At the Atlas Akihabara Experience Store, the new manager watched the furious crowd of players with a look of utter helplessness.
"What kind of gameplay did Hideo Kojima design?!"
"Where did Atlas find this rookie? He's too reckless!"
"Actually, he's not a rookie. He's listed on the Red Fortress staff roster."
The crowd looked up in unison.
"If it weren't for him, Red Fortress would definitely be more fun!"
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The manager could only explain helplessly, "Actually, the highest-rated part—the stealth mission to retrieve enemy equipment fragments—and the hidden level design were all created by Hideo Kojima."
A brief silence fell over the store before someone complained again, "No wonder it's so boring."
"Maybe Hideo Kojima stole it!"
"Hideo Kojima, get out of the gaming industry!"
Just about to enter the store, Hideo Kojima heard this and silently turned around and walked away.
Get out of the gaming industry?
He hadn't even gotten into the gaming industry yet!
Strangely, though everyone was cursing Hideo Kojima, the number of people playing the game didn't decrease in the slightest.
The store manager silently made a note: he would regularly compile and report these matters to Atlas Headquarters.
No one knew Hideo Kojima had even been there, not even the manager, who hadn't noticed him slip away from the entrance.
He stared at the group of players who were furiously criticizing the game for a moment and noticed a crucial point.
Everyone was cursing, but they were all still playing.
This was truly bizarre.
A new player who had been watching from behind stepped forward and curiously tried the cartridge. After just a few minutes, he was cursing Hideo Kojima while continuing to play.
The other players turned to him. "As long as you curse Hideo Kojima, we're best friends!"
The experience store, both inside and out, was filled with the sounds of Kuso, Baka, Kusoge, and Yarou. For a moment, the very air seemed to be targeted at Hideo Kojima.
Atlas has fallen from grace!
Tajiri Satoshi turned the newspaper page over and over again.
This article, written by Tanimura Masahito, harshly criticized Hideo Kojima and informed the gaming community that this was absolutely the worst game of the year—and perhaps the worst game Atlas had ever made.
Not only was it impossible to figure out how to play, but it wasn't even fun!
Tajiri Satoshi was on the train back to Tokyo. He had already read this page many times, but he simply couldn't do anything else, so he kept reading it.
He flipped the newspaper back and forth, the edges already frayed and worn. Only this repetitive motion seemed to bring him any peace of mind.
Long train rides were incredibly boring.
He had just returned from Ueno. Ueno Zoo had pandas, and Tajiri Satoshi had gone to see them. They were round and adorable.
Kobayashi Tetsu had given him three million yen in activity funds, telling him he could travel anywhere he wanted to gather materials. If he ran out of money, he could come back for more. So, Tajiri Satoshi had been traveling to zoos, botanical gardens, and natural history museums all over Japan. Whenever he saw a creature that piqued his interest, he would sketch it in his notebook.
This time, reading the news in the paper had left him truly furious.
President Kobayashi is a good man! A good man shouldn't have a gun pointed at him!
He completely ignored Producer Hideo Kojima's explanation, directly equating the game with Atlus.
"I refuse to believe Atlus would ever make a game like this. I bet they don't even know how to play."
Tajiri Satoshi lowered his head. A faint scritch-scratch sound came from his pocket.
He carefully pulled out a glass container from his pocket. Inside was an insect—a grass-green katydid, meticulously cared for in its transparent box.
Tajiri Satoshi called it "Long-Winged Princess."
"Right, Long-Winged Princess? You think so too, don't you?"
The katydid chirped a series of crisp, clear notes.
Tajiri Satoshi nodded.
Exactly! I knew it!
The man sitting opposite him silently edged a few inches away.
Earlier, he had only thought Tajiri Satoshi looked a bit unusual. Now, he felt the man wasn't just unusual—he wasn't even human.
Who talks to bugs?!
And this guy was actually carrying a bug on him!
Tajiri Satoshi didn't care about any of that. After getting off the car, his first priority was to head to the nearest Atlas Offline Experience Store and specifically ask to play Metal Gear.
Atlas currently had over a dozen experience stores scattered across the vast Tokyo Metropolis, and not all of them were packed. This particular store wasn't very crowded.
Tajiri Satoshi first read the manual to understand the items' functions before starting the game.
He spawned in the wild. The map was quite large, and the character models were relatively detailed.
According to the manual, interacting with the radio in the inventory could provide hints.
Tajiri Satoshi opened his inventory and turned on the radio.
A transmission appeared on the screen.
BIGBOSS: Snake, you've successfully infiltrated the island. Your mission is to find the enemy's decisive weapon, the "Metal Gear," and destroy it. It would also be best if you could find our missing teammate, Gray Fox. Be careful when facing enemies and avoid unnecessary combat. I will send the latest instructions at any time. If you have any questions, contact me via radio. Over.
Tajiri Satoshi nodded silently and took notes.
Target: Metal Gear. Teammate: Gray Fox. This meant the main quest was to destroy Metal Gear, while the side quest was to find Gray Fox.
The opening cutscenes had already explained the situation: Gray Fox had infiltrated the island to gather intelligence but had lost contact. His final message to headquarters consisted of just a few words: "Metal Gear."
Consequently, his superiors had dispatched Snake to take over the mission and, if necessary, locate the missing Gray Fox.
Bring him back alive, or bring back his body.
Tajiri Satoshi continued forward and soon encountered an enemy around a corner. Just as he was about to make his move, the enemy suddenly raised a hand.
BIU!
Tajiri Satoshi was shot dead.
Tajiri Satoshi: ———??
He wasn't angry—or rather, his mind simply lacked a "get angry" program. He silently restarted the game, listened to the intel again, and moved forward.
"Avoid unnecessary combat... Does that mean this enemy isn't essential to defeat?"
Tajiri Satoshi pondered this for a moment and decided to try a different strategy.
Moving while the enemy's back was turned, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he wasn't shot dead this time. Naturally, the enemy couldn't see him behind his back.
This was a perfectly normal, everyday phenomenon—you can't see someone when your back is turned to them—but this was a game.
In a game, it was truly a novel experience to find that enemies would not react when their backs were turned.
Tajiri Satoshi continued downward, reaching a monster-free area on the next map.
Although scrolling technology already existed, this game did not use it—or rather, it only incorporated scrolling in certain maps. Moving between maps still required teleporting to switch scenes.
Tajiri Satoshi was in no hurry.
He kept moving forward, circling around and avoiding enemies, eventually finding binoculars in the back of a truck.
Having this item was amazing; it allowed him to directly see the monster distribution and movement on the next map, and even the one after that.
Tajiri Satoshi picked up the instruction manual and read the text on the cartridge box, lost in thought.
"A stealth game. I see. Because it's stealth, I need to avoid combat as much as possible and not get into pointless skirmishes with the enemy. As a professional agent, I'm not some Green Beret who can assassinate an entire base of soldiers with just a knife in my pocket. My mission is to evade the enemy and then carefully complete the objective!"
The cricket in his pocket chirped twice. Tajiri Satoshi pursed his lips and looked up at the manager of the experience store.
"One copy of Metal Gear, please."
He wanted to take it home and play it slowly.
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