Chapter 4: First Confrontation
Ash never thought he'd one day confront the very protagonist he once controlled in a game. It had felt exhilarating back then—but now, facing it in real life, he realized just how exaggerated everything had been.
The black Delamain taxi sped down the road, chased closely by several pursuers—one of which was the exact same model.
A light machine gun mounted to one of the vehicles opened fire as if bullets cost nothing. Erratic driving made the spray of gunfire even wilder, bullets tearing into surrounding buildings. If you listened carefully, you could hear the cries of civilians struck in the crossfire—but no one cared.
That's how Night City worked: the strong preyed on the weak. Even if a bystander died, no one would step forward unless they had gang support.
And Arasaka? They were one of the biggest "gangs" around. So congratulations—you died for nothing.
> "Target acquired," came the cold voice of Sandayu Oda through the comms.
In full Netrunner mode, she had become a creature of pure logic—necessary to fully sync with the Netrunning pod and unleash her hacking potential.
When deeper immersion into cyberspace was required, she'd lie inside a custom setup—complete with coolant systems and a breathing apparatus.
Honestly, Ash didn't like relying on this kind of tech. But in a city distorted by smart weapons, cyberware, and commercial-grade Braindance rigs, it was impossible to complete missions without a competent Netrunner.
So he kept the mission time short to protect Sandayu's brain. Ironically, it was this efficiency that earned his crew high praise from Wakako Okad—but it had all been out of necessity.
> "Let's say hello," Ash muttered. "Let's see how strong V really is... in the flesh."
Da-da-da-da-da!
A drone's onboard machine gun suddenly roared to life.
> "Beep~ Vehicle damage: 30%."
The screen lit up with the image of a suit-wearing Delamain avatar, emotionlessly announcing the damage report.
> "Damn it! Faster, Jack! You're gonna be fine—trust me! GO, Delamain!"
In the back seat, V shouted, clutching a blood-soaked Jackie Welles. The escape from Konpeki Plaza had left them both wounded, and Arasaka's pursuit was relentless.
The data shard case had been damaged, and Jackie—without hesitation—plugged it into his own head to protect it. The mental strain that followed knocked him out shortly after they got in the car.
V was still reeling. He had just witnessed Arasaka Yorinobu murder his own father—Arasaka Saburo. No matter the hatred between them, patricide?
And Saburo's guards... cowed by Yorinobu's authority, not a single one dared resist. Why didn't anyone speak up?
But there was no time to reflect—because reality struck again. The moment the drone's fire ceased, there was a sharp bang.
The car lurched.
The central display showed a real-time update: the front-left tire had been blown out.
V stared in disbelief.
What a joke—these tires were reinforced with special alloys, bullet-resistant and backed by a fully autonomous driving system with medical support. That was why Delamain was Night City's most reputable rideshare provider. Dexter DeShawn hadn't picked it as a rendezvous vehicle without reason.
Delamain had pulled them out of Konpeki's crossfire. Without it, they'd be corpses by now.
But Takumi Kai knew Delamain's models well.
The black-tier Delamain was only Silver Class. High-caliber armor-piercing rounds were enough to puncture it.
Still, Delamain's AI reflexes were unmatched. The vehicle began evasive maneuvers, dodging follow-up shots. They were now less than 500 meters from a roadblock Ash had prepared.
And that range?
Perfect for a machine gunner.
A Type-31 heavy machine gun, military grade. 3,000 rounds per minute. Fixed mount on an armored vehicle. The belt-fed beast alone weighed over 300 kilograms.
No engineer ever imagined someone would wield it manually.
But V saw it.
The 1.6-meter barrel aimed straight at them.
Ash snapped his fingers.
Tanaka grinned and slammed the trigger.
Bullets the length of fingers struck the road, kicking up a storm of debris. Tanaka adjusted his aim—and this mechanical "earth dragon" roared toward V's vehicle.
> "SHIT! MOVE!"
V grabbed the seat in front of him, screaming at Delamain.
Delamain reacted instantly, swerving just in time to dodge the full barrage.
