The journey to Eden was anything but dull.
This was all thanks to the nano-computer Miko had crafted for her.
As Soo gazed at the hologram floating before her, a continuous smile graced her lips.
What had once been mere interface clicks within a game now manifested before her, allowing her to observe directly with her own eyes and interact with the tap of a finger.
How could she not be thrilled by such an experience?
Moreover, the information Miko had transmitted proved exceptionally intriguing.
‘So, the wasteland wasn’t the extent of it.’
The majority of the ruins that had emerged in the southern reaches of Eden’s outskirts—the wasteland—were already under corporate ownership, their inherent magic having been extracted by these entities long ago.
However, the ruins appearing in the wasteland represented only a fraction of their true number.
The world referred to these as the Uncharted Territories.
Reports indicated that ruins had manifested in all other regions of Eden’s outskirts: the north, east, and west, beyond the southern wasteland.
Yet, these were, quite literally, uncharted territories.
Even in a world where scientific advancement had reached its zenith, lands impervious to exploration persisted.
Such were the regions sacrificed in the relentless pursuit of technological perfection.
These lands were plagued by electromagnetic storms that dwarfed mere sandstorms, inhabitants were routinely devoured by mutated beasts, and some regions even boasted seas brimming with lethal toxins.
Consequently, even Eden’s three preeminent corporations had failed to colonize these areas or extract their latent magic.
No matter how many elite forces they dispatched, none ever returned alive.
Soo herself had ventured into these territories several times within the game.
Even when equipped with end-game specifications designed to see the game’s conclusion, she had found survival there impossible.
Fundamentally, it was a realm where one dared not tread without activating invincibility mode.
Unsurprisingly, the players found this perplexing.
Why would the developers include dummy data that merely consumed resources?
Players simply assumed that a DLC related to these regions would eventually be released.
‘And yet, this is how things unfolded.’
‘Could their objective have been to possess me?’
She quickly dismissed such a notion.
While Soo’s ego was undeniably substantial, she believed it had not yet reached such grandiose proportions.
‘At least there’s still an abundance of magic remaining.’
If the meager remnants in the wasteland constituted the entirety of what was left, she would have been compelled to bring about Eden’s complete annihilation.
This wouldn’t involve mass murder or setting entire cities ablaze.
Rather, simply dismantling Eden’s three colossal corporations would inevitably cause the entire system of Eden to crumble, leading to such a catastrophic end.
Thus, while bringing down the three corporations was a prerequisite, ensuring Eden itself did not collapse was another condition for achieving the game’s true ending.
In essence, it implied that the true ending could only be attained by removing every supporting pillar from a house without causing its collapse.
Such a feat, naturally, could not be accomplished in solitude.
She needed to secure the aid of numerous allies.
Even for a seasoned veteran, success alone remained an impossibility.
Even a dragon, the apex of power, could not prevail single-handedly.
The corporations, the very pillars upholding Eden, were precisely such formidable entities.
While these conditions seemed preposterous, Soo harbored no significant concerns, knowing that allies capable of guiding her to the true ending awaited.
“Humph, humph.”
Soo hummed a light tune, her gaze lifting upward.
Above the rusted signboards, battered by the wasteland’s winds, neon lights flickered.
These vibrant signs, daubed in a dizzying array of eye-stinging hues—red, purple, green, pink—seemed to beckon Soo with a silent wave.
[Southpeak, City of Dreams and Hope]
While the community derisively dubbed it ‘Southpeak, a cesspool steeped in drugs and gambling,’ for Soo, in this moment, it truly embodied a city of dreams and hope.
For it was there that she was destined to encounter ‘Enoch,’ the protagonist of [Cyberpunk: Eden].
Having walked for a considerable time, pressing a hand to her thrumming chest, a melodic ringtone chimed just before she could join the checkpoint queue.
Soo tapped her right rabbit ear, answering the call with a soft touch.
[Lady Soo!]
In this cyberpunk world, video calls were, of course, the standard!
A soft smile bloomed on Soo’s face as Miko’s image materialized before her eyes.
“Miko, hello.”
[Have you arrived in Southpeak?]
Approximately thirty hours had passed since she last saw Miko.
