2077: V really knows how awesome he is

V wakes up promptly at 5:30 every day, just like a machine, and has done so every day for the past year. This gives her plenty of energy to face her demanding work. But tonight, she had a strange dream all night long.

She dreamt that she was entangled by a giant, glowing jellyfish and dragged deeper and deeper. She struggled desperately, but to no avail. This torment lasted all night, causing her to be late for work the next day, which was the first time she had been late since joining Arasaka.

Jenkins was a strict but competent boss. He knew exactly who was useful to him and didn't criticize V excessively. He even helped her change her attendance record. However, in the following week, V was late every day, her energy level was getting worse, and no amount of eye cream could suppress her large dark circles. She also made a series of mistakes at work, which made Jenkins lose his patience. He called V into his office and gave her a good scolding.

"Did you fucking go ice skating?"

"I do not have."

"Then why do you look like a chain smoker?"

"I just...didn't sleep well."

"Did you forget to renew your sleep program subscription?"

"No, I have a yearly subscription to the sleep program, but I've been having nightmares these past few days. I dream about a giant jellyfish, it..."

"Don't give me that. If you're skating, you fucking quit right now. If your sleep program is malfunctioning, you fucking fix it. V, take care of your own problems. I only need an efficient employee who can contribute to the company. If you're still like this next week, get the hell out of the counterintelligence department!"

V was kicked out of the office.

After get off work, she went to the Gumpi Building.

It was that bartender who mentioned "giant jellyfish" that caused her to have recurring nightmares. She felt that he must have infected her with some new type of electronic virus!

"What? There's no bartender named Gant O'Dim here at all?" V roared angrily at the lobby manager of the Azure Building, "How could what I saw with my own eyes be fake? I'm the virus in the Azure Building, and you have to take responsibility for this! Show me the surveillance footage, I need a copy as evidence."

As the deputy head of the Arasaka Counterintelligence Department, V was considered a mid-level manager, so the Konpaku Building dared not neglect him and immediately retrieved the surveillance footage from that day.

V thought the evidence was conclusive, but the surveillance footage shocked her – there was no Gant Odim in the footage at all, only V sitting at the bar talking to herself.

"This is impossible!" V exclaimed in disbelief.

The lobby manager said tactfully, "It seems you had too much to drink that day, so it's normal to have blurred vision."

"I'm not seeing things, I can drink a thousand cups without getting drunk!" V slammed his fist on the table in anger.

Then she was thrown out by the security guards of the Gum Pik Building.

The Azure Building respects V's status as a mid-level employee in Arasaka, but not too much. After all, mid-level employees are just high-level oxen and horses; they don't change jobs as quickly as the bottom-level leeks, but they're not much slower either.

"Fuck! I fucking fuck!" V kicked a trash can off the side of the road.

Then a voice rang out from nearby: "It seems you've dreamt of bioluminescent jellyfish."

V turned his head in surprise and saw Gant Odim sitting at a small roadside stall, holding a box of fried rice in his left hand and a pair of chopsticks in his right, clearly having been eating for a while.

Taking a deep breath, V strode over.

She sat down next to Gant Odim and asked directly, "Name your price."

What's the price?

"Stop pretending. You're the one who planted the virus in me, aren't you? It's amazing that you managed to do it so stealthily. Are you from the Voodoo Gang?"

Gant Odim: "I am not..."

"Fine, it's not true. Who you are doesn't matter. I admit defeat. You just want some money, right? Name your price and hurry up and get this virus out of my system!"

Gant Odim: "That's not a virus."

"Hijacking program? Or junk software? Whatever, uninstall it for me and I'll give you the money!"

“I thought that dreaming about jellyfish would bring back some memories,” Gant Odim said, scratching his head. “It seems your problem is more serious than I thought.”

V frowned: "What the hell are you talking about? My memory is perfect. Uninstall this virus right now."

“Alright.” Gant Odim stood up. “If you want to uninstall the virus, come with me.”

“Hey, you haven’t said how much you want!” V asked.

Gant Odim shrugged: "Then pay for my fried noodles."

"Hold!"

V cursed under his breath, paid for the fried noodles, and then caught up with Gant O'Dim in a few steps: "Hey, where are we going?"

Gant Odim suddenly stopped.

V asked curiously, "Why aren't you moving anymore?"

Instead of answering, Gant O'Dim ordered, "Call the NCPD?"

"why?"

"Just hit them."

V had no choice but to comply. As soon as the call connected, a Vortex Gang vehicle crashed into the sidewalk in front of them. Then, a Cleaner's vehicle sped up from behind, and the Cleaner, laughing savagely, pulled out a grenade launcher and blasted the Vortex Gang vehicle into the air with a deafening roar.

"Holy crap!" V exclaimed in surprise, "If we hadn't stopped, we would have been hit by a car?"

"Hello, this is NCPD. To donate, press 1; to donate goods, press 2; to join NCPD, press 3; to call the police, press 74095870498."

V presses key 2: "There is a gang vehicle and several prosthetics in the company plaza that need to be donated."

Now it was Gant O'Dim's turn to be surprised: "Aren't you going to call the police?"

"Why call the police for such a small thing?" V hung up the phone.

“I’ve heard that the people of Night City are honest and simple, but this is a bit too honest.” Gant Odim’s lips twitched twice. “So now you believe that I am a high-dimensional demon from the future who can foresee what is going to happen.”

V remained silent; she was still struggling with her decision.

Gant Odim waited quietly, then suddenly switched places with V.

V was wondering what he was doing when a sexy girl in roller skates appeared from Gant Odim's direction. She then accidentally fell heavily to the ground, her skirt flying up and revealing her white buttocks to Gant Odim.

"Hehehe!" Gant Odim chuckled.

V: "...You're practically drooling!"

