Chapter 5

I cracked my eyes open. Blinking at the unfamiliar ceiling above me. I rubbed my face and sat up, looking around in confusion before the wave of memories of everything that took place last night hit me like a truck.

I had really died. I had really met an all-powerful being. I had really chosen my abilities, and most wild of all, I had really chosen the fucked up world that is Cyberpunk.

There were many better options, but my desire to be a legend in Night City overcame all the other worlds I could have chosen.

The memories of being thrown into the world, getting jumped, and killing said jumpers filled my mind. It was a bitter thought. Not killing them. No, I'd gladly do it again. It just sucked that my first experience in this world was getting jumped.

But I did choose a trigger event to awaken my powers, so… I kinda got what I asked for.

I pushed myself out of bed and went to the bathroom to take a leak. Once I was done, I went to the sink to wash my face, pausing as I looked at myself in the mirror.

This… was actually the first time I had gotten to get a look at myself.

The R.O.B. who had sent me here didn't allow me to customize my appearance or anything, saying I took enough time choosing all my shit and that I was starting to bore on him.

He was an asshole, as most R.O.B.s are.

I ran a hand through my hair, thoroughly pleased with what I saw looking back. Tan skin, short black hair cut in a tapered fade. A bushy yet well-trimmed black beard that took up a great deal of my face. I had gotten the beard for the memes; it was one of the perks granted, Blackened Beard. It gave me a damn nice beard and allowed me to eat two devil fruits-

But considering there were no devil fruits in this world, that was kind of a moot point.

My most attractive feature, though, was the sky-blue eyes that seemed to glow and look into my soul. I swore I could see little clouds in them as well.

So these were the All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods.

I gave myself a proud nod. I looked damn good. I definitely wouldn't have any problems when it came to picking up the ladies.

I turned on the faucet and washed my face, making sure to get a good scrub in my beard.

Thinking of the various beautiful women in this world could come later. I had shit to do today and not enough time.

It was time to get my ass to work!

— Later —

"So, you're…"

"Maliketh. Maliketh Aeneas. And you're the best ripperdoc in Night City, correct?"

"Some people call me that." The glasses-wearing man sighed, leaning back in his chair. "So, I'm sure you're not here to chat. What do you want done?"

"Basic cyberware. I'm full organic right now."

"Yeah, I can see that." He hummed. "I got some cyberware, but it's gonna cost ya a pretty eddie."

"Well, you didn't think I made the trek here just to get hands out, did ya?" I grinned, taking a seat in the patient chair. Viktor Vektor, live in the flesh. I made my way over to Little China to have him work his magic on me. He's the one I knew I could trust for the best experience when getting chrome.

"I suppose not, so what can I do for you?"

"Need a NeuroPort and a Tetratronic Rippler Mk.1."

"I assumed as much for the NeuroPort." He smiled, sliding his chair over to mess with his drawers. "But an advanced Cyberdeck like that? Who are you fighting?"

"Do you really want to know?" I questioned with genuine curiosity.

"Nope, not the kinda guy to stick my nose where it doesn't belong." Vik shrugged, pulling out a white gun-looking thing. "That'll cost you. You're looking at 20 thousand eddies."

I reached into my pocket dimension; his eyes widened minutely as I pulled the stacks of paper eddies out and handed them to him. "This should be enough."

He quickly counted the eddies over before carrying them over to his desk.

"Nice magic trick ya got there, now, sit back."

I did as he asked, leaning back in the chair and getting comfy. He slid over and grabbed my right arm. Pressing the white gun against it. "Anesthetic."

I nodded, relaxing and making sure to turn off my perk, Defense Matrix (Which allows my body not to be altered in any way without my consent), and I felt the anesthesia flood my veins. First, my arm grew numb, and my entire body relaxed considerably.

"I'm gonna put you under for a bit," Vik said, getting up from his seat and doing something to my head. My body was so numb, and my eyes were so heavy I didn't pay attention. My eyes drifted shut, and I welcomed sweet unconsciousness.

— Later —

I opened my eyes slowly, and immediately I could tell everything was different. My vision felt more…techy. What I mean by that is I felt like my eyes had connected and integrated itself with the NeuroPort. It was honestly very nauseating but also really damn badass!

"You're adjusting better than most for your first bit of Cyberware." Vik walked over to me with a pill bottle. He offered it to me, and I took it. "Painkillers. You look well right now, but your condition may worsen. Hold onto those just in case."

"Right, thanks, Doc." I nodded. "The Cyberdeck?"

"Already in your NeuroPort."

"Preem." I slowly got up. "If that's all, I'm gonna delta out of here."

