Parallel World Light Novelist

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Inside the fan group chats, the atmosphere had reached a fever pitch.

The audience was completely electrified by the visceral, chaotic, and yet exhilarating urban chase sequences. The top-tier animation was certainly a factor, but the true catalyst was the emotional buildup. After the suffocating, oppressive weight of episodes eight and nine, seeing David in the Cyberskeleton, tearing through anything and everything in his path like an unstoppable force of nature, provided a sense of catharsis that was beyond words.

Nine doses of immunosuppressants. The ripperdoc had been clear that once that limit was breached, no matter how gifted the individual, the psychological dam would burst.

They would fall into the Edge.

It was only now that the viewers truly understood the meaning behind the title Edgerunners.

It referred to the Cyberpunks who danced on the razor-thin line of sanity, the ones who transcended their humanity in the liminal space between madness and normalcy.

As David engaged the city's security forces, his perception had already fractured. He was no longer seeing the cold steel of the highway. Instead, he saw his late mother, Gloria, smiling at him with a gentle warmth, reminding him of why she had sacrificed everything for his education.

"David, one day, you're going to climb to the very top of Arasaka Tower."

His mother's voice echoed in his ears like a ghost. David's lips curled into a faint smile as he whispered back to the vision.

"Mom... I will. I'm going to the top of the tower!"

Rebecca watched him from the passenger seat, her eyes brimming with a heartbreaking pity. She was powerless to stop the descent. All she could do was lean in and whisper to the boy teetering on the brink of total collapse.

"Let's go then, David. We're going all the way to the top."

Kagura felt a sudden, sharp pang in her chest. The narrative hadn't actually spent an enormous amount of time on Rebecca's backstory, yet the limited screen time she had was so potent that the character had become a fan favorite.

She was foul-mouthed, violent, and decisive, a girl who had killed more people than she could count. Yet she was willing to throw her life into the meat grinder of the Arasaka Corporation just to help David fulfill a wish. Lucy was technically her rival, but Rebecca never once complained or showed resentment.

David's eyes were fixed only on Lucy. And Rebecca's eyes... they were fixed only on David.

Kagura's vision blurred with tears.

The immunosuppressants had lost their efficacy; David would snap back to reality for a few seconds only to slide back into the red haze of psychosis.

"The only one who can bring him back now is Lucy."

That brief exchange between Rebecca and Falco, the driver, laid bare a crushing reality. Rebecca knew she didn't have a place in David's heart, but she didn't care. Her loyalty was absolute.

Then, atop Arasaka Tower, an unexpected figure made his entrance.

Adam Smasher.

For those who hadn't played the game, the name might not have carried much weight initially.

But in the lore of Night City, he was a living nightmare, a legendary figure alongside names like Johnny Silverhand. Smasher was a creature of pure combat, a monster who had replaced every single part of himself with machinery, right down to his reproductive organs. In terms of raw talent, Smasher was the ultimate anomaly.

David was losing his mind after a few high-end modifications; Smasher had been a full-body cyborg for decades and remained perfectly, lethally lucid.

He was Arasaka's ultimate executioner.

In the entire Cyberpunk 2077 universe, only one person could ever hope to defeat him: the game's future protagonist, V. Everyone else was just scrap metal waiting to happen.

As he made his debut in the anime, the sheer pressure he radiated was immense. However, Kagura and the other viewers didn't realize the danger yet. To them, David looked like a god of destruction in the Cyberskeleton. How could one big metal guy stand against a protagonist who was currently bending gravity to his will?

The plot surged forward. Before her death, Kiwi had sent the tracking signal for Faraday's car to David, a final act of vengeance against the fixer who had betrayed her. After a twenty-minute gauntlet of high-speed violence, David finally breached the inner sanctum of Arasaka Tower.

Inside, Faraday was still desperately trying to negotiate a high price for Lucy. Then, the wall vanished.

A massive, terrifying silhouette appeared.

David, encased in the experimental armor, looked exhausted beyond measure, yet his eyes were locked onto Lucy with a terrifying focus. In a single second, he slaughtered every corporate guard in the room, leaving only Faraday alive.

"Wait, why didn't he just kill Faraday instantly?"

"David, don't waste time! Don't do the 'villain monologue' trope!"

"Kill that snake Faraday! I can't stand him!"

The fans were shouting at their screens. In the next moment, David lunged forward and ripped one of Faraday's arms clean off. But before he could finish the job, Adam Smasher intervened, shattering David's momentum. Smasher was encased in heavy black plating, standing even taller than the boy in the Cyberskeleton.

"So, you're Adam Smasher?" David spat, his defiance shining through the pain.

