Multivers, Leveling Up in the World I Created

Chapter 305: 305 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 16

During that time, David had also begun to gradually acquire the qualities of a leader, and Jackie also worked hard and began to be able to do Gun Kata to some extent.

David did not excessively install implants, like in the original. He only installed a few that were necessary, and those were verified to be stable. Virtually the only dangerous implant was the Sandevistan. Moreover, he only used it occasionally, when it was truly dangerous — these days, he often finishes things with just Gun Kata.

And the interesting one was Julio. Because he couldn’t keep up with the training, he got beaten like a dog by Rebecca and barely began to be useful. This guy — I had saved him from near death several times during that time as well. The netrunners also found Julio getting beaten by Rebecca amusing, so they didn’t suggest kicking him out. Julio had become a complete gag character.

"Ahh! I get it, I get it! Stop hitting me! Here, left side..."

"You blockhead! At that spot, you’re supposed to wait for a moment! You have to wait for the other team, are you going to charge into enemy lines alone???!!!"

Rebecca and Julio were reviewing the infiltration route and preparing the operation. Kiwi and Sasha, watching them, giggled and spoke.

"Those guys are entertaining no matter when you watch them."

"I know, right."

I called the people together.

"Everyone, gather around. It seems you’ve more or less settled in now, so we’ll do just one more request together, and after that, we’ll be separate. During this time, David has grown a lot, and the newcomers Jackie and Julio can also hold their own, so there shouldn’t be a problem."

Then Julio spoke, looking extremely disappointed. This guy, having been saved by me several times and also being a fan, seemed to act this way.

"Can’t we just stay together? We’ve been doing well all this time, haven’t we?"

"No. A promise is a promise. I’ve judged that you can now do well enough on your own."

At that moment, Julio suddenly teared up, bowed his head, and expressed his gratitude.

"Thank you so much for everything."

"Julio, at least you know how to shoot now, so I’m relieved, but you’re too scattered. You’ll die easily like that. You need to pay attention to your surroundings. Last time, you almost died running excitedly without noticing a planted landmine. At the very least, things like that shouldn’t happen."

"I will take those words deep into my heart."

"And David."

"Yeah."

I handed David two well‑customized ’Tsunami Nue’ pistols.

"This is a gift. I prepared it because you use the Nue well."

"Thank you. I’ll use them well." freewebnovёl.ƈom

We did the last request together like that, had a farewell party, and then decided to operate separately from now on. David, although he didn’t say anything, seemed quite disappointed, and he got dead drunk, causing Rebecca some trouble, but it seemed he got home safely.

Several days passed like that, and then suddenly a call came from Maine.

– Long time no see, Jin.

"Oh~ good to hear from you. Long time no see, Maine. Did you receive your treatment well? And Dorio?"

– We’re fine. If you’re not busy, how about a drink?

"Sure."

I told Lucy about it and went out to meet Maine. Maine had changed unrecognizably — Maine, who used to be big, had slimmed down by nearly half. Still, it wasn’t to the point of being ugly. Moreover, Dorio was with him too. Dorio was just the same as before.

"Good to see you. Fortunately, it seems you received your treatment well, doesn’t it?"

"Yeah. I had a pretty hard time, you know."

"Let’s go. I’ll buy you a drink."

We moved to a nearby bar and had a drink.

"Removing the implants was really harder than dying. It felt like everything I had built up over time was being chipped away. Still, thanks to Dorio staying by my side, I managed to remove them, even though it was hard."

"I had a really hard time too at that time. He wouldn’t listen to a word I said, you know... That’s why the treatment was delayed and took a long time."

It was truly fortunate. Maine probably had a hard time, but still, he survived.

"Still, I’m glad. Have you met up with your comrades?"

"I haven’t seen them yet. Actually, I’m afraid to see them looking like this, changed as I am. But I heard you took care of my comrades while I was away, so I wanted to at least express my gratitude to you. Thank you, truly."

"Don’t mention it. I also enjoyed being with them. Don’t worry about it too much. More than that, what are your plans for the future?"

"Well, Dorio and I are still thinking about it. We still have some funds saved up, so whether to go into business together with that, or just leave Night City."

"Then, how about starting a gun shop? I’ve been needing a shop to sell my custom guns. We’ll split the investment 50‑50, and instead of you taking all the profit from regular gun sales, I’ll give you 20% of the net profit from custom gun sales. How about it?"

Whether my proposal came across as attractive or not, the two began to discuss and think about it. Then Dorio slapped the table and spoke.

"30%!!! With custom guns made by you, there will be a lot of people after them, won’t there? We’ll have to hire security too!"

