Cyberpunk 2074: Shadows of the Past

It started to rain.

He stood in the garbage-paved alley, raising his head and looking at the towering commercial buildings in the distance.

Several layers of holographic projection screens scroll and play commercial advertisements day and night.

Endless torrent spurts out from the clouds, surrounding the standing steel giants in jet black cloaks.

A woman dressed as a Japanese geisha was hiding inside, her face blurred by the rushing water.

All he could see was the paleness all over his face and the dazzling scarlet on his lips.

Dilla hates this advertisement that is placed all over Night City.

At night, especially when it's raining heavily, this look is a bit too scary.

Like a female ghost seeking her life, she walks in the world openly and honestly.

It suits this city quite well.

This city of hell, the city of sin.

Here in the human world, a gap has been torn apart by evil spirits.

If you listen carefully, you can vaguely hear the wails of the dead.

Here, it is too close to hell and too far from heaven.

Dilla sighed. People always find out later that they made the wrong choice from the beginning.

A year ago, he was driving the red meteor, as arrogant as a god, and unruly. No sports car in the Night City could capture his silhouette.

He thought he was fast enough, fast enough to transcend time and fate.

Turns out, he was wrong.

Reality is reality after all, not a fairy tale.

He indeed transcended time and space and sent Lao Ruifan to the hospital in time.

But all efforts are in vain.

Overnight, the largest taxi company in Night City that he worked for closed down, or was replaced.

A guy named Delamain fired everyone.

From the driver to the company's top management, they were all replaced by this damn electronic ghost.

How can he, who is unemployed, afford the high medical expenses at Night City Central Hospital?

See, this is reality.

In fairy tales, a brave man who can slay a dragon does not need to worry about travel expenses.

He can transform a taxi into a supremely sharp arrow that can shoot through time and space, but it cannot shoot through the film of money.

He sold his car at a low price, liquidated his assets, and spent everything he had, but in the end he lost Lao Ruifan.

What defeated him was reality.

Dilla wiped the dirty food residue from the corner of her mouth. The feeling of rummaging through the trash can was always unpleasant.

The sour smell seemed to penetrate down the esophagus and into the bone marrow.

Fortunately, he has gradually gotten used to it.

Dilla thought, stepped forward, left the alley, and walked among the bustling streets.

Fortunately, the manic rainstorm covered up the stench on his body, so he could straighten his waist a little while walking among the crowd.

"The movie...is online!...starring in the lead role!...rated 9.0! A winter masterpiece not to be missed! Come to...the theater with your partner, family and friends to watch it!"

Dilla put his hands in his pockets, held his head high, and silently watched the new movie promotion video being played on the big screen not far away.

Unknowingly, he slowly walked to Yeshi Cinema in the center of Night City.

A year ago, he took Nia and watched a movie here together.

He had forgotten the specific plot of the movie. He only remembered that her rosy side face was breathtakingly beautiful under the dim light of the screen.

It's like digging a spoonful of meat into the heart and filling the gap with honey.

The pain cannot be healed, but the sweetness penetrates into the bottom of my heart.

"Let's just watch this one. The introduction is quite interesting."

"……Listen to you."

Dilla hid in the shadow of the hall, silently watching the people coming and going. Among them, a couple cuddling together caught the most attention.

The silver-haired girl hid in the tall man's arms, coquettishly and sweetly.

Both men and women are unforgettable.

The man's half-long hair was loose, free and elegant like a Greek statue, and his pair of blue eyes focused all his attention on the girl in his arms.

The girl has silver hair and a pair of sparkling violet lakes. Even Venus standing in front of her feels incomplete.

Like a fairy tale.

Dilla sighed lowly and gave up the idea of ​​stealing in the queue.

People always have to leave a little room for kindness to themselves.

Even if he is defeated by reality, he can't help but yearn for the beauty of fairy tales.

If he were still human.

Lao Ruifan's death and unemployment stripped away his indestructible flesh and blood.

Nia, who died in childbirth, completely shattered his world-beating spirit.

Alone, with nothing.

So he went completely crazy.

It's been a long time since he was so awake as he was today.

Perhaps the medicine thrown to him by a man claiming to be from the Zhang Group a few days ago worked.

Dilla left the cinema and walked on the brightly lit streets, rubbing the drug that was as bright as a star in the palm of her hand.

This drug can actually relieve the symptoms of cyberpsychosis.

The price is to take the initiative to jump into the bottomless abyss.

He was just drinking poison to quench his thirst.

First it was biotechnology, then the Zhang Group.

These big companies always like to toss these sugar-coated poisons.

Dilla shook her head and laughed.

The next moment, he fell to the side of the road, his cheek kissed in the rain and mud.

His whole body seemed to be covered with countless tiny insects, gnawing away at his flesh and blood bit by bit, gently and cruelly.

At the same time, the seams of the bones seemed to be cracked, and something wanted to climb out, using its sharp claws to leave deep marks on his white bones.

He wanted to stand up, but he just knelt on the ground, holding on to the wall, and vomited out the food he had collected so hard tonight, mixed with yellow stomach acid.

The countless sharp blades churning in his stomach made him miserable.

He wanted to cry out, but couldn't make a sound.

One second, all the organs in his body felt like they were soaked in solid ice, and the next second, they felt like they were being roasted on fire.

This is the price.

This life-saving drug is addictive.

Dilla deliberately controlled the time he took the medicine, but the strong withdrawal reaction seemed to completely destroy his final dignity as a human being.

Before, he could not choose to live decently.

Now, he can't even die sober.

Dilla gritted her teeth, and finally succumbed to the pain again, swallowing the medicine she had been holding in her palm.

Then all the pain disappeared.

He seemed to be back a year ago.

Before all the tragedy begins, time stands still and lives in the past forever.

It's a pity that it's just a temporary illusion.

He awkwardly supported the wall, stood up slowly, and patted the dirt on his body.

Even if it rains heavily, it can't cover up his unique smell.

The hounds have arrived.

Dilla held onto the wall and limped away into the darkness.

A long sigh hovered in the air and was broken under the fierce rainstorm.