"To be honest, I have no idea what Lin-kun was thinking, handing all this over to you. Kid, count your blessings—this stuff isn't cheap."
With that, Kitagawa Hiro turned and walked back into the small room, leaving David sitting on the couch, utterly baffled.
Looking through the contents of the bag, David immediately recognized several of the items. After all, unless you were a completely clueless child, there wasn't a person in Night City who wouldn't know the weapons and magazines laid out before him.
He pulled out the items he recognized and set them aside, then tried to identify the rest.
The bag held: one orange-colored compact submachine gun, two hefty pistols of different models, one double-barrel shotgun, a long sniper rifle, and a sleek black assault rifle.
So many types of firearms—David could barely tell them apart, though he could vaguely recall the names of a few.
He never imagined he'd have the chance to lay eyes on, let alone choose from, such an arsenal. Scenes like this were only supposed to happen in dreams—or in braindance games.
He'd played ones like this before: you find yourself in a cramped, dimly-lit room, surrounded by weapons on the table, cold mechanical voices whispering in your ear.
—The hunt begins!
Granted, due to copyright restrictions, the weapons in those games were usually a little different from real ones, but it never stopped the experience from being exhilarating.
But now, with the game turned real, faced with all these real weapons, David found himself feeling overwhelmed.
"A standard model submachine gun from Kang Tao. Two pistols—one Unity, one Lexington. A tech double-barrel shotgun, the Satora. Kang Tao's latest Eagle smart sniper rifle. And lastly, a Militech-manufactured Ajax assault rifle."
"Pistol, SMG, shotgun, sniper, AR—every major firearm type is covered. Take your pick, kid."
At some point, Kitagawa Hiro had come back out of the small room, now holding a weapon harness. Compared to the long, tactical gear bag David had on the table, his gear looked plain and worn.
He casually tossed it to the floor and added with his usual indifferent tone:
"For a rookie like you, Lin-kun shelled out quite a bit. Just the weapons alone cost over €20,000. You should feel honored."
As expected, David's eyes went wide again. He stared at the weapons in disbelief.
"That expensive?!"
Even knowing Lin Mo was generous, David never imagined his classmate would casually throw a gear package worth tens of thousands of eurodollars at him.
Sure, Lin Mo talked up this job a lot during their previous conversations, but it always felt like empty hype. Words.
But now—holding this in his hands—David could feel it. This job came with blessings so heavy, they might crush him.
And that was just the firearms. He hadn't even factored in the bodysuit, the mysterious chip, or the document included in the bag!
Kitagawa Hiro couldn't help but chuckle at the sight.
Still just a wide-eyed rookie... shaken by a little starter kit.
Of course, he conveniently forgot that he'd had a similar reaction when he found out about this.
He glanced at his own interface, eyes briefly unfocused, staring at the numbers in his personal account—long strings of zeroes that still felt like a dream, even after seeing them multiple times.
To raise the team's combat strength quickly, Lin Mo had moved a portion of his funds into Kitagawa Hiro's hands to serve as the studio's operating budget.
With no dedicated accountant yet, Kitagawa Hiro was temporarily handling multiple roles—including bookkeeping.
It wasn't much—just a couple rounds of smart stock trading gains—but for Kitagawa Hiro, it was more money than he ever thought he'd see in a lifetime. Yet Lin Mo had tossed it over without blinking.
Even the "rookie package" policy had been Lin Mo's idea: every new member would receive a welcome bundle worth €100,000, with its contents tailored to the recipient's role.
Kitagawa Hiro had intentionally omitted this detail when speaking to David, letting the kid believe the gear was a special gift just for him.
This way, David would feel truly seen and valued. That sense of being personally recognized and rewarded—it would hit hard.
"And what about these?" David asked, pointing to the remaining items in the bag with visible excitement.
Kitagawa Hiro glanced over and replied without hesitation:
"A high-grade tactical bodysuit. A monomolecular-edged katana. A Trauma Team gold-tier membership contract. And a combat training chip—Kang Tao-issued."
He knew the contents by heart—he had overseen and approved each item himself.
"...How much would all this cost?" David asked, swallowing hard.
"Stop obsessing over pocket change. We're on the same team now, likely to work together in the future. Don't be so petty, kid," Kitagawa Hiro grunted, frowning impatiently.
David paused, then nodded. He realized it was true.
He was now part of a high-earning group—no need to fixate on freebies.
Still, one thing puzzled him. "Didn't Lin Mo say I'd only get a silver-tier Trauma Team membership? Why is this gold?"
"Heh. Lin-kun's foresight isn't something you can understand. Just focus on yourself, kid. Now get in there and change—you're starting onboarding training in a minute!" Kitagawa Hiro barked, pointing to the apartment's only small room.
The shout made David jump. He grabbed the bag and hurried off.
Kitagawa Hiro watched his retreating figure and sighed, saying nothing.
...
The bodysuit fit perfectly. David felt no discomfort or stiffness—it was as if it had been tailored just for him.
When he stepped out of the room, he was surprised to find a beautiful young woman standing in the living room.
"Hello, I'm Kitagawa Shizuka. He's my brother. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. David Martinez," she said with a gentle bow, hands folded at her waist. Her voice was soft and elegant.
The moment she appeared, the room was filled with a faint, dreamy fragrance.
Was that shampoo soaked into her skin...?
David couldn't help the intrusive thought.
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