After scraping the meat noodles clean to the very bottom, the siblings patted their full bellies, thoroughly satisfied with the meal.
With some greasy richness finally settling in their stomachs for the first time in days, Pilar’s tongue once again started running nonstop.
"Krrr! That broth is killer! Thanks for the meal, boss! Since you’ve already treated us to such an expensive dinner, let’s do this properly and introduce ourselves!"
Pilar leaned back in the old plastic chair and proudly jabbed a thumb at his chest.
"As for us, we’re the sibling edge runners who’ll chew up the filthy back alleys of Night City and become legends before long! I’m Pilar, the brains and the mouth, and this here is my one and only little sister, Rebecca, our action specialist!"
Rebecca pressed a hand to her forehead at her brother’s embarrassing bragging and snapped her head away, but Pilar didn’t stop. He lifted his chin higher.
"Right now we may be sleeping in a leaky deathtrap and living on plain noodle soup, boss, but people never know how things will turn out. Someday, when we’re standing at the top of Afterlife as real major edge runners, you’ll be looking up at us too. Hahaha!"
At that baseless confidence, Ji-hwan set down his chopsticks and let out a short laugh, the corner of his mouth curving upward.
"You two?"
Arms folded, Ji-hwan glanced back and forth between Pilar’s shiny new smart sunglasses perched on his nose and the battered Lexington tucked into Rebecca’s waistband.
"You want to become legends as mercs, but you’re walking around without even a proper gun to protect yourselves and all you’ve got is mouth. If you’d spent the money on those ridiculously expensive glasses on something useful, you could’ve bought three decent assault rifles off the street."
Ji-hwan’s brutally accurate fact bomb made Pilar flinch and cough awkwardly.
Ignoring him, Ji-hwan turned to Rebecca, who was pouting, and spoke to her too.
"At least your sister has some talent. The way you handled that gun earlier was pretty good. Even without chrome assistance, your skill was solid. That means you’ve got real potential."
"Oh? Old man, you know how to read people?"
Rebecca shrugged and smiled smugly at the praise, but Ji-hwan’s next words were like a bucket of ice water dumped over her head.
"But you’ve got a fatal weakness that’s even worse than your skill level. You stick your nose where it doesn’t belong, and you’re too soft-hearted."
"What?"
"Earlier today, at that abandoned building, your job was just to grab the bag and get out. But you couldn’t walk past some powerless woman getting dragged through hell by a gang, so you had to pull a gun. In this city, if you keep letting your emotions run the show and risk your life for other people’s business, you’ll end up as a lump of meat in a gutter before your talent ever has a chance to bloom."
And that applies to me too, doesn’t it?
At Ji-hwan’s cold, bone-deep assessment, Rebecca’s rough, three-quarter eyes shot wide open.
He had hit straight at the complex and pride she carried—the fact that she couldn’t bear to ignore the weak getting trampled in the back alleys.
And as if she couldn’t help herself, the sharp-tongued little brat who always said exactly what she thought fired back without hesitation.
"Tch. We buy you a meal and now you’re acting like some old geezer lecturing us."
Rebecca’s temper flared. She slammed a fist on the table and jabbed a finger right in Ji-hwan’s face.
"And you think you’re any different?! You were acting all high and mighty, but honestly, you’re just like me!"
"I’m like you?"
"Yeah! You wiped out seven Tyger Claws earlier and didn’t even take a single head—you just knocked them all out! And then you spent your own hard-earned money on two complete strangers and bought us expensive meat noodles! You’re way more soft-hearted and way more meddlesome than me, old man! You’re emotional too, so who are you trying to lecture?!"
Rebecca snapped back in blunt, casual speech, veins standing out in her neck as if she had to say her piece no matter who the other person was. Ji-hwan looked down at her with calm, untroubled eyes, as if none of it had landed.
Then he leaned back in his chair and spoke quietly.
"Don’t get it twisted, kid. I didn’t spare those bastards because I’m soft."
Ji-hwan’s gaze turned cold in an instant. Pilar and Rebecca, who had been bickering a moment ago, fell silent and looked at him with curiosity written all over their faces.
