The Hunt is a side job in Cyberpunk 2077 given by River Ward.
Walkthrough[]
Some time after completing I Fought the Law, River will call you up, needing assistance and requests you meet in person for him to discuss the details.
After you get to the designated location and wait for him to arrive, he'll pull up in his truck. Get in and talk to him a bit but he's not really in a chatty mood and will instead send you a video clip to watch of a news reel. It'll reveal a man named Anthony Harris who's also the dubbed "Peter Pan" serial killer being apprehended in his car by NCPD as one of his victims falls out of the vehicle. Anthony tries to run but is shot down by police and the clip will note the victim died from septic shock. Meanwhile Anthony, while still alive, is comatose in a hospital so there's no way to interrogate him about where other victims are being held.
After it finishes, River will reveal while Peter Pan was never his case, his nephew, Randy, recently went missing and the victim in the video was wearing Randy's shoes. Furthermore, the detective that is on the case isn't doing much and so it's not looking good in finding Randy in time and River isn't on good terms with his sister so he doesn't know much about Randy's disappearance. But he does have an idea: to try and view Anthony's dreams as a braindance to see if enough clues can be found to find and save Randy.
NCPD Lab[]
With that, get out of the vehicle and follow River across the street to the lab, but he'll note he doesn't have access to get inside. Head to the left from the entrance to find an alleyway with a door you can use Technical Ability to get through. River will inform you the place is empty of people so you're free to look around without being disturbed. While you can check the side rooms and read the various computer messages, there's nothing noteworthy in them. Head to the central, large room and then enter the side room off of it that looks like a child's room and scan the file cabinets here to locate Anthony's file. As you search them, you'll be interrupted by Yawen Packard, who's none too pleased you've broken in. After some back and forth where River reveals he was suspended from work and brings up Yawen's past where she cheated on a medical exam, she'll agree to help, but only one problem: Anthony isn't dreaming and as they don't know what to use to trigger it, they can't get any BDs off of him. River will take it upon himself to find a way and heads out.
Go through the front door where Johnny will talk a bit and, if using a female V, he'll note River seems rather interested in V. Get in River's vehicle and he'll start driving out to his sister's place while you can talk to him about his suspension, Randy, and the case.
Visiting Joss[]
You'll eventually arrive at Joss' who isn't happy either about seeing River but will agree to let you both look through Randy's stuff if it means finding something that could help bring back her son. Follow River to the other trailer where Randy was living and look around for clues. In particular, to be successful in saving Randy in time, you'll need enough major clues. Some of these clues include:
- In the kitchen area pick up the key on the shelf near the table and use it to unlock the cabinet in Randy's bedroom
- Have enough Intelligence to hack Randy's computer (or scan the record player in the hallway to learn the password)
- Read all the messages and files on the computer
- On the "Net" tab click the image of the red people to find the secret website, then on that site, click the "Join Us" then "Files" tabs, then back to the computer's main files to view the video again. River will then send this to Yawen to see if that gets Anthony dreaming
- While it helps, it's not necessary to find Harris' IP address (you'll need enough in Intelligence for this). To do so exit out like normal from the computer but this time you have the option to tell him you can or lack the skills to do so. You can also find enough clues in the BDs to compensate for this if you don't have enough Intelligence to find the IP
After you've done everything you could, follow River back over to Joss to talk to her about what you've found. Agree to stay and you can talk a bit to Joss if you haven't already before heading to bed. River will wake you up some time later with good news: the video worked and Anthony is dreaming. You'll now need to scroll the BDs they got for additional clues:
- School
- 3 visuals: the teacher, the bulletin boards, and the trophy case
- Childhood Barn
- 7 Visuals: Young Anthony, the cow, Anthony's father, the console to the left of Anthony's father, the injection system console Anthony passes, the dietary supplements across the barn, and the cartoon playing
- Note if you got enough clues in this one, you may not be able to scan the last one (the optional objective to find clues may disappear if this is the case)
- Adulthood Barn
- 13 Visuals: Solar box, clock, electrical parts, fuel barrels, victims x3, infusion pump, FDNC certificate, computer, crawling victim, number to top left of barn entrance, towers of light (outside the barn)
- Audio: AV sounds (through the ceiling)
If you found enough clues, River will deduce the correct location is Edgewood Farm, or if you already were in the farm before, V will recognise it if they scan the towers of light. Otherwise you'll need to guess, though it is in the list of guessing options so you can select it there if you didn't get enough clues. That said, if you guess the wrong farm, you won't be able to find Randy in time. Romance note: If you wish to romance River, you need to make sure you pick the right farm here, otherwise it'll lock River's last quest out and he won't be able to be romanced.
Finding Randy[]
Edgewood Farm doesn't have any hostile people, but the yard is littered with mines and there's 4 turrets and several cameras. Also note to not stray too far, as if you do it'll fail and both River and Randy will die (as River will be killed from the barn's defenses and nobody else will arrive in time to save Randy).
