So You're the Famous V

Cold.

Lier felt cold-so cold his skin felt burned, as though he were inside a furnace-

This is hypothermia!

Lier's eyes snapped open. He saw a filthy, chaotic room, with all kinds of surgical instruments scattered haphazardly around it.

Filth covered the room. Blood splashed the floor and walls like graffiti, and medical tools lay alongside unspeakably dirty personal items. The stench was unbearable.

"Corporate pigs sure have some badass gear. Shame this one's from Kang Tao. Not much chrome for us to strip."

"Oh, come on-look at this submachine gun. You can tell it's the good stuff they keep in-house. Plenty of buyers for that. This gun alone will cover our costs."

Lier's first thought was that he'd been kidnapped. His second was that these people seemed to be talking about... implants?

Had he become some employee of Kang Tao Corporation?

Then he heard beeping beside him. The loudmouths were in the next room, separated by white plastic strips, and gave him a disgusted glance.

"Where'd you pick this kid up? Doesn't look like a monk, either. Not a single implant, and his organs are failing. What's the difference between him and a pig?"

"Found him beside a garbage heap. Who knew he was this useless? Only his kidneys are worth anything-but I hear Biotechnica's interested in diseased organs. Might get enough for tomorrow's drugs."

"Then hurry up and strip him. We need to move. A merc's coming soon. We're not taking this money pit with us."

Lier was stunned-so he was still that dying kid.

He couldn't let these organ traffickers turn him into spare parts!

Lier looked around, barely able to move his eyes. He almost passed out again!

Just then, he caught a figure darting between two freezers out of the corner of his eye!

Rustle!

The white plastic strips separating the rooms lifted, and a tall, broad man walked up to his prey.

Lier looked at the man-his left hand had no fingers, only an assortment of scalpels. A distinct seam ran between his chin and upper lip, and the skin covering his cheekbones seemed to have been replaced with some kind of gray plastic!

That face instantly reminded Lier of a game-

Cyberpunk 2077!

This is the world of Cyberpunk! These people are kidney harvesters!

"Money pit. Let's get this over with."

Lier stared at the scalpels on the organ trafficker's fingers, his heart full of despair-

Bang!

The organ trafficker's head exploded. That was only the first shot. It was loud, but someone had actually fired three times.

His head was blasted to mush, then two bloody holes appeared in his chest. In another partition, a man hauling a human body immediately sensed something was wrong-

But when he turned to look, his companion's corpse fell, revealing only a woman with one side of her head shaved and the dark muzzle of a gun.

Bang!

The same three shots again. Not one missed.

Thud.

"Whew-made it in time. These Scavengers are a real pain to track down." The woman surveyed the room, confirmed no one else was there, then looked at Lier. "Are you Zhu Shen... no? No data? You're a monk? Uh, wrong guy."

Lier was a little dazed, because the woman before him felt incredibly familiar.

Especially that "fuck," which stirred memories of his previous life...

There had once been a game that had "shaken" the gaming world in every sense, with some truly wonderful voice acting...

Lier's mind was sluggish. In those few moments, the woman had already entered another room and found her target.

A muscular Asian man lay unconscious, seemingly due to a problem with his cyberware systems, his eyes rolled back.

"Zhu Shen. Physical condition's decent-good thing this gig didn't go south. At least I won't have to slink back to Night City."

The woman hoisted Zhu Shen over her shoulder and headed for the door. Passing Lier again, she saw his wide-open eyes. He was probably dying, but he clearly wasn't dead yet.

But did she have any reason to save Lier?

Clearly, the woman wasn't in the habit of handing out charity, though watching this poor bastard die did tug at her conscience-

So she would simply look away, turn around, and leave!

"I'll give you a chance. You'll have to get yourself out." As she spoke, she shot out the freezer's power supply, then pulled out some kind of injector and gave Lier a shot.

His dangerously low body temperature began climbing rapidly. Lier felt as though a fireball had exploded inside him!

All kinds of information flashed through his mind. He desperately tried to think of a way to persuade this woman, but his mouth wouldn't open, as though his nerves had frozen solid!

Say something! Lear! Fucking say something!

