It appears that the Aferlife Bar in Cyberpunk 2077 may have once been a functioning morgue, which explains the iconic name and the legendary drinks.
Part of the appeal of Cyberpunk 2077 is the futuristic and colorful world that players can explore. With realistic graphics, a host of locations to explore and people to meet it’s looking to be a deep and complex place to get lost in.
As players are starting to find out, the attention to detail in this game is everywhere. In addition to the realistic and colorful characters the locations themselves have a story and lore for the player to encounter. As coldfir3 on Reddit points out, the Afterlife Bar has an interesting story of its own that gives a lot of context to its present state.
By looking at the back wall of a section of the bar players can see rows of coolers where the bodies were once kept. This gives an entirely new meaning to the bar’s name Afterlife as the decommissioned morgue now serves as a place of business for living patrons.
It also fits that the bar is known to serve drinks named after deceased celebrities. The names for each of the section of the bar; The Antechamber, The Crypt, and Hades also fit in with the overall theme and original function of the space.
What isn’t clear, and is creating some speculation among the fanbase, is whether or not those spaces are still in use. From a practical standpoint they could be used to keep drinks and other items cool. But some fans are wondering if actual bodies are ever stored there.
Considering how seedy and dangerous the bar is, it is entirely possible that Solos are using the space for its original purpose. A Solo comes in with a body from a recent bounty hunting mission and has somewhere to keep it from decomposing while they get a drink. A less morbid alternative could see it working as a safehouse of sorts, with people paying to hide in one of the spaces until the heat dies down on them. Or, they could simply be empty, and serve as thematic decoration.
Whatever the case may be, it shows that the developers of Cyberpunk 2077 have built an intriguing world with lore aplenty. Odds are players are going to spend several years uncovering all the little secrets and easter eggs this intricate world has to offer.