[2059: You are born again in Night City. This time, you have no parents. Maybe they abandoned you, or maybe they didn't survive the streets. In Night City, either way, it's just another statistic.]
From the moment you can remember, you've roamed the neon-lit, gritty streets of Jig-Jig Street in Westbrook. Westbrook is a district with a split personality—home to the wealthiest elites and to Jig-Jig, where pleasure is bought and sold, and survival is an uphill battle.
As an orphan and street rat, you barely scrape by, scavenging for survival.
Ages 3-6: Your past-life memories give you an edge on these streets, even at a young age. The cruelty of the adult world feels distant, barely touching you. The ruthless members of the Tiger Claw gang see something in you, and the streetwalkers who drain every last eddie from their clients offer you a bit of pity. Some shopkeepers even slip you free food when no one's looking.
You run errands and deliveries to survive, nothing glamorous but enough to get by. The Tiger Claws want to take you under their wing, mold you into someone who can hustle the streets with charm and grit.
But you refuse. You want to make it on your own.
Your independence earns you respect, even from Okada Wakako, the infamous fixer and pachinko parlor queen. She offers to take you in as her godson, but again, you refuse.
Your past-life memories guide you, and the thought that your fate is in your own hands drives every decision.
Ages 7-8: The streets become your home, but your youthful arrogance fades. Doubts creep in. You start to regret turning down those offers.
"Why didn't I latch on to someone powerful? It would've been easier..."
You realize that soon, the Unified War will shake Night City to its core. Arasaka Corp will descend like an emperor, shattering the old order and throwing the city into chaos. And without anyone backing you, your chances of surviving are slim.
But luck seems to smile on you once again. One dark, windy night, a female executive from Kang Tao Corporation gets into trouble on Jig-Jig Street. You know these streets like the back of your hand, and thanks to your knowledge of the game world, you guide her to safety.
Ages 8-12: Your fortunes change overnight. The Kang Tao executive takes you in, adopting you as her son. Kang Tao, a powerful megacorp known for its smart weapons, treats its people well—working only 14 hours a day, 50-year contracts, and the best Trauma Team memberships around.
Your new mother treats you like her own, providing the kind of life you never dreamed of on the streets.
During these years, you begin to share small hints about the future with her—major events like the outbreak of the Unified War, Arasaka's intervention in Night City, and the extinction of avian species in 2061.
Armed with this foresight, your mother rises quickly within the ranks of Kang Tao, using these events to her advantage.
Age 12: Arasaka Corp establishes Arasaka Academy to shape future corporate leaders, offering direct internships to the top graduates. You decide to enroll, not only to learn their methods but also to rub elbows with the children of Night City's elite.
Ages 13-16: School is grueling. Arasaka Academy pushes you to your limits, worse than the corporate grind of 996 you remember from your past life. Your free time vanishes, swallowed up by endless study.
Frustrated, you mutter, "Why the hell do students have to work like this in 2077?"
In the academy, you meet an interesting classmate—David Martinez. He's your age, and the two of you become close. David comes from a poor, single-parent family, and his mother works as an EMT. Attending Arasaka Academy seems impossible for someone like him, but somehow, he's made it.
You help David out with school tools and, in return, he shares some UltraDream chips with you.
Age 17: You start skipping classes, waiting for the pivotal moment—the event that kickstarts the Cyberpunk 2077 storyline. You don't know what V, the game's protagonist, looks like or even if V is male or female. But you know you need to be ready.
While you're focused on preparing, you hear troubling news. David's mother dies in a car accident. He attacks a classmate and eventually drops out of school.
At the time, you're too focused on training and ignore the reports.
Months later, word reaches you—David has become a legend. In Night City, being a legend means one thing: death. He stormed Arasaka Tower, took out military tech forces, and met his end at the hands of Adam Smasher.
You didn't pay enough attention, and now he's gone.
In Night City, there are no living legends—only the dead ones.
Age 18: After years of training, you consider yourself a force to be reckoned with. You've upgraded to top-tier prosthetics, thanks to your adoptive mother, and your skills are razor-sharp.
You start taking on solo gigs, building a reputation in Night City. It's not long before you earn the street cred to walk into Lai Sheng Bar, the hottest underground joint in the city where mercs and fixers cut their deals.
Excited to finally make it, you spot a drink on the menu:
Drink Name: David Martinez
(A shot of vodka, a splash of cola—great in life, glorious in death.)
The drink stops you cold. It's named after your friend, David. You pause for a moment, paying your respects before taking a sip, even though you've always hated alcohol.
That night, you vow to become a living legend, not a dead one.
A Month Later: You're riding high, with top-tier cyberware and a reputation that's growing fast.
But then the scavengers get you. Out of nowhere, they jump you in broad daylight, slash your kidneys, and leave you bleeding out in the gutter.
Your life ends just like that.
Lin Mo: What?!
You've been hyped up, made all the right moves, only to get ganked by some low-level scavs?
Wait… actually, that makes sense…
Even in the game, V, the protagonist, could be taken down by a random merc if they weren't careful. In Night City, survival is never guaranteed.
[Evaluating Simulation Results and Rewards]
[Assessment: You lived long enough to gain power, but died before achieving greatness.]
[Rewards: Top-Tier Prosthetics, Extensive Combat Experience...]
[Simulation Ended. Do you want to activate the immersive simulation experience to live this life and alter your fate?]
Lin Mo hesitated. He could just take the rewards and be done with it. But top-tier cyberware without the experience to use it properly?
Would I really make it in the real world?
In the simulation, he still ended up dead on a random street, just like anyone else in Night City. Could he survive if he just took the prosthetics and left?
And besides… what if this was his last shot to simulate?
No, he had to experience the life fully.
"I choose to experience," Lin Mo said, his voice steady.
[Immersive Life Simulation Experience Activated.]
For the first time, Lin Mo felt ready.