Leo spent the entire afternoon locked in a desperate battle with V.
Unfortunately, the battleground wasn't a bed, but the cleared-out space beside the living room couch.
The result? A bloody defeat.
In exchange for his whole body aching, he managed to get V to break a light sweat on her forehead.
"I'm done…"
Leo lay spread-eagle on the floor, arms and legs stretched out like a big starfish.
"Any more and I'm gonna die…"
"I was holding back. At most you've got a few bruises."
V took off her gloves and gave a big stretch. After two lazy days, she finally had the chance to let loose—it felt amazing.
Leo groaned on the ground for a bit, then mustered enough strength to sit up. "V, if I train like this every day, how long before I become a master?"
V glanced sideways at him. "You think getting beat up makes you a master? Not likely."
"Isn't there a saying? 'Before learning to hit, first learn to take a hit.'"
"That's your Eastern martial arts philosophy, right? I think I've heard something like that. But this is Night City. Those psychos on the street are out for blood. If you only defend and don't strike back, you're as good as dead."
"In this city, you gotta be ruthless!" She clenched her fists, which cracked audibly.
Leo gave her a thumbs up, then flopped back onto the ground like a martyr. "My whole body hurts, especially my ribs. That one punch knocked the wind outta me. Think I cracked a bone…"
"Tch. Weakling." V snorted and crouched beside him. "Let me take a look."
Leo closed his eyes and felt her start removing his protective gear.
That alone wasn't strange. Taking it off lightened the burden on his body, and he actually felt a little more comfortable.
But then his skin suddenly felt a chill—she'd lifted his workout shirt.
"What the—!?" Leo's eyes flew open in shock. "Hey! What are you doing!"
"Assault—ow!"
She jabbed the sore spot hard, and the pain instantly cut off whatever he was going to say.
"Damn…"
V leaned in close, inspecting his skin. She couldn't help but comment, "Smooth and pale, not a single scar. You've got pretty nice skin, honestly. Puts the top girls at Cloudtop to shame."
That insane comment couldn't be ignored.
Leo shot her a furious glare.
Too bad—she wasn't the least bit fazed.
V's fingers confidently moved across his torso, checking the swollen spots with quick, professional touches.
"You're fine. Just a few bruises. Apply some meds, you'll be good by tomorrow."
"I'm not pure anymore…"
"What kind of nonsense is that? I didn't take your pants off. Don't be such a drama queen."
The street-tough V remained completely unbothered. She casually poked at his abs and chest a few more times before standing up.
"Your body fat is fine, but your muscle mass is way too low. Obviously never trained. If you wanna get stronger fast, hit the gym—or just install some subdermal armor."
With a look of utter defeat, Leo pulled his clothes back on and reached into the coffee table drawer for the home medical kit.
"Help me pick something to speed up recovery."
"You won't need any of that." V pushed the kit aside and grabbed an inhaler from the drawer. "Use this—Tier-1 HealMax. A long press uses a whole dose, short press gives three uses. In your case, short press is enough."
"You sure abou—mmph!"
Before he could finish, she jammed the mouthpiece into his mouth.
"Short press. Inhale, hold for five seconds."
Inhale—
Leo had no choice but to follow her instructions.
The HealMax had… no flavor. It just felt cool in his mouth—kind of soothing.
Whether it was placebo or not, his pain faded fast.
He put the half-used inhaler away and stood up, stretching his arms and shoulders. "Feels better already. Gonna take a shower, I'm drenched in sweat."
V helped return the medical kit, then sprawled on the couch.
"Go ahead. I'll clean up the training area and order dinner."
Leo turned to leave, but paused mid-step. Their exchange just now—it felt strangely domestic. Like a couple living together…
He turned his head to steal a glance at her expression, but only caught her swift retreat into the kitchen.
Damn, she's way too alert…
After a shower and dinner, Leo spent the rest of the evening browsing the net, while V watched TV. Another uneventful day came to a close.
Before going to bed, Leo said to V, "I've decided where to meet our hacker girl tomorrow. We're going to Afterlife."
"What!?" V actually looked surprised. "Are you sure? Can we even get in?"
"A wise man always has his ways. Just wait and see."
Leo smirked and walked confidently back upstairs.
Before sleeping, he sent Jack a text:
[Leo]: Jack, let's go out tomorrow. I'm taking you somewhere special.
[Jack]: Sure! Where we headed?
[Leo]: Afterlife bar.
[Jack]: Hell yeah! I'm in!
February 21, 2076.
Leo was woken up by his alarm. He blinked a few times, then closed his eyes again and looked toward the top right of his HUD.
[3 days, 09:10:21]
Three days left in Night City before he had to return to Gotham…
Suddenly, he didn't want to go back. Here he had V, Jack, and Vik. What was waiting for him over there?
Batman… and a whole crowd of supervillains.
Thinking about it like that, Night City didn't seem so bad after all…
[Shironeko, make finding a way to control time-space travel your top priority.]
[Understood. Once you earn money in DC, I suggest setting up an IDC facility there to boost my processing power.]
[Deal. If Batman won't pay me, I'll just rob a bank!]
[If you don't mind attracting attention from superheroes, I could simply hack Gotham's primitive networks and rake in cash.]
Leo blinked. That… actually sounded like a good plan.
He made a mental note, just in case.
He got up, washed up, had breakfast.
Soon, Jack arrived, pounding on the security door like a battering ram.
Leo opened it to see Jack decked out in his iconic black leather jacket from the game intro, a golden cross around his neck, hanging on a chain that looked more like solid copper than gold.
Dude had definitely dressed up.
"Looking sharp, Jack."
Leo greeted him with a fist bump.
"You know it." Jack swaggered in like a crab on a catwalk. "It's Afterlife, man. Gotta wear your best threads."
He wasn't wrong. Even V on the couch was suited up in her favorite combat outfit.
As for Leo—he was showing up as a fixer today, so of course he wore his sleek, silver-grey bulletproof suit.
Once all three were dressed and ready, they strutted out the door.
This time, Leo wasn't afraid at all. V on his left, Jack on his right, bulletproof suit on his back—the ones who should be afraid were the locals.
Sure enough, people on the street kept sneaking glances but gave them a wide berth. No one wanted to mess with a group that looked this dangerous.
Soon, their Delamain cab rolled up.
Destination: Afterlife.
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