**[LOCATION: LANDFILL, NO-MAN'S LAND]**
**[TIME: NIGHT. HEAVY RAIN.]**
**[STATUS: CRITICAL FAILURE]**
Darkness. Absolute, suffocating darkness.
Then, a flicker. Not of light, but of data.
**[SYSTEM REBOOT INITIATED...]**
**[CRITICAL ERROR: BIOLOGICAL VESSEL COMPROMISED.]**
**[DETECTING FOREIGN ENGRAM... "RELIC" DETECTED.]**
**[OVERWRITE ATTEMPT BLOCKED.]**
**[AUTHORITY LEVEL: MONARCH. OVERRIDE CONFIRMED.]**
**[HP: 1/100]**
The first sensation was the smell. It was a physical assault—a thick, oily miasma of rotting synth-meat, burning plastic, and the metallic tang of old circuitry. It tasted like rust on the back of the tongue.
The second sensation was weight. Tons of it. The pressure of refuse, the discarded skeletons of a city that cannibalized itself.
The body—*this* body—was cold. Rigid.
*Move.*
The command wasn't a desperate plea for survival. It was an order from a King to a subject.
Fingers twitched. Debris shifted. A hand, covered in grime and dried blood, punched through a layer of wet trash, grasping at the rain-soaked air.
Sung Jin-Woo pulled himself from the grave.
He gasped, the air searing lungs that hadn't drawn breath in hours. He fell onto his knees, retching bile and blood onto a pile of discarded circuit boards. The rain hammered against his skin, cold and unforgiving. He looked at his hands. They were smaller than he remembered. Rougher. Scared. The knuckles were tattooed.
*System. Status.*
A blue holographic window flickered into existence, overlaying the red, glitching HUD of the cybernetic eyes installed in this skull.
**[NAME: V (Sung Jin-Woo)]**
**[LEVEL: 1 (RESTRICTED)]**
**[CLASS: SHADOW MONARCH (SEALED)]**
**[DEBUFF: CRANIAL TRAUMA. RELIC MALFUNCTION.]**
"A new dungeon," Jin-Woo whispered. His voice was raspy, the vocal cords strained. "And a level one vessel."
He touched his forehead. There was a hole there. The skin had knit together, cauterized by some internal nanotechnology, but the bone was shattered. A bullet. A .45 caliber execution.
*I died.*
Memories that weren't his flooded in, violent and disjointed. A heist. A hotel. A golden arm severed. A man named Jackie bleeding out in a cab. A fat man with a gold arm raising a pistol.
*Dexter DeShawn.*
Jin-Woo closed his eyes, categorizing the foreign memories as "Lore Data." He pushed the grief aside. The grief belonged to V. The anger, however... that was useful.
Headlights cut through the rain. The whine of a heavy engine approached, grinding over the trash.
Jin-Woo didn't hide. He didn't have the strength to run, and a Monarch does not cower in the mud. He sat on a rusted washing machine, watching the vehicle stop.
A man stepped out. Large. Heavy coat. The fat man from the memory. Dexter DeShawn.
And another. A figure in a trench coat, moving with the fluid, predatory grace of a swordsman.
"I don't get it," Dex was saying, his voice shaking, pitching high with panic. "I did the job! Clean shot! The body... it was right here!"
The swordsman ignored him. He scanned the trash heap, his optics glowing red in the gloom.
"He is here," the swordsman said. His voice was deep, accented. Formal.
Jin-Woo watched them. He felt a faint hum of magic—no, not magic. *Technology.* But the intent was the same. Killing intent.
"Takemura-san!" Dex pleaded, gesturing wildly with his gold-plated arm. "Look, I'm a professional! I put a bullet in his brainpan! If he's gone, it's scavs! Scavengers took the body!"
Takemura stopped. He looked up, locking eyes with Jin-Woo perched on the refuse pile ten meters away.
Silence stretched, broken only by the rain drumming on the car roof.
"Impossible," Takemura muttered.
Dex spun around. His eyes widened, bulging in his skull. "V? No... no fuckin' way. You're ghosted! I zeroed you!"
