The heavy thrum of the Arch Nazaré's engine vibrated through Jin-Woo's bones, a sensation that felt less like a machine and more like a captured beast growling beneath him. The neon skyline of Night City smeared into streaks of violent color as he tore down the highway, the wind whipping past his helmet.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[QUEST UPDATED: GHOST TOWN]
[OBJECTIVE: MEET ROGUE AT THE AFTERLIFE]
He pulled up his inventory screen in his mind's eye. The raid on the Scavenger haunt had been profitable. Not in experience—those dregs were hardly worth the mana to summon a dagger—but in loot. Cyberdecks, shards, unregistered weapons, and credsticks pulled from cooling corpses.
[CURRENT FUNDS: 18,450 EDDIES]
"Enough to buy an audience," Jin-Woo muttered.
"Rogue ain't cheap," Johnny's voice crackled, materializing in the sidecar that didn't exist. The rockerboy looked at the passing city with a mix of disgust and longing. "She's the Queen of the Afterlife. You don't just walk in and ask for a favor. You pay in blood or eddies. Usually both."
"She's an information broker," Jin-Woo corrected, banking the bike hard onto the off-ramp toward Watson. "A merchant. And I'm a customer with a full wallet."
"Heh. You think you're a customer. In this town, V, you're either the butcher or the cattle. Rogue? She owns the slaughterhouse."
The Afterlife.
The air inside was thick enough to chew—a cocktail of stale beer, ozone, cheap perfume, and the metallic tang of dried blood. The bass from the speakers thumped against Jin-Woo's chest, a synthetic heartbeat for a dead place.
He moved through the crowd. Mercs, solos, fixers. He could see their levels floating above their heads like moths. Most were Level 4 or 5. Trash mobs. A few Level 12s huddled in a booth.
"Place hasn't changed," Johnny said, leaning against a pillar, his aviators reflecting the purple lighting. "Still smells like desperation and synth-coke. Look at 'em. Thinking they're legends because they haven't flatlined yet."
Jin-Woo ignored the ghost and walked to the bar.
"What can I get you?" The bartender, Claire, wiped down the counter.
"Johnny Silverhand," Jin-Woo said.
Johnny stiffened. Claire paused, raising an eyebrow. "Two Tequila Old Fashioneds, splash of cerveza, chili garnish. You got taste, kid. Or a death wish."
"Just paying respects."
He took the glass. Johnny stared at it, his digital face unreadable.
"To the past," Jin-Woo whispered, and poured the drink onto the floor.
"What the fuck—" Johnny started, then stopped. He looked at the puddle, then at Jin-Woo. "You mocking me?"
"I'm burying you," Jin-Woo said softly. "You're not that man anymore. You're part of the System now."
He turned his back on the bar and walked toward the booth in the back. The VIP area. A bouncer stepped forward, a mountain of muscle and chrome.
"List only."
Jin-Woo didn't slow down. He flared his Murderous Intent—just a fraction. A cold, invisible pressure that dropped the temperature in the hallway by ten degrees. The bouncer flinched, his cybernetic eyes widening as his threat-assessment software threw up a critical error. He stepped aside, sweating.
Rogue Amendiares sat in the booth, looking like a queen on a throne of shadows. She was older than in Johnny's memories, her face harder, her eyes sharp as polished flint. She was talking to a man—a Nomad, judging by the dust on his vest—but she cut him off as Jin-Woo approached.
"V," she said. Her voice was dry, devoid of warmth. "Heard you were dead. Then I heard you were back. Dexter DeShawn made a mess. I assume you're here to clean it up?"
"Dex is dead," Jin-Woo said, sliding into the booth opposite her. "I need Hellman."
Rogue laughed, a short, sharp bark. "Anders Hellman? The Kang Tao defector? You aim high for a corpse. That kind of intel costs."
"15,000," Jin-Woo said. He pulled a credchip from his pocket and slid it across the table.
Rogue stopped. She looked at the chip, then up at Jin-Woo. Her Kiroshi optics scanned him, likely trying to pull his file, but Jin-Woo knew what she would find: [Glitch. Error. Null.]
"Straight to the point," Rogue mused, fingering the chip. "I like that. Better than the last time you were here with that loudmouth Welles."
