Chapter 32 – Strange Game (6)
“Go~!! Destroy the Nether G.o.d!!”
Due to the hero’s metamorphosis, the final stage was rather easy compared to the 23rd and 24th stage. Having obtained an enormous power boost, the hero was able to fight toe-to-toe with the Nether G.o.d and had begun to push him back; the completely transfixed players shouted at the top of their lungs and excitedly cheered me on. In the end… The Nether G.o.d was forced to its knee by the hero’s sword…
“Uwahhhhhh~!! It’s finished~!! It’s finally the end!!”
“Phew…so it’s finished…”
As expected, my hands were sweating and, after it was over, my body felt as though all the energy had been sucked dry. On the giant projector, cutscenes depicted Katrina’s funeral ceremony as a lovely musical soundtrack played out. Rivers of indignant tears streamed out of the players who had witnessed her funeral.
Everyone was touched by the tragic ending of Katrina’s sacrifice and vigorously applauded.
“That was an excellent game. It’s truly an incredible story… It’s almost as if I was watching a scene out of a movie…”
Mr. Shige was also clapping with a heartfelt expression. Yuki was exclaiming out of astonishment, and Junpei was beaming with a satisfied grin on his face.
And… As this story came to an end, one message appeared.
–h.e.l.lo. Thank you for enjoying Dragon Emblem. I’m a Korean developer that enjoys playing Family games. Dragon Emblem is a game that I developed by myself for one year.–
“He made Dragon Emblem alone!?”
The auditorium bustled in shock after this message popped up. The common conception was that this game was made by a j.a.panese company, but to think that this was made internationally… The people gathered in the auditorium each showed different reactions.
–This is a brand new genre called a simulation RPG that I introduced to you all. First, I want to sincerely apologize to every player for the lack of courtesy I’ve shown in exchange to make Dragon Emblem’s release an epic one. But to anyone viewing this message, you should’ve felt a level of immersion and realism that wouldn’t have been found in any other game. As a form of reimburs.e.m.e.nt, it’ll be possible to use this game’s GAME OVER file as an additional boost for the sequel. Please take good care of this cartridge and enjoy the continuation of this story. Thank you–
“Wow…as expected, there’s a sequel!! Woahh!!”
To think that I would be the first one to open the message that I’ve written… With a slight grin, I put down the gaming device. Just then, Mr.Junpei who had been watching the audience for a while now came up to me and asked, “Excuse me…Mr. Kang? By any chance, are you willing to hand this Dragon Emblem’s cartridge to our FamiTong magazine? We can compensate you with 100,000 yen.”
Suddenly, one person in the auditorium shouted.
“Sell it to me!! I’ll give you 120,000!!”
“No!! I’ll take it!! I’ll pay 150,000~!!!”
Hoh..what is this, a live auction? Look around at the overflowing amount of bids in my surroundings, I had an expression of thorough befuddlement.
Amongst the players of Dragon Emblem, the majority of them were adults in their 20-30s. Due to the players having a certain amount of economical power, the price had instantly reached 300,000 yen.
“Um… just a minute, please.”
As I calmed them down, the players who shouted a price looked towards me with a gaze full of hope.
“I am an employee of Mintendo. It would not be right for me to pa.s.s on this game by inducing an auction. I’ve spent a great time with you all in this event sponsored by FamiTong. As for this cleared cartridge of Dragon Emblem, I will pa.s.s it on to Miss Yuki who unfortunately couldn’t make it through at the very end.”
“Me?”
Yuki who had been beside me, opened her eyes wide in response to my statement. With a slight smile, I took out the game cartridge from the Family and handed it to her.
“Take it. Miss Yuki, you have more than enough qualifications to receive this.”
“Ah.. I don’t know if I should …”
“Please take good care of it, since there seems to be a sequel later on…”
“Thank you…”
After Miss Yuki lowered her head and thanked me, she came back up with a bright smile. As I stabbed Junpei in his sides who was watching with a soul-stolen expression, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d was startled and clumsily continued to coordinate the event.
“N-Now we will end the Dragon Emblem bee hive event here. We promise to record Mr. Kang’s strategy down to the smallest detail and publish it in FamiTong’s next monthly edition so everyone will have the chance to clear it. This is your host, Ishimoto Junpei, signing out. Thank you~!!”
FamiTong’s sponsored event ended like this with the thunderous applause of the players. Although I gave my cleared copy of Dragon Emblem to Yuki, there was not a single person who complained. This went to show her excellence as a gamer… Well, her beauty also contributed too…
“Excuse me…”
Walking on the way back from the event along with Mr. Shige, I was stopped by Yuki who had called me out from behind. She handed a small piece of memo and nervously opened her mouth.
“This… is my contact information, if it’s alright with you, please contact me… Then, excuse me~!!!”
She ran off with a reddened face as if she was embarra.s.sed. As I was watching her fading figure, Mr. Shige tapped my shoulders and spoke.
“You’ve really done it today, haven’t you~ Mr. Kang Junhyuk? Kekeke…”
“Please don’t tease me, Mr. Shige…”
“A girl with her looks who’s also a fan of video games? Go for it man~ Where can you find a girl like that in this day and age~”
“Haha… I don’t know about that…”
“But, it’s incredible, truly incredible. Dragon Emblem… How could those options be given to the players? And to be able to design all the levels by himself… “
“I know, right… It was also a tremendous shock for me at Stage 24.”
