Cyberpunk: Nirvana of Shoko Toyokawa

The "life" seen with electronic prosthetic eyes connected to the Internet channel is very different from the "life" seen with physical eyes.

Why don’t these “lives” that are being broadcast have to get up early and work late every day, don’t have to be threatened by underground organizations at their homes, don’t have to hide in closets to prevent stray bullets from street fights from jumping into the room through the window, and don’t suddenly fail to come home one day like many of her neighbors, and then be informed by the body collection service that they died inexplicably outside?

“Why are their lives different from ours?”

Hai Ling asked her mother who depended on her for everything.

“Because they are all big names who have debuted.” The tired mother touched her head and said, “They are at the top.”

"Then why doesn't anyone debut? Why doesn't anyone want to climb to the top? Aren't you afraid?"

Hai Ling didn't understand. It was obviously better to live without fear.

Mom just smiled.

Many years later, Hai Ling has reached the age where she would smile if asked this question.

City of joy.

Whether or not you can become a "big shot" here is decided at birth.

And for the rest, life is nothing more than one long compromise.

Hai Ling knew about this.

But once upon a time, she still thought that she could do something through hard work alone.

Those naive questions no longer appeared. Her thoughts became more mature and more practical than when she was a child.

She wants her mother and her own life to be safe.

I don't want to become a "big shot". I just want to be a little bit better, try to avoid most disasters, and be able to protect my rights when I encounter problems.

The poor living conditions in her childhood gave her this desire.

She can achieve this wish if she works hard.

...That's what she used to think.

Hailing studied and practiced very hard. She was admitted to the BCPD Hanasakigawa Preparatory Police Academy and was recommended to the advanced department with excellent grades.

Her goal is to join the terrorist squad.

She wants to become an elite law enforcer quickly.

Elite law enforcers were inside the law enforcement agencies, which was the closest thing to a "better" life that Hai Ling could imagine at the time.

This goal seemed to be easily achievable. This was not because she was so outstanding - although she was indeed quite outstanding - but because she found that few of her classmates wanted this job.

"You want to work for the Terrorist Squad? Cyber ​​God - your brain must have been damaged when it was burned! Only those who offend their superiors will be sent there!"

None of her classmates understood her ambition.

Hai Ling knew what they were talking about: the Terrorist Squad was the most dangerous job in Le City. The Terrorist Squad had to fight against the most dangerous cyber madman in Le City, who was wanted at level five.

These cyber maniacs are highly cyberized products, with super high speed, super reaction, super night vision, prosthetic limbs loaded with powerful weapons and the most cunning tactical minds... Even if you are equipped with four fully automatic advanced weapons, even if you are wearing a Kevlar bulletproof vest that can block bullets with 850 feet/pounds of impact energy per square inch, you will still be suppressed by their firepower and surrounded by them from the flank.

——But do you think that if you don’t work in the Terrorist Squad, the City of Joy will be safe?

Hai Ling thought so, but she didn't say it out loud.

The City of Joy is very dangerous.

Gunfights, hatred, business competition, malicious viruses.

There are too many things that can easily block people's way to death. None of us knows how many tomorrows we have left.

Only by joining the law enforcement team can you be protected.

Hai Ling thought so and kept working hard.

Hai Ling felt that her ideas were already very mature at that time.

But she thought, she still made one mistake.

That is, she thought that by joining the BCPD's most elite law enforcement agency, the Terrorism Task Force, she would be "secured."

……

During Hailing's last semester at the BCPD Hanasakigawa Police Academy, her mother was in a serious car accident.

The other party is a dandy who is driving a car after taking too much drugs. His father is a senior member of the Toyokawa family.

This is an easy case to judge. It is clear who is right and who is wrong.

...until the other party took out some money.

a lot.

The verdict was ridiculous and the pedestrian was fully responsible. Hailing went to the judicial office, hoping that her identity as a reserve police officer of the BCPD would be helpful, but it was useless.

Seeing these guys passing the buck skillfully, Hai Ling realized in despair that, let alone being a reserve police officer - even if she was a member of the Terrorist Squad, she probably wouldn't be able to influence the verdict in the slightest.

After the things she had believed in for a long time collapsed, her goal of becoming a member of the Terrorist Mobile Team no longer made sense. Hailing gave up her admission quota and left Hanasakigawa.

She will seek justice with her own hands.

She went underground, entered bars and black markets, and registered as an underground mercenary. She continued to take on missions, many missions, and all the middlemen in the City of Music had her contact information. At her peak, she took on thirty missions at the same time, and at her minimum, there were at least ten missions. She consciously accumulated her highest experience in [Reaction] points, and did not hesitate to use all her commissions to buy one [Point Chip] after another.

There is only one purpose.

The dandy boy who hit her mother.

He has money. If he has money, someone will want to buy his life.

The requirement for accepting this mission to buy his life is to be an [Extraordinary] mercenary.

