Cyberpunk: Monster Hunter of Night City

The yellow-painted G240 was cruising through the streets of the River Valley District. Inside the car, Gloria, while driving, asked Alex Knight, who was in the passenger seat,

"Is there anywhere specific you want to go? Or should I just show you around Night City first?"

Alex wore a disposable mask, leaning lazily against the passenger seat with its peeling rubber upholstery.

"I need to sort out my identity first. Has Mann sent any messages?"

As he spoke, Alex's gaze turned to Gloria. Even though she didn't have to work today, she was still wearing that yellow work jacket, her graceful figure enveloped in the oversized coat. It wasn't nearly as eye-catching as her silhouette in pajamas.

With one hand on the steering wheel, Gloria slapped her smooth forehead with the other. She replied a little awkwardly, "I forgot. I haven't checked any messages or emails since I woke up."

After speaking, the red rhomboid implant below Gloria's eyes began to glow faintly, and her pupils lit up with orange-yellow data rings as she started reading the information from her brain-computer emails.

"Super Skyscraper Property Management: Dear Ms. Gloria, records show that we have not yet received your rent for Super Skyscraper H4 this month. According to lease agreement VD-23301524/2075, if payment continues to be delayed, you will be forcibly evicted from the property."

Gloria directly ignored the property management's rent reminder. When did she ever not pay rent on the very last day!

She continued to scroll down.

"Mann: Gloria. Mr. Knight's identity chip has been completed. Ask the employer how they want it delivered to him."

Well, the current time was 8:28 AM. Mann's message was sent at 6:00 AM, two hours late.

She furtively glanced at the person beside her. Seeing Alex looking out the window, Gloria said in a calm tone, "Mann said your identity chip is ready and asked where to deliver it to you."

"Hmm, tell Mann to send the chip to Little Chinatown in Watson. You can determine the exact location. But before that, I need a brain-computer implant. Take me to buy one."

"Okay," Gloria responded, first replying to Mann, then habitually turning the car towards Coronado Farm. There was a private clinic there that sold cheap second-hand cyberware and offered free installation.

Within a few minutes, looking at the suddenly shorter buildings outside the car window, Alex suddenly realized that this woman wouldn't take him to buy second-hand cyberware, so he unconfidently instructed,

"Where are you going? Take me to a legitimate cyberware store! I don't want to install a second-hand item just removed from some unlucky person!"

"Knew it," Gloria finally realized. She was so used to being frugal that when she heard about buying something, her first thought was where to buy it cheaply, completely forgetting that Alex was buying things with his own money.

At the intersection ahead, the yellow G240 immediately turned around and got on the elevated highway directly to the Municipal Center.

An hour later.

A parking lot in the Municipal Center.

Gloria opened the car door and sat in the driver's seat, handing a shopping bag to Alex.

"The brain-computer implant you wanted, a new model launched by Zeta Technology in 2072, comes with three neural slots…"

Without listening to Gloria's introduction of the cyberware information, Alex took out the palm-sized square packaging box from the shopping bag, tore open the red and blue outer packaging, and took out the cyberware sealed in a dust-free bag from inside.

**[Brain-sensing Neural Data Reading Interaction Device — Brain-Computer] Implant (Equippable)**

- **Quality:** Common

- **Description:** Produced by Zeta Technology, comes with three neural slots, high-speed data reading, millisecond-level neural signal response, adaptable to various cyberware.

- **P.S.:** Are you ready for a craniotomy?

The first step of mechanical ascension, the brain-computer, the foundation of data immortality. Seeing this implant, Alex thought of Arasaka's RELIC chip 2.0 from the game. Ignoring the numerous usage conditions and restrictions, RELIC could copy human thoughts onto a separate chip, and by inserting it into another person's neural slot, it could achieve the transfer of personality consciousness.

Isn't this data immortality?

"…This cost 4200 euros. The invoice is in the shopping bag. Of the 40,000 euros you gave me, after deducting my 10,000 euro fee, there's 25,800 left."