Jin-Woo slid down from the pile. His legs were shaky, the cybernetics in his knees whining with error messages, but he kept his spine straight. He looked at Dex not with fear, but with the detached curiosity of a man observing an insect.
"You missed," Jin-Woo said. The sarcasm wasn't his—it was the body's reflex.
"Missed?!" Dex sputtered, reaching for the Constitutional Arms Liberty at his hip. "I don't miss at point-blank!"
**[QUEST ALERT: SURVIVE THE ASSAULT]**
**[ENEMY: DEXTER DESHAWN (LEVEL 12)]**
**[ALLY: GORO TAKEMURA (LEVEL ??)]**
Takemura moved. It was a blur, faster than the human eye should allow. He didn't draw a weapon. He simply stepped into Dex's personal space.
"Quiet," Takemura commanded.
"Wait, wait! I can fix this!" Dex raised his hands. "We can—"
*BLAM.*
Takemura produced a silenced pistol and fired once. Dexter DeShawn collapsed, a neat hole in his temple. The fat man fell into the mud, joining the trash he ruled over.
Jin-Woo didn't flinch. *Efficient.*
Takemura turned the gun on Jin-Woo. "Do not move. You have the property of Arasaka-sama in your head."
Jin-Woo raised a hand, palm open. "I'm not running."
"Good. Because you can barely stand." Takemura holstered the weapon and marched forward, grabbing Jin-Woo by the collar of his ruined shirt. "You are coming with me. If you die before I deliver you to Yorinobu-sama, I will kill you again."
"Charming," Jin-Woo muttered.
He allowed himself to be dragged toward the sedan. He needed information. He needed a safe zone to recover mana. This NPC was his best path out of the wasteland.
**[SCENE: THE CHASE]**
The interior of the car smelled of stale cigarettes and leather. Jin-Woo slumped in the passenger seat, his vision swimming with static.
*System check. Shadow Extraction?*
**[ERROR: INSUFFICIENT MANA.]**
*Stealth?*
**[ERROR: OPTICAL CAMO NOT INSTALLED.]**
He was mortal. For now.
"Air hypo," Takemura barked, tossing a pneumatic injector into Jin-Woo's lap. "Use it. Do not expire on my upholstery."
Jin-Woo jammed the device into his neck. A hiss, a cold spike of adrenaline, and the world sharpened. The static cleared.
"Why?" Jin-Woo asked, staring at the rain-streaked windshield.
"Silence," Takemura growled, keying the ignition. "I have alerted Yorinobu-sama. He will be pleased to know the killer is found."
"I didn't kill Saburo Arasaka," Jin-Woo stated calmly.
Takemura froze for a fraction of a second. "Lies."
"Yorinobu did. Strangled him. I watched."
"Watch your tongue, thief!" Takemura slammed his hand on the steering wheel. "Yorinobu-sama is the heir! He would not—"
**[WARNING: HOSTILE LOCK-ON DETECTED]**
The System window flashed red. Simultaneously, the car's sensors screamed.
"Get down!" Takemura shouted.
Glass exploded.
Two motorcycles flanked the sedan, riders clad in sleek, black armor. Arasaka assassins. Mantis blades deployed from their forearms, glowing with thermal energy.
Takemura swerved, slamming the sedan into the left rider. Metal shrieked against metal. The assassin didn't fall; he locked his blades into the car door, sparks showering the interior.
"Take the wheel!" Takemura yelled, unbuckling.
"I don't drive," Jin-Woo said, even as he grabbed the yoke.
Takemura leaned out the window, firing his pistol with impossible precision. The assassin on the left took three rounds to the helmet, flinched, and peeled off, crashing into a concrete barrier.
"One down," Takemura grunted. "More incoming."
"Ahead," Jin-Woo warned.
A heavy drone dropped from the sky, hovering over the highway. A missile lock warning blared.
"Damn it!" Takemura stomped the accelerator. "The cybernetics... I am locked out! They have revoked my clearance!"
He couldn't use his Sandevistan. He was fighting at base speed.
Jin-Woo looked at the drone. He couldn't reach it with shadows. He couldn't reach it with hands. But he had the *intent*.
