"Dad… why are you crying?"
In the Tajima family home in Japan, Old Tajima—who had already retired and settled into a leisurely life—was sitting on the couch with his son.
The two of them had just finished watching Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
Although he was already in his fifties, Old Tajima's mindset was still very youthful.
He was among the first generation to come into contact with video games, and of course he had played a major title like Cyberpunk 2077.
In fact, he was still playing it to this day.
He had already logged more than four hundred hours in the game, playing at least six or seven hours a day without fail.
Today, he had originally planned to log in again and continue exploring the game world.
There was simply too much content packed into that world—almost overflowing—and for someone his age, it was just right.
He had the patience to play a single game slowly and tirelessly, immersing himself in exploration.
Cyberpunk 2077 gave him that opportunity.
The sheer accumulation of details made the game feel almost like a real world.
Old Tajima even felt that this game might accompany him for the rest of his life.
With so much content, he doubted he could ever fully explore it all.
But just as he logged in, preparing to continue his adventure as a mercenary, his son—Young Tajima—got off work early that day and excitedly dragged him to the living room.
There was a very special animation airing today.
It was called Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, a spin-off of Cyberpunk 2077.
"Dad, you love this game so much—you can't possibly miss this."
Old Tajima wasn't particularly interested in animation, but hearing that it was a Cyberpunk spin-off, he figured he might as well give it a try.
And so, he watched the entire series in one sitting with his son.
Tokyo Television had dedicated an entire afternoon to this single animation, postponing many previously scheduled programs.
When it ended, Young Tajima turned to his father and asked that question.
"Dad… why are you crying?"
Men in their fifties were usually the hardest to shake emotionally.
They had seen the ups and downs of life.
And yet, today, he couldn't help but shed tears.
Hearing his son's words, Old Tajima hurriedly raised his hand and wiped his cheeks, looking a bit embarrassed.
Then he forced a smile and looked at his son.
"You little brat, I wasn't—huh? Aren't you crying too?"
Seriously—he was crying himself and still had the nerve to point it out.
Young Tajima's eyes were red, and faint tear tracks were still visible on his face.
This animation spared no one.
Its story could emotionally devastate men and women, young and old alike.
Neither father nor son had escaped.
Young Tajima spoke righteously, "I'm young—what's wrong with crying a bit? But you, Dad—weren't you always bragging about how you'd seen it all and wouldn't shed tears so easily?"
"Well… uh…"
Old Tajima was left speechless.
"Alright, Dad, let's stop teasing each other. What did you think of the animation?"
"Hmm… it was excellent. Just judging by the story alone, it was flawless. I've honestly never seen an animation like that before."
Young Tajima said disdainfully, "That just means you haven't watched enough anime. Great anime stories are no worse than live-action dramas. It's only you old-school folks who think animation is just for kids. Your attitude's changed now, hasn't it?"
"…Yes. That's true."
Old Tajima couldn't help but recall the days when he had passionately promoted video games.
Back then, the games he praised were often mocked and misunderstood.
People didn't understand how something like that could be so beloved.
It looked childish.
Video games at the time were just blocks of pixels—barely recognizable humanoid shapes.
Many people his age, and even older, couldn't see what was fun about them.
They thought games were just toys for kids.
When Tajima strongly advocated for video games, he faced plenty of criticism.
At one point, it nearly put his own position at risk, as many industry veterans openly and covertly targeted him.
Fortunately, Gamestar Electronic Entertainment rose too rapidly.
Those who had mocked and sneered were eventually silenced—by the government itself.
Anything that brought massive benefits to the government was worth supporting.
And what could those critics who only waved pens around all day offer in comparison?
Nothing.
So they were told to shut up.
Later, a high-ranking executive at Nihon Keizai Shimbun also leaned heavily in favor of Gamestar Electronic Entertainment.
That was how Old Tajima managed to keep his job.
Over time, he became a strong supporter of video games, personally helping promote them and gradually building a reputation.
He had to admit it—
He did carry biases against the animation industry.
He himself had grown up in an environment full of prejudice.
"This animation really changed my view of the entire anime industry."
"Heh heh. Then next time, I'll recommend a few more great anime for you, Dad."
"Sounds good!"
Seeing his recommendation succeed, Young Tajima was very pleased.
"By the way, Dad… do you have any thoughts right now?" he suddenly asked something odd.
"Thoughts? What thoughts?" Old Tajima was confused.
"Every time I think about the anime's plot, I grind my teeth with hatred toward Adam Smasher. Don't you want to go beat the hell out of Adam Smasher right now?"
"…Now that you mention it—"
Old Tajima suddenly sprang up from the couch.
"Let's go! Crush Adam Smasher!"
"Crush him! Crush him!" Young Tajima was just as furious.
It seemed that everyone who finished watching the animation had a similar reaction.
Later on, some people even studied this phenomenon and gave it a unified name.
They called it:
"Adam Smasher Syndrome."
Its symptoms were strikingly consistent—
After watching the anime, people would feel an uncontrollable urge to immediately log into the game and utterly annihilate Adam Smasher.
"You two idiots! We finally get a full day together as a family, and you spent the whole afternoon watching anime. And now you want to go play games? Both of you—get into the kitchen and help cook!"
Young Tajima's mother finally snapped.
It was rare for the whole family to spend an entire day together, and these two had wasted the whole afternoon watching anime—she'd had enough.
"Just a little while! Just a little while!"
"We'll help after we crush Adam Smasher once!"
Father and son shouted in unison.