"Don't," Jin-Woo warned. The temperature dropped again.
Rogue's eyes narrowed. For a second, she looked unsettled. She leaned forward. "You've changed, V. You don't feel like a street kid anymore. You feel... heavy."
"Hellman," Jin-Woo repeated.
"Fine," Rogue tapped the table. "Hellman is being transported by Kang Tao via AV. They're moving him to a secure location. The route takes them over the Badlands. If you want to catch him, you need to shoot him down."
"I need a partner. Someone who knows the terrain."
"I have just the person," Rogue smirked, a cruel expression. "Panam Palmer. Ex-Aldecaldo. Burned her bridges with her clan, burned her bridges with me. She owes me money. She helps you, her debt is cleared. She's a good driver, a decent shot, and she's desperate. Perfect for a suicide run."
"Where is she?"
"Afterlife parking lot. Fixing her ride. Or trying to." Rogue pocketed the chip. "Happy hunting, V. Try not to get her killed. Or do. I got my money."
As Jin-Woo stood up, Johnny materialized in the booth next to Rogue. He reached out, his hand passing through her shoulder.
"She looks tired, V," Johnny whispered, his voice hollow. "She looks fucking tired."
The sun in the Badlands was a physical weight, a hammer beating down on the cracked earth. The air tasted of dust and dry scrub.
Jin-Woo found her under the concrete overpass. She was bent over the open hood of a beat-up Thorton Galena, swearing in a mix of English and Spanish that was impressive in its creativity.
"Piece of shit! Chingada madre!" She kicked the tire, hard.
[NAME: PANAM PALMER]
[LEVEL: 8]
[CLASS: RANGER (POTENTIAL)]
[DISPOSITION: HOSTILE]
Jin-Woo parked his bike and walked over. "You kick it any harder, you'll break your foot before you break the axle."
Panam spun around, a wrench in her hand. Her hair was a wild halo of curls, her face smeared with grease, her eyes burning with a fury that felt familiar. It was the anger of someone who had lost everything but refused to stay down.
"Who the fuck are you?" she snapped. "One of Rogue's stray dogs?"
"I'm your ticket out of debt," Jin-Woo said. "Rogue sent me. We have a job."
"Of course she did," Panam threw the wrench into the dirt. "That old witch. She takes my money, takes my contract, and now she sends some city boy to babysit me? I don't need a partner. I need my damn car back."
"Your car?"
"My Thorton Mackinaw," Panam paced, gesturing wildly. "Nash. That snake. He was supposed to help me with a delivery. Instead, he stole the merchandise and my ride. Left me with this... this rust bucket!"
Jin-Woo looked at the broken-down sedan, then at Panam.
"You want your car," Jin-Woo said. "I want Anders Hellman. He's on a Kang Tao AV flying over the Badlands. We help each other."
"An AV?" Panam scoffed. "You want to shoot down a corporate transport? With what? Good intentions and a pea-shooter?"
"I have a plan. But first, we get your car."
Panam stopped pacing. She looked at him, really looked at him, assessing the way he stood. He didn't slouch. He didn't fidget. He stood with the absolute stillness of a predator waiting to strike.
"Nash is in Rocky Ridge," she said, her voice dropping. "He's holed up with the Raffen Shiv. A whole pack of Wraiths. It's a fortress."
"It's a dungeon," Jin-Woo corrected. "And we're going to clear it."
[LOCATION: ROCKY RIDGE]
[TIME: 22:00]
[STATUS: HOSTILE ZONE DETECTED]
The ghost town was silent, save for the howling wind whistling through the skeletal remains of buildings. Shadows stretched long and jagged under the moonlight.
Jin-Woo and Panam crouched on a ridge overlooking the settlement. Below, a dozen Raffens patrolled. In the center of the square sat a rugged, modified Thorton Mackinaw.
"That's her," Panam whispered, clutching her sniper rifle. "My baby."
"Twelve targets visible," Jin-Woo noted. "Three snipers on the roofs. Two by the car. The rest in the hotel lobby."
"We go in quiet?" Panam asked. "I can take the left flank—"
"Stay here," Jin-Woo said. He stood up.
"What? Are you crazy? Get down!" Panam hissed, reaching for his leg.