*Ruler's Authority.*
He focused his will on the drone's stabilizer fin. It wasn't the telekinetic crush of a Monarch—his mana was too low—but it was a nudge. A push.
The drone wobbled. Its aim drifted.
The missile fired, streaking past the windshield and detonating on the road behind them. The shockwave lifted the rear of the sedan.
"How...?" Takemura glanced at him.
"Luck," Jin-Woo lied. "Give me the gun."
"You are a criminal."
"I'm the only reason you're alive right now. Give me the gun."
Takemura hesitated, then shoved a spare Unity pistol into Jin-Woo's hand.
Jin-Woo checked the chamber. Heavy. Solid. Not a sword, but it would do.
Another cyclist pulled up on the right, raising a submachine gun.
*Time slows.*
It wasn't the System. It was the body. *Kerenzikov.* The world turned to syrup. Jin-Woo saw the muzzle flash bloom like a flower. He leaned out the shattered window.
He didn't aim with his eyes. He aimed with his sense of the enemy's life force.
*Bang. Bang.*
Two shots. One to the front tire. One to the rider's neck gap.
The bike flipped, cartwheeling into the dark.
Time snapped back. The sound of the crash was deafening.
"Good shooting," Takemura said, breathless. "For a thief."
"Drive," Jin-Woo said, leaning back and closing his eyes. "I need to rest."
The adrenaline faded. The darkness returned.
***
**[SCENE: VIKTOR'S CLINIC]**
**[TIME: DAYBREAK]**
**[LOCATION: WATSON, LITTLE CHINA]**
Light. Harsh, clinical white light.
Jin-Woo opened his eyes. He was in a dentist's chair. The smell of antiseptic and old ramen.
A face hovered over him. Kindly, lined with worry. Thick glasses.
"Vik," the body whispered.
"Hey, kid," Viktor Vektor said softly. "Welcome back to the land of the living. Though... gotta say, you cut it close. Closer than anyone I've ever seen."
Jin-Woo sat up. His body felt lighter. Repaired.
"The bullet?"
"Extracted. Skull plated. Skin patched. You look like a million eddies, V. Or... well, like fifty, considering." Vik wiped his hands on a rag. "But we need to talk. About the chip."
Jin-Woo touched the slot behind his ear. The Relic.
"It's active," Jin-Woo said.
"Active? It's rewriting you, kid," Vik said, his voice heavy. "The bullet damaged the biochip. It triggered a failsafe. It thinks the host—you—is dead. So it's doing what it was designed to do. Overwriting your neural network with the engram stored on it."
Jin-Woo swung his legs off the chair. "Johnny Silverhand."
"Yeah. The terrorist rockerboy himself. He's bleeding into your cortex. Memories, personality... eventually, there won't be any V left. Just Johnny."
"How long?"
Vik sighed, leaning against his desk. "Hard to say. Weeks? Maybe less. It's aggressive."
Jin-Woo stood up. He walked to the mirror in the corner. He looked at V's face. Sharp features, cybernetic lines on the cheeks, dark hair.
In the reflection, he saw something else. A flicker. A man with long hair, aviator sunglasses, and a silver arm, standing just behind him, screaming silently.
**[SYSTEM NOTICE: PARASITIC ENTITY DETECTED.]**
**[ENTITY: JOHNNY SILVERHAND (CONSTRUCT)]**
**[ACTION: SUPPRESSION.]**
**[RESULT: ENTITY CONTAINED IN SUB-PARTITION.]**
Jin-Woo smiled. It was a cold, dangerous smile that made Vik take a step back.
"Weeks is plenty," Jin-Woo said.
"V, listen to me," Vik said, stepping forward. "This isn't a flu. There's no cure. You're walking dead."
"I've been dead before, Vik. It didn't stick." Jin-Woo grabbed his jacket from the chair. "How much do I owe you?"
"For saving your life? On the house. For the Kiroshis and the grip... you still owe me twenty-one grand. But forget the eddies. You need to—"
"I'll pay you back," Jin-Woo interrupted. "With interest."
He walked out of the clinic, past Misty, who was shuffling tarot cards with trembling hands.
"V..." she whispered. "The cards... they're all reversed. The Fool. The Tower. Death."
