Devil in Night City (Cyberpunk) (Patreon)

Chapter 3: Second Day in Hell

Sometime Later

I might not have thought my grand plan through properly.

I say that as I run with my tail between my legs from a pack of angry Animals shouting every cuss word in the dictionary, and a few that only exist here in Night City.

You see, the plan had been going splendidly at first, which probably should have clued me in that the other shoe was about to drop. I made it to Pacifica in a timely manner after deciding to risk it and use the metro system.

I figured that since I was about to kill some gangsters — or gangers, as they were known here — I would at least be getting my money’s worth back tenfold.

Finding the Animals after arriving hadn’t been hard either. You just had to look out for the most roided-out motherfuckers around, and boom: nine times out of ten, that was an Animal.

Still riding the high from my new stats, I hadn’t wasted a single moment. I walked up to the nearest male Animal I saw just wandering around and, without any prompt, challenged him to a fight.

It went something like this.

“Hey, you grotesque fuck! Get ready to get your teeth punched in!”

My bold opening caught him off guard. He blinked in confusion and let out an intelligent “Huh?” right before my fist met his face.

The satisfying sound of bone breaking under my fist had been very therapeutic, if I’m being honest. Watching the huge fucker get launched backwards a couple of feet and immediately pass out with his eyes rolling back had been even better.

I stood triumphantly over my fallen foe, feeling powerful as fuck. But seeing as the guy was only unconscious and not dead, I pulled out the simple Unity pistol I’d taken from that fallen Tyger Claw the day before and unloaded the full clip into his head.

Had to make sure he stayed down, after all. The thought that I had just killed a person in cold blood didn’t even register. I was still running on pure adrenaline.

Usurper activated immediately, bringing with it a sense of accomplishment. Before I could even look at what I could take from the dead fucker, though, everything went to shit.

I might have forgotten one very important detail about the Animals when I chose them to test my strength. Like the name suggested, Animals ran in packs, with an alpha male or female as the leader. Where one Animal was, there were always others.

My little scene had caught the attention of his packmates, and they hadn’t wasted a single second rushing me, mad as hell that I had killed one of their own.

I would have normally stood my ground and fought back, but again, I had forgotten another simple detail.

The Animals preferred to fight with their bare hands. That did not mean they didn’t also have guns or other weapons on them.

Guns and weapons they immediately pointed at me.

So I did the most sensible thing I could think of at the time and ran like a bat out of hell.

Hence my current dilemma.

About the only sensible thing I had done so far was having the foresight to at least cover most of my face with a rag I’d stolen on my way here.

Bang! Bang!

“Stop running, you fucker!”

“I’m going to rip you to pieces!”

“When we’re done with you, there will be nothing left of you!”

Hearing the colorful ways they planned to rip me a new one, I did the sensible thing and flipped them off.

“Suck a cock!”

Internally, I was glad as fuck for the speed boost I’d gotten recently and for my sturdy body. If it wasn’t for those two things, I would already have a few bullet holes riddling me from the shots that had grazed me while I ran.

Looking back for a moment while shoving anyone in my way forcefully aside, I internally cursed when I saw the fuckers were still following me, not tired at all.

‘Tsk. Despite having super speed, it doesn’t matter much in these crowded streets!’ I cursed. While some people had immediately found cover, most of the population was already used to this kind of thing and just went on like nothing was happening, which was fucking me over right now.

“I need to lose them. And if I can’t do that…” I muttered with a frown as I ran into traffic, weaving through vehicles and using them as cover from the hail of gunfire behind me.

Right now the open layout of Pacifica was working against me. I couldn’t lose my pursuers in alleyways, and they could see every move I made even if I was faster than them. There was also the fact that sooner or later they would get vehicles, and then I would be fucked.

“I need to kill them.” I muttered with determination, frowning as I ran even faster toward an open area where I could actually use my new speed. The only place that came to mind was the beach.

With a plan in place, I pushed myself harder and made it there within a few minutes, kicking up a bunch of sand the moment my feet hit the beach and obscuring my view.

Hiding behind a car, I steadied my breath, then concentrated and used Vibration Tracking. I immediately picked up the heavy footsteps of the Animals still hot on my trail.

“Nowhere to run now, motherfucker!”

“Spread out and find him!”

I heard the angry shouts and breathed a sigh of relief. They were falling right into my plan by dividing themselves. Looking around, I tried to find some kind of weapon.

Not seeing anything close, I extended my search and lit up when I spotted what looked like a fallen piece of metal from some kind of sign a bit away from me.

Keeping track of the Animals through Vibration Tracking, I waited until their footsteps were as far from me as possible before making a run for it again. Sand flew into the air from my speed, giving my position away and at the same time creating a bit of cover for me.