Just before the woman could leave, Lier finally regained feeling in his mouth and throat. But what should he say?

What could he say to make this woman help him? Or-even just make her willing to hear him out?

Lier blurted out, "So you're the famous V!"

The woman stopped in her tracks as though bewitched-well, considering she had absolutely no reason to stop and hear what came next, she really did seem bewitched.

"You know me?"

V was very surprised.

V, the protagonist of Cyberpunk 2077, was a super-mercenary whose combat prowess and affinity for cyberware were off the charts in the story. In a player's hands, she could also be a super-hacker. In short, whether in gameplay or the story, she was a legend with monstrous fighting power.

Lier was cold, but he had to find a way to make V work for him.

This chance wouldn't come again. As an ordinary person without any cyberware in the world of Cyberpunk, if he didn't seize the opportunity to secure a bodyguard, he might be meeting his maker tomorrow!

But he didn't have a cent-information was his only option.

Something V had just said flashed through Lier's mind-"slink back to Night City"?

This isn't Night City?

Lier glanced at the posters on the wall and the running computer, catching a line of text: "Rust Belt Network."

This wasn't Night City. It was Atlanta!

V, with her streetkid background, had indeed come to Atlanta before the story began. But for some reason, things ultimately hadn't worked out, and she'd returned to Night City-

And this was her last gig before heading back!

Considering how reluctant V seemed to discuss her exploits in Atlanta in the game, and how someone had mocked her for "coming back because you couldn't make it," this gig must have failed.

Why would it fail? Shouldn't the job of rescuing that Kang Tao Corporation corporate pig already be finished by now?

Seeing Lier stay silent while his eyes darted around, V narrowed her eyes. "Talk, kid. You mute?"

"I..." Lier mustered his courage. "V, you've been played."

"Oh?"

Click-clack-

Lier didn't see what V did. He only heard her pistol being cocked, and then its dark muzzle was right in front of his eyes.

Death was an abstract concept, but it became much less abstract with a gun pointed at you.

"You'd better explain what you mean."

Lier instinctively wanted to swallow, but he was too cold. His body wouldn't obey him.

That was good news, in a way-because of the cold, his first-ever lie produced no unusual reaction. There was nothing to give him away.

"These two kidney harvesters knew you were coming. If I hadn't been here, they would've moved Mr. Zhu straight away, and your job would've been screwed."

"Then I'd have caught up and shot them dead-and the job would still have been a success. Besides, them trying to run doesn't prove anything's wrong."

That was a bit of a stretch. V was clearly very confident. Lier's thoughts raced as he recalled the clues and pieced them together.

"Use your head, V. Why would they send you to rescue a senior Kang Tao executive? Because you're so famous?"

V raised an eyebrow. Lier's heart lurched, and he hurried on. "The Rust Belt has the most comprehensive network security coverage. All you have to do now is reboot Mr. Zhu's system, and Trauma Team will arrive within thirty seconds. The APD will take full control of the scene, and they'll get to the bottom of this within three days."

V scoffed. "You're counting on the cops to solve a case?"

"The NCPD is unreliable, sure, but this is Atlanta." Lear quickly picked up the thread. "You know why you can't get good gigs here?"

"Atlanta's effectively under a dictatorship. NetWatch, New America, and the European Market Alliance cooperate closely and extensively. It has the lowest crime rate in the country, and its case clearance rate is far higher than you'd imagine-

"Here, they really do try to uphold the law, because they wrote every last bit of it themselves. Spending on public safety here is definitely the highest in the country.

"In fact, hacking a corporate pig's system here is outright impossible-unless it's another corporate pig doing it."

In any case, it couldn't have been these Scavengers, covered head to toe in cyberware of dubious origin.

At that, V's expression changed subtly. Lear, watching intently, didn't miss it.

Lear pressed his advantage. "I'm guessing your client told you not to rush into rebooting the target's system even after rescuing him, because there's confidential information involved?"

At last, unmistakable surprise appeared on V's face.

Lear knew he'd guessed right.

This was a case of dog eat dog, and V was the sucker... mercenary being used to divert law enforcement's attention.

If you're enjoying this book, remember to add it to your library so you don't lose track of it next time.