Jin-Woo paused. He placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Deal them again, Misty," he said softly. "I make my own luck."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
**[SCENE: V'S APARTMENT]**
**[STATUS: MALFUNCTION]**
The elevator ride up to the megabuilding apartment was a sensory overload. Ads screamed from the walls. *buy buy buy.* *NiCola!* *Taste the Love!*
Jin-Woo ignored them. He needed a sanctuary.
He entered the apartment. It was messy. Weapon parts on the table. Burrito wrappers. A life of chaos.
He walked to the window, looking out at the sprawling, neon-cancer of Night City. Rain slicked the glass.
*BZZZT.*
Pain. White-hot agony spiked through his skull.
Jin-Woo fell to one knee, clutching his head. The System window fractured.
**[WARNING: CONSTRUCT BREACH.]**
The world glitched. The apartment dissolved into digital static.
When it reformed, *he* was there.
Johnny Silverhand.
He was leaning against the wall, smoking a digital cigarette. He looked exactly like the archives: arrogant, angry, vibrating with rage.
"Gotta get out of here," Johnny snarled, pushing off the wall. "Understand? And I kill anyone who gets in my way. You included."
He looked at Jin-Woo.
"The fuck are you looking at?" Johnny spat. "I need a smoke. Where'd you stash yours?"
Jin-Woo stood up slowly. The pain was receding, pushed back by his Willpower stat.
"You're loud," Jin-Woo said.
Johnny paused. He frowned behind the aviators. "How're we even talking? The fuck kinda joytoy are you s'posed to be?"
"I am not V," Jin-Woo said calmly. "And I am not your host."
"Fuckin' ghost off!"
Johnny teleported—a glitch in the render—appearing directly in front of Jin-Woo. He swung a fist.
In the original timeline, V would have been knocked down. V would have been terrified.
Jin-Woo didn't flinch. He didn't dodge.
He caught the fist.
It wasn't physical contact—Johnny was a hologram. But Jin-Woo caught the *intent*. His hand glowed with a faint, purple aura.
Johnny's eyes went wide. "What the...?"
"You are data," Jin-Woo said, his voice dropping an octave. "You are a ghost in my machine. And in my domain, the dead do not speak unless spoken to."
He squeezed.
Johnny gasped, dropping to his knees. The digital avatar flickered, static tearing through his form.
"Let... go..." Johnny wheezed.
Jin-Woo released him. Johnny scrambled back, phasing through the couch, clutching his spectral wrist.
"What the fuck are you?" Johnny whispered, fear creeping into his voice for the first time in fifty years.
"I'm the one who's going to burn this city," Jin-Woo said. "You want Arasaka destroyed? Stay out of my way, and you might get a front-row seat."
Johnny stared at him, breathing hard. The malice evaporated, replaced by wary confusion.
"You're crazy," Johnny muttered. "Certifiable."
"Get some rest, Silverhand," Jin-Woo said, turning back to the window. "We have a meeting."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
**[SCENE: TOM'S DINER]**
**[QUEST: PLAYING FOR TIME]**
The diner smelled of grease and cheap coffee. Goro Takemura sat in a booth, looking entirely out of place in his high-collared coat. He was poking at a slice of pizza with disgust.
"Sawdust and plastic," Takemura muttered as Jin-Woo slid into the booth opposite him.
"It's Night City," Jin-Woo said. "Authenticity costs extra."
Takemura pushed the plate away. "You look... better. The Ripperdoc was skilled."
"Passable."
"Listen to me," Takemura leaned in. "I have been contacted. Hanako-sama... she does not believe me. Or rather, she is being watched. Yorinobu has branded me a traitor. He claims I killed Saburo."
"Predictable," Jin-Woo said. "He needs a scapegoat. You're the loyal dog. Easy to frame."
Takemura's eyes narrowed. "Do not insult me."
"It's not an insult. It's tactics. Yorinobu is consolidating power. He has Arasaka security, the board, and the narrative. You have... a pistol and a half-dead thief."
"I have the truth," Takemura said stiffly.
"The truth is a luxury," Jin-Woo replied. "You need leverage."
"I need Evelyn Parker."
Jin-Woo paused. The name from the memories. The doll who set up the heist.