Miko, seemingly having already adapted perfectly to the Toppers Family, waved her hand with a look of pure delight.
“I’ll be arriving shortly.”
[Oh, then please do make sure to meet the individual I mentioned!]
“Sparrows dream of pigeons.”
This was the passphrase she needed to recall in order to meet the ally Miko had introduced.
From what she understood, this individual was a ‘Netwatcher’ specializing in hacking, and they certainly seemed poised to offer considerable assistance.
[It’s a swallow, not a pigeon…]
“Yes, I know.”
[You must be careful; getting it wrong would lead to serious trouble. Please! Do you understand?]
“I’m fine.”
[…It means that *they* will be in big trouble.]
“I’m hanging up now.
I’m joining the queue.”
Regardless of Miko’s protests, Soo calmly ended the call and proceeded to join the queue leading to the checkpoint.
Immediately, every gaze in the vicinity converged upon her.
Whispers rippled through the crowd: ‘Isn’t she some kind of actress?’ ‘She must be a singer.’ ‘Perhaps a corporate heiress?’ ‘Or even an ancient hag encased in a full-body prosthesis…’
All manner of conjecture filled the air.
Naturally, these murmurs failed to reach Soo’s ears.
‘Cyberpunk…!’
Soo’s eyes, wide with fascination, were too busy sparkling at the kaleidoscopic array of outfits and the myriad implants embedded across people’s bodies.
****
“Do you know why you’ve been summoned here?”
“Here.”
Soo produced a single gold bar from within her backpack.
“Erm, first, if you’d allow me to explain—”
“Here.”
She then retrieved two more gold bars.
“…I am a proud ECPD—”
“Here.”
Another two gold bars followed.
The now five gold bars gleamed brilliantly, reflecting the dim overhead lighting.
“You are a proud citizen of Eden.”
“You, sir, are also a proud member of the ECPD.”
“Haha!
You know a thing or two!”
Soo offered a bright smile as she accepted the handshake from the proud ECPD officer.
His hand was so remarkably large that even gripping just two of his fingers, she found herself unable to encompass it entirely.
That, too, was likely an implant.
Soo scrutinized his hand for a moment, then, with a quick, rabbit-like jerk, snapped her head up.
“Can I go now?”
“Welcome to Southpeak, City of Dreams and Hope, Soo.”
“Yes.”
Soo promptly gathered her backpack and turned to leave, only to pivot back, her gaze falling once more upon the checkpoint officer.
“Sir.”
“Do you have a question, then?”
“Where can I find an exchange office?”
“Have you not updated your map?”
“No.”
The officer, a brow twitching, cast a swift, appraising glance over Soo before letting out a hearty chuckle as he accepted the additional gold bar she offered.
“There is one in Sector 11, immediately past the checkpoint; two in Sector 6; and one in Sector 1.”
Simultaneously with his words, a notification window materialized before Soo’s eyes, querying, [Do you wish to receive?].
“Ohh.”
Soo promptly pressed the confirmation button, and an immaculate map of Southpeak instantly shimmered into existence before her.
Cyberpunk indeed!
Soo giggled, offering the officer a light wave of her hand.
“I’ll be going now.”
“Welcome to Southpeak once again.
I would advise against wandering about after 9 PM if possible, especially with a face such as yours.
Should you insist on venturing out, confine yourself to Sector 3.”
He entertained no tales of woe.
Even when faced with suspicion, a payment ensured his eyes remained conveniently shut.
Regardless of how vulnerable one might appear, he refrained from any rash interference.
And yet, in the manner of a true officer, he still offered a word of caution regarding public safety.
His demeanor was so archetypally corrupt that it could have served as a textbook example for a cyberpunk police officer.
Soo felt neither surprise, embarrassment, nor worry.
Was this not, after all, the very essence of this world?
And precisely why she had grown to love it.
“Yes, thank you.”
Soo bounced out of the isolation chamber, her steps light and eager.
She proceeded down a corridor teeming with screams and shouts, past brawling fools, and behind a mercenary who affected an air of cool indifference while puffing on an e-cigarette.
Finally, she stood before a towering, imposing door.
She hesitated no longer.
With her hood pulled low, Soo twisted the doorknob and swung the door wide open.
