Game Market 1983

Chapter 32

Chapter 32 – Strange Game (6)

“Go~!! Destroy the Nether god!!”

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 God 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 God 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 .

–Hello . 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 Japanese 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 reimbursement, 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 pass 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 pass 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 bastard 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 embarrassed . 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 Assault on Dragon Emblem!! Now, you can also clear the game!!!~

The FamiTong magazine who had holstered my gameplay data on their back started a massive 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 Japan)

“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 Japanese, they were still able to wear a good-natured smile on their faces .

Wasn’t India a vassal state of England? They could’ve just spoken English instead…

(TN2: Remember, Kang was able to instantly master English and Japanese with his Game & Watch)

What’s their reason for being stubborn with trying to speak Japanese?

Are they trying to be a Roman if they came Rome?

Well, it would be helpful to frequently speak Japanese if they’re going to stay in Japan in the long run…

“Alright, alright . But where is Chandra?”

“Chandra goes out to eat . Japan 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 appetite . 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 Japanese 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 .

“Hello, 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 Japanese 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 Japan~

I casually drew a space 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 .