Q: What's worse than being woken up by an alarm clock on a weekday morning?

Answer: On a weekday morning, when I'm woken up by my alarm clock, I see a news story that's enough to give me a stroke.

"Are the 'Forgotten' returning? Has the city hall shown a willingness to accept them?"

"What's that Gouba? I've never even heard of it!"

As mentioned, many ordinary citizens of Night City have never even heard of such a group.

So there are people living outside the city? Really?

Is today really not April Fool's Day?

However, helpful netizens quickly provided information about the "Forgotten Ones".

After browsing the relevant information, the onlookers immediately showed the expected enthusiasm.

"I'm so impressed! You're a descendant of criminals exiled from the city?"

"And then there are those who couldn't survive in the city and took the initiative to get some... It's so annoying, so why are they coming back now?"

"It seems they came seeking refuge because the concentration of 'rust fog' outside the city was too high..."

"Holy crap, the city hall actually agreed to this? Minting coins? Are they crazy?"

"Since they're already 'the forgotten ones,' can't we just forget about them altogether?"

"No, I can't accept that!"

No wonder everyone was so indignant.

Instead, people quickly realized a problem.

It's not just a few big cats or little cats that want to return, but an entire group, numbering over 100,000!

Putting aside other issues, if so many people were to suddenly flood into Night City, a very critical problem would immediately arise.

The work environment will be even more intense!

To be honest, the pressure on workers in Night City, especially Night City, is already immense. When they were young, they competed on grades in school; now that they've had their brains modified, they compete on who has the most implanted modules. And brain machines themselves vary in quality...

Once you enter the workforce, the competition in the workplace becomes even more intense. As your original body parts deteriorate, you'll have to modify them into prosthetic bodies. Why do you think you'd want to modify your stomach into a mechanical one? The reason is simply to gain the advantage of "being able to work an extra hour compared to others"... Do you really think nutrient solution tastes good?

The worst part is that this thing is ridiculously expensive; if you can't afford to pay in full, you have to take out a loan!

Then you find out that you took out a loan from the company, and your monthly salary is cut by more than half.

We've already had it tough enough, and now this happens?

A competitor suddenly has tens of thousands more? Are you kidding me?!

Especially since you might not even be able to compete with them. It's already quite obvious to anyone with eyes to see that if the city hall really accepts these "forgotten people," they will likely offer them more lenient conditions and benefits in the short term. At least from the information released so far, there seems to be a similar trend...

The people of Sin City weren't happy either. It's true that the workers in Night City were affected, but the gang members were no exception.

The truth is, this industry is now incredibly rife with problems, and it's not enough to just be good at fighting... Just being good at fighting is useless except for being called a loser.

Therefore, the Night City people and Sin City people, who have always disliked each other, surprisingly reached a high degree of unity in their attitudes toward this matter.

You stinking bastard, are you begging in the City of Sin at night?

That would have been one thing, but soon after, a related interview caused an even bigger uproar.

This is an interview with "Prism".

"Secretary Ye, the main reason we've invited you here today is to inquire about Prism Pharmaceuticals', or rather, Chairman Xie Qingyan's, views on the potential return of the 'Forgotten Ones' to Night City."

On the screen, a beautiful young female reporter asked a question with a sweet smile.

"Well... as you know, Chairman Xie doesn't concern himself too much with these matters, focusing instead on the development of the medical field."

Wearing a gray suit, Ye Shanshan smiled and appeared dignified and elegant. "So she values ​​this aspect more. As for the final decision, the city hall can make the decision."

“From this perspective, we believe that this may not necessarily be a bad thing.”

"Oh? Could you explain in more detail?"

"Yes, as we all know, the 'Rust Fog' causes trouble for the residents in many ways, and 'Prism' has been developing various drugs to target it."

The curly-haired boy said earnestly, "Then, as the 'Forgotten Ones' who have more contact with the 'Rust Fog,' they must have conducted a lot of research in this area, which will also bring some new situations that we may never have discovered before."

"So, from this perspective, the 'prism' can..."

The interview was a mix of truth and falsehood, and no one really cared about the academic discussions that followed.

But this opening served as a good reminder to everyone.

Why did the "Forsaken" come? It's because the concentration of the "Rust Fog" outside the city is increasing day by day, and they can no longer sustain it!

Everyone knows exactly what "Rust Fog" is. All twenty-two districts of Night City have specific measures in place to deal with it, in order to minimize the harm it causes to everyone.

Even so, the declining average lifespan and the increasing number of complications continue to cause immense suffering for people.

Moreover, many things are irreversible. Sometimes, even replacing cloned organs may not be effective for the symptoms caused by "rust fog"... This is truly a heavy mountain hanging over everyone's heart.

So.

Without protective devices, the situation for the "Forgotten Ones" living outside the city will only get worse!

Hey!

"Won't they catch some kind of disease? The contagious kind?"

"Really? Whether I can even get a job is another matter. Am I going to lose my life?"

"Is it possible that I'll end up living with a monster?"

"Jiu Min, that's way too spicy! Does anyone in the family know how to do that?"

"I'm not going to talk about this anymore, I'm going to get a massage to calm down."

"Hit me."

In this environment of public opinion, the speed at which the situation developed exceeded everyone's expectations.

Ultimately, the "Forgotten Ones" were proclaimed as bloodthirsty, mutated alien creatures.

...

That's certainly not the case.

Although they are a race that survived independently from the City of Night Sin, the idea of ​​eating raw meat and drinking blood is really a bit of an exaggeration.

While the Forsaken's development wasn't as rapid as Nightsin City's, the gap wasn't that significant overall.

At least people will seek shelter when it rains, won't pick up things that have fallen on the ground to eat, and are skilled at using smartphones.

In some areas, they even have their own unique strengths, and they may not necessarily lag behind the City of Night Sin.

So similar comments quickly reached their ears.

This also made the leaders of the "Forsaken" uneasy.

"Damn it! Night City of Sin has gone too far!"

(End of this chapter)

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