Alex came back to his senses. Gloria was still chattering away.

"Hmm, I got it," Alex replied with a somewhat perfunctory tone.

He stuffed the packaging box back into the shopping bag, and without even looking at the invoice, Alex directly threw the bag out of the car window near a distant trash can, where it piled up with a large amount of overflowing garbage.

Seeing Alex throw away the invoice without even glancing at it, Gloria felt a bit strange. Whether Alex genuinely didn't care or was just putting on a show, in Night City, where everything revolved around money and profit, such people would be affectionately called 'fat sheep' by the citizens.

This simpleton.

"Alright, let's go to Little Chinatown to get my identity chip."

"Okay, Young Master Alex."

In the 2040s, or rather, 2040, the Watson District once had the potential to become the next Municipal Center. Thirty years ago, major corporations invested heavily in this district, building numerous commercial super-malls and public facilities, such as Night City's medical center.

It could be said that if you didn't have a trustworthy cyberware doctor and were afraid they might harvest your organs when you were unconscious, then you should bring money here. Although it was a bit expensive, it could guarantee basic personal safety.

As the district developed, a large number of immigrants, mainly Asians, poured in. The Asian characteristic of sticking together in a foreign land, coupled with a strong sense of national belonging, brought about some changes in the Watson District.

This could be seen from place names in Watson, such as Little Chinatown, Kabuki, Sakura Street, and other areas and streets with national cultural characteristics.

But in the next 30 years, more people entered this district, and plans couldn't keep up with changes. The Watson District gradually deviated from the large companies' original design trajectory.

Now, it was 2075.

Little Chinatown was considered a relatively poor district in the eyes of Watson District residents, but even so, it was better than the slum in Santo Domingo. Little Chinatown had a wide variety of entertainment, with restaurants and gambling dens everywhere, specifically catering to customers who couldn't afford to spend in the Municipal Center or Japantown.

And the food, shops, neon lights, slang, and flavors here were all very Chinese, and residents from other districts of Night City would also come to experience it during their time off.

Gloria drove the car to Ellison Square in Little Chinatown, where there was an elevated train station. Because of its convenient transportation and high recognizability, Gloria set the transaction location for Alex here.

Now, Alex was alone in the car. He didn't get out to retrieve the chip but instead asked Gloria to pick it up on his behalf, just like when he bought the brain-computer. After all, he was an undocumented person, and if he got out of the car and was seen by NCPD patrols, it would only add to his troubles.

Taking advantage of being alone in the car, Alex took out the newly bought brain-computer and tried to add it to his equipment slot.

"Do you want to load this implant into the equipment slot?"

Looking at the text appearing in his retina, Alex confirmed with his mind: Yes.

The implant in his hand turned into a streak of white light and merged into his body, leaving only an empty dust-proof bag in his hand.

Looking at the car's rearview mirror, Alex saw the neural slot that appeared on the right side of his neck, and then he reached out and pressed the hard lump that appeared on the back of his head.

With a thought, he removed the brain-computer from the equipment slot, and the neural slot on his neck immediately disappeared, returning to its original flesh-colored skin.

He couldn't equip the brain-computer just yet, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to explain it to Gloria.

However, this was truly a novel experience.

Currently, there were only three equipment slots in his personal panel. It seemed he needed to plan carefully how to use them.

Click~ The driver's side door opened, and Gloria sat in the driver's seat with an angry expression, muttering under her breath, "I'm so mad, so mad…"

"What's wrong? Such a temper!" Alex asked curiously.

"It's all because of you," Gloria glared at Alex, handing him the detached chip she was holding.

"The person Mann sent for the delivery was actually a green-haired kid. Judging by her height and face, she looked thirteen or fourteen at most. She already had tattoos at such a young age. I just said a few words to her, and she cursed me out. It was really nasty."

"That stinky brat, she makes me so mad."

A green-haired brat? And thirteen or fourteen? It must be Rebecca.

She was Rebecca. She had tattoos, drank, cursed, and killed.

But she was a good girl, a good girl everyone loved.