"No. The reason custom guns are popular is because I make them well. Besides, I’ll even deliver them to the shop... Then, how about we both compromise at 25%?"

"Hmm... then invest a bit more in the shop. Make it a nice place."

"Wow~ Dorio, I didn’t expect that from you — that’s harsh. Fine, I lose. Let’s do 40% investment from you, and 25% from custom guns."

At those words, Maine and Dorio’s expressions brightened greatly. In fact, looking at the net profit excluding material costs, even if the percentage that Maine and Dorio take is 25%, that amount was about three times the money that V receives. And since the material costs were obviously free, the money that fell to me was much more.

We parted like that, and when the next day came, Dorio and I went around together looking for a shop. At first, we thought about opening a shop near Corporate Plaza, but the price was too high, and Dorio opposed it, so we decided to open the shop in Charter Hill, where many upper‑middle‑class people live.

Actually, gun shops are quite dangerous. Because this is Night City. It’s a neighborhood where there are many people who shoot guns at any time, so for safety, I planned to install thick bulletproof glass inside between the customers and the staff.

Originally, I was going to install a thick metal grille, but that would look too cheap. Moreover, since I planned to package the custom guns elegantly and target the upper‑middle‑class, such a grille wouldn’t match the overall concept.

So I planned to pay attention to the interior as well, creating an elegant and safe atmosphere. For the sign, to give a simple and strong image, I decided to just put up a large Chinese character ’進’ (Jin). No other explanation.

We contracted the shop, and Dorio and Maine went to register the gun shop, and I decided to take care of the interior — which, rather, was easier for me. Because if I did it, I could just lower the shutter and create it with [Material Creation], and it would be simply finished. That way, I could make it sturdy without any poor construction, and I could save money too.

The shop was completed like that, and when Maine and Dorio arrived and looked around the finished shop, they were very surprised.

"Wow... this must have cost a lot of money, right? I never thought you would decorate it this elegantly."

"This much is necessary for customers to come. We have to differentiate ourselves from other places. So Maine, you should buy a nice suit, wear it, and speak politely too. It’s not a hole‑in‑the‑wall."

"What? You never said anything like that!"

Maine was flustered at my words.

"Then you do the customer service, Dorio."

"No way. Maine lost weight, so he’ll look good in a suit and do well. We can leave it to Maine."

"Right, then. We’ll leave it to Maine."

Then Maine sighed deeply.

"Haa... this is ridiculous."

We opened the shop like that and started selling guns. On the first day, we displayed 5 custom handguns and 10 rifles and started selling, and the very next day, I got a call from Maine.

– Jin, do you have any more custom guns? They all sold out in one day.

"What? Really?"

– Yeah, some corporate guy came and just bought everything without even asking.

"Huh... don’t do that — from now on, sell them in installments. I can’t keep making them forever. You need to have things on display in the shop, don’t you?"

– That’s true.

"And how many regular guns sold?"

– Some regular guns sold too, but more people came to see the custom guns.

"That’s only natural. That’s why you need display guns. I’ll send you the goods."

– Got it.

I didn’t expect them to all sell at once like this. Even though they were quite expensive.

I had V send custom guns to the shop. Then, from that point on, a strange sight occurred — people began appearing in front of the shop from dawn, waiting until it opened. They seemed to have noticed that we had started selling in installments too. Even Dorio was incredulous.

– Wow... these people are pathetic. I’m thinking, why don’t we just sell them through auction instead.

"Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter. Do whatever you want. The profit split on the sales is the same. If the sellers sell them at a higher price, it’s good for me."

– Then we’ll take care of it.

It took about a month for the shop to settle into its framework like this. Having a shop didn’t mean we completely stopped online sales — we just reduced the frequency and only did it occasionally.

In that situation, V was satisfied. Because the terms of the deal with V were per delivery, when sending goods from the shop, the travel distance was short and safe, and the quantity was secured to some extent, so he was very pleased that his free time had increased.

And from then on, we also sold custom daggers and swords. Because I couldn’t just keep making only guns. But this also sold like crazy. For me, well, I just make them, so it doesn’t matter, but Maine and Dorio were busy with the auctions and screaming happily. Thanks to that, I also made a lot of money.

And so, between taking requests and selling custom guns, a year had already passed since the start of the original Edgerunners.

David and Jackie had improved even more, and were now becoming recognized mercenaries, and Julio, having gained experience, now did more than his share. So these days, Rebecca didn’t hit him as much.

