Chapter 5: Chapter 5 – Meeting the Van

From my conversation with Vic, I learned that V is real in this world and that she just recovered from her coma. This information gives me an excellent idea of what the exact time is in the story. I still need to decide if I want to get involved with the main story. On the one hand, there's a lot of money to be made, but on the other hand, is the chaotic and dangerous life of V. I think the intelligent thing to do is to stay low for now but keep my options open. Make some plays if the timing is right.

The sale went well, and I managed to net E$ 4960, bringing my net worth up to E$ 5056. This is more than enough to get my plan started. I first paid Laurent so he could begin the licensing process as soon as possible. I then contacted the advertisement agency and directed them only to target gun stores and small security companies. After all was said and done, I still had 2806 Eurodollars.

Once the advertisement agency and I went over what would be expected, I locked up the shop and made my way to the bus stop. Along the way, I pretended to pick up trash to put in trash cans but stored them in my inventory. I did this to test what the system deems as junk and what I can disassemble. Everything I picked up, from empty soda cans to bloody bandages, I could disassemble and turn into Common Item Components.

10 Common Item Components could then be crafted into 24 rounds of pistol ammo, 48 rounds of rifle/SMG ammo, 12 rounds of shotgun shells, and eight rounds of sniper ammo. Unlike the game, where the crafted ammo is universal and works for any weapon in the category, my system has further divisions into specific types of each ammunition.

For pistols, I have the standard 9x19 and .45acp, among other calibers, for regular firearms. Then I have a standardized smart pistol and energy round for each major manufacturer. The other ammunition follows this same logic. The game developers would make ammunition universal, but it would be different in real life. And I now have to follow "real life rules".

My next step is to get to my apartment and car. I'll need to cancel my lease to start saving more money to buy the cyberware and equipment I plan to have. It will suck, but I'll have to live out of the shop for a while. The next step of my plan is to take my car and head toward the landfill. There I have access to unlimited free junk to make mountains of ammo.

Profit is the cost of material and labor subtracted from income. If both labor and material costs are zero, everything is profit. I've more or less become a one-person money-printing machine. But I'll have to be careful and not let my greed get the best of me.

Cyberpunk is infamous for corporate espionage, and if I make too big of a name for myself, the top dogs will start to dig into my business. If Arasaka or Militech gets wind of my abilities, their first orders will be to kidnap me and dissect me for my secrets. So I will only sell to small private businesses until I can get strong enough to fight against the giant corporations.

While waiting at the bus stop, I got a ping from a text to my phone. Quickly reading through it, I smiled and cheered internally at the already working spam campaign. The person who contacted me was one Robert Wilson or Wilson for short.

Wilson is the owner-operator of the 2nd Amendment franchise in Megabuilding H10. He saw my email immediately after it was sent and was interested in what I had to offer. Wilson was a certified gun nut with very stringent standards in the game.

Wilson was the same here, requesting me to bring a sample of 9mm, .45, .357, .223, and .308 before placing an order. I replied that I was available tomorrow, and we scheduled a meeting for 8 am. After I had planned my first sales meeting, the bus to my apartment arrived, and I got on.

Dakota's home is located at Megabuilding H8 in the Japantown sub-district of Westbrook. It's a cozy little joint with one bedroom, a bathroom, and even a simple kitchen. Dakota's ex figured herself to be a gourmet and liked to cook food when she had the chance.

As lovely as it is, it costs E$ 3200 a month, which Dakota paid for the whole year. Terminating the lease early will take away the deductible and a small fee, but I will still get back over E$ 13000. That money will significantly help me get my first set of implants.

The bus stopped three times, and the entire ride took roughly 25 minutes. By the time I got to the stop right outside, the sun had set, and the signature night city lights were in full power. Once inside the megabuilding, I got inside the elevator and first went to the parking lot.

Unlike the game, most cars couldn't drive themselves to your location. That feature was only present on expensive vehicles; even then, it was usually an additional feature. Once the elevator reached the parking lot floor, I got out and made my way to my van, a Beige Columbus V340-F Freight.

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After Dakota started his business, he sold his Hella EC-D 1360 sedan to buy a van. He did this so he could begin to move the goods he imported straight from the docks to his business, a decision I'm glad he made. The V340 wasn't fast or flashy, but it was reliable and practical. Something that I could heavily modify internally and still maintain a bland exterior.

Taking out my keys, I unlocked the car and opened the rear doors. The interior was clean and empty, with a few folded cardboard boxes on the floor. Deciding that I should start preparing for the meeting with Wilson, I went into my system and crafted the ammunition he requested for tomorrow.

Once done, I removed the ammunition from my inventory and placed them into the van. The crafted ammo came in their own small brown boxes. Picking up a box for 9mm, I opened the packaging to inspect the rounds. The bullets I created were standard full metal jackets with brass casings.

They didn't have any brandings on the headstamp or anything that indicated their origin, which might cause some concern when I try to sell these. Businesses will likely overlook such a thing if the price is right. And if they aren't, I'll lie. Fake it until you make it, right?

I closed up the box of 9mm I was holding and put it back with the rest of the ammo. Crafting all this ammunition also brought my crafting level halfway to level 2. I also got a bit of crafting experience from disassembling items. Hopefully, I can abuse this system and rake in experience points breaking apart junk at the landfill.

After securing the ammunition in the van, I headed to my apartment. My home was on the 32nd floor, which is on the middle-class floors. In the world of Cyberpunk, most people find themselves living in Megabuildings. These behemoths of concrete and steel were built to help the overpopulation problem. But even with the express purpose of saving space, there still was a distinction between the rich and poor.

Generally speaking, the higher you are in a megabuilding, the better off you are. This is also reflected in the size of the apartments. In H8, floors one through ten comprised mostly of businesses. 11 through 30 housed lower-income households. 31 through 50 had middle-class families. And luxury apartments and penthouses were located on levels 50 to 55.

Once the elevator stopped at floor 32, I got out and turned left. Each floor was massive, and the walk took three minutes before I reached my door. Once there, I unlocked the door and walked inside.

Unlike his car, Dakota's apartment was an absolute disaster. Empty drink cans, bags full of garbage, and dirty clothes were strewn across the place. Just one look, and you could tell whoever lived here was really at rock bottom.

I sighed and looked at my phone to get the time. It was currently 7:45 pm, still relatively early in the evening. Deciding that even if it was just a day, I couldn't live in this filth. Cleaning was something that I would have to do eventually. I can't just leave garbage everywhere for the inspection team to find when I move out. The bright side is that I have a superpower that makes cleaning easy. Getting rid of the trash also gives me experience points toward my crafting level.

After three and a half hours of cleaning, I finally managed to get the place nice and tidy. I increased my crafting level to three and gained a perk point and a 5% reduction in crafting cost. Dragging my body to the bedroom, I lazily took off my clothing and fell onto the comfy bed. I pulled the system up and invested my one perk point into Mechanic. Once done, I set the alarm for 7 am, pulled the cover over my body, and fell into a deep sleep.

 

Author's Note

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