However, V first acknowledged, "I have to say, your talent's not bad. You've still got the boxing skills I taught you last time."
"Heh." Mercer got up and wiggled his finger at her. "Playing dirty, are we? Come on, I'll get serious this time!"
V smirked confidently and said, "If this were a real fight, I could take you on with one hand tied behind my back!"
"You talk too much." Mercer said, suddenly kicking out.
V slapped aside his front kick with one hand, just about to step forward, when Mercer spun back with a right roundhouse kick.
Controlling the range? His reach isn't that much longer than mine, right?
V was still pondering it when suddenly a line of text appeared before her eyes.
[Invasion Detected…]
The red alert box and the ICE implant installed in her prefrontal cortex began to operate, and V's face turned dark. "You actually hacked me!"
But Mercer just laughed, fully concentrating as he activated Brain-Machine Overclocking and Synaptic Acceleration, the cooling units on his back humming loudly.
V's eyes narrowed, Sianwistan, activate!
In an instant, her speed more than doubled.
Mercer had no time to respond, relying instead on his now-accelerated thoughts to try to prolong the battle.
V's figure turned into a blur as she appeared behind Mercer, trying to shut down his Brain-Computer Interface, but although Mercer's body couldn't keep up, his reaction speed was spot on. He relied purely on calculating V's movement trajectory and lashed out an elbow backward proactively.
V seemed to glitch like a screen stuttering, her whole body twitching in place, yet she completed a retreating and advancing maneuver.
But then, a black data line lashed out from Mercer's wrist.
V leaned back sharply, almost executing a full bridge, swearing as she did, "You're using Single Molecule Line, too!"
To be precise, Mercer was using a Single Molecule Line without an attack mode enabled, which could be considered a very durable but not sharp data line.
But in simulated combat, V had to treat it as the real deal to dodge.
Mercer didn't have time to talk with her now—he was really sweating bullets, and V's prefrontal ICE implant could practically be considered military-grade.
One could even say it's better than military-grade because the program and algorithms were written by Mercer himself; breaking through the ICE defense wasn't that simple.
Using your own spear to attack your own created shield?
After dodging the Single Molecule Line, V almost immediately found the flaw in Mercer's use, squeezed through, triumphantly grabbed his wrist.
With a simple one-foot step, she flipped him onto a mat with an over-the-shoulder throw, then pinned his back with a standard NCPD hold.
"Admit defeat, or... damn! You're cheating..." V said halfway through, suddenly twitching all over, collapsing onto Mercer's back.
The permissions for her body's implants were snatched by Mercer, her arms unwilling to obey, and the data from her Brain-Computer Interface was scrambled, unable to accurately send signals to her body.
Mercer flipped them over, grinning as he pinned her down, glaring at her: "Bullying people, huh? No one can beat you once you activate Sianwistan!"
"Let... me go! Hurry up!" Besides the embarrassment of being pinned down, seeing Mercer sitting on her, she felt an inexplicable panic.
Mercer chuckled, "Admit you're wrong! Say you'll never use Sianwistan to bully again!"
"Damn... you were the one who used a hacking program on me first!" V retorted, neck straining. "You're the one cheating!"
"You said it yourself, simulated street fighting. Isn't it normal for a hacker like me to use quick hacks in a street fight?" Mercer held on, triumphantly pinning her hands above her head, making her unable to move.
V blushed fiercely this time, staying silent, just glaring at Mercer. Her face, whether from embarrassment or anger, was visibly red.
Locking eyes with V, Mercer sensed something off with the atmosphere, coughed, and let go. "Ouch, I think you hurt my back with that throw. I need to check my cooling..."
"Then unlock my program!" she said angrily.
Mercer got up off her, negotiating, "Alright, I'll unlock it, but you can't hit me afterward!"
"Unlock it first!"
"You promise first!"
"Are you unlocking it or not?"
"If you're gonna hit me, I definitely won't unlock it!"
After a bit of bickering, V pushed through the implant permission failure, forcing herself up, glaring at him fiercely, "Fine! I promise I won't hit you! Now unlock it! Delete the program!"
Mercer hesitated but eventually deleted the program as promised. As expected, the moment it was unlocked, she pounced at him, pinning him under her, rolling him over into a rear-naked choke.
"Agh..." Mercer hurriedly tapped the ground, signaling surrender, while V grumbled in his ear, "Even if it's unfair when I use Sianwistan, once I beat you, you still hack me. Do you think that's fair?"
"Then what, I just take a beating for nothing?" Mercer argued, twisting her arm and flipping over, and the two of them immediately started practicing ground grappling.
But Mercer's grappling skills were taught by V—he couldn't counter his master's techniques!
After a brief scuffle, V had him pinned to the ground again, her arm wrapped around his, pressing her legs against Mercer's chest, executing a perfect armbar.