To them, it felt like the air inside the shabby vinyl shelter had suddenly grown dozens of times heavier.
"I just didn’t think they were worth dirtying my hands over. Buying you two dinner was something I did because I wanted to."
Ji-hwan leaned forward over the table and met Rebecca’s eyes.
"I can act however I want because I’ve got the [Body Enhancement] to back it up. That’s why I can do things on my own terms. But you and your brother aren’t in that position yet, are you?"
"......!"
"I’m not going to tell you what to think morally, but at the very least, build up your actual skill first."
It was arrogant, but impossible to refute—the kind of arrogance only an absolute powerhouse could afford. And yet that arrogance came with real strength.
At that moment, Rebecca couldn’t say a word.
Ji-hwan looked like a man in his mid-to-late twenties wearing a loose jacket, but the aura rolling off him carried the kind of power and conviction only true heavy hitters possessed.
The flimsy set of beliefs she had to squeeze her life dry just to protect, this man in front of her was simply living it as naturally as breathing.
Once that thought hit her, Rebecca bit her lip in frustration, but somewhere deep in her chest, a fierce and nameless admiration began to rise.
"......Tch. Full of yourself."
In the end, Rebecca turned her reddened face away and clicked her tongue, completely shut down.
The one who broke the awkward, heavy silence was Pilar, the tall brother who pretended not to notice things but had survival instincts sharpened to a razor’s edge.
"Oh, come on! Boss! Our kid’s still just a little squirt and doesn’t know how the world works yet! Hahaha! Let’s lighten the mood and get to the point!"
Pilar wiped at his sweat with exaggerated gestures and clapped his hands, then smoothly wedged himself between the two of them. Ji-hwan glanced at Rebecca’s small head as she glared out at the rainy street beyond the window.
She talks rough, but she’s not bad.
He looked indifferent and cold, but he secretly liked that kid’s pure, stubborn nature—how she couldn’t stand injustice and got swept up in her feelings.
Of course, he hadn’t shown even a millimeter of that on his face.
"The point? You mean that paying job you were babbling about earlier?"
When Ji-hwan asked with his arms folded, Pilar immediately sprang into sales mode, spitting as he talked.
"Exactly! The big-shot fixer who runs Westbrook’s Japantown, the great Wakako Okada, wants to meet you badly! She was completely blown away by the armed combat skills you showed at the Tyger Claw hideout yesterday! If we just bring you to her, you’ll shoot straight into Night City’s major league!"
Listening to Pilar’s hype, Ji-hwan fell into a short silence.
Hmm... Building up recognition and a reputation in Night City isn’t a bad idea. If I’m going to get the info and gear I need in this line of work, connections with fixers are essential anyway.
But thinking back on the exhausting string of incidents he’d dealt with yesterday and today, Ji-hwan’s reason reached a swift and firm conclusion.
"No. Not right now."
"......Huh?"
"Tell that old hag I’m taking a break for a while, so she can stop sending people to bother me."
It was a clean, merciless refusal with not even a second of hesitation. At that moment, the siblings’ world came crashing down.
"B-Boss?! No, why?! If we’ve got Wakako’s backing, we could be swimming in eddies!"
"Are you fucking insane, old man?! You’re turning down a call from that hag?! What about our bonus?!"
"I couldn’t care less about a bonus."
At that blunt answer, Pilar slammed his head onto the table and wailed, while Rebecca grabbed her wet hair in disbelief and shouted in outrage.
Just when it felt like the pink dream of escaping their leaky rust bucket had shattered to pieces, Ji-hwan continued.
"However."
One heavy word made the siblings’ ears perk up.
"I’ll probably have business in Japantown later, so tell Wakako I’ll contact her myself."
Ji-hwan slowly stood and gave the siblings, who were staring up at him blankly, a faint lift of the lips.
"And my name is Kim Ji-hwan, a merc living in the Badlands. That should be enough information to more than cover the cost of your meal."
It took less than three seconds to understand what that meant. They had failed to drag Ji-hwan directly in front of Wakako, but they had secured something just as valuable: the name of this unknown Kim Ji-hwan and a promise that he would come by on his own.
