13. Cyberpsychosis

As the thought that the wobbly figure approaching the NCPD officer might be a cyberpsycho flickered through Karl’s mind, the individual lifted his head.

He was a middle-aged man, his face a landscape of scars and deep furrows. He looked to be in his forties, his cybernetic eyes rolled back to reveal the whites, while the edges of their sockets exposed shattered mechanical structures. A sinister yellow light pulsed incessantly within them, flickering like a traffic signal warning of an impending hazard.

An NCPD officer noticed the stranger’s approach and raised his Lexington, intending to warn the odd man away from the crime scene, only to find the man had suddenly vanished.

Karl’s pupils contracted sharply. He felt as though time had slowed to a crawl; in that near-static moment, the man’s body blurred into a trail of afterimages as he lunged toward the officer. Karl wanted to move, but he found his own body reacting with agonizing sluggishness.

He could see it clearly, but his body couldn't keep up.

‘Is this... a Sandevistan?’

Not everyone shared Karl’s rare ability to perceive the movements of a Sandevistan user without possessing one themselves. The NCPD officer felt a blur before his eyes, and then the strange man was gone. By the time the officer registered what happened, the sensation of pain in his chest arrived first.

He instinctively looked down, only to find a long, sharp blade—like a mantis claw—protruding from his chest. Having breached the constraints of bone and flesh, the blade had emerged from his body, and the officer caught a glimpse of something red and pulsing fragments among the gore.

Was that... his own heart?

As the thought surfaced, the blade was retracted, and the officer lost consciousness, collapsing heavily to the ground.

‘Mantis Blades!’

Karl, the only person on the scene who had witnessed the entire sequence, recognized the weapon that had pierced the officer’s heart.

[Mantis Blades]: Arm-mounted blades, exceptionally stealthy and lethal, the premier choice for solo mercenaries and bodyguards alike.

Using a Sandevistan to flank the target, then deploying the Mantis Blades to strike the heart—a one-hit kill. This guy was highly skilled.

Recalling the footage from the news yesterday and the mangled bodies he had seen, Karl was eighty percent certain that this was the missing cyberpsycho from Kabuki.

“Watch out!”

As Karl analyzed the situation, the other NCPD officers snapped out of their shock and raised their weapons, aiming at the yellow-eyed man standing over their fallen colleague.

Without a word, the moment they took aim, their Lexingtons began to "roar." However, it was clear the yellow-eyed man was fitted with subcutaneous armor; the rain of bullets hitting him caused his body to merely twitch slightly.

At that moment, the NCPD’s identity verification system chirped with a mechanical voice:
“Suspect identified: Patrick Bell. Case file: Cyberpsychosis.”

“Damn it, it’s that lunatic from yesterday!”

Amidst the panicked voices of the police, the man named Patrick flickered. A strange semblance of life seemed to return to his gaze, and then, as if his internal machinery had suffered a critical malfunction, he began to sway erratically.

The Sandevistan engaged again. Only Karl could see the figure streak into a line, and at the end of that line was the needle that sealed the stitch.

Another NCPD officer fell dead.

“Cyberpsycho!”

Amidst the frantic screams of onlookers, the crowd began to flee. The official spokesperson, who had been broadcasting the bravery of the NCPD just moments ago, had abandoned all decorum, scrambling on all fours toward the broadcast van in a desperate attempt to hide. The street vendor who had been cooking food had already vaulted over his stall, joining the patrons—who had lost their appetite—in a desperate sprint toward the Megabuilding. As the crowd panicked and fled, Karl set down his sushi.

These weren't just breakfast for Oliver and Jack; there was also the bean-curd sushi that Karl enjoyed, and he couldn't afford to let it scatter.

As the crowd surged away, Karl shook out his arms and began moving against the current, walking straight toward the NCPD officers who were desperately engaging the cyberpsycho.

A normal person would flee from a cyberpsycho, but Karl was far from normal.

He had long wanted to test his mettle against an opponent equipped with a Sandevistan.

If Karl had any ulterior motive for getting involved, it was to test his own limits while seeing how much money he could make.

He wondered what the bounty for this cyberpsycho might be—maybe ten thousand eddies?

Getting paid while finishing his breakfast—not bad at all.

Even a cyberpsycho had to endure the physical strain of using a Sandevistan. After triggering it twice, the cyberpsycho—instinctively sensing the threat—switched to a sprinting approach to butcher the remaining officers. Those holding Lexingtons, aside from hysterically calling for MaxTac, could only watch in despair as the cyberpsycho ignored their gunfire and closed the distance step by step.

*When I get back, I’m definitely saving up for a better gun!*

That was the thought crossing the mind of every officer who watched their bullets bounce off the attacker. Then, they saw Karl sprinting toward them at high speed.

‘No way, not another one!’

Just as they braced themselves for another potential cyberpsycho, they realized Karl was charging directly at Patrick.

“Leave this guy to me! Don’t hit me—I don’t have any subcutaneous armor.”

Hearing this remarkably calm statement, the NCPD officers felt no comfort. As everyone else retreated—wishing they had an extra pair of legs or better cyberware to escape—this young man had voluntarily stepped up to face the cyberpsycho.

Everyone watching thought the kid would be torn to shreds within seconds.

“Watch out!”

An older NCPD officer ran out from behind cover. He didn't know why this kid was choosing to throw his life away, but that wasn't a reason to stand by and watch.

He was a man who took bribes—plenty of them—and often extorted local merchants, frequently beating those who refused to pay. But he was still a cop, and he couldn't just watch a kid die.

“Don't worry.”

Karl had no intention of explaining himself to the NCPD, as long as they didn't accidentally hit him with their useless Lexingtons.

In his hand, he drew his monowire.