If you lack the ability to turn them off via hacking or want the unique weapon Tinker Bell, go into the house and near the computer here, look under the desk to find a switch. Click it to reveal a hidden room with a second computer that'll let you turn off the turrets and cameras along with the Tinker Bell club nearby. Now you just need to worry about the mines as you make your way to the left of the barn entrance where a ladder is. Use it to get up on the roof and enter through an opening here. River will find Randy but needs you to turn off the BD machine in the control room before he can unplug Randy, so hurry back there and turn it off, then head back around to help the other victims, most of whom are still alive. Afterwards, River will call for your assistance, so go help him out and then it'll fast forward to where the police have arrived and working on getting the victims to the hospital. River though still has one more agenda: Anthony has to die. Romance note: do not select the "count me out" option here if you wish to romance him. After some more dialogue, River will part with the Trauma Team, ending the quest.
Journal Entry[]
- NCPD boy in blue gives you a holler and you come runnin' like an obedient dog? This ain't gonna become a habit is it? Well, whatever - sounds like he's got an errand for you, real personal kind. Least it's better than chasing dead politicians. Just do me a favor - don't get used to it.
- Upon completion:
- So some depraved maniac's kidnapping boys, and lo and behold, your badge is caught up in the middle of it. Gotta be honest, this doesn't look good. Peter Pan's just another manifestation of this fucked up city - probably already ended those poor brats. But on the off-chance Randy's still alive... If I were you, I'd go save him. Especially if "breaking the law" is involved.
Objectives[]
- Meet with River Ward in the evening.
- Sit and wait for River.
- Get in River's car.
- Talk to River.
- Get out of the car.
- Follow River.
- Find a way inside the lab.
- Talk to River.
- Use Kiroshi to find the right cabinet.
- Search the cabinets.
- Talk to Yawen Packard.
- Return to River's car.
- Talk to Johnny. [Optional]
- Talk to River.
- Ride with River.
- Follow River.
- Talk to Joss.
- Follow River.
- Look for clues to help find Randy.
- Open the locked cabinet. [Optional]
- Talk to River.
- Learn the password to the computer.
- Search Randy's computer for his activity on the Net.
- View the page Randy mentioned.
- Click on the image on the Drugs Are Bad site.
- Search for Anthony Harris's hidden page.
- Check the cartoon in the file folder.
- Get Harris's IP address. [Optional]
- Talk to River.
- Follow River.
- Talk to Joss.
- Listen to River.
- Watch the recording.
- Relive the braindance.
- Scan for clues.
- Go to the next section of the braindance.
- Relive the braindance.
- Look for clues to help find Randy. [Optional]
- Exit the braindance to proceed to the next section.
- Relive the braindance.
- Scan for clues.
- Exit the braindance.
- Plan the next move with River.
- Get to River's car.
- Drive to the farm with River.
- If insufficient clues were gathered and the wrong farm was chosen:
- Check out the barn.
- Get to River's car.
- Drive to the farm with River.
- Find a way into the barn.
- Look around the barn.
- Turn off the braindance machine.
- Return to River.
- Help the other victims.
- Go to River.
- If insufficient clues were gathered and the wrong farm was chosen:
- Find a way into the barn.
- Find the farm's security control system. (Optional)
- Disable security on the computer. (Optional)
- Look around the barn.
- Turn off the braindance machine.
- Return to River.
- Help the other victims.
- Go to River.
- Help River.
Associated Shards[]
- The Joy of Influence: Five Simple Rules
- Understanding Your Teen
- Make it Go Boom!
- Manipulation: Easier than You Think!
- Juice - Top 8 Dangers
Notes[]
- If the not enough clues are gathered and V is left with a 50/50 choice between Edgewood and Poppy Farm, choosing the wrong farm (Poppy) will result in the rest of the mission to play out differently (locking out the follow-up mission Following the River). River and V will drive to Poppy Farm where they defeat some Wraiths and quickly see that it is the wrong one. Finally arriving at Edgewood Farm, both find out that they came too late and that Randy is dead. River collapses and later gets angry with V, regretting that he did not hire a professional instead. River vows to kill Anthony Harris with or without V's help. Some time later he will send a text message to V, notifying them that the deed is done and bidding final goodbye. River later gets into a bar fight with someone who was talking badly about Anthony's victims, which lands him in the precinct prison in Little China. From there he leaves a video message played during the end credits and asks V to bail him out.
- During the BDs, there is a chance the interface will display a notification saying "Entering a new area: Edgewood Farm", spoiling where the kids are located, especially if the player didn't gather enough clues
- Once this mission is completed, a report by Network News 54 covering the events can be seen on some TVs in the city.
- The barn is surrounded by lots of mines which can be disarmed. This can be used to train up the engineering skill.
Trivia[]
- The title of this job comes from the New Model Army song "The Hunt" first released in 1986.
- In the NCPD Lab, a BB Unit from Death Stranding can be seen and scanned.
- Anthony Harris is a reference to the Hannibal Lecter franchise:
- He is named after both Anthony Hopkins (the actor who played Lecter in the films) and Thomas Harris (the author of the novels).
- Like Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs, V must (literally) enter the mind of a serial killer in order to save someone's life.
- The quest's plotline is identical to the 2000 film, The Cell:
- Both feature a comatose serial killer whose mind and memories must be searched to find their latest victim.
- Both serial killers' victims are located on a farm.
- Both killers are themselves victims of childhood abuse.
- Both killers view their victims as non-humans who must be "saved": livestock for Anthony Harris; dolls for Carl Stargher.
- Both killers' memories are warped by their mental instability.
- Both feature technology that allows a 3rd party to view memories of another person.
- Both protagonists are unaffiliated individuals accompanied by a detective investigating the case.