“There he is! Shoot him!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I grunted as I actually felt the last shot, a burning sensation blooming in my stomach. Clicking my tongue, I ignored it for now, ran past the fallen piece of metal, snatched it up, and kept going straight toward the nearest solo target.

“I got the fucker!” the Animal I was charging shouted, grinning savagely before unloading on me with a shotgun. I worried for a second, I wasn’t sure I could tank that.

An instant later I was hit by about a dozen projectiles. They hurt, but thankfully they didn’t penetrate my skin. The bastard’s eyes widened in shock, and the next moment I shoved the piece of steel through his neck without mercy and ripped the shotgun from his hands.

Ignoring his dying gurgles as he choked on his own blood, I quickly searched him, grabbed the ammo he was carrying, and took off again.

Still running on fight-or-flight, I mentally commanded Usurper to accept the Marksmanship skill from my last kill. This being Night City, I knew without a doubt that any bastard here had at least a passable skill with guns. I wasn’t disappointed. The knowledge transferred into my brain the next instant.

Suddenly I knew how to use most guns. I expertly reloaded my new shotgun and focused on my next target.

I grunted again as another bullet punched into my side with that same burning sensation. Now I was sure they had at least one fucker with a high-caliber weapon capable of piercing my skin.

I ignored the pain and the few shots that only grazed me, then unloaded a blast into the next bastard’s face and dropped him immediately. His wide eyes were the last thing I saw before I was moving again.

‘Five left,’ I counted internally.

“Our shots aren’t working! The fucker’s probably a full borg under his clothes!” someone shouted off to the side.

“We’re doing this the fun way then!”

“Gonk’s gonna regret messing with the Animals!”

As I made my way to my next target, I saw him throw his weapon away and raise his fists, ready for me.

I aimed a little lower and fired into his junk. He dropped to his knees screaming. A second point-blank shot to the head put him down for good.

Feeling a bit lightheaded, I glanced down and frowned. My stomach and leg were wet. I was bleeding. Clicking my tongue, I quickly pulled out a stimpack, injected myself, and kept moving, forcing the pain to the back of my mind.

Four left.

The remaining fuckers had finally wizened up to my strategy and grouped together, forcing me to confront them all at once. I stopped in front of them with a scowl.

“Surround him and hit him at the same time! Fucker can’t get all of us!” the apparent leader, or alpha, declared. The other three quickly moved in.

Thinking fast, I kicked a bunch of sand into their faces, then fired at the one on the left, hitting him in the knee and dropping him to the ground. The next shot to the neck took him out.

I ditched the shotgun since I couldn’t afford to reload, closed on the one in the middle, the apparent leader, and kicked him in the nuts as hard as I could.

“Aaaagggh! B-Bastard!”

I ignored him, grabbed his head with both hands, and kneed him in the face as hard as I could. I heard bone break, then the last remaining gangster tackled me to the ground.

“You fucker! I got you now!” the roided-out bastard shouted as he started raining punches on my face and body. Each blow felt like a jackhammer.

I grunted in pain as I bled from my nose. His cybernetics, and whatever the fuck he was on, were enough to actually hurt me. I just managed to raise my arm and catch his next fist, though it took some effort.

“Wha—? Your skinny ass is actually stronger than me!?” he asked in surprise, then used his free hand to hit me again and force me to let go.

“Not so tough now, are you, motherfucker!” he shouted, going back to raining blows on me as my vision started to blur.

‘I’m not dying here!’ I thought in anger. With a surge of strength I switched our positions, ending up on top of him, and immediately started bringing my fists down on his face and anything else I could reach.

“Let’s see how you like it, motherfucker!” I shouted.

Within moments the bastard stopped struggling, but I kept going, extremely pissed that he’d managed to get the drop on me.

My fists came down one after another. I ignored it when they became coated in blood and broke skin. I didn’t let up until he stopped moving.

Breathing heavily, I let myself drop onto my back and broke into a cough before doing my best to get oxygen back into my lungs.

“Fuck… N-Never going in without a plan again.” I wheezed out in pain, then blinked as I realized something, and felt my blood freeze.

Wait… wasn’t there four people remaining?

Just as the thought hit me, a shadow covered the sun. I found myself staring down the barrel of a revolver, more specifically, what looked like a Malorian Overture.

“I knew I saw you bleeding.” The last roided-out Animal smirked darkly as his finger closed on the trigger. “This is the end of the line, fucker.”

The next moment my head snapped back before I could get a word in.

Then there was darkness.

=====

Animal’s POV

He put away his revolver and grunted in cold satisfaction as he looked at the motherfucker who had killed most of his pack.

Except for him, they were all down. The gonk had given them plenty of trouble, but in the end he’d gotten what was coming to him.

The Animal looked around, about to check if any of his pack hadn’t flatlined yet, then he felt two hands on his head. The next moment his view spun, and he saw the fucker he’d thought was dead standing there alive.