"Cover me."
Jin-Woo stepped off the ridge. He didn't slide; he activated [SPRINT].
His body blurred. To Panam, it must have looked like he simply vanished into the darkness.
Jin-Woo moved through the shadows like ink in water. He reached the first perimeter guard—a Wraith smoking a synth-cig. Before the man could exhale, Jin-Woo's hand clamped over his mouth.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: VITAL STRIKE]
The dagger—a jagged piece of scavenged steel—slipped between the cervical vertebrae. Clean. Silent.
[YOU HAVE DEFEATED A RAFFEN SHIV SCOUT]
[XP: +150]
He dropped the body and moved. The second guard turned, hearing a scuff. Jin-Woo was already inside his guard. A palm strike to the chin, driving the jawbone into the brain. Instant death.
Panam watched through her scope, her mouth slightly open. "What the hell are you...?"
The square erupted. A spotlight swept over Jin-Woo as he stood over the second body.
"Contact!" a Wraith screamed.
"Finally," Jin-Woo murmured. "Stealth is inefficient."
He didn't seek cover. He ran straight at the hotel.
Bullets chewed up the dirt around his feet. He saw the trajectories—red lines in the air, calculated by his Agility stat. He weaved, a micro-movement to the left, a duck to the right. A shotgun blast roared from the hotel entrance. Jin-Woo slid under the spread, coming up with his dagger in a reverse grip.
He slashed upward. The shotgunner screamed as his hands were severed at the wrists.
"Nash!" Panam shouted over the comms. "Second floor balcony!"
Jin-Woo looked up. A man in heavy armor was leaning over the railing, a tech-rifle charging up.
"You want my car, bitch?!" Nash roared. "Come and take it!"
Jin-Woo threw his dagger.
It wasn't a throw; it was a railgun shot powered by muscle. The blade whistled through the air and slammed into Nash's shoulder, pinning him to the wall behind him.
"Argh! Fuck!"
Jin-Woo leaped. He caught the edge of the balcony and hauled himself up in one fluid motion. The remaining Wraiths downstairs were firing wildly, but Panam was picking them off now, her rifle cracking like thunder, dropping bodies with precise, vengeful shots.
Jin-Woo walked toward Nash. The traitor was clawing at the dagger, his eyes wide with terror.
"Who... who are you?" Nash gasped.
"The cleaner," Jin-Woo said.
He grabbed the hilt of the dagger and ripped it out. Nash slumped to the floor, clutching his bleeding shoulder.
"Panam," Jin-Woo spoke into the comms. "He's yours."
A moment later, heavy boots stomped up the stairs. Panam burst onto the balcony, her face flushed with adrenaline and rage. She saw Nash bleeding on the floor, then looked at Jin-Woo, who was calmly wiping his blade on a curtain.
"You left him for me?" she asked, breathless.
"It's your quest," Jin-Woo said. "Finish it."
Panam looked down at Nash. The fear in the man's eyes was total. He started to beg. "Panam, wait, we can work this—"
BLAM.
She put a bullet between his eyes. No hesitation.
"Deal's closed," she spat.
She looked at Jin-Woo. The wariness was gone, replaced by a deep, terrifying respect. "You fight like a demon, V. I've never seen anyone move like that. Not even with a Sandevistan."
"I just have good cardio," Jin-Woo said. "Get your car. We have an AV to catch."
[QUEST COMPLETE: GHOST TOWN]
[LEVEL UP!]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 11]
[LOCATION: SUNSET MOTEL]
[TIME: 08:00]
The plan was madness. Simple, brutal madness.
"An EMP," Panam explained, spreading a map over the hood of her reclaimed Mackinaw. "We hit the power station. Trigger a pulse just as the AV passes over. It fries their engines, they crash, we grab Hellman."
"And the station is guarded by 6th Street," Johnny pointed out, sitting on the roof of the car. "Patriotic gonks with too many guns."
"We need the detonator," Jin-Woo said.
"I have friends," Panam said. "Mitch and Scorpion. They're good people. They'll help."
They met the two Aldecaldos by the generator. Mitch Anderson and Scorpion—veterans of the Unification War. They looked at V with skepticism, but Panam vouching for him carried weight.
