The Sage's Time is always so long.
When Berry looked at the ceiling and the ceiling looked back at Berry, she knew she shouldn't have indulged in feminine charm just now.
Between adventurers, meeting eyes means a duel.
Berry thought her chances of winning were high. Berry charged forward (A'd up). However, just as not all effort yields results, although her fighting spirit was strong, Berry's outcome was not pleasant.
As an opponent to the seasoned trainer—the woman named V—she was beaten until she threw away her armor and begged for mercy repeatedly, barely escaping with her life. The humiliation was comparable only to the Gate-calling Emperor of old.
It was now the morning of the second day. V's lingering warmth remained in the cozy little nest, and water rushed in the bathroom, accompanied by a little tune hummed in a sweet voice. That was V, enjoying the leisurely aftermath of victory on the second morning.
"Little lazy pig, you should get up. The sun is almost hitting your butt."
The bathroom door opened. Accompanied by the rising mist of hot steam, V, wrapped in a towel, walked out while drying her hair.
The girl radiated light. Strands of blue hair shimmered with damp brightness, and residual water droplets slid down her fair skin. Coupled with the exquisitely shaped figure vaguely visible beneath the towel, she could easily ignite certain people's primal impulses.
This was a beautiful picture, especially since the girl in the painting was alive and vibrant, with deep blue eyes that sparkled like stars every time she looked over, and a perpetually gentle smile gracing her lips.
In short, if one could have such a beauty as a lifelong companion, anyone would wake up smiling from their dreams.
And Berry had already achieved this.
At this moment, all sense of defeat vanished, and a relaxed joy, like that of a life winner, welled up in Berry's heart.
Moreover, Berry noticed that V had been smiling more and more since arriving in the city, something rarely seen when they were with the Nomads family.
Her life seemed very comfortable. Look, she was humming and singing while taking a morning shower. Even Berry's mood was lifted, and she almost forgot that she was the one who had been miserably defeated last night.
While Berry was distracted, V had already changed into her clothes—a blue crop top and blue motorcycle pants, which she usually favored. It was as if V had a thing against colors other than blue, preferring to dress entirely in blue.
In that brief moment of distraction, the relaxed girl of the morning instantly transformed into a capable Mercenary, becoming the shrewd, famous V of the streets.
However, only when feeling the warm, gentle gaze V directed at her did Berry understand that V was still V, just layered with armor.
The way these two contradictory identities—the fighter who licked blood from the blade and the innocent girl—could seamlessly merge and switch, Berry suddenly felt a hollowness in her heart.
V shouldn't have to live this kind of life.
In the prime of her life, barely 20 years old, she was already a seasoned Mercenary, with countless lives on her hands and numerous times she had narrowly escaped death. Berry had experienced all this alongside V, which made her feel even more sorrowful.
What force could transform a person like this, forcing men and women to earn a living with guns on the streets? Was this truly the face the world was meant to wear?
Perhaps it was, perhaps it wasn't.
But Berry was now resigned. She was tired of questioning repeatedly. Life had taught her not to question anymore; if she wanted change, she could only rely on her own hands.
Perhaps V had understood this long ago, for she had never shed a tear or complained in front of Berry, even when life was difficult and she was nearly defeated time after time.
It was only when V was seriously injured that she rarely showed a vulnerable, defeated side to Berry, leading Berry to realize that the V in front of her was not just the consistently strong, Legend Mercenary from the game who bravely fought any difficulty.
She was human after all. Like everyone else, she had moments of fear and hesitation in her heart.
She just concealed it well, making people mistakenly believe she was the tough Mercenary she deliberately presented to everyone.
V, who had already changed her clothes, was unaware of all this. She only saw Berry half-sitting on the bed, looking at her with distant eyes, revealing emotions V couldn't quite decipher.
"Berry, what's wrong?"
V came over and sat on the edge of the bed, stroking Berry's fair little face with a warm hand, her expression showing gentle concern.
Feeling the warmth of V's palm and fingers, Berry remained silent, merely tilting her head and biting V's finger. She didn't bite hard, only enough to stop V's movement.
Releasing V's finger, Berry shook her head, indicating she was fine.
"...V, why don't we leave Night City?"
Berry looked at V's face for a moment, then suddenly spoke this sentence.
Although it was somewhat selfish and self-deceptive, Berry still uttered the words.
