"Adam Smasher, you're guilty beyond redemption—aaaaaah!"
In front of his TV, the veteran player slammed his controller in fury.
On the screen was Cyberpunk 2077.
Displayed was the final battle scene against Adam Smasher.
Even in the game, Adam Smasher's sense of oppression was unmatched.
Takayuki had given this character special enhancements, adding abilities and technical mechanics that hadn't existed in the original design.
For example, Adam Smasher was equipped with a much more advanced AI during combat, making players feel as though they were truly fighting a powerful, intelligent opponent.
Depending on the difficulty level, Adam Smasher's AI combat proficiency also varied.
But no matter how advanced, AI was still AI—it had its limits.
Takayuki couldn't make Adam Smasher completely invincible. Otherwise, it wouldn't be fun; it would just be one-sided punishment.
Players had to be handled with care.
Too hard was bad. Too easy was bad.
When the balance was right, the game truly shined.
This was one of the many lessons learned by generations of developers.
Right now, the veteran player was burning with rage.
He remembered facing Adam Smasher more than ten times before, yet he had never felt this angry.
This fury didn't come from the game itself.
It came from an animation—the Cyberpunk: Edgerunners series he had just finished watching.
In the anime, the protagonist David ultimately lost to the overwhelming Adam Smasher and died at his hands.
And what made it even more unforgivable was that Adam Smasher didn't just kill David.
He also killed Rebecca—another incredibly lovable character.
The veteran player adored her.
And she didn't just die—she died horribly.
Worse still, the animation's creators had the audacity to show her death in full, making his anger boil over.
Of course, he wasn't about to curse the animation staff.
Given the buildup of the story—and the nature of Night City—death was simply inevitable.
Sudden, meaningless death was the most common sight in that city.
But anger had to go somewhere.
So who should he vent it on?
There was only one answer.
The root of all evil—Adam Smasher.
In the anime, Adam Smasher was invincible.
He killed David.
But in the game?
Heh.
The veteran player hadn't touched Cyberpunk 2077 for a while.
Not because there was nothing left to play—there was still plenty of content he hadn't experienced.
But people got tired. Eventually, they wanted to try something new.
Only the most die-hard fans could keep playing indefinitely.
For most games, if a player willingly put in 100–200 hours, that was already a huge success—it meant the game genuinely made them happy.
According to statistics, over a million players had logged more than 100 hours in Cyberpunk 2077.
After sales surpassed ten million copies, more than half of all players had completed the game.
Around two million players had cleared it multiple times.
The veteran player, who had already started feeling burnt out, now picked the game back up—because of an anime.
Just to beat the living hell out of that damn Adam Smasher.
No—once wasn't enough.
Ten times.
A hundred times.
He wouldn't stop until his anger was completely gone.
At the same time, countless other players were doing the exact same thing.
On Facebook's livestreaming platform, some streamers even broadcast themselves watching Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Normally, streaming anime or TV shows would be considered copyright infringement.
But Gamestar Electronic Entertainment was incredibly generous with its IP.
The animation itself wasn't restricted either—even non-members of Facebook's streaming service could watch it, though they had to sit through an extra ten seconds of ads per episode.
Facebook still needed to make money, after all.
In these livestreams, many streamers reacted almost identically at key moments of the story.
Sadness.Anger.Shock.
And when David died, when Lucy stood on the moon embracing the sunlight in mourning, many streamers—especially female streamers—completely broke down, crying uncontrollably.
Women tended to be more emotionally expressive, and those willing to livestream anime were usually passionate fans to begin with—making them even more empathetic.
The effect was incredible.
Genuine emotion always resonated the most.
Viewers were deeply moved—and deeply furious.
Then, within minutes of finishing the anime, every streamer who had been watching it made the same decision.
They opened Cyberpunk 2077.
"Damn it! I'm going to kill Adam Smasher!"
"Where's my game? Oh—I uninstalled it. Sorry guys, I'm downloading it again right now. I'm going to crush Adam Smasher hundreds of times! I'll use brute-force builds to flatten him again and again—let him experience what it feels like to be crushed!"
Streamers who still had the game installed logged into their accounts, loaded the final save, equipped their strongest gear, and jumped straight into the last mission to face Adam Smasher.
The entire sequence of actions was smooth and decisive—no hesitation whatsoever.
Those who had uninstalled the game re-downloaded it without a second thought.
The only problem was the massive file size—it would take quite a while before they could actually play.
During that time, viewer counts dropped rapidly.
But none of the streamers cared.
All they could think about was getting into the game and avenging David—and the cute, badass Rebecca.
Among these viewers were also many people who had never played the game at all.
Some were pure anime fans who had stumbled upon the series by chance.
Not knowing the game's lore didn't affect their enjoyment of the anime in the slightest.
Asami Shinji had worked incredibly hard to make that possible.
He had to balance fan service for Cyberpunk 2077 players—adding familiar elements—while also ensuring newcomers could fully understand and enjoy the story.
That level of balance was a serious test of a director's skill.
Thankfully, he pulled it off beautifully.
Even viewers unfamiliar with the game were deeply moved by the ending.
"What? This is a game spin-off? This is one of the best cyberpunk stories I've seen in years—and it's just a spin-off? How good must the game be?"
"The game's a masterpiece too? Then I have to try it."
"You can kill Adam Smasher in the game? Say no more. I'm buying it right now. I'm playing immediately—don't anyone stop me!"
"My PC doesn't meet the requirements? The specs are kind of high… damn it. Fine. Time to upgrade."
Every viewer.
Every player.
They were all thinking the same thing.
Find a way into the game—
And kill Adam Smasher.
To avenge David.
To avenge Rebecca.