And Maine, as the shop’s operation stabilized, mustered up courage and began interacting with David and the others again. When David and the others met Maine again, they mistook him for a corporate executive in his nicely dressed suit, and didn’t recognize him. Then, after hearing Dorio’s explanation, they realized he was Maine, and were very surprised.

Since they were living well without any problems, I felt a sense of accomplishment from coming to Edgerunners. Because in the end, I had led them to a happy ending. Moreover, I had minimized their connection with Arasaka as much as possible, so I thought nothing would happen. But although nothing happened on our side, trouble broke out on Arasaka’s side.

– Breaking news. An unidentified assailant equipped with unknown implants is rampage in Japantown. The NCPD and Militech forces dispatched to the scene are responding with their best efforts, but the assailant’s combat ability far exceeds expectations, making it difficult to subdue. Citizens are advised to refrain from going out and to secure their safety inside their homes if possible. The assailant is currently moving unpredictably through the streets, and the scale of damage is rapidly increasing.

Suddenly, on the news, scenes of Japantown turning into a sea of fire were being shown. The one causing the rampage there was none other than the ’Cyberskeleton’. The Cyberskeleton is a prototype of Arasaka, an implant with a shocking visual where limbs are severed and devices are connected in series in their place.

The Cyberskeleton was originally equipment that Arasaka developed for Adam Smasher, but there was a fatal flaw: without an anti‑gravity device (gravity control device), it was difficult to withstand its weight and it would not function properly. Because it was also excessively large and had poor operational efficiency, Adam Smasher did not use it.

However, Arasaka Intelligence incited Faraday to obtain combat data, and in the original, they conducted a field test by having David, equipped with the Cyberskeleton, engage Militech forces. Although the Cyberskeleton had clear weaknesses, it was equipped with the powerful weapon of the anti‑gravity device, so it had combat power that overwhelmed not only Militech forces but even MaxTac.

But from what I could see on the broadcast now, unlike the original, it was not David but some other test subject of Arasaka — a man I had never seen — who was equipped with the Cyberskeleton and causing a rampage in Japantown. This was probably because I had done my best to block information about David’s high resistance to cyberpsychosis, so someone else had been chosen as the test subject.

Synthesizing the information appearing on the news, it seemed that after first engaging Militech forces in the Badlands, it had then moved to Japantown. Right now, because of that, Japantown was being devastated. Because of the Cyberskeleton’s anti‑gravity device, buildings and vehicles were repeatedly crushed and burst. When David used it, he still had some sanity, so he didn’t do things indiscriminately like this, but from what I could see, the person who had become the test subject now already seemed to have been a cyberpsycho for quite some time.

’Arasaka, you bastards — even so, with people of your own country (Japan) dying like this, isn’t it about time you got involved?’

But in the end, Arasaka did not get involved, just watched and collected data. Probably, as long as their headquarters wasn’t invaded, they would not take action.

Lucy was also watching the news seriously.

"People are dying like that, and they can’t do anything about it — who the hell made that thing?"

"Arasaka, probably. This is probably the result of them testing a new weapon. The test subjects are probably Militech forces. It’s obvious without even looking."

"Those bastards — even for them, this is too much."

Even Lucy, at Arasaka’s atrocities, watching the news, was cursing in a way she didn’t usually. But as we were watching the news, Militech was driving the Cyberskeleton toward the Watson district. This was a serious problem. In Watson, there were important facilities like Viktor’s clinic, the Afterlife, and Sasha, V, Kiwi, Pilar, etc. lived there. MaxTac was nowhere to be seen — they had probably already given up.

"Oh no, this is bad. Militech is driving that thing toward Watson."

"Wh-what??? Then we need to contact everyone quickly..."

Lucy, also understanding the gravity of the situation, tried to contact people.

"No, that won’t do. I have to go and take it on myself."

"What are you saying!!! How are you going to take on that monster???"

When I said I was going, Lucy asked, extremely surprised.

"I have to stop it from going to Watson. I don’t think I can just let it go like this. The damage will spiral out of control."

"Do you really think that makes sense!!!??? Are you trying to get yourself killed???"

"Lucy, I won’t die. We’ve done countless requests together, haven’t we? Trust my ability."

When I spoke firmly, Lucy sighed and spoke.

"Haa... you’re going no matter what I say, aren’t you?"

"If I think I can’t win, I’ll just withdraw, so don’t worry too much."

"Then I’ll go with you. I’ll help."

Lucy was already making a big concession just by letting me go. So I didn’t stop her on this point either.

"Alright, let’s do that. But help from a safe distance. You might get caught up in it."

"Got it."

We quickly prepared and drove the car toward Japantown.