Chapter 3: Chapter 2
TL/ED: Hamsterminator
This post is for "Total Newbies" who are new to Project Neo.
0. Introduction.
Before explaining the growth guide for each life path, let’s briefly go over the general background of Project Neo. If you are someone who has no interest in the story, you can skip directly to the growth guide.
...omitted...
3. Growth Guide
This is the full-fledged growth guide.
Project Neo has three main life paths, and playable characters can obtain corresponding benefits.
Since the story based on life paths has already been mentioned and is something that naturally unfolds as you play the game, we will skip over that part.
3-1. Corporation
Cyberware compatibility increased by 25%.
Recommended Starting Perk: Insight (Eye-shaped Constellation)
Recommended Trait: Blue Blood
...omitted...
3-2. Family
Mana Circuit provided.
Recommended Starting Perk: Immovable Mind (Heart-shaped Constellation)
Recommended Trait: Unparalleled
...omitted...
3-3. Vagabond
Health increased by 30%.
Recommended Starting Perk: Fast Recovery (Fist-shaped Constellation)
Recommended Trait: Irregular
"Hyung! If a Vagabond starts with those three, they’re practically a zombie in the early game. What even is a potion? They just tank damage from the beginning. I’m telling you, they’re insanely tough. And it’s not just an early-game advantage. Because the character is so sturdy, the game feels much smoother overall. It’s not like I’m recommending it for no reason. Even the late-game potential is great. Because of the traits that come with being an Irregular... Ah, hyung, don’t hang up! I’m still explai-"
***
Jin opened his eyes.
His whole body was drenched in sweat, leaving him feeling sticky and uncomfortable.
As he brushed back the damp bangs stuck to his forehead, he saw a faint fluorescent glow seeping through the blackout curtains into the room.
Orange, yellow, red, teal, blue.
The neon lights teasing the streets.
Chaotic and disorderly.
A massive kaleidoscope called a city.
Even without pulling back the curtains, the scenery naturally formed in his mind. Leaving that behind, Jin sat up.
He fumbled along the wall and reached the bathroom.
In that dingy, mold-infested space, fitting for a cheap unmanned motel,
Jin stood under the flickering fluorescent light and roughly splashed water on his face.
After giving himself a face-washing that could put Poseidon to shame, he looked up at the mirror.
Staring back at him was a moderately handsome man in his early to mid-twenties, his eyes bloodshot.
Today marked Jin’s second year living in Downtown.
"...This is killing me."
He had been tossing and turning all night.
It wasn’t a nightmare, but rather the high fever and body aches that came as part of his body’s recovery process.
Jin reached for his right shoulder, more precisely, the area around his scapula.
The spot where he had been shot the day before.
Yet, as if it had been a lie, the skin was smooth.
Hmm, it healed.
Jin nodded indifferently.
It was an attitude almost devoid of concern.
And for good reason.
The bullet that had pierced Jin’s shoulder was a 9x19mm hollow point (HP), a type with a crater-like cavity at the tip, designed to reduce penetration while maximizing the kinetic energy delivered to the point of impact.
In other words, instead of just punching through, it shatters.
In reality, Jin had suffered a torn supraspinatus muscle, along with most of his rotator cuff being ruptured.
With such high stopping power, most people in his situation would die from shock or be rendered completely unable to fight.
Yet, not only had Jin continued battling in that state, but he had also fully recovered overnight.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say his body had one foot outside the realm of normalcy.
Of course, Jin didn’t dwell on it too much.
The type of bullet that had wrecked his shoulder the day before? Who cares?
For Jin, the past year had been an unending struggle for survival. Rather than relying on structured knowledge or written words, he trusted only the experiences he had learned through his own body.
For example, an ordinary blade wouldn't cut your fingers even if you gripped it with your bare hands.
Rules he had internalized through blood, sweat, and tears.
And as those rules accumulated one by one,
Jin grew into a fighter capable of taking down five armed thugs without much difficulty.
Not that it changed the fact that he was still living a fleeting, day-to-day existence.
“Hoo.”
Feeling a little melancholic, Jin let out a sigh and tore his gaze away from his hollow-eyed reflection in the mirror.
Or at least, he tried to.
If not for the translucent window that suddenly appeared in the mirror, he would have succeeded.
(Complete!) 「Adaptation」────────────
Congratulations.
You have survived in the backstreets for one year.
Reward: Perk XP 1,000
──────────────────
Jin’s expression darkened in an instant.
Even more than when he was shot the previous day, even more than when he pulled the trigger on the fallen.
And it wasn’t because he had mistaken the date by a day.
Bang!
Without thinking, his fist smashed into the mirror, shattering it into countless shards. As blood seeped into the cracks between the fragments, his reflection in the broken glass twisted into a mask of fury.
“Fucking bastard...”
Jin growled at the new quest window that had appeared for the first time in a year.
Congratulations? You throw me into this shithole, and you’re congratulating me?
If anyone’s giving out congratulations, it’s me. Not you. Me.
And that celebration ended yesterday.
It was hard to contain his rage.
For a man whose entire thirty years of life had been stolen, the congratulations from the Status Window, which might very well be the root of everything, was the worst insult imaginable.
Another emotion ignited within him like a wildfire.
One day, he would shatter this perfectly square monster.
Burning vengeance.
And so, Jin made a vow.
For now, I’ll take everything it gives me.
But in the end...
As the surge of XP filled him, a thrilling sensation spread through his entire body. Jin clenched his bloody fist tightly.
