Chapter 1 - Who?
I was pretty excited as I walked home with a copy of Cyberpunk 2077 as I had heard it was pretty good. I had no prior knowledge of the game aside from the fact that it was set in a future dystopia with cyber enhanced humans in a city called Night City.
"Dad! I can't wait to play this game! Thank you so much!" A heard a boy say on the bus to his dad.
"Just remember to hide it before your mom finds it. I don't want to get into trouble again." The older man said with a chuckle, making me smile sadly as my parents had died in a car accident a year ago.
I sighed as I tried to move away from depressing thoughts until a loud scream rang throughout the bus. I turned to the source and saw a woman clutching her daughter tightly from something and when I turned to face the direction. A giant semi-truck crashed into the bus at full speed. Every single thing was thrown into the air as I saw blood, bone, and organs flying around. I looked on confused as there was a headless body wearing the exact same clothes as I was but then realized.
"Ah crap. That's my body isn't it." I thought before the darkness finally set in.
While this situation was quite sad, it was also hilarious in my mind as my parents had died in a car accident and now I had too. It seemed some divine being really had it out for me but I didn't have to worry about that anymore I suppose.
At least that was what I thought before a massive migraine set itself inside of my skull, or was it soul brain?
Memories of another kid my own age started to spill and overwhelm me as I had a different mother with a dead father. Her name was Gloria Martinez, a red headed woman with tan skin who worked as a Medtech, whatever that was, all to support her son David Martinez through a high end school in a futuristic world. A world that I knew of as Cyberpunk 2077, only the current year was 2075.
Sadly at the end of this flood of memories, Gloria and David had been in a car accident from a Gang related incident. The car flipped over and all I could worry about was if my mom was safe and sound.
"Wait. My mom?" I thought as I didn't know when but I started to see Gloria as my own mom. "Why would I think that?"
Before I could ponder on these new emotions and memories that were now undoubtedly my own for some unknown reason, I felt a pull in my mind. Voices were speaking and soon I found myself in a car that was flipped upside down. I looked around shocked as fires and sirens rang throughout the area.
I then noticed my mother, or rather Gloria outside of the car motionless on the ground.
"Mom!" I yelled out in pain as I tried to unbuckle my seatbelt, feeling slightly relieved when I saw the Trauma Team arrive.
"Please help my mom! She's on the ground over there!" I screamed but then heard something that made my stomach drop.
"She's not insured. Move onto the others!" The man said which made me grit my teeth.
I struggled for a second before I finally released the buckle but by the time I had gotten out of the car, the trauma team had already left.
"Please! Take my mom!" I yelled, only to hear the fleeting sounds of the aircraft. "God damn it!"
Holding my bruised body, I ran towards my mother to find that she was still breathing and was about to sigh in relief before I noticed blood spilling out of her quickly. I needed to get to a doctor quickly and the only one I knew of was a back alley clinic so I picked up my mom and ran. Even through all of my pain, I ran until my lungs burned and I was finally inside the clinic.
"Please save my mom!" I yelled and the doctors took her away.
Another nurse helped look after me but she didn't find anything wrong and I didn't care as I just needed to know if my mom was going to be alright. She was the only thing I had left in this world and I didn't want to lose her. I mean, I had already lost my original parents and....
"My original parents?" I thought before memories of my past life resurfaced and I felt conflicted. "Am I David or.... Who was I in my past?"
Shaking my head in confusion, I looked down in thought about what had just happened. Calmer now that I had time to think properly without so many distractions.
"Distractions? She's my mother." I said in confusion as I didn't know why I had called my mother a distraction.
At least I was confused until I heard a beeping sound and saw a holographic screen in front of me that wasn't a part of my HUD as it was blue in color.
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Gamer System Version-4.213 Installed.
Please say or think 'Status' to access it's features.
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Without much confusion, I thought of the word and letters and numbers spilled into a rectangular blue screen.
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Name: David Martinez
Classification: Human Cyborg
Sex: Male
Age: 17
Background: After having died to a lightning strike, a seventeen year old died and was transmigrated into the body of David Martinez after his bus accident. Given a Gamer System, he is forced to complete quests or face punishments from an unknown god.
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Titles: [The Gamer]
Level: 1 (0/100)
AP: 0
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HP: 110/110 (Regen: 10/Second)
MP: 120/120 (Regen: 11/Second)
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Strength: 10
Agility: 11
Endurance: 12
Vitality: 10
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 11
Luck: 15
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Perks:
None
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Skills:
[Gamer's Mind] - Level: Max - Type: Passive - Cost: N/A - Description: The user is immune to all abnormal psychological effects, able to stay calm and logical under any situation.
