Night, cloudy, moonless.
New Jersey.
A roadside motel.
In the narrow bathroom, the dim yellow light shone on a mirror with a chipped corner, reflecting a slender and well-built figure.
A man.
A very handsome man.
With shoulder-length curly hair, melancholic eyes, and a stubble, he was the kind of man who could capture the attention of every woman in a nightclub, enticing them to find ways to take him home.
But this wasn't his most special feature.
It was his black combat suit, the top missing a left sleeve, revealing a metal arm of striking mechanical beauty, adorned with a vivid red five-star insignia on its shoulder.
"This handsome face, this physique, this demeanor—it's a shame he's not an actor. Raising a dog, driving a muscle car to a gas station, or perhaps wearing sunglasses, holding a cigarette, and rocking out to blow up a tower—he'd surely be no worse than the original. Tsk, if only this were really a movie, how wonderful would that be."
He seemed quite satisfied with his appearance, self-mockingly quipping to the mirror, but then let out a long sigh.
His gaze turned serious as he looked into his own eyes in the mirror, and in a low voice, he said,
"Longing… Rust, seventeen, dawn, furnace, nine, kind, homecoming, one… Freight car."
He recited these seemingly unrelated words softly in a very magnetic voice, in perfect Russian.
His pupils sometimes dilated, and his eyes sometimes became vacant as if he had returned to not long ago when someone else had said the same to him…
…
Rewind time, three days ago.
Siberia.
A secret military base somewhere.
John's consciousness slowly awoke.
Hmm?
He looked at the unfamiliar scene before him; he was restrained in a chair, surrounded by special equipment, his head fixed in place, and beside him was a bald man in a white coat wearing glasses.
Outside, several foreign soldiers in military uniforms, wearing red berets, stood holding guns.
He had no idea what was happening.
He only remembered that he was originally a workaholic, and then, on the eve of Cyberpunk 2077's release, his enthusiasm for the game ignited.
Beyond his demanding job, he also took on freelance projects, finally saving enough money to get a 3080ti.
He was sitting in front of his computer, thoroughly enjoying the awesomeness of Cyberpunk 2077's ray tracing effects, unknowingly toiling all night until a wave of fatigue hit him, and everything went black…
Oh my god, it can't be this, can it?
An absurd, preposterous, and utterly panicked thought had just flashed through his mind.
Suddenly, the buzzing sound of electricity rang in his ears.
"Ah!!!"
Following that, there was an indescribable excruciating pain!
As an ordinary modern worker, his tolerance for extreme pain was almost zero.
And the pain he suddenly felt was like someone had first sawed open his skull with a chainsaw, and after lifting it, rubbed his brain with sandpaper.
This made him shriek like a slaughtered pig.
Instantly, his newly awakened consciousness was overwhelmed by the indescribable excruciating pain.
He couldn't think, couldn't analyze what was happening.
Just let him die!—This was the only thought in his mind.
But for some reason, he couldn't die.
And his weak will couldn't even activate his brain's self-protection mechanism to make him fall into a coma.
It just kept tormenting him like this.
And just when he was about to go insane from the torment.
His vision finally went black.
But he still hadn't passed out.
In the darkness, red and blue neon blocks flashed continuously before his eyes.
Then a progress bar labeled "System Restarting…" appeared in the center of his vision.
This allowed his consciousness, overwhelmed by severe pain, to find a beacon, and he strenuously concentrated all his remaining awareness on this mysteriously appearing progress bar.
The pain seemed to have been significantly transferred.
And it wasn't just "seemed"; as the progress bar increased, the pain indeed weakened.
When the progress bar reached halfway, the pain had gone from maddening to unbearable, but not entirely so.
By the time the progress bar filled up, the pain had become tolerable.
Just then, his vision suddenly lit up completely, but it wasn't the reality from before.
Instead, it was a very familiar interface to him.
The character interface of Cyberpunk 2077, the game he had been playing.
But it was also somewhat similar yet different.
The character image in the center of the interface was not the face he had created, the V, the legendary and famous V of Night City, the male protagonist he had customized.
