The sensation of BD is truly peculiar.
It allows you to instantly immerse yourself in a pre-recorded "memory," enabling you to fully embody the BD recorder and experience everything they felt.
Whether it's the recorder's fear, happiness, despair, pain, or comfort, all these emotions are perfectly recreated in the viewer.
Producing a legitimate film BD is extremely challenging because it requires actors to fully immerse themselves in the script to deliver enough emotional impact to the viewers.
This is difficult to achieve, which is a core reason why many BD films receive mediocre reviews.
At the same time, this is precisely why XBD has taken the world by storm.
Many people attach BD recording devices to criminals, allowing them to directly engage in thrilling activities.
Some even go so far as to perversely place recording devices on victims, the resulting XBD can deliver an almost ultimate sensory impact, one that is highly addictive.
Just imagine: what would happen if an addict recorded the moment of their own overdose in BD?
Countless addicts would rush to buy that BD!
Even if only to endlessly loop the experience of euphoric death in the BD when they're too broke to afford drugs, they would still buy it!
Cases of direct brain death from this are common, yet XBD remains rampant and difficult to eradicate.
The BD Mercer experienced was a legitimate one, but... is it really appropriate for men?
In just one hour of BD, Mercer successfully experienced what it felt like to be Sailor Moon, including:
The satisfying thrill of justice fulfilled when apprehending criminals, and the immersive, intimate feeling of hugging and celebrating with fellow Sailor Moon companions...
Damn, those companions were each more stunning than the last! They just looked like they were only fifteen or sixteen, which made him feel somewhat guilty about his excitement!
Of course, the recorders were all adults. In the Net, age is just a number, an eighty-year-old granny can be remade into a youthful girl.
Besides that, there were also those clearly visible clothing explosion scenes during the transformation process, which could be paused and replayed at will... Damn, this thing was actually rated 8+?
The sensation of shared smell, touch, and all senses made Mercer, who had started to feel emotionally numb, rediscover the joy of being emotionally charged.
Thrilling, absolutely thrilling. Even after removing the headset, Mercer was still savoring the final scene of the grand ending, where he was embraced and celebrated by a group of Sailor Moons.
It was just that the feeling of having two extra lumps in front and an emptiness below in the BD version of himself was a bit unsettling.
BD is really something...
If 8+ is like this, then 18+ must be out of this world!
Damn, Mercer decided, once he gets to Night City, he's definitely going to find some BD to thoroughly savor. Well, no, it should be to critically analyze!No wonder the world's gone to shit, when everyone can indulge in BD, who'd want to actually suffer and work hard in real life? No matter how miserable your reality is, just put on the headset and instantly enjoy a perfect life. It's downright corrupting.
"Right? Isn't it great!" Kyoko's voice snapped Mercer back to attention, and he noticed the others in the room staring at him with odd expressions.
Daichi Tetsuya was the first to turn away, pressing Leon's head down as they reconnected their personal link cables to the game console to dive back into the game.
Lucy, meanwhile, couldn't help but curl her lips into a smile, her eyes crinkling as she looked at him. "That grin you had just now... well, how should I put it? I've never seen anyone besides Kyoko get so into a Sailor Moon BD like that."
Mercer kept a straight face. "It's just my first time trying BD. The sensation is quite novel."
Leon couldn't hold back a snicker, earning him an elbow from Daichi.
Lucy burst into laughter too, and soon she was laughing so hard she was doubled over, tears welling in the corners of her eyes.
Daichi and Leon also gave up trying to hide their amusement and joined in, leaving only Kyoko looking utterly confused. All she knew was that Lucy seemed to have draped a blanket over Mercer.
Wasn't it just to keep him from getting cold? What was so funny about that?
Mercer looked down and realized some kind soul had indeed covered his lap with a blanket—he'd forgotten he was still wearing his backless hospital gown.
Why cover him from the knees up? The answer hit him in an instant.
Damn. Even though BD let him experience others' emotions, it didn't mean his own vanished; they were just overshadowed by stronger sensations. And because his mind was immersed in the BD, his awareness of the outside world had nearly disappeared.
In other words, while he couldn't feel his body in the BD, his body had faithfully mirrored every thought he had during the experience.
Like the thrill of getting close to the Sailor Moon girls, shit, man must've been really starved... no, more like this young body's just too damn responsive.
It had nothing to do with his willpower, honestly!
"Ahem." Mercer felt a long-forgotten emotion, embarrassment. More than just shyness, it was mixed with the shame of corrupting a kid or losing face in front of one.
The feeling was so overwhelming he couldn't even come up with an excuse, so he just gave up. "Well, what can you do? That's puberty for you, hormones and all."
His attempt at a calm explanation only made Lucy laugh even harder.
She slumped against the petite Kyoko, shaking with laughter, while Kyoko stared blankly at him. "What's going on?!"
"...Nothing," Lucy gasped, wiping her eyes as she sat up straight and cleared her throat. "It's just that the way he smiled during the BD was so silly, it was kind of funny."
"What's the big deal? I get like that too when I watch Sailor Moon! You guys are the weird ones!" Kyoko declared emphatically.
Daichi and Leon couldn't stop laughing, exchanging a look. No, Kyoko, you're normal, but he's not.
Usually, Mercer comes off as pretty aloof... guess he's been repressing too much. This is Sailor Moon, not some "Beautiful Girl vs. Goblin" battle. Children in the Net are exposed to far more information than kids in Mercer's original world, and most of it comes with little to no protection. That's why someone as innocent as Kyoko is actually a rarity.
