Cyberpunk: 2075.

Chapter 659, Section 73: Graduation and Job Enrollment

"Hello, Carl, have you missed me?"

After helping Li De pay Lao Wei's medical bills, Carl had just stepped out of the clinic when he received a message from Ma Xi.

"Is the exam over?"

As far as Karl was concerned, this friend of his had recently been preparing for the entrance exams for Arasaka Academy.

"It's completely over—"

Maki's message conveyed a sense of ease from the words to the sentences: "It's finally over. I can finally be free and move around freely. Unlike before, when my rare pastime was making snacks for you and Haruko and sending them over."

What are the projected results?

Hearing that his friend's exams were over, Carl, out of habit, asked a question.

“Estimated grades? Karl, have you forgotten? The academy's grades are all mechanically graded, and the results are out in less than ten minutes after the exam.”

"I don't remember that."

Carl only attended school for a short period and never even encountered a single exam, so how could he possibly remember anything related to exams? However, mechanical grading is indeed time-saving, labor-saving, and fast. The only question is whether a hacker could tamper with the grades in this way.
Carl regained his senses, which had been wandering a bit: "So how are your grades? I remember you always had pretty good grades, Mashi?"

"Of course, that's pretty good. Even without connections, it's enough to get a job in Arasaka. Almost perfect scores in all subjects, isn't that amazing?"

Seeing the smugness in the text, Karl smiled slightly: "You said you were good enough to get into Arasaka without connections, so you're still planning to rely on connections, right? Why did you, a person with connections, do so well on the exam? For a young lady like you, it's not like you can just do a quick test."

"Then wouldn't I just be a useless piece of trash who can't help at all when I need help? If I have connections, I should work even harder, otherwise in Arasaka's environment, simply having connections without ability will get me kicked out."

"Wow, you're talented and have connections, yet you still complain? What chance do other people have?"

After a few jokes, Karl asked a slightly more serious question: "I remember this is your graduation exam, right? Although you can go on to university, it seems that graduating from this school now, as long as you have excellent grades, you can join Arasaka ahead of time. Are you planning to continue studying, or are you going to join Arasaka right now?"

"I'm going to help Haruko out. I'm officially starting work tomorrow. Do you want to come visit me then?"

"The exam's over today, and I'm starting work tomorrow?"

Arasaka is still the same Arasaka as always, so efficient.

Or perhaps it's because Maki is related to Takemura Maki that she doesn't need to worry too much about political vetting, which is why she was able to get the job so quickly?

Karl already knew that Maki was going to help Haruko. In fact, Haruko had more and more admirers around her, but she could only trust a few of them. With Maki, an outstanding graduate of Arasaka Academy, helping her, it would indeed save Haruko a lot of effort.

"I see. Judging from the time, there shouldn't be any problem getting there." While Karl was texting Mashi, another message notification popped up on his phone.

The purpose of this person's letter was similar to that of Maki.

It's also to share good news, but it's being sent out in a group message on a single channel.

David: @(Playboy, don't be obsessed with me) Oliver, @(Boxing champion, recently KO'd Razor) Jack, @(Get straight to the point, fair price) V, @(KK) Carl, @(Want to buy a small island ×, planning to buy a big island, saving up) T-BUG, I finished my exams! I graduated fifth in the academy. This exam was a bit harder than I expected, and there were also students from other places taking the exam, but I still didn't leave the top five, I'm an outstanding graduate!
Mashi's graduation exam was over, and so was David's. The channel he posted was the one he used when he was working with Carl and the others before he joined Mann's team to do quests.

David is in the top five? His grades are really good.

Carl glanced at David's report card shared in the group and found that he also got almost perfect scores in all subjects. Apart from losing a lot of points on company etiquette, there was nothing wrong with his report card.

Oliver: Congratulations, congratulations! You're free tonight, right? Come to the Wild Wolf Bar, I'll treat you to a drink.

Jack: Congratulations. Have you told Mann and the others about this? They should be back from their trip in the next couple of days. I don't know if we can still keep in touch.

David: Thanks, Oliver. I'll definitely come tonight. I told them they'll be back soon, and we'll have a party to celebrate.

Carl saw that several congratulatory messages had appeared in the channel in an instant, so he sent one himself. At the same moment he sent his message, T-BUG also sent a message.

T-BUG: Congratulations! Your score ranks among the top 100 in the history of Arasaka Academy graduates, which is really impressive.

Carl: Congratulations, being in the top five is truly remarkable.

After thinking for a moment, Karl also sent a message to ask Mashi the same question he had asked.

Carl: So, David, are you planning to continue your studies or graduate and start working? Arasaka would probably welcome you, and if you join, Auntie would be very happy. However, you might have to put your mercenary work on hold. The company's checks are quite strict, and they generally don't accept mercenaries as employees.

David clearly thought for a moment when Carl asked him the question.

David: I haven't thought about it yet. In the past year or so, I've only told my mom about the business I'm doing with friends, and I even helped her change to a less demanding job because I'm not short of money anymore. But I haven't told my mom about the mercenary thing. I don't know if she'll object. After all, in my mind, being a company employee is definitely better than being a mercenary.

Still hesitating?
V sent a message at this time.

V: Let's have a good talk. When I was in the tribe, if something like this happened, I would always have a good talk with my 'family'. If you talk to your mother properly, I think she will understand.

David: Yeah, that's what I think too. It's just a bit of a pity that I've worked so hard all these years. But the knowledge I gained from the academy has definitely come in handy, helping me understand many of the rules and regulations in company-related tasks.
Seeing that David had made his decision, Carl was still thinking.

He had initially considered helping David obtain a company identity, even if it wasn't Arasaka, he could still manage to create a shell for any other company. However, after further reflection, he realized that such deception was unnecessary. Moreover, if David truly wanted to give up mercenaries and join Arasaka, Karl had quite a few connections, even in the military technology sector.
However, it's always better to talk to your family honestly about these kinds of things.

(End of this chapter)