Chapter 123: The Academy Trip
“Miss, please hurry up and get ready. You’re about to be late.”
“Ugh, I know! Stop rushing me already!”
V rolled her eyes, hurriedly slipping on the neatly ironed academy coat beside her. She grabbed a slice of bread from the table and rushed out the door.
“Have a safe trip, Miss Valerie.”
Before she left, the smart home robot in V’s apartment added a polite farewell.
Once the door closed, the robot immediately began tidying up the room and starting its cleaning routine.
After taking the elevator down to the first floor, V spotted a luxury sedan parked by the roadside. Standing beside it was a driver whose entire body was fitted with brass cyberware, with a curved mustache above his lip.
Clearly not factory-original.
“Welcome to Edward Transportation Services. Please get in, Miss Valerie. Time is tight—your parents specifically instructed us to make sure you arrive on time.”
“Alright, alright, I got it. Let’s go.”
V nodded, opened the door herself, and climbed into the car before the driver could even reach out to help.
Seeing this, the driver immediately fell silent and decided to keep his words to a minimum. It was obvious this young lady wasn’t in the mood for conversation. Better not disturb her.
If she got annoyed and left a bad review, his career would be over.
Before long, V arrived at Sengberg Academy, currently regarded as the finest academy in Night City. Many children from the city’s upper class studied here, though in reality, even more attended schools elsewhere—
—or specialized academies operated directly by corporations. It was worth mentioning that those academies also sold tutoring packages and even full student management services.
Fortunately, V’s academic performance had always been solid. After a long stretch of coaxing and negotiation, her parents hadn’t signed her up for too many extra classes. Otherwise… sleeping in would’ve been completely out of the question.
As for her parents’ future plans, they intended to send V to Europe for further studies. With a strong academic background and their current status, it would be easy to help her land a position at a major corporation afterward.
“Hey, V, did you hear?”
When V entered the classroom, everyone was already seated in what looked like extremely comfortable chairs, with their braindance equipment properly set up.
“Heard what?”
V turned curiously toward her friend Adeline beside her.
“They say we’re getting a new transfer student today. Came in all of a sudden. Might have some serious backing…”
“At this point in the term?”
V glanced at Adeline in surprise, then noticed something else—today, even the usually absent “teacher” was present.
“When you put it that way, yeah. That person never shows up unless something important is going on.”
And that was indeed the case. The so-called “teacher” mostly handled key administrative matters, student oversight, and coordination work. As for actual teaching…
Most lessons were delivered through pre-recorded braindance content. Of course, some special courses still involved instructors entering braindance for live, immersive teaching—but those were rare.
“Alright, everyone, please look this way. Let me introduce our new classmate joining us today. Her name is Sasha Yakovleva. Come on, Sasha, say hello.”
“Hi, everyone. I’m Sasha. I usually like studying network technologies…”
“Hey, V, look at that old hag—she’s smiling like crazy.”
Adeline leaned over and whispered in V’s ear. V glanced up at the teacher and sure enough, her face was practically creased with smiles.
“Alright, Sasha, you can take the seat next to Valerie. And a quick reminder to everyone—don’t bully our new classmate. Her guardian is Ms. Kiwi, the head of the Special Security Department at PROJECT Corporation.”
The teacher smiled warmly, pointing in V’s direction as she spoke, prompting a variety of reactions from the class.
At those words, expressions around the room immediately shifted. Some students looked eager to ingratiate themselves, others clearly unimpressed, and a few showed open dislike or irritation.
Yet without exception, every gaze carried a trace of caution—most likely fear rooted in PROJECT’s reputation and force.
As for Sasha, she could only smile helplessly at the teacher’s announcement. She hadn’t wanted such public attention, and she wasn’t even related to Kiwi by blood…
Compared to everyone else’s reactions, all she wanted was a calm, ordinary school life.
“Hey, I’m V. This is my friend Adeline. Nice to meet you, Sasha.”
“Hello. Nice to meet you too, V.”
Caught off guard by the sudden greeting, Sasha froze for a split second before quickly responding with a smile.
“Is your mother really that legendary Kiwi?”
“Ah, no. She’s more like an older sister to me… we’re not related by blood.”
Sasha waved her hands quickly in denial.
“So you really do know her?”
V’s eyes lit up with interest as she continued.
“Yeah, I do. Um… V, are you looking for Sister Kiwi for something?”
Sasha nodded, tilting her head curiously as she looked at V.
“Not really. I’m just curious about her as a person. Besides… she once saved my life.”
V shook her head and explained calmly.
“She saved your life?”
Sasha was visibly surprised. The experience sounded oddly familiar.
“Mm…”
“Sasha, Valerie—pay a bit of attention. It’s good to welcome a new classmate, but you can save these conversations for after class.”
“That old witch spoke. Let’s talk later.”
“Ah, okay.”
...
“So, how’s Kelly doing?”
Roland stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, looking out over the city while news played quietly on the screen. He turned to Lissandra’s projection as he spoke.
“She’s mostly gotten the hang of it. Ghost technology and electronic control are both usable now, though there are still some issues. She’ll need more training.”
“That’s good. By the way, what about those Rogue AI you mentioned earlier?”
“They seem to have taken an interest in our corporation.”
“Hmm… good. Prepare a small gift and send our greetings.”
“Yes.”
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