"Your frame is too weak. This hardware is a burden for a mere 'punk' like you," Smasher replied.

"I heard you have more machine than flesh left. Is there even a brain in there, or is it all just code?"

The talk lasted only a heartbeat before the room exploded into violence.

David tried to use his Sandevistan to end the fight instantly, but he was distracted by Faraday trying to crawl away. Smasher took the opening and landed a punishing shot.

David gritted his teeth and pushed his nervous system to the breaking point, activating the Sandevistan again. But then, the unthinkable happened. The trademark "after-image" effect of the high-speed movement appeared around Adam Smasher as well.

"What? He has it too?!" Kagura gasped, her stomach dropping.

The villain possessed the hero's "ultimate move."

In the warped reality of "Bullet Time," rockets, bullets, fists, and blades clashed dozens of times in less than a second. The load on David's brain was too much. He finally hit the wall. He fell into the void of the Edge.

As he lost consciousness, David's body moved on pure instinct to shield Lucy. Smasher's rockets slammed into his back, blowing him out through the reinforced glass of the skyscraper.

High above the city, bathed in the silver light of a full moon, David's expression was vacant and strange. Only Lucy, who was clinging to him as they plummeted, was desperately screaming his name.

"David! Can you hear me?!"

"It's me, Lucy! David, please... come back!"

Her frantic sobs finally pierced the veil of his madness. Under the vast night sky, falling through the air from hundreds of meters up, Lucy pulled him close and kissed him through her tears.

In that instant, as the ethereal vocals of "I Really Want to Stay at Your House" began to play, Kagura felt a lump form in her throat. This same track had played during their first date on the moon simulation in episode four.

The scene was a masterpiece of tragic romance, the Warrior of Love had successfully conquered the hearts of every viewer.

"Lucy saved him."

"David is literally running on immunosuppressants instead of blood, yet her voice was the only thing that worked."

"The strongest drug in Night City is Lucy's love. I'm crying."

"This scene is too beautiful. I can't handle it."

"I thought Madoka made me immune to pain. I was wrong. This hurts so much more."

"That BGM is cheating! It's too perfect!"

"I hope Faraday's death was painful. Watching

him get blown off the building and seeing his eyes pop when he hit the ground was the only good thing that happened."

"Haruto-sensei, please. Don't do it. There are ten minutes left. Give them a miracle!"

Kagura was sniffing, her eyes red and puffy.

"David... you really did it, didn't you?" Lucy whispered, looking at the horrific machinery integrated into his body as they continued their descent. "I knew you would. I knew the moment you put that on, you were going to die. That's why I didn't want you to... I just wanted you to live..."

Lucy finally broke down, her voice cracking as she wailed against his chest. Kagura took a shaky breath, trying to compose herself, but David's next words shattered her completely.

"This was the only way I could protect you in this world." David's face was serene. The fear was gone, replaced by a gentle smile.

"I couldn't save my mom. I couldn't save Maine. But I can save you."

"But I don't want to be saved! I don't want you to die! I just want you here!" Lucy sobbed, cradling his face in her hands.

"It's okay. I don't have much left anyway. I want to see your dream come true... because that dream... it's mine now too."

Lucy's dream. Kagura's mind flashed back to the moon. To escaping the hell of the city and finding freedom beyond the reach of the corporations.

The moon wasn't a paradise; it was just the furthest place away from Arasaka. David was burning his soul to buy her a ticket to that freedom.

Kagura finally understood the long game Haruto had been playing with Lucy's wish.

David and Lucy managed to scramble into the armored getaway vehicle. They were back.

"Welcome back, David!" Rebecca shouted with a wide, blood-splattered grin, providing cover fire against the approaching corporate army.

Kagura felt a brief spark of hope. 'Yes! Just go! Leave the city! Maybe David can find a way to survive if they just get out now!'

But in the very next frame, Rebecca's grin faltered. She sensed something above her. The green-haired girl looked up, her expression one of fierce, undiluted defiance.

Half a second later, a massive, metallic weight slammed down from the sky. The ground shattered. Rebecca's small body was instantly pulverized, reduced to a spray of crimson gore and twisted limbs. It was as if a bucket of red paint had been slammed against the concrete.

Rebecca. The girl who was smiling at David only a second ago. The heart of the crew.

She was gone.

Kagura stared at the screen, her mouth hanging open in a silent scream.

'Why...? Why her?!'

From the shadows of the dust and the remains of Rebecca, a towering figure rose.

Adam Smasher.

Kagura's grief was instantly replaced by a blinding rage. She had only one thought.

'Kill him. David, please... kill him.'