The game that was supposed to launch in May had suddenly appeared on the market!
Rumor had it that plenty of people had already played it!
Jörmungandr was real—Earth was about to be devoured!
Those who picked up the cartridges were said to be "chosen children," and once their synchronization rate reached one hundred percent, they could save the world!
Strange tales spread like wildfire. And just at that moment, a newspaper published an announcement:
Statement from Atlus Studio:
Our company has recently lost an important batch of items—game cartridges. This matter is of great significance. We ask that anyone who has picked up a cartridge return it immediately. Atlus will offer a generous reward! For details, call 1XX-XXXX.
It was a big enough deal that anyone who saw the GG logo immediately thought—
Atlus? Who?
Well, video games were still a niche field, and most people didn't know much about the industry. But among gamers, the incident left a deep impression.
So there really were leaked cartridges!
That only made people more frantic.
Everyone began whispering and hunting down their friends, their buddies…
What if someone they knew had picked up one of the leaked copies?!
Meanwhile, inside Nintendo's main conference room—
Four cartridges had been picked up by four different players. But once rumors spread, Nintendo managed to buy the fifth cartridge from the player who found it.
No one else knew the fifth existed—only Nintendo.
A console sat on the conference table. Shigeru Miyamoto tested the game himself.
The difficulty was high. Without a manual to explain the controls, even he died several times.
He put the controller down and looked at the others.
Most sat with lowered eyes, silent in typical Japanese office fashion.
Only Gunpei Yokoi sat with his chin propped up, deep in thought.
President Hiroshi Yamauchi tapped the table.
"Everyone, speak your minds. Surely you have some opinions!"
Seeing no one answer, Miyamoto stood up.
"President, if I may. Judging by its quality, it matches the scale of SEGA—or rather, Atlus Studio's—recent massive promotions. The game is excellent. And they even implemented this new technology… earlier than Namco. Namco's game won't release until October. Atlus is ahead by five months."
"And now with this leak… we don't yet know how many cartridges escaped. If it's only a few, then with this reputation and quality, they'll gain a strong early advantage. Namco may suffer."
Yamauchi frowned. "Don't mention that. Talk about the game itself."
"It's very good," Miyamoto said simply. "All the essential elements are there. I need more time to dig deeper, but the controls feel excellent. For a space shooter, good control is everything. With the earlier large-scale promotions, sales will not be poor."
Yamauchi nodded and looked at the others.
They all spoke in turns, but their comments were unfocused—not the answers Yamauchi wanted.
At length, Gunpei Yokoi finally spoke.
"I feel something is strange about this leak. Not long ago, SEGA contacted us to report pirate cartridge vendors, and we cooperated in a large-scale sweep. And now, suddenly, leaked cartridges appear? I suspect these events are connected somehow. I suggest urging Namco to accelerate development—bring their schedule up to July. Or we can speed up our own first-party title to launch in May as a counterattack."
After he finished, he sat down.
Yamauchi finally heard what he wanted. He nodded.
"Well said. However—there is no need! A counterattack? Unnecessary. Nintendo speaks with quality. Even if their quality is high, we have nothing to fear!"
"It is other companies who should chase Nintendo—not Nintendo chasing them!"
"If we panic and scramble just because of one leaked game, Nintendo would lose its right to stand!"
"No adjustments to development schedules! Release everything as originally planned."
"The priority now is to strengthen our first-party lineup, negotiate more third-party titles, and advance into America! Atari is already finished. The U.S. will be fertile ground for our expansion!"
All the executives echoed their agreement.
After everyone else left, Yamauchi called out:
"Shigeru."
"Yes, sir."
"Find a way to contact Atlus Studio. I hear they're fully owned by SEGA? Doesn't matter. Money can solve anything. Bring them over to us. Whatever SEGA offers, Nintendo can match. We won't treat them poorly."
…
…
Inside the garage of Atlus Studio—
Naka Yuji, Masuko Tsukasa, and Kitagawa Takeshi all looked toward the far side of the room.
Kobayashi Tetsu was relaxing with the girls, playing Love Cottage. Kobayashi operated the console, while Kozakura played and Erisaki Nene watched from behind.
Naka folded his arms and clicked his tongue.
"This is a very… distorted kind of love."
Masuko said, "No, this is just you being jealous."
Kitagawa said nothing.
A veteran office worker knew better than to comment on his boss's private life. He got paid the same either way—why interfere?
Kobayashi didn't care what they thought.
The game was already finished. He was in his rest-and-recharge phase. Everything that needed doing was done. The rest was up to the market.
Love Cottage was a platformer, finely tuned under Hudson's adjustments. Kobayashi moved his little bun-shaped character around the screen, dodging enemies. Kozakura murmured shyly:
"Tetsu-kun, did you hear? The new Atlus game—the one with the anime—they say lots of people are already playing the Jörmungandr game."
"All lies," Kobayashi said. "Have you personally played a Jörmungandr cartridge?"
Kozakura shook her head.
Well, no.
But from all the rumors… it sounded amazing!
Nene, who had been quietly sitting behind them, finally spoke.
"Speaking of that, I really did see the newspaper notice. Atlus said they lost some cartridges and asked players to return them for a reward. It sounded quite serious."
Kobayashi nodded.
Not that serious, though. Everyone at Atlus was right here laughing and playing games.
He was about to answer when the garage phone rang.
Kobayashi paused the game and waited two seconds before picking up.
A tense voice came through.
"Um, my name is Iwasaki Isao… A-Are you Atlus Studio? I… I picked up a cartridge. Should I return it?"
Kobayashi hissed softly.
So there was someone honest enough to call?
But he quickly shook his head.
Honesty was a rare virtue. Even if it was a little foolish.
His mind spun quickly. After a moment, he said calmly:
"Yes, you've reached the right place. If you're willing to return it, that would be wonderful. Let's arrange a time and place to meet. Don't worry—we'll give you a very generous reward."
But Iwasaki's voice broke with emotion.
"I don't want a reward!! I just want to know—what's after the first boss?!"
Because every time his cartridge reached the end of stage one…
It crashed.
He hadn't even seen the stage boss!
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