Where Did You Dump Me?!
1: CNCL Chapter 1: Seriously?
Where Did You Dump Me?!
“Boys, come here, fresh stock is in!” Levi heard the voice as if through a thick layer of insulation.
He tried to force his eyelids open, but they felt leaden, glued shut by whatever chemical cocktail they’d pumped into his system.
He tried to croak out a word, but he didn’t even have the strength to twitch a muscle.
“Huh?
Still moving?
Is the dosage too light?” The voice returned.
Levi felt a sharp prick in his arm, and the world faded into black once more.
…An hour and a half later…
“The stock lately has been garbage.
Why are we even bothering with junkies?
What is the retrieval team doing out there?” “Damn it, we’ve hauled in over twenty bodies, and only two or three are actually usable!
If they can’t bring in better goods, tell them to get lost and drag themselves onto the table as scrap!” “Christ, I’m sick of this.
Managing the corporate dogs upstairs, barking at the lowlifes downstairs…
this job is a fucking nightmare.” Levi regained consciousness, his head swimming, greeted by the sound of someone throwing a tantrum.
He tried to open his eyes again, failing just as miserably as before.
At least his right index finger twitched—that was progress.
A screech of rusted metal announced the heavy thud of boots entering the room.
“Boss, we dumped the rejects.
Only the clean ones are left.
This one?
He’s the best of the lot.” Levi felt a finger tap sharply against his abdomen.
Stock?
What stock?
I was working overtime at the office…
wasn’t I?
His mind was foggy, but he was finally starting to map out his surroundings.
“How good?” “Aside from a basic Zeiss optical eye and a standard-issue Zeiss OS, he’s a blank slate.
No other cyberware.
He’s as clean as a natural-born human!” “What?!” The complainer’s voice was laced with genuine shock.
He stomped over and began probing Levi’s body with cold, clinical hands—tracing his chest, his ribs, his legs.
“He really doesn’t have any other chrome!” the man exclaimed, voice trembling with excitement.
“Hurry!
Check if his organs match the specifications for the big shot at Arasaka!” The gurney lurched into motion.
Curtains slid, machines hummed, and a fan rattled in the corner.
Then came the familiar, sickening sting of a thick needle sliding into his arm, draining his blood.
Organ trafficking?!
Levi’s mind sharpened.
He wasn’t in Southeast Asia.
He was supposed to be working overtime at the head office in Shenzhen.
Did someone sell me out?
He surged with adrenaline, but his body remained a corpse.
Move, you useless pile of meat!
He strained so hard he felt his facial muscles spasm, but his body stayed dead—save for that solitary, frantic twitch of his index finger.
I’m dying here, damn it!
Move!
He roared internally.
His hand refused to obey, but his eyes snapped open.
A blinding white light seared his retinas, forcing them to squeeze shut again.
Wait…
I can see?
Levi forced his eyes open slowly, adjusting to the glare.
[Zeiss Optical Eye: Night2066 Basic Model (Connected)] Text scrolled across his vision.
Zeiss?
Levi was stunned.
China hadn’t even finished testing invasive neural interfaces—how did he wake up in a world with commercialized optical implants?
He flicked his gaze around.
The room was a nightmare of tangled wires, chaotic graffiti, and harsh neon tubes.
On the neighboring gurneys lay bodies, hollowed out and gutted.
Oddly, for a guy who had never seen a drop of blood in his life, he felt…
nothing.
No nausea.
No panic.
It was as if this gruesome sight were simply the natural order of things.
He didn’t have time to process the existential dread.
He had to move before they carved his heart out.
Maybe it was his spiking heart rate, but the medical monitor started shrieking.
The two scavengers looked over.
The one they called “Boss” turned.
He was a bald man in a rubber apron, a green light pulsing from a strange implant on his head.
As he stepped closer, new text bloomed in Levi’s vision: [Name: Afanasy Ivanovich] [Affiliation: Scavengers] [Cyberware: Pain Editor, Health Monitor, Kerenzikov, Optical Eye] [Threat Level: Moderate] A cheat code?
Levi’s heart hammered.
If he was in a world with high-tech implants and system menus, then there was only one conclusion: he had crossed over.
“Kid’s crashing,” Afanasy muttered, glancing at the monitor.
“Prep the surgery.
Faster.” He turned to the other scavenger.
“Extract the kidneys and the heart.
Keep them on ice.
I’m going to contact that Arasaka suit—we need to move these organs yesterday.” Afanasy’s optical eye glowed a harsh blue as he exited.
The other scavenger grunted in agreement, picked up a scalpel from a tray of disinfectant, and stepped toward Levi.