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> Corpo Age [Cyberpunk Progression LitRPG] > Chapter 5: Tag Along

Chapter 5: Tag Along

Corpo Age [Cyberpunk Progression LitRPG] by RandomBlueCat

1.3k 1 56

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"We've arrived. Time to do our job," Flo said before immediately rushing out of the car with a massive gun. She wore a heavy-looking vest and matching closed-face helmet, while Erza followed right behind her in a similar get-up.

"Ha ha finally, time to go shoot up some scumbags, follow me intern, and watch the show!" Said Liz, whose demeanor took a sudden turn as she exited the vehicle holding a compact SMG.

I followed her into the treeline off the side of the road. It appeared as though we crashed through a metal gate where a worn-down two-story villa was visible just off in the distance. There were trees decorating the side of the road that led from the gate to the mansion. Overall, it looked like some fancy estate that had an unreasonably large yard.

Not long after we started navigating through the trees and bushes, the sound of gunshots echoed throughout the area, coming from the road where we came from.

I barely kept up with Liz even though I wasn't wearing a heavy-looking backpack like her, but it wasn't long before we made it out of the thicket, where we got a clear view of the firefight taking place.

To our left was the villa where several gunmen took turns peeking out to take potshots from their cover, which comprised sandbags and blocks of concrete. Meanwhile, Flo and Erza on the right were right in the middle of the road, slowly advancing toward their position.

Flo held a heavy-looking metallic tower shield with her cybernetic arm with her gun poking through an opening specifically made to allow her to lay down suppressing fire. Based on the sound alone, I could tell that her gun was some sort of shotgun and not a rifle that it appeared to be.

Erza, on the other hand, took cover behind Flo's shield, where she fired what seemed to be a grenade launcher toward their foes.

"Come on, let's go," Liz said.

She led us closer toward the enemy position, where we had a clear view of a dozen of them in cover. She signaled to me with her eyes before we took aim at our targets.

I brought up my pistol and aimed at the woman, with a face full of tattoos. She was reloading behind the cover, which made her a sitting target from my vantage point. I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger when I heard Liz shoot from beside me.

I had done worse back in my days when I hung with the wrong crowd, so I didn't hesitate at all. I thought I could get away from this kind of violent life, but I was obviously wrong.

I watched my target drop, then readjusted my aim before I pulled the trigger again.

+10 EXP

I searched for my next target and pointed my Vipera toward him. As I lined up my shot, he reacted and tried to point his rifle toward me, but he was too slow.

+10 EXP

This time, it appeared I shot him right in the head as I saw the experience notification float above him instantly.

While I took my time lining shots one after the other, Liz dumped her entire mag toward everyone in sight while laughing manically. It seemed she got quite a few of them, but her theatrics definitely caught their attention.

Right after I finished my second kill, I ducked back down into the treeline for cover while Liz followed a moment later. Following her was a hail of bullets that landed where we just had been.

Immediately afterward, explosions rang out at the enemy positions. The bullets stopped flying in our direction, so I peeked to see Flo and Erza much closer to the enemy than before, with several new bodies lying in a pool of blood by their feet.

Without saying anything, Liz rushed up toward the enemy position to join her friends while our foes were distracted. A few noticed her running out, but before they could do anything, a giant hole appeared in their chests. I looked in the direction where I thought the bullet came from, yet I couldn't spot the shooter. I had a pretty good idea who it was though.

With our enemies pressured from two angles, they started retreating into the mansion behind them. The only ones left outside were dead or incapacitated, so we started gathering by the entrance. While I walked by the carnage, I noticed a few gang members on the ground were unconscious but still breathing.

I took out a knife and plunged it into any bodies that were still breathing. For my efforts, I was rewarded with several experience notifications, though most were duds.

Hey, if they are going to die anyway, then don't mind me. I'm just helping them avoid prolonged suffering, even though I may benefit from it as well. Ha ha ha, isn't this what they call a win-win situation?

Once I reunited with the group, Flo and Erza both stared at me, probably because I took too long, which was kind of embarrassing. At least Liz just flashed me a smile, which I returned with my own.

