At 8 PM that night, Ethan Reed still had not left Northstar Games.
The office building was bright with white light, but outside, the city had already sunk into darkness. Most people would have gone home by now, yet Ethan remained inside the company, standing beside the main work area, while Vivian Frost stayed in her office, carefully watching the public reaction online.
The moment Cyberpunk 2077 entered the trending list on the Official Blog, Vivian clicked into it without hesitation and started scanning post after post at a frightening speed.
A few seconds later, she called out excitedly, "Ethan, Ethan! The response to Cyberpunk 2077 is amazing!"
Ethan immediately stood up from his chair, walked behind her desk, and leaned down to look at the screen.
The comment section was almost flooding.
New posts appeared every second, and each refresh brought another wave of reactions.
"Damn, this is way too fun, but the demo is too short!"
"It ended before I even got enough of it!"
"Northstar Games, when is the full version coming out? I'd pay five hundred yuan for it!"
"Can you at least add more content to the demo?"
"I've already played the combat section three times!"
"Who was that guy at the end? He's insanely handsome!"
"That silver arm—could that be Johnny Silverhand?"
"Is Johnny Silverhand one of those old Night City legends Jackie mentioned in the trailer?"
Everywhere online, players who had tried the demo were talking about the same things—the Braindance tutorial, Judy, the combat mechanics, and the shocking final appearance of Johnny Silverhand.
The discussion was no longer limited to one platform. The Official Blog, gaming forums, video sites, and fan communities were all buzzing with excitement.
Vivian smiled so hard her eyes narrowed.
"This is bigger than I expected," she said softly.
Ethan did not answer right away. He kept reading.
Among the many posts, one in particular had already become incredibly popular. It came from a gaming blogger called Old Mischief, and compared to everyone else's short reactions, his post was long, detailed, and bold.
He had published it around 7 PM, and by now it had already gained a huge number of likes, shares, and replies.
His analysis focused entirely on the Cyberpunk 2077 demo, and his guesses were surprisingly sharp.
Old Mischief believed that the man who appeared at the end of the demo was almost certainly Johnny Silverhand, the same legendary figure connected to the famous drink at the Afterlife bar.
He argued that Johnny's sudden appearance had to be connected to Arasaka, and that the main story of the game would probably center on V's conflict with Arasaka Corporation.
According to him, Johnny would likely become a guide for V, a kind of mentor figure leading the player through Night City's darker secrets.
He also made another daring guess.
Since Judy had clearly warned V to disconnect because of some kind of abnormal intrusion, Old Mischief believed Johnny was no longer just a person in the usual sense. He thought Johnny might exist as a digital virus or data ghost, something that entered V's brain through Braindance technology.
The more Ethan read, the more impressed he became.
Old Mischief did not stop there. He also described Night City as a world controlled by giant corporations, a place where government power meant little compared to corporate influence. In his view, Cyberpunk 2077 would be a story about surviving, resisting, and perhaps striking back against the powers that ruled the city.
Then came his thoughts on Judy.
He called her beautiful, sharp, and memorable. He said her design alone was enough to make players curious, and that her role in the demo already made her stand out from most game characters.
And when he reached the topic of Braindance, Old Mischief did not hold back.
He called it one of the best gameplay ideas of the century.
In his opinion, Braindance could become the single most important system in the entire game. It allowed crime scene investigation, memory replay, emotional immersion, side stories, and maybe even hidden quests. If Northstar Games developed it properly, then Braindance could become the feature that made Cyberpunk 2077 unforgettable.
When Vivian and Ethan finished reading the full post, Ethan let out a quiet breath and said, "The real masters really do come from ordinary players."
Vivian nodded. "He guessed a lot from almost nothing."
That was what impressed Ethan most.
The demo had revealed very little about the main story. It gave players atmosphere, mechanics, mystery, and a final hook—but not much else.
And yet Old Mischief had still pieced together a shockingly accurate interpretation.
Some parts were off, of course.
But some parts were dangerously close to the truth.
Ethan could only smile.
Players would have to wait for the finished version to see what was really coming.
Still, he had to admit it—he liked this kind of discussion. It meant the demo had done exactly what it was supposed to do.
It had captured imagination.
And that was no accident.
Ethan had added many of his own ideas to the game.
One of the biggest was Braindance.
In his version of Cyberpunk 2077, Braindance would not just be a one-time story gimmick. It would become a major highlight of the whole experience.
He planned to place special BD recordings across the city.
Some could be bought from shady vendors.
Some could be found in hidden corners.
Some would trigger side quests.
Some would contain surprises.
There would even be easter egg BD recordings that let players experience little slices of other games made by Northstar Games, turning Braindance into a playful "game inside a game."
That idea alone had delighted Ethan from the moment it came to him.
Players in Night City were curious by nature. They would absolutely pick up strange BD chips found on the roadside.
And if they did, why not reward that curiosity?
Why not hide missions, secrets, and even emotional side stories inside those recordings?
It was the perfect system for side content.
That was why he had told Daniel to begin the demo with Braindance in the first place.
It was the best possible introduction.
Then there was Judy.
Ethan crossed his arms and stared at the screen, thinking about the discussions already forming around her.
He had made a clear decision while adapting the character.
He wanted players to like Judy more easily.
In the original version of the character, she had charm, skill, and strong emotions, but some of her actions could also frustrate players. She often felt impulsive, reckless, and hard to understand. Her good qualities were real, yet they were sometimes buried under poor decisions and awkward emotional reactions.
Ethan did not want that version to dominate here.
He still wanted Judy to be emotional, loyal, and human.
But he also wanted her to feel more capable, more thoughtful, and less exhausting.
