Players Invade Cyberpunk

???

Bro, are you even speaking human language?

Is this guy some kind of cyberpsychotic?

Someone's already called the NCPD. This is the border area, theoretically under their jurisdiction.

When it comes to handling cyberpsychosis, they do act a bit quicker than usual; after all, this kind of stuff is often tied to corporations, so they have to clean up the mess.

And, as luck would have it, the one who showed up is Hayden Carson.

When the NCPD arrived, he saw those four guys carrying a half-dead member of the New United Gang running toward him.

"What... are you doing..."

"Reporting, Chief!"

The big shot stood straight and spoke with a serious demeanor.

"This guy was dining and dashing in the restaurant. We tried to reason with him and were prepared to cover his bill, but then he started hitting us. We couldn't hold back and ended up beating him like this..."

So... it's not cyberpsychosis, it's just gang fighting?

The Chief rubbed his temples, relieved it wasn't really cyberpsychosis, yet annoyed by these mercenaries causing him trouble for nothing.

And for some reason, there were unusually many reports today, all involving brawls and shootings; otherwise, even he wouldn't be out on patrol.

"Withdraw."

"Chief... about the bounty... ehehe..."

"...It's already been credited to your account. Now get lost."

Damn, Hayden Carson wishes for once that the Tiger Claws would hurry up and kill these people.

When did the efficiency of those Neon People become so slow?

Meanwhile, the players, gleeful with the money they managed to get, extracted the loose change and handgun from the beaten-to-a-pulp Fender before throwing him to the ground for the officers to take away.

They then prepared to find their next victim.

The big shot even went back to the restaurant to pick up the money he had stylishly thrown around earlier. Showing off has its cost.

Then, he counted out his and Potato's meal money, along with Fender's, and placed it on the table.

"Boss, here's mine and his meal money. No need to thank me."

He patted his chest and said.

"If anyone else causes trouble by dining and dashing, call us, alright? We'll make sure to handle it for you."

"..." The boss looked at the money on the table but wasn't happy at all.

In his eyes, this was just gang conflict over territory, and he'd still have to pay a thirty percent protection fee and face more dashing, only with someone else collecting the money.

By the way, this guy hasn't mentioned which gang they're from. If he pays the wrong gang, it'd be a disaster.

But when he lifted his head, those four had already vanished without a trace.

...

Big Shot: "Profit! Damn, there's still 63 bucks on him, a handgun, and the bounty adds up to almost half a mission reward."

"But if we split it, it's too little." Brother Ni smacked his lips.

If that cop hadn't come, who knows, we might have called all their gang over and caught them all for a big score."

Big Shot: "It's not bad. Let's first ask the others how they did, see how much they raked in."

The players' probing methods varied, like the big shot who followed to wait for others to screw up, as well as sting operations.

Deliberately stuffing a wad of cash into a pocket and heading into an alley, baiting people out before acting.

Only, this behavior is somewhat risky because you don't know how many people are coming or what weapons they have, so it's prone to backfire.

For instance, Jianxue Wuming.

Because he needed to teach new players how to make compliant explosives, he entered the city later and had limited time, so he played big.

He wanted to score big this time.

He got some intel from Nina about an area where people often disappeared and headed there with Tutu, strapped with explosives.

Thinking last time Potato and the gang fooled the Sixth Street Gang with explosives vests, now that he's personally heading out, it should be a cinch.

He donned gold-rimmed glasses, pretended to be weak, wandering aimlessly in the abandoned industrial zone as if lost.

But then, nada.

Jianxue Wuming, leading the way, was quickly knocked out with a stick, packed into a sack, and loaded into a vehicle with seamless flow, obviously done by a seasoned criminal.

As for Tutu, who was following behind, he hadn't even reacted before they drove away, not even leaving time to speak before they disappeared.

"I haven't even gotten in the car! At least grab me too, damn!"

Then, the vehicle returned, grabbing Tutu inside as well.

...

When Jianxue awoke from unconsciousness, he was enveloped in darkness, with only the light from a skylight overhead.

He shook his head, taking a while to recall what happened.

Damn, these people have no sense of honor, ambushing and tricking an elder like me.

Wonder if Tutu managed to call for help; it'd be best not to know who attacked so I can explode them all into oblivion...

?

Jianxue patted himself, the explosive vests were gone, the gun too, he was left with just a shirt and boxers.

Damn! Who's this skinflint.

Helpless, Jianxue could only survey his surroundings.

Darkness. The light overhead barely made some things visible.

Dank, cramped.

Nearby, he could hear the breathing of multiple people, only not noticing earlier due to the dim lighting.

"Uh... Is anyone alive here?"

No response.

In fact, his voice made others shrink even deeper into the corners.

"This is ridiculous..."

He muttered, then tried reaching out to other players, but his signal receiver was damaged, unable to send any signal.