Welcome to Night City

In the dark void, a life-sized holographic mirror glowing pale blue appeared before Ning Rongrong.

[Please create your character (codename: V).]

"Huh? I can reshape my body in here?" Ning Rongrong stared curiously at the reflection in the mirror, which looked exactly like her.

As the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she had absolute confidence in her looks.

But what girl would complain about being too pretty?

She tentatively reached out and fiddled with the [Facial Adjustments] panel floating in midair.

"Make the eyes a little bigger... the chin a little sharper... oh, and the legs a tiny bit longer..."

The more Ning Rongrong tinkered, the more absorbed she became. It was like some magical dress-up game.

While she was having the time of her life, her finger accidentally slid to an advanced option labeled [Facial Cyberware and Paint], and she tapped [Randomize] without thinking.

The beautiful girl in the mirror changed in an instant.

Her smooth, shoulder-length hair became a fluorescent green mohawk. A silver-gray metal jaw smeared with engine oil replaced her flawless chin. Worst of all, her eyes turned into glowing red cameras, and her face was studded with dense rows of black metal rivets!

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Her miserable scream echoed through the virtual space.

"A ghost! A freak! Change it back! Give me my beautiful face back!" Terrified by the Cyberpsycho staring out of the mirror, Ning Rongrong stumbled backward and clawed wildly at the air. She finally managed to hit [Reset to Default].

Seeing her normal human face restored, Ning Rongrong patted her flat chest with lingering fear. A tear still clung to the corner of her eye. "What kind of cursed illusion is this? It scared me to death..."

When it came time to allocate Attributes, she stared at the panel in utter confusion.

"Body? Reflexes? Cool? What kind of categories are these?" Ning Rongrong searched the panel. "Where's my Soul Power? My Spiritual Power? Why aren't they here?! Whatever. With my noble, elegant bearing, I have to max out Cool!"

After a flurry of random selections, Ning Rongrong finally pressed [Confirm].

She was about to ask Lin Ye what came next, but before she could get a word out, darkness swallowed everything.

A low electronic pulse sounded in her ears, as though someone had flipped a switch inside her head.

The scene flashed.

When Ning Rongrong opened her eyes again, she was sitting in the passenger seat of a car. Beside her was a burly man with his hair tied in a topknot—Jackie Welles.

"V, you ready? We've got work to do," Jackie said as he drove.

But Ning Rongrong didn't hear a word Jackie said.

She had pressed herself against the window, her beautiful eyes reflecting the madness outside.

Beyond the glass, acid rain pattered down on the city.

The rusty smell of rain mingled with something charred drifting from the street and an industrial odor she had never encountered—part oil, part medicine. It seeped through the window's seams and made her wrinkle her nose.

The engine's roar vibrated up through the seat until her chest tingled.

She saw colossal skyscrapers rising into the clouds, as though they meant to pierce the sky.

On Douluo Continent, even Spirit Hall's magnificent Pope's Palace would look like a laughable mud hut beside them.

Ning Rongrong's mouth fell open. She couldn't make a sound.

She had thought the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was the most luxurious place in the world. She had thought Douluo Continent's Soul Tools were the most wondrous creations imaginable.

But Night City's sheer scale crushed every bit of her pride.

Before Ning Rongrong could recover from her shock, the car stopped beneath a dark, dilapidated apartment building.

"Out of the car, V! Let's rescue the girl those Scavengers kidnapped." Jackie handed her a pistol.

"Scavengers? Rescue someone?" Ning Rongrong took the cold lump of metal in a daze.

The gun was much heavier than she had expected. Its hard, cold metal pressed against her palm, and she had no idea where to put her fingers. She could only hold it stiffly.

"Do I... do I really have to go in?" She heard her own voice echo through the hallway.

Jackie was already some distance ahead. He glanced back and grinned. "Relax, V. Everyone's like this the first time. Stay with me. Don't get separated."

Ning Rongrong drew a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and jogged after him.

A few minutes later, when they kicked open the door to the Scavengers' hideout, the thick stench of blood and disinfectant hit her in the face.

Severed limbs littered the dim room. In a bathtub lay the corpse of a woman whose cyberware had been brutally stripped from her body. Ice floated in bloody water. The sight was horrifying.

"Urgh—"

Ning Rongrong had lived in comfort all her life and had never even seen a chicken killed. Her face went deathly pale. Her stomach churned, and fear crept into her heart.

"Cops! Kill 'em!"

At the furious shout, a Scavenger thug with half his body replaced by metal charged out of a corner, Assault Rifle in hand.

"V! Shoot!" Jackie roared.

Shoot?

Shoot what?!

Faced with this hellish scene and the terrifying figure rushing toward her, Ning Rongrong's mind went blank.

But her instincts as a soul master took over. She struck the familiar pose to summon her Martial Soul and cried out:

"Seven treasures turn forth from glazed tile! First: Strength!"

Her clear voice echoed through the blood-soaked room.

One second passed.

Then two.

No dazzling rainbow light appeared. Neither did the familiar pagoda.

Not even a faint breeze stirred.

"Huh?" Ning Rongrong stared blankly at her empty hands. "Where's my Martial Soul? Where's my Soul Power?!"

The Scavenger had no intention of waiting for her.

Bang!

Muzzle fire erupted.

A heavy bullet tore through the air and struck Ning Rongrong's left shoulder.

"Aaah!!!"

Agony ripped through her nerves!

Although the system had reduced the pain somewhat to protect beginners, a bullet tearing into flesh was still devastating for a pampered support-type young lady who had always had someone to cushion her falls.

Blood sprayed.

She reached up to clutch her left shoulder, and her fingers met something hot and wet.

Her body told her: This is real!

The blood is real. The pain is real. Death is real, too!

Ning Rongrong collapsed helplessly to the floor, tears spilling down her cheeks. "It hurts! Bone Grandpa... Sword Grandpa... save me!!!"

The Scavenger strode up to her with a vicious grin and raised his rifle, its heavy metal stock looming overhead.

As Ning Rongrong stared up in terror and despair, the stock came whistling down toward her face.

[Flatlined]

The blood-red word flashed across her darkened vision.

Then every sound vanished.

No pain. No body. No warmth.

Ning Rongrong found herself floating in absolute darkness. She could feel nothing. Even her breathing and heartbeat were gone.

That deathly stillness was more maddening than the agony had been.

Inside the Origin Internet Cafe.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Ning Rongrong tore off her VR headset and sprang from the chair as though she had been electrocuted.

Her face was white as paper, and she trembled uncontrollably. Cold sweat had soaked through the back of her pale blue dress.

Panting, she clutched her left shoulder and cheek with both hands as tears pattered down.

"I'm not dead... I'm not dead..."

She crouched on the floor, overcome. Night City's bullets had blasted every trace of her haughty young-lady airs away.

Behind the counter, Lin Ye calmly sipped his tea, then pulled out a tissue and offered it to her.

"Here, wipe your face. That was just the first level's beginner tutorial."

Lin Ye watched Ning Rongrong sob her heart out, a kindly smile curling at the corners of his mouth.

"So, Ning, now that you're working here, do you still think I charged too much for those 298 Gold Soul Coins?"