MHGA Chapter 253 – A Curious Misunderstanding
"Yada! Oh yeah!!"
Kazuma, full of confidence, knocked out the Arasaka elite netrunners—each loaded with top-of-the-line cybernetic tech—using nothing but his fists, sending them into a perfect slumber. He rubbed his nose and smugly waved Yorinobu Arasaka and V into the room.
"Looks like Kazuma-sama might just qualify as one of Night City's top netrunners," he said with a self-satisfied smirk. "Even Arasaka's high-grade hackers couldn't last two rounds against me!"
"When the hell did you become a netrunner?! You literally just punched them unconscious," V deadpanned, staring in disbelief. "Can't believe Arasaka's elite got taken out by a guy who snuck into their control room and punched them in the face."
"V, can you connect to the system now?" Yorinobu asked warily as he looked at the now unattended terminal. "At this rate, they're bound to notice something's off soon. If someone can take control, we might buy more time. Or just disable everything outright."
"I'm not a real netrunner, you know. I probably can't hold control for long... but I'll try," V replied, reluctantly linking into the system despite his limited experience.
But the moment V jacked in—he realized someone else was already taking over.
"What the hell? There's someone else in the system?!"
At the same time, Lucy was confused.
She'd connected into Arasaka's system, fully prepared to risk her life fighting elite counter-intrusion measures. But instead…
She found the network completely unguarded?
Where were Arasaka's netrunners?
Why was there not a single trace of active security presence? Had they all logged out?
She didn't understand what was happening, but she wasted no time and started sabotaging the entire system.
Without any interference, the firewalls—though robust—were still within her ability to breach.
"…?"
V disconnected from the system, visibly stunned, and turned to Yorinobu.
"Hey, Yorinobu, did you hire another netrunner?"
"…Huh?" Yorinobu's brow furrowed. "What netrunner?"
"Then why the hell is someone else in the system right now, shutting down all security like they own the place?!" V snapped. "The firewalls here are god-tier, but that hacker's breaking through like it's nothing!"
"That guy clearly knows Arasaka's systems inside and out! There's no way it's an outsider. He's gotta be someone trained by Arasaka!"
"You call someone?" Kazuma blinked. "When did that happen? You've been with us ever since you were kidnapped."
"Unless…" Yorinobu paused. "Is there someone else trying to do what we're doing?"
Another Arasaka insider targeting Saburo?
Maybe someone from his own faction?
While the three were each baffled by the unknown hacker, Lucy—familiar with Arasaka's architecture—swiftly conquered the villa's defenses.
Under her control, the entire security grid was disabled. Moments later, Lucy opened her eyes in the real world.
She drew a compact handgun, and with steely resolve, stepped into the estate.
Saburo Arasaka was surely still protected by physical guards that even hackers couldn't handle—but Lucy had no other choice.
"So… it's really down," Kazuma muttered, watching the deactivated defense drones. He couldn't help but feel uneasy.
Could this be some trap left by Saburo?
"…Whatever. Let's go!" V raised his pistol. "Be careful—Saburo still has Goro Takemura with him. Shit! He's probably got all his cyberware unlocked. He's not even human anymore."
"Here, take these."
Kazuma reached into his pack and handed V and Yorinobu two vials of Mega Potion.
"If you get seriously injured, drink this. It might push your cyberware to the limit, but it's better than dying."
With preparations complete, the trio advanced toward Saburo Arasaka's location.
The estate, now stripped of its security systems, was eerily quiet.
Their footsteps echoed loudly in the silence—almost too loud, and easy to detect.
Just as Kazuma turned a corner, leading the group—
Bang!
A burst of blood exploded from his forehead, and he collapsed sideways.
"Shit!!"
V panicked, snapping his weapon to the ready and ducking behind the nearest cover, aiming toward the source of the attack.
But a second later, Goro Takemura, his Mantis Blades deployed, smashed through the wall. He slammed V into the opposite side and drove his blades into V's shoulder, then swung horizontally.
V twisted his head just in time to avoid decapitation, but one of his ears was sliced clean off.
"Fuck!" Gritting his teeth through the pain, V pulled the trigger and fired at Takemura's gut—but the man was faster. The bullet missed.
Takemura was already repositioning, aiming another stab at V's brain.
But just as the blade neared—
"Takemura! Stand down!!"
"!"
The Mantis Blade froze just inches from V's face.
"…Yorinobu-sama? Why are you—"
"These mercenaries rescued me from my captors," Yorinobu said sternly. "What are you doing?"
"No… something's not right—" Takemura hesitated at Yorinobu's sudden appearance, but quickly realized something was off. Yorinobu and these intruders appearing together was too suspicious.
But at that exact moment—
"Steal!!"
Kazuma, somehow behind him, activated his Steal skill.
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