At the time, the middle-aged man and his son experienced the game together using the cyber hacker background.
This background focused mainly on stealth gameplay and manipulating everything from the shadows.
The main storyline for this path began with a mercenary job, through which the protagonist met Jack.
From then on, Jack became the frontline enforcer of their small crew. He would lead a few subordinates charging into danger, while the protagonist stayed behind the scenes as a hacker, providing cover and support for Jack.
When the story progressed to the mission of infiltrating the Arasaka Corporation's hotel tower to steal a chip, the protagonist's role was to guide Jack and his men through the operation.
In the final moments, just as Jack was about to succeed, they personally witnessed Saburo Arasaka being assassinated—the killer being Yorinobu Arasaka. In the chaos, the protagonist guided Jack to escape through hidden routes.
However, the protagonist's hacking position was soon discovered by Arasaka's top-tier netrunning team, who launched a cyberattack in return.
Barely escaping before being killed outright, the protagonist fled the pursuit and regrouped with Jack—only to then witness Jack's death with his own eyes.
From that moment on, the protagonist swore to avenge Jack, using his hacking abilities to investigate Yorinobu Arasaka's secrets and uncover the deeper, hidden truths of the Arasaka Corporation.
At the same time, the protagonist fought alongside another major character—Johnny Silverhand, who existed within the protagonist's mind.
In the final ending, the protagonist joined forces with the many allies he had met through side quests and main missions, launching an assault on the new Arasaka Tower.
This time, the protagonist was no longer just a hacker hiding in the shadows. In order to avenge Jack, he personally charged toward the front lines—though he still wasn't the main combatant. The real fighting was done by the companions around him.
There was Rogue, Johnny Silverhand's former lover; Panam, a member of the Nomad clan met during a main storyline; and Judy, a top-tier hacker and braindance editor encountered through the chip mission…
Countless people were gradually won over by the protagonist throughout the story, willing to fight for him—and willing to fight for the liberation of all of Night City.
And yet, the final result was grim: some died, others were injured, and Night City remained Night City. In the end, they only managed to take down Arasaka's strongest enforcer—Adam Smasher.
The Arasaka Corporation continued to thrive, carrying on as usual in Night City, a place that devoured people without leaving even bones behind.
The middle-aged man, now in his fifties, stared blankly as Adam Smasher slowly died before his eyes.
The revenge was over, yet the entire journey felt unbearably helpless.
The emotional aftershock was intense.
After finishing the hacker path, the father and son—just like Kazuo Murakami—went on to experience other character backgrounds. Each identity brought its own unique kind of enjoyment.
"Games like this… won't appear again for several years, will they?" the middle-aged man asked, still wanting more.
"Hmm… at least not anytime soon," his son replied. "After all, this game cost Gamestar Electronic Entertainment an enormous amount of money, manpower, resources, and time to create. But Dad, don't misunderstand—I'm not saying other games aren't fun just because this one's the best. If you want, we can try other games too."
"Hmm… I suppose that wouldn't be bad."
At that moment, the middle-aged man suddenly felt that playing more video games might actually be a pretty good part of everyday life.
People couldn't always live so tightly wound, could they?
"Then, Dad, let me recommend my favorite game—it's called Sekiro. It's super hard, but also really fun."
"Huh? Hard?" the man frowned. "Your old man isn't young anymore. I'm not like you youngsters who can handle high-difficulty games. Something like Cyberpunk 2077, where you can clear it on low difficulty, is perfect for me."
"Ah, don't worry, Dad! As long as you take it a bit seriously, you'll definitely find the fun in it! Compared to the difficulty, the sense of achievement you get at the end feels even better."
"Is that so?"
"It is! Dad, look me in the eyes—would I lie to you?"
"Yes."
"..."
The middle-aged man chuckled. "Alright. Since my kid is recommending it, I'll give it a try even if it's really hard. But in exchange, I think you should learn a bit more about my daily life too."
"Huh? What daily life?"
"Your work, for starters. You little brat haven't worked in ages, have you? I don't want you turning into a shut-in who only knows how to play games all day."
"Eh? Dad, you even know the word 'shut-in' now?"
"Yeah. I feel like I've become a lot younger lately—learning more modern slang and trends. It's actually pretty interesting."
"Alright then, Dad, let's make a bet. If you can clear Sekiro, I'll go work at your workplace. How about that?"
"Heh. Sounds like you're setting a trap for me."
"How could I? Look at how good our relationship is right now—why would I set a trap for you? How about this instead: even if you don't clear it, I'll still promise to find a job outside, maybe as a cashier or something."
"That's more like it. Then just wait and see—I'll show you your old man's gaming skills!"
The middle-aged man picked up the controller and skillfully navigated to the platform's main menu, finding Sekiro.
In the past, he had been completely unwilling to accept new things like this.
In his original world, a famous scientist once said:
Any technology that already existed when I was born feels completely natural to me.
Any technology that appeared between the ages of 15 and 35 feels like it will change the world.
Any technology that appears after the age of 35 feels unnatural and should be condemned.
For the middle-aged father, video games were something he only encountered after turning thirty-five. He had an instinctive resistance toward them—but now, that resistance was slowly melting away.
Seeing how excited his child was, he felt that learning more about video games wasn't such a bad thing.
After all, they really were interesting.
And lately, as he played more video games, he found it easier to connect with younger coworkers at his job. Collaboration became smoother, conversations easier—all of it improving thanks to video games.
However, after playing Sekiro for one hour, staring wide-eyed as the giant word "DEATH" appeared on the screen for the twelfth time, he finally understood its meaning.
It was the first Chinese word he had learned in his entire life.
At the same time, despite never having had high blood pressure before, he suddenly felt like his blood pressure had maxed out.
He turned around to look for his son—only to find that the boy was already nowhere to be seen.
By the time the middle-aged father finished the game for the sixth time while trembling uncontrollably, his child had already sensed the danger and made a clean escape…