I sipped my cold coffee, scanning through the increasingly noisy chat room.
"Wow... this guy and his songs. Quite polite, though."
At a time when awareness of spoilers was weak, discussions about the science lab mentioned in a song made the chat room lively.
Then, the one known for cutting off discussions, No-Song, spoke again.
"I have a schedule tomorrow morning, so I should leave now. But for those who have 'Valentine's Day,' try playing it with your own strength. It's not a huge emotional ending like 'The Empty Streets,' but there's a shocking twist."
"Ugh!! Saying that makes me even more curious." However, No-Song left the chat room after those words.
Remaining users in the chat speculated about the science lab, with most suggesting a spooky ghost hiding.
Then, a user with a detective-like deduction began.
"Come to think of it, wasn't the science lab locked even before Valentine's Day in the game?"
"Oh? Really? I haven't been in the lab before, so I don't know..."
"Yes. If you try to enter the lab before Valentine's Day, there was a fire accident a few days ago, so you couldn't get in."
"A fire accident?"
"Come to think of it, wasn't there a line in the promotional video like 'I like you. So, die with me...'?
'What's going on? Why is everyone like this? Are we revealing the ending without even clearing the game?'
Seeing the conversation taking a strange turn, I quickly tapped on the keyboard.
"Hey, here, there are people who haven't cleared the game yet or haven't even started. It seems like the discussion is too focused on the ending."
"Yes, I don't want to play while knowing the ending."
"Mr. K cut it off appropriately. Let's just enjoy it. If anyone wants to talk about the ending, create a separate chat room."
The community chat became noisy with opinions for and against, but users who didn't want to know the content in advance left the chat room, concluding today's conversation.
"Phew... managed to prevent spoilers from leaking. Well, in a few days, we'll know almost everything."
I gulped down the remaining coffee and exited the chat room.
If you've paid attention so far, you might have noticed that the protagonist of Valentine's Day is already a 'dead person.' Unaware that they have died, driven only by the desire to deliver a letter to their beloved child...
&
The next day.
Leaving the office building with employees for lunch, a familiar face greeted me in front of the company. It was my friend, Gunpei, always wearing a hat with a large camera hanging on his shoulder.
"Ah, if you were a little late, I might have missed you."
After telling Hayashi to go have lunch with the employees first, I found a separate place to sit with Gunpei.
"Why didn't you call me? What's up all of a sudden?"
"What's up with you, man? What's a game magazine reporter doing at a game company?"
"Coverage?"
"Forget that mysterious stuff and just reveal it now. It's been almost five months until the release. Isn't it time for the real thing to come out?"
Anyway, he's like a ghost. I chuckled at Gunpei's confident tone and spoke.
"So, did you come with a hunch to get an exclusive scoop or something?"
"Why? Hasn't it been released yet?"
"No, it has."
Then Gunpei flicked his finger and smiled.
"See? I knew it would be like that."
"I can show you, but don't write an article yet. There are still some parts to be fixed."
"Okay. As a former game magazine reporter turned gamer, I'm really curious about this Laon guy."
Gunpei, almost pouring rice like pouring it into a bowl, finished his meal and urged me, who was still eating.
"Are you counting each grain of rice? Hurry up and eat!!"
"Noisy!! Thanks to you, I might get indigestion!!"
In the end, leaving about half of the rice behind, I was dragged out by Gunpei and had to return to the company without even burning a post-lunch cigarette.
"Oh, boss, you're already here?"
"Aren't you having lunch, Ms. Sayuri?"
"I brought lunch, so I ate with the employees in the break room earlier."
Then Gunpei, poking my side, whispered to me.
"Who is that person with the perfect body? She's totally my type, isn't she?"
"Does a person with a perfect body like that really stay single?"
"...."
Gunpei looked disheartened.
Anyway, this guy has really high standards. Still charging at the demon with a stick every day, he still doesn't have a girlfriend...
When Sayuri laughed awkwardly as two men whispered to each other in front of her, Gunpei urged me, blushing.
"Sorry. I asked if Ms. Sayuri has a boyfriend..."
"Hey!! You!!"
"Oh~ I'm sorry. I have someone."
"Yes, of course. You must have someone. Excuse me."
Gunpei, looking embarrassed, urged me to leave.
A little later. Gunpei, who came into the second development room, shouted at me.
"Hey, what are you doing there? What will I become if you talk like that?"
"Why? Why are you asking such things over there?"
Then Gunpei couldn't say anything. I showed Gunpei the prototype model of Laon that I took out of the drawer.
"Huh? Really!?"
"Yeah. This is Laon's initial model."
"Is it this small in real life?"
Hmm? Is it small? It's not that small. The Laon in my hand is slightly larger than an adult's palm, I guess?
