The roar of loud music echoed through the bar, and figures swayed on the dance floor, bathed in flashing pink lights.
Many people on the dance floor lay on faded grey sofas, wearing strange devices on their heads, mouths slightly agape, and hands fumbling around, making indescribable movements.
The commotion from above affected the bar's basement.
In a small warehouse, as the noise from above grew louder, a pure black iron box on a metal shelf began to move erratically.
Soon, it reached the edge of the shelf.
After another jolt...
“Clang!”
The iron box crashed down from the shelf, heading straight for the head of a young man lying on a cot below, but a black baseball bat suddenly shot out from the side, knocking the iron box against the wall.
Then, the baseball bat retracted, and the iron box landed on the floor with a dull thud.
“I said, Roel, how much longer are you going to sleep? You’re supposed to be working, you know that?” A slightly annoyed voice rang out, but a hint of a smile couldn’t be hidden in it.
“Hmm?”
A sleepy sound squeezed from his throat, and Roel rubbed his eyes, getting up from the small cot he was lying on. He then looked hazily at what was in front of him.
The small warehouse was pitch black, but the faint light from an electronic switch nearby provided some illumination.
A tall, slender figure stood in front of Roel, facing him and blocking the light from the hallway outside the underground warehouse.
Getting up and reaching for the switch in the dark, Roel yawned.
He didn’t need to think; the only person who would come to wake him up at this hour could only be Rita.
“Working? Working on what? Susan herself told me to get out of the Moxes and not cause her any trouble. Work? I don’t want to.”
Roel said, turning on the light, and the figure in front of him revealed herself.
She had beautiful pink hair, tied into two small buns at the back of her head, with bangs that extended past her cheeks.
Her face was delicate and pretty, and her skin had a shiny, plastic-like, or perhaps dewy, quality.
Under the light, her beautiful face was illuminated like a porcelain doll, with two black lines distributed along the sides of her delicate nose, which looked more like a chasm separating her upper and lower face.
Rita Wheeler.
Lizzie's Bar’s security guard, and also the Moxes' top enforcer, was now looking at Roel with a mixture of exasperation and amusement.
She wore a torn white T-shirt on her upper body, which failed to cover her chest, revealing the curves of her snow-white breasts. They were round, fair, and beautiful.
Over that, she wore a short black jacket, and on her lower body, tight black pants. Her arms were raised, shaking and tapping the baseball bat in her hands.
“Alright, stop complaining to me. I couldn’t care less about what happens between you and Susan. Kolina said this; she’s the one who told you to go and stand guard properly. I mean, you can ignore Susan’s words, but can you really ignore hers?”
Hearing Wheeler bring up Kolina, Roel ran his hands through his soft black hair, gathering the shoulder-length strands and pulling them up into a ponytail.
A refined face was revealed under the light.
It was a clean face, without any signs of cyberware implants on his cheeks.
But when Roel turned his head away from Wheeler, a small card slot was visible behind his left ear, with a few playful strands of black hair dangling there.
Just as Roel’s eyeballs lit up with yellow light, Wheeler’s voice rang out again.
“What, you still don’t believe me? Damn it, Auntie Kolina is up there right now. How about you go and tell her yourself?”
Roel, who was about to call Kolina, paused instantly, then said in a somewhat displeased tone, “How did she get here?”
“Besides coming to see you, what else would she be here for? And stop complaining to me, I’m not the boss.” Wheeler shrugged, rolling her beautiful eyes.
Roel leaned back on the cot, hands spread out behind him, looking lazily at Wheeler, “Susan told me not to show my face during this time, saying that the Tyger Claws are looking for me. If I go up now, won’t I cause trouble for ‘you guys’?”
Roel emphasized the words “you guys” particularly.
“This is our territory, Roel, understand? It’s ours.” Wheeler said, somewhat displeased by Roel’s words.
Roel pouted, “But she said, ‘who the hell is ‘us’ with you?’”
Seeing this, Wheeler said somewhat speechlessly, “Don’t you understand Susan’s temper? Everything she said to you was just out of anger. What she said was harsh, but you really did go too far.
Those bastards from the Tyger Claws are indeed annoying, acting like their mothers died, but that deal was fine. They were already prepared to be hurt, as long as it was within limits...”
Wheeler’s voice gradually faded, eventually becoming silent.
“Why aren’t you continuing?” Roel looked at Wheeler, sneering.
“...”
“Actually, you’re right, I know, and Susan knows too, but Roel... no, really no. We can’t actively attack the Tyger Claws.
The Moxes don’t have that capability. We survive in the cracks; we can’t afford to offend anyone.” Wheeler sighed, placing her baseball bat by her leg and reaching out to touch Roel’s head.
