Apparently, the life trajectory shown in the simulator could only serve as a reference.
The moment Lin Mo saw his simulated life path, fate had already shifted—quietly, irrevocably.
He still remembered how this part was supposed to go. He and Xu Wanxue were meant to escape Twisty Street safely, without encountering any real danger.
But now? He'd killed a Tiger Claws thug.
And Xu Wanxue's mindset had shifted. She no longer wanted to be his foster mother—she wanted to be his older sister.
Sigh... Lin Mo stared at the streetlights outside the window, letting out a heavy breath.
After driving for quite some time, Xu Wanxue finally pulled up to her apartment building.
To his surprise, it wasn't in Charter Hill, Westbrook—where most mid-level corpo employees lived.
Instead, she turned off onto a bridge, driving straight toward the City Center and stopping near Corpo Plaza.
In the original game, Night City was divided into six major districts: Watson, City Center, Heywood, Westbrook, Santo Domingo, and Pacifica.
Now that the game world had become reality, the scale was naturally larger. But the layout remained the same.
Corpo Plaza was home to the Night City branches of numerous global megacorporations. Towering skyscrapers stretched toward the sky, forming a jagged skyline. At night, they looked like a horde of silent black giants looming over the city—brutal, magnificent, beautiful… and deeply rotten.
They stood opposed to one another—but none of them ever spoke.
This was Corpo Plaza, a circular island district. The game's iconic floating koi fish—two massive holographic projections—were here too, gliding slowly through the sky, just like in the game.
The awe he'd felt seeing them for the first time in-game? It didn't even come close to seeing them in real life.
It was still pre-2069. The Unification War hadn't broken out yet. Arasaka—the main antagonist in Cyberpunk 2077—had no reason to reestablish operations in this part of the Americas.
"But it won't be long now..." Lin Mo murmured, face grim.
He hadn't come to this world just to drift aimlessly. If he couldn't make something of himself, then what was the point of receiving this second chance from the simulator?
At the very least, he wanted to earn the title of "Legend of Afterlife." And if he could go further, then why not aim for "Legend of Night City"?
While driving, Xu Wanxue occasionally glanced at Lin Mo's pensive expression, thinking he was confused about where they were headed.
"Relax, I'm not going in for overtime. I've still got six hours before work. God, what a joke..."
She glanced at the in-car clock. It was already 2 a.m.
"My apartment's just next to Corpo Plaza—housing provided by the company. Makes commuting easier. Charter Hill's nice and all, but it's too far from the office."
Lin Mo nodded without saying anything.
Eventually, they pulled into the underground parking garage. With her seed chip, Xu Wanxue led him smoothly through security and into the apartment building.
At the front desk stood a woman practically clad in gold. Her exposed arms, neck, and parts of her face had all been replaced with brass-plated cyberware, giving her the look of a golden statue—gaudy, flashy, and artificial.
As Xu Wanxue entered, the receptionist gave a polite bow, greeting her with a bright smile.
Trailing behind her, Lin Mo sized up the woman's implants thoughtfully.
By now, cyberware had entered its fourth generation of technological development.
Compared to third-gen models, which focused on function, fourth-gen was often derided by mercs as flashy garbage—more style than substance.
There were two categories of fourth-gen cyberware.
The first was high-end, cutting-edge gear—like advanced neural processors, stress analyzers, or the latest biomonitors. These were typically reserved for top-tier corpo execs or elite agents. They weren't bad, just so expensive and overengineered that they weren't meant for anyone outside that class. And honestly, those people weren't usually getting into firefights.
The second category? Purely decorative cyberware. Flowing precious metals, pure crystal, exotic hardwoods embedded into synthetic skin—designed purely to flaunt wealth and status. Each piece was absurdly expensive.
The implants on the receptionist were obviously decorative—but she wasn't some powerful exec. Her "gold" was just cheap brass trying to pass as something more.
Lin Mo had no interest in this kind of chrome. What he really wanted was third-gen bio-ware—the kind of implants that actually did something.
Truth be told, he had no desire to turn himself into "V-timus Prime."
That was a joke from the Cyberpunk forums back in the day.
In Cyberpunk 2077, if players wanted to, they could turn V into a walking tank, cramming cyberware into every part of their body. People joked that V wasn't a person anymore—just a metal monster.
Honestly, Lin Mo didn't want to end up like that. You could throw one of those guys into a wok and not even get a spoonful of meat out of them.
No—he was after bio-ware.
Biological augmentations like subdermal nanomaterial armor, nanomedical bots, synapse enhancements, neural regeneration...
Implants that would let him retain his humanity. Let him stay a person—not a walking slab of steel.
That said... there was one piece of chrome he still had his eye on.
The Sandevistan.
The god-tier speed enhancer. That one was non-negotiable.
As Lin Mo quietly fantasized about his future upgrades, Xu Wanxue suddenly flicked him on the forehead.
He clutched his head and turned, puzzled.
"What are you spacing out for? We're home!" she said with mock annoyance. She pressed the panel by the door. After verifying her seed chip, the electronic lock clicked open.
The apartment interior was elegant and luxurious—well-furnished, polished, and filled with subtle touches of greenery. Lin Mo even spotted a few real bamboo stalks arranged near the window. In his previous world, a place like this would've cost millions.
"I'm gonna take a shower, then nap for a bit. You can stay here for now. If anything comes up, we'll handle it tomorrow night," Xu Wanxue said with a yawn, disappearing into the bathroom.
She'd already given him the important instructions back in the car.
Lin Mo nodded and began exploring the apartment.
Even in this era of advanced technology, the average person's quality of life hadn't improved all that much.
Take Xu Wanxue, for example. A mid-tier manager in Kang Tao's R&D division—a level most people in Night City wouldn't reach even after working their entire lives.
Yet she still worked 14 hours a day, every day.
After work, she'd unwind at Twisty Street, then return home at two in the morning.
If she got six hours of sleep, she was lucky.
Many corpo employees had to rely on stimulants just to stay alert.
And let's not even talk about office politics—colleagues scheming against each other, digging traps to climb higher up the ladder. That was just part of the daily grind.
All companies were the same.
No matter where you went, the first clause in every contract was always:
"Absolute loyalty to the company."
Joining a megacorp meant access to perks—elite benefits, high salaries.
But betray the company, and they'd seize your assets, strip you of benefits, and repossess every implant they'd given you.
Even so, people still clawed to become corpo employees. Like wolves raised in captivity—used to the comfort of regular meals, claws dulled, unwilling to return to the wilderness.
Freedom might exist out there. But so did hunger, danger, and instability.
To many, the corporations were the only safe haven left.
People like ants. Lives like weeds.
That was the world now.
Standing by the window, Lin Mo stared at the flickering headlights of late-night traffic—tiny like fireflies—and let out a quiet sigh.
No matter what else happened...
At least now, in this world—
He had a home.
.
.
.
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