Yet it was also an image he was very familiar with.
Shoulder-length hair, a handsome face, a black combat suit, and a Steel Kirin Arm with a red five-pointed star emblem.
A well-known figure from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes.
His original name was James Buchanan Barnes, Captain America Steve Rogers's childhood friend, who formed the Howling Commandos with Captain America to fight the Third Reich.
He was involved in an incident during a mission, then obtained by Dr. Zola of the HYDRA organization, who subjected him to Super Soldier Serum modification and implanted a mental controller in his brain, combined with brainwashing and hypnosis.
He thus became HYDRA's secret weapon, the most powerful assassin in the shadows.
That's right… John suddenly realized that Bucky, similar to Captain America, was usually kept in special cryogenic preservation and only thawed out for missions.
Perhaps some accident occurred during this thawing, or perhaps during the previous freezing, Bucky's consciousness disappeared, and he, the transmigrator, took his place.
From today on, he would be Bucky Barnes?
Although John deeply loved American comics and had fantasized about becoming Iron Man, becoming Thor, becoming Captain America, or becoming the Winter Soldier, Captain America's good friend with whom he had a love-hate relationship.
He didn't actually want to become the Winter Soldier.
Especially not the Winter Soldier who was still controlled by the unscrupulous HYDRA organization.
Brainwashed, used as a tool, exploited by HYDRA, and subjected to electric shock play every time they used him.
He would rather be a Warlord!
Fortunately, his transmigration, another variable, this cyberpunk system that transmigrated with him, gave him hope.
Character: James Buchanan Barnes
Level: 1
John might be conflicted about whether he was himself or the Winter Soldier Bucky.
But the system wouldn't.
The Winter Soldier's character image, the Winter Soldier's character name.
Winter Soldier it is, as long as he knew who he was, that was all that mattered for now.
He continued to observe; this interface with a virtual character image was the character's equipment interface.
The three weapon slots in the upper left corner, the [Inventory] and [Cyberware] in the lower left, and from top to bottom on the right, [Head], [Face], all the way to [Feet], as well as the item bar, were all empty.
Only the [Network Access Pod], a micro-computer in the cyberpunk World that directly connects to the brain for remote or wired access to other electronic devices, system Hacking, and network intrusion, was empty, but if he focused his attention there, it would display [New Equipment Available].
With a thought, he "clicked" into the equipment slot and found that the available equipment was called [HYDRA Mental Controller (Converted)].
HYDRA Mental Controller · Modified: Allows Hacking targets or devices during scanning, requires connection to a scanning device.
The system is amazing.
John couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement; his condition could be saved!
He didn't need to worry about the function of the Network Access Pod for now, as he didn't have a scanning device, which meant he hadn't undergone electronic eye modification.
The important thing was that the mental controller HYDRA had installed in his brain had been converted into his own item by the system, and its functions had completely changed; it could no longer control him!
Then wouldn't the Steel Kirin Arm also be able to be modified?
PIA!
Before he could study it further, he suddenly felt a sharp pain on his face.
His vision instantly shifted, the system interface retracted, and reality returned.
A bearded military officer stood before him.
It turned out that the electric brainwashing had ended, but the Winter Soldier remained in a daze, as if he had been electrocuted into an idiot.
Then the officer called out a few times, and seeing no response from the Winter Soldier, he delivered a resounding slap.
John frowned, but instantly remembered that he was now the Winter Soldier, and quickly feigned a blank expression.
"Longing."
Not good!
The moment the officer, holding a red leather notebook with a black five-pointed star seal, uttered a word in Russian.
John felt his body instantly react, muscles tensing, and in his mind, a flood of incomprehensible, even indescribable, images instinctively surged, making him involuntarily fall into a daze!
This was the hypnotic command for the Winter Soldier!
Although he wasn't the original Bucky Barnes, his brain was his, containing many of his memory fragments, and his body was also his, with his experiences and feelings!
He would be involuntarily affected by his body and memories, he would be hypnotized!
