"If I don't get a new game to play, I'm going to die—!"
In Japan, a veteran video game player was sprawled out on his bed, wailing dramatically.
Lately, he had been troubled by one thing: what game he should play next.
At the same time, he regretted playing Cyberpunk 2077 too quickly.
That game had raised his overall taste in games—and his standards—far too high.
Now, it was difficult for ordinary games to truly move him.
Unless they were particularly distinctive, such as certain indie games with standout ideas and highlights.
Large-scale games had become heavily homogenized in recent years. Before playing Cyberpunk 2077, he hadn't really noticed.
But after playing it, he felt that many of the open-world games he'd played before were honestly pretty bad.
Grand Theft Auto was an exception—but that was also developed by Gamestar Electronic Entertainment. Their reputation and strength spoke for themselves; it was impossible for them to make a bad game.
Looking at Cyberpunk 2077 with all achievements fully unlocked, he felt a deep sense of emptiness.
The game surely still had more content to explore.
But after clearing it so many times, even the best game would eventually start to feel stale.
And recently, there hadn't been any particularly good new releases.
Though that was about to change.
Mickford was preparing to release several games that looked quite promising.
At that thought, he suddenly sprang up from his bed.
He needed to pre-order those games—then he could start playing as soon as they launched.
He walked over to his computer, ready to click into Mickford's official website.
But just then, he noticed a notification pop up on a Facebook page he hadn't closed.
Cyberpunk series spin-off animation: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners — now officially airing. All episodes released at once. Players are welcome to return to the world of Cyberpunk.
"Huh? An animation?"
The veteran player's interest was immediately piqued.
Being in Japan, he was naturally very familiar with anime culture—it was practically a modern national treasure.
Oh right—Cyberpunkhad promoted an animation before. But at the time, he'd been completely immersed in Cyberpunk 2077 and hadn't paid much attention.
"Well then… I'll watch it first. Tch—wait, I need a subscription? One month… 1,000 yen. That's a bit pricey. Still, for this animation, it's probably worth it."
He purchased a one-month Facebook streaming membership and entered the Facebook video platform.
On the homepage, Cyberpunk 2077 was being promoted in the most eye-catching way possible.
That's when he noticed the number of users currently watching displayed beneath the promotional banner.
A total of… seven digits?
The veteran player was stunned.
Over a million concurrent viewers?
And this had only gone live two or three hours ago—how could there already be so many people watching?
Then most of them must be Cyberpunk 2077 fans.
The official sales figures for Cyberpunk 2077 still hadn't been announced.
But judging solely from the concurrent viewer count of this animation, the game's sales had to be at least three to four million copies.
Suddenly, the veteran player let out a self-mocking chuckle.
What he'd been worrying about was honestly kind of childish.
A top-tier game like this—one that had maintained hype for nearly two months—how could its sales possibly be bad?
Ten million copies sold was basically guaranteed.
Oh right—if you're watching an anime, how could you not have cola and potato chips?
He dashed off to grab some cola and chips. By the time he returned, the opening theme of the animation had begun.
Hmm—he'd heard this track before on Cyberpunk 2077's in-car radio.
As expected of a spin-off—the opening song was taken directly from the game. That probably saved them some money, right?
Looks like this might just be a casually made derivative work, with a fairly limited budget.
He'd just treat it as a way to learn more about the world's lore.
With that mindset, the veteran player relaxed and began watching more casually.
But then he noticed the name of the animation's producer.
Asami Shinji.
That name felt… familiar.
As a gamer, he didn't immediately recognize it.
But he was also someone who had some knowledge of anime.
If it felt familiar, why not just look it up?
He quickly pulled out his phone and searched the name. Soon, the basic information appeared on the screen.
He hadn't paid much attention to the name before, but once he saw the details, he froze for a moment.
"Wow… that's impressive."
Asami Shinji had worked on over thirty animated productions.
At his most productive, he could put out three or four works in a single year.
Of course, sheer productivity wasn't something worth bragging about by itself—it didn't necessarily mean someone was great.
There were plenty of animation producers even more prolific than him, most of whom had faded into obscurity after brief flashes of success.
What made Asami Shinji remarkable was that despite his high output, the average quality of his works remained consistently strong.
And every now and then, he even produced one or two excellent pieces—sometimes even a true masterpiece with strong artistic vision.
No wonder the name felt familiar.
He'd created a lot of works and had extensive experience handling animation budgets. No matter how much money he was given, he could always guarantee a solid baseline of quality.
"Well, if it's him… then this animation might actually be worth looking forward to."
With that thought, he continued watching more attentively.
The animation began—though technically, it had already started. The opening theme didn't play immediately, but only after a short initial segment.
He hadn't noticed earlier, so he rewound a bit to watch again.
The opening sequence was incredibly intense.
A heavily built, imposing-looking soldier appeared on the streets of Night City at night and began slaughtering the city's law enforcement.
Having played Cyberpunk 2077 for two to three hundred hours, the veteran player immediately recognized this state.
Isn't this a textbook cyberpsycho?
Cyberpsychosis—also known as cyber insanity—was caused by installing too many cybernetic implants, placing immense pressure on the mind until it collapsed, turning the person into a madman who knew only how to kill.
This was the city's tragedy.
And the sorrow of the people in this world.
For those at the bottom, climbing upward through intelligence alone had already become extremely difficult.
Because there was always someone smarter.
And those smarter people, by virtue of already being at the top, could use their vast resources to forcibly build themselves into legitimate elites.
As a result, over decades in the Cyberpunk 2077 world, it was rare to see anyone rise directly into greatness.
And if intelligence wasn't enough—
Then there was only one path left.
The path of brute force.