[TN: Yo new fanfic this is just a side project so expect only semi regular updates]
"Good morning, Night City! Yesterday's Death Lottery across all districts only racked up four casualties—who would've guessed? I bet plenty of folks lost their shirts on that one. You should all give a big thanks to the NCPD officers. If those donut-munching, gun-toting cops hadn't stopped you from striking it rich, the body count would've easily hit twenty.
Maelstrom was stirring up trouble in Kabuki again yesterday—those chrome-obsessed lunatics just can't sit still for even a second. Meanwhile, the Valentinos in Heywood seem to be dealing with some nasty business. They're skipping their traditional Día de los Muertos celebrations, wandering the streets with their pants barely on. Another chaotic day in the so-called 'peaceful' Pacifica. Honestly, City Hall should hand out awards for maintaining 'peace' in this town.
Anyway, I'm your best bud, Stan. Let's chase our dreams and kick off another day in Night City!"
The noisy chatter jolted Kai awake.
"Damn... My head hurts."
He felt himself slumped against a wall. When he opened his eyes, a blur of garish colors flooded his vision. His eyes stung from the onslaught of neon hues—it was almost worse than keeping them shut.
"These billboards are blinding..."
As his dazed brain adjusted to the overwhelming input, Kai realized he was sprawled in a stinking pile of garbage on a high-rise apartment floor. He leaned against a barely waist-high railing, peering into the open-air courtyard of the building.
Massive, glowing billboards crammed into every available space, each one desperate to shine the brightest, flashing hypnotic, dizzying hues before his eyes.
His whole body ached. Grimacing, he pushed himself up from the reeking trash heap and surveyed his surroundings.
The apartment corridor stretched about a hundred meters, lined with scattered groups of people clad in bizarre, futuristic outfits. They huddled in conversation, completely ignoring Kai, as if a guy waking up in the garbage was just another Tuesday in Night City.
"What the hell is going on...?"
The fog in his mind started to clear. He strained to recall his last memory before blacking out.
Kai. Last name Kai. As far as he knew, he led a pretty unremarkable life. Decent-looking, loved gaming—nothing extraordinary. His last memory? Watching a gameplay demo of a game called Cyberpunk 2077.
[TN: So his original name was Karl Karl lol what a dumb name so i change it to Kai Kai a real Chinese name that fit his character better, it normal for Chinese name to repeat for example cao cao but when using a western name it sound dumb as fuck so I change it hope that okay]
Then... nothing.
'Wait a second.'
His eyes widened as the realization hit him like a freight train.
The scene before him—the mega-skyscraper, the neon-drenched streets—was identical to what he'd seen in that demo.
This wasn't just a coincidence.
His gaze shifted to the people around him. He had initially dismissed their outfits as weird, but now, upon closer inspection...
Those weren't just fashion statements. Those were cybernetic implants.
Cyberware—advanced prosthetics and augmentations straight out of sci-fi, designed to replace weak human flesh with machine or synthetic substitutes.
Was this real?
Kai's eyes locked onto a passing apartment resident. Instinctively, his gaze drifted downward, stopping at—
Oh.
That guy's crotch was glowing.
No, seriously. It was glowing. And changing colors. Like some kind of LGBTQ rave light show.
Kai barely registered the rest of the scene. He had seen some wild things in his world, but this? This was next-level insanity.
And the guy wasn't just standing there. He was shaking—shoulders twitching like he was having a seizure while his lower half pulsed in a disco of flashing lights.
The "glowing groin man" staggered past Kai, who was still rooted to the spot, trying to process everything. He needed confirmation. Proof that this wasn't some elaborate VR simulation.
[TN: who would want a RGB dick lmao?]
He stepped up to the railing and looked skyward.
A hovering car zipped across the skyline at breakneck speed.
"Alright… Guess I have to accept reality now."
He exhaled sharply and wiped his grimy hands on his face.
There was no mistaking it—this wasn't just a futuristic setting. This was Night City.
And if he really was here, that meant… he had actually transmigrated into Cyberpunk 2077's world.
At least it wasn't something worse, like the grimdark nightmare of Warhammer 40K. No need to scream like a banshee just yet.
He waited, listening for the telltale ding of a system prompt—the kind every transmigrator seemed to get. But there was nothing. No AI companion, no game interface. Just silence.
So… was this a body swap? Did he inherit someone else's memories?
A loud rustling nearby caught his attention.
A random resident unceremoniously unzipped his pants and relieved himself right onto the floor.
Kai watched in stunned horror as the golden liquid pooled near his feet. But amid the sheer absurdity of the moment, something else caught his eye—his own reflection in the piss.
Shit. He had really transmigrated.
And not just that—his reflection showed a much younger version of himself, maybe eighteen or nineteen.
"...Alright, free youth boost. I'll take it."
Shaking off the absurdity of it all, Kai wandered deeper into the apartment building.
He needed to confirm something.
From the news broadcast earlier, he had already picked up a crucial detail—today was Día de los Muertos, Mexico's Day of the Dead, which meant it was either November 1st or 2nd.
And the only reason he even knew that? He had seen Coco, the animated film inspired by the holiday.
After a few steps, his answer appeared before him.
A flashing advertisement displayed a date.
It was promoting the Death Lottery, and the timestamp read: November 3rd, 2075.
2075?
What the hell had happened?
Just as he pondered that question, a new realization struck him.
The broadcast… The advertisements… The graffiti…
None of them were in a language he recognized.
And yet, he had understood everything perfectly.