Chapter 1 Cyberpunk
Chapter 1: Cyberpunk
"Hey, Ayumi!"
Ito Ayumi froze for a moment, and only then turned her head and bowed deeply to the man behind her, saying fearfully, "I'm sorry! Senpai! I couldn't answer you in time!"
Yang Dahai scratched his head, opened his mouth and said helplessly: "There's no need to be so polite, and there's no need to call me senpai or anything, there's no such thing as senpai culture in our place."
However, he still understood Ito Ayumi very well, after all, she was from Japan.
They say that the culture is very serious in Japan, and the consequences of not answering a senior's question in good time can be quite serious.
However, a new colleague from Japan, like Ito Ayumi, would sooner or later adapt to the environment and culture here.
"Well, Ayumi, you've just arrived at our Manga World Culture Company, so it's no good organizing any work for you." Yang Dahai said, "This side of the company has just held a big manga competition for beginners, you should take a look at these manga manuscripts for beginners."
He patted a pile of manga manuscripts on the table in front of him, placed them on the table and looked almost as tall as Ito Ayumi.
There were thirteen manuscripts here and, due to the company's requirements for the contest, each manuscript had to have a minimum of 10 chapters or 150 pages to be submitted.
That should keep Ito Ayumi busy for a few days.
And, after all, all these manga were sent in by newbies, so there would be no problem if they were given to a newbie manga publisher like Ayumi Ito to take a look at.
"Can I choose some of these manga?" Ito Ayumi said nervously, "How many manga should I choose?"
"Don't be so nervous, it doesn't necessarily mean that you have to choose them by force, it's fine to eliminate all of them..." said Yang Dahai casually.
After all, this is just one part of the introductions, and all the newcomers work, all of them eliminated is also a very normal thing.
However, after thinking about it, what if there are good works, but Ito Ayumi hasn't seen them?
He immediately said, "Forget it, then Ayumi, pick three books here that you think are very good and hand them to me."
"Okay!" Ito Ayumi nodded and then directly carried the pile of manga manuscripts back to her work position.
After returning to her work position, Ito Ayumi let out a sigh of relief.
She had only recently joined the largest manga company in the world; there, the attitude of her coworkers was very friendly.
But this made her a little uncomfortable, because here there wasn't such a rigid culture of hierarchy between veterans and newcomers as in her former region of Japan. Instead of calling colleagues by their surnames, they were addressed only by their first names.
Even so, it was certainly more pleasant here than in his old home.
"Ayumi! If you're going to stay, you've got to finish the job properly!" Ito Ayumi secretly perked up and said, "Start with those manuscripts and work hard to finish the job!"
She looked at the stacked manga manuscripts, picked up the top one and began to read it carefully.
The first manga manuscript, with the name "Magical Guide King" written on the cover, had a very good drawing style and followed the plot of an intense action teen manga.
Ito Ayumi read the manuscript carefully and couldn't find any fault with the plot or drawing style, but she still wasn't excited.
"This book is considered good, right?" Ito Ayumi was in trouble.
Her task was to choose three books that were good and give them to editor-in-chief Yang Dahai.
This book looked good, but Ito Ayumi didn't feel anything.
"Let's... put it here first and decide after reading the other teachers' work." Immediately, Ito Ayumi looked at the next manuscript.
Immediately after that, she began to encounter endless selection difficulties.
"This book 'Path of the Ethereal Immortal' seems to be good..."
"But this book 'Dark Spellcaster' also seems to be good..."
"This book 'Lord of the Fire Dragon'... is still... okay..."
...
With seven books less, Ito Ayumi froze at the thought that six of them were good, the only one because the painting looked too young and green, and she rejected it.
The rest of the six books, however, she felt were the same for all of them.
They were works with which she had no problems or feelings after reading them.
What Ito Ayumi didn't know was that if these works were given to Yang Dahai to read, they would all be eliminated.
As the plot of these works is almost always the same old plot direction, the worldview is also the same.
This kind of work, if the plot can't give readers any feeling or memory point, is bound to not stand out.
"Let's keep reading for now..." Ayumi Ito put aside another manuscript and looked at the tenth submission...
"Cyberpunk 2077: Edge... Walkers?" She read the name, which was surprisingly long and had a bit of a strange sound.
It was also the first manga name she'd seen that was very different from the previous nine submissions.