"The shop is always open. Don't be a stranger."

I walked out of the chop shop and went down the street. Now I could get shit done, and locked doors were no longer my biggest threat in a job!

It was time to head to my second home. I had forgotten I could just store the bodies in my pocket dimension instead of leaving them to rot in a basement, and it was time to correct my mistake.

— Later —

Having to trek across the city fucking sucked, but I would do it as many times as necessary. Viktor Vektor was simply worth the extra hassle.

I entered my second house and closed the door, immediately heading for the basement. As I went down, I frowned as the smell flooded my nostrils. No, it was too soon for that, not the smell of rotting corpses.

The smell of shit.

It smelled like fucking ass down here because these damn dead fucks probably, if not definitely, shit themselves!

I made my way over, carefully making sure to grab each of them by the neck as I tossed their corpses into my pocket dimension. The dimension was timeless, so they shouldn't rot any more than they already had. The scavs could deal with their post-mortem defecation. I'm sure they've seen shit like that plenty in the past.

I hesitated as I looked at the sheets that held the dead loan shark. He was naked underneath, and the pungent smell was coming from him as well. My nose crinkled as I did what I had to do and threw him in as well, with more effort than the others.

With my basement clear, I made my way back upstairs and sat on one of the many couches in the common area, and closed my eyes.

I had been interrupted before by the need to earn a living, but it was time to fully get a handle on the basics of Nen.

I opened my aura nodes, letting my aura shroud around me: Ten.

Then, I pulled my aura back in, not letting an ounce of it escape, and closing my aura nodes tightly: Zetsu.

It was time to advance my abilities further. The next two practices of Nen were extremely important and much more powerful than the former two.

The first two steps involved creating a goal and vocalizing it. The next step involved amplifying that will and weaponizing it. My mind calmed from the swirling haze that had consumed me in these last few days, and thus, the calm waters of tranquility rolled over my mind. To fully apply Zetsu in the most useful way, one must be still, even their thoughts.

And now…

"Ren!"

My aura nodes erupted with energy. White aura leaving my body in an uncontrolled burst of power. I looked at my hands; I could feel the strength coursing through my veins. I felt like I could bust down a wall with a single punch. The aura was incredible!

But I could feel it draining me by the second. I wasn't some experienced Nen Practicioner. Building up the capacity of my aura would take time, weeks if not months, before I could use this for a relatively long amount of time.

I got a perk from the R.O.B. who sent me here, called Bounce Below. The perk allows me never to experience proper exhaustion. The lowest I could go was about halfway through my stamina before it would stop going down, which means, theoretically, I could run a marathon across the country without ever needing to stop.

Of course, my mind still gets tired, and I like sleep, so that's still a problem, but beyond that, my body mostly has infinite stamina.

This means that using Ren isn't a problem for me; it's just that sooner or later, I would run out of my Nen Aura and have to wait for it to regenerate. On top of that, the perk Safe Capacity grants me double the Nen Aura, allowing me to grow my capacity faster.

These perks were a good pick because I picked up another that would help me further: Training Montage. This perk allows me to train beyond the limits of my race, whether physically, mentally, or the powers of the systems (Nen/Haki). All of them together formed a powerful unit that would aid me in many jobs to come, I was certain of it.

I exhaled as I reeled my aura back into a gentle shroud around my body. Going from Ren to Ten. Immediately, I could feel the difference. Ren enforced my power and filled me with strength that Ten didn't. Meanwhile, Ten gave me a sense of defense and protection that Ren didn't match up to.

They were two sides of the same coin and had their uses. I need to use both if I want to survive in this city without a decent amount of chrome.

I got up from the couch, content with the unlocking of Ren. I wanted to go further today, but steps were necessary before diving into the final principle of Nen, Hatsu.

To use Hatsu, I need to figure out my Nen Categorization and create an ability from it known as a Nen Ability. Such a thing would take a while, and even though a Nen Ability would be powerful, I know it's not something I can do in a day or even a week.

It'd take a month, at least.

Still, if I was looking for more power, there was another system that I could draw upon.

Haki.

Learning Armament Haki and Observeration Haki would reap incredible rewards, but I knew the latter would likely take much time.

Armament, on the other hand…

I walked out of my second house and made my way over to the back. I looked at the wall made of metal and took a deep breath before-

*BANG*

My eyes narrowed in pain as I continued to punch the metal wall. It was time to strengthen my will, all while strengthening my fists.

*BANG*

A necessary step to growing stronger, no matter how much it hurts-

*BANG*

If I wanted to stand at the top of Night City. If I wanted to defeat Adam Smasher-

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Then, I would need to grow stronger!