He even got to know Rogue, the most badass fixer in Night City, and set foot in the Rebirth Bar, a place countless mercenaries never entered till their dying day.
On the side, he and V managed to take down a fully armed cyberpsycho.
V, this unexpectedly dependable mercenary, was led around in circles by him... She'd probably officially join Mercer once his gigs were done.
He had no idea how all these things happened, but thinking about it now, even considering his hacking skills she didn't quite understand, he was incredibly impressive.
Pan'an bit her lip, not knowing what to say for a while, so she scratched her head and muttered again, "Sorry."
She felt a bit embarrassed—an eighteen-year-old adult getting schooled by a kid no older than thirteen or fourteen… really...
"Alright, enough of that. I know you mean well."
Mercer gave her a way out, then cast her a sidelong glance and chuckled, "What? You can't expect me to apologize for saying I only hired you to drive, right?
But that's really what I thought. This time, I didn't hire you to be my bodyguard.
No matter what happened today, you stood firmly by my side, and I'm grateful for that. There's nothing else you need to worry about.
So how about it? Want to officially join me? Then I won't ever say you're just a driver again."
Pan'an turned her face awkwardly like a little girl, "I won't... Anyway, just don't tell them when you get back, it's too embarrassing."
"Got it," Mercer chuckled, shaking his head—this girl really had no ulterior motives or malice, simple and direct, saying whatever's on her mind.
"Drive us back, I've got to check on my hacking chair; finally, I can start deep diving.
I need to find a place in Night City where our whole crew can settle down, no idea how much that will cost... Sigh."
Mercer said, buckling his seatbelt, and Pan'an stepped on the gas, driving the car away.
Under Night City's neon lights, the car drove steadily amid the traffic. Pan'an felt too embarrassed to talk, and Mercer was a bit tired, so he turned on the radio.
Listening to the music, he quietly enjoyed the feeling of moving through Night City, staring at the city, grown so vibrant from countless buried bodies, Mercer fell into a trance.
Even now, he still felt a bit unreal—like he was still wandering.
The sense of belonging... it wasn't really there.
Even to this day, he would occasionally feel like he was still just playing a game, and once the game ended, he'd wake up back into his mundane, despair-inducing everyday life.
Tilting his head, leaning against the window, Mercer thought deeply: maybe to the people here, his past life was like paradise.
A stable society where you didn't worry about stray bullets on the streets, or getting into a bar fight that turns into a murder spree.
While the food wasn't gourmet, it was decent beef, lamb, pork, and fresh vegetables.
There was clean water, a home for a peaceful sleep, a steady job to find.
Even though everyone curses the companies, at least the real-world corporations hadn't evolved to the point where people would feel grateful for only having five days off a year...
Mercer missed home a bit, but not desperately—looking at the flashing neon and traffic outside, he thought maybe he really had gone mad.
The scene of almost being shredded by a cyberpsycho was still fresh in his mind, yet he was already reminiscing and looking forward to more thrills.
Maybe it's because he always longed for a life that wasn't ordinary, that wasn't mundane, which is why he chose those options in the game before crossing over?
Mercer rolled down the window a little, letting the unique, slightly stinky air of Night City rush into his nose.
It's funny, the scent from Pan'an in the car felt unreal, but the stench made him feel grounded in Night City.
Stretching out his hand, feeling the way the air pressed against his palm, a faint smile unconsciously appeared on his face.
"What are you doing..."
Pan'an watched him with his youthful face, feeling the wind with his hand outside the window, and couldn't help but smirk—the expression didn't match a kid's face.
He seemed a bit relieved, yet slightly melancholy...
"Did you know? At sixty kilometers per hour, the wind forms a D cup."
Mercer spoke as if reciting poetry.
Pan'an couldn't hold back and burst into laughter, "Damn, Mercer! You kid..."
But Mercer just curled his lips and looked back at her, "Do you know where Johnny Silverhand was when Arasaka Tower exploded?"
"Huh? Why'd you bring that up... I don't know, where was he?"
Pan'an shook her head.
"He was... everywhere~ hahaha!"
Mercer finished and burst out laughing.
Pan'an was stunned at first, then caught on and laughed along too, erasing the earlier awkwardness completely.
Mercer rolled up the window, tucking himself back inside, teasing each other during the drive until they arrived and she noticed Lucy sitting at the camp entrance, gazing at the stars, then stopped talking.
"Oh, someone waiting for you at home?"
She meant to tease Mercer; she knew just like he disliked being treated as a kid, he didn't like jokes about him and Lucy.
After all, he saw himself as a mature adult, and kiddie romance jokes seemed tasteless to him.
But that didn't stop others; the more embarrassed he got, the more amusing his grown-up expressions on a childish face became.
However, unexpectedly, Mercer's expression changed… to something complicated and hard to fathom.
Pan'an didn't understand what that look or expression meant, only that Mercer paused for a couple of seconds before unexpectedly smiling with a sense of relief.
"Yeah, someone is waiting for me at home, quite nice."
He pushed open the door, and Lucy sitting on a plastic box outside the camp caught his eye, her cool expression under short hair broke into a faint smile.
"You're late... Was everything okay?"
Lucy asked as she stood, scanning his new look, "Dyed your hair black, changed clothes... looks good on you."
"Uh-huh~ got you new clothes too, wanna see?"
He opened Pan'an's trunk with a smile, and Lucy came over, hands behind her back, bending slightly to look at all the things inside.
Lucy complained, "Save some money; Zeta Technology delivered stuff today. Where do you get all this cash?"
"Thanks to our friendly donation from Agent Arasaka... Since you're here, help me carry this, and I'll tell you about all the exciting stuff that happened today."
Mercer just chuckled, stuffing things into her hands. With a small, strained face, Lucy carried several large bags, struggling under the weight, "I should've stayed inside."
Yet despite her words, she followed Mercer, trudging and wobbling like a penguin, burdened as she was.
Pan'an crossed her arms beside the car, chuckled after a while, shaking her head, not overthinking it since Mercer seemed happy enough now.
She helped too, picking up the oddities Mercer purchased while shopping.
"Hold on there... When did you buy so many Super Dream Chips? Sailor Moon? Damn, you watch that?"
Pan'an laughed, joining them.
Mercer turned his head, staring at her speechless, "For Kyoko."
"Really?" Lucy laughed softly, "Relax, no one will disturb you this time when you watch it."
"Kiss off..." Mercer laughed, heading deeper into the camp.
The wilderness night sky remained bright.
Like the reflection of Night City's neon.
The first day Mercer officially stepped into Night City was drawing to a close.
But his story in Night City was just about to officially begin.