Chapter 78
Chapter 78
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 78
Chapter Title: Happy Halloween! (2)
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Ray, unlike Kyle, loved games.
He wasn't particularly skilled at them, but he enjoyed playing them often. That game was an open-world RPG that wasn't overly difficult.
It was also the first game that Ray, who hadn't been into gaming before, had really gotten hooked on.
‘I get why you’re clinging to this thing.’
He recalled the memory of Ray smiling while gripping the Joy-Con, completely immersed.
‘This is fun.’
Best not to dwell on it.
He couldn’t very well burst into tears in the home of a senior he wasn’t that close to. He barely managed to tear his gaze away from the game.
He rolled his eyes around, scanning the room again.
It was a room full of stuff, flashy and cluttered.
But what caught his eye were the game titles stacked up, proudly displaying their vibrant covers. He could get a rough idea of what kinds of games she liked.
Standing in the entryway, he skimmed through the list.
Games piled up like a tower. It seemed true that she loved retro games—there were so many familiar ones that it hit him a little hard emotionally.
“You like games, right?”
Shu’s words snapped him back to reality a bit.
He nodded, making eye contact with his senior, who had both hands shoved into her sukajan jacket.
“Yes.”
“What kinds do you like?”
“Nothing in particular.”
“Hmm.”
Shu eyed him with her sky-blue eyes.
What was that about? He looked down at her inscrutable expression.
Was she disappointed that he didn’t have a favorite genre?
That didn’t seem to be it. His senior, looking up at him, gestured for him to close the front door.
He obediently shut the door, and the city noise abruptly faded away.
The room suddenly felt cozy. His senior shoved both hands back into her jacket.
“You still don’t remember anything?”
The unexpected question caught him off guard, and he couldn’t hide his surprised expression.
“Are you talking about me?”
“Yeah. And speak casually, for real.”
“Yes, no….”
Come to think of it, this was the person who had seen him drop out of the portal.
She was one of the few who knew he’d joined the Black Badger in a completely irrational way. He’d forgotten amid all the chaos lately.
How much should he tell Shu?
He was back in the ‘figure it out at work without asking, but if it goes wrong, it’s on you’ situation. How many times was this now?
After some thought, he replied like this.
“Bits and pieces are coming back, but I haven’t remembered everything yet.”
“Really?”
Shu said it matter-of-factly.
She eyed him again, as if appraising him.
“Then, did you maybe make games?”
…The unexpected questions kept coming.
He blankly looked down at his senior and shook his head.
“I don’t think so.”
“You sound pretty sure?”
“Yes. I have zero knowledge in that area. I just like playing games, not making them.”
He didn’t think he’d ever wanted to make one. Even now, he had no desire to.
Why was she asking this? He had no clue. Maybe his expression gave it away, because Shu tilted her head slightly to the side.
She stood there, lost in thought, then pulled her hands out of her jacket.
“Wanna take off your shoes and come in? It’s a bit cramped, but.”
Was this okay…?
He followed her lead anyway. Shu walked over to the gaming setup and flicked on a small game monitor.
That spot with the tower of game titles was clearly her gaming zone. The fact that she’d carved out a dedicated area for games in this tiny room showed she was really into it.
“Sit down. I’ve got something to show you.”
He meekly sat in front of the game monitor.
Shu handed him a Joy-Con. Then she slotted a chip into the console. He happily watched the black screen light up with the game title.
He didn’t know what it was, but being in front of the console lifted his spirits.
He was a hopeless case.
The screen brightened.
Soon, a pixelated game title bobbed around in the center of the screen.
[From E]
He couldn’t be sure without hitting start, but it looked like a dot-graphics RPG.
The bubble-like BGM fit the vibe perfectly. He wanted to play it. He barely resisted the urge to hit start on his own and stared at the screen.
Shu stood beside the monitor, observing his reaction.
“You know this game?”
“No, not at all. Is it fun?”
“Decent?”
A vague answer.
“It’s an RPG with a short playtime. Seems like an indie game.”
“Ah. Mind if I try it?”
“Yeah. Actually, I’ve wanted to show you this ever since we met.”
Huh?
He dumbly stared at Shu.
But Shu just met his eyes without further explanation.
She didn’t seem inclined to explain right away. Guess it’d make sense once he started the game?
Without asking more, he pressed start.
A cheerful sound rang out, and the title vanished before his eyes.
The sparkling title shrank and faded, replaced by a blue grassy field and a castle filling the black screen. It was a lovingly crafted background. Even in pixels, it was beautifully rendered. Full of anticipation, he watched as the screen settled and the protagonist emerged from the castle.
True to classic RPGs, the protagonist appeared with a long sword at his side.
Descending the castle stairs to the center of the screen, the protagonist looked around, closed his eyes, and smiled brightly.
Like a proper 2D game character, he bobbed up and down even when idle.
A long dialogue box appeared at the bottom of the screen.