“Wow…”
First, she beheld skyscrapers stretching impossibly high, their peaks piercing the smoggy sky.
Immediately thereafter, her olfactory senses were assaulted.
The acrid scent of synthetic tobacco, the greasy tang of frying oil, and the putrid stench of decaying sewers mingled into a suffocating assault on her nostrils.
Directly beyond the gate, along both sides of the considerably wide thoroughfare, neon signs were densely interwoven overhead, forming a canopy like a market without a roof.
Turning her gaze, she found her vision mercilessly swept by the flashing red letters of illicit clinics, the gaudy glow of casino signs, and the grotesquely disjointed advertisements for strippers, their flickering images more bizarre than enticing.
Overhead, delivery drones and personal vehicles, emblazoned with corporate logos, whirred ceaselessly, while through the wide-open doors of a nearby casino, junior corporate employees could be seen drinking synthetic spirits and placing bets.
Adjacent to this, women clad in suggestive lingerie entwined themselves around mercenaries’ waists, and the mercenaries, in turn, occasionally tucked Eurodollars into their skimpy undergarments.
“It’s even more chaotic than I imagined…!”
Despite her words, Soo’s face was alight with an expression of pure, unadulterated excitement, as if she were the happiest person in the world.
Southpeak, a city steeped in drugs, gambling, violence, and hedonism.
Soo savored its murky air, spreading her arms wide in exhilaration.
“Southpeak!”
And then, *thwack*—
“Ugh!”
The mercenary, struck by her outstretched arm, tumbled pitifully to the ground.
“What the *f*ck*—”
Had he been hit by a truck?
But this was no thoroughfare for such vehicles, he mused, lifting his gaze.
There, he met the eyes of a girl so breathtakingly beautiful that his breath hitched in his throat.
Though half-obscured by her hood, her beauty nevertheless shone with a brilliant radiance.
“Tsk… Am I not fully sober yet?”
By no stretch of the imagination did such a face belong in Southpeak.
It was the kind one might glimpse on a holographic advertisement, no, even among those, it would be a truly rare sight.
Yet, he had been struck by the arm of such a girl and sent sprawling to the ground?
It defied all logic, but…
The mercenary’s eyes gleamed with avarice, and he licked his lips.
Just look at those innocent eyes.
A little smooth talk, and he could have some real fun.
And wasn’t there a motel conveniently located right beside them?
‘I certainly won’t be bored for the next three days.’
With that thought, the mercenary began to push himself upright.
“Watch where you’re going.”
The girl, Soo, adopted what she believed to be a menacing expression and proceeded to execute a ‘cyberpunk action.’
Which is to say, she threw a punch.
*Thwack—!*
The mercenary, in the midst of rising, was sent sprawling once more.
His teeth flew out, and his face plunged directly into the grimy sewer.
For a fleeting moment, gazes converged on the unfortunate mercenary, but just as quickly, they dispersed.
As if utterly accustomed to such spectacles, the bystanders simply disengaged and resumed their own affairs.
Soo, too, calmly continued on her way.
In a cyberpunk world.
Especially in Southpeak, such behavior was the norm.
Her heart, however, thrumming wildly, was far from calm.
‘This certainly makes me a true resident of Eden.’
A proud smile graced Soo’s face.
****
Locating the protagonist, Enoch, proved to be no arduous task.
Knowing that a year had elapsed since the game’s inception, she simply needed to follow the narrative arc set to unfold one year into the future.
The date was August 21st.
Recalling that the protagonist’s birthday fell in July, she surmised that today must be the day he completed a rather substantial quest.
Confident in her assessment, Soo directed her steps toward the East Industrial Sector, the presumed location of Enoch.
During Southpeak’s more prosperous era, various factories had clustered there, but with the city’s subsequent decline, the area had become a desolate and eerie expanse of abandoned structures.
One might envision the scene as a warehouse district, replete with rusted containers, a common backdrop in noir films.
Thus, Soo scaled a container, surveying her surroundings from the highest vantage point.
*Bang!* A gunshot rang out, and with it, she finally located Enoch.
“Oh.”
While it would have been preferable for Enoch to be the one wielding the firearm…
Regrettably, Enoch was, in fact, the one who had been shot.
