It seems that the life trajectory shown by the simulator can ultimately only be used as a reference.
The moment he saw his simulated life, his fate had already begun to change imperceptibly.
Leon still clearly remembered that part of the simulation; he and Vanessa Hale were supposed to safely leave Jig-Jig Street without encountering any serious danger along the way.
But now he had already killed a member of the Tyger Claws.
And Vanessa’s attitude had changed as well.
Now she no longer wanted to be his adoptive mother, but his big sister!
Eh, what a hassle…
Leon looked at the night scenery outside the window and sighed softly.
After a long drive, Vanessa finally arrived at her residential building.
Unlike what he had expected, Leon had thought that her apartment would be somewhere near Charter Hill in Westbrook.
After all, a large number of mid-level employees from various corporations lived there.
But Vanessa turned, drove the sports car across the bridge, and arrived near Corpo Plaza in the City Center.
In the game, Night City was divided into six main districts: Watson, City Center, Heywood, Westbrook, Santo Domingo, and Pacifica.
Now that the game world had become reality, Night City’s urban area naturally could not be as small as it appeared in the game.
But the basic layout of the city remained the same.
Located in the very heart of the City Center, Corpo Plaza was home to the Night City branches of numerous international megacorporations.
Skyscrapers rising toward the sky shaped the city skyline, and at night they created the illusion of countless black giants standing side by side, cold, harsh, and magnificent.
Beautiful on the outside, but filled with filth within…
This was Corpo Plaza, an enormous circular zone in the very heart of the city.
One of the most recognizable sights from the game was also located here, two enormous holographic fish swimming through the air, repeating the same movements Leon remembered from the game.
A sight that had looked magnificent even through a screen was now incomparably more impressive in reality.
It still was not the year 2069.
The Unification War had not yet begun, and the main corporate antagonist from the game, Arasaka, still had no reason to return and reestablish its position in this city on the American continent.
“But it won’t be long…”
Leon’s expression became serious.
If he failed to make something of himself in this world, then he would have completely wasted the opportunity given to him by the braindance Life Simulator.
At the very least, he wanted to earn the title of an Afterlife legend.
And if possible…
Legend of Night City sounded even better!
Vanessa, sitting behind the wheel, occasionally glanced at him with concern during the drive.
Now that they had reached Corpo Plaza and she saw his thoughtful expression, she assumed he was wondering why she had brought him here of all places.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t bring you here because I have to work overtime. Though… I only have six hours left until my shift starts. When I think about it like that, it really does sound insane…”
Vanessa said this while trying to explain the situation, and then suddenly noticed the time on the car’s display.
It was already two in the morning.
“My apartment is right next to Corpo Plaza. The building is intended for corporate employees, so it’s convenient for work. North Oak is nice, but it’s still a little too far for a daily commute to the office.”
Leon merely nodded without saying anything.
In the end, the sports car stopped in the underground garage of a residential complex.
Thanks to Vanessa’s identification chip, they passed all security checks without any problems and reached the building itself.
A woman sat at the reception desk who, at first glance, was trying to give off the impression of immense wealth.
Her exposed arms, neck, and even parts of her face had been replaced with brass-colored cyberware, making her look almost like a golden statue, wrapped in luxury and brilliance.
The moment Vanessa entered, the receptionist, who had spent her entire shift sitting behind the counter, bowed slightly and welcomed her with a smile.
Leon, walking behind Vanessa, also carefully examined her cyberware, quite impressed by what he saw.
During this period, cyberware technology had already entered its fourth generation.
Unlike the third generation, which was mainly focused on practicality and functionality, fourth-generation cyberware was often mocked by mercs as overpriced, flashy, and impractical.
Fourth-generation cyberware could generally be divided into two categories.
The first consisted of the newest and most advanced models, with an extremely high level of technology.
For example: Advanced Neural Processor, Stress Analyzer, Latest Biomonitor, and similar systems.
Their users were mostly high-ranking corpo employees or special operatives.
Such cyberware was not bad in itself.
But because of its extremely complex design and enormous cost, it was impossible to install it on ordinary people on a large scale.
Besides that, the people who could afford such implants generally did not enter direct combat like ordinary mercs, so much of that cyberware did not even serve to increase raw combat power.