***
Area 47.
Also known as Downtown, it was a haven for lawlessness and crime.
Violence and crime were rampant in the streets,
But even in such a place, there were a few safe zones.
One of them was a 24-hour diner called Rumpumpumpum.
The reason? The burgers here were insanely good.
People feared that a stray bullet might one day kill the owner, so the locals agreed to avoid fighting near the restaurant.
Unfortunately, Jin had never even gotten to see one of those legendary burgers.
Not because he didn’t have the money, but because they weren’t sold anymore.
The owner, who had once made those incredible burgers, had died of a sudden heart attack, so much for protection.
The cause was reportedly a rejection reaction to a newly implanted cybernetic organ. But that wasn’t the important part.
The real consequence was that Rumpumpumpum had gone from being one of Downtown’s few famous restaurants to just another generic eatery serving cheap, low-quality food.
However, interestingly enough, even after the incident, the agreed-upon truce remained intact.
And thus, despite its now disgustingly bad food, the place still saw a steady stream of customers, turning it into a strange anomaly of a restaurant.
And here.
Jin was eating his breakfast at Rumpumpumpum.
A table tucked away in the dim corner of the second floor, near the window.
Right next to an old speaker that looked at least twenty years out of date, his favorite spot.
Humming along to an unfamiliar retro-style tune crackling from the speaker, Jin speared a meatball with his fork and brought it to his mouth.
Today’s menu: meatball spaghetti.
Artificial meat, roughly shaped into balls, tossed onto barely boiled noodles, with sauce thrown over it as an afterthought. It looked half-assed. It tasted even worse.
But the important thing was that it filled his stomach.
A hundred times, a thousand times - no, ten thousand times better than starving.
Jin still remembered the agony of hunger.
His first week after being thrown into this unfamiliar world.
What tormented Jin the most wasn’t the violence inflicted upon him from the outside, nor the bone-chilling cold of the night streets.
It was the primal screams of his empty stomach.
All day long, gnawing away at his sanity bit by bit.
A cry that, in the end, reduces a person to nothing more than a beast.
Just thinking about it sent a shiver down his spine.
Which was why, no matter how bad it tasted, there was no way the meatballs could be anything but delicious.
And so, Jin cleared his plate in an instant.
With his stomach full, the foul mood that had lingered all day due to the Status Window began to subside.
Dah-hee, now I get it. You weren’t just stress-eating for no reason back at work. But still, screwing another guy on the side was a bit much. Seriously.
Jin gulped down the cola he had ordered alongside the spaghetti, a fleeting thought of his unfaithful ex-girlfriend, now a person of an entirely different world, passing through his mind.
After washing away the greasy aftertaste, he let out a small burp.
“...Got a moment?”
A weak voice. Jin turned his head.
Under the dim lighting, a man with his hood pulled low was looking at him.
Jin wasn’t particularly surprised, he had already noticed the guy lingering around for a while.
Thin build. Leaning slightly to one side.
Weight shifted toward the right leg.
If things went south, go for the left ankle first.
After making his silent assessment, Jin responded.
“You got business with me?”
“That’s right.”
Jin’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The guy was fidgety, but he didn’t seem to be here to pick a fight.
Besides, this was Rumpumpumpum.
“Sit down first.”
At Jin’s gesture, the man took a seat across from him.
Then, with an awkward expression, he hesitated before speaking.
“Uh, hi. Nice to meet you. I’m-”
“Hold on. Before that.”
Jin cut him off.
“You gonna eat that?”
“...Huh? Oh, this?”
The man lifted the packaged item in his hand slightly.
Jin’s eyes locked onto the waffle peeking out from the wrapper.
His gaze followed the man’s hand as it slowly moved to the side.
“...Want it?”
“Thanks.”
Jin snatched the wrapper without hesitation.
Then, before the guy could say anything else, he stuffed a huge bite of the waffle into his mouth, cheeks puffed out as he mumbled his next words.
“So, what do you want?”
“I want to give you a job.”
“Hm?”
Jin tilted his head.
Did I hear that right?
“For me?”
“That’s right.”
“......”
“I saw you fighting at the pub yesterday. You’re a Solo, aren’t you?”
The man asked as if confirming.
Back in Jin’s hometown, that would have been a rude question.
You’re a Solo, right?
As if saying, With that personality and that face, there’s no way you have a girlfriend.
But in Lost City, it was different.
Solo.
It was a title, a badge of recognition given to well-known fighters.
Those who earned their reputation through sheer individual strength,
handling all sorts of jobs to raise their worth.
In other words, mercenaries. Or bounty hunters.
Of course, Jin wasn’t one of them.
He was just another poor bastard scraping by in this shit-stained city, where trouble found him no matter what. A guy who fought every day just to survive, making enough money to get by.
That poor bastard had a thought.
What’s the big deal about being a Solo?
If someone gives you a job, then you’re a Solo, right?
And so, he nodded.
“Yeah. Something like that.”
“...Huh?”
“I said yeah. I’m a Solo.”
Jin said, taking another large bite of the soggy waffle.
Come to think of it, today marked his second year in Downtown.
He had survived a whole year without a home, scraping by.
And now, finally, a job had come his way.
If I start working as a Solo, at least I’ll be able to eat three meals a day.
Beats having to shake down punks and search through their underwear for cash.
That was the conclusion Jin reached.
And so, as he munched on the waffle, his expression held more hope than usual.
He flashed a grin at the man, his potential first client.
“Just so you know, I only take cash.”