Chapter 15: Misunderstanding

Jhin narrowed his eyes slightly as he observed the people before him—though, technically, he didn’t even have real eyes anymore.

“So, your gig was to rescue this girl?”

“That’s right. We’d appreciate it if you didn’t do anything unnecessary. Just hand her over to us.”

A tall, dark-skinned man kept his eyes locked on Jhin, body tense and ready to react. Judging by the carnage outside, this guy was—without a doubt—dangerous.

At those words, Jhin slowly holstered his weapon and stood. Seeing that, the man finally allowed himself a brief sigh of relief.

“Thanks, man. Name’s Rook.”

Jhin glanced down at the silver metal arm in front of him, nodded, and gave it a firm shake.

“Jhin.”

“Hey! Gauge, Roxy—get moving!”

After the quick introductions, Rook barked the order. Moments later, a man and woman entered the room. From their gear, one looked like a support gunner and the other a long-range specialist.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re coming! No need to yell like that!”

Roxy, a tall woman with cropped brown hair, scratched her ear impatiently before noticing Jhin.

“And who’s this?”

“Jhin. He’s the one responsible for... well, all this.”

Rook’s tone was casual, almost crude, but Jhin could tell—his eyes had never left him. The man’s stance screamed constant caution.

Roxy’s expression sharpened at Rook’s words. She didn’t say anything more, just gave Jhin a few extra glances, clicking her tongue softly in admiration.

Seeing there was nothing else to keep him, Jhin turned and headed for the door. As he stepped into the hallway, another figure appeared.

The newcomer gave Jhin a single glance before looking away—probably the team’s netrunner.

“Boss, that guy’s a psycho,” came the sudden voice in Rook’s ear. His hands froze mid-motion.

“What do you mean?”

“Have you ever seen someone with almost no flesh left on their body?”

“You mean that guy just now…?”

“My scan didn’t detect any organic tissue. I’d bet he doesn’t have much left that’s original—maybe just the brain.”

“...A cyberpsycho?”

“Even if he’s not, he’s damn close.”

Jhin hummed a cheerful tune as he left the building, turning a corner and vanishing into the dark.

Rook and his team delivered the rescued girl safely back to base. Seeing the extra 15,000 eddies in their account brought wide grins all around. They immediately reported what they’d seen to their fixer.

“Full-body black Cyberware, all top-grade, and an insanely high modification ratio…”

Hailbar’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully. He paused, then sent the report up the chain.

He wasn’t just some random fixer—in truth, he was Militech.

“Full-body black Cyberware, barely any organic parts left except the brain?!”

The head of Militech Intelligence twitched at the corners of his mouth as he scanned the report. A ridiculous thought crossed his mind—one he tried to suppress, but it kept growing anyway.

“No... we need to confirm that identity. If it really is that guy... then we’ve got a serious problem.”

Hailbar immediately ordered his department to investigate Roland. Yes—he had mistaken Jhin for someone else entirely.

...

After leaving the scene, Jhin headed for a bar known to be a fixer’s hangout.

He felt like revisiting his lost youth—and maybe seeing a familiar face or two.

He walked in quietly, blending in like an ordinary customer, and approached the counter.

“Any gigs available around here?”

“Gigs? Sorry, we only hand those out to regulars.”

The bartender smiled politely, shaking his head.

“Ah, what a shame…”

Jhin sighed softly. He wasn’t too bothered—getting a job would’ve been nice, but he didn’t need one.

“I’ve got a gig you can take—question is, do you have the guts for it?”

A deep voice spoke from behind. A muscular man with sunglasses and a lion-head tattoo on his arm stepped forward. Jhin recognized him instantly.

It was Kova, the bar’s owner—and a fairly well-known fixer these days.

“Let’s hear it.”

“Kill someone from a corp. You up for that?”

Kova smirked as he handed over the details.

“What’s there to be afraid of? Just another piece for my stage.”

Jhin chuckled softly and held out his hand for the chip.

Kova didn’t waste words—he simply handed it over.

The bartender beside them stood frozen, staring in disbelief. Why would his boss give such a job to a total stranger?

After reviewing the data, Jhin nodded. “Alright, I’ll take it. What’s the pay?”

“Two hundred thousand eddies. Pretty generous for a newcomer, wouldn’t you say?”

Kova named the price. Jhin nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

“You probably don’t understand why I did that, huh?”

Kova turned to the bartender beside him. The man nodded honestly—he didn’t get it at all. Giving a high-risk contract to someone he didn’t know? It sounded suicidal.

Kova didn’t bother explaining. Only he knew the truth—this gig was a live grenade. The sooner it left his hands, the better. Holding onto it would only blow up in his face.

The contract he’d passed to Jhin was to eliminate a former Constitutional Arms researcher, a man recently poached by Militech. The target wasn’t particularly talented—his only advantage was that his wife held a managerial position at Militech.

He’d stolen some internal documents from Constitutional Arms Industries when he switched sides, supposedly to use them as leverage.

Militech didn’t care much—but Constitutional Arms did.
Not for the data itself, but for their pride.

That made the job deadly. Constitutional Arms Industries was notorious for holding grudges, while Militech ruled Night City with an iron fist.

So Kova did the smart thing: hand off the gig immediately, cut all ties, and disappear from the chain. If Militech came knocking later, he could just hand over the info.

Losing one rookie? No big deal. After all... people die in Night City every day.