The Magus Society of the Yura Republic,
In a research lab filled with all sorts of magical tools that seemed like the domain of a mad scientist, there was a person.
With bright white hair and glasses that didn’t quite match the eerie atmosphere of the lab, a cute girl with a cheerful smile, [Sora Otozu], was intensely focused on game development in front of a computer-like magical tool called the “Magic Engineering Machine.”
Clunk!
She was so absorbed in her work that even when the door opened and someone walked in, she didn’t notice and continued to develop.
Professor Howard, the head of Team 8 of the Magus Society, approached Sora, who was oblivious to his presence, and spoke.
“Hey, ‘Sora,’ how’s the game development going?”
“Oh! Professor Howard! Just in time! I was about to tell you that I’ve finished developing the next game prototype!!”
Finally noticing her boss, Sora announced the completion of her game prototype she had been working on.
“You made the next game prototype in just a week!?”
“I’m sorry. I could have done it faster, but I got caught up tweaking the hit feels, and it took me a whole week.”
Sora was not only the main planner but also the developer for Speed Rabbit.
Having worked hard to wrap up Speed Rabbit just two weeks ago, Howard was left speechless at her speed in developing the next game’s prototype in merely a week.
“S-So what kind of game did you make?”
“This game is a fighting game, similar to Legend Fighter.”
The fighting game genre was tightly held by Legend Fighter. During market research, it was said that creating a game capable of defeating Legend Fighter was tough, a fact Sora was well aware of.
That she chose to make a fighting game was surprising to Howard.
“A fighting game? It doesn’t seem easy to make a game that can surpass Legend Fighter.”
“Of course, defeating it is tough. But at least this game can keep up with it in terms of basics!”
“Basics?”
Sora showed the fighting game she was developing on the Magic Engineering Machine. The screen displayed characters with a rugged, boxy look striking martial arts poses, and she proudly pointed at them.
“This fighting game is a three-dimensional battle game!”
“Three-dimensional!?”
“Yes! Give it a try, Professor!!”
“Alright. What do I do?”
Professor Howard sat in front of the Magic Engineering Machine, and Sora began explaining the game.
“The basic attack buttons are the same as in Legend Fighter.”
“Got it, let me try.”
Ha! Hoo! Hah!
With Howard’s controls, the boxy characters on the screen swung heavy punches. He felt a distinct weight of impact unlike that in Legend Fighter.
Was this the point Sora mentioned; a feel much closer to reality than Legend Fighter?
As he pondered, Sora exclaimed, “Now you move sideways like this!”
“Sideways?”
Following her instruction, Howard pressed the control keys. The character on screen dodged sideways to evade an attack and countered from the back.
“The character dodged sideways!”
“Exactly! This is the point of a 3D fighting game!!”
Unlike the 2D nature of Legend Fighter’s gameplay, the 3D combat gave Howard a sense of success bubbling up within.
“Sora, did you envision this in a dream?”
“Yes! In the dream, I was in some game arcade, and people were going wild over this game!”
Once a scholar of magic, Sora had become a true gamer after immersing herself in playing Super Thomas to analyze the gaming device.
She was so dedicated that she had purchased all the games from Yuren and the Irene School, each clocking over 100 hours of playtime, and was ready to write a glorious review for Zers Gamer.
And from that point on, she began to have strange dreams.
In her dreams, she found herself in a new world.
In that place, she worked at a company called “Saga,” creating games quite different from those made by Yuren—games that looked immensely fun, even if they weren’t up to the standard of those from the Irene School.
At first, she thought it was just a dream, but as the dream became more vivid, she felt she could make that game, and she wanted to try it.
Then, when she heard that the Magus Society was forming a game development team, she thought it was her chance to create the games she had seen in her dreams, leading her to where she was now.
“If I keep making games like this, it might not be a dream that Sora’s game could beat Irene’s!”
“Oh! No way. How could I possibly dare to surpass Yuren’s game?”
Among the spellcasters creating games, Yuren was an undeniable superstar.
The reason for this was not just because Yuren was the first ‘wizard’ to create game magic.
Spellcasters in this world often had a gloomy image of being scholars solely dedicated to research.
However, Yuren was different.
Yuren shared his game magic with many schools and showcased his expertise, and within just two years, he proved his abilities by creating blockbuster hits like “Tetric,” “Super Thomas,” and “Legend Fighter.”
Not stopping there, he battled a mad dragon for the sake of game quality and his country, emerging victorious.