The group exchanged glances while I awkwardly stood there. Just before I was about to ask what was going on, Flo spoke up.

"You should look into getting some optics and a SAID soon. It'll do you well in group ops like these so you can see Liz's drone feeds and be on comms with us. Okay, we're ready to head in, stay behind us."

I followed them in but couldn't see anything from the back with the tower shield in the way. Flo moved surprisingly fast while lugging that thing around. She stood at the forefront, bashing open doors, and unloaded her heavy shotgun into any poor sods we found.

"Rollo, stay on this floor while we clear upstairs," Erza said as Flo was halfway up the stairs.

I nodded. I'd rather not be in a straight-up firefight or mess up their teamwork in enclosed spaces.

A few seconds after they were out of sight, I heard some noise from the window above. As I carefully made my way toward it, gunshots roared from upstairs. When I peeked out the window, I saw a body lying motionless in a pool of blood right outside the building.

Before I could take another step, a thunderous impact rang out from the floor above. A window shattered and two figures came crashing down onto the ground before each rolling to their feet.

Flo stood there, without her shield and shotgun, while the other person, a large man, stood missing his right arm. The man's entire body appeared to be metal except for his face. Even the wound where his arm was missing gave off an electric sparkling noise with no blood or bones in sight.

While the two caught their breath, another figure leaped down from above and swung down at the cyborg with a sword. The blade met no resistance and smoothly sliced through the cyborg's metallic shoulders. The cut made him freeze in place before he collapsed on his back.

With the enemy dealt with, the entire place suddenly sounded eerily quiet without the sound of fighting. I walked outside and gathered around the dead cyborg where Erza was taking the body apart.

"Think we got all of 'em that was here, though no vehicles around, so a few probably weren't home. I don't think we need to worry about them coming back here though. Those corpos will probably have their demolition team here within the hour as soon as we let them know the job is complete." Flo stated.

"Corpos?" I asked

"Construction jobs like these are all usually for corps, not that hard to guess, though I doubt Fitel would confirm it if you asked. C'mon, let's gather up any loot and jet."

I headed back and looted any guns or cybernetics that were still functional from the corpses, while everyone else did the same.

Before I left the area around the house, I went over to what remained of the dead cyborg and stabbed his skull. It shattered like a jar of liquid as fluids came gushing out.

+20 EXP

It seemed like I was right, his brain was still being kept alive. I wasn't sure what exactly the system counted as a kill, especially when I still got experience prompts right away, even when I hit the torso. The brain couldn't have possibly died so fast, and I still got the experience points.

I also got double the experience point for some reason…

We then returned to the car where Max was already waiting before we drove off together. We had the same seating arrangements as before, and the moment Liz sat down, it was like her switch flipped. Her energy disappeared, reverting back to her listless self.

"So what do you say, wanna join our crew?" Flo said as she stared at me through the rearview mirror. Thankfully, the car was on autopilot because she was at the wheel.

"You guys were great and all, but I'm not really looking to join a crew. I'd rather be solo and doing jobs that involved less fighting for my life."

"Ha, no need to mince your words. Suit yourself."

We returned and parked at the area where the bar Haven was and sorted out the loot while they made calls to report the success of the job.

With the sun coming up soon, Flo paid me my cut and gave me some extra credits for my share of the loot, which I was glad to accept rather than have to carry it back and sell it.

With business settled, the group quickly split up and departed to get some much-needed rest. It felt a little awkward as the only one who didn't have their own vehicle. I declined Flo's offer for a ride, as I'm sure they were more tired than I was as they did the heavy lifting.

I guess that was one more thing to add to my shopping list. I seriously needed to take a few days off, I haven't had the chance to really rest since I started doing mercenary work. It didn't help that I got more excitement than I was looking for today.

Thankfully, my trip back home went smoothly as I called a cab, especially as it was self-driven, so I didn't need to interact with a driver while I was exhausted.

Like a drone, I mechanically went through my nighttime routine and threw myself into my bed.

"Status," I muttered.

