The apartment was extremely simply furnished: a bed built into the wall, a small bathroom, and a circular sofa in the living room arranged around a holographic projector.
Since the ad-removal subscription had not been paid for, the projector continuously displayed advertisements.
Beside the sofa was a small room that was obviously used as storage.
The kitchen consisted of a food vending machine in the living room and a microwave placed on a table.
If I remember correctly, all two thousand residential units in this megabuilding have practically the same layout, and for countless homeless people sleeping outside, a place like this is a true paradise.
Leon remembered a magazine he had once read and sighed inwardly.
“Sit,” Hiroshi Kitagawa said, pointing toward the sofa.
Leon sat down and looked around.
Although all the apartments were industrially produced according to an almost identical template, the different decorations clearly revealed the resident’s tastes.
For example, Leon immediately noticed that the apartment was full of girlish little things, plush toys, cosmetics scattered across the table, women’s clothing, and a pink carpet.
At that moment, his gaze fell on a framed photograph on the table in front of him.
“This is your sister? She’s pretty cute.”
Leon reached out and picked up the frame.
The photograph showed a man and a little girl.
The man was Hiroshi Kitagawa, smiling at the camera, while the little girl sat on his shoulders, dressed in a school uniform and with a completely carefree smile on her face.
“Yes, she’s very cute. And now that she’s grown up, she’s become even prettier. Sometimes I wonder whether we’re even brother and sister, considering I’m not particularly handsome.”
Hiroshi entered the small room.
The electronic doors opened, and the smell of metal and rust spread from inside.
It sounded as though something had been accidentally knocked over, followed by several metal objects clattering onto the floor.
After a short while, Hiroshi came out of the room carrying a rifle.
Continuing where he had left off, he said:
“But this is Japantown, territory controlled by the Tyger Claws. Here, beauty can be a curse.”
“She doesn’t have the strength to protect what she has on her own, so as her brother, I decided to be her protection…”
For a moment, his voice weakened.
“It’s just that I obviously wasn’t a good enough brother.”
Leon remained silent.
He did not ask why they had not called the police and instead had to seek help through a fixer.
Because he knew the answer very well.
Even the Night City Police Department, the NCPD, could not solve things like this.
Too few people.
Too little money.
Too little equipment…
Corruption and indifference permeated the entire system.
Every ordinary police officer risked their life daily, while their equipment was often worse than that of the gangers on the street.
Under such pressure, it was almost impossible to provide enough people to respond to every crime that happened.
In addition, the NCPD depended heavily on corporate funding and contracts.
The police often avoided jobs connected to megacorporations unless they had an explicit reason to get involved.
That was exactly why an entire additional system had developed in Night City:
The NCPD hires mercs.
It gives such mercs access to certain police channels and the bounty system.
When criminal activity appears somewhere, they can resolve it and then collect the reward from the NCPD.
In other words…
outsourcing.
Leon remembered when he had played Cyberpunk 2077.
The moment he opened the map, the entire Night City was covered with markers for criminal activities scattered across every district.
The player could take V to different locations, solve the problem, and then claim the reward from the NCPD.
But now that the game had become reality, that meant only one thing.
The crime rate in Night City was terrifyingly high.
“When did they take your sister?”
“The night before last.”
Hiroshi clenched his jaw.
“Something held me up and I didn’t make it home on time. She got worried because I wasn’t there, so she went out by herself to look for me.”
“And then the Tyger Claws picked her up.”
Two days…
It’s already pretty late, Leon thought with a trace of regret.
If they manage to get her out alive, this brother might by now already have an entirely new kind of family trauma.
“I know what’s going through your head.”
Hiroshi’s voice suddenly became icy.
“Don’t worry about my sister.”
“If they hurt her, those people will die.”
“If they didn’t hurt her… they’ll still die.”
His tone was low and cold, like a sleeping volcano beneath whose surface molten lava still flowed.
With one movement of his hand, he chambered the rifle.
The metallic sound of the mechanism was almost pleasant to the ear.
At the same time, it perfectly matched the fire of revenge smoldering inside him.
A fire that would eventually consume either him…
or his enemies.
And it probably would not go out until someone was left dead.
Leon then looked more carefully at the rifle in his hands.
Nokota D5 Copperhead.
A reliable assault rifle manufactured by Nokota Manufacturing.
The company, similar to Budget Arms, occupied a large part of the affordable firearms market.
But unlike Budget Arms, whose main advantage was the lowest possible price, Nokota’s weapons generally offered a good balance between price and firepower.
If you went back a hundred years, one of the most widespread assault rifle systems in the world would have been the Kalashnikov.
Today, in many parts of the market, the Copperhead had taken over that role.
Its steel-gray body and light, elongated snake-like construction made it especially popular among beginners in the merc business.
“With this rifle, if we’re attacking a smaller Tyger Claws base, you can deal with two or three of them.”
Leon casually assessed the weapon.
“But if there are more than five, you won’t have enough firepower.”
