CYBERPUNK: Travel to 2075

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Then, Goodbye..

As Karl walked toward Patrick, the cyberpsycho, who had been targeting an NCPD officer hiding behind a bunker, abruptly stopped.

His instincts sensed a threat.

Though his mind was long gone, reduced to that of a crazed beast, his primal senses still functioned. He could instinctively identify the greatest danger in his vicinity. To him, the others were insignificant, mere nuisances. Now, Patrick felt the presence of a tiger approaching.

Tiger Claw...

The phrase surfaced unbidden in his fractured mind. He didn't know why or how, but it felt deeply familiar—etched into his very being.

"Tiger Claw..."

He muttered the words aloud. Karl, standing twelve meters away, heard him.

Does he still have some shred of awareness? Karl wondered.

But as Patrick's glowing yellow prosthetic eyes locked onto him, the madness beneath their scarlet-streaked edges became unmistakable.

Guess not.

The grotesque yellow hue of the eyes, stained by the bloodied flesh around their sockets, was filled with nothing but madness.

"Come."

Karl smirked, issuing his invitation to battle. As though he had received confirmation, Patrick's body blurred as he activated Sianwistan again.

Patrick's Sianwistan was a Dinaras Sianwistan Type 1, a model designed specifically for mercenaries and soldiers. This prosthetic body enhancement was built for special operations, capable of not only accelerating physical reactions but also providing combat assistance.

With the system's support, even in his maddened state, Patrick could instinctively pinpoint his enemy's weaknesses and strike with precision.

In a blink, Patrick was at Karl's side. A Mantis Blade thrust toward Karl's body, its trajectory aimed to pierce Karl's right arm, then drive through his lungs and into his heart.

"Look... get... clear..."

In Patrick's perception, time had slowed. He saw Karl tilt his head slightly and smile, as though mocking him.

He's keeping up with my speed?!

Despite his madness, Patrick felt a cold shiver of dread run through his chest. But his blade had already been unleashed—it was too late to stop now.

Karl's grin widened.

He had anticipated this. From the moment he first saw the cyberpsycho use Sianwistan, Karl had begun piecing together the patterns in his opponent's behavior.

The frenzied mind of a cyberpsycho operates on instinct, relying on repetitive, predictable movements. This was a glaring weakness in combat.

First clue: Patrick had used Sianwistan twice before, and both times, he attacked from his opponent's right side. It was clear this was his instinctual and most comfortable angle of attack.

Second clue: Each activation of Sianwistan allowed Patrick to take exactly fourteen steps. A stride length for an average adult male is approximately 85 centimeters, which meant Patrick could cover 11.9 meters in total.

Karl had deliberately positioned himself twelve meters away.

This setup forced Patrick to stop in front of Karl's right side, unable to execute the smoother backstab attacks he had relied on previously.

Understanding where Patrick would strike and how gave Karl all the information he needed to respond.

The monomolecular wire in Karl's hand lashed out. The razor-sharp thread sliced through the armor on Patrick's arm, severing half of it. As it coiled further, it collided with the Mantis Blade.

The Mantis Blade couldn't cut through the monomolecular wire. Instead, the wire's tension caused it to wrap tightly around the blade and the remaining arm like a whip snapping around a spinning top.

Sianwistan's acceleration reached its limit as Patrick's arm became ensnared. In an instant, the wire coiled around his entire limb.

Time resumed.

Patrick instinctively tried to pull his arm back, but his crazed brain overlooked one crucial detail: the wire wasn't just wrapped around his Mantis Blade—it was also slicing through the flesh and bone of his arm.

The force of his pull caused the monomolecular wire to cut deeply into his arm, severing flesh and muscle. With one sharp motion, Patrick inadvertently "sliced" off half of his own arm.

The wire eventually snagged at the wrist, not because it couldn't cut further, but because the Mantis Blade resisted further tension. The two prosthetics ground against each other, emitting an ear-piercing metallic screech.

Pain briefly jolted Patrick back to lucidity. He realized his right arm was beyond saving.

Desperate, he raised the Mantis Blade on his left arm, preparing to attack again. But Karl had already anticipated his next move.

A pistol was pressed firmly against Patrick's forehead.

"Nice to meet you, yellow-eyed uncle," Karl said, looking down at the cyberpsycho.

Patrick, slightly hunched from the strain, stared back with blood-drenched prosthetic eyes. The yellow light in them had dimmed, fading into a flicker.

Karl gave him a smile of pity—and finality.

"Then, goodbye."

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