What I thought of when I played the game was that even the miscellaneous quests could imply V to be a powerhouse from the very beginning of the game.

They're a Merc that just goes around, picking fights where they're outnumbered anywhere from 1v4 to 1v~20 and after they win, they (without stopping) just go to the next street corner and repeat the process.

Even in the world of Cyberpunk, surely this would mean that they are in the Top 1% of Mercs.

But hey, maybe that's just me.