"So? Out there today, near your sister's school—did a serious accident happen?"
Lin Mo sat upright on the sofa, his eyes fixed on the television in the middle of the living room.
The screen replayed the evening news on a loop. There were hardly any other programs to watch—such was the state of television in this world.
Because of history's twists, there was no internet here, and so TV entertainment was scarce. Every show was carefully designed and controlled by the megacorps' media arms. Ordinary people had no channels to make their voices heard.
This setup had another side effect: making "stars" was cheap. With few outlets available and people's entertainment threshold so low, a company didn't need real talent. A couple of catchy songs, a bit of TV promotion, and the public would go mad.
Night City's broadcasts were no different. Most channels showed local entertainment. Signals from outside were cut off. Which also meant—it was easy for the powerful to bury or alter the news.
Lin Mo hadn't expected to see the accident reported. Sending Kitagawa Hiro to check was insurance against that.
And sure enough, things had unfolded much as he'd foreseen.
After a long silence, Hiro finally spoke, his tone heavy:
"Just as you said, Lin-kun. At Farstar High—the school Shizu attends—there was a serious crash."
He looked up, eyes shadowed with doubt, as if to ask: How did you know?
The timing was too uncanny.
Lin Mo told him to check for a deadly accident—and there it was, right outside Shizu's school.
If he hadn't known Lin Mo so long, hadn't trusted him absolutely, he might have thought the boy himself had staged it. The coincidence was that sharp.
Lin Mo stayed quiet, tapping a finger against his thigh.
So the tragedy still struck. I saved one group, but another paid the price...
"What about casualties? The scene?" he asked softly, almost like a eulogy.
"Exactly as you said. The perpetrator was in a limousine. It rammed a school bus. Thirty-five students, two teachers—all dead on the spot. The limo fled right after. By the time I arrived, there was nothing left but the wreckage."
Hiro's voice grew low.
He'd seen plenty of carnage as a Tiger Claw lieutenant. But seeing a busload of young students killed—it cut deep, even for him. On the way back, he'd shuddered just imagining: What if it had been Shizu on that bus?
Lin Mo frowned. "Which school?"
Hadn't he told Hiro to destroy those buses?
"It wasn't Shizu's school," Hiro said grimly. "It was the one right next door. They had planned a joint field trip. If you hadn't ordered me to sabotage those buses, Shizu might have been among the victims."
His gaze grew sharper, filled with unease.
"Lin-kun… did you know this would happen? Is that why you kept Shizu at home?"
Lin Mo sighed. He understood the doubt perfectly.
"I know what you're thinking. But I can tell you responsibly—I had nothing to do with this. The crash wasn't arranged, and no one stood to profit. The driver… maybe he just thought it was fun to plow into a bus."
Hiro's eyes darkened, his tone somber.
"If you hadn't made me destroy those buses… would Shizu's name be on that list today?"
Lin Mo met his gaze in silence. At last, he gave a slow nod.
There was no point denying it further. When he'd told Hiro to bomb the buses, he'd known suspicion would come. Sending him to the crash site today had only deepened it.
Hiro drew a sharp breath. "Then… was this someone's scheme? Or your foresight?"
His face was grim, but his voice still deferential. He believed Lin Mo meant them no harm.
To foresee disaster, to alter its outcome—either Lin Mo knew the "script," or he could see the future.
"Tell me, Hiro," Lin Mo said with a faint smile, as if prepared for this. "Do you know the art of divination?"
"Divination? That old Chinese trick? I've seen fortune-tellers in Japantown and Little China. Charlatans, all of them. Honestly, their patter isn't even as good as bald monks begging alms."
Hiro answered bluntly.
"No. That's because you've never seen the real thing. Since we have time, let me tell you a story from my past."
Lin Mo's expression softened, serene like some benevolent sage—though his words were pure bluff.
Hiro jolted. Did I hear right?
Lin-kun was finally going to talk about his past?
He'd been with him for so long, yet still knew nothing. He could only guess Lin Mo was some rich heir slumming it in the Edgerunner life. But what kind of heir spent money like water, or risked his life in the shadows?
Now, at last, Lin-kun was willing to share.
Hiro sat up straight, eyes full of anticipation.
And Lin Mo, smooth as ever, began spinning a lie without missing a beat:
"I was four years old when I met an old beggar on the street..."
-
-
-
-
🧠💾 MY CYBERPUNK 2077 SIMULATOR 💾🧠
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🚨 SYSTEM ONLINE. NIGHT CITY LOADED. 🚨
My Cyberpunk 2077 Simulator has 100+ chapters ahead available right now on Patreon! 🔥
Imagine entering Night City with something nobody else has.
A system.
A simulator.
And the ability to prepare for situations that would get an ordinary merc flatlined before breakfast. ☠️
Sounds overpowered?
Maybe.
But this is still Night City.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
💻 SIMULATION STARTED
⚙️ System mechanics📈 Progression & growth🦾 Cyberware🔫 Combat🏢 Corpo threats💀 Cyberpsychos🌃 Night City survival
Every simulation offers another opportunity.
Every decision can change what happens next.
And every advantage matters when one wrong move can put your name on the body count.
🔥 Want to know how far the system can go?
👉 Patreon already has 100+ chapters waiting for you.
Why wait for tomorrow's chapter when you can keep reading tonight?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
🛑 MORE NOVELS ON PATREON:
🌃 Cyberpunk: Dogtown Legend🔥 Cyberpunk: The Relentless — 500+ Ahead👩👦 Cyberpunk: Lucy Adopted Me and I Got a System — 100+ Ahead💘 My Girlfriend's a Cyberpsycho—Who Knew? — 100+ Ahead🐉 Dragon King of Ice and Fire — 200+ Ahead🛡️ Star Wars: The Rise of Mandalore — 100+ Ahead🌌 Star Wars: Relics of the Past — 100+ Ahead🏰 Game of Thrones: Secrets Beneath the Dreadfort — 30+ Ahead⚡ The Rebirth of Harry Potter — 100+ Ahead🌹 R18: Reincarnated in Her World
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
💾 SYSTEM MESSAGE: 100+ CHAPTERS AVAILABLE AHEAD
🔗 Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/MrMagnus👤 Patreon Name: SrMagnus🐦 X / Twitter: https://x.com/SrMagnuscorp
⚠️ Power Stones determine update priority!
🧠 Simulation complete. Your next move is up to you.