"Got eggs? You do? Give me two jin!"
"Got chives? What do you mean you don't know what chives are—just… a kind of green vegetable."
"Pork tripe? Pork liver? Also no? How do you have nothing?!"
With New Year approaching, Kobayashi Tetsu circled the entire market and came back empty-handed.
In the end, all he could bring home were two measly jin of eggs.
He had wanted to make himself a traditional New Year's Eve dinner, but once he stood in the kitchen… he fell silent.
The open kitchen was spotless, the cookware still gleaming.
—Because they were basically unused. Neither he nor Kentarō ever cooked.
A wave of discouragement washed over Tetsu.
It really seemed he would be spending this New Year alone.
From his apartment's floor-to-ceiling windows, he looked down at the thin layer of snow. Tokyo didn't snow often, and today the streets were deserted.
He fell onto the sofa with a long, helpless sigh.
As New Year crept closer, a raw, hollow loneliness rose in his chest.
Lonely. And strangely empty.
Suddenly, Tetsu shot upright.
He needed to do something.
He decided—he would make a game.
A game to retaliate against society!
He rushed to the garage, kicked the computer awake, and racked his brain.
There was a certain genre of game—the infamous kuso game, meaning: terrible game, garbage game, absolute trash.
These games all shared one thing:
Players could feel the developer had truly tried hard, poured in effort, wanted to make something good…
But the game still turned out like dog crap.
Occasionally, of course, there were exceptions—games designed to be bad on purpose.
Like Takeshi's Challenge, created with Kitano Takeshi himself funding it and approving every bit of its misery.
Kuso games were so bad they ascended into a kind of artistic atrocity.
They became synonymous with extreme difficulty and absolute awfulness.
Take Ghosts 'n Goblins, for example—its difficulty alone earned it the kuso crown.
You get hit once, you're half-dead; twice, you're done. Enemies flood in endlessly like a tide. If you're not skilled, you simply can't play.
And now, Kobayashi Tetsu was about to make his own kuso game—his New Year's Eve revenge upon society.
The theme? Already decided.
A simple brick-breaker game—only with the difficulty cranked up until players were trapped in agony, finally screaming:
"I'm done with your garbage company!"
To be safe, Tetsu planned to put Nakayuji's name in the credits as the producer.
If someone had to be hunted down by furious players…
Well, Tetsu could only bow his head in sympathy.
Those pork cutlet bowls at Old Dixie were not eaten for nothing!
Just as the computer's fan was whirring at full blast, Tetsu's ears caught something.
A bicycle rolling over thin snow.
A faint bell.
Brakes.
Something stopping right outside his garage.
He lifted his head toward the door.
And right on cue—the doorbell rang.
"Alright, players of Japan, you get a few minutes of mercy."
He paused his mission to punish humanity and went to open the door.
He lifted the garage gate—and outside stood a girl in a knitted sweater, rubbing her hands and blowing on them for warmth. Several food boxes hung from her bicycle's handlebars.
"Ah, Tetsu-kun."
Jezaki Nene bent forward politely. "Didn't expect you to actually be here. The shopkeeper said you ordered New Year's food. I happened to be free, so I delivered it myself."
"Oh."
Tetsu suddenly didn't know what to say, so he just took the boxes.
He had already paid in advance. At most he needed to give a small tip.
He patted his pockets—
Wallet.
Still sitting in the living room.
In an era without mobile payments, this was embarrassingly inconvenient.
Seeing him fumble awkwardly, Nene stepped back, put on her fluffy gloves, and asked:
"Speaking of which… It's almost New Year. Aren't you going home, Tetsu-kun?"
"Go home where? I live here."
For some reason, Tetsu felt she suddenly looked at him with a hint of pity—though he had no idea what she pitied.
"Sorry, my wallet isn't on me. Wait here, I'll go get—"
But the bicycle bell rang sharply.
Tetsu turned in surprise—Nene was already on her bike.
"Tetsu-kun, Happy New Year."
"…What?"
"I said—Happy New Year!"
She smiled, warm as a bowl of soup.
"When you came out just now, you looked like a lost little puppy wandering around without a place to go. So don't look so gloomy. Happy New Year!"
She waved, pedaled away, and vanished around the corner within a few breaths.
"…Sigh."
Tetsu scratched his face.
"It's not like I live in the garage… though yeah, New Year is a bit lonely."
He closed the garage and returned to the kitchen to heat up his food—rare chance to use the pristine stove.
Still better than instant noodles.
Inside the boxes were perfectly intact desserts and dishes.
The soup was sealed so neatly not a drop had spilled.
There was also a complimentary bowl of soba, ingredients arranged carefully. A handwritten note from the shopkeeper lay on top:
"End the year with a bowl of soba; let it wash away all misfortune."
Tetsu stared at the food, dazed.
Then, finally, he sighed.
The players of Japan had no idea how lucky they were.
His plan for societal revenge was temporarily canceled.
He would make the kuso game later—when he was in a better mood.
…
And so, Kobayashi Tetsu spent New Year's Eve alone in his quiet luxury apartment, eating and watching the 1983 Red and White Song Festival.
He stayed awake until the New Year's bell rang before finally going to sleep.
They said the bell washed away the "six desires," "three emotions," "two roots," and "three karmas"…
But to Tetsu, it was just a bell.
The next morning, however, he woke feeling unexpectedly refreshed.
Of course, he didn't think it was the bell—rather, it was because:
Duck Hunt was launching today, alongside the SG-2000!
New Year in Japan still involved visiting relatives, so Sega deliberately chose this date to release the SG-2000—making it a perfect New Year's gift.
After washing up, eating breakfast, and tidying himself until he looked like an upstanding citizen, Tetsu rode his bicycle toward Shimayori Game Shop.
All the while, he thought:
Winter in Japan is colder than I expected… I should've bought gloves!
Please Support me by becoming my patreon member and get 15+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon