“Game Playtest: Record play experience and bug feedback.
Minimum valid play time: 24 hours.
Compensation: 2,000 RMB.
Interested?” The notification on his content creator dashboard chimed unexpectedly.
The message came from an anonymous user with a pitch-black avatar.
“Two thousand?” Sitting at his computer, Jake Quinn’s eyes instantly lit up.
He was a ordinary university graduate who couldn’t take a regular job outside due to health issues.
To make ends meet, he took on all sorts of odd jobs online—photo editing, video cutting, game boosting, account management…
he did almost anything.
He had recently started making content online, but with barely any followers, a sponsorship worth two thousand RMB was something he couldn’t afford to miss!
“I’ll take it!
Do I need to sign an NDA?” The other party didn’t waste a single word, dropping a download link directly into the chat.
When Jake clicked it, a prompt instantly popped up in the bottom right corner of his desktop: *Download and installation complete.* “?” Jake stared in disbelief.
That fast?
Was it some tiny pixel game?
He moved his cursor to the desktop, where a brand-new icon had suddenly appeared.
It was David Martinez’s avatar.
A bright yellow EMT jacket half-covered the young man’s sharp, angular face, his eyes ferocious like a wolf, glaring straight at him from behind the screen.
The icon’s name: *Edgerunners*.
Isn’t this the anime spinoff of 2077?
Did they make a game sequel?
Jake was filled with questions.
Wait, that made no sense.
Why would an internal playtest for a AAA title of this caliber go to a small-time booster with virtually no traffic like him?
Besides, there wasn’t even a formal representative from a developer—just an anonymous link?
Doubts aside, the promised payment was right there in front of him.
Jake set up his screen recording anyway and double-clicked the icon.
The screen went pitch black.
Only the buzzing of electric current persisted in his headphones, growing louder and louder.
Then, several lines of crimson text made of fragmented code flickered into existence at the center of the darkness: [Neural Interface Simulation Initializing] [Reality Sync Protocol Activated] [Hacking in progress…] The text reorganized, finally forming an extremely minimalist menu interface.
[Start Game] [Load Game] [Settings] [Exit Game] With practiced ease, Jake clicked “Start Game.” The screen went black again, and in the blink of an eye, noisy ambient sounds washed over him.
“Clang, clang, clang, clang—!” The rattling of an old washing machine echoed in the narrow space.
The screen slowly lit up.
Dim yellow light bled into a laundry area just a few square meters wide.
A teenager with punk-styled hair sat in front of the washing machine, staring numbly at the clothes inside through the round glass door.
“Is this…
David?” Jake’s fingers were already resting on the WASD keys, ready to move the character.
“Graphics are even sharper than 2077.
Not bad…” Before he could press a key, translucent white text popped up on the screen.
[You will take control of David Martinez’s body and life trajectory.
Please mold him into your ideal form.
Night City has no limits; all choices are yours to make.] The crimson system text slowly faded from the center of the screen.
“No main quest?” Jake looked closely, but he couldn’t find a quest log or anything similar on the interface.
An open world?
I can do whatever I want?
He sized up the apartment’s laundry area.
This should be…
part of the first episode of the original story, right?
David washes his clothes, then goes to class at Arasaka Academy.
But because he can’t afford the system upgrade fees, he secretly visits a ripperdoc to modify his braindance headset.
Once connected, it glitches Arasaka Academy’s system, leading to his mother being called in.
Ultimately, Gloria gets caught in a gang crossfire and dies on the way home, and David ends up being bullied at school.
“If it’s an open world…” Jake mused aloud, “I should be able to change the original storyline, right?
Hmm, let me find the Apogee first.” David’s most famous implant was none other than the Sandevistan, and based on its absurd performance, the player community generally agreed it was the Apogee from 2077.
As a spinal implant, activating it would slow down time by 85%, making it the core cyberware for blade builds.
If he could get his hands on this piece of gear, forget about bullying—as long as it wasn’t a scripted death, no one in the early game would stand a chance against him!