Ayumi Ito turned the manga over and read it, opening with a quote from a man in a yellow jacket who didn't know what he really looked like.
"In the year 2077, the city I live in was voted the worst area in America."
"Why? Violent crime is rampant..."
"The number of people below the poverty line is the highest in the country..."
Meanwhile, the cartoon image is a high-tech urban scene that looks like it's from the future, with maglev cars, holographic projection technology, trains traveling through the city and?
semi-reformed people with mechanical human organs.
"It's a fact that can't be denied, but people still flock to this city that will always give you a glimmer of hope..."
"Lies or illusions, but so close, as if they were within reach... makes people rise to the occasion!"
This was the world of the future, or the United States of the future! Ito Ayumi immediately understood that this was a story from the future.
No... I should say it was the truth.
She continued reading, the main character in the manga was called David Martinez and the city he lived in was called Night City.
However, in the very first episode, an armed bandit, who had nothing to do with the protagonist, suddenly attacked a city policeman who was on duty at night.
This intrigued Ito Ayumi.
At the same time, the police began to engage in a fierce firefight with the bandit, but the bandit stood still, firing wildly as if he had no fear of bullets.
Then the policemen on duty panicked and called for help, saying: "It's the Cyber Maniacs! Call Trauma Team International!"
Cyber maniacs? What was that? Was it the name of an evil, vile organization?
Besides, why wasn't that thug afraid of bullets? Is that some special superpower in this manga?
With these curious thoughts, Ito Ayumi continued to read with great enthusiasm.
Then she understood the background to this manga: there were no superpowers in this manga, just so-called human body modification and artificial prostheses.
The powerful prosthetic body will give the modified person powerful strength, but when the person's spirit cannot bear the burden brought on by the modification of the prosthetic body, they will become a walking corpse and will only know how to kill endlessly in reality, turning into the so-called cybernetic madman.
The scenario was truly original, making Ayumi Ito remember the unusual scenario after reading it just once.
She then continued reading with interest and curiosity...
However, when she saw the protagonist being bullied by the wealthy second generation at school and the worrying situation of the protagonist's family, she immediately realized that Night City was not in fact as wonderful as it was said to be at the beginning.
On the contrary, there is a big difference between rich and poor, and the poor live without any dignity.
The protagonist also argues with his mother about this and, soon afterwards, has a car accident in the middle of a shoot-out between gangs.
At that moment, however, what appears to be some kind of rescue team appears.
The protagonist, David Martinez, replies: "Trauma Team International, rescue".
However, just when Ayumi Ito thinks that the protagonist and the protagonist's mother are safe, the icy dialog of the supposed first-aider of the trauma team jumps out at her: "This man is not a client, nor is this woman".
"Ensure the client's personal safety, leave these people to the town hall trucks."
These people then left directly, without the slightest intention of saving the protagonist and the protagonist's mother.
"How could that be..." Ito Ayumi clenched her fists in anger.
Fortunately, however, the scene changed and the protagonist and the protagonist's mother seemed to have been saved.
It's just that this seems to be the cheapest "hospital".
At the same time, David discovers his mother's powerful military prosthetic body, a "Sandevistan" type prosthetic body, which she has hidden at home.
But then he is beaten up by his rich classmates at school.
"It seems that this is the key to the protagonist's rise to power." Ayumi Ito said excitedly, "David will definitely change this hateful, hateful world!"
In the next episode, however, David's mother was declared dead with a flippant comment from the garbage collector...
David didn't even see his mother for the last time and had to return home with her ashes...
After his mother's death, a second hazing by his rich colleagues and the death of his trauma team, David went to a black market doctor and asked him to give him a military prosthetic body, the "Sandevistan"!
End of story.
Ito Ayumi couldn't wait to open the next story, but...
"I can't believe I finished reading it without realizing it?!" She said, somewhat astonished.
It was over a hundred pages of three entire dialogues, and she had finished reading without realizing it.
And, unlike the previous drafts, this time she wanted to keep reading even after she'd finished.
She wanted to see how the protagonist, David Martinez, would use the prosthetic body of "Sandevistan" to rise up and change this abominable world!
"This book! It will definitely work!" When Ayumi Ito had finished reading it, she also made sure that this manuscript was the one she had decided to send to Yang Dahai!
"This teacher also has a good drawing style and a good plot, what's his name?" She turned to the first page.
The author's name was written in two words: Qingshan.
(End of chapter)