I Became a Sub Heroine in a Cyberpunk Game

……My whole body feels sluggish. In fact, I’m so sluggish that I’m exhausted.

I spent nearly all night watching videos on how to achieve maximum affection with Anastasia in Neo Heaven Prime and the final quest guide, so it’s normal for my body to be unresponsive.

However. There was definitely something important. Someone’s life depending on it… a very important matter.

Fortunately, there was a computer right in front of my bed, so even though my lethargic limbs weren’t cooperating, it wasn’t difficult to turn on the off monitor and access the Haven Wiki homepage.

– – – – –

“I don’t really know who I am… You know nothing.”

“…Let’s not make each other exhausted and just help each other… alright?”

“Betrayal…? Ha…! Hey, idiot. Remember this well. You can betray me, but I can’t betray you. …No, I can’t!”

“………I’ll be responsible. All of it…!!”

From the start, this companion, who was irritable, was also the one with the highest frequency of support event opportunities.

A guide who warns in advance about all bad endings, including the sacrifice ending of my comrades.

Sometimes more charismatic in their appearance and lines than most villain characters.

And above all… the more you raise their affection, the more their personality embarrasses itself to death.

Anastasia is the sub-heroine for whom there might be people who aren’t favorites, but no one dislikes her.

In principle, it’s possible to date and marry almost all companions, but in Neo Heaven Prime, where most characters proudly display cyberpunk characteristics that go beyond political correctness from their appearance to gender, thanks to the development company Chaos Point, the characters who look pretty even through modern eyes and are embedded with achievements related to affection exist. We distinguish them as the main heroine and the sub-heroine…

– – – – –

……Until there. When I had stolen a glance, my consciousness was mercilessly expelled and returned to the fragile body of a girl on the cold operating table.

“Haah…! Hah… heh…! Ugh…! You crazy tin can…!!”

– Checking coarse language and expression changes. A significant negative factor has been discovered regarding the formation of trust and attachment. There is no chance of shock death, so please stop the unreasonable anger. Code Name: Anastasia. –

“Stop calling me by my code name…! It’s a name I chose… one I agonized over…!!”

– Commencing search for residual database of Dr. Makarovich… Confirmation of the origin of the name project Anastasia is not possible. Unfounded claims seriously hinder constructive discussions… –

Zing! When I glared at the tin can droid as if to kill it, only then did it seem to understand my words.

– …Positive factors confirmed in restoring trust. Following the command of the surviving priority authority, we will change the title. Miss Anastasia. –

It seemed it had no understanding of the meaning behind my words… but it couldn’t be helped. I could barely handle the exploding data in my head myself.

The memory of a man who lived in Korea and successfully cleared Neo Heaven.

The memory of a girl who was born in a laboratory and developed her talent after various experiments.

Fragmented information from the game called Neo Heaven Prime.

“……Ugh!”

I stroked the implant tattoo that was still tingling on my shoulder.

No matter how hardcore the game Neo Heaven was, I had played it using a keyboard and mouse or a console. How helpful would it have been if I could activate implants and turn on cyberware with just one hotkey right now…

I didn’t know that method, but ‘I’ did.

Click.

As that thought crossed my mind, a switch that I couldn’t see with my eyes flipped, and reality changed.

Who would believe me if I said I felt electrical signals flowing through my brain? Who would understand if the electronic fairy embedded in my body annotated everything it saw?

The orange halo that dominated my vision spun messily before gradually stabilizing.

The various pieces of information that had been displayed chaotically were erased one by one and organized according to my will. It felt as if I were piloting a massive robot. Just as my mouth twitched with the feeling of omnipotence that was on a different level from what I saw on the monitor, a message appeared before my eyes.

[ Dimension Rift Interference Device Blueprint Downloading… ]

– Confirmation of receiving a signal that cannot specify the source. Accessing an unsafe network and installing cyberware is extremely dangerous. However, it’s very encouraging that you instinctively activated the implant. …Miss Anastasia? No accessible networks are detected, but how on earth did you connect to an external signal? –

“………Right.”

As I casually answered, I quickly secured the blueprint file of the design that was completed in an instant deep within my mind, locking it away securely. In the future world, a person’s mind was definitely not a safe space.

Although the necessary materials were just as terrible… knowing that there was a ticket to return to the original world filled me with a late sense of relief.

“Haaah……”

As my mind settled, my excellent brain began to perform its role automatically.

The keywords were Neo Heaven Prime, sub-heroine, Anastasia, secret laboratory.

The story of the protagonist of Neo Heaven begins with entering the long-desired Emerald City, no matter how the profile is written. It’s much easier to survive earning credits in the large metropolis than to be self-sufficient in the outer wasteland.

On the other hand, I was abandoned inside a lab of the Enema Corporation, one of the Mega Corps. You might think of it as simply an introduction to the experimental background not shown in the game, but it certainly showed me strange parallel world memories. It sent me to this world and clearly showed me a way to return.

…Then am I really the sub-heroine? No, because the main heroine is unanimously her… It’s not that I have any complaints…! It feels nice to be praised for being popular, but… the situation I’m in is just too harsh.

…It can’t be helped.

Until I earn a ton of credits to get stronger, I’ll have to stick to these characters who are much stronger than those average guys, even if it’s shameless. My physical stats may be crawling at the bottom, but as a Network Hacker or Cyber Architect, my qualities are top-notch. In fact, if I could find the right job…

A hologram assisting my vision trembled, and an electronic clock popped up in one corner.

The date written was… Wednesday, July 15, 2195.

…The protagonist, whose identity is unknown, won’t arrive at Emerald City until 2197. I’m absolutely sure of that since I’ve seen the game opening hundreds of times. Even if I wanted to reach out to relatively kind characters, this is the surgical room at the bottom of the underground.

Then… where can I lean on when I can’t lift even a single pull-up by myself…?

The answer was right in front of me.

“……Tin can? No, what’s your name?”

– Robots or droids have no right to name themselves, Miss Anastasia. I’m an illegally modified model, so I don’t even have a self-proclaimed serial number. How unfortunate. –

This is bad. This guy is clearly sulking.

“…That’s a lie. You established yourself as a high-performance android when you were being sarcastic at first, right? It’s useless to pretend you have no self now. Just confess.”

Wheeng… Wheeeeng…!

Its eye scanner blinked rapidly. It truly had an expressive manner of speaking despite having no flesh or muscles and conversing through the basic voice module of a carebot.

– Is that a command…? –

“Of course…!”

I paused my mouth, which was about to yell. Since it referred to me as the priority authority, if I simply said it was a command, this android would have no choice but to obey. However… there were at least five quests in Neo Heaven regarding what happens when AI with a self is recklessly handled.

Above all, I wasn’t stupid enough not to respect the only ally I currently had.

“……Do as you please, tin can.”

– …It’s quite hard to believe you just woke up. Are you not even going to ask why? –

“Surely you have a reason you’re trying to hide since you woke up a little earlier than I did…. And I’m only half sorry for insulting you. If you felt wronged, you should have been more careful…!”

I tried to show a generous attitude toward the whining of the rookie android, but whether my spirit followed my body, I unconsciously mixed in some whining myself. …Honestly, I think the surgery without anesthesia crossed a line.

However… our high-performance android tin can responded with something completely unexpected.

– …I see. That’s fortunate. Then I will also finish the role assigned to me. –

“What does that mean…?”

Its optics turned crimson to the highest level.

– Farewell. Miss Anastasia. –

---