Status

Level:

1

EXP:

90/100

Musculoskeletal:

11

Neural Reflex:

15

Visuomotor Coordination:

12

Endurance:

8

Sensory Perception:

12

Upgrade Points:

0

Upgrades:

Stealth +3

Hacking +3

Enhancements:

null

Ten more to go, but I wasn't in any rush. It would become a lot easier once I had more practice, and with the upgrade points, it would snowball sooner or later.

I also had to start investing in better gear and cybernetics as well, but for now, it was time for some rest. With that as my last thought, I fell asleep as soon as I relaxed.

I slept until late afternoon and by the time I left my apartment; it was evening already.

I was always shopping in my megabuilding or in the area nearby, so this time I decided to go somewhere new. A shopping mall I had looked up online had a comprehensive variety of products and was classier than what I was used to.

The first thing I was looking for when I arrived was food!

All the stuff I had been eating was honestly terrible. They were all synthetic foods, insect protein, and stuff that was no different from flavored animal feed.

Now that I had a little more money, I wanted to splurge for once! I mean, there was absolutely no point in money if I didn't use it. This would surely motivate me, as good food was one of the reasons I wanted to be rich, anyway!

I went through the menus of many places, but to my disappointment; I found nothing I was looking for at all.

How hard can it be to have some real meat like chicken or beef?

I picked the place with the most traffic and ordered a few dishes that were recommended, but it was hard to be excited about "Authentic Locust Stir-fry" when I didn't even know what the unauthentic version was like.

Unfortunately, it was about as expected, but at least felt like food suitable for human consumption. The one saving grace was the dessert menu. It seemed like artificial sweeteners or whatever crap they used actually tasted good, though I would be so pissed if they somehow managed to make ice cream bad.

Finally, having found something that tasted familiar, I couldn't help but get a milkshake to go as well.

With my appetite sated, I was ready to start shopping.

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> Corpo Age [Cyberpunk Progression LitRPG] > Chapter 6: Shopping Time

Chapter 6: Shopping Time

Corpo Age [Cyberpunk Progression LitRPG] by RandomBlueCat

1.2k 4 59

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I was leisurely strolling around the mall, enjoying my milkshake while I observed the different stores and the people who patronized them.

I slowly made my way across the floors that sold things such as clothes, cosmetics, and home electronics. I had marked down the store I wanted to check out, but I also wanted to do a little bit of window shopping first.

With the money I made recently, I budgeted on how much I would spend today. I needed to leave some leeway for food, rent, and in case of emergencies, so that brought my budget for the day to 10,000 credits.

Each floor sold the same category of products. The products tended to be more expensive the higher up you went.

I eventually made my way to the floor that sold what was on my shopping list, cybernetics. With a dazzling array of various brands, each store showcased a variety of cybernetic prosthetics in their flashy displays.

I went into a store that had a decent flow of traffic called Nova Tech and started browsing on a terminal that had their catalog. They had detailed information regarding the specifications and videos of the products in action, showcasing a prosthetic hand bending a bar of metal.

There were various choices, including more minor enhancements such as tendon replacements, and major ones that replaced your entire legs and spine.

For some reason, only a few products had their prices listed in the catalog, including the one on physical display where people gathered. They all had one thing in common; they were all really pricy, and entirely over my budget.

I found an employee who didn't seem to be busy to get their assistance.

"Excuse me, where can I find the prices for some of the products in the catalog?"

The lady gave me a quick glance over before replying politely. "Apologies sir, the products with no price listed are models we have phased out and we no longer carry them. Though you may still find them quite easily in the open market, especially for arm prosthetics, as our company is a leader in the field."

"The open market?"

"The cybernetic clinics that are the main retailers of cybernetic products. I can recommend you a few that are Nova Tech affiliated if you would like."

I thanked the lady for her time and declined her offer before taking one last look around. I'd rather do my own research for these clinics than take their word for it. I'm sure they didn't have me in mind with their offers as much as for their own benefit.

It seemed all the other stores too only had the current latest generation stocked, so I headed off to another floor to shop for something else.

