Splash!
"Waaah! Haa—! Haa—!"
Li Pan jolted upright with a scream, like a drowning man bursting through the surface at the last second, gasping for air. His heart pounded wildly, pumping ice-cold terror through his veins.
"Holy shit, holy shit… huff… huff… shit…"
He was back? He pressed his hands to his face, but the image of that vicious spear, stabbing straight into his brow, lingered vividly before his eyes.
That bearded man was supposed to be a Daoist! Why was a single thrust so terrifying?!
What kind of teaching method was that? Couldn't he just draw a diagram like with the Nine Yin Manual? …That was teaching, right? He wasn't actually stabbed to death over there, was he?
Li Pan shook his head, forcing the memory aside. He checked his hands.
The skin hadn't fully healed, but his shattered palms had regrown, the torn muscles and shredded wounds were gone without a trace. Clearly not self-healing—this was the Archive's reset function.
Still, while his body was restored, his spent qi was not. What was used was gone. He'd have to fight barehanded if it came to it.
Looking around, he realized he was lying in a coffin-like pod, filled with amber-colored liquid, warm as body temperature, with a faint metallic tang. Like LCL…
But this wasn't a normal life pod.
Tubes ran into him, supplying glucose, vitamins, electrolytes—healing agents. Others pumped sedatives, muscle relaxants… and two tubes in his arms seemed to be draining blood.
"What the hell?!"
He yanked the tubes out, climbed from the pod, and scanned the chamber.
It was like a catacomb, with a dozen identical pods. Inside, men and women floated unconscious in the same amber fluid, alive but anesthetized, blood being siphoned.
Kidnapped?
He searched until he found a sealed stone door. One flying kick later, the door burst open, and he climbed up a staircase, smashing through a hatch—
Emerging inside a Western-style castle, decorated with armor and paintings. For a moment he thought he'd transmigrated to a fantasy world again.
A deep voice echoed:
"An intruder in my master's home? Unless you explain yourself, you'll never leave."
At the end of the marble hall stood a silver-haired butler. Handsome, blue-eyed, with the physique of a model, broad-shouldered and lean-waisted. Either enhanced by implants, or unnaturally well-preserved.
"Intruder? I was kidnapped!"
Li Pan rolled his shoulders, preparing to fight.
"Oh? Kidnapped? Then even more reason not to let you go."
The butler casually drew a sword from a suit of armor—and suddenly exploded forward like a leopard! In a blink, he crossed ten meters, blade flashing toward Li Pan's throat!
Qi drained, enemies unknown, Li Pan dared not take it head-on. He zigzagged like a snake, sliding across the floor in erratic patterns.
The butler had never seen such movement. His thrusts missed again and again. On the third strike he switched to a sweeping slash—yet Li Pan arched into an iron-bridge flip, spine bending unnaturally, letting the blade whistle overhead.
The butler overextended—an opening!
Li Pan pounced, twisting like a ferret, tackling his waist. Though the butler was trained and stable, Li Pan—now a Level 5 freak—was monstrously strong. He slammed him into the floor with a bone-rattling CRACK, the tiles spiderwebbing beneath them. The sword flew free.
Ground grappling—Li Pan's specialty.
He pressed with shoulder and chest, breaking the man's thigh with a snap, then hammered his groin with rapid-fire punches—BANG BANG BANG!
The butler howled like a wolf—literally. His body swelled, hair sprouting silver-white, muscles doubling in size. In seconds, the old man was gone—replaced by a towering werewolf, glowing blue eyes blazing with fury.
The beast snapped its dislocated leg back into place, glaring, lips curled over fangs.
Li Pan smirked. "Damn, even your balls are armored…"
But inside, he knew—he couldn't win. Not without qi. Not against a top-tier beast even at his level.
The werewolf didn't attack, merely crouched low, guarding its vitals. Rational. Controlled. They faced off, two beasts poised to strike—
Until click, click, click. High heels echoed.
From the corridor came a maid: braided hair, white stockings, black heels, miniskirt, body of a supermodel.
She stopped ten steps away. "We saved you by chance. If you want to leave, follow me."