Alright, Mercer decided to do something about it: "Anyway, BDs are pretty interesting.
It'd be great if we could extract BDs directly from human memories.
That doesn't seem entirely impossible, does it? For us, the process of deep diving is essentially digitizing consciousness completely, hmm."
He fell into thought, this time with a serious idea, if this were possible, could he find a way to check if there was anything unusual in his own data?
Like, had those AIs left any traces in his data?
And if he could replicate memories to record BDs, he seemed to have plenty of memories that would be especially valuable in this world.
Trips to clean beaches with family as a child, memories of climbing Mount Hua, even lots of delicious food.
Selling them for money was out of the question, but maybe he could share the beauty from his memories with close friends in the future?
Or even use them himself to relive those moments, experiencing them through BDs would be far more intense than just recalling memories. At least now, even if he could imagine the taste of those foods, he couldn't truly savor that deliciousness.
"Hmm, just extracting memories, theoretically, it should be possible."
Daichi Tetsuya chimed in understandingly: "But how to extract memories and back them up precisely is tricky. I've seen similar successful cases online.
But as for converting memory data into BDs, there don't seem to be any concrete examples yet."
"Right, right, I'll look into it later." After saying this, Mercer looked somewhat tired. "Alright, I need to take a short nap. The emotional stimulation from that BD was pretty intense, I only realized I had a headache after taking off the headset."
"Mmm, okay."
Daichi Tetsuya and Leon exchanged a glance and immediately stood up. Well, it's good not to hold back.
Lucy was still laughing. Does this woman laugh this much? No, more accurately, she's a smug little brat, what's so funny?!
Mercer rolled his eyes. "I really hope you never have your brains fried one day."
As soon as he said this, the atmosphere grew heavy. The kids couldn't help but picture scenes of companions with bloodied faces and the smell of scorched flesh emanating from their heads.
Blinking, Mercer quickly changed the subject:
"Alright, everyone, go back and rest. Think carefully about what you want to do in the future, where you want to go.
As for me, I've already decided. When I finally reach my dream destination, the first thing I'll do is have a proper meal. Uh, never mind, wherever you go, real meat is outrageously expensive."
His words sparked new ideas in the young teens. Daichi Tetsuya smiled brightly and mused:
"Well, if it were me, I'd like to go swimming, even in unfiltered water. Or play soccer. It's been years since I could really move around freely."
"I want to buy lots of games."
Leon gazed longingly at the game console in Daichi's hands. After a moment's thought, Daichi said straightforwardly, "Why don't you just sleep over tonight? We can try to finish the two-player career mode while we have time."
"Yay!" Leon immediately raised his hand and cheered.
Kyoko seemed lost in thought, remaining silent and saying nothing. "I want a BD! Sailor Moon has released three more seasons! Mercer can watch them with me! We can get that shared-use BD wreath!"
Kyoko looked at Mercer with eager anticipation.
Mercer's mouth twitched. As expected, everyone else stopped their daydreaming and turned to tease him with their eyes.
"No, you watch it with Lucy. I'm never watching BDs again; they rot your mind."
"Pfft." Lucy covered her mouth to stifle a laugh, then took Kyoko's hand and pulled her toward the door. "Let's go, let him rest. He just got out of the hospital, how can he recover with all our noise?"
"Okay~" Kyoko still refused to give up, even sending him a private message through her neural link.
[Kyoko: It's fine, I know they all think watching Sailor Moon is for kids. We'll watch it together in secret! It's a promise~]
[Mercer: Alright, when we're free, we'll watch it together. But keep it a secret.]
He smiled and winked at her.
Her little face instantly lit up with an expectant, happy grin. Bouncing lightly on her feet, her twin tails swaying, she left with Lucy.
—--
Only when the room fell quiet did Mercer's expression return to calm. He rubbed his temples, thinking he might lie down for a while.
But after just a short rest, he sighed, sat up, walked to the desk, opened the drawer, and took out a BD headset.
This was the learning device Arasaka provided for its trainees and employees, with free access to beginner courses.
For "child soldiers" like him who had signed training agreements, advanced tutorials in engineering, medicine, netrunning, management, finance, and more were also unlocked.
The content of these courses was linked to Arasaka Academies worldwide. Completing any advanced course allowed one to apply for an interview and enter university for deeper studies.
The tutorials were conducted online. Since they were currently inside the facility, they could directly connect to the education server via the Arasaka intranet without needing a learning pod or learning chip.
This ensured all teaching materials were up-to-date. And thanks to Mercer's "advanced trainee" status, he could even request an AI teacher.
As long as the education server had enough computing power, he could have a dedicated AI instructor for online lessons.
So why wait?
If he wanted to get all these kids out of here... that carefree, almost game-like mindset from before just wouldn't cut it.
After all, there was no reload option here.
[You have launched Arasaka LearnNet V7.21]
[You have requested AI instruction. Connecting to server... Your request has been approved. Please select your study program and estimate the duration.]
[You have applied for Netrunning(Advanced). Estimated duration: one hour.]
[You have applied for Technical Engineering (Beginner). Estimated duration: one hour.]
[You have applied for Cyberware Repair and Surgery (Beginner)...]
Rubbing his throbbing temples, Mercer resolutely activated the BD. As a blinding white light flashed, his consciousness plunged into Cyberspace.
Damn it, let's do this!