LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 58
Once upon a time, there was a company called ‘Saga’ that split the video game market with ‘Imtendo.’
While Imtendo was obliterating the gaming market with Super Mario, Saga demanded its 8th R&D department to develop a game that could compete with the mighty Super Mario.
To showcase the CPU computation power of their gaming console Mega Tribe, Saga ordered that character movements be made several times faster than Ario.
Thus, the fastest hedgehog game in the world was born, Saga’s iconic character, Blue Sonic.
Though overshadowed by Super Mario, Blue Sonic had impressive sales records.
Blue Sonic 1: 15 million copies,
Blue Sonic 2: 6 million copies,
Total series sales: 84 million copies.
Different from Ario, it had great synergy with animations and became the original animation that opened the eyes of children to animal character moe through productions like TVA and OVA.
It was especially popular in North America, where by the time I died, there were three live-action films produced in Hollywood.
I also liked Blue Sonic, though not as much as Super Mario.
At that time, having a Mega Tribe felt like a privilege, the kind you could only enjoy at a friend’s richer house. The sense of speed and fun, which I couldn’t find in Super Mario, lingered even decades later.
One day, when I got the chance to develop a game, I never imagined I’d meet it like this.
*
The news came to me a week after the release of Super Thomas 2 and Puyo Puyo.
Suddenly, Sylvia barged into my lab and said,
“Yuren, gather everyone right now! I have something to show!”
“What is it? Sylvia, you look so serious.”
“You’ll know when you see it!!”
Following Sylvia’s request, we gathered around as she revealed a crystal ball.
Inside, there was footage of a platformer game reminiscent of Super Thomas.
If it were just another copy of Super Thomas, Sylvia wouldn’t have reacted this way.
This was a legitimately well-made game.
Until now, there had been countless copy games of Super Thomas. Most couldn’t even match its graphics and were riddled with bugs like falling into strange places.
But the game Sylvia showed was different.
A blue rabbit dashed through the map.
New characters, new graphics, and it could even compete with Super Thomas in terms of high quality.
And the most important factor was its [sense of speed].
The sheer velocity through the map, complete with a stylish spin halfway through!
We were mesmerized by the sight of that game.
“Wow…”
“This is really well made. This game…”
Jiren and Noirin seemed to realize just how incredible this game was with their elevated gaming expectations.
And I, in a different way, was surprised.
I recognized this game.
Among the countless games I enjoyed in my previous life, I was very familiar with this one.
“Oh my, to think I’d encounter Blue Sonic like this…”
“Blue Sonic?”
“Uh… it’s nothing, Sylvia, just talking to myself.”
The character was a rabbit, rearranged to fit the other world, but that game was undoubtedly the game I knew.
The top-tier game that delivered the most exhilarating sense of speed,
Seeing [Blue Sonic] like this was unbelievable…
“What school created this game, Sylvia?”
“It’s not a school. It was created by a society.”
“A society, you say…”
There was only one society that used that title as far as I knew.
A nation with technology surpassing the Empire in magical tools, that is…
“Yes… it was developed by the Magus Society of the Yura Republic.”
Watching the game they created, my Master was pure marvel as a wizard.
“Amazing. To think the Yura Republic has such capable magicians, it seems there’s a genius like Yuren over there as well.”
When it comes to sheer magical ability, I certainly couldn’t surpass my Master.
But the sense of fun required when creating game magic was something I had developed from my past life making games and was something I could claim to outshine my Master.
However, with this game, it was palpable.
It could only be one of two things.
Either a reincarnator like me or an unimaginable genius.
As I pondered this, Karen asked Sylvia,
“When will this game be released in the Empire?”
“From what we’ve gathered, Gilbert Consortium is importing it for release next week.”
Gilbert Consortium was one of the consortia that stood alongside Edward Consortium.
I’d heard they didn’t do so well after entering the gaming market, yet now they were preparing for this?
“They say Gilbert Consortium has sharpened their knives and will invest a marketing budget greater than ours for the sale.”
The atmosphere in the meeting room turned grim.
The emergence of a game with quality and fun level with that of the Irene School’s produced games was unprecedented; it could be called the rise of a challenger.
“What should we do, Yuren-hyung?”
Jiren looked at me with a serious expression.
It seemed like he was hoping for one of my usual plans that would turn the situation around.
Not just Jiren, but everyone had those hopeful eyes on me.
Except for my Master, who was diligently analyzing the crystal ball.
Under their expectations, I…
“What do you mean, we need to go get that game!!”
“Wait? Huh? Y-y-your Highness?”
“Yuren!?”
I jumped off the carpet to snag a copy of the game.
Blue Sonic, which I didn’t create, was released.
For the first time in this world, a game with star-level game-making power from my previous life appeared right before my eyes.
I was a bit scared.
Thanks to the cheat of past life memories, I could develop games at this level.
But now, with a true genius in game development appearing in this world, I couldn’t guarantee whether my own game development talent could keep up.
But right now, the future didn’t matter.
What mattered was that a game I didn’t create and had never seen before was now in front of me.
That game looked fun and would probably actually be fun.
So I just wanted to experience that game.
Not as ‘Game Developer’ Yuren,
But as a mere ‘Gamer’ Yuren.
“[Speed Rabbit], one no, make it ten, please!!!”
As I plummeted to the Zephia Coliseum and lined up, I felt the pounding heart of a gamer, buying ‘Speed Rabbit’.