To put it bluntly, it was as if a computer science major had transformed into a star entrepreneur like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk while also winning a boxing tournament that represented their nation’s pride.
Among the fellow computistics (magi), Yuren was an idol who had realized all their dreams, which had already formed an image in Sora’s mind of the ‘most ideal Yuren’ she could fathom.
“Unlike me, who relies on dreams, he’s a genius who creates such games independently.”
Unaware of Yuren’s realities, Sora spoke brightly about him, and Professor Howard thought, “Here we go again,” as he watched her indifferently.
“Right now, Yuren is probably sipping coffee elegantly in a sunlit cafe, evaluating my game. Ah, I hope Speed Rabbit is fun.”
While the upper management aimed for grand objectives like dismantling the conspiracy of the Zers Empire and generating profit for the Yura Republic, Sora’s dream was rather humble.
Her wish was simply to receive recognition from Yuren for the game she created.
If she could get acknowledged by the gaming deity in the Zers Empire, it seemed like there would be no greater wish left unfulfilled.
With this humble dream, Sora gazed towards the Zers Empire.
What was Yuren doing at that moment?
What Sora imagined as a scene of him evaluating her game while leisurely having coffee at a sunlit cafe was…
“Yesss! I gathered all the emeralds!!”
In a dim room, just 20 hours into playtime, Yuren was celebrating his achievement of collecting all the emeralds in Speed Rabbit.
*
After purchasing Speed Rabbit, I returned home with everyone to Zephia’s house.
Having made some money and traveled back and forth with Zephia, I got a house in the name of the Irene School, for she and I.
It was a lovely three-story house, but that wasn’t the main focus now.
“Jiren, where’s the beer?”
“It’s all prepared! Elder Brother!”
“Noirin, what about the potato chips?”
“Right here! Yuren-sama.”
“And Karen.”
“I have prepared strawberry ice cream for my master.”
“Wow! Thank you, disciple Karen!”
Gaming is best enjoyed with beer and snacks!
With everything set, I drew the curtains and announced,
“Well then, everyone… let’s play some games!!”
“Yes!” “Let’s go!”
That was the start of our gaming session 20 hours ago.
For 20 straight hours, I played Speed Rabbit with everyone.
The story of Speed Rabbit was as follows:
[The fastest blue rabbit in the world embarks on an adventure to save animal friends from Dr. Chicken.]
Indeed, it was strikingly similar to Blue Sonic.
The game itself was reminiscent of that fun found in Blue Sonic.
Basically, you raced, jumped, and attacked monsters while rolling at specific intervals with a spin dash, just like Blue Sonic.
However, being a rabbit, it spun so fast that its feet were barely visible, making for a visually thrilling representation.
Finding such slight differences was part of the fun.
And the most crucial part was of course, the iconic cylinder from Blue Sonic!
Thankfully, Speed Rabbit explicitly indicated control buttons with arrows and used a different green color to differentiate itself from other cylinders, making navigation a breeze.
I didn’t know who the developer was, but this improvement was indeed excellent.
As I became lost in nostalgia, I played the game vigorously until I cleared all the stages and claimed the last emerald.
“Yes! I collected all the emeralds!!”
How much time had passed?
Looking around, everyone else had collapsed, lying down to sleep.
The only one still awake was my master, analyzing the game’s gaming device.
Clunk!
“I’ve arrived. What… what is going on here?”
“Oh, you’re here, Sylvia.”
Sylvia looked astonished upon entering the room and seeing all of us gaming.
It was understandable.
With thick curtains drawn, the dark room hosted abandoned beer glasses, potato chip bags, ice cream tubs, and students sprawled on the floor from sheer exhaustion of playing—it surely looked concerning to Sylvia.
“What are you all doing in such darkness? This is bad for your health.”
“Gaming is definitely more fun in a dark place!”
At my words, Sylvia’s expression turned to one of disbelief as she approached the curtains.
“The people of the Irene School aren’t children of darkness! Hurry and wash up and pull yourselves together!”
Whoosh!!!!
As Sylvia pulled back the curtains, an enormous flood of sunlight rushed in.
Aaaaah! My eyes!!!
“Gahhhhh!”
“Gwaahhh!”
“Ugh! It hurts!!! Sylvia!!”
The blinding sunlight began to sanitize not only me but also Jiren, Noirin, and even my master.
The ”Children of Darkness” mode of the Irene School was thoroughly annihilated by the “Mom Mode” of Sylvia.
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