Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

Taking advantage of Halloween, the price of the Famicom (Nintendo Entertainment System) has been reduced again, bringing the price down to 3,000 yen.

This price is practically a massacre.

Even people who aren't interested in video games are willing to buy one if they want to fit in with others and because it's really cheap.

The cost of the Famicom was also kept very low, not exceeding 1,000 yen including packaging and shipping. Each game console could still generate a net profit of more than 1,000 yen, which was quite astonishing.

With its low-price strategy, Surui Electronics was unable to compete with it.

They might indeed be able to attract players through a low-price strategy.

However, they cannot offer such a low price as Zhuyouxing, since their game consoles are 16-bit, and the cost cannot be reduced. Lowering the price to around six thousand is already considered the limit.

At the same time, they did not have the mindset of selling machines at a loss and making money from software games, which is common in later generations.

Zhu Youxing, however, had already made a fortune using this method, and his cash flow remained consistently healthy.

At the same time, Zhuyouxing also held a limited-time Halloween event.

During Halloween, Pokémon owners can redeem exclusive Pokémon at the Pokémon Restaurant by completing designated Halloween check-in tasks in the Tokyo area of ​​Japan.

This is a standard practice in Pokémon games, increasing player interaction; it's essentially a real-life version of holiday quests in later online games.

For children, the allure of having exclusive Pokémon is immense.

Some people even travel all the way from Hokkaido just to get a Pokémon, which shows just how popular Pokémon is right now.

In addition to these collection-type activities, there are also some brand-new activities being carried out at several of the originally authorized stores.

On the Friday morning of the first week after Halloween, several shops simultaneously set up several huge promotional posters in front of their doors.

The poster features game scenes of Mario, Tetris, and Metrod.

At the bottom of the screen, it reads: "Seeking the fastest challenger. The winner will receive a seven-day family trip to Hawaii and a prize of ten million yen."

As soon as the promotional posters were put up, a group of people immediately gathered around and discussed them curiously.

Before this, they only considered video games as a form of entertainment.

Just like in movies and TV shows, enjoy the fun that video games bring.

But it's quite surprising to suddenly say that we can gain some real-life benefits from video games.

Film and television dramas need professional actors and professionals to do professional things.

Sports competitions require professional athletes.

What about video games?

"Hello, I'd like to ask about the challenger on this poster. What does it mean?"

Hearing the question, the shop assistant turned around, glanced at the poster, and said, "It's a competition to see who can complete these games in the shortest time. The person who completes each game the fastest in the competition will receive a reward."

People stared wide-eyed, asking incredulously, "All you need to do is beat the game as fast as possible? No other requirements? That's too easy!"

"It can't be that simple," the shop assistant said, shaking his head. "Only the first-place winner gets the biggest prize, which is no less than what athletes get. But to be fair, anyone can participate, and everyone who participates will receive at least a participation prize."

"What is the participation prize?"

"It's just some keychains and the like as prizes. Anyway, if you're interested, you can come and participate tomorrow. This event will last for half a month. During this half month, each person can challenge three times. After half a month, we will announce the strongest player in each game."

Ten million yen is not a small amount in Japan these days, and many people are now eager to try their luck. Even non-gamers are tempted by the prize money and want to give it a shot.

"Tomorrow? What time tomorrow can we officially participate?"

"Look here." The shop assistant pointed helplessly to the bottom of the promotional slogan on the poster.

The Extreme Challenger competition will officially begin at 9:00 AM tomorrow.

As for the exact details of the competition, a more detailed explanation will be provided when the players arrive in person tomorrow.

If I spend ages explaining things here until everyone understands, then the number of people coming out of curiosity tomorrow might decrease by half.

This is a great publicity opportunity, so we should make the most of it.

Satisfied with the answer, the people left, planning to come back tomorrow to check things out again.

Some people who were still confused would linger a little longer, wanting to ask for more details.

A young man in his early twenties was staring blankly at the contents of the poster.

A look of longing appeared in his eyes.

Ten million yen, which is roughly the annual salary of a mid-level employee in a large company, plus a seven-day family trip to Hawaii, is also a very tempting reward.

His name is Tomoe Ohno, and he is what people commonly call an otaku.

He used to be a positive and motivated person, but breaking up with his girlfriend of ten years made him completely depressed and lose interest in everything.

