Chapter 1: Chapter 1 – Another One Bites the Dust

Looking at the ray of light that shined through a tree and into my window, I relaxed back into my pillow and enjoyed the sense of peace. Saturday morning was always my favorite time of the week. The hustle and bustle of the work days are left in the rearview mirror, and it's still early enough into the weekend that I don't feel pressured to be productive.

The nest of pillows and blankets enwrapped me in luxurious warmth. I tossed around for a few more minutes in a futile attempt to retain the built-up comfort only found in a bed after a great night's sleep. But it was hopelessly ineffective, and I lethargically peeled myself out under the covers and trotted over to my shower.

I climbed into my tub and pulled the water knob, setting it to the midpoint. A cold spray hit my face before heating up to the perfect temperature. I just stood there for a few minutes, letting the hot water wash over me, daydreaming and thinking over my life.

This weekend was special because I finally quit my job. I took a year off college to gain work experience, trying to take advantage of the understaffed workforce. Things happened, and I was quickly promoted from intern to full-timer and even got a promotion. I liked the company, so I figured I could simultaneously do my job and school. In hindsight, it was rather ridiculous of me to think that.

Now that going back to college is right around the corner, it has become clear I can't swing being a full-time student and working at the same time. I come from a good family that provides housing for me and pays for my college. Between school and work, I have the luxury of attending school. So I quit with a month of free time before school starts.

After my mind sufficiently warmed up, I scrubbed myself clean and did a basic shave. Getting out of the shower, I dried myself off and brushed my teeth. I got dressed in my favorite pair of towel pants and a new towel hoodie I bought for myself.

Feeling more energized after freshening up, I quickly walk into my kitchen to make a simple breakfast of sausage and eggs. After plating my meal, I brought the food to the table and sat down. Scrolling through the news feed on my phone while cramming food into my gullet, I gently sighed at the ever-expanding list of negative things happening worldwide.

Generally speaking, I didn't care for politics or the world around me, but even I feel like the last four to five years have just been a slow march into a massive shitshow. It could be one of the side effects of being an adult and unnecessarily viewing everything through a pessimistic lens. Maybe things weren't better when I was younger. Perhaps I was just too oblivious to see things crumbling around me. Regardless, I've been in severe need of stress relief for a while now.

While scrolling through my emails, my phone vibrated.

"Hey, Basil. Wanna run the gauntlet and shoot the shit?"

"Nah, got stuff to do today. Thanks anyhow."

Usually, when I needed a break I would play video games for a few hours, get greasy food, or hit up random stores and do some people-watching. But after finding my first full-time job, my free time was severely reduced, and I hung out with my buds less and less.

Most of my friends also left where we grew up to work or further their education, making it hard to hang out when I have the time. Sure I could play video games with them, but everyone's been on a battle royale fever lately, and I'm not too fond of that stuff. Due to this lack of venues for stress relief, I have recently found myself in a rut.

That's why I've been craving something more sustainable. Something that I can cater to myself and enjoy over several days, if not weeks. I wanted a game where the environment alone could tell an engaging story. This desire used to be filled with games like the Fallout series. But after so many years and playthroughs, finding enjoyment in my go-to's has been harder and harder. That's where Cyberpunk 2077 came in.

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When the game first came out two years ago, it was met with bad reviews: disappointing graphics, lack of content, poor performance, buggy game mechanics, the whole gamut. But throughout its life, the game has consistently improved, and many people swear it is now outstanding. I had a company gift card sitting around, the game was on sale, and I figured I had nothing to lose. And I'm so glad I finally bought the game.

The lore, setting, and in-game ambiance were all so good. Sure, the game could have been better, but it did satisfy my craving for a new RPG that has yet to be fulfilled for years. My first playthrough took just over 40 hours, and I finished maybe only half of the available content.

My main gripes were that the level cap made it impossible to max all stats, you could only use one type of Operating System, and the main missions felt a bit short. The problem with the story I couldn't fix, but the other two issues could easily be modded to suit my tastes.

After breakfast, I returned to my room and sat at my computer. While spamming the space bar so my desktop would get out of sleep mode, I thought about how I wanted this new playthrough to go. For my first playthrough, I chose the Corpo life path and used any gun with the highest DPS. Since I didn't choose a weapon type to specialize in, my skills were all over the place, resulting in a poorly optimized build.

This time I think I will invest in a Sandevistan/katana build. I usually shy away from melee, but the few times I used a katana in this game was surprisingly fun.

After the screen turned from black to the lock screen, I entered my login and opened the mod manager launcher. I did a quick once-over to ensure the mods were loaded and hit the play button. The game went through its standard intro with in-game commentary, faded to a black screen, and... stayed as a black screen. Opening task manager, I check that the game is still responding. Everything seems fine, and just the other day, I did a test run. Everything worked perfectly then; I don't see why anything would be different now.

The smoke alarm suddenly blared into life, and my screen flickered and gave a distorted image. Startled, I looked around and noticed my PC case billowing smoke behind me.

"What the hell! Fuck, is that fire?"

I quickly rushed to the case, taking off the side panel to better understand what had happened. In hindsight, that was not the most intelligent thing to do.

The second the panel came off, a blinding white light rocketed out, and a scorching heat wave hit my body. My body was then assaulted by an explosive force and thrown back. The last thing I felt was my body crashing into the floor and then passing out.

 

Author's Note

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