落とし穴１０４堀：年末戦争INゲーム (Part1)
The Pitfall 104 Dig: Year-End War IN Game
Year-End War IN Game
Side: Yuki
Well, everyone is busy at the end of the year.
Cleaning, New Year's Eve, finishing work before that, preparing for New Year's celebrations.
It's utter chaos.
And this chaos extends to games as well.
There's what's called the year-end sales season in the business world.
It's a sales method where companies release flagship products at the end of the year, targeting people whose wallets are a little looser in preparation for the holidays.
As mentioned, games are also part of this year-end sales season, and it's common for major titles to be released in concentrated bursts at year's end.
Thanks to this, whether it's jingle bells or single bells, there's no shortage of things to do at the end of the year.
Rather, many people become so engrossed in the games released at year's end that they can't focus on anything else.
For online games, it's standard practice to hold limited-time events during Christmas and New Year's to encourage spending and attract players.
Of course, that's all in modern Japan.
Even though this world has modernized to some extent, video games aren't exactly widespread in Weed.
However, for a certain group of people, it had caused a significant incident.
It happened on a certain day, about half a month before the end of the year.
"What? Comet hasn't come out of her lab?"
"Yes."
As I was, as usual... no, as I was grappling with the mountain of paperwork that had increased with the approaching year-end, the Holy Maiden of the Hifii Holy Kingdom visited me.
The reason for her visit was as stated: Comet hadn't emerged from her laboratory.
Hifii often works with Comet and looks after her, but she hadn't seen her for a while.
"No, isn't she just busy? She has research on the new continent to do."
Comet, along with Zargis, is exceptionally talented as a researcher.
And like many researchers of her kind, she has a tendency to get so absorbed that she forgets to eat for three days at a time. I thought it was probably something like that this time, but Hifii's expression was unusually grim.
"...Did something happen? Is it something you can't talk about?"
"...It's a family embarrassment, but actually, Comet has been... she's been playing her portable game so much lately that I told her off a bit, and now she's locked herself in her lab."
...A game?
She got scolded for playing too much and is now confined to her own space?
"Is she a child?"
"I think so too, but maybe the timing of when I told her off was bad..."
"Don't touch it!! I'm going to become a Pokémon Master!! I'll be number one in ranked battles!!"
"And so I got angry."
Ah, right. A version update came out in November.
She was really into it, huh?
I admit, I was the one who recommended Pokémon to her.
But reaching the top in ranked battles... that seems impossible, doesn't it?
No, I admit it was wrong of me and Taiki to beat Comet up.
But if you're challenged, you have to give it your all, right?
After that, she became completely absorbed in Pokémon.
"Still, she should have the sense to know when it's okay to play and when it's not."
"Yes. She used to be like that, but lately she even brings her game with her during meal times..."
"No, I think it's perfectly reasonable to scold her for that."
In some strict households, they wouldn't just confiscate the game; they'd break it.
"Ah, well. If I just caution her, she stops immediately. But after meals, she opens it up again, and when I peeked at the screen thinking she was preparing for another match..."
"You peeked?"
"She was just repeatedly turning the game on and off."
"Turning it on and off?"
"Yes. Honestly, I was too scared to ask what she was doing, and I thought maybe she was possessed by some kind of ghost..."
...A goddess is afraid of ghosts. Well, I already knew that from the previous haunted house incident, but I'm starting to get the picture.
"So, when a battle scene comes up, she just turns it off quickly?"
"Ah, yes. For some reason, she keeps repeating that in a specific monster encounter area. If it were just once, fine, but then I noticed she'd switched to other monsters, and she just kept doing it endlessly..."
...No, she's probably "shiny hunting." Probably looking for a "shiny" Pokémon.
She's in the advanced ranks among the "addicts."
Anyone who didn't know what she was doing would think she'd gone mad.
And then, realizing Hifii saw her like that, she fled to her lab.
Hifii, who's terrible with machines, touched it, and she missed a shiny Pokémon once.
After that, Comet was practically dead for a while.
Well, at the time, she wasn't that attached to shiny Pokémon, so she recovered in a few days.
"Anyway, I understand now. I'll go check on her, so you can relax, Hifii."
"Yes. Thank you."
If I just told Hifii that she was doing shiny hunting, she might break the game console.
And Comet would probably scream and collapse.
To someone who doesn't understand its value, a game is just a toy.
Even the Pokémon they've raised themselves are just part of the toy collection.
But there's sentiment involved. Don't underestimate them just because they're from a game.
It's precisely because it's a game that people get serious!
Anyway, setting that aside, for the sake of maintaining smooth interpersonal relationships, I decided to pay Comet a visit.
"Yo."
"Oh? Yuki, is it? Did you have an appointment?"
As I said that and entered the lab, Zargis was there, seemingly on a break, relaxing with a cup of coffee.
And in his hand, he held the game in question.
"You play games?"
"No, we've played together a few times, haven't we? Morino Kart, Life Experience Game, Bomb Man, and so on."
"Ah, those. But were you that interested? That's a portable game console, isn't it?"
"Ah, well, I wasn't that interested back then, but I've been enjoying it lately. Battles are quite deep, you know. RPGs are also fun. Ah, this Pokémon was in the Pokémon genre, but..."
"You've gotten pretty deeply involved without even realizing it."
"I never thought I'd have a hobby outside of research, so I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Ah, but that's beside the point. Comet keeps bragging every time she finds a shiny Pokémon, which is annoying. Could you do something about it? And give me a shiny Pokémon too."
"I came here to deal with Comet, so I understand that. But I'm not giving you any shinies. You'll have to spend your own time and find them yourself. Do you know how many hours it takes to find one shiny Pokémon?"
"...Statistically, it's good if you find one after tens of hours, right?"
"Knowing that, you still want me to hand one over? Zargis, you've gotten bold!"
Saying that, I put him in a headlock.
Demanding a shiny Pokémon that I poured my heart and soul into obtaining? This guy must want to die.
"W-wait a minute!! I have a proper exchange prepared!!"
"Oh? If you're demanding a shiny, you must have a suitable exchange, right? Just to be clear, I've already collected all the legendary Pokémon. And at least five of each."
"That's a lot!! And the exchange isn't about trading legendary Pokémon like that."
"Hmm? You mean an exchange for something outside the game? That's against the rules."
I dislike the practice, common in online games, of trading rare items for real money.
Most places have regulations against it.
However, such behavior never truly disappears.
I was tempted once in the past.
"No, I've encountered one or two shinies myself and caught them, but they're not for competitive battling. So..."
"Ahhh. You're offering those non-competitive shinies in exchange for competitive ones?"
"Yes."