That was why he placed her in the role of the player's early guide.
In this version, Judy would not just be attractive—she would be competent, memorable, and genuinely likable.
As for Panam, Ethan felt far less need to change anything.
Panam's personality was already strong.
At most, he planned to add more interactions—small side moments, extra conversations, maybe even quiet date-like scenes that made the bond feel deeper and more natural.
Vivian scrolled further down through the reactions.
Most of them were praise.
There were a few criticisms here and there, but neither of them paid much attention.
A project this large could never satisfy everyone, and that was normal.
The important thing was that the demo had landed perfectly.
Daniel's team had done outstanding work.
And under Ethan's supervision—and with Vivian spending money wherever quality demanded it—the game they were building would not fall behind anyone.
If anything, Ethan believed it could surpass expectations.
There was only one thing he truly regretted.
Johnny's appearance.
Not the scene itself. The scene was strong.
The problem was that, in Ethan's mind, Johnny Silverhand would always carry a very specific image. In another world, that face alone could have made the reveal explode even harder across the internet.
But here, things were different.
He could not rely on that same effect.
There was no point chasing a feeling that belonged somewhere else.
So instead, he focused on what mattered more—making Johnny feel legendary through presence, writing, and atmosphere.
And judging from the player response, it was already working.
Vivian leaned back in her chair and turned slightly toward him.
"But Ethan," she asked, "when can we upload the overseas demo? A lot of players outside the country are already waiting."
Ethan thought for a moment before answering.
"Daniel's team is still finishing the translation, and most of the overseas voice work is nearly done. If everything goes smoothly, we should be able to upload it in about three days."
Vivian nodded.
That answer made sense.
And just as Ethan had expected, the situation overseas was already starting to erupt.
---
While it was late at night in their part of the world, it was still morning in North America.
And over there, the reaction had become chaotic in the best possible way.
YouTube was blowing up.
Twitch streamers were complaining loudly that they had no official access.
A video titled "Cyberpunk 2077 Demo Playthrough" had already pulled in tens of millions of views in a shockingly short time. The comment section was packed with the same desperate question:
When can we play this?
People asked where to download it.
They asked whether this was the same company behind the Edgerunners anime.
They asked why the overseas version was unavailable.
Some viewers, more informed than the rest, replied patiently that the game came from Northstar Games, a Chinese studio, and that the overseas demo had not yet been released.
But those explanations only made people more impatient.
"When do we get it?"
"Can someone contact Northstar Games?"
"I can't believe I'm this hyped for a Chinese game!"
"This looks incredible."
"I know a little Chinese. I'm seriously thinking of trying to install it anyway."
Soon, some determined players began making tutorials.
By the afternoon, videos had appeared teaching foreigners how to access Skybound, how to use network tools to connect, how to create an account, and how to search for the game.
The problem, however, was obvious.
Skybound required real-name registration, and there was no simple international version available yet.
That made things difficult.
Still, the tutorial creators quickly found a solution.
If you knew a Chinese international student, you could ask them for help.
They could explain the process, help register an account, or even let you try the game on theirs.
And just like that, something unexpected started happening.
Across overseas forums and student communities, people began posting messages asking:
"Are there any Chinese students nearby?"
"Can someone help me register?"
"I'll pay."
This bizarre chain reaction reached campuses faster than anyone expected.
One of the people caught in the middle of it was Marcus Wu, a Chinese student studying in New York.
Marcus had always been thin, quiet, and cautious. When he first entered university, he had a hard time fitting in. Some students looked down on him. Some mocked him. Some whispered behind his back.
It never turned into open violence, but the pressure had still hurt him deeply.
Only after he finally learned to push back, report issues, and find support did things improve.
So when he finished class that morning and saw several white students suddenly surrounding him, his first reaction was tension.
A blond young man stepped forward.
"Hey!"
Marcus frowned. "What do you want?"
He did not recognize them.
For one brief moment, his body tensed the way it always did when he sensed trouble coming.
Then the blond student suddenly smiled and threw an arm around his shoulder.
"Bro, you're Chinese, right?"
Marcus blinked in confusion, but nodded.
The blond man's eyes lit up.
"Awesome. I asked a bunch of East Asian students already, but none of them were Chinese. My name's John."
Marcus replied carefully, "My Chinese name is Marcus Wu. My English name is Mark. Nice to meet you."
John rubbed his hands together almost nervously.
Then he asked, "Do you know Skybound?"
At first Marcus did not understand.
Another student nearby quickly added, "Ask him if he knows Northstar Games."
That changed everything.
Marcus immediately understood.
"Oh—you mean the gaming platform?"
John nodded wildly.
"Yes! Please, can you help us get access? We want to play Cyberpunk 2077!"
As he spoke, he even pulled money from his pocket.
Marcus stared at him.
Then he looked around.
Nearby, a few girls from another class—also Chinese international students—were being approached by other students for the exact same reason.
In that moment, Marcus finally understood what was happening.
These people were not here to mock him.
They were not here to intimidate him.
They were here because of Northstar Games.
Because of Cyberpunk 2077.
Because a game had become so popular that people were now chasing after Chinese students for help.
Marcus felt stunned.
He had not expected something like this to happen.
And it was not only happening in America.
The same thing was starting in other countries too.
For many Chinese students overseas, especially the quieter ones who had struggled to find their place, the next few days would feel surreal.
For some of them, it would even become a turning point.
Not because the world had suddenly become kinder.
Not because all prejudice had disappeared.
But because, for once, something powerful had shifted.
People were no longer looking down at them.
They were coming to them for help.
And the reason for that change was unbelievably simple.
It was all because of—
a game company.
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