Game Market 1983 Chapter 58

“Oh? Miss… Yuki.”

As I added ‘Miss’ in front of Yuki’s name, she crumpled her nose and frowned.

“I told you to just call me Yuki.”

“Sorry, I’m still getting used to calling you by your name. Anyways, I didn’t expect you to arrive so soon. It’s one hours before our appointment.”

“I came here early because I had a few things to buy, but I had no idea that you’d be here. Who are the people behind you anyways…?”

“Ah, these are my colleagues. Mr. Morita and Mr. Hayas.h.i.+.”

“h.e.l.lo, I’m Yuki Is.h.i.+kawa. Nice to meet you two!”

“Ah… that.. Urhm…”

Seeing Morita and Hayas.h.i.+’s response to a girl in front of them, it cleared show that they had zero experience in dating. I seriously questioned if I could develop a dating game with these two.

“I’m Morita s.h.i.+npei.”

“Hayas.h.i.+ Yosuke.”

“Please take care of me, Mr. Morita and Mr. Hayas.h.i.+~”

At the sight of the brightly smiling Yuki with her dancing eyes, Morita and Hayas.h.i.+ froze up on the spot.

“Since we’re all here, should we have dinner together even though it’s a bit early?”

“Woo~ I’m all up for it.”

“Us too? Aren’t you guys… urhm, whatchumacallit, on a date?”

I planned to meet up with Yuki since I was in Tokyo, but I didn’t think our meeting would unfold like this. But Yuki didn’t seem to mind, and having dinner with colleagues once in awhile wasn’t bad either…

“I wanted to buy you guys a meal before leaving to Kyoto tomorrow anyways. Yuki, are you okay with this?”

“Yes, I’m all for it.”

As we haven’t had a date in a while, Yuki who had put in extra care to wear an appealing red dress attracted the gazes of the pa.s.serby’s.

“Is there any good specialty restaurants around the s.h.i.+njuku area?”

Regarding specialty restaurants, it was better to ask her directly rather than eating at a random restaurant. In response, Yuki took out her notebook and started looking through her notes for the s.h.i.+njuku area.

“There are quite a few shops. What type of food do you guys prefer?”

Acting with cla.s.s, Yuki asked the question towards Morita and Hayas.h.i.+ first.  If she was only talking to me, they would feel discomfort so it was her way of making them feel comfortable.

“I… We’re fine with anything.”

“Mmm~ It’ll be for the best to tell me what kind of foods you like. Here, do you prefer traditional j.a.panese cuisine? Or maybe a Western cuisine?”

Hayas.h.i.+ responded by choosing from her two options.

“Then we’ll go with the j.a.panese…”

“Rice or noodles?”

This time, Morita replied.

“A rice dish would probably be better than noodles, since we’re eating dinner.”

“Alright. Mr. Junhyuk, would you prefer a traditional meal or a hot pot?”

“Mmm… hot pot.”
 

“Okay~ everyone follow me.”

She’s something else. Everyone should be satisfied... At that moment, Morita who was following behind me said. “I think I understand how this “dating simulation” will work.”

“R..Really?”

That’s a relief. Moments later, we followed Yuki into a shabu-shabu restaurant. She had navigated through the busy alley ways of s.h.i.+njuku to easily arrive at our location. The restaurant was located in an obscure location where I would be hardpressed to find even with a GPS, but Yuki managed to quickly find her way by referring to her notes and asking people for directions.

Even after sitting down in the restaurant, she sat next to me and started talking so Morita and Hayas.h.i.+ wouldn’t feel awkward.

“By the way~ the event ended, but you didn’t forget to give me a copy of Dragon Emblem, did you, Mr. Junhyuk?”

“So you like video games as well, Ms. Yuki.”

“Yes~ I love them. I even bought Mintendo’s newest Psychic Battle.”

“Puhp!! Cough… cough. You bought Psychic Battle?”

“Mr. Junhyuk, how could you do this to me! You should’ve contacted me when you released Psychic Battle. Do you know how long I waited to buy a copy?”

“No, that’s… Khm…”

Psychic Battle was a game where even the slightest mistake in controlling would result in a piece of the character’s clothing being ripped off… Telling Yuki about this would be too much…

“It’s a bit erotic, but the characters were awesome. I was completely immersed into the game when I was playing earlier.”

“The characters were all designed by Mr. Morita, and Mr. Hayas.h.i.+ over here coded the battle system for the game.”

“Wow~ Then you three are the creators of Psychic Battle~!!”

“You can say that.”

“That’s incredible.”

Morita and Hayas.h.i.+ hurriedly were stirring their pot soup in embarra.s.sment in response to Yuki’s genuine compliments.

“Ah~ May I scoop the soup for you?”

Yuki went on her knees and poured the contents of the pot into two small plates before handing the appetizing dish to Morita and Hayas.h.i.+. Seeing her actions, Morita looked at me with envy in his eyes as he muttered.

“I can understand why you chose to create a dating simulation game, Director Kang.”

“Mr. Morita, that’s a misunderstanding.”

