Chapter 101: Pilgrims...
- Junpei's Workplace, Famicon Communication Editing Room -
As I wrapped up all the routes in Otani Setsuna's scenario in the early hours of the morning, I gazed at the dawning sun with a sense of disappointment.
I couldn't grasp how to write a review for this game.
It had been a week since the game was released, and during that time, I scoured every route, searching for a happy ending, but no matter what I did, this game had no happy endings to offer.
I had pinned my hopes on the remaining 5% of event completion and had transferred my data to start the game anew. I had done this just yesterday evening, and the result I obtained could hardly be called a happy ending.
Instead, it left me with an indescribable and profound sense of emotion.
"A letter..."
After transferring the data, an event titled "Write a Letter" appeared when the protagonist received a life sentence, and he began preparing for the end by expressing his feelings in letters, reflecting on the emotions he experienced at various locations.
The Setsuna in the scenario I played was a mature woman, different from the likes of Miyuki and Nanase's scenarios. She faced reality head-on and accepted it with composure.
"You know, Kang Junhyuk, people eventually die. So let's not be too sad. Let's think of it as a separation that came a little earlier than for others."
Even in the face of the protagonist's death, she remained composed.
Setsuna comforted Miyuki and Nanase, who appeared as sub-characters in her scenario, and never revealed her own grief.
So, I thought she was fine.
But that wasn't the case.
"As expected, I still miss him so much..." -
Despite some audio quality degradation, Setsuna's voice from the speaker left me in shock, freezing my entire body.
"Who on earth planned this game?"
Despite my growing curiosity, I couldn't get any information about the scenario writer, "K," from Morita, the one in charge of illustrations. I even tried to corner a Pentagon staff member I was somewhat friendly with, but I was met with silence. The game, "The Empty Streets," developed by Team 2, was shrouded in mystery.
Morita herself was unaware of the voice recording until it reached the cartridge production stage.
"Who could it be? Who came up with such an incredible scenario?"
&
For several days, the calls from readers inquiring about another strategy route that had been sweeping the editing department stopped coming.
By now, everyone must have realized.
There was no way to escape from this game from the beginning.
If that were the case, they wouldn't have forgotten to mention not to delete the save files to preserve memories.
It was a well-planned and executed move from the start.
But did that lead to something? A few days after the game's release, significant events began to unfold.
Among them, there was one story that was particularly hard to digest:
One day, an illustration submitted by a reader named Uchimura Hiroki had arrived at the editing department.
It was a story from Uchimura, who had set up a shrine in his room on the day he finished Miyuki's scenario to honor the death of a game character.
He had set up the shrine to commemorate the death of the game character. What a bizarre thing to do.
"Is this person serious? It's like they're taking it to the next level."
"Can we publish this in the magazine? It might cause problems."
"Junpei, there's a potential issue here, isn't there?"
"Junpei, it seems like there's a lot of potential for a big hit here if there's a problem. I'll take responsibility, so let's feature all the reader submissions related to 'The Empty Streets' in a dedicated column!"
"Really?"
It was a groundbreaking proposal, never before attempted for a new game title.
However, the title currently carrying Super Family's load was not "Super Mariji World," the representative game of Mintendo. Although it was produced as three cartridges for each character, the initial quantity prepared was only 3,500 titles. They sold out in an instant at the event, and now those who couldn't buy them were scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The titles sent to the editing department were also delivered only one for each heroine. There were over ten employees requesting strategies for this game.
Of course, there were selection rights for picking them out, so I chose Otani Setsuna's scenario out of the three titles.
When I volunteered to write a review, some members of the game strategy team looked at me with resentment, but I completely ignored those glances. Even if I wanted to buy it, there were no copies available in the market. It was a miracle that I could play it like this.
"If only I could've handled the Pentagon event instead of the Super Family event and asked the person in charge to save a copy... "
Currently, the buyback price at second-hand shops for "The Empty Streets" was 13,000 yen per cartridge. The selling price was 18,000 yen. But they were all sold out. It was a really frustrating situation.
When the limited edition price was announced at 22,000 yen, some people laughed and said, "Who would buy a game at that price?" But those people were regretting it now.
The current price of the limited edition, produced in a quantity of only 500, was approximately 100,000 yen. And still, there was no one selling it, thanks to the incredible bonus track on the soundtrack.
Why, you ask? Because the bonus track on the 2-disc soundtrack was simply astounding.
In this bonus track, the final lines of the three heroines were included in "full voice."
Gamers who had played the game to the end treated this limited edition as a "sacred relic."
That's why the price had risen so high, and yet, there was no one selling it.
In the end, as our editor-in-chief suggested, our magazine, Famicon Communication, took charge of a special feature on "The Empty Streets."
I was about to leave the meeting and return to the editing department, but the editor-in-chief called me.
"Hey, Junpei-kun."
"Yes?"
"Come over here for a moment."
"Is there something you'd like to talk about separately?"
"This time, with 'The Empty Streets,' I heard that it seems to have been created based on actual Tokyo locations. Reader stories suggest that some of the streets resemble our neighborhood."
"Even though it's a virtual Tokyo, I also thought that some places looked similar."
"Your thoughts are in line with mine, right? So, here's what I'm thinking. How about we put together a special feature on these locations in the game?"
"Are you suggesting we visit the places drawn in the game graphics and compare them to the real thing?"
"Exactly. Kang Junhyuk, you've already finished your review for this game. Do you have any other plans?"
"Well... I was planning to review Super Mariji World."
"Anyone can do that. If you take a camera and go around taking pictures, especially in places like Ueno Park and Tokyo Tower, it'll be easy."
"Hmm..."
Visiting the game locations in person... it sounded interesting, didn't it?
I chuckled and nodded in agreement with the editor-in-chief's suggestion.
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