Rewrite

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Dorio Gonnersdottir watched the scenery slide past the window and quietly glanced at Maine.

They were sitting very close together, but in that moment the distance between her and the man she loved felt strangely far.

She still remembered the first time she met Maine. In a Night City bar bathroom that stank of piss, Dorio had tried to blow a man's head open with a gun. She had underestimated him. He broke her nose and turned the situation around. Then the huge Maine appeared in her field of vision, saved her, and entered the rest of her life.

Dorio's childhood had been nothing but repeated weightlifting training. Most professional athletes were raised that way from childhood.

In her eyes, her father had been a silent, capable man with a strong body. He fought his way up through underground matches and became a member of the Animals. Their family life gradually improved.

Then, after a firefight between the Animals and the Voodoo Boys, Dorio's father never came back.

She put down the barbell that carried her father's hopes, picked up a gun, clenched her fists, and became a merc, trying to find a reason to keep living in this city.

Maine was the one who made life feel less dull. Sometimes even romantic.

That was why Dorio had an almost obsessive desire to save the life that seemed ready to collapse. When Maine refused to give up any chrome and even wanted to install more, Dorio had already begun to worry.

In the driver's seat, Cade glanced at Dorio through the rearview mirror.

He kept feeling that something had happened between those two, but his position made it awkward to dig. He could only keep driving in silence.

Rebecca, meanwhile, had been staring at her Gorilla Arms the whole way. Cade guessed she was already planning what colors to paint them. Rebecca did not have many things she found fun. Once she became interested in something, she would think about it nonstop. In that way, she resembled Pilar a little.

'Cade really gets me.'

Rebecca was delighted. With these arms, she could hold down any heavy weapon. Whether she actually hit anything was another matter. Fuck it. At least she would not hurt herself.

[System Notification]

Character "Rebecca" affinity updated.

Affinity: 50.

Reward: Body +1; Body perk points +4; 60000 eurodollars; cyberware capacity +20.

Rewrite: This character line has changed. This character's influence on Sasha has expanded to 50%. Total change progress: 2%. Title unlocked: Firearms Specialist. Skills learned: basic firearms principles, maintenance, weapon modification, custom ammunition crafting.

Fifty?

Cade looked at the panel and felt his heart hammer. The car swerved slightly by accident.

Rebecca's head jerked with the motion. She grumbled unhappily, "Hey. Driver sucks."

The attribute reward matched the jump from twenty to fifty affinity. But the Rewrite section was something Cade had never seen before.

He thought about the meaning silently. According to the words, his existence had saved Rebecca from dying under Marta, which led to Rebecca installing Gorilla Arms early. Did that count as changing a character story line?

Shouldn't it only count if he saved her under Arasaka Tower?

Or did a character story line change once affinity passed fifty?

But what did Rebecca's change have to do with Sasha?

Cade had not even met that catlike netrunner yet. He had no idea what special connection Rebecca and Sasha had.

Total change progress. What was that? What exactly was changing? The reward panel gave no explanation.

As for the Firearms Specialist title, it looked like a learning route. In other words, the woman beside him could teach him a great deal about guns.

Cade had not expected Rebecca to have that kind of ability. He had always thought she only knew how to shoot. Apparently, she was also a capable firearm technician.

Counting the one Body point, Cade opened his attribute panel.

[Attribute Panel]

[Body]: 11 (perks unlocked).

[Reflexes]: 10 (perks unlocked).

[Technical Ability]: 9 (perks unlocked).

[Intelligence]: 10.

[Cool]: 10.

From crashing and burning under Hands's hand to setting a trap for him, from tearing through Slider's den alone to pushing through the Animals' encirclement and killing Marta and the netrunner, the panel was also reminding Cade of something.

He was now a strong enough merc.

If he worked the Afterlife circuit, he would probably already have a rising reputation.

Unfortunately, this kind of rich reward seemed limited to Rebecca's affinity. Cade had used the panel to scan Maine, Dorio, and Pilar. None of them had shown a high-value development prompt. Still, that did not stop Cade from wanting to grow this crew into his own foundation of reliable workers.

If he could make them undergo proper training, they could at least become one of the strongest second-rate crews.

Maybe in this world, cyberware was necessary for a merc. Even legends like Morgan Blackhand and Weyland Boa Boa had some level of cybernetic network implant. But personal training and combat ability mattered too.

The last thing Cade wanted was for this crew to walk the path of mindless chrome installation and cyberpsychosis.

These loose cyberpunks acted on instinct and relied almost entirely on cyberware to improve. That was a flawed way to grow.

There were too many ideas about the future. Cade picked through them, settled on a rough direction, and put away the greedy desire to swallow everything in one bite.

One step at a time.

Hands had taken a loss this time. Who knew what kind of rotten trick he was preparing now?

The countdown to fair competition between Cade and Hands had begun. Cade did not want to lose this fight. Whether it was Arasaka behind him or the Cuban group behind Hands, neither side would allow their player to be removed easily.

He had not expected Dogtown's emperor, Hansen, to become the judge. If Hansen learned that Hands was communicating with Cuba, Hands would be finished. If Hansen learned that Cade was an Arasaka employee, Cade's outcome would not be much better.

Now Cade had to eat away at Hands's influence in Pacifica step by step and become the first chair of Dogtown's underworld.

Only if he was strong enough could he step away from Arasaka when needed.

Become a corpo dog for real? Not a chance. Everyone was taking what they needed. No feelings involved.

Cade opened the Body perk tree and spent four points.

[System Notification]

Unstoppable Force +1: While Adrenaline Rush is active, Cade can resist many non-damaging status effects, including knockdown and cyberware malfunction. In theory, as long as he can still move and his adrenaline is still flowing, Unstoppable Force helps him become a firm and brutally durable body tank.

Juggernaut +1: While Adrenaline Rush is active, movement speed increases, strength rises, aim steadies, and melee force improves.

Calm Mind +1: Delays Adrenaline Rush decay, effectively extending the duration of the state.

Dorph-Head +1: Blood Pump and other healing items can temporarily increase Cade's physical resilience.

Perk Advisory: Blood Pump installation recommended.

Cade rolled his neck. It cracked softly.

Even now, he still admired how rich the reward panel's functions were. Every time he unlocked a new perk, the system began its own loading process and adjustments, as if an AI were releasing and finely tuning functions inside his body.

He completed all of that without letting anyone notice.

In the back seat, Maine and Dorio were exhausted and had fallen asleep. Rebecca's optics were lit. She was probably on a call with someone.

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