Saturday, 8 November 1992
It was early Saturday morning, and Zaboru sat alone in his office. Ayumi was busy at Akaishidan Studio, deep into developing a new game, so Zaboru had the place to himself. He let out a sigh. "Hmm, should I buy the Titan Drive myself? Then again, the line might be long." He took a slow sip of coffee and added, "Well, there's that electronics store nearby—Dekapon, I think. Maybe I'll head there. But what if someone catches me buying Sonaya's stuff?" It could turn into a scandal, and Sonaya might spin it into propaganda: "Even ZAGE's owner is buying our newest product!" or something along those lines.
He chuckled at the thought and stood up, deciding to step out and get some morning air. As he walked through the quiet office hallway and out to the building's front entrance, he unexpectedly spotted Sakaki approaching. "Oh, Sakaki?" Zaboru called out.
Sakaki froze. 'Wait... isn't it the weekend? What's the boss doing here?' he thought, forcing a nervous smile. "Oh, hey boss."
"Where are you headed?" Zaboru asked casually.
Sakaki flinched. 'Should I tell the truth? That I'm going to buy a Titan Drive? Or should I lie?' Sweat formed on his brow. He was on his way to Dekapon Electronics to buy the newest 16-bit console from Sonaya, but he was still debating whether to be honest with Zaboru or try to hide it.
Zaboru chuckled knowingly. "You're going to buy a Titan Drive, aren't you?"
"Y-Yes, boss. Is that... a problem?"
Zaboru's eyes lit up. "Perfect timing." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wad of yen—110,000 in total. "Buy two—one for you and one for me."
Sakaki's eyes widened in disbelief. 'No way…!'
Zaboru smiled. "Bring it back here when you're done. Think you can handle that?"
Sakaki beamed. "Yes, boss! I'll deliver it for sure!" Free 50,000 yen stuff? Even if he had to run a whole kilometer, Sakaki would do it without hesitation and Only a fool would turn that down. Grinning with gratitude and excitement, Sakaki clutched the money and headed straight toward Dekapon.
Back in his office, Zaboru chuckled to himself. "Glad I ran into Sakaki. Fifty thousand yen is a small price to pay to avoid the hassle." He leaned back. "What a rich man's solution… I shouldn't get used to it though." Although Zaboru was now filthy rich, he tried to avoid adopting the typical rich person mindset. Still, if spending money meant saving time, then why not?.
He returned to his desk, sketching designs and jotting down notes. Occasionally, he even worked on song lyrics—his mind always whirring.
Around 9:30, Sakaki returned, dripping with sweat and carrying two Titan Drive bundles along with the four launch titles. Zaboru chuckled as he spotted him. "Why the sweat?"
Sakaki grinned, still catching his breath. "Well, I had to fight for these—hahaha."
Zaboru laughed and took the bundle. After a quick exchange and a nod of appreciation, Sakaki turned and left, leaving Zaboru alone once more with the shiny new consoles.
Zaboru examined the Titan Drive box. "Not bad," he said, impressed. Inside were the expected components: power cables, manual, two controllers, and the sleek console itself. He picked up one of the controllers. "Hmm... D-pad, three main buttons, start and select—this feels familiar. Just like the Mega Drive Controller from my past life."
He nodded and moved to his CRT television, setting up the console. Upon powering it up, a chime played, followed by the prompt: "Please Insert Cartridge."
He glanced at the four games: Sun Knight 3, Sherif Juan 2, Ultimate Brawler, and J-Yagyu 16. Grinning, he picked Ultimate Brawler first. Zaboru chuckled. "Well then, time to dive into this" Street Fighter "inspired" gameplay."
Selecting Boron, a boxer, he faced off against Lina, a sword-wielding fighter. The gameplay felt classic—a smooth 16-bit fighter clearly "Inspired" of Street Fighter. Curiously, ultimate moves could be executed with a simple press of the select button.
"Not bad," Zaboru murmured, after a few rounds. "Still, it felt like a bit of a Street Fighter knock-off. However, having the super move mapped to the select button was a nice touch—especially for newer players."
He then switched to Sun Knight 3, a series he genuinely admired. "Time for the good stuff."
In this entry, The 16 bit cutscene happened Sony—the main protagonist—had lost his Sun Knight powers to a mysterious entity called the Primal Evil. Yet he didn't despair. Instead, he ventured to Merarious Mountain to master the Way of Sunless, a fighting style for warriors who had lost their Sun energy. Sony now fought barehanded, unable to use traditional Sun Weapons.
Zaboru smirked. "The main character Sony is a knight and he fights without weapons? Interesting."
He began the game, navigating smooth side-scrolling combat that felt on par with classic 16-bit titles from his previous life. Eventually, Sony faced his first boss: a glowing creature known as Lunar Lizard. Zaboru easily defeated it, earning a reward—an elegant sword called the Moon Weapon.
Then Cutscene happen When Sony took the blade, it reacted with his Way of Sunless, transforming the Blade into the Eclipse Weapon—a fusion of Sun and Moon energy. On-screen, Sony declared, "With this, I might be able to slay the Primal Evil." The fusion allowed him to bypass the creature's immunity to Sun energy. "That damned creature might be immune to Sun energy," he added, "but with the Eclipse power, I just might be able to defeat it." Sony then exited the stage, and the game displayed a new prompt.
The new weapon, titled "Eclipse Vassal Swords," GET!
Zaboru nodded. "Hey this is great storytelling."
He continued to play for hours, collecting upgrades, mastering new weapons, and thoroughly enjoying the game's pacing and design. After over two hours, he finally paused. "Damn, that was good." He truly felt like he was reliving the golden era of 16-bit games—pure nostalgia overload. Sun Knight 3 wasn't just a good game; for Zaboru, it was an absolute must-play, capturing everything he loved about that era.
He set the controller down, made some coffee, grabbed a snack, and smiled.
"Well then," he said, returning to the screen. "Time for Zaboru the gamer to take over." Laughing, he resumed Sun Knight 3, snacking between battles. Zaboru decided that today would be entirely dedicated to playing Titan Drive games. It was officially time for "Zaboru the Gamer" to take over the day.
To be continued
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