A week later, a small shop named "Old Man's Divination House" opened not far from Misty's shop.
Asa currently only offered divination services; as for expanding into Cyberware replacement and other skills later, he would consider that once he had learned them.
On opening day, Asa caught a glimpse of that Gothic girl from afar.
Short blonde hair, heavy straight bangs, smoky black eye makeup, and a lip ring set in her lower lip.
It was undoubtedly the Misty from the game; the burly man with the small bun standing next to her was naturally Jackie Welles.
Asa, who was moving miscellaneous items into the shop, saw the two of them peeking from a distance.
Misty appeared quite calm, but Jackie Welles had a look of irrepressible anger on his face.
Opening right next to his girlfriend's shop—this was clearly a blatant attempt to steal business.
"Chica, I think we should teach that kid a lesson."
Having grown up in gangs, Jackie naturally didn't have a good temper with strangers. He rubbed his palms together, wanting to show the competitor across the street what for.
"Jackie, don't be so irritable."
Misty held back the restless Jackie.
"Haven't you noticed?"
The Gothic girl's tone was filled with surprise:
"He's a natural human?"
"Holy shit, he really is."
Electronic eyes scanned the body of the shop owner across the street, and the results left Jackie Welles in shock.
In today's society, even devout Catholics or Buddhists would install a piece of Cyberware or two. The man across the street had no trace of cybernetic modification; he was clearly a pure, healthy natural human.
"I see, damn, which family's young master is this?"
Jackie Welles couldn't help but complain. Those who spend years on the streets naturally know who to mess with and who not to. Jackie chuckled and scratched the back of his head.
"Good thing you reminded me, Misty."
On the other side, Asa was also deep in thought.
Why did the system suddenly fail again? Is Misty not considered an important plot character?
Or is it because she's already taken?
Asa felt embarrassed; did this system have its own aesthetics, refusing to let him steal someone else's girl?
The low-voiced conversation between the two reached Asa ears.
A thought occurred to Asa.
Among the three lifepaths, Jackie and V don't know each other in two; only in the Corpo-Rat path do they seem to have known each other for a long time.
His target wasn't actually these two.
He had inquired over the past few days; there was no punk named Valerie or Vincent in Heywood who had run off to Atlanta to enjoy some happy life.
The Nomad side was even harder to track; the protagonist's Nomad clan might be wandering anywhere, and it was hard to say if they'd even reached Night City yet.
So it was either the Corpo-Rat start or the Nomad start.
If he wanted to determine if V was still working in the Hoffman Intelligence Department, couldn't he just ask Jackie?
After arranging the interior of the divination house, Asa picked up a small prepared gift and turned to walk toward Misty's esoteric shop.
Seeing Asa approach, Jackie Welles's gaze immediately turned unfriendly.
Is this kid coming to challenge us?
"Hey, what do you want, kid?"
Jackie Welles stepped directly in front of Misty, his tone hostile.
Asa was stunned, not knowing where Jackie's hostility came from.
After seeing the other man's somewhat jealous gaze, he suddenly realized. Alas, it's all to blame for this face that rivals the readers'.
Coming with good intentions, Asa smilingly handed over the gift box:
"Opening day today. We'll be neighbors from now on, so please take care of me. A small gift, just a token of my respect."
"Holy shit, you really came to give a gift."
Jackie Welles was very surprised.
These days, there aren't many people willing to show kindness to strangers; Viktor is one, and Misty is another.
For anyone else, giving a polite greeting is already considered high-class behavior; after all, for those in gangs, 'fuck' and 'motherfucker' are part of their daily vocabulary.
And high-quality talents? Please, everyone knows the state of public education in Night City.
"I'll take my leave."
After delivering the gift, Asa simply turned and left; making his face known was enough for now.
In the Corpo-Rat path, Jackie is a key figure, and he figured he'd left a good first impression.
In the past few days, he had also inquired about the Afterlife Bar; there was indeed a group of mercenaries there: Maine and his girlfriend Dorio, and a hacker with cat-ear hair named Sasha.
As for Rebecca and her brother—what was his name again?—they hadn't appeared yet; the main cast wasn't fully assembled.