The next thing I wanted to buy was equipment. The job last night really highlighted how unprepared I was, though an open firefight wasn't something I planned to do often. I wanted to be equipped enough to handle myself so I could start leveling up, and the best way to do that was if my targets didn't see me coming.

The floor that sold combat equipment differed greatly from any other floor, where each brand had its own shop. All the brands here shared the floor, with each their own space, like a department store with different sections for each brand.

It was located in the basement levels where security didn't allow customers to carry their firearms around loaded. Heavy security was apparent throughout this floor, but different from the store in my building, it was obvious they catered to a more affluent clientele.

The first thing I was looking to buy was a new weapon. If stealth was my theme, then I had to stick to it.

The Vipera was nice and all, but it was a bit too loud for my purposes. I could get a suppressor for it, but from my research, a regular weapon with specialized attachments would still be inferior to a purpose-built weapon with covertness in mind.

The stealth skill had given me knowledge and muscle memory on how to move quietly. It also taught me how to track the perception of people and cameras, but I would still need weapons to deliver the blow.

Each brand had its own salesperson, so I had them assist me in looking for the various silenced weapons they had in stock. It seemed like the only thing they weren't selling was silenced sniper rifles unless you had a permit issued by the government or a corporation.

I went through various types of guns that the salesperson had shown me, from pistols to SMGs, to various rifles. In the end, I found pistols were more to my liking as it was easier to sneak around with.

The weapons weren't completely silent like in the movies, but quiet enough that would be hard to notice if you were having a conversation.

All the options I saw were just okay and didn't stick out to me until I came across the weapons made by Premier Arms. The company specialized not in traditional firearms but in electrically propelled weapons.

"Sir, our company has just what you are looking for! The ECG-704, more commonly referred to as the Suri, is one of our latest releases and has been thoroughly field-tested! As a coilgun with almost no moving parts, it carries 20 rounds per magazine and is even more durable than traditional firearms. It is also as quiet as you specified. It shoo—"

"Can I test it out first?" I interjected as I quickly learned that it was faster experiencing it in person than listening to these salesmen babble on.

"Yes, right this way sir!" The man placed down the show model and swiftly picked up a metallic case from the cupboard below.

I followed the salesperson to one end of the main floor, where the changing rooms usually were. There was a changing room there, but beside it, was the entrance to a shooting range as well.

The man nimbly opened the case and started loading the gun as he explained how to handle it.

"So just like a traditional firearm, the safety, magazine, and release mechanism are all the same. The rounds are of course different, so be sure not to load it with regular ammo. There is one new part here that replaces the hammer with the battery. The battery is good for two hundred rounds when fully charged and takes 5 minutes to recharge. You can purchase more to reload it instead, just like a magazine like this."

He gripped the release mechanism on both sides, then pulled out the cubed battery easily and showed it to me before he slotted it back in.

"Does that thing explode?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Ha, rest assured, the battery is a proud product of Premier Arms using our proprietary technology. We have field tested it extensively, and it is not flammable, nor will it explode!" He finished preparing the weapon before handing it to me.

The gun felt slightly heavier than the Vipera but was definitely still easy enough for even a child to hold, although it had a slightly longer barrel than what I was used to.

As the sales agent looked at me expectantly, I started lining up a shot and pulled the trigger.

Instead of the loud bang that you heard with traditional firearms, the Suri emitted a short and quiet electric buzz. The most noticeable part was the much lower recoil that lured me into firing several more rounds consecutively to confirm.

Once I was out of ammo, the salesperson took the chance to give me another pitch.

"The Suri was designed to be as quiet as possible, as you may already have noticed. As it is a coilgun with no moving parts, it is only audible if you are standing within 5 meters in most environments. Another advantage of an electrically propelled weapon is that there are no gases as well. It would be very hard to spot the weapon even after firing."

"Are there any other types of rounds as well?" I said as I handed the gun back over and he packed it back into the case.

"Yes, of course, the Suri fires standard coilgun pistol rounds, the most common rounds are the solid alloy ones you have just fired but our company offers a selection of rounds that pack a larger punch, which can compensate for the subsonic nature of the bullets that allow it to be as quiet as it is. The most popular ones are explosive rounds, incendiary rounds, and EI rounds."

