[In the year 2059, you were born again in Night City.
Unlike the previous time, this time you have no parents.
Perhaps they abandoned you, or perhaps they are both dead.
However, such things are quite common in Night City, so there is no reason for you to be surprised.
For as long as you can remember, you have constantly wandered around Jig-Jig Street in Westbrook, in Night City.
Westbrook is one of the six main districts of Night City and can boast some of the best entertainment spots in the entire city.
Japantown stands out in particular, a favorite place where many mid-level corporate employees come after work.
As an orphan and street child, you barely manage to survive here.
From the age of three to six, as a rare child without parents living on the street, you possess memories from your previous life and know very well how to hide your true nature.
Although the world of adults is always filled with cruelty and ruthlessness, all of that seems to have very little to do with you.
Even the usually arrogant members of the Tyger Claws treat you quite well.
Even the joytoys who try to squeeze the last eddie out of their customers sometimes take pity on you, while certain shop owners give you food for free.
You are sensible and often do small jobs for others, mostly carrying packages from one place to another.
Those occasional jobs are the only way for you to survive.
Many members of the Tyger Claws want to teach you some skills necessary for life on the street; with your cute and innocent-looking face, you could certainly do well on Jig-Jig Street.
But you politely refuse them, determined to earn a living through your own efforts.
Such an honest and stubborn attitude earns the respect of many people.
Among them is Wakako Okada, the owner of a pachinko parlor.
She even wanted to take you under her wing as an adopted son, but you refused her as well.
In your mind, you already possess memories connected to this world.
As someone who once played this game, it is only natural for you to believe that your fate is in your own hands.
At the ages of seven and eight, you are still wandering the streets of Jig-Jig Street, but nothing remains of your former confidence.
Now you only regret your own pride from the past.
Would it not have been much smarter if you had simply attached yourself to someone powerful?
Why the hell did you refuse her back then?
That powerful woman might have been a little older and quite a troublesome person, but what does that matter!
Because you knew very well that in two or three years the Unification War would break out.
Arasaka would return to Night City like an unstoppable force, shatter the existing order, and the entire city would inevitably sink into chaos.
Weak, helpless, and without any backing, you would have a hard time surviving such a storm.
Perhaps Lady Luck finally smiled on you once and gave you another chance to change your own life.
On one dark, stormy night, a Kang Tao executive made a mistake due to an unfortunate chain of circumstances…
Things went wrong on Jig-Jig Street.
But fortunately, that executive was lucky enough to run into you, and you were lucky enough to meet her.
Using your knowledge of the game map and years of experience gained from surviving on the streets, you helped her solve the problem she had found herself in.
From the age of eight to twelve, your luck completely turns around; you become the adopted son of that Kang Tao executive!
As one of the largest and most famous megacorporations in the world, Kang Tao treats its employees extremely generously.
They only have to work fourteen hours a day, and after signing a fifty-year loyalty contract, they even receive free Trauma Team Gold insurance!
As a lower-middle-level executive, that woman provides you with a comfortable life and loves you like her own child.
During those four years, you inadvertently reveal to her the course of certain future events, such as the outbreak of the Unification War in 2069–2070 and Arasaka’s return to Night City, when the corporation publicly announced that it would intervene in the conflict, along with other major events.
In addition, there are also smaller events, such as the Avian Extermination Act of 2063…
Thanks to knowing about those events in advance, the executive skillfully uses them as opportunities to advance through Kang Tao’s hierarchy…
At the age of twelve, in order to further expand its influence in Night City, Arasaka establishes Arasaka Academy, which includes secondary education.
The best graduates can directly receive an opportunity for an internship at Arasaka.
Wanting to see what kind of educational system Arasaka Academy uses, and also because the time has come for you to continue your education and perhaps meet the children of high-ranking people with a similar social status, your adoptive mother arranges your enrollment at Arasaka Academy.
From the age of thirteen to sixteen, your exhausting school life begins.
You cannot help but complain that this world is even more exhausting than the Earth you once knew; endless studying leaves you almost no free time at all.
Completely bewildered, you angrily shout:
“Why do even students in 2077 have to work from morning until night six days a week?!”
During that period, you also meet an interesting schoolmate named David Martinez, who is the same age as you and attends class with you.
With a little effort, you learn something about his family: he is growing up only with his mother, and she works as an EMT in Night City…
Considering his family situation, it is almost impossible that he can afford an education at Arasaka Academy.
For various reasons, the two of you become good friends.
He gets you several pairs of sunglasses, while you give him school supplies that you do not need but he does…
At the age of seventeen, you begin skipping classes, because in one year it will be 2077, the year in which the main story of the game officially begins.
You do not know what the famous V actually looks like, whether V is a man or a woman, or even whether V will look anything like the character you once created in the game.
You do not want to miss that major event, nor do you want to be helplessly swept away by the tide of history, so you desperately try to increase your own strength, causing your academic performance to gradually decline.
