บท 22: Chapter 22: Home I

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Chapter 22: Home I

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"Thank you... You've helped me a lot, and I've yet to return the favor," X muttered as he took the card.

"Hey, just think of it as an investment, one that's already paying off... And we're friends, are we not?" Vik smiled and shrugged it off.

"We are," X smiled and nodded. "Speaking of recommendations, I want to finally get myself a home, any suggestions for a cheap place?"

"Well, you can get yourself a coffin for only 20 eddies a night, although I heard that people that live in them have a tendency to pursue real coffins, so maybe not..." Vik couldn't help but let out a laugh as he joked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure the roof is a better home than the coffins. I don't have to contemplate suicide on the roof, just the need for an AC," X chuckled.

Coffins are unfortunately a real type of housing in NC, cheap housing units mainly found at airports and cheap hotels.

They are containers no bigger than a bed, which provides a time limit to be used via payment, like a coin-operated machine.

Coffins... Coffins are remarkably populated, almost as much as real coffins.

"I don't think you can afford anything in Corpo Plaza and City Center. There are affordable places in the bad side of Heywood, but again, the bad part is that they lie in the bad parts of Heywood."

"The only options really are anywhere around here, in Little China and Kabuki, or Japantown." And those were Vik's suggestions.

"Places under the Tyger Claws' control, but close enough to here," X must've had the same thought process as Vik.

"Honestly, you should look for a place in Japantown, it's completely under the Tyger Claws' control."

"Here in Watson, even in territories under the Tyger Claws' control, there are still standard conflicts against the Maelstrom." Advised Vik.

"Yeah, I don't want to be anywhere near the Maelstroms... I will look for a place in Japantown... I do wanna know though, why do you trust the Tyger Claws so much? Is there any deeper reason?" X wondered.

"No deeper reason, it's just their preference for business that makes them a bit more trustworthy, but don't get me wrong, no gang is truly trustworthy," Vik warned.

"Keep what I am about to say as a code of conduct for when you make deals with gangs... The Mox is the most tame. Then I'd say the Valentinos, Tyger Claws, 6th Street, and Animals can be reasoned with."

"VDBs only care about themselves, never to be trusted. And at the bottom of the abyss are The Maelstrom and Wraiths. Yet somehow, the Scavs are even worse." Vik illustrated.

"Have you ever dealt with the Maelstrom? What are they like?" X wanted to hear from someone with first-hand experience.

"Rarely, and only the ones in the initiation phase... They're not right in the head, basically a cult from what I heard. The modifications they want are usually inhuman, so stay away from them,"

Vik took a deep breath as he stated. If there is a gang that's purely evil in this godforsaken city, then it's gotta be the Maelstroms.

Most gangs do evil for the sake of money and power. The Maelstroms mostly do it because they despise everything except the metals they implant in themselves.

"Still, never let your guard down... The Tyger Claws' sex and human trafficking bizz is one of their strong suits. Don't be too 'appealing' to them." Vik cautioned.

"I've heard of men turned into boy toys by them, attaching more fully functioning cocks to them, sometimes to their mouth, and they somehow manage to make it work."

"The boy toys usually don't live for long, but they live long enough to experience what all the customers have in store for them," Vik chuckled at the ease at which he could utter such horrific words.

Night City made such things almost expected, becoming more like common sense to the ears of those still prisoners of its streets.

"That makes sense... I've also heard of a famous gigolo near Japantown that has cocks for finers, is that true?" X asked with curiosity.

"Unfortunately, it's, but the gigolo, despite being famous, is actually a failure. People merely treat him as a piece of art... He's not actually functional if you know what I mean," Vik raised a brow but still answered.

"No, I don't know what you mean, and now I'm curious since no problem was reported on the news," X was even more curious.

"It's the news, what do you expect? The problem is that his Ripperdoc fucked up his sexual sensors, so he can't last even a second,"

"However, his Ripperdoc is good at something else as he made it so he can unload through all of eleven tools... You can imagine the rest yourself," Vik laughed.

X laughed with him, "What?? Haha hahahaha... Wait, couldn't he just fix the issue? Someone with enough funds to go through the operation should have more, no?"

"That would normally be the case, but he offended someone from the Tygers he shouldn't have, so now, no one is willing to treat him, and he cannot leave NC," Vik shrugged.

"That... That's hilariously depressing," X muttered, their chatter soon cut off by the arrival of a client.

X left work early today, heading to look for an apartment in Japantown. He must've already had a target in mind because he walked with determination.

The target destination wasn't far. In fact, it was very close. He was in the district of Watson, yet all it took was a five minute walk to reach the district of Westbrook.

A quick walk east allowed him to reach Westbrook, and what do you know, the closest subdistrict to Watson, Little China; is Japantown.

Westbrook is considered by many to be the best place to live and have fun in Night City.

If you've got eddies, you come here to spend them.

And if you don't?

Well, take out a loan and pretend you're on top of the world — even for just one glorious night.

It is home to many wealthy elites, celebrities, and corporates. It is also home to Japantown, an especially important part of Night City for two reasons.

The first is that it's the cultural center for the city's sizable Japanese community.

The second is that it is the home base for most of the Yakuza families operating throughout Northern California.

It's centrally located, has limited police interference, and outsiders tend to stick out like a sore thumb.

Primarily inhabited by people of Japanese descent, Japantown during daytime is usually crowded with tourists for whom the many bars, fancy restaurants, gaming parlors, the Cherry Blossom Market, and Shinto temple are mandatory destinations in Night City.

Here one can also find the many love hotels, kyabakuras, and hostess clubs whose lights glow in thick abundance along Japantown's streets.

Clean and safe by day, this district is a perfect spot for sightseeing, and it's just one bridge away from the famous Corpo Plaza, any one of whose many hotels are perfect places to stay.

However, Japantown also has another side to it.

After dark, Japantown becomes the party district for the rich, corpos, and tourists alike.

The corpos are looking to blow off some steam after another day of the exhausting rat race.

The tourists are interested in more sublime entertainment and a wild night in Night City.

Both groups visit the same fancy brothels, lose their money in casinos, and get drunk to the point of blackout.

You'd expect the apartments in this kind of place to be extraordinarily expensive, but there is a specific apartment complex that's cheaper than usual... For quite the dark reason.