Chapter 72: Cyberpsycho Records

"Of course, it's this type!"

Carl happily carried the banned Cyberpsycho braindance back to his room.

He had heard rumors about these before, but he never expected them to actually exist.

The braindance that intrigued Carl was, naturally, one about Cyberpsychos—what else could it be?

Come on, in 2075, erotic BDs weren't exactly rare or forbidden. Any random street braindance vendor could sell you a dozen, unless they contained some extreme gore. Carl wasn't interested in that kind of thing.

But experiencing the combat styles of Cyberpsychos? That was something else entirely.

After all, not just anyone who lost their mind due to excessive cyberware overload got classified as a Cyberpsycho. The ones who made it onto NCPD records were the ones so lethal that standard officers couldn't handle them. In other words, they were strong.

So what would he learn this time?

Would it be life-or-death combat instincts? Or battle-hardened reflexes ingrained into the bones?

Carl could hardly wait.

Compared to regular BDs, which typically cost around 50 eddies, these forbidden ones were extremely expensive. Buying just two had already set him back 510 eddies—five times the normal price.

"Edgerunners, Episode 7 and Episode 16?"

Strange—they weren't sequential.

Just how many were in this series?

Glancing at the BD packaging, Carl also noticed some letters in the corner, probably the editor's initials.

Was this the name of the person who compiled the footage?

No idea.

Carl wasn't about to shove these into his braindance headset just yet.

Instead, he first loaded them into his computer, using his hacking skills to scan for viruses or hidden monitoring programs.

You couldn't be too careful with black-market stuff—if there was any kind of hidden malware, things could get really messy.

After confirming everything was clean, Carl prepared to dive in.

Since BD immersion temporarily overwhelmed the nervous system, people usually got into a relaxed and comfortable position before connecting.

Lying on his couch, Carl made himself comfortable before activating the braindance.

As his senses synchronized, a faint flicker of light flashed across his vision.

Braindances fully simulate a person's entire sensory experience—sight, sound, touch, smell, even pain. Some people got so immersed that they lost track of their real selves.

In a way, it reminded Carl of Zhuang Zhou's butterfly dream—a classic case of someone getting so lost in a dream that they couldn't tell if they were dreaming of being a butterfly or if the butterfly was dreaming of being them.

This was the ultimate "dream beyond dreams"—a braindance that transcended reality.

Carl—or rather, the original recorder—opened his eyes.

The air was thick with dust, each particle clear as day in his heightened senses.

No doubt about it—this was an unfiltered recording, left exactly as it was originally captured.

Carl could even smell the dust.

No post-processing. No artificial touch-ups. This was raw.

Carl checked his new body—the one recorded in the BD.

It was far more muscular than his real one.

His hands—they were Gorilla Arms.

[Gorilla Arms]: Reliable cybernetic arms that grant their user gorilla-like strength—a favorite among dockworkers for heavy lifting.

Carl recalled everything he knew about Gorilla Arms.

Honestly, calling them "gorilla-like" felt inaccurate—how many people had ever actually seen a real gorilla?

In fact, actual gorillas probably weren't even as strong as these arms.

At least, as far as Carl knew, real gorillas couldn't rip apart steel cages with their bare hands.

But if you locked up a grown man with Gorilla Arms, tearing through a metal fence would be laughably easy.

Of course, not all Gorilla Arms were equal—quality mattered.

Carl flexed his Gorilla Arms, evaluating their strength.

Honestly, they might not even be stronger than his current arms.

Unlike some braindance enthusiasts who insisted on an uninterrupted experience, Carl wasn't that type.

People like Oliver, for example, liked their BDs to flow smoothly—especially when it came to certain kinds of content. But Carl?

Carl preferred to analyze details, pausing and rewinding constantly.

Unfortunately, edited BDs lost a lot of original data. The initial raw recordings allowed for third-person views and full environmental tracking, but the ones Carl had were edited—meaning they only had first-person perspective.

Damn.

Would he ever get a custom version?

Resume playback.

"Hah..."

The recorder panted heavily, raising his gun.

Pause.

The cyberware on his palm—was that Smart Link?

[Smart Link]: A neural interface that allows seamless integration with smart weapons.

Which meant his gun was...

Wait—this thing is a fucking Shingen?!

Hold on.

This Cyberpsycho's identity...

Carl had a bad feeling about this.

He resumed playback, listening to the heavy breathing.

The scene became clearer.

The recorder was standing on the fifth floor of a building, flanked by two others dressed just like him—each holding a Shingen smart SMG.

Nearby, a rocket launcher was propped against the wall.

Oh, fuck.

Carl rewound a few seconds, just before the recorder's gaze locked onto his weapon, and instead focused on the environment.

An abandoned apartment.

A mechanical ceiling light fixture.

Oh, shit.

Yeah.

Carl recognized this place immediately.

And now, he knew exactly who the Cyberpsycho in this BD really was.

Not the recorder.

But the one they were about to fight.

Carl knew what would happen next—he had lived it.

They were a group of attackers, ambushing a target.

A rocket was fired.

Explosion.

They raised their Shingens and opened fire.

And then—

"Someone's coming up!"

"That's impossible!"

Fast forward.

Boom!

A grenade detonated, its fiery blast sending shockwaves through the BD.

Carl felt the recorder's pain shoot through his nervous system.

The recorder's vision blurred—his right arm gone.

Blown clean off.

Then...

The "Cyberpsycho" appeared.

The recorder never saw his face.

Only heard his voice.

"You guys were standing too close. If you're gonna die, die together."

Carl froze.

That voice...

Way too familiar.

Then—

"Only three of you? That's fewer than I expected."

Gunfire.

Blackout.

"FUCK!"

Carl ripped off his BD headset, cursing.

"How the hell am I a Cyberpsycho?! I was just talking normally!"

Carl would have never guessed that "Edgerunners - Episode 16"—this so-called Cyberpsycho record—was actually about him.