The basic design resembled Sony's portable device GSP, which I had seen in the future.
Although the screen size was much smaller, it...
Gunpei received Laon from me and then gripped it in both hands before speaking with a trembling voice.
"This feels really comfortable to hold, doesn't it? It's like snugly fitting into the palm..."
"I designed the bottom part with a curved treatment. Since it's a portable device, I paid attention to the grip. You might drop it, so it's better to wear the strap attached to the end around your wrist."
"Oh, I see. I was wondering why there was a strap on the game console."
Junpei slid the wrist strap attached outside onto his wrist and grasped Laon again.
Pressing buttons on the blank screen, Junpei admired the smooth, glossy black body of the device.
"For an initial model, the design is remarkably sleek. But coming from Mintendo, this portable Gameboy looks like a kid's toy... and it even has the same six buttons as the Super Family... Is this really a portable gaming console?"
"This works out perfectly. You know how to SPAR, right?"
"Of course."
In response to Junpei, I fetched another Laon from the drawer.
"Seriously? SPAR 2 is already out!?"
"No, it's still for testing. You can only choose three characters."
"Three characters? Where are they? I've been most curious about that. How Street Fire 2 would function on a handheld device..."
"What do you mean, 'how it would function'? It functions just the same."
Quietly chuckling to myself, I connected Junpei's device with the data cable.
Shortly after, on a sunny day against the backdrop of a towering building, the camera angle descended slowly to reveal two men on the street striking fighting poses.
As the blond man jabbed and shook his shoulders, delivering a powerful straight punch to his opponent, soon the words "STREET FIRE II" appeared within the small screen.
"Darn... It's exactly the same?"
As the data connection opened the VS mode, I pointed the cursor and pressed the Start button.
Brrra-brrra-brrra-brra-bam!!
Refreshing sound effects erupted from the stereo speakers on both sides of the device as the screen transitioned, presenting the player selection screen.
Although there were eight characters, the beta version displayed characters that couldn't be selected in grayscale. Currently, we could only choose from the protagonist Ryu, Kyle, and Jenkyef.
I couldn't select Ryu in this scenario. In the initial version of SPAR 2, choosing the same character was impossible...
Since Kyle was my main character anyway, I subtly grinned at Junpei and chose Kyle.
After character selection, the screen transitioned to a stage set in an air force base with a massive fighter jet.
"Wow... Kyle's stage. This is exactly like an arcade! It's beyond fascinating; it's downright impressive."
-ROUND 1 FIGHT-
As soon as it began, Junpei attempted Ryu's flying kick.
Easily maneuvering backward on the directional keys to block his attack, I seized the opportunity and advanced, dodging his leg.
Swiftly inputting a downward diagonal on the directional keys to block a low attack, I swiped upward to execute a somersault kick. Ryu, attempting a shockwave punch, got countered and staggered backward.
"You know what you're doing, huh?"
Quickly retreating his character, Junpei tried to counter with a shockwave punch.
Since Ryu's hurricane attacks varied in speed between weak and strong, it was tricky. Leaping around carelessly could easily lead to a defeat with a powerful dragon fist. So, cautious approach was essential.
"Your skills are better than I expected. But why did they replace the cross keys with round buttons for the directional pad?"
"Mintendo patented the cross keys, so other console companies couldn't use them."
"Oh, I see..."
I slightly leaped over the incoming hurricane kick from Ryu, attempting to close the distance. But at that moment of withdrawal from him...
Something strange happened.
Ryu, who had been standing fine, suddenly stumbled backward.
"What's going on all of a sudden!?"
"Looks like... the bug has been ported over too..."
Smiling inwardly, I cast 'Shadow Throw' again on the fallen Ryu. And again, Ryu staggered backward.
"Why's this happening!?"
"It's a Kyle bug, also known as Shadow Throw. You can use it at the game center too."
"Really? How do you do it?"
Kyle's Shadow Throw was a nasty bug; it allowed throwing the opponent wherever they were standing. The execution was simple: while standing, pressing the strong kick initiated a reverse spin kick, which actually took quite a long time...
During this reverse spin kick animation, pulling the lever backward and then within around 10 frames sliding it forward while pressing the strong punch made Kyle throw the opponent backward while they were far away.
I'd seen people turn off the machine or even throw chairs when this move was used in the arcade when I was younger...
"Hey!! Don't use bugs recklessly!!"
Already having taken considerable damage, Junpei couldn't just rely on defense to turn the tide. He began closing in.
And when he was almost upon me, Kyle struck a peculiar pose.
As Kyle, in the midst of initiating the reverse spin kick, suddenly halted, Ryu's attack didn't land.
"What's this?"
"The empty move. Haven't seen it before?"
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