"She knows the city," Takemura continued. "She knows Yorinobu. She was there. If we find her, we might find evidence."
"She's gone to ground," Jin-Woo said. "If she's smart."
"You will find her." Takemura slid a shard across the table. "You have connections in the gutter that I do not. Find Parker. Bring her to me. And perhaps... perhaps we can save your life."
Jin-Woo picked up the shard. He didn't care about saving V's life. He cared about the Tower. Arasaka Tower was the final boss castle. To get there, he needed to clear the lower levels.
"I'll find her," Jin-Woo said. "But not for you. And not for my life."
"Then why?"
Jin-Woo stood up. He looked down at the Ronin.
"Because I hate leaving a dungeon uncleared."
He turned to leave.
"V!" Takemura called out.
Jin-Woo stopped.
"Be careful," Takemura said. "Arasaka is not the only thing hunting us."
"Let them come," Jin-Woo said. "I need the XP."
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
**[SCENE: LIZZIE'S BAR]**
**[QUEST: AUTOMATIC LOVE]**
**[TIME: 20:00]**
The bass of the music thumped in Jin-Woo's chest. Lizzie's Bar was a neon-drenched assault on the senses. Pink and purple lights, holographic dancers, the smell of synthetic pheromones and spilled alcohol.
Mox gangers guarded the door, baseball bats and cyberware on display.
"Hey," the bouncer said, chewing gum. "You look like shit, V. Thought you flatlined."
"Rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated," Jin-Woo said, pushing past her.
He navigated the club, the memories guiding him. Down the stairs. Past the bar where a bartender was mixing drinks with four arms.
*Judy Alvarez.*
She was in the basement. Server room.
Jin-Woo opened the door. The air here was cooler, smelling of ozone and coolant.
Judy was leaning over a console, her rainbow-dyed hair falling over her face. She was tinkering with a braindance wreath.
"Judy," Jin-Woo said.
She jumped, spinning around. Her eyes went wide.
"V?" She dropped the wreath. "Holy shit... I heard... on the news... the Konpeki mess..."
She rushed over, checking him for holes. "You okay? You look pale. And... different."
"I'm fine, Judy." He gently removed her hands from his jacket. "I need to find Evelyn."
Judy's face hardened. She stepped back, crossing her arms. "Ev? Haven't seen her. Not since the heist. She... she ghosted me, V. Left me here holding the bag."
"She's in trouble," Jin-Woo said. He didn't use the desperate tone V would have used. He stated it as a fact. "Arasaka is looking for her. If they find her first, she's dead. Or worse."
Judy bit her lip. "She said she was gonna lay low. Clouds. She went back to Clouds."
"The dollhouse?"
"Yeah. Maiko... the manager there. She might know something." Judy looked at him, her eyes searching his face. "V, seriously. You're scaring me. You're so... calm. Jackie is dead. You almost died. And you're standing here like you're ordering takeout."
Jin-Woo looked at the servers humming around them.
"Panic is inefficient," he said. "I'm going to Clouds. I'll bring her back."
"V," Judy grabbed his arm as he turned to leave. "Promise me. If she's hurt... promise me you'll help her."
Jin-Woo looked at Judy. He saw the fear, the empathy. She was a civilian. A protected NPC.
"I'll handle it," he said. "Stay here. Lock the doors."
**[INTERNAL MONOLOGUE]**
*Clouds. A high-security zone. Weapons restricted.*
*Perfect.*
Jin-Woo flexed his hand. He didn't need guns.
*System. Assign stat points.*
**[AVAILABLE POINTS: 3]**
**[STRENGTH: +1]**
**[AGILITY: +2]**
He felt the muscles in his legs tighten, the cybernetics aligning with his biological nerves.
He walked out of Lizzie's and into the rain. He pulled up his collar.
*Johnny's voice echoed in his head.*
"Clouds? You're walking into a tiger's den, kid. Those Tyger Claws don't fuck around."
"Neither do I," Jin-Woo replied silently.
He stepped onto his bike—Jackie's Arch—and revved the engine. The roar of the machine screamed defiance at the city.
The hunt was on.
**[EPISODE 1 END]**