Oh no, oh no, oh no!
John secretly cried out in dismay, his heart also anxious.
The mental controller was used for brainwashing, to erase memories, and was also originally used to make Bucky's brain remember the hypnotized program.
His brain had already remembered it; even without the mental controller, he would still be hypnotized!
He used all his strength to resist that involuntary feeling, and he re-entered the system in his mind; this was his only way out, his only hope!
[System Message: Affected by mental control, Calmness -3, lost control of body.]
Calmness -3!
He keenly grasped the keyword in the prompt and immediately switched to the character attribute interface!
[Character Attributes:
Physique (7 points): Your physical fitness; Health, Stamina, Carrying Capacity, Melee Damage;
Sub-Specializations: Athletics 7; Annihilation 7; Brawling 7;
Reflexes (7 points): Your mobility; Movement Speed, Burst Power, Control, Critical Chance and Accuracy of Ranged Weapons;
Sub-Specializations: Handguns 7; Assault 7; Brawling 7;
Technique (3 points): Your technical ability, mechanical engineering, and Crafting level;
Sub-Specializations: Engineering 1; Crafting 1;
Intelligence (4 points): Your memory, calculation, comprehension, and analysis abilities, network Hacking ability, and related Crafting level;
Sub-Specializations: Hacking Protocol 1; Quick Hack 1;
Calmness (7-3 points): Your Willpower and resilience; Your efficiency while sneaking, and your tolerance for pain when injured;
Sub-Specializations: Stealth 7; Cold Blood 1;
Health: 163170;
Stamina: 135135;
Available Attribute Points: 7;
Available Specialization Points: 7.]
This was different from the initial attributes in the original game; originally, all five attributes started at 3 points, representing the average level of ordinary humans, and initially only two attributes could be raised to 6 points.
But the Winter Soldier had been modified with the Super Soldier Serum; it was just that the effect was clearly not as good as Captain America's, he wasn't as muscular as Captain America who could pull a helicopter with his Qilin Arm, but his physical attributes had already surpassed the limits achievable by ordinary humans, with [Physique] and [Reflexes] directly at 7 points.
And although the Winter Soldier had been repeatedly brainwashed, his Willpower should have been damaged, but it was only a weakness specifically for the special hypnotic program; at other times, he was the most ruthless warrior, unyielding.
Moreover, with the transmigrator possessing him, it was probably a soul fusion, and his mental strength also increased accordingly.
Therefore, his [Calmness] attribute, representing Willpower, also had 7 points!
However, the special hypnotic program would target his Willpower, causing an irresistible backdoor attack, completely impossible to resist, directly resulting in Calmness -3.
Then just add to it!
With a thought, 3 free attribute points were added to [Calmness]!
"Rust, seventeen…"
And at this moment, the officer uttered the second and third words!
John, however, felt a surge of extremely strong Willpower in his heart, forcing himself to resist the adverse reactions.
His mind gradually cleared, and his body stopped trembling, gradually calming down!
"Dawn, furnace, nine…"
However, as more words were spoken, his body began to stir again.
Still shaken, he immediately added another 1 point to [Calmness].
And this time, the effect was immediate!
It was like the final feather affecting both sides of the scale, directly influencing the ultimate outcome.
After adding this point to Calmness, he felt his mind and body completely calm down.
The negative effect of being hypnotized in the system directly disappeared!
The Calmness attribute was no longer -3, directly recovering to 11 points!
[Character: James Buchanan Barnes
Physique: 7
Reflexes: 7
Technique: 3
Intelligence: 4
Calmness: 11
Available Attribute Points: 3;
Available Specialization Points: 7.]
He narrowly escaped…
"One, freight car… Good morning, soldier."
Before he could think further, the officer's greeting rang in his ears.
He quickly recalled the state of impending confusion he had been in earlier and answered blankly,
"At your command."
"I have a mission for you: execution and extraction, leave no one alive."
Opening the folder the officer handed him, he saw the contents and couldn't help but narrow his pupils.
It was this!?