"It's only been a week. That doesn't really count as 'long time no see,' does it?"
Tetsu Kobayashi stood with both hands shoved into his pockets, looking at the game shop's storefront with amusement.
There actually weren't many changes—after all, only a week had passed. But there was a clear increase in foot traffic. Besides the familiar faces he had seen before, there were new players as well.
Shimayori Yōsuke was struggling inside while carrying a box with both hands.
Naturally, Tetsu Kobayashi had absolutely no intention of helping. He studied the sealed cardboard box for a moment, but he really couldn't tell what it contained.
"An arcade board," Shimayori Yōsuke said, wiping his sweat and grinning. "Sega's 1979 arcade game main board—'talatalamusic'!"
Tetsu Kobayashi nodded.
Oh, so it was… an arcade game he'd never heard of.
You couldn't really blame him. Although he used to collect second-hand machines, this one was far too obscure. Even he had never seen it before.
And as for a game whose name didn't even hint at what type of game it was—he understood even less.
"You young people definitely haven't heard of this one," Shimayori said, shrugging regretfully. "Back when it was released, it was actually pretty hot in arcades. It could play music that no other game machine at the time could handle—even 'Ode to Joy'! But since it didn't have any other functions and was basically just a music-request machine, nobody used it for long."
Rather than all that, what really mattered to Tetsu Kobayashi was something else.
"So, how's the tournament registration going?"
"Not bad! Quite a lot of people signed up—around seventy or eighty, I think? We might need to set aside a full day for the competition. We even sold a bunch of game cartridges—several dozen more than last week…"
Shimayori abruptly stopped talking.
After all, talking to a customer about how much money he had earned didn't seem like a great idea.
He simply spread his hands, picked the box back up, and walked off.
Tetsu Kobayashi quickly did some mental math.
If everything went smoothly, this week's sales should exceed ten thousand units.
Which meant that, on a system with only fifty thousand total SG consoles, Tetris had already shipped over thirty thousand copies, with around seventeen thousand actual owners.
Exciting—but not surprising.
After all, this was Tetris! Since its debut in 1984, it had taken the world by storm. Even today, people still played it for nostalgia. It was classic beyond classic.
If that couldn't boost Sega's SG console… he might as well go back to Zhou Country and open a bootleg shop.
Tetsu Kobayashi lowered his head, and only now let out a deliberately surprised voice, as if he had just noticed Kobayakawa.
"What's this? Didn't manage to get a game today?"
Kobayakawa looked up at him and suddenly felt irritated by his attitude. All the words she wanted to say ended up compressed into a single sound.
"Hmph."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tetsu Kobayashi asked.
"It means… I don't want to play."
She touched her pocket.
In truth, she hadn't brought any money today.
Although she could still try out games for free, that felt too disrespectful to the shop owner, Shimayori Yōsuke.
Her fingers suddenly brushed against two cold coins.
She pinched the two coins and held them out to Tetsu Kobayashi.
"Your money."
"Huh? My money?" He genuinely couldn't remember for a moment.
Kobayakawa gave him some keywords: "Family restaurant, ice water… deposit."
"Oh." A faint memory surfaced.
Two hundred yen. He would've forgotten if she hadn't mentioned it!
Especially since he currently had a whole stack of bills stuffed into his wallet.
He casually accepted the coins, but then saw Kobayakawa suddenly pull a small booklet from her pocket.
Tetsu Kobayashi narrowed his eyes, reading the title carefully.
"Hah?! An elementary school workbook?"
Kobayakawa finally showed a triumphant smile.
That's right! I brought it for you!
Tetsu Kobayashi let out a dramatic "Oh no" and weighed the coins in his hand.
"Kobayakawa, you really do love studying. Always reminding yourself to learn by carrying an elementary school workbook!"
Seeing his supposedly "kind" expression and that thumbs-up, Kobayakawa clenched her fists, face turning red. All she could do was mutter under her breath—
"No!"
Of course not!
It's because you are so stupid that you can only understand elementary school workbooks. I brought it for you, not for myself!
"Hahaha… just kidding."
Suddenly serious, Tetsu Kobayashi pushed the two coins back toward her.
"Come on, let's play. We've got two hundred yen!"
When the previous customer finished the demo, Tetsu Kobayashi handed the 200 yen to Shimayori Yōsuke and sat down in front of the SG console.
Holding the joystick, he casually chatted while operating the game, asking the girl beside him:
"Did you know the SG has a special feature? Voice control. If a player isn't very good, the machine wants them to experience joy—so if you speak into it and admit you're an idiot, it activates a special mode. After that, the entire game only drops I-blocks."
Kobayakawa: ??
Her expression clearly said:
I may not read a lot, but that doesn't mean you can fool me!
Tetsu Kobayashi nodded solemnly, finished his inputs, then leaned toward the machine and spoke softly:
"I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot, I'm an idiot!"
The game began—and the first piece to drop was indeed an I-block.
"That's just coincidence…" Kobayakawa whispered.
The second piece was also an I-block.
And every piece after that—neatly, perfectly—was an I-block, allowing for effortless four-line clears.
Kobayakawa's face went blank with shock.
There's high-tech stuff like this?!
Of course not. The SG wasn't capable of anything like that. But later, the Famicom really did have a game that used voice functions:
"Takeshi's Challenge."
Kitano Takeshi—the eccentric director who once made that bizarre historical film featuring Yasuke stir-frying Oda Nobunaga—also helped create a troll game far ahead of its time, which included voice-control mechanics.
As for the SG producing only I-blocks right now—naturally, that was because Tetsu Kobayashi had activated the cheat mode:
Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right Function Function!
Without data-mining, secrets like this would stay undiscovered for a lifetime in this era where everything spread by word of mouth.
Tetsu Kobayashi handed the joystick to Kobayakawa, restarted the game, and smiled.
"Want to try?"
Kobayakawa hesitated.
It really did look real…
After a long pause, she leaned toward the machine.
"I… I'm an idiot?"
"Louder," Tetsu said.
She took a breath:
"I'm an idiot? I'm an idiot. I'm an IDIOT! I'M AN IDIOT!!"
Shimayori Yōsuke, who had just carried the arcade board out the door, nearly fell flat on his face when he heard this.
Filled with noble determination, Kobayakawa started the game.
Naturally, nothing happened.
As if mocking her gullibility, the game produced every block except the I-piece.
Kobayakawa slowly lowered the joystick, bowed her head, and covered her face with both hands.
Damn it.
She thought:
So I really am an idiot…
…
…
Tetsu Kobayashi carried a wallet full of bills, yet used two little coins just to make a girl laugh.
Sega's Home Console Division Chief, Satō Hideki, hated "Kobayashi Puzzle" with a passion—yet still had to pinch his nose and promote it.
Everyone had their own bright future.
While Tetsu Kobayashi was teasing someone, Satō Hideki had just finished his daily inspection.
As he walked out of the warehouse, he suddenly spoke.
"Now that I think about it, the stock of S27AC audio chips is running low, isn't it?"
A subordinate replied, "Yes. That chip is used by both the SG and the arcade division. But we should receive new shipments next week."
"That won't do. To prevent unauthorized use, starting today, all S27AC audio chips for the home console division must receive my approval before being taken."
Satō Hideki said it casually, and everyone immediately agreed.
After all—it was just an audio chip. A small matter.
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