Chapter 71: Bartender Gil

Compared to other cities, the night in Night City seems to always arrive a bit earlier.

At least, that is what Gil thinks.

Waking up, casually eating some cheap boxed lunch to make do, opening the phone, browsing various forums, and teasing the little cat Fore—it seemed like just a blink of an eye, and the night curtain had quietly descended over the sky again.

Gil does not like the night.

There is no other reason; it is simply because she hates working the night shift.

As a youthful and beautiful (older) young lady, staying up late is the number one enemy of maintaining one's beauty!

She has had enough of waking up, looking in the mirror, and seeing her own pale face and oily complexion.

Exhaustion and a dull aura seemed about to overflow from deep within her body; if this continued, Gil felt she might age prematurely into an unwanted old hag.

Unfortunately, things never go as one wishes.

Rent is due at the end of this month; if she does not work hard, then she will have to sleep on the streets with the little cat.

Gil sighed, flopped down onto the relatively clean tatami, tucked her legs into the kotatsu, and the warm feeling flowed from the soles of her feet all the way to her heart, making one involuntarily want to lazily drift off to sleep.

In order to continue living in this four-and-a-half-mat small room, she had to force herself to work hard and rush about tirelessly during the night she hated most.

Why had she rejected the Corpo offer back then, and after experiencing a full three years of various trivial troubles, run off alone to Night City to struggle?

Gil stroked the cat quietly lying beside her; that soft touch could always make her forget all her worries.

"Fore, do you think I am particularly stupid? Half a month ago, I should have chosen Glitch City instead of Night City; what was I greedy for in a big city... Now I am reaping the consequences!" She sat up, easily lifted the entire lazy black cat into her arms, pressed her face against its fluffy belly, and murmured softly.

"Haha, Gil is indeed a fool!" The cat turned its head, lazily yawned, looked at its master, and a hint of disdain revealed itself in its clear vertical pupils.

"Say that again! It seems I must punish you severely today!" Gil said through gritted teeth, rubbing her cheeks vigorously against Fore a few times.

The black cat Fore let out a few small meows, too lazy to pay attention to its litter-box-shoveling owner who had gone mad again.

Cats certainly cannot speak; just now, Gil had merely been amusing herself with ventriloquism.

She always went to learn some completely useless little tricks; perhaps it was due to being too lonely.

"'Tis some visitor," I

(I murmured softly: "A visitor comes at night, gently tapping")

muttered, "tapping at my chamber door--Only this,"

my door, nothing else, no other

and nothing more'..."

thing."

"Quoth the raven, 'Nevermore.'"

(The raven answered: "This is the end.")

She recited her favorite old poem to her only little cat. (Note 1)

"Meow~" Fore wriggled its body, unwilling to listen to the mistress's light chanting, struggled to wriggle out of Gil's embrace, and, as if to express anger, aimed its little butt at her.

Gil laughed softly; cats are always like this, unintentionally stitching up the cracks in the soul for a moment.

It seems there are no cats in Night City.

Gil has been in Night City for half a month; apart from the little Fore she brought with her, she has not seen any other such fluffy cute faces.

"Fore, do you feel lonely?"

She poked the black cat's butt gently with her index finger, making it spin around in place.

"Meow? Meow meow meow!"

"Stupid kitty..." Gil looked at the somewhat dizzy Fore and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

She glanced at the time displayed on the phone screen; there was still some free time, enough for her to put on makeup and change clothes.

Gil took out her small portable mirror, placed it on the kotatsu, and simply applied light makeup.

The house was too small; even a vanity table could not fit.

She slowly applied lipstick while looking in the mirror, letting her mind wander.

"This looks not bad." She muttered softly, looking at the mature and coldly beautiful long-haired woman in the mirror, and nodded in satisfaction.

Next came the clothes.

Just make do casually; anyway, she has to wear a uniform at the shop.

While putting on stockings, Gil silently repeated the familiar routine in her heart.

Underwear like stockings still has to be brought by oneself; who knows what the unseen boss might do to her intimate clothing.

For hygiene and safety, she had to waste her meager wages on these things.

So annoying...

Gil adjusted the hem of the black sweater on her body, took her only thick coat from the hanger, and draped it over herself.

In the small round mirror, the mature woman with purple-black long hair wore a bright red down leather jacket with a bit of snow-white fur at the collar, while the inside was all black—a black sweater, a black long skirt, and black stockings.

It could be considered a passable combination chosen from the few options available.

Gil glanced at herself in the mirror and nodded gently.

The clock hanging on the wall chimed on time; it was time to go to work.

"I am going to work; don't miss me too much..." She held the little cat's cute paw pad and waved gently.

"I won't miss you, stupid human!" Gil spoke to herself using ventriloquism, as if the black cat could truly speak human language, with a stubborn mouth yet reluctantly watching her leave all the way.

It was merely her simple fantasy.

But since life is already so difficult, it should be fine to indulge in a little daydreaming.

Gil half-heartedly comforted herself, took a pack of cigarettes, an ID card, and the door key from the table, walked to the door, stepped into high heels, waved goodbye to the tsundere Fore one last time, and then gently closed the door.

"It's so cold..." Leaving the small warm room of the kotatsu, the ruthless cold of Night City mixed with the pitch-black night surrounded her completely.

Gil shivered, muttered a low word, and exhaled a circle of faint white mist.

She shoved the cigarette and keys into her coat pocket in one motion, opened her ID, glanced at it, and then tucked it into her pocket as well.

She liked to repeatedly confirm things that were already clear and certain, as if showing symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Of course, Gil was mentally and physically sound; this was merely another one of her little quirks.

She had just been flipping through that Bartender License, or more accurately, looking at the headshot photo taken back then.

Yes, that's right. Bartender.

That was her job.

In the evening at the bar, as a bartender, mixing various alcoholic drinks according to customers' requests.

The bar's name was quite strange—"VA-11HALL-A"; she preferred to call it "Valhalla," which better satisfied the small bit of chuunibyo in her heart.

Come on, this is the Hall of the Slain, Valhalla! Isn't that super cool?

Gil would only dare say such things in her heart or to her cat; it was too stupid and would make her look like a childish brat.

Gil reflected on herself as her high heels tapped lightly step by step on the ground, the crisp, powerful footsteps echoing rhythmically in the night, as if she were truly the Valkyrie setting out, accompanied by wild winds and a grand momentum.

Well, she was just a childish person.

Gil mocked herself, stopping at the traffic light, looking up at the vast, boundless starry sky, and igniting a faint flame that illuminated her eyes, which held the deep, rich hue of red wine.

Appendix 1: The English excerpt is from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven"; the Chinese part is my own free translation. I recommend everyone to read it if they have time—a short poem, a story of someone who lost their beloved and sank into despair, full of flavor. It relates to Jill in this chapter, the protagonist of "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" (Barista Action), but I won't spoil specifics. Friends interested in the Cyberpunk style can buy and play it; the game takes about six hours, has six endings, and features a very interesting plot with rave reviews on Steam.