value, I had added some devices and serial numbers, but I never expected them to be used like this.
"I had no idea."
"Well, you only work with Lucy, so there’s no way you’d know. Because of that, my brother’s been making noise all night, trying to make his own product, and these days, he’s having a hard time, you know?"
At Rebecca’s words, I looked at Pilar, and Pilar, perhaps embarrassed, was busily tidying up various things, pretending not to notice.
"I’ve contacted Rogue and told her the request is complete, so let’s go have a drink now!"
At Maine’s words, we moved to where we had parked the vehicles. Because there were many gangs nearby, we had parked a bit far away, so we had to walk a bit.
Then we entered a quiet alley. Someone was on top of a container, muttering something and urinating.
’This can’t be...’
The urine was falling into a drum below, and since we were looking from above, the dirty sound echoed loudly. Whether because of that, Pilar, annoyed, shouted at the guy urinating.
"Shut up!!! Damn it!"
"Pilar, wait. That guy’s acting strange."
"In Night City, there’s more than one strange guy? Just wait a moment. I’ll teach that guy terrorizing our ears a lesson..."
Before I could stop him, Pilar climbed onto the container and confronted the guy urinating.
"You stupid bastard, public urination! Hey! I’m talking to you! Hey, asshole! Can’t you hear me!!??"
"Pilar, get off!!! That guy’s a cyberpsycho!!!"
"Wh-what???!!!"
The guy urinating suddenly transformed his arm, pulled out a grenade launcher embedded in his arm, aimed it at Pilar, and fired. I quickly pulled out my gun, precisely hit the grenade launcher, and deflected its trajectory, saving Pilar by a narrow margin.
BANG! Ting! KABOOM!!!
"Whaat!!!"
"Pilar, take cover!!!"
"Damn it!!!"
Pilar quickly jumped off the container and hid. That guy, chasing after Pilar, aimed his grenade launcher again. But this time too, I quickly approached and severed his entire arm.
Schlick!
But this guy, whether he was already too far into cyberpsychosis or not, didn’t even scream. I quickly severed his other arm and both legs as well.
SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!!!
THUD!
With so many implants, even after having all his limbs severed, not a single drop of blood came out. Even after collapsing, the guy twitched and crawled toward me, trying to attack. That sight was as grotesque as something out of a horror movie.
"You bastard!!!"
Pilar, angry at nearly dying himself, pulled out his pistol to kill the twitching guy, but I stopped him.
"Calm down. He’s a cyberpsycho. Think of it as stepping in shit."
"Ugh, seriously!! Anyway, thanks. I almost died for real."
I immediately contacted ’Regina Jones’. Regina grumbled a bit about being contacted late at night, but immediately agreed to send someone.
"I contacted Regina. They’re going to take him."
When I said that, Lucy asked.
"How did you know he was a cyberpsycho?"
"It’s hard to explain in words... I’ve dealt with many cyberpsychos while helping Regina, so now I can feel their particular atmosphere."
"Really? Good thing you noticed early. If you hadn’t, someone might have died."
But David, for whom seeing a real cyberpsycho was quite a shock, kept staring at the twitching guy on the floor with a serious face.
"David. This is exactly the end of those who abuse implants. They get eaten by the machine."
"Ri-right..."
Then Maine spoke.
"Jin, stop scaring the kid and let’s go." freewёbnoνel.com
"Yeah."
To be honest, I had kind of forgotten about the incident with Pilar, but Pilar was lucky. Because he was with me when this happened.
We went straight to the ’Turbo Bar’ and had a drink. David, still unable to forget that sight, was just staring blankly at his beer. Then Rebecca went over and started talking to him, cheering him up. Pilar, perhaps from the shock of nearly dying today, was drinking like a fish, and Sasha and Kiwi, having something to talk about as netrunners, were leaning against a tree, talking about something. Maine and Dorio were sitting next to us, all over each other.
"You two, get a room."
"Hahaha, sorry. We got caught up in the mood, I guess. By the way, what happens to the cyberpsychos that Regina takes?"
"I heard they try to downgrade their implants and treat them. I heard that when I was subduing cyberpsychos for her before. Given Regina’s nature, she probably wouldn’t lie."
"Hmm... I see. For soldiers, with no wars now, it doesn’t matter, but for mercenaries, that’s the end, huh."
"Well, yes. But still, they’re alive. That’s better than getting caught and killed by MaxTac, I’d think."
"No, I don’t think so. If I have to strip off all my implants and end my mercenary career, I’d rather just die."
At those words, Dorio, with an angry face, punched Maine in the abdomen.
Puk!
"Guhk!"
"Don’t say things like that carelessly! Especially when your lover is right next to you!"
Dorio, whether hurt by Maine’s words, stood up and tried to leave.
"Dorio!"
Maine called out to Dorio as she left, but Dorio ignored him and just left. Then Maine quickly stood up to follow Dorio.
"Sorry, but see you next time. I need to cheer Dorio up."
"Yeah, see you next time."
When Maine and Dorio left, Lucy said to me.
"At least we don’t have to worry about cyberpsychosis."
"Yeah. In a way, at least that one point, we seem blessed. More than that, how about it? Let’s go home and enjoy ourselves too..."
At those words, Lucy smirked and spoke.
"Watching Maine and Dorio turned you on, huh? Fine!"
Lucy and I also went home and really enjoyed ourselves passionately, then rested.
#Note, we reach 300 Chapters, thank you everyone who read, leave comments or give power stones so far. Appreciate it.