“Today, I’ve touched upon a new world of possibilities for video games. To think there was a crouching tiger like that hiding in Korea, it’s an eye opener as well…”
He’s right next to you… I forcibly suppressed my laughter and heartily pounded Mr. Shige’s back.
“Should we eat ramen before we go?”
“Are you buying?”
“Ah~ My workplace superior is being stingy as…”
“How much of a discrepancy between our salary there is, Director Kang~!!”
“Alright, I’ll buy.”
“Also buy mweeh a gyoza(fried dumplings)~~~”
“Hah~ you really…”
&
-The Aggressive a.s.sault on Dragon Emblem!! Now, you can also clear the game!!!~
The FamiTong magazine who had holstered my gameplay data on their back started a ma.s.sive advertising campaign and managed to sell a tremendous number of copies.
Especially Junpei, who had given Dragon Emblem a 40/40 perfect score, further went on to lament that the highest score of 40 was an understatement to a game as great as that; the effect of his comments were huge as well.
That’s right. With more players being able to clear the game, the sales will definitely rise.
Making money was good, but if the black market price is too high, the game would not reach a larger audience. I’ll have to prepare my next move…
I stopped in front of an alleyway of Akihabara on my way to work in Tokyo, and after briefly looking around, I stepped inside Chandra’s workshop.
(TN1: Akihabara is a district in j.a.pan)
“Kang~ Kang~ Kang is here.”
“Oh~ It’s a Kang. We are work very hard. We… are want reward. Want much many.”
After not visiting Chandra’s workshop for quite a while, Chandra’s buddies turned their heads toward me and greeted me. Even though they weren’t proficient in j.a.panese, they were still able to wear a good-natured smile on their faces.
Wasn’t India a va.s.sal state of England? They could’ve just spoken English instead…
(TN2: Remember, Kang was able to instantly master English and j.a.panese with his Game & Watch)
What’s their reason for being stubborn with trying to speak j.a.panese?
Are they trying to be a Roman if they came Rome?
Well, it would be helpful to frequently speak j.a.panese if they’re going to stay in j.a.pan in the long run…
“Alright, alright. But where is Chandra?”
“Chandra goes out to eat. j.a.pan rice is delicious. Mixing curry with it, it’s the best.”
Mmm… Curry rice is great. I’m also hungry, should I head out to eat?
“Where’s the restaurant?”
“It’s the Mega Curry right in front of us. They have a ton of amount. It is very full. But I eat two bowls~ haha”
Pumala, an Indian who was twice the size of an average person, lifted his thumbs up with a friendly smile. His name very much reminds me of a dwarf though…
I awkwardly smiled and nodded my head, and headed towards the curry house where Chandra was having his meal.
As I stepped inside the store, my olfactory senses were greeted with a full-blown spicy aroma which was enough to trigger my appet.i.te. At that moment, Chandra who was sitting at the corner of the restaurant discovered me and waved both his hands.
I always felt maladroit looking at the sparkling eyes and the chiseled nose unique to Indians.
“Kang Junhyuk came~!!”
Chandra’s j.a.panese was a bit better compared to his other Indian friends.”
“Chandra, it’s been awhile~”
“We worked hard… We made a ton like Junhyuk said. Dragon Em…”
“Shhh!! Shh!!”
As I put my fingers on my lips, Chandra quickly covered his mouth with both his hands and made an eye-grin.
“h.e.l.lo, may I take your order?”
“I’ll have the mega curry, please.”
“Hai~ one order of a regular mega curry~”
In response to the breezy voice of the restaurant boss, the chef in the kitchen loudly said, “Yes~ One regular mega curry coming up~!!”
“Kang Junhyuk, what happened today? Did you come to eat curry? Curry here is good. Chandra likes it.”
(TN3: Chandra switches between referring to himself with his name and using “I”)
“Do you think I came here to eat curry? I came here to see you.”
“To see Chandra? Chandra is working well though? Chandra and his friends are making 200 copies everyday.”
“Mn… Now you only need to make 30 a day.”
“Th…Thirty? That is too little. Then does Kang Junhyuk not need us anymore? Are you throwing us away like the other j.a.panese people?”
“Why would I throw you away… Instead, I’d like you to make something else for me.”
“Then it’s a relief. The curry got delicious again~ But what else do you want to make? I have fun working with Junhyuk. I turn into a secret agent feeling.”
“Let’s make an expansion pack.”
“Expansion pack… Mmm… What is that?”
Okay, I will draw for you again, draw for you I will… My drawing skills are truly growing day by day after drawing everything that could not be described with words in j.a.pan~
I casually drew a s.p.a.ce that would fit the Dragon Emblem cartridge and drew a cartridge that would fit the Family below that.”
“Dragon Emblem would be plugged inside this device, and that would be plugged inside the Family hole. Add a game data recovery system in this expansion cartridge pack.”
The current price for Dragon Emblem was over 20,000 Yen. The price was the single-most detrimental disadvantage in that it couldn’t be brought to more players. But the strategy guide to clearing it had been published in FamiTong, and the game would easily be beatable with the guide in hand. This was the conclusion that I’ve come to after much contemplation.