Chapter 95: Tetris 2 Tournament Preliminaries

Ras thought that once the current projects were finished, it would finally be time to make a computer. He had spent all this time waiting for a 16-bit CPU, but seeing the Hammer 1 Computer’s distribution rate steadily rise, he felt there was no real need to wait anymore.

Of course, up until now, they also had no choice because they lacked development capability. But thanks to Karkov, they were now at a level where they could at least attempt it.

The problem was that if they handled it poorly, they might be criticized for selling an 8-bit computer and then quickly selling a 16-bit one afterward. But rather than continue benefiting others, he decided to accept that much.

Not long afterward, the preliminaries began at Arcade Game Land branches across the country.

In truth, Tetris 2 had not been out for very long. However, it was not an extremely difficult game, and because so many people participated, there were plenty of experts, or rather, Bayoen players.

Inside one Arcade Game Land branch in the Republic of Smite.

“Wooow!”

The people watching the match cheered.

Usually, players exchanged attacks for a while, then once the balance collapsed and blocks piled up over half of one side, the momentum carried through and decided the match.

But when experts faced each other, it was completely different.

One side built up an enormous chain spell and made several Crystal Dragons float above the opponent’s head, yet the opponent canceled them out with another chain spell and counterattacked.

While attacks were flying in, the player had to keep calculating how the chains would form, then time his own chain to begin exactly as the opponent’s chain ended. It was extremely difficult. Honestly, many of the spectators could not even manage three chains properly, so they could not help being amazed.

However, since Puyo Puyo had random block drops, luck played a role to some degree, so this kind of seesaw match did not always happen just because experts were fighting each other.

No, to be precise, it was more accurate to say the current experts’ skill had not yet reached that point. But that was only in general, and no one knew what would happen if all the experts from across the country gathered.

Unlike the gamers enjoying themselves, however, Arcade Game Land’s operations team did not have it easy.

For some reason, Fighters’ Club, which used violence as its theme, had never caused any particular accidents, but in Tetris 2, competition between players sometimes became overheated and escalated into real fights.

“Hey, you son of a bitch!”

Kundari, an employee at Arcade Game Land, saw one preliminary participant lose after a Dragon Block Bomb struck him from the dragons piled above his head, then jump up and scream at his opponent. Kundari immediately ran over and grabbed him.

The opponent was an Orc player. Fortunately, even after being cursed at, he only looked troubled and did not get angry in return. Perhaps that was because his opponent was a small Gnome woman.

Fortunately, Kundari was a fairly well-built young man, so he could subdue the small Gnome woman at once.

After being held like that for a while, the Gnome woman seemed to calm down. She huffed a few times, then whispered in a low voice.

“...I’m fine now. Let go.”

“Ah! Yes, yes.”

Kundari did not release her right away. After checking her complexion, he carefully loosened his grip and stepped back. Another employee had already come over and moved the opposing player away.

There were quite a few incidents like that. A few times, someone even tried to lift a chair and slam it down.

But since there were so many spectators around, such violent behavior was quickly suppressed, and no actual casualties occurred. That was a tremendous relief.

In truth, many people cheered for and showed interest in this game tournament, but there were also people watching it with discomfort. If an accident occurred, it could easily become troublesome.

The preliminaries continued that way.

And as the scheduled date approached, regional champions began to be decided.

“Good. This time, let’s interview each regional champion and make an article out of it.”

“Ah. That’s a good idea.”

Telomi realized that gamers’ attention was currently focused on the Tetris 2 tournament, so he proposed the idea that if they interviewed the candidates before the finals began and presented them well, it could become a good article.

It was not because of any request from headquarters.

This tournament really was a major topic.

People wanted to know who represented their own neighborhood. They were also curious about what kind of person that representative was, how skilled they were, and how strong the other regions were.

So Gamers interviewed each regional champion and created a Tetris 2 tournament map by cutting out their face photos and pasting them onto a national map image.

Of course, most of them were simply people who liked games.

However, there were a few fairly unusual characters among them. Gamers focused closely on two of them.

One was a Beastman in his forties named Olmad, who gained attention because he was a university professor.

In Korea, whatever hobby an individual had was simply that person’s preference, but this world was still quite old-fashioned. The fact that someone with a respected profession like professor enjoyed games, which were not exactly encouraged, drew public attention.

“I believe games are also a perfectly good leisure activity. They allow people to relieve stress at low cost, and since this Game Land appeared, it has become easy to meet people who share the same hobby.”

Olmad, the young professor, did not particularly hide the fact that he liked games.

He had the boldness of youth, and he also held his own beliefs. At least among gamers, that attitude earned him strong support.

The other participant was an orphan.

“Huh?”

While reading the magazine, Ras froze for a moment at the word orphan. Fortunately, perhaps, it was a different region. The participant was a ten-year-old boy named Kadabi, and he was the champion of Quribaran, a city in the central region.