"Let's leave Night City and go somewhere no one can find us, a place with no people, no conflict, and no strife, okay?"
This time, it was Berry who stroked V's face, speaking in a gentle tone, her eyes revealing a watery affection.
Sometimes she felt weary —weary of strife, weary of struggle, weary of the endless mutual crushing and killing of humans on this great land. Sometimes she wanted to completely escape all of it with V.
Wouldn't it be nice to find a deserted place and live out the rest of their decades?
Although she clearly knew this was just a fantasy —even those so-called hidden households and secluded people, the Ancient Pioneers who were outside of control, did not find a simple, peaceful, and secure ending to the calm life they sought. Instead, they were met by pursuing officials, bringing taxes, whips, and soldiers.
Humanity once crushed the entire natural world at an immense speed, and the same was true for their peers who grew weary of restrictions. Nothing could escape the process of socialization; everything became private property, natural attributes were distorted, and humans and all natural creations became part of a virtual yet powerful process of socialization.
Especially now, in this highly technologically advanced Cyber World, everything natural on Earth has been quantified, and all pure things have been shackled by socialization. Not an inch of land is without an owner, nor an inch of sky without belonging. Everything has become a product of man; even man himself has become a product of human society.
Therefore, when Berry spoke these words, which were close to escapism, she herself felt a little ridiculous.
But she still said it. Even if it was an impractical fantasy, it felt as if speaking it aloud would make it a little more real.
V listened quietly to what Berry said, smiling all the while and stroking Berry's head.
"Berry, you are just tired."
V's sweet voice was ethereal and fleeting, as light and elusive as smoke drifting from the horizon, seeming as if it might vanish the next second.
After hearing this, Berry also fell silent.
Yes, how can modern people escape?
Every corner of the world no longer accommodates people.
Everything is mutating, destroying, and has become unrecognizable.
Nature has been ruined beyond recognition; the wilderness is no longer suitable for human survival, filled with drought, famine, and the traces of human devastation.
In this world where satellites can precisely locate every inch of space, no one can escape their fate or their peers. Like the bewildered ants who come to Night City, succeeding one after another, leaving is merely crossing from one mud pit to another.
When she thought of this, Berry felt relieved instead.
This world forces people to fight, and they must fight; those who do not fight cannot gain a foothold or survive.
Just as countless people want to completely alienate this society and drag this world into a state of stagnant old age, there is always the spirit of the departed great nature —the fields, the mountain springs, the endless rolling mountains, the spirit of humanity walking out of the cave for the first time and seeing lightning, seeing the wind, seeing a thousand clouds sweeping across the fields —that resists.
Nature, beauty, truth, and even goodness —even when cornered, there are always people fighting for them.
Johnny Silverhand, Morgan Blackhand, and even Yorinobu Arasaka, along with many others, have not abandoned the human instinct to fight, constantly battling against a reality that should not be so terrible.
The Berry who cannot escape is also fighting, fighting for the love that has been spoken of countless times until it is cliché but never truly realized.
Berry's eyes flickered. Looking at V, she opened her arms.
"V, a hug."
Seeing Berry open her arms to her, V smiled in response, preparing to embrace Berry as usual, but this time, it was different.
Berry opened her arms and, under V's slightly surprised gaze, pulled her into an embrace.
Cupping the back of V's head, Berry held her close, V's head resting against her chest. Due to the difference in height, V had to lower herself, leaning her body into Berry's somewhat narrow embrace.
V felt only a brief surprise before yielding to Berry's actions, closing her eyes and resting securely in Berry's arms.
Looking at V in her arms, Berry's eyelids drooped, her half-revealed eyes showing compassionate maternal love. Her fair hand soothed V's back, burying her tightly in the embrace, encompassing everything like a loving Holy Mother.
The relatively taller V bent down, half-cradled in the petite Berry's arms. In the silence, the entire scene resembled a Renaissance Madonna, filled with sacred radiance.
The room became quiet because of this embrace, as if everything had stopped. Smelling Berry's scent and feeling Berry's soothing touch on her back, V's heart had never been so calm.
With every breath, her breathing gradually deepened. Her eyes were half-closed, and she was nearly falling asleep, feeling a sense of security she had never known, like the Holy Child returning confused to his mother's embrace.
At this moment, Berry's maternal radiance was fully displayed. Her body seemed shrouded in a soft glow, softening everything around her.
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