He wondered if Rebecca, Sasha, and the others counted as important plot characters.
Asa was curious; it seemed the animation world and the 3D game world were coming together.
On the other side, once he confirmed Asa wasn't there to cause trouble, Jackie Welles opened the gift box.
Inside was a thick novel, "The Witcher."
A 20th-century Polish bestseller, and it was a paper copy; the cover depicted a Witcher and a Sorceress fighting side by side.
Paper books were practically antiques in this era.
"'The Witcher'? Why send this thing?"
Jackie and Misty looked at each other, puzzled.
Today's events were strange from start to finish. However, they had confirmed that this Easterner seemed to have no ill intent.
On the first day of business, Asa decided to call it a day.
Not far away were the Joytoys of Kabuki, but their aesthetics were... hard to compliment.
Asa had originally intended to contact Maine's crew, whose lineup wasn't yet complete, but an unexpected event found him first.
On the way home, Asa keenly sensed someone quietly following him.
Whether it was the virus abilities from resident evil or the hacking skills of the Cyberpunk world, none of it prevented Asa from using magic normally. The only restriction was that he needed to return to the Wizarding World to meditate and recover once his mana was exhausted.
Therefore, he had long ago placed a detection spell on himself; as long as someone peered at him with hostility, he, as the caster, would sense it.
The follower's malice was undisguised; this time, the party followed him the entire way.
Who is it?
Asa was puzzled. He hadn't had time to take any action since arriving in Night City; if someone was targeting him, it was most likely that his lack of Cyberware had been spotted by Scavengers, who had taken an interest in his bio-virus-strengthened super-kidney?
"The crime rate in Night City truly lives up to its reputation; it's quite exciting."
A smile appeared on Asa face; after being in 2077 for so long, he was finally going to 'open for business'.
The bus originally went straight to Westbrook, but Asa got off early in the Kabuki district; he wasn't even halfway home.
Neon lights flickered incessantly; Asa walked hurriedly, turning into a deep, dark alley as if he hadn't noticed anything.
Asa figure disappeared into the shadows.
Soon, a man with short brown hair, looking fit and capable, appeared at the alley entrance.
"Where is he?" He scanned left and right, searching the alley, but the target was nowhere to be seen.
"Crap, was I exposed?"
The tracker immediately felt something was wrong; his reflexes as an agent made him want to retreat, but the sound of wind suddenly rang in his ears.
He took a heavy punch straight to the face.
The man's face jolted; he fell backward and lost consciousness.
Asa stepped out from the shadows and shook his wrist. A sneak attack from behind, clean and efficient—have you seen a fist as big as a sandbag?
He knelt down to scan the tracker's Cyberware, a look of surprise in his eyes. Someone from Militech?
On the plane to Night City, he had taught a brat a lesson for mocking him.
Now the parents have come looking?
Hit the small one, and the old one comes? Telling others you must pull up the weeds by the roots?
Interesting.
Asa turned on his Cyberoptics mode, confirmed there were no surveillance cameras around, and carried the Militech employee deep into the alley.
...
After an unknown amount of time, the unnamed Militech agent woke up from his coma.
A stench hit him; something was stuffed in his mouth, and he instinctively started gagging.
"Ugh."
He struggled to open his eyes. Under the dim light, the surroundings seemed to be a maintenance tunnel for a sewer.
A figure stood before him, looking down at him.
The agent instinctively wanted to move, only to find he was tied up tightly, and his internal Cyberware had been hacked clean at some point, all forced offline.
Now he was isolated and helpless?
"Who are you? Why did you knock me out?"
The agent knew he was caught but still pretended not to recognize him.
"Stop pretending, buddy."
Asa showed his tech-free face.
"I say, you were the one following me, right?"
"Can you tell me why?"
The agent's heart jolted.
The cause was simple: his boss's son said he met an arrogant guy on the plane; a check of Militech's info network revealed that after this person entered Night City, he turned into a natural human with almost zero Cyberware.
The contradictory data aroused the agent's suspicion, and coupled with wanting to please his superior, he took it upon himself to vent his boss's son's frustration.