"You're asking for trouble, Pan," Scorpion said, handing over a detonator. "But if this gets you back in the clan... we're in."
"Just don't get flatlined," Mitch added, clapping Jin-Woo on the shoulder. "Panam likes you. That's rare. Usually she just yells at people."
"I heard that!" Panam shouted from the driver's seat.
Jin-Woo watched them. There was a bond here—a "Guild" loyalty that Night City lacked. It reminded him of the strike team he used to lead.
"They're good men," Jin-Woo said quietly.
"Yeah," Johnny muttered. "Which means they're probably gonna die. That's how this city works, V. The good ones go first."
[OPERATION: LIGHTNING BREAKS]
They sat in the Mackinaw, parked on a bluff overlooking the flight path. The sun was setting, painting the sky in bruises of purple and orange.
Panam tapped the steering wheel. "You think this will work?"
"It has to," Jin-Woo said.
"Why is this Hellman guy so important to you? You owe him money?"
"He holds the cure," Jin-Woo said, tapping his temple. "I have a... condition. He built it."
Panam softened. "So you're dying."
"We're all dying, Panam. I'm just on a deadline."
"Incoming!" Panam shouted. "Get on the turret!"
Jin-Woo climbed into the back, grabbing the handles of the heavy caliber machine gun mounted on the truck bed.
In the distance, a black dot appeared against the clouds. The Kang Tao AV. A massive, flying fortress.
"Hit it!" Jin-Woo ordered.
Panam slammed the detonator.
A shockwave of invisible energy rippled out from the power station. The lights in the valley died instantly.
The AV shuddered. Its running lights flickered and died. Smoke poured from its engines as the turbines seized. It began to list, spiraling down toward the earth.
"Bullseye!" Panam cheered, gunning the engine. "Hold on!"
The Mackinaw roared off the cliff, suspension screaming as they chased the falling giant.
But Kang Tao wasn't defenseless.
"Drones!" Jin-Woo shouted.
A swarm of combat drones deployed from the stricken AV, buzzing like angry hornets. They dived at the truck, machine guns chattering.
Jin-Woo spun the turret. The gun bucked in his hands, spitting hot brass.
DA-DA-DA-DA-DA-DA!
He didn't spray and pray. He used his Perception stat. He tracked the drones' flight paths, leading his targets.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
Three drones exploded in balls of fire.
"Nice shooting!" Panam yelled, drifting around a rock formation. "We've got a missile lock!"
"Drive!"
A missile struck the ground behind them, showering the truck in dirt and shrapnel. The AV crashed into a ridge a mile ahead, a plume of dust rising into the sky.
"They're down," Jin-Woo said. "Let's go."
"Wait," Panam's voice went cold. "I'm picking up a signal. Mitch and Scorpion... they were near the crash site. They went to check it out."
"They're walking into a kill zone," Johnny said.
"Step on it," Jin-Woo commanded.
[LOCATION: AV CRASH SITE]
[THREAT LEVEL: EXTREME]
The crash site was a war zone. The massive AV lay broken like a dead whale, smoke billowing from its gut. But around it, Kang Tao security robots—androids with heavy rifles—had set up a perimeter.
And in the middle of it, the Aldecaldos were pinned down.
Jin-Woo saw Mitch dragging a body behind a rock. Scorpion.
"No..." Panam whispered. She slammed the brakes. "Cover me! I'm going for them!"
She grabbed her rifle and bailed out.
Jin-Woo didn't follow her. He looked at the field. Five androids. Two automated turrets. And a heavy mech stepping out of the AV's cargo bay.
[ENEMY: KANG TAO "ZHUO" SMART MECH]
[LEVEL: 15]
"V! We need suppressive fire!" Panam screamed over the comms.
Jin-Woo vaulted over the hood of the truck. He didn't fire. He sprinted.
He closed the distance to the first android in seconds. It turned, its optics cycling red, but Jin-Woo was already inside its reach. He drove his dagger into the joint of its neck, severing the hydraulics. He used the falling robot as a shield, catching the bullets from the second android.
He kicked the dead machine toward the second one, knocking it off balance, and followed up with a spinning kick that caved in its chest plate.