They were now less than 10 meters from Ash.
> "Now!" V's eyes lit up. He pulled his pistol and fired through the cracked window at the man calmly standing there.
But Ash didn't even blink.
He simply watched Jackie slumped and bleeding, the flickering shard embedded in his head.
It seemed... the Relic had been temporarily transferred to Jackie.
Ash narrowed his eyes, lips moving subtly.
Sandayu Oda trembled in her pod—then fell still.
The bullet V fired was suddenly intercepted—Tanaka had dropped the machine gun and stepped in front of Ash, swatting the shot aside with one massive hand.
Yes. Despite Tanaka's bulky frame, he was fast.
Over 70% of his body was cybernetic. He could take a rocket head-on—what was a pistol round?
When his arm deflected the shot, the concrete under his feet cracked.
There were no "skill points" in real life, but cyberware diversity was far richer than any game.
Ash had designed Tanaka's build for raw strength.
His Taishan Arms—an upgraded, legendary version of Gorilla Arms—delivered five-ton punches, enough to kill 90% of modified targets in one blow.
His leg cyberware, Instant Step, allowed bursts of 100 meters per second for 10 seconds.
Speed + power = devastation.
V could only watch in horror as Tanaka charged and punched the car, sending it skidding several meters.
> "Beep~ Vehicle damage at 70%."
That single punch dealt 10% structural damage.
An average car would've been totaled.
Tanaka's fist, reinforced by Deep Armor skin plating, had only a minor scrape—which quickly disappeared thanks to his Rapid Healing mod.
Thankfully, the car still ran. Delamain used the momentum from the punch to recover, executing a razor-sharp swerve to slip past the roadblock set by Nova Li.
> "Ooh~ Nice move."
Nova Li's eyes gleamed, making a mental note of the maneuver.
Tanaka scowled, ready to give chase, but Ash raised a hand.
> "No need."
Before Tanaka could protest, the rest of the pursuing units caught up.
His cyberware disengaged, steam venting from his legs as Tanaka returned silently to Ash's side.
> "You're strong—but there's no point showing off. It only makes you a bigger target. Quiet profit is the real game."
Ash had always believed in staying under the radar. He never joined meaningless ranking fights between security squads. Seventeenth Squad was Seventeenth—didn't matter. The mission count didn't drop, and the danger stayed low.
What more could you want?
His team mirrored his mindset.
They were so low-key that most newcomers didn't even know there were 17 security squads.
Someone from the Sixth Squad chasing V found that out the hard way.
> "HOW DID YOU LET THEM ESCAPE?!"
Masaru Sasaki stormed out of a vehicle, yanking his hood down and grabbing Ash by the collar.
> "Bunch of useless idiots!"
> "If you've got time to shout, why not keep chasing them?" Ash replied coldly.
> "Don't give me that! If you hadn't interfered—!" Masaru's anger boiled over. He raised his fist to swing—never noticing Ash wore the same uniform.
The punch never landed.
A teammate grabbed him.
> "Stop it, Sasaki!"
> "He's from another security squad—same as us!"
> "If we move fast, we can still catch them!"
Their voices rang out in a messy chorus, trying to deescalate.
> "Ash."
A calm, authoritative voice rang out.
Silence.
Ash turned his head slightly.
A tall figure emerged from the last vehicle.
> "Mr. Wilson."
Wilson—captain of the Sixth Squad. A Nomad who rose through the ranks with sheer power. A scar cut diagonally across his face—his signature.
At 1.9 meters tall, he radiated raw intensity.
The Security Forces' rising star.
For a Night City native to climb this high took more than just power—it required mission volume, loyalty, and reputation. Ash took over ten years to get here.
Wilson? Just three.
Even the elite from Arasaka HQ in Tokyo respected him.
So Ash addressed him with genuine respect.
> "Letting the target escape is negligence." Wilson said flatly.
> "I didn't expect them to break through like that. They were cunning." Ash responded truthfully.
> "Is that so?" Wilson gave him a long look, then said nothing more.