Outrun – Cyberpunk LitRPG

Chapter 192

Firearms. It had some crazy choices for Perks. Dexterity was practically a time-slowing effect, and that’d been a level four Perk. Granted, it was likely a mistake that it was so lowly placed. After all this time, I’d long realized that the Perks, Skills, and Traits of the interface weren’t exactly balanced for the world.

Not that I was complaining. Made my path to dominance so much easier by having the good stuff. It gave me a fighting chance against the insane death cultists, chromed mercs, and uber-rich corpos that plagued this world. Oh, and the psychotic 'normal' people too.

It looked like this time would be no different as I looked through the Perk scrolls scattered across the Firearms Shelf. Or, at least, I hoped it wouldn’t be any different.

At the top of the shelf, the flickering flame of my Perk illuminated the surrounding scrolls. I leaned forward looking at one scroll after another as I tried to find the best fit. I was getting progressively better at speed reading, so it was easy to get through massive chunks of shelf.

There were all types scattered across the shelves. Quite a few, such as Sharpshooting Mastery, had requirements still in the level four category. Unfortunately, it didn’t look like there was a next-level Perk for Dexterity. At least, not a level eight one. There were plenty of Perks across the next couple of levels of Firearms that might have tie-ins though.

I was torn between going for a level four Perk called Crackshot, which would help with gun draw and target acquisition, and Turret Mastery. It was likewise a level four Perk tying into Cannon Mastery. 

I looked through the list a while longer, trying to find an optimal Perk for what I wanted to do. Turret Mastery was mighty tempting, especially considering my new decision on ambush-style fighting and sentry turrets. Still, I looked. I’d noticed in the past that I tended to glaze past the occasional scroll or two.

And oh man was I glad I looked back through the list. Somehow, I missed out on an eighth-level Perk called Aether Imbuement.

「Aether Imbuement - Imbue your projectiles with Aetherial Energy, causing elemental effects.」

Way back when I would’ve immediately decided on another Perk and completely skipped this magic-adjacent one. That was then. This was now. I was practically bonded to the eidolons by the interface, and my hesitations had faded significantly over the past months. I was afraid of the unknown, as most people were, and magic was slowly becoming more and more known.

That, and magic was so incredibly useful. It didn’t say what elemental effects there were exactly, nor what they did, but any additional damage would be great. I also wasn’t a hundred percent sure what counted as a projectile. If I threw a knife, would it be a projectile? What about a water gun shooting a glob of water? It was technically a projectile, right?

There were a lot of questions to be asked, but for now, I had to actually get the Perk. I grabbed the scroll and immediately headed for the easel. It unrolled to reveal a shadowy figure shooting with an AR. The bullets impacted a target, alternatively catching fire, bursting into ice crystals, and creating clouds of what looked like poisonous gas.

As the scroll unraveled, I found myself transported to a… lab? It looked like a lab. Pure white walls with a table in the middle. Dozens of bullets of all different calibers sat in the middle of the space. It was also covered in everything I’d need to make bullets myself.

I thought this was an effect type? What’s with this whole setup? Was it a learned Perk then? I scratched my head and moved over to the lab table. Now what? Usually, these things had some kind of interface instructions.

A thick book opened on the table by itself: Aether Imbuement 101 by Owl. The pages flipped to an introduction, breaking down the steps and processes to imbue bullets with Aetherial Energy. There were a lot. Too many, almost. I like the book though. It was different from the typical setup, at least. 

I read through the chapter names and took a quick glimpse through the book. The entire Perk seemed to center around Crystallized Elements, which had almost half of the book dedicated to making. I looked over all the tools set up and sighed deeply. Here I was hoping for a simple Perk that wouldn’t take too long.

— — —

I felt even more mentally drained than when I learned Swipe. At least that was only muscle memory. Aether Imbuement though? For someone who wasn’t a Magi or Adept, it was a brutal process with so much to memorize. My brain pounded against my skull in a complaint over how much I crammed into it.

Aether Imbuement was… well, it was closer to old-school alchemy than anything. Reactants, solvents, solutes, and catalysts were just the tip of the iceberg for creating Crystalized Elements. 

At least, just the mundane side of the iceberg. There was the whole Aether manipulation through Runes that I’d had no idea was even possible until now. Seriously, there was so much to the world I hadn’t seen and likely wouldn’t see stuck here in Aythryn City. Especially to he more magical side of the world. What else was there? Ritual magic?

Anyway, getting everything I’d need to create a full array of different elemental ammo types would take a whole lab and a ton of money. Especially considering some of the stuff I needed got very pricey very quickly. 

I wouldn’t even be able to use Aether Imbuement for a while. I needed a pure silver plate carved with the proper runes to even start with the simplest and weakest of Imbuements. Then if I wanted to scale up the effect and the element, I’d need much, much more. There were a whole host of different catalysts that could modify and change the initial effect too.

It’s a good thing I was getting paid soon. I had a ton of new equipment I needed to go out and buy… or maybe make? Some of it I could definitely just print out. Hmm… regardless, it’d take a couple days to get everything set up and ready.

