Qiushui Xueyue had received the cyberware.
However, instead of heading to the company to report in, she brought the cyberware back to her apartment in the city center.
As soon as she stepped inside, Qiushui Xueyue tossed the cyberware aside, threw herself onto the coffee table, and inhaled two deep sprays of her anti-psychosis medication.
Under the influence of the drug, her nearly uncontrollable urge to burst into laughter gradually subsided. The overwhelming desire to destroy everything in sight began to fade.
Returning to her usual icy demeanor, Qiushui Xueyue muttered, "Is the side effect of this new Sandevistan and Mantis Blades combination too intense?"
Only now did she realize she had unknowingly brought the cyberware back home — a move full of risk. Yet, perhaps that decision was driven by a subconscious desire.
Leaning against the sofa, she began organizing all the information she'd gathered during her recent mission.
In the deep dive, she finally learned the truth behind the massive information leak that had plunged the entire Arasaka Night City branch into chaos — enough to even catch the attention of the Tokyo headquarters. Until now, her superiors had kept the details tightly under wraps, only vaguely claiming that important intel had been leaked by a mole.
But now Qiushui Xueyue understood what the leaked intel was.
Back in 2060, Arasaka had launched a research project on the Old Net. When the Old Net was destroyed by computer viruses and rogue AIs, countless valuable data sets were buried deep within the virtual void. The purpose of the research was to recover these assets.
However, the project encountered major setbacks. Chief among them was the Blackwall — a digital fortress separating the Old Net from the current one.
Faced with pressure, the project's lead came up with a reckless solution: send children with hacking talents into the Old Net.
Unsurprisingly, the project failed. Most of the children perished under AI attacks, and the few who survived defected. Although Arasaka's security division eliminated most of the escapees, one child was still alive according to the list.
Qiushui Xueyue's head throbbed again, but she resisted the urge to take more meds, knowing their addictive nature.
Now she understood why Arasaka's higher-ups in Night City were acting like cats whose tails had been stepped on.
If this intel got out, the NetWatch — responsible for maintaining the Blackwall — would come after Arasaka. Regulatory scrutiny would increase tenfold, and the economic fallout would be unacceptable to shareholders.
Other corporations wouldn't miss the chance to kick Arasaka while it was down. Stock plunges, hostile shorting — all foreseeable outcomes.
Oddly enough, public opinion was the least of their concerns.
Anyone with access to this intel would already hold high positions within the company — far above the need to trade secrets for gain. If they did betray Arasaka, it could only mean someone had given them an order they couldn't refuse.
This traitor clearly resented the task and left a trap.
He encoded the leaked data into binary — ones and zeros — and then used a method of selecting characters at specific intervals to break it up. Each fragment was hidden inside the drivers of different cyberware units. The programs were redundant enough to conceal the added data without raising suspicion.
The traitor even included the identity of the mastermind behind the leak.
The entire confession served as a suicide note — and pointed to someone Qiushui Xueyue found both surprising and unsurprising.
After pondering the information, she dove back into the Net — this time targeting Arasaka's Night City servers.
---
Yogan, meanwhile, had accepted an invitation to stay overnight at Jackie's place. Jackie's mother, Mrs. Wells, was a warm and welcoming host.
That night, Yogan lay in the guest room bed with his eyes closed, focusing on his system.
It seemed heavily damaged — many features were broken, like character templates and stat distribution, which now appeared as garbled code.
Still, a few functions remained.
There was the "Overclock Mode" that had saved his life more than once. He could also gain experience points by defeating enemies or assisting in kills. These points unlocked new abilities — like the one that let him pose as a hacker by reading electronic devices.
Even the recent kill by Qiushui Xueyue — a corporate dog who nearly pushed both her and V to the brink — gave Yogan a bit of assist XP.
He had a bold thought: If he unlocked more functions, could he eventually find a way back to his original world?
With that idea in mind, he gradually drifted into sleep.
---
The next day, Jackie rode his motorcycle around the Glen district with Yogan, visiting nearly every real estate agency.
But things didn't go smoothly.
"What the hell, man. I don't remember the Glen being this expensive to rent in."
"There used to be some cheap places, right?"
"Forget it, Yogan. You heard what they said — the gunfire never stops in those cheap areas. You, with your scrawny limbs, would be abducted by Scavs in no time."
Pacing the sidewalk, Jackie suddenly lit up with an idea.
"I got it, bro. Let's go talk to V — maybe she's got a lead."
"Jackie, didn't you brag about knowing Glen like the back of your hand? And now you want to trouble V?"
"This was unexpected! Just a few weeks ago, rent here was fine. Who knew it'd skyrocket so fast? But seriously, V has her own connections. If she can't help, worst-case, you crash at my place a bit longer. My mom even said, 'Having someone reliable around Jackie puts my mind at ease.' Jeez, I'm a grown man and she still treats me like a kid…"
Amid Jackie's rambling, the two arrived at V's apartment.
He rang the bell loudly. "Hey, girl! V! You home?"
After a moment, the door opened. V appeared in a loose tank top and sweatpants, clearly just woken up.
"Girl, it's afternoon. Still catching up on beauty sleep?"
"I just got home this morning," V rubbed her nose bridge.
"What were you up to so late?"
"I couldn't stop worrying about Tracey. I stayed the night with her at the hospital."
"How is she?"
"Much better. Best specialists, best rooms, best medicine… Damn. Those doctors used to say her condition was untreatable. Now they say she'll recover in three months."
"Ha! That's Corpo life for you. Money talks. Give them enough eddies, and any 'incurable' disease becomes manageable."
"Let's not talk about that. What brings you two here?"
"We've been hunting for a place for Yogan all day in the Glen — came up empty. So I thought maybe you'd have a lead?"
V slouched onto the sofa, legs draped over the coffee table. "Rent in Glen should be among the lowest in Night City. Hard to believe you found nothing."
"Then your intel's outdated. Prices have doubled — at least."
"What? I've been here the whole time, but it feels like I live in another city. Hold on."
V jacked into the Net to check recent rent trends — and even she was shocked by the spike. "Did the real estate tycoons go insane?"
"That's why we came to you."
V rolled her eyes at Jackie. "You've got better connections here than I do. If you can't find anything, what makes you think I can?"
"Come on, sis. I promised I'd find him a place today."
V eyed Yogan. "Actually, I might have a solution."
"I knew it! You never let me down."
She gave him a sly smile — the kind Yogan had only seen in cheesy webnovels, the so-called "crooked-smile dragon king" type. And her suggestion was even more unexpected.
"I've got extra rooms here. Why not just rent one from me? Price is negotiable."
"…What?" Jackie nearly threw out his back in shock.
"…What?" Yogan couldn't tell if she was joking or serious. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to end up in a real-life "hot landlady and her cute tenant" plotline.
V was already walking deeper into the apartment.
"What are you staring at? Come see the room first."