“You lost your chance, fucker. It wasn’t deep enough.”

That was the only thing he heard before a fist came his way, and he knew no more.

=====

Back with Lucius

Panting harshly, my heart almost beating out of my chest from the fucking scare I’d just gotten, I wiped the blood off my forehead. There was a gash there. I did my best to stop the bleeding with the rag I had.

I had gotten extremely close to kicking the bucket. The only thing that saved me was my sturdy skin and bones taking most of the impact from the revolver.

Unlike the shots to my stomach, which had met skin and just managed to penetrate, the fucker had shot me directly in the skull. Bone was a lot sturdier than skin.

I pulled out my last stimpack and injected myself, hissing as I felt my skin start stitching itself back together. A moment later I heard two bullets hit the ground after being pushed out of my stomach.

Still extremely dizzy, I shook my head and breathed harshly as the adrenaline finally started to wear off.

“…I need to get out of here.” I muttered in a tired tone, shaking my head once more. “First though, loot. Can’t forget to loot. That’s one of the main reasons I decided to pull off this insane stunt in the first place.”

Slightly limping, I forced myself to loot everything I could from the fallen corpses. I ended up with a few guns — a semi-automatic, the shotgun, and finally the Overture. Along with those, I made sure to take any chips on them, ammo, and even what looked like some food.

I had to take my jacket off just to carry it all as I slowly made my way off the beach, not wanting to stick around any longer.

“I could really use a fucking Inventory right now. Or at least a place where I could store my loot.” I muttered tiredly with a groan, then shook my head and finally pulled up the notifications from the System.

[Usurper Activated! 7 Animals killed]

[Choose ability to Usurp. Can Usurp 6, as user already used one for Marksmanship.]

·           Marksmanship – Can use most guns with expert efficiency.

·           CQC – Adept at hand-to-hand combat with knowledge of most known unarmed martial arts.

·           Pain Tolerance – Bullet wounds feel like small stings.

·           Blunt Weapon Mastery – Adept knowledge with blunt weapons.

·           Driving – Can drive most cars with expert efficiency.

·           Kama Sutra – Can make a woman cum most times.

·           Chemistry – Can make simple drugs like Juice.

·           Medicine – Have basic knowledge to at least not bleed out.

·           High Intelligence – Doubles current intelligence.

·           High Stamina – Doubles current stamina.

Looking at the choices given, I frowned a bit and immediately crossed out Driving, Kama Sutra, Chemistry, and Medicine. I felt they were either pointless — like Driving, and Kama Sutra since I was already pretty good at both and especially the latter — or just not worth it for the remaining two, at least at their current level.

That left the other six. I accepted them immediately and stumbled a bit as a headache hit from the transfer of knowledge. Then I righted myself again as I felt the remaining pain fade away.

Letting out a sigh of relief as my body became more energized, probably from the stamina upgrade, I blinked when I heard another ping and looked at my System.

[Hidden Side Quest Completed: Kill 5 people.]

[Reward: Access to personal Inventory, limited to 5 tons until user finishes main mission.]

I blinked once more as the knowledge of how to use the Inventory settled into my head, then grinned before letting out a small sigh.

“What do you know, there are hidden quests after all.”

“Well… at least that’s a nice reward after I almost fucked everything by dying like a chump on my second day of this isekai adventure.” I muttered with dry amusement. I concentrated for a moment, then watched as my loot disappeared.

“Hah. I really need to get myself a car next.” I muttered as I left the beach of Pacifica behind me.

Host: Lucius Grimlaw

Age: 20 years old

Main Powers:

·           Plunder

·           Inventory

·           Personal Demiplane (Locked until main mission is completed)

Abilities:

·           Super Strength – 15 times that of a normal human.

·           Pressure Resistance – Withstand pressure five thousand times heavier than yourself.

·           Vibration Tracking – Pick up sounds coming from the ground and vibrations through your feet.

·           Strong Lungs – Can hold breath for up to 30 min.

·           Super Speed – Can run up to 200 mph once you pick up momentum.

·           Radiation Resistance – Can withstand small amounts of radioactive fallout that would normally kill humans.

·           Strong Immunity – Strongly resistant to all forms of disease and some poisons.

·           Marksmanship – Can use most guns with expert efficiency.

·           CQC – Adept at hand-to-hand combat with knowledge of most known unarmed martial arts.

·           Pain Tolerance – Bullet wounds feel like mosquito bites.

·           Blunt Weapon Mastery – Adept knowledge with blunt weapons.

·           High Intelligence – Doubles current intelligence.

·           High Stamina – Doubles current stamina.

Current Mission:

Main Mission: Make your name known enough to be forever cemented in legend in Night City. How you do it is your choice — just make sure that, at the very least, you get a drink named after you.