The second category consisted of decorative implants.
Expensive liquid metals, pure crystals, and even rare natural wood were implanted into or beneath synthetic skin so that the rich and powerful could display their status and wealth.
Some such procedures cost an actual fortune.
The receptionist’s cyberware belonged precisely to this decorative category.
But she obviously did not possess the wealth of people at the very top of society; the metal that looked luxurious from the outside was only relatively cheap brass.
Leon was not interested in such cyberware at all.
What he wanted was third-generation cyberware — practical combat implants and bioware that could provide the user with a real advantage!
In fact, he did not want to one day end up as some kind of Full-Borg V, like the protagonist of the game when the player completely stuffed them with implants.
It was one of those stupid expressions players used on Cyberpunk forums.
In the game, if the player wanted, they could replace almost every available system in V’s body with combat cyberware, until the character no longer resembled a human being but rather a walking piece of military machinery.
Because of that, players joked that such a V was no longer human, but Full-Borg V.
Honestly, Leon did not want to become something like that.
If you dismantled such a person like a piece of meat, you probably would not be able to find even a decent piece of real human tissue…
That was why his real goal was bioware.
It was technology that used biological modification instead of conventional mechanical replacement, such as: subdermal nano-organic armor, nanomedical robots, synaptic enhancement, nerve-cell regeneration modifiers…
Such implants would allow him to preserve what made him human to the greatest extent possible, instead of turning into a monster made of steel.
Of course, there was also one piece of cyberware he was determined to obtain no matter what.
One of the most powerful types of cyberware in the game…
Sandevistan!
While Leon excitedly imagined his own future, Vanessa suddenly lightly tapped him on the head.
Leon covered the top of his head with his hands and looked at his newly acquired big sister in confusion.
“What are you daydreaming about so much? We’re home!” Vanessa said, somewhat annoyed, while pressing the button beside the door.
The system read the information from her identification chip and the electronic door slowly opened.
The apartment was elegantly furnished and fully equipped with various pieces of furniture.
Leon even noticed several rare living green plants decorating the table.
In his previous life, an apartment like this would definitely have been worth millions.
“I’m going to take a shower and then get some sleep. You stay here today. We can talk about everything else tomorrow evening when I finish my shift.”
Vanessa yawned.
She was too exhausted to explain anything else to Leon, so she turned around and headed toward the bathroom.
As for all the necessary warnings and rules…
They had already talked enough about that during the drive.
Leon nodded slightly.
He did not want to keep her any longer, so he began looking around the apartment on his own.
Although human technology had reached an incredibly advanced level, the living standards of most people had not actually improved very much.
Vanessa was a perfect example.
She worked as a manager of a research department at Kang Tao and could be considered a mid-level corpo manager.
Countless residents of Night City could work their entire lives and never reach her position.
And yet even she had to work from morning until night, fourteen hours a day.
After work, she would sometimes stop somewhere to relax a little, and would not return home until deep into the night.
As for sleep, six hours was considered a luxury.
Many corpo employees had to use stimulants and other drugs just to maintain the required productivity.
On top of all that, schemes among coworkers, framing, betrayal, and attempts to sabotage someone else for the sake of promotion were everyday occurrences.
All corporations were the same.
No matter which megacorporation you joined, the first rule in the contract could always be reduced to the same thing:
“Absolute loyalty to the corporation.”
Working for a corporation brought privileges and a high salary.
But the price was simple.
If you betrayed the corporation, it had the right to freeze or seize your personal accounts, revoke all privileges and benefits, and even reclaim the cyberware it had provided you.
And yet most people still desperately wanted to become corpo.
They were like wolves that had been fed by the same hand for years, until their claws grew dull and they no longer wanted to return to the wild.
The wilderness might offer freedom.
But it also brought uncertainty over whether you would even have anything to eat tomorrow.
In the eyes of many people, that was precisely why a corporation represented a safe refuge from the wilderness.
People here were like ants, their lives insignificant as blades of grass.
Perhaps that was the best description of this world.
Leon stood in front of the large floor-to-ceiling window and watched the cars moving far below him in the early morning hours like fireflies.
He sighed softly.
No matter how everything ended…
He finally had a home in this world.