"Ooooh!! Ji-hwan boss!! You really are the angel of Night City!!"
"Holy shit... Old man! No, Ji-hwan! Thank you so damn much!!"
Moments ago they’d been in despair, and now the siblings were bouncing around like they owned the world. Watching that cheerful, noisy scene, Ji-hwan found himself unable to hold back a laugh.
"Ahaha."
It was a bright, refreshing laugh that scattered the heavy, murderous atmosphere in an instant.
Ji-hwan, too, felt a rare warmth in this insane city thanks to the siblings’ relentless meddling, and the laziness that had been circling his mind washed away, leaving him clearer-headed.
"All right, I think I’ve more than earned my meal. I’m heading out."
Having said his piece, Ji-hwan stood up and looked over the natural leather jacket that had stretched a little from being grabbed by the siblings earlier. He sighed at the loosened leather and slung it over his shoulder.
The siblings, not quite ready to let him go, lifted their heads. Ji-hwan gave them a serious look.
"If we ever cross paths again in this crazy city, I hope by then you’ll be a lot stronger than you are now. I want your ambition to become Night City’s best edge runners to end as more than just empty bragging or a pointless death."
That rough but sincere encouragement made Rebecca’s red eyes tremble ever so slightly.
It was hard to believe those words had come from the same mouth that had been verbally tearing them apart just moments ago. There was a strange weight to them that hit her right in the chest.
As Ji-hwan turned to step out of the vinyl shelter, Rebecca, still dazed, hurriedly called out after him.
"W-Wait, where are you going, old man?!"
Standing in a puddle of rainwater, Ji-hwan half turned and jerked his chin toward the entrance of the underground club, where red neon was flashing brilliantly. Then he gave a short, indifferent answer.
"Afterlife."
That single word hit the siblings’ eardrums like thunder.
The absolute holy ground only legends of Night City could enter. The siblings could only stand there speechless until Ji-hwan’s huge, solid back, walking through the rain toward that place, was completely swallowed by the darkness and disappeared.
"Holy shit... You hear that, kid? That boss just said Afterlife!"
Pilar was still freaking out when Rebecca finally tore her gaze away and swallowed hard.
Ji-hwan’s lingering presence was so intense that her own battered pistol and shabby appearance suddenly felt embarrassing.
He’s got the skill... Just wait, old man. I’ll get up there too.
As Rebecca clenched her fist and silently swore to herself, Pilar slapped the table and cackled.
"Hell yeah! This is huge! With just the name Ji-hwan and a verbal promise, Wakako’s bound to pay us at least a few hundred eddies, if not more! Come on, kid! Let’s go report this dazzling achievement to the old hag right now and grab a drink after—"
"Brother."
Rebecca’s small hand shot out and grabbed Pilar’s shoulder just as he was about to leave in high spirits.
When he turned around, Rebecca’s three-quarter eyes were gleaming with menace.
"Huh? What is it?"
"That information fee we’re getting from Wakako today? From now on, I’m managing every last eddy of it."
"What?! Hey! That info was a joint masterpiece born from your brother’s blood, sweat, and genius negotiating skills..."
Clack.
Without even blinking, Rebecca drew the Lexington at her hip and pressed the muzzle squarely between Pilar’s eyebrows.
"We can’t even afford an umbrella for tomorrow’s rain, and we’re always running because we don’t have money for my ammo. And you want me to hand over my lifeline eddies to some idiot who blows his pathetic pocket change on brand-new smart sunglasses? Did your brain get reset already, or did you forget who saved your ass when you almost died today?"
"N-No, I mean, that’s not what I meant... A man’s got to have some style, you know..."
"Shut up and hand over the credit chip. I’m managing it."
In the end, Pilar could only hang his shoulders and say nothing, while Rebecca reholstered the pistol and strode ahead with all the dignity of a commander. The two siblings left the noodle stall with full bellies, their footsteps ringing cheerfully through the rain-soaked alley.
The small warmth and solid back that the outsider Ji-hwan had casually left behind were already striking a huge spark in the fate of the siblings, who had been struggling at the very bottom.
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