Fortunately, his family was in a relatively good position, and his parents' savings were enough to ensure he had enough to eat and wear. This made him even more depressed until he came into contact with video games. A long-lost feeling of joy began to grow stronger as he played video games.

In his despondency, he found a rare moment of joy in video games.

But he knew that this was not a long-term solution. Happiness could not last forever, and his family's savings were not unlimited. Sometimes, when faced with his parents' slightly disappointed eyes, he could only look away in shame, unable to do anything.

He only finds happiness in games now.

He lost interest in everything else.

Chapter 180 I Want to Make a Change

If you can gain happiness along with tangible material benefits, that sounds really great.

That way, at least the parents won't feel too disappointed, right?

The moment Ohno Yue saw this poster, he was determined to win a prize.

If he could complete a game as quickly as possible, he would receive a reward of ten million yen and a family trip. Everyone would be a player, and he didn't think he was much worse than anyone else.

Having made his decision, he immediately returned home.

There are currently four known games.

Tetris, Metro, Super Mario Bros. 1, and Contra.

Tomoe Ohno really likes all four of these games.

He had played these games many times in the past.

Especially the first Super Mario game.

He jogged all the way home and went straight to his bedroom on the second floor.

"Xiao Jiang, what are you doing, being so clumsy?"

Ohno Tomoe's mother peeked out from the kitchen, watching her son run upstairs with a puzzled look.

Yue Ohno's mother was a typical housewife, while her father was the leader of a renovation construction team.

In Japan, a family like this would be considered upper-middle class, so their overall life is quite good.

At that moment, Yue Ohno's mother was at home preparing dinner.

Normally, if Ohno Tomoe goes out, she won't come back for a long time, but she came back very early today.

Out of curiosity, Ohno Tomoe's mother came to the door of Ohno Tomoe's bedroom on the second floor, gently opened the door and looked inside.

Then she saw Yue Ohno playing a game with great enthusiasm.

Seeing this, Ohno Tomoe's mother sighed softly.

It saddened her that her child had become like this after suffering emotional trauma.

But the child is also a stubborn person. If he cannot get out of his psychological shadow on his own, no one can persuade him.

Previously, her husband had forced her to overcome her psychological trauma, which ultimately drove the child to run away from home and become a homeless person for half a year, refusing to return.

In the end, the two could only try to contact a psychologist for help, and then all that was left was to wait for the child to resolve his inner conflict on his own.

Before video games, the child never smiled; he only seemed to show some guilt when facing his parents.

As a mother, she could certainly feel her child's guilt. She knew that her child must have wanted to do something, but sometimes there was just a knot in her heart that she couldn't get over.

After he started playing video games, he seemed much more normal, and gradually became more willing to talk to people and less withdrawn.

This is at least much better than in the past.

However, a mother would certainly hope that her child could be better off.

……

Tomoe Ohno pulled out a timer from the corner, then opened the Super Mario Bros. 1 game. After taking a deep breath, he officially started, wanting to test his average game completion time.

He had actually tried speedrunning games before, but only casually. Since video games are the only thing that brings him joy now, he is more focused on them.

"Xiao Jiang, come down for dinner!"

"Xiao Jiang?"

"Xiao Jiang! You child, all you want is to eat!"

"Okay, Mom, I understand."

Yu-E's mother came to his bedroom somewhat angrily, and Yu-E then looked away from the TV and glanced at the speedrun times he had recorded.

Super Mario takes 20 minutes. During that time, he carefully studied some ways to save time and speed up the game, such as skipping certain levels. However, he hadn't studied these methods properly before, so he would have to study them carefully later.

It would take me close to two hours, but he felt that some parts could be skipped as well.

And then there's Contra, whose speed hovers around half an hour.

Finally, there's Tetris. He can only maintain a speed of level 13, which is his limit, but he feels that if he tries harder, he should be able to maintain a speed of level 14 for a while.

Thinking this to myself, I found myself sitting down at the table to eat.

Throughout the meal, he was seriously thinking about some key points for quick mastery.

In the past, he was actually a very good person at summarizing, and now he can use that knowledge to summarize his experience in speedrunning video games.

"Xiao Jiang, you seem a little distracted. Is something wrong?"

Ono Tomoe's mother asked her child with great concern.

Ohno Tomoe finally came to his senses. He looked up at his mother and then realized that his father had returned at some point.

"Eat properly when you're eating, and don't be so absent-minded."