Cyberpunk 2074: Shadows of the Past

Compared to other cities, night in Night City always seems to come earlier.

At least that's what Jill thinks.

As soon as I woke up, I ate some cheap box lunches, turned on my mobile phone, browsed various forums, and teased the kitten Fore. It seemed that in the blink of an eye, night quietly covered the sky again.

Jill doesn't like nights.

No reason other than that she hated working the night shift.

As a young and beautiful (older) beautiful girl, staying up late is the number one enemy of maintaining your beauty!

She had had enough of waking up and looking at herself in the mirror, looking pale and shiny.

The tired and dull breath seemed to overflow from the depths of his body. If this continued, Jill felt that she might age prematurely and become an old woman that no one wanted.

Unfortunately, everything didn't go as planned.

She still has to pay rent at the end of this month. If she doesn't work hard, she will have to sleep on the street with her kitten.

Gil sighed and lay down on the relatively clean tatami, curling his legs in the kotatsu. The warm feeling flowed from the soles of his feet to the bottom of his heart, making people want to fall asleep lazily.

In order to continue living in this hut with only four and a half stacks, she had to force herself to work hard and run around in the most annoying night.

Why did you reject the offer from a big company in the first place, and after three years of all kinds of troubles, come to Night City alone to work hard?

Jill touched the cat lying quietly next to her. The soft touch always made her forget all her worries.

"Fore, do you think I'm particularly stupid? Half a month ago, I should have chosen Glitch City instead of Night City. Why did I covet the big city... Now I'm being punished!" She sat up and relaxed He picked up the lazy black cat, put his face on its plush belly, and murmured softly.

"Haha, Jill is indeed an idiot!" The kitten turned its head, yawned lazily, and looked at its master, with a trace of disdain in its clear vertical pupils.

"Say it again! It seems that I have to punish you severely today!" Gil gritted his teeth and rubbed his cheek hard against Fore's body a few times.

The black cat Fore barked a few times and didn't bother to pay attention to its poop scraper who was getting sick again.

Of course the cat can't speak, it was just Jill amusing herself through ventriloquism.

She always learns some useless tricks, maybe because she is too lonely.

"'Tis some visitor,'I

(I murmured softly: "There is a guest visiting me at night, please pat me gently")

muttered, ‘tapping at my chamber door——Only this,

Our door is nothing but this

and nothing more’…”

things. ")

"Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'"

(The crow responded: "This is the end.")

She recited her favorite old poems to her only kitten. (Appendix 1)

"Meow~" Fore squirmed, not wanting to listen to the mistress's light words, and struggled out of Jill's arms. As if to express his anger, Fore pointed his butt at her.

Jill laughed softly. Cats are always like this. Unintentionally, they can temporarily mend the gap in their souls.

There seems to be no cats in Night City.

Jill has been in Night City for half a month, and except for the little Fore she brought here, she has never seen any other such cute and fluffy faces.

"Fore, do you feel lonely?"

She gently poked the black cat's butt with her index finger, making it spin back and forth.

"Meow? Meow meow meow!"

"Stupid cat..." Gil couldn't help but laugh out loud as he looked at Fore who was a little dizzy.

She glanced at the time displayed on the screen of her phone. She still had some free time, enough for her to put on makeup and change clothes.

Jill took out her small mirror, placed it on the kotatsu, and simply put on light makeup.

The house is so small that there is no room for a dressing table.

She slowly applied lipstick in front of the mirror, thinking wildly.

"This looks pretty good." She whispered, looking at the mature and cool long-haired woman in the mirror, and nodded with satisfaction.

Next comes the clothes.

Just deal with it casually, since you have to wear a uniform to the store anyway.

While putting on the stockings, Jill silently repeated the familiar process in her heart.

She still had to bring her own underwear such as stockings. Who knew the boss she had never met would do something to her underwear.

For the sake of hygiene and safety, she had to waste extra meager salary on these.

Really annoying……

Jill straightened the corners of the black sweater on her body, took her only thick coat from the hanger, and put it on her body.

In the small round mirror, a mature woman with long purple-black hair is wearing a bright red down leather coat with a bit of snow-white velvet on the scarf. Inside, she is wearing black - a black sweater, a black long skirt, and black stockings.

It can be considered a decent combination among the few choices.

Jill glanced at herself in the mirror and nodded slightly.

The clock hanging on the wall chimes on time, it's time to go to work.

"I'm going to work, don't miss me too much..." She held the kitten's cute balls and waved them gently.

"I won't miss you, fish-lipped human!" Jill muttered to herself in ventriloquism, as if the black cat could really speak human words and had a strong mouth, but reluctantly watched her leave all the way.

It was just her pure fantasy.

But life is already so difficult, so if you think about it a little, it shouldn't matter.

Jill comforted herself one after another, took a pack of cigarettes, an ID and the house key from the table, walked to the door, stepped on her high heels, and finally waved to the arrogant Fore, then closed it gently opened the door.

"It's so cold..." After leaving the small room warmed by the kotatsu, the ruthless cold of the Night City mixed with the pitch-black night surrounded her.

Gil shuddered, murmured lowly, and breathed out a circle of light white mist.

She stuffed the cigarettes and keys into her coat pocket, opened her ID, took a look at it, and put it into her pocket as well.

She likes to confirm certain things over and over again, which seems to be a bit of a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Of course, Jill is physically and mentally healthy, this is just another little quirk of hers.

She was just looking through the bartender's license. To be precise, she was looking through the photo taken before.

Yes, that’s right, bartender.

This is her job.

At the bar in the evening, as a bartender, prepare alcoholic drinks of various flavors according to the guests' requirements.

The name of the bar is quite strange - "VA-11 HALL-A". She is more accustomed to calling it "Valhalla", which can better satisfy the little middle-aged girl in her heart.

Please, this is Valhalla! Super cool, okay?

Jill dared to say this in her heart or to the cat. It was too stupid and could easily make her look like a childish brat.

Gil reflected on himself, tapping his high heels on the ground step by step, and the sonorous and powerful footsteps echoed rhythmically in the night, as if he were really traveling like the Valkyrie, accompanied by strong winds and making a huge sound.

Well, she's just a childish person.

Jill complained to herself, stopped in front of the traffic light, raised her head to look at the vast starry sky, lit a weak fire, and illuminated her pupils as mellow as red wine.

Appendix 1: The English excerpt is from the original text of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven", and the Chinese part is a casual translation by myself. I recommend everyone to read it if you have time. It is a short poem and a story about losing a loved one and falling into deep depression. It is very interesting. It is related to Jill in this chapter, who is the protagonist of "Cyberpunk: Bartender Action". I will not spoil the specific details. Friends who are interested in the cyberpunk style can buy it and play it, which lasts about six hours. The process, six endings, a very interesting plot, and rave reviews on Steam.