Jake cracked his neck and clicked on the game interface.
Plenty of games hid secret items near the starting point.
Going by the anime’s plot, the Apogee was very likely right inside this apartment!
…
“Beep!
Beep!” The washing machine stopped shaking, red text flashing in a loop: “Insufficient balance.
Drying halted!” Mom forgot to put money in again…
David was used to it.
He prepared to stand up and deal with the wet clothes.
He tried to rise, but his knees didn’t budge.
“…?” What was going on?
David thought his legs had just gone numb from squatting too long.
He took a deep breath, engaged his core, and tried again—yet there was still no sign of his body standing up.
What the hell?!
Did some trash braindance burn his nerves?
David tried to roll his eyes to call out for his mother, Gloria, only to find that all sound was stuck in his throat.
He couldn’t utter a single word.
He tried to dial a holo-call, but his cyberware—usually reliable—completely lost control, as if it had entirely disconnected from his consciousness.
Just as David was panicking, his legs stood up uncontrollably.
He paced back and forth in the laundry area, even doing two small hops on the spot, making the floor tiles thud loudly.
“Movement’s pretty nimble…” A voice rang out directly deep within his mind.
*Who?!* David scanned the cramped laundry area.
There wasn’t another soul here besides him.
A hallucination?
No, it couldn’t be a hallucination!
Someone was controlling his body!
David left the laundry area and walked into the living room.
In the sunken living room sat a worn, cracked leather couch.
Gloria was asleep on it, wrapped in her bright yellow EMT jacket.
David paused in the living room.
He looked around before bypassing the couch and heading toward his own room.
Inside, a single bed was pressed against the wall, alongside two curling movie posters and a storage cabinet.
Other than that, there were no decorations.
Jake controlled David to walk straight up to the storage cabinet.
This looked like a place where things might be hidden.
The cabinet was opened.
Inside were old boots, a tablet, and other miscellaneous items, but the most eye-catching thing was a black plastic bag stuffed deep in the back.
“Oho!
Loot!” “Talk about good luck!” The plastic bag was yanked out.
*Don’t!
That’s…!* David’s pupils shrank.
He wanted to stop it, but he couldn’t.
The bag was untied.
Inside was no Sandevistan, but a few magazines.
The women on the covers wore revealing neon lingerie, their curves fully outlined under the vibrant lights, their expressions intensely flirtatious.
The magazine titles were written in exaggerated pink font: *Night City Babes* and *Playboy*.
Jake: “…” *Wow, a golden legend!* During the moment Jake fell silent, David’s face turned as red as a cooked lobster.
Right now, he just wanted to stuff those things back in, lock the cabinet, rush out of the room, and jump off the building!
Knowing the item wouldn’t be in David’s room, Jake controlled him to turn around and leave.
The magazines were left casually scattered on the floor.
*Get back here!
At least help me clean it up!!* Mom was sleeping right in the living room and could wake up at any moment to see all of this.
Yet David could only watch helplessly as his body walked out of the bedroom without looking back, leaving a total mess behind.
Was there anything more desperate in the world than this?
Leaving the room, Jake searched the other corners of the apartment.
Finally, a black canvas tote bag was pulled out.
He unzipped it.
Inside was a translucent medical waste bag containing a section of blood-stained spine.
The metal vertebrae were incredibly precise, the interfaces covered in delicate nerve connection points.
“Found you!” Jake happily picked up the implant.
Now he just needed to find a ripperdoc to install it, and he’d be invincible!
Just as he was about to turn and leave, he suddenly heard a lazy, tired female voice.
“Good morning.” Gloria had been woken up.
She sat up from the couch, clutching her bright yellow jacket tightly.
Her eyes were still a bit groggy as she habitually looked toward her son first.
Then, her gaze fell onto the tote bag in David’s hands.
Gloria snapped awake instantly.
“David…” “What is that in your hand?”