Subsequently, Yuki who had overheard our conversation asked while handing the plates over to them.

“Dating simulation? Is that a game??”

“It’s just an idea we’re discussing…”

“Wow~ It sounds really interesting?”

To Yuki who had an immense love for games, she showed immediate interest after the slightest talk about a game genre. As the topic of games came up, Morita and Hayas.h.i.+ had also abandoned everything they were doing before and engaged in a heated conversation with Yuki.

“What do you think incorporating AI to influence the actions of the ‘girlfriend’ in the game depending on the player's’ inputs?”

“That sounds like an amazing idea!!”

Yuki nodded vigorously as she agreed with Morita. However, Hayas.h.i.+ who was listening to the conversation made an exasperated expression as he opened his mouth.

“This so-called AI would be no different from having alternate endings in an adventure role-playing game. Even if the player could make certain choices within the game, in the end the ending scenario would show a predestined ending.”

With Hayas.h.i.+’s cold response completely disregarding all hopes and dreams, Yuki and Morita turned silent as if they had been doused with cold water.

“Mr. Hayas.h.i.+… that was scary.”

“I’m just pointing out the facts.”

I let out a smirk after witnessing this quirky exchange. We finished our meal and stepped outside to find that the sky was already turning dark. Hayas.h.i.+ took a glance at his wrist.w.a.tch and said his goodbyes.

“It’s almost time for my train to come, so I’ll get going then.”

“Alright, see you next week.”

“Director Kang, I’m grateful to you for everything you’ve done. It was nice meeting you too, Ms. Yuki. Hey~ Morita, let’s hurry. We’re going to be late.”

“Wait…”

Hmm?

Morita had always been the one to agree with Hayas.h.i.+. But today, he wanted to say something. He looked at Yuki and paused.

“Do you have something to say me?”

“Umm… If it’s alright with you, Ms. Yuki…”

“Me?”

As Morita nodded his head and pondered for a moment, Hayas.h.i.+ turned impatient and urged Morita to speak.

“What is it? Spit it out Morita. If we miss this train wei’ll have to wait two more hours.”

Morita must’ve made up his mind as he spoke loudly with his teeth clenched.

“If it’s alright with you Ms. Yuki, could we reference you when we make our dating simulation game?”

… I thought Morita fell in love with Yuki at first sight and was going to ask her out or something. Yuki had also expected something along the lines of a confession, and after hearing him out, she relaxed her tensed-up shoulders before replying.

“Yes, i’m fine with that.”

“Thank you!!”

“But you have to make my character beautiful~”

“Of course~!!”

“... Morita, just hurry up. We have to run because of you~!!!”

“Okay… Haha.”

Yuki giggled at the sight of Hayas.h.i.+ grabbing Morita and disappearing like lightning.

“They’re funny, those two. I think they would work well with each other.”

“They do.”

“Mr. Morita said he was going to draw me as a character in the game, so I’m excited for that. But…”

Yuki blushed slightly before finis.h.i.+ng her sentence.

“He can’t draw me like the characters in Psychic Battle… Well, I’ll trust you to take care of that, Junhyuk. He can’t reveal too much!”

“Alright, I’ll pa.s.s that on to him.”

“Ke~ Then should we go on a real date now that the intruders are gone?”

“Where do you want to go?”

“I wanted to see this movie for a while now. I don’t know if you’d like it though…”

“What’s the movie?”

“La Bamba…”

… That was a t.i.tle I haven’t heard of in a long time.

&

La Bamba was based off of the rock n’ roll star Ritchie Valens. The film depicts the effect of Valens’ career on the lives of his brother Bob Morales, his girlfriend, Donna Ludwig, and the rest of his family. After discovering his genius talent for music, he grew to become a star in Hollywood. Despite his girlfriend’s father opposing their relations.h.i.+p, he performed his own composition ‘La Bamba and Donna’ all over the country to stand at the apex of Rock n’ roll. However, in the last scene where he boarded a flight to go to his next concert, the plane crashed and tragically killed everyone on board.

Donna

Oh Donna, oh Donna, oh Donna oh Donna

I had a girl.

Donna was her name. Since you left me, I’ve never been the same.

‘Cause I love my girl.

This was the song that the main character of the movie sung to his girlfriend Donna over the telephone and was very popular among ladies. Yuki was no exception.

“Oh~ Donna~ Oh~ Donna Oh~~ Donna~ Isn’t Ritchie Valens so awesome? The ending was sad, but I had a blast watching the movie.”

As we were walking out of the theater, Yuki commented as she hummed the tune from the film. I actually preferred ‘We Belong Together’, but I didn’t say that aloud. The truth was that every song from La Bamba was a masterpiece.

Nonetheless, to think that I had actually watched this film right after it was released. This alone filled me with excitement; it was as if I had truly integrated with the culture of the 80s. On top of this, I had also gained a new idea from watching La Bamba…

‘Mmm… adding an alternate ending of having the male character die in my dating simulation game is something I should think about.”

The idea of one’s soulmate leaving this world would affect both men and women alike.