Li Pan glanced at the wolf. It didn't move.
He grinned. "Some rescue. If I couldn't escape, I'd just rot downstairs? No host to apologize? No return of my weapon?"
The maid's response was to draw a massive revolver from under her skirt and aim at his head. "You heard him—he refuses to leave. Kill him."
Li Pan squinted at her. "…Have I seen you before?"
She ignored him, gun still raised. After a pause, she muttered "Tch," holstered it, and walked away.
The werewolf didn't move either. No trap, maybe.
So Li Pan darted after the maid, keeping one body-length behind. She led him through corridors, unlocking doors, into an underground garage.
A floating taxi waited.
"Not even your master showing face? No apology? No weapon back? And my medical bill?" he complained.
The maid gave him only a cold stare, no fanservice smile, only irritation. Her build, her legs—too perfect. A kick from her would snap bones. Almost certainly another shapeshifter.
"Fine. Next time I'll come back fully armed…" he muttered. He paused before boarding, squinting. "At least cover the fare, right?"
The maid clicked her tongue.
The taxi beeped: "Fare 400. Paid."
She rolled her eyes, flipped her braid, and slammed the castle door shut behind her.
"Where have I seen those legs…? Impossible I'd forget legs like that…" Li Pan puzzled the whole ride.
The taxi windows locked, route disguised, but he guessed they hadn't left Night City.
Back at the subway, he dragged himself home.
"Boss! You're back! You've been missing three days!"
Three days. Not months. But still—"Shit! My paid leave!"
Eighteen checked: "All gone."
Li Pan cursed. Only three days of paid leave per year—and he'd blown them.
Still, Orange was safe. Saved by Angela, the NCPA cop—now hailed as Night City's police idol, promoted to Inspector, star of variety shows, "most beautiful police flower," "partner of justice," even "Person of the Year."
Meanwhile, in the shadows, ninja clans and gangs clashed; Whirlpool Gang lost heavily, blamed for the hospital raid. The deeper crimes—morgues, crematoriums, surgeries—were buried.
And Eighteen had erased Li Pan's traces. Even Orange thought Angela saved her.
But Huang Dahe… vanished.
His mother dead, his bank closed, citizenship revoked, debts piled, chips disabled—overnight, he fell from student to bankrupt outcast, clutching a stranger's urn, disappearing into Night City's sea of people.
Orange couldn't search for him. His expulsion was framed as "selling tech," saddling him with impossible debts. If she failed to work and pay even the minimum interest, her son would fall from bankrupt to criminal—hunted, unable to even claim welfare or food aid.
Only the sewers or the wastelands awaited.
All for offending the corporation—overnight.
"What did he do to anger Night Corp?" Li Pan asked.
Eighteen explained.
The scandal was huge—Night City's top university, Night Corp Polytechnic! The boy was too smart for his own good.
He'd developed an OS for the classic Muramasa-III mechs, boosting performance 3000%. His graduation project. Accidentally caught on vlog, seen by a Fleet admiral's daughter.
The professors wanted it. Normally, they'd slap their names on it and pass him through. But this OS was revolutionary—portable to next-gen super mechs, raising combat potential sky-high.
The military was thrilled, ready to honor the "team." Medals, ranks, commissions.
But limited slots. The dean's kids, professors' sons, daughters… all lined up. Huang was cut from the project—but still forced to do all the work.
They blocked his graduation, denied authorship, wrung him dry. Promised if he helped with one more military OS, they'd let him go.
He endured, just wanting citizenship.
But the "sons" bragged, boasting their genius. Rival sons grew jealous. One's father, a Night Corp executive, ordered retaliation. They accused Huang of stealing corporate tech.
And just like that—erased.
.
.
.
⚠️ 30 CHAPTERS AHEAD — I'm Not a Cyberpsycho ⚠️
The system says: Kill.Mercs obey. Corporates obey. Monsters obey.One man didn't.
🧠💀 "I'm not a cyberpsycho. I just think... differently."
💥 High-voltage cyberpunk. Urban warfare. AI paranoia.Read 30 chapters ahead, only on Patreon.
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