On the bright side, the info dump over the past two days had been informative in a great number of ways outside of just making elemental bullets. I was about ninety percent sure that with the right modifications to the process the interface taught me, I could likewise imbue other things than just bullets. Like maybe paralysis on a knife, if I know what I’m doing.

Then there was also information about a great many crystals from the Aether. It sure was handy, especially considering one of my other Perks. I stood up from bed, heading for the small crystal collection Corvid scavenged for me.

I picked up one of the many small black crystals and lightly pinched it in my hand. I’m pretty sure this was Aetheria, a relatively common crystal based on how many Corvid had brought me. It wasn’t anything crazy, but it was a catalyst for Crystallized Elements to moderately improve the strength of their effect.

The others I wasn’t so sure about. After Aether Imbuement, I was definitely a bit more cautious about handling the crystals I wasn’t sure of. Some of the reactions I learned about got dangerous quickly. There was a reason they were used in weapons.

I collected my thoughts then threw on my jacket and headed out towards my bike. I tucked my hair tightly below the brim of my hat and set off for my speakeasy. As I drove, I kept my eyes peeled. 

The Crusade was out in full force. Patrols looked doubled since Aether Imbuement made me pass out for two days. I took a detour around the city to gather more intel, noticing far more Cruisers out and about than what I’d come to expect. There were even foot patrols of Squires and Jaegers out and about.

I kept my head low, regretting my decision not to grab my badge. I should be fine, but they were doing quick stops on the streets. I was better off avoiding them outright than trying to explain away a backpack with a small armory in it. And so I tried my best to get to the speakeasy without getting stopped. It was surprisingly easy. 

Stalk, my Perk that hid me from peripheral perception, had a large part to play no doubt. Out of sight, out of mind. Or at least, I wasn’t worth the effort when there was a homeless person right there. 

I slunk into the apartment building and snuck into the speakeasy. I tossed my stuff to the side and went to check the SITCH. Still had a day till all the parts were done, though a good portion of the smaller bits were already finished.

I went ahead and started half assembling the sentry guns. Or, at least the legs and barrels of the sentry guns. The targeting arrays were the last—and most complicated—parts yet to be printed by the SITCH. Everything else was ready to go though.

For the targeting arrays, I basically had them set up to shoot towards anything I target either an IR laser. Once I had a targeting program I’d have to change up the targeting array more, but for now, simply shooting at something I targeted was good enough.

It took several hours to get everything just right. I was getting better at blueprinting though since it all came together rather easily. Just like the rest of my tech, they were made to be easily disassembled for future updates and iterations. 

Other than that, I hung out and read documents. I was getting through them slowly but surely. I started back at the founding documents of Cold Moon Solutions. A lot of history was mentioned that I had to go look up. Super interesting stuff once I had more context for what was going on.

— — —

Several days later, after I just finished building and testing the sentries, I got a text from Athena. ‘Your pay is deposited. Good job, Zuku.’

I eagerly set down my tools and tapped the micro sentry gun twins for good luck. I still had no idea how much I’d get from this gig, though the general estimate was at least twenty thousand. I held my breath as I pulled up the First International Boswan Bank app and looked at my account.

One hundred and five thousand, three hundred Rayn. And some change. More than enough to drive most people in the city insane at seeing it all in a single deposit. Laughter burst out of me as I happily sat back in my chair. It was the most I’d ever had at once. Well... most I've ever had actual access to. My parents back then were loaded.

There were so many things I could do with that much Rayn that my mind became momentarily dazed just thinking through the possibilities. I took several deep breaths to calm down. Now that I had a bunch of Rayn, it was best I reinvested all of it into myself so I could make more in the future. 

I wasn’t sure how much of it I would have to cut into to get a whole Aether Imbuement setup, but it would be more than worth it. Especially if I started selling Aether Imbued bullets. Most people kept to the typical, ordinary bullets since they were cheap and reliable. But I could probably undercut explosive rounds and make a neat profit.

Aside from that, I needed to get a new deck. I could safely splurge on a better one, though I didn’t need anything too insane. It would mostly be to run programs, so I didn’t need some crazy Netrunner deck. Just a solid one that would run what I needed it to.

But before all of that, I needed to get the SITCH back up and running. I drafted a quick design of the reloading bench I used in the pavilion, double and triple-checking it before tossing the design into the behemoth of a printer. 

Just as I was about to move on to something else in my endless list of things to do, I got a message from the Inquisitor. ‘Come in, Zuku. Now.’

I sent back a thumbs-up emoji as a sigh left me. Just when I was starting to get things done, the Inquisitor had to come and ruin everything as per freaking usual. I dropped everything I wouldn’t want the Crusade to see me with and then headed back to my apartment to gear up.

I wasn’t sure what exactly kicked the nest as of late, but I guess I couldn’t stay out of it for much longer. I just hoped it was something short and easy. I mean, what are the odds this was going to be another long and draining job?