[Gamer's Body] - Level: Max - Type: Passive - Cost: N/A - Description: The user is able to live life like a video game character, able to recover HP, MP, and any abnormal status effect with sleep.
[Pain Resistance] - Level: 4 - Type: Passive - Cost: N/A - Description: The user is able to resist 4% of all pain related effects.
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Aside from the usual RPG elements, there were also three other tabs. One was the Equipment tab, the inventory tab, and the other was the Quest tab, but one thing that I was focused on the most was one of the skills I had gotten. The Gamer's Mind was a skill that kept me calm and logical under any situation and made me numb to the emotion of worry, anger, and other negative emotions. I tried to cancel the effects and a myriad of emotions flooded me again.
I was happy that I didn't have to be an unfeeling robot forever but the emotional pain made me want to use it forever.
"No. Why would I want to numb the emotions I feel for my mom." I said before forcing myself to keep it inactive since, there was a time and place for everything.
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Wisdom +1
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"Huh. Would you look at that." I said as my life really had become just like that of a game character.
As I pondered on my new life as David Martinez, the nurse arrived and gave me a bag as she said. "These are your mothers belongings. She's stable for now but, we won't know for sure until later. If you want, you can see her."
"Ok." I said before walking into the room and next to my mother on the bed, finding that her name and level was above her head.
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Name: Gloria Martinez
Level: 5
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I ignored that part for now as my mom looked to be in pain, but I held hope that she would be fine since this was a futuristic world after all. Sadly the David in me knew that the chances of her survival was low. I then left the clinic and tested out my inventory as I sent the bag into the storage space. Opening up the tab, I noticed that everything was already separated into their own little spots.
However, this was how I noticed that there was something out of place. In the latter spots in the inventory was a cyberware implant called a Sandevistan and it was of Rare grading. Not only that but by the description, it could increase an individuals reflexes, reaction time, and perception.
Clicking on it to get a better description, I was in shock by it.
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Name: Sandevistan
Grade: Rare
Requirement: 14 Intelligence/16 Endurance
Description: A military grade neural link cyberware capable of increasing a user's reaction time, reflexes, and perception of time.
Special Effect:
[Bullet Time] - Description: When activated, the user's reaction time, reflexes, perception of time, and movement speed will increase by a factor of 10.
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Equip: [Yes] - [No]
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This was unimaginable, since if someone was capable of running at twenty miles an hour, they would then be able to run at two hundred miles an hour. Not only that but one second in the real world would be worth ten in their own perception of time. Seeing that I could equip it without the requirements being met, I decided to try it out. Both the nerd in me and David's curious side were screaming for me to try it.
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Warning!
Without the correct stats to use this equipment, the Sandevistan will inflict constant damage during usage.
Will you still accept: [Yes] - [No]
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"Why not." I said and clicked yes and the moment I did this, I felt something heavy on my back.
I touched the bottom of my spine and felt something cold and metallic. There was no pain with the exception of slight discomfort over this new cyberware. I then activated it as knowledge of how to use it was already in my head. The world slowed to an almost standstill as I took a few steps and tested my limits. It was as if my body had also grown stronger too as my jumping power increased by a lot. Most likely due to my super speed at the moment just like the flash.
My fun was however cut short as I noticed at the bottom right of my vision a red bar nearly depleted. I deactivated the Sandevistan within that moment and breathed heavily as pain filled my bones and muscles. I even leveled up my pain resistance skill again. I took a look at my health and paled when I saw I only had less than ten health points left. Luckily for me, my health was now increasing again thanks to the passive healing.
"Any longer and I would have died.... Again." I said before doing some calculations.
I had used the sandevistan for about twenty seconds from what I experienced and since 1 second in this world was about ten in my perception, I took a total of one hundred and eight damage. Making me take fifty damage per second. Factoring in my regenerative speed, I should have been taking sixty due to the difference in stats being six.
"So if I don't meet the requirements, I'll take damage in the form of the difference in stat requirements multiplied by ten. Good to know at least." I said as the system beeped and I gained two intelligence stats and a wisdom stat. "look at that. Now all I need is my endurance stat to match up."
Going home through Night City, I found my apartment to be locked due to unpaid rent and I sighed before remembering from David's memory a loose panel in the back. Getting there, I broke into my own home and showered before laying in bed.
"So much happened today." I muttered, asking myself. "Why was I brought here?"
Just before I fell asleep, as if answering my questions. The system beeped and a quest appeared.
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Quest: Find Her
Main Objective: Find Lucyna Kushinada inside of Night City.
Sub Objective: Make your first meeting memorable.
Time Limit: 48 Hours
Reward:
[1,000 EXP] - Main
[Random Skill Ticket x1] - Sub
Failure:
[Death]
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".....Who?"