In Night City, where tourism is developed and missing persons are even more developed, it's perfectly normal for an ordinary person without a background to vanish into thin air.
But he never expected that while he was tracking just fine, he'd actually be discovered.
Definitely not an ordinary person; I misjudged!
"You're not..."
The agent wanted to ask how an ordinary person could have such strong counter-reconnaissance skills, but he swallowed the words.
The cat was out of the bag.
"Oh, it seems you really do know me."
Asa sighed and took out Comrade's Hammer from his space.
"Indeed, hit the small one and the old one comes. Haven't used this in a long time; I wonder if my technique has gotten rusty."
The agent's face changed drastically:
"Don't kill me! Before I came, I already uploaded my activity log to Militech's server; they all know I came looking for you. Kill me, and there will be bigger trouble later. Why not let me go? I promise not to appear before you again. Let's just act like nothing happened this time, okay?"
At the critical moment of life and death, the agent spoke rapidly, wishing he could throw out all his chips at once; he'd even be willing to have his mother come and keep him company.
"What are you rambling about?" Asa picked his ear.
You mean killing you alone isn't enough, I have to kill all of you? Such a wicked heart.
Asa originally wanted to solve the trouble cleanly, but then he had a second thought.
"Speaking of which, since learning Mind Magic, I haven't seriously tested the effects on a living person. In that case, you can be the first consumable."
Under the agent's terrified and confused gaze, Asa began to chant.
Ancient and obscure syllables flowed from deep in his throat.
What is this guy doing?
But it looks like I escaped? Does he also have a connection with the Voodoo Boys?
Wait, my head is so dizzy.
The agent didn't know what was happening, but he could feel his consciousness slipping away bit by bit.
The originally terrifying figure before him gradually became kind and reliable; what bound him was no longer rope, but intimacy.
That person was like a savior stepping out of the light, reaching out to him.
Without much effort, Asa sensed that the Militech agent's will had completely surrendered.
He glanced at his panel; his Qi attribute instantly dropped by three points.
Controlling an intelligent race indeed consumes a lot. The warnings from his teachers Sheela and Tissaia still rang in his ears: do not toy with the will of others excessively.
So he decisively chose High-level Brainwashing; even if the magic maintenance was interrupted, the brainwashing effect wouldn't be easily lifted, at least lasting a day or two.
As for permanently changing a person's thoughts? For Mind Magic, suggestion is more useful.
Controlling another's will is more complex than mental suggestion or creating dreams.
On his first attempt, Asa turned a well-trained corporate agent into a puppet; the mental burden was almost zero.
Now the Militech agent saw Asa as a deity; he even told him the color of his mother's underwear.
"You are tracking an agent who escaped from Arasaka?"
Asa got the key information.
"Yes, my Lord."
"Tell me the details."
"According to intelligence, the target is one of the young girls among the hackers trained by Arasaka since childhood as Netrunners, and she has now escaped control."
"Do you have a photo of her?"
"We only intercepted relevant communications; we have no visual data on this girl."
"I see." Asa was now ninety percent sure who it was.
Hacking ability, Arasaka-trained background, Night City.
If he guessed correctly, it should be Lucy.
"Her location?"
The agent shook his head.
Asa wasn't surprised.
After all, in the subsequent plot, Lucy indeed lived in Night City with a normal identity for a long time.
If Militech really had her location, she couldn't have lived quietly until the start of the story.
In other words, to find Lucy, he still had to start with that father and son.
But Asa estimated they didn't have an exact location either, otherwise Militech would have acted long ago.
Asa looked at the agent kneeling on the ground.
"Get up. Go back to work and do what you're supposed to do. If there's any news about that escaped agent, contact me immediately."
"Also, continue to see me tomorrow."
"And remember to transfer your salary to me as an offering!"
Wash once a day.
"As you command, my Lord."
Asa watched the agent disappear into the night, the residual magic on his fingertips slowly dissipating.
He looked up.
The sea of neon lights in Kabuki poured down from above; things were getting interesting.
And the person he was looking for might be seen very soon.