Roel didn’t dodge, letting Wheeler’s hand rest on his head.
Gently stroking Roel’s black hair, Wheeler’s voice softened: “I know you’re protecting the girls, protecting us. You could have left long ago, but you chose to stay to repay Auntie Kolina’s kindness...”
“Actually, we’re holding you back. You’re even better than we thought. If you wanted to be a mercenary, or a corporate agent, there would definitely be plenty of people paying to hire you.”
“But Roel, the Tyger Claws are more dangerous than you think. Susan said those things to protect you. Otherwise, why would she still let you stay at Lizzie's, let you live here?”
“...” Roel closed his eyes, enjoying the gentle caress of Wheeler’s hand.
He understood all these reasons, but there were some things Roel simply couldn’t accept.
Shana was a sex doll, a low-level person, that’s true, but she was also Roel’s friend.
When Kolina first took Roel in, Shana occasionally looked after Roel, so of course, he wouldn’t stand by and watch Shana get hurt.
Because of this, Roel caused trouble, bringing problems to the Moxes.
“To hell with Night City, to hell with the Tyger Claws.” Roel shook his head, opened his eyes, and said.
Wheeler withdrew her hand, and seeing Roel, who rarely swore, utter profanity, she blinked, a slight smile playing on her lips, and said coaxingly, “Not angry anymore?”
She knew Roel well.
Unlike most people, Roel swearing didn’t mean he was venting his anger; rather, it meant he had come to terms with things, a feeling of helpless frustration being expressed?
“How could I not be angry? Those guys from the Tyger Claws were deliberately looking for trouble! The sex doll regulations clearly state that when the safe word is called out, everyone must stop to ensure mutual safety.
But what did they do? If I hadn’t gotten in there quickly, those three bastards would have torn Shana apart!”
“But the result was that they were torn apart by you, wasn’t it? Those cyberware parts you brought back are worth a lot of money. Susan might scold you fiercely, but after selling those things, she’s been saving all the money for you.”
Wheeler grinned, leaned down and gave Roel a light hug, then straightened up and said:
“Alright, our little bodyguard, it’s really time for your work now. Susan saw me when I came, but she didn’t say anything, just glared at me. I don’t need to speak for Susan anymore, do I?”
“I know, I’ll change and be right up.” Reaching out to pat Wheeler’s back, the synthetic leather felt as smooth as silk, Roel said softly.
Wheeler nodded and said as she left, “Then hurry up. I need to go stand guard first, to prevent any blind bastard from causing trouble.”
After Wheeler left, Roel took a deep breath.
Then, he silently thought, “Open task panel.”
The next moment, a phantom black and red panel appeared before Roel.
“Do you accept Rita Wheeler’s mission (Security)?”
“Accept / Decline”
Roel clicked accept.
“Mission accepted (Security)”
“Security”
· Danger Level: None
· Mission: Fulfill Rita Wheeler’s request to protect Lizzie's Bar from intrusion tonight.
· Mission Reward: Random attribute 0.05.
Roel closed the task bar, then opened another pop-up window.
“Name: Roel”
Body: 9.05
Reflexes: 8.06
Technical Ability: 9.02
Intelligence: 4.1
Cool: 8.2
Looking at his attributes, Roel clenched his fist.
His body was only equipped with a few simple cyberware implants.
According to the game’s setting, Roel’s current reflexes were already in the upper-middle tier of humanity, meaning he could actually adapt to and install many cyberware implants.
But the Moxes were just too poor… they simply didn’t have any spare money to spend on Roel, but the good news was that Roel could grow stronger without cyberware.
It was precisely because of this panel that Roel was able to gradually become stronger. Currently, his Body attribute was rated at 9.
It’s worth noting that in the game, installing epic Gorilla Arms only gives +4 Body, while Roel, with an almost entirely original body, already had nearly 10 Body.
How much was a normal person’s Body attribute again?
Oh, it was 3 points.
And a Body attribute of ten was already enough for Roel to tear open a locked alloy door with his bare hands. Didn’t V, who didn’t spec into Intelligence in the game, often do that?
Opening metal doors with bare hands and stuff.
Looking at his attributes, Roel then got up and reached for the clothes on a nearby shelf.
A blue short jacket. After putting it on, Roel walked out of the small warehouse door.
It had been... five years since he came to this world.
That’s right, Roel also got hit by a truck, just like many of his compatriots. After the roaring truck passed, Roel was forced to transmigrate to another world, a game world called... Cyberpunk 2077.
A complex, dangerous, yet romantic and uncompromising world.
Standing up and putting on his shoes, Roel was ready to start working. His job was very simple: being a bartender, waiter, security guard, mixed in with the Moxes, Roel held multiple positions.