Quribaran was quite famous as a tourist ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠city.

According to the interview, he loved games so much that he went to arcades using the money he earned by shining shoes.

Ras felt somewhat complicated.

He was an arcade owner, and this boy was, for the moment, a precious customer who came and spent money. But beyond that position, Ras wondered whether it would not be better for the boy’s life to use the money he struggled to earn on something more important.

Of course, since he had become a regional champion, if he went on to win and claim the prize money, it could be called a successful investment in its own way.

Indeed, thirty thousand Del was money that could become a fairly large opportunity for poor people. For a moment, Ras wondered whether this might be one of the reasons the heat of the preliminaries had grown more intense than expected.

Ras briefly recalled the orphanage that had taken in the orphans from upstairs.

In truth, even after that, he occasionally sent donations and various goods to the orphanage.

At first, it was hypocrisy meant to convince himself. He wanted to think that he had not simply used them one-sidedly to drive out the children living upstairs.

He also felt a little hope that the little kids who went to the orphanage would live well there.

But as he continued donating, he realized that it somehow made him feel at ease.

This might sound strange, but after Ras began earning so much money, he felt a certain uneasiness. Spending money on good causes seemed to ease that uneasiness a little.

After earning a lot of money, Ras enjoyed good clothes, good food, good cars, and so on as much as he liked. Of course, he had earned that money legitimately, so there was nothing to feel guilty about.

But unlike Korea, this was a world where the streets were full of beggars, orphans, and poor people. Subconsciously, he had begun to notice them.

And while he himself enjoyed things that could be called luxuries, it was not quite guilt, but something still bothered him.

Of course, that did not mean he wanted to share what he earned for their sake. There was a saying that even a nation could not save poverty, so he had neither the thought nor the will to pour effort into something so empty.

Still, since a connection had been formed, and since it felt as though he was buying peace of mind with a small amount of money, he continued sponsoring the orphanage.

In any case, seeing an article about an orphan boy who loved games made him wonder whether there might also be children like that at the orphanage.

But unlike children on the street, children at an orphanage probably could not earn money, so they likely had no chance to even try games.

It felt a little pitiful.

As someone who liked games and as the president of a game company.

And even if it was not only sympathy, looking at a child like Kadabi showed him that teaching people how fun games were also created ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠future customers. It would also make them feel favorably toward Meta Soft.

Ras decided to give the orphanage children a chance to experience games.

However, if many children at the orphanage used computers, they would likely break quickly, so he decided to donate several arcade machines instead. Of course, he would modify them so the games worked without inserting coins.

He also decided to send several copies of Gamers magazine.

Returning to the tournament, the article about the regional champions published in Gamers was a huge success. Since people at places like Arcade Game Land talked about it constantly, Ras could hear the response through his employees.

And since Ras’s Arcade Game Land had greatly expanded the gamer base compared to before, it now felt like wherever one went, there were people who played games.

Thanks to that, it seemed as though the entire Republic of Smite was filled with talk about the Tetris 2 tournament.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Not sure. But I hope that orphan boy wins.”

“Why? Because he’s pitiful?”

“No. That’s part of it, but if someone else wins, I feel like I’ll get jealous.”

Even Ras’s own company was like that.

While going down the stairs, Ras heard a conversation below from people who seemed to be members of Meta Soft’s development team, and the corners of his mouth rose without him realizing it.

With this level of attention, it felt as though e-sports was not far away.

Of course, that was just how he felt.

Since Ras’s company was a game company, it was only natural that many people there would be interested. And although the gaming population had grown, it was still only a minority compared to the total population.

Ras did not misunderstand that.

The reason it seemed as though he heard people talking about it everywhere on the streets was ultimately because he, as the listener, was interested in it. Coldly speaking, it was only one of countless topics filling the streets.

In a world without the internet like Earth had, it would still take more effort to turn something into e-sports through events like this alone.

Still, interest had clearly increased compared ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to before, so for now, it seemed he needed to find a larger venue than last time.

“Yes. According to our estimates, at least twice as many people as the Fighters’ Club tournament will gather.”

Karen, the team leader of Arcade Game Land’s Event Department, said this while presenting various supporting materials.

Karen was a fox Beastman woman.

She was excellent personnel, so even though Ras had not interfered much in the progress of this tournament, she was handling the work with truly no obstacles.

Because of that, even while receiving the report, Ras did not feel very tense and could afford to have his gaze stolen by the movement of her perked ears and fluffy tail.

That did not mean he had romantic interest in her.

Of course, Karen was a wonderful woman, but what drew Ras’s attention was not her charm as a woman.

Even back on Earth, he had liked animals such as cats and dogs. Perhaps because of that, his gaze went there without him realizing it.

Moreover, unlike wild animals, Beastman women like this took great care of themselves, so their fur looked even fuller ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and more impressive.