During that period, after avoiding classes for a long time, you suddenly hear several stories about David: his mother unexpectedly died, he beat up a student in the classroom, and then dropped out of school…
However, at that time you are desperately looking for a way to become stronger, wanting to get involved in V’s story the following year, so you do not pay much attention to those rumors.
When you hear news about David again, several months have already passed, and you even begin to suspect that you heard something wrong:
David became a legend of the Afterlife!
Afterlife — the most famous underground bar in Night City.
Every merc and solo considers it an honor just to get the chance to enter.
Many of the biggest jobs and deals in the city are made in that seemingly unremarkable bar.
Becoming a legend of the Afterlife means that David is already dead.
Because in Night City, there are no living legends.
At least not now.
You cannot understand how such a major event has nothing to do with the plot of Cyberpunk 2077.
Could it perhaps be content from some later DLC?
Before you ended up in this world, you were one of those unfortunate people who pre-ordered Cyberpunk 2077 and ended up deeply disappointed.
You only played version 1.0, so your knowledge of the world is quite limited.
Now, however, it is already too late for all of that.
You desperately gather information and eventually learn that a cyberpsycho named David moved from the Badlands toward Arasaka Tower, destroying Militech forces along the way and eliminating the Arasaka special units sent after him.
Under the moonlight, he fought his way all the way to Arasaka Tower and in the end died at the hands of Adam Smasher.
Such a huge event, and the only thing you know is that he was killed by the game’s final boss, Adam Smasher, an opponent whom your V in the game could defeat in only a few hits.
You cannot help but reflect on just how unpredictable life can be.
But now none of that is particularly important to you anymore.
At the age of eighteen, after a year of intensive training, you believe that you are finally capable enough, and with the help of your adoptive mother, you now also possess top-tier cyberware.
Filled with confidence, you begin taking jobs.
After successfully completing several contracts on your own, your confidence grows even further.
You plan your further development until you become famous enough to enter the Afterlife, while at the same time waiting for the arrival of your former game character — V.
Your name gradually begins circulating through Night City, until one day you finally gain enough reputation to enter the Afterlife!
As soon as you happily step into the Afterlife, you see a drink on the menu.
(Drink name: The David Martinez)
(Vodka on the rocks, topped with a little NiCola.)
“Aim high and go out with a bang!”
You remain silent for a long time.
In the end, despite your mild allergy to alcohol, you pay for the drink named after your former schoolmate and drink it.
That night, you swear to yourself that you will become a living legend of Night City!
A month or two later.
Finally, one day, your top-tier cyberware catches someone’s attention.
While casually walking down the street, a Scav grabs you and takes out your kidney.
Your life ends.]
Leon Mercer: ?
You praised me that much, and in the end some Scav took out my kidney?
Wait…
Actually, when I think about it, that even makes sense…
After all, even the main character of the game, the famous V, could end up in the hands of Scavs if they were not careful enough, let alone him, whose strength was nowhere near V’s level.
[Calculating the final rating and rewards of this simulation.]
[Rating: Died before managing to achieve his goal, leaving behind only regret for what he could have become.]
[Rewards: Top-tier cyberware, combat experience gained through numerous jobs…]
[Simulation complete. Would you like to personally live through this life and try to change the predetermined fate?]
[Note: If you choose to personally live through this life, you will receive everything you acquired throughout your entire development and all the rewards you earned, while at the same time changing the course of fate and avoiding the predetermined ending.]
Leon fell silent.
Originally, he intended to simply claim the reward and not waste any more time living through another life.
But when he thought about it more carefully, if he only obtained this top-tier cyberware, without any real combat experience and without the time needed to learn how to use it and develop his own abilities…
Would he really be able to manage in the real world?
After all, even in the simulation, he ended up butchered…
And if he claimed the rewards now, he did not know whether he would even have any opportunities left for future simulations.
“If I choose to personally live through the simulation, will the life I experience be real or just an illusion?” Leon suddenly asked.
[Fully Immersive Life Simulation: Everything you experience will be real. You may regard it as starting life over again, with your soul being transferred into the Cyberpunk world.]
[The simulation will end when you die, but nothing you experience during it will be meaningless. The people you meet, the things you acquire, and the events you witness will one day help you in some way.]
There is no longer any need to think.
Leon Mercer immediately made his decision.
There is no need to restart the ordinary simulation either.
After all, the result of this life was not bad.
“I choose to live through it,” Leon answered.
[Congratulations on your first use of the Fully Immersive Simulation. We wish you a perfect life in your new world.]
[Since this is your first time participating in a Fully Immersive Simulation, you will now receive a beginner package.]
[Beginner Package: Katana — Black Unicorn Wolf School Jacket Shupe the Troll Plushy Iconic Weapon — Yinglong Crafting Spec 3 character attribute points]
[Character attributes are divided into five categories: Body, Reflexes, Technical Ability, Intelligence, and Cool.]
[Your current attributes: Body: 3 Reflexes: 4 Technical Ability: 3 Intelligence: 3 Cool: 4]