[STRENGTH CHECK: SUCCESS]
"Show off," Johnny grunted.
Jin-Woo reached Mitch. The nomad was bleeding from a head wound, clutching Scorpion's body.
"He's gone," Mitch coughed, tears streaking the dust on his face. "Scorp... he didn't make it."
Panam slid into cover beside them. She looked at Scorpion's lifeless eyes, and a howl of pure grief tore from her throat.
"I'm going to kill them," she sobbed. "I'm going to kill them all!"
"Focus," Jin-Woo grabbed her shoulder. His grip was iron. "Grief later. Revenge now. The Pilot is inside. Hellman is inside. We clear the board."
The Smart Mech swiveled its cannons toward their rock.
"Distract it," Jin-Woo said. "I'll take the head."
Panam wiped her eyes. The grief hardened into cold fury. She raised her sniper rifle. "Eat shit, you metal motherfucker!"
She fired. The round sparked off the mech's sensor array. It turned its attention to her.
That was the opening.
Jin-Woo activated [SPRINT]. He ran up the side of the crashed AV. Gravity seemed to lose its hold on him. He reached the top of the fuselage and leaped down onto the mech.
He landed on its shoulders. The mech thrashed, trying to dislodge him.
Jin-Woo didn't have a high-tech sword. He didn't have a plasma cannon. He had a scavenged combat knife and a Strength stat of 35.
He drove the knife into the mech's central processor unit, located behind the cockpit. Metal screeched. Sparks showered him. He twisted the blade, pouring mana into his arm.
CRUNCH.
The mech shuddered and collapsed, its lights dying.
Silence fell over the desert.
Jin-Woo stood on top of the ruined machine, breathing steadily. He looked down at Panam.
"Secure the perimeter," he said. "I'm getting Hellman."
The inside of the AV was a wreck. Sparks rained from the ceiling.
Anders Hellman was huddled in the corner of the secure compartment, trembling. He wore a pristine Kang Tao jumpsuit that was now stained with soot.
"Stay back!" Hellman shrieked, holding up a useless pistol. "I am a high-value asset! If you harm me, Arasaka will—"
Jin-Woo slapped the gun out of his hand. It clattered across the deck.
He grabbed Hellman by the collar and slammed him against the bulkhead.
"Arasaka wants you dead," Jin-Woo said, his voice flat. "Kang Tao just failed to protect you. You have no friends, Anders. You have no guild. You have me."
Hellman stared into Jin-Woo's eyes. He saw the Relic glitching, the blue schematics flickering across Jin-Woo's iris.
"The... the Biochip," Hellman whispered. "It's... active? But you're not..."
"I am the glitch," Jin-Woo said. "And you are the engineer. We're going to have a long talk."
He dragged Hellman out into the sunlight.
Mitch was loading Scorpion's body into the back of the Mackinaw. Panam stood there, watching, her shoulders shaking.
Jin-Woo walked over to her, dragging Hellman behind him like a sack of garbage.
"Panam," he said.
She turned. Her eyes were red, but dry.
"We got him," she said softly. "But Scorp..."
"He died a warrior," Jin-Woo said. "He died for the clan."
He looked at the vast, empty desert.
"We take him home," Jin-Woo said. "Then I break this man."
Panam nodded. She looked at Jin-Woo, and for the first time, there was a connection that went beyond the job. It was the bond of soldiers who had walked through the fire together.
"Ride with me, V," she said.
Jin-Woo tossed Hellman into the back seat of the car. He climbed into the passenger seat.
As they drove away, leaving the burning wreckage behind, Johnny appeared on the hood of the car, playing an air guitar solo to the rhythm of the engine.
"Hell of a show, V," Johnny said, looking back at the rising smoke. "Hell of a show. But now comes the hard part. The truth."
[QUEST COMPLETE: LIFE DURING WARTIME]
[XP GAINED: 2500]
[LEVEL UP!]
[CURRENT LEVEL: 12]
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: BLOODLUST (PASSIVE) - Damage increases as health decreases.]
Jin-Woo closed his eyes. The System was growing stronger. But the Relic was throbbing, a dull ache in his skull.
Soon, he thought. Soon I will rewrite the rules of this world.
[EPISODE 3 END]