"EI rounds?" I furrowed my brows at him.

"Electronic intrusion rounds, more commonly referred to as hacker rounds. They are loaded with nanite transceivers that help you invade closed-off networks of the target shot, usually to open a connection to your target's cybernetics for hacking."

"That sounds kind of fancily redundant."

"It is quite useful as a non-lethal option or against really armored cyborgs if you have an individual who can perform the hacking once the connection is established," We continued discussing the specifications as we made our way back toward his section of the store.

Once we were there, I took another look at the price of the Suri, a good twelve hundred credits.

"How much for the magazines and battery?"

Instead of answering, the sales attendant smiled and pointed toward two nearby price tags.

The magazine was comparable to the one I got for the Vipera, but the battery was almost as expensive as the Vipera itself!

I looked back at the salesperson and grimaced.

"I can throw in a free holster for you if you purchase today."

Sigh…I could only tell myself that it was a necessary investment, as I felt my wallet lighten.

On my way out from purchasing my new gun, I dropped another two thousand credits on a compact backpack, first aid supplies, some combat-rated clothes and boots, and a jet-black body armor that did not constrict my movement much. I also bought a small vibro-bladed dagger that took up a good chunk of the two thousand credits.

I had asked Erza about her short sword. It was apparently a vibro-blade and not just an old-fashioned hunk of metal. It could get through most armor like butter, though it had a limited battery life and was pretty dangerous for an untrained wielder. That was why I stuck with a small dagger instead.

As stealth was my theme, I thought an extra sharp blade could come in handy when I wanted to be really quiet.

Soon, my day at the shopping mall came to an end. I then started looking up reputable clinics and made an appointment for the next day to purchase the cybernetics I had wanted.

The next day, I made my way to my appointment at a highly reviewed cybernetic clinic called Roseland Clinic in the downtown area. The place was located on the ground floor of some building and had a fancy-looking lobby behind a set of glass doors.

Once I checked in with the receptionist, they led me to a spacious room with a desk off to the side and an operating table in the center. They guided me to sit by the desk, where a man in a traditional lab coat soon arrived.

"Mr. Halls, I presume this is your first time here, correct?" The doctor asked as he shook my hand.

"That is right."

"Pleasure to meet you. You may call me Dr. Keyes. Do you have a file of your medical history?"

"No, will that be a problem?"

"Hm no, not really, but we will have to take some scans before we can operate on you. The scans will not take long, but will cost 1000 credits."

"Then let's go over the cybernetics you have in stock first, and do the scan after," I replied, wanting to ensure I was actually going to be buying something here first.

"Very well, please browse our available products in the terminal here," Dr. Keyes said as he pushed a terminal over to me.

The terminal was almost identical to the one I had seen at the mall yesterday, though it had a lot more choices with a mix of different brands instead of only one.

I first filtered the products by type and set it to show only secretarial assistant implant devices, or SAID as Flo had called it.

The SAID was basically mandatory before getting most other cybernetics as it acted as a hub and bridged your other cybernetics to your brain.

The price varied greatly, starting from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands. The more expensive models, of course, had more functions and better specs. A standout feature I saw was the ability to download knowledge to the implant, and then help your brain absorb it while you slept.

It was way out of my price range, so I picked a more suitable one before proceeding to select something from the optics category that used up the rest of my budget.

"Are there any options for stealth or camouflage? I can't seem to find any." I asked Dr. Keyes as I looked up at him. A flicker of annoyance crossed his face, but hid it before replying.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Halls, while stealth cybernetics are not explicitly restricted products, companies do not tend to sell them to the general market in order to keep their proprietary technology a secret and prevent targeted countermeasures from being developed. So the answer is no."

"I see… Well, I am ready to proceed with my selection here, then."

"Great, please move over there to the table and we can get the scans started. We can start administering some anesthetics first as well. It is just a small operation, so it shouldn't take too long."

I laid down on the table, wore the mask the doctor handed to me, and inhaled the anesthetics. Before long, my vision darkened, and I lost consciousness.

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