[Hildebert Talib: What nice weather today!]
Huh?
It felt like something had smacked him in the head.
He gaped at the screen for a long while.
In the center of the screen, standing on pixelated blue grass, was a 2D protagonist with a sword.
Name. Hildebert Talib.
…What?
No….
What the hell?
What was this?
His mind filled with question marks for a good while.
He couldn’t even press the Joy-Con buttons, just staring at the screen. The shock was greater than when he’d met Colton, precisely because it was so unforeseen.
As he sat there, still out of it, Shu pointed at the screen with her finger.
“Hair color, skin tone, eye color—all exactly like yours.”
Creepily enough, she was right.
“White hair, tanned skin, yellow eyes.”
“…What the hell is this….”
“That’s why I thought you made this game?”
Shu didn’t seem as shocked as he was.
Maybe she’d already gotten past the shock phase. He finally tore his eyes from the screen and looked at his two-toned-haired senior.
The person who hadn’t said a word to him on the first day he’d dropped from the portal.
Since she’d wanted to show him this from that day, she must have known about the game for a while.
Why hadn’t she mentioned it then? He doubted he would’ve taken it seriously anyway.
He mulled over the day he’d fallen and everything Shu had said since. Fresh memories popped up vividly. Thinking about it… even he probably wouldn’t have brought up that there was no ‘Hildebert Talib’ anywhere in Center Core if his senior had mentioned the game protagonist had the same name….
How had she kept this quiet all this time…?
But hold on.
“Did you think I was so full of myself that I’d make a game like this?”
When he looked up and asked, Shu gazed at him steadily with her usual inscrutable eyes.
She stood expressionless for a moment, then shrugged.
“I figured it was possible. I don’t know you that well.”
“I’m not that kind of person.”
He firmly corrected the misunderstanding.
“I can’t even make games, and even if I could, I wouldn’t make a protagonist like this.”
Shu nodded perfunctorily.
Her gesture said it didn’t really matter. She was cool in a totally different way from Yoon.
She turned away from him, looking haggard from the ridiculous misunderstanding, and fixed her gaze on the screen.
The moving 2D protagonist.
He had the uncommon name Hildebert Talib and looked eerily just like him, down to his appearance.
Who was the developer?
In the one-room apartment, filled only with the hum of the console, his senior broke the silence.
“I’ll lend you this. Take it home and play it.”
“Ah! Thank you so much.”
“That’s why I called you out to go to the game shop, too.”
Shu Diamond explained calmly as she ejected the game chip.
Her next words hit him hard, while he was still reeling.
“I heard this From alphabet series has more. The latest one sighted was at that shop in Harlem.”
***
They had lunch.
It felt like some kind of fusion food, but he couldn’t recall exactly what. He didn’t even remember the taste. He didn’t know if he’d held a fork or chopsticks as he sat across from Shu, talking about the game.
That game.
From what she elaborated, Shu had initially thought he was some game-obsessed addict fixated on ‘From E’. So she wondered if he was mistaking the protagonist’s name for his own or deliberately lying.
He stared at his senior, who’d been under such a massive misunderstanding all alone.
“I do like games, but I’m not that baseless about it.”
“Your reputation suggested as much.”
Shu candidly admitted she’d changed her mind.
“So I figured either you made it, or someone who knows you did.”
“The latter, probably. No idea who, though.”
“You really have no clue who ‘E’ could be?”
None at all.
He tried thinking of anyone whose name started with E, but drew a blank. Not Colton, not Jaeyeon, not Lee Seung-hyun, not Kyle, not Ray. Plus, none of them would make a game even if they came back to life.
Maybe playing it or dissecting its structure would reveal something?
Of course, he could play it, but he had no skill in breaking down its structure.
“How about asking Senior Yoon for help?”
Shu suggested.
Thinking the same thing, he nodded.
“I was planning to ask him after I finish playing it…. Thank you so much for telling me, Senior.”
“I told you to speak casually.”
She looked like she’d get annoyed if he kept calling her senior, so he decided to call her Shu.
After their late lunch, there wasn’t much time left until they were to meet Walker. They’d link up where Harlem began. Still not in his right mind from the earlier shock, it only hit him after lunch why Walker was joining.
We’re Enhanced Body owners, so Harlem shouldn’t be dangerous for us.
Why was Walker coming?
“Why is Senior Walker coming? Are you two close?”
“He’s got something to ask you.”
Shu tossed out another bombshell casually.
“And he’s taking you to meet a contact of his in Harlem.”
His head spun.
Ray’s memories were already overwhelming, and now his past was flooding in relentlessly.
He tried to process Walker’s reason for joining as Shu had explained, then gave up. He’d understand properly once he met Walker anyway.
Letting out a sigh, he decided to just accept the approaching reality.
Hoping he could handle whatever unforeseen events came this time too.
A chilly autumn wind whipped through the city streets. He walked with Shu through crowds where more and more costumed people were appearing.