Gant Odim quickly regained his composure: "Once or twice is a coincidence, but what about three times? Now you should believe that I am a demon from the future with precognitive abilities, right?"

V's expression was complicated: "Okay, I believe you. I believe you come from the future and can foresee what will happen."

Gant Odim was taken aback: "What about the higher-dimensional demons?"

“I’m sorry, but I can’t believe it.” V crossed his arms and made a cross in front of him.

Why?

"How could a demon possibly like a human woman!"

"Of course demons like human women! Isn't that what's written in your literature?"

V covered his face in pain: "How could I have been tricked by an idiot like you? I'm such a loser."

“You are actually a prisoner trapped in a time loop. My purpose in coming here is to help you break free from the loop.”

Was the topic shifted so abruptly?

"It's not a topic change." Gant Odim pulled out a tablet, which displayed the message: "[Was the topic change so abrupt?]"

V was taken aback: "Did I say that?"

Gant Odim smiled slightly, swiped his finger across the tablet, and the next image appeared: "[These are my words?]"

V was taken aback and continued testing, saying, "Arakasa Arakasa, the best in the world, stomping on Kangtao and punching Junke!"

Gant Odim swiped his finger: 【Arasaka Arasaka, the best in the world, tramples Kangtao underfoot, punches Junke!】

V: "V is invincible, unparalleled in the world, with unparalleled elegance and boundless charm. Promotion and salary increases are a piece of cake. Soon I will become the Minister of Anti-Emotions, the CEO, marry a beautiful and rich woman, and reach the pinnacle of life!"

Swipe your finger: [Too long to pad the word count, I won't write it!]

"You son of a bitch!" V gritted his teeth in anger, pointing to a shop on the side of the road and asking, "What am I going to buy next?"

Rainbow Scorpion

"Haha, wrong. I never drink Rainbow Scorpion Lion because their drinks have so many additives that they glow at night. I only drink Benben Monkey."

A moment later, V walked out of the store carrying a can of "Rainbow Manticore".

V stared blankly: "They've sold out of all their drinks except for the Rainbow Scorpion."

“Every time you get caught in a time loop, I come over and try to help you escape. This scenario has happened countless times before, which is why I know it so well,” Gant Odim said with a smile.

V looked over and said, "How many times have you tried?"

Günter Odim's sliding tablet: [5th attempt, perhaps some new changes should be made.]

V breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, only five times."

Gant Odim slid the tablet again: [110th attempt, so complicated, so tiring, I want to give up.]

V was taken aback: "Has it happened so many times already?"

Then the tablet swiped again: [Seventh attempt, I give up on using binary.]

"Is this what you're abandoning?!" V roared. "Why the hell are you using binary for no reason?!"

Gant Odim said with a forced smile, "After all, repeating things over and over is boring."

"Phew!" V let out a long breath and said earnestly, "Let's talk. Who exactly are you, and what do you want?"

"I told you, I'm going to help you break free from the time loop."

"So you gave me a virus so that I dream about a stupid jellyfish every night?"

"What jellyfish?"

"Stupid jellyfish!!!"

Gant Odim said with a satisfied look, "You said it yourself."

"Stupid jellyfish! Stupid jellyfish! Stupid jellyfish!!! I'll say it to you a few more times if you want!" V said irritably, "I'm about to lose my job because of it, so hurry up and get rid of the virus for me!"

“Come on then.” Gant Odim pressed down on V’s shoulder and vanished from the street in an instant. When they reappeared, the two were in an abandoned warehouse. V plopped down on an old sofa, startled.

"Holy crap, teleportation? How did you do that?"

"It's very simple, you can do it too."

"Me? Don't be ridiculous, if I knew this trick I could save on commuting costs!"

“I’m not lying to you. As long as you can regain your lost memories, jumping will be as easy for you as eating and drinking.” Gant Odim pulled up a chair and sat down in front of V, then stretched out his hands, revealing the chips in his palms.

"Red chip or blue chip, choose one."

Chapter 192 The Method to Regain Memories

Seeing Gant Odim's serious expression, V's Adam's apple bobbed.

"What are these two chips for?"

"Insert the blue chip and you will continue this cycle; insert the red chip and you will break out of the cycle."

V asked, puzzled: "What exactly is this cycle you're talking about?"

“Time, of course,” Gant Odim asked. “Have you ever had dreams that felt like the events in them actually happened? Or experienced things that happened a long time ago?”

V was taken aback: "Yes, isn't that déjà vu? It's a common psychological phenomenon."

"What déjà vu? That's just a trick time uses to deceive people!" Gant O'Dim said. "The reason you feel this way is because you've already cycled through the same time period countless times. You feel like you've done it not because of a psychological illusion, but because you really did it. In the previous cycle, or the cycle before that, you were like an ant walking on a Möbius strip, thinking you were moving forward, but you were just going in circles. You are a prisoner, a prisoner of time, and I am here to release you, as long as you are willing to believe me!"

V glanced at Gant Odim, whose serious expression seemed genuine.

“You say I am a prisoner of time, then why does time imprison me?” V asked.

"Of course it's because you committed a crime."

"What crime?"

"The sin of time travel. You go back to the past and then to the future, which seriously violates the laws of nature and disrupts the continuity of time. So time retaliates by putting you into an independent time, which keeps looping, to prevent you from harming more time."

"What a joke! Time travel has long been proven impossible by science. I graduated from Arasaka Academy, don't try to fool me..."

Before he could finish his sentence, V froze.

A true state of stillness.

She was unable to move her body, speak, or even move her eyes; only her thoughts remained active.

Gant Odim picked up a bottle of wine from the table and poured himself a glass, but the wine, which had flowed halfway out, suddenly stopped flowing.

How do you explain this scientifically?