……

The fact is, Hailing did it in just one year.

After buying the last chip from a suspicious person named Oblivionis, Hai Ling immediately took on the task that she paid the middleman to keep for a year.

Compared to the year's pain, trauma, and maddening fatigue, the task itself was surprisingly easy.

However, when she stabbed her beloved sword [Black Unicorn] into the dandy boy's throat, Hai Ling did not feel as happy as she had imagined.

She discovered something.

Even if one reaches the status of a dandy, one still cannot live a "secure" life.

I came here to seek revenge, that's true. But even if I didn't come here to seek revenge, even if the young man who just died was not a playboy but a good man, as long as someone wants to kill you, you will be killed.

This is the city of joy. This is a common phenomenon in the cyber age.

It wasn't actually him who killed him, but Le Zhicheng.

Hai Ling thought.

There is no guarantee, no future. No one can protect, no one can escape.

Apart from the [Seven Bands] that controlled the City of Music, Hai Ling had never seen anyone tear apart the big network of the City of Music.

The Terrorist Squad is not good enough, and neither are the top brass of the Toyokawa family.

Looking at the people coming and going on the street, the question from her childhood reappeared in her mind.

Why doesn't everyone plan to debut?

Why doesn't anyone want to climb to the top?

...Aren’t you all afraid?

Chapter 40 My Place

Hai Ling returned to the apartment a little late.

It was late at night. The pale light of the street lamp was on alone, and the sound of a high-powered speaker came from a distance, the sound was blurred.

Hai Ling walked steadily across the path, but stopped when she was about to enter the building.

She looked up.

The corridor lights on the fourth floor where she lived were still on.

There was a figure, lying on the railing of the corridor.

……

despair.

A box of [Melting Milk Jelly! Orange Flavor!] was placed on the railing, and Shiina Riki, who had been lying there for a long time, finally raised his head.

"You've been writing music for so long, and you want to come out and get some fresh air?"

Hai Ling folded her arms, leaned to the side and asked.

"...I thought you wouldn't be coming back today. Didn't you go to apply for the black-clad man in Hello, Happy World!" Lixi took the milk jelly and said.

"Well...something felt wrong, so I came back."

"Is 'something feels wrong' some new euphemism for rejection?"

"No, I just realized that's not the position I'm looking for. Temporary employment is fine."

"It's you who's picking on others lately."

"You're quite aggressive today." Hai Ling glanced at Li Xi who had sat up straighter. "What's wrong? Are you angry because you waited for me for too long?"

“…That may be the reason.”

"…about the band?"

"How did you guess that?"

"After I dropped out of Hanasakigawa, I rented a room next to your apartment in the spring of the following year. The last time you blocked me in the middle of the night was back then. Lately, the only thing that's gotten you so worked up about it is your band."

"...I will forever regret blocking your way for five nights, only to get a response like 'because it's cheap and quiet, it's nice'."

"That's the truth. This price-performance ratio is quite rare in the City of Music."

"That's not the problem -"

"so?"

Hai Ling asked.

"What happened to the band?"

"what……!"

Li Xi violently ruffled her long black hair.

"I didn't want to start a band at first - Deng was very sad about Xiangzi's incident! But for some reason, our bassist Su Shi agreed to let a rookie who just came to Lezhicheng start a band again!"

“Let’s form a group and practice. Even though it’s not very stable, at least we’re preparing for our first live performance—”

"But on the way to rehearsal, there was an unexpected accident!"

"You mean the time you saved a girl from a kidney-stripper?" Hai Ling asked. "I heard about it at the bar."

"Yes! Saving a person - it's okay! The person ran away without saying thank you, but it's not the first time I've seen such a thing!"

"But then something went wrong. Deng said she thought that person was Xiangzi. Su Shi immediately checked the surveillance... In the end, she couldn't confirm whether it was the real person. I don't know what was wrong with her, but she questioned why we didn't stop her."

"Why should we stop her? Not to mention that we can't be sure it's Xiangzi. Even if it's Xiangzi, what can we do? There are too many people who have fallen into poverty overnight in Lezhicheng, not to mention that there are also people who died overnight. Xiangzi has her own life. She quit the band without saying anything, which means she is going to start a new life - so whether she is living a good or bad life, what does it have to do with us?"

"Then Sushi didn't come. Wildcat didn't come either. We couldn't rehearse at all—"

"Eh……"

“That’s a really cold feeling.”

"I don't know your band members. I can't even remember their names." Hai Ling said, "But to be honest, I envy you for worrying about achieving your goals."

"Huh?... Well, never mind."

Li Xi raised his hand, a brown object was thrown out, and Hai Ling reached out to catch it.

It was a box of [Melting blancmange! Chocolate flavor!].

"Are you free tomorrow?" Li Xi asked.

"I'm going to check out Afterglow this afternoon."