“What is it, kid?”
Hiroshi spat contemptuously onto the floor.
“Got some brilliant advice for me?”
“Should I clean out my ears and carefully listen to your grand lecture?”
“You haven’t even properly grown up yet, and you’re already going to teach me how to do the job?”
This was about his sister.
To save her, Hiroshi had practically sold everything valuable he had in the apartment and spent almost all the savings he had accumulated through previous jobs.
And then Wakako sent him a complete beginner.
Saying he was not angry would have been a pure lie.
The only thing he could comfort himself with was that Wakako, as one of the most influential fixers in Westbrook, surely had no reason to cheat someone as insignificant as him.
This kid might really have some hidden ability.
He could somehow swallow the fact that he was a beginner.
But now that same beginner was trying to teach him how to do the job?
Leon immediately realized he had gone too far.
With his current appearance, it was completely understandable that Hiroshi did not trust him.
It was not like he could tell him:
Actually, I’m a transmigrator, and if you add up the years from both my lives, mentally I’m forty or fifty years old.
“Let’s exchange information first.”
Leon changed the subject.
“What combat cyberware do you have installed?”
Hiroshi looked at him sideways but still answered:
“Reinforced cyberarm on my right arm.”
“Dynalar YR-21 Skin Guard.”
“Audio enhancer.”
“And pulmonary enhancer.”
Leon tried to remember the functions of those implants.
Most of them were not particularly interesting to him.
The only thing that truly caught his attention was the Skin Guard.
“Basic subdermal armor? What caliber can it stop?”
“It’s soft armor.”
Hiroshi shook his head.
“It can’t handle many direct hits.”
“It’s more like built-in body armor than those heavy metal armor systems that turn a person into a walking tin can.”
“Hmm, that should be enough.”
Leon then continued looking around the apartment.
“Did you used to work as an edgerunner?”
“Yes.”
“I used to work as ordinary muscle for the Tyger Claws.”
“But I left them.”
Hiroshi shrugged.
“Now I only take easier side jobs. I didn’t want my sister worrying about me.”
“But she still went out because she was worried something had happened to you…”
Leon looked at him in confusion.
“Doesn’t she know how fucked up this city is?”
Even a sixteen-year-old kid like him knew things like that.
“Maybe I protected her too much.”
Hiroshi leaned against the wall.
He held a pistol in one hand, ejected the magazine with one hand, and checked the ammunition.
“Since childhood, I never allowed her to truly see the dark side of this city.”
“I thought… if I managed to save enough money during my life, one day I’d take her out of this damned hole.”
After finishing checking his equipment, he looked at Leon.
“Alright. I’m ready.”
He pointed toward the small room.
“Want to see if there’s anything in there you can use?”
Hiroshi attached the Copperhead and pistol to his gear.
Leon shook his head.
“No need. I have enough equipment of my own.”
“Suit yourself.”
Hiroshi took out a cigarette and lit it.
He took a deep drag and exhaled with satisfaction.
“If you need to use the bathroom or have anything else to finish, do it now.”
“Relax while you still can.”
“You never know if today is your last day.”
“In my opinion, you’re the one who should let off some of that nervousness first.”
Leon calmly replied.
“It wouldn’t be good if your frustration ruined your concentration once the shooting starts.”
Hiroshi quickly took several drags, then casually tossed the cigarette butt onto the floor and crushed it under his boot.
“Fine.”
“Break’s over.”
“Since you’re so full of energy, let’s go.”
“Tell me the details.”
Leon also stood up and looked toward his bag.
“From the moment my sister disappeared two days ago, I searched for her day and night.”
Hiroshi walked toward the corner of the apartment.
“Yesterday, I finally found the place where they’re holding her.”
He picked up the bag and slung it over his shoulder.
“A small restaurant.”
“It belongs to a lower-ranking Tyger Claws boss.”
“No one outside knows what kind of shit they’re hiding inside.”
Then he turned toward Leon and silently watched him for several moments.
“So… are you scared?”
“I’m scared.”
Leon drew Black Unicorn and checked the blade, as well as how smoothly it came out of the sheath.
“I’m afraid they won’t last longer than a few minutes.”
The smooth surface of the katana caught the sunlight entering through the window.
The flash made Hiroshi narrow his eyes slightly, while a trace of surprise appeared in his gaze.
He truly had not expected this kid to carry such a high-quality blade with him.
A beginner would see only a beautiful katana.
Someone with experience would see the way it was drawn.
Just based on Leon’s completely smooth and controlled movement, Hiroshi could conclude one thing:
If this kid had suddenly drawn the katana during their conversation and swung it at him…
Hiroshi might not have been able to move out of the way in time.
After checking that everything was fine, Leon returned Black Unicorn to its sheath and concealed it with his gear.
Someone who was not paying special attention would have difficulty immediately noticing that Leon was carrying a weapon capable of cutting someone apart at any moment.
“Let’s go.”