A baseball player's dream

These programmers were exposed to game development for the first time in their lives.

They were also introduced to a whole new field by Tsukino Aya, understanding for the first time that programs could be written in this way.

They had written similar program code before, but at that time, they had no concept that this was actually for making games.

It wasn't until Tsukino Aya appeared that their mindset changed.

Under Tsukino Aya's guidance, they created their first game in their lifetime.

When the baseball player could swing the baseball bat on the screen for the first time.

When the character could pitch according to the control of the joystick, every participant was quite happy.

This was something they created themselves; they essentially created a baseball world in electronic information.

Although it was still rough, the pixelated graphics were quite crude, but it was still exciting.

Some people even got so excited that they couldn't sleep at night.

Some would also become addicted to their own created game world.

This baseball game could only be considered barely interesting, simply capitalizing on Japan's baseball craze. If someone wasn't interested in baseball, they definitely wouldn't be interested in this game. It belonged to a very specific target audience.

But that was already enough.

Japan's enthusiasm for baseball could easily compensate for some flaws in gameplay.

However, no matter how much these programmers liked the game, they would still worry that it wouldn't sell well on the eve of its official release.

They didn't need fifty or sixty thousand copies, just twenty or thirty thousand... No, that's too much. Their own game couldn't possibly sell that many; they weren't the president of Gamestar making high-quality games. Just being able to sell ten thousand copies would be enough.

If they could sell ten thousand copies and be popular, they would feel very accomplished.

Even the usually calm Tsukino Aya couldn't help but feel nervous.

She, who already slept very little, hadn't slept for several days in a row, her eyes fixed on the computer screen at home.

Five screens were frantically refreshing with the latest data.

She simply began to use her computer skills to act as a troll online, posting on various forums promoting the Famicom and the latest release of Super Baseball Championship.

Time quickly came to the release day.

Today was Thursday, a day when most adults worked and children went to school.

But at this moment, there were many children queuing up in front of many shops, some holding a bunch of coins of 150 yen each, while others simply hugged their piggy banks, excitement sparkling in their eyes.

They vowed to buy Super Baseball Championship as soon as possible and then experience the feeling of being on the baseball field.

Among them, there were also many adults.

Some of them even skipped work to come and queue up to buy Super Baseball Championship.

In addition to these people, there were also some otakus who hadn't left their homes for several days. For the latest game, they willingly came out to queue up for it.

One of the people queuing up was newspaper editor Tanaka.

This time, it wasn't his son Tanaka who asked him to come and buy the game; he came on his own initiative.

In fact, he had always had a dream in his heart.

That was to become a baseball player.

Since childhood, he had been influenced by baseball, and by the time he was in junior high school, he was already a key player on the school's baseball team.

At that time, with his performance in school baseball, he was almost selected to become a professional baseball player.

But by a twist of fate, he had an accident shortly after passing the selection, injuring his knee and leaving permanent sequelae.

As a result, he missed the opportunity to become a professional baseball player.

This became a regret in his life.

Even now, he occasionally reminisced about the past.

But as he grew older and had children, this became a completely sealed memory.

Originally, his mood would gradually calm down over time, and he wouldn't have any thoughts about baseball anymore.

However, when he saw the advertisement for Super Baseball Championship posted on the street, his calm heart was once again stirred.

'In the game, become a professional baseball player, overcome obstacles in the baseball league, and achieve the highest honor in the country.'

'You may have regrets, you may have fantasized about becoming a professional baseball player.'

'Then Super Baseball Championship will fulfill your wishes, giving you the opportunity to become a professional baseball player in a video game!'

'Giving you a dream of being a baseball player.'

It could be said that this advertisement deeply touched his long-sealed memory.

Once again, his fond memories of baseball were awakened.

So, no matter what, he had to buy Super Baseball Championship.

Among the people queuing up, there were many who felt the same as Tanaka.

Experiencing the feeling of being a professional baseball player in a game might be a bit forced, but it was still enough to make people willing to open their wallets to buy it.

And it wasn't even that expensive.

Saving the money for a drink would be enough to buy the game, which was quite cost-effective.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the doors of the shop slowly opened, and the people queuing up immediately became excited; they couldn't wait any longer.

They had to buy Super Baseball Championship as soon as possible.

Tanaka was also feeling the same way.

He looked eagerly at the door of the shop, and then, with sharp eyes, he saw a familiar figure.

His son, Tanaka.

His son was even closer to the front of the line than himself!

What's going on? Isn't it supposed to be a school day today?

He suddenly remembered that Tanaka had gotten up much earlier than usual today, and he hadn't even had breakfast before running out, saying he was going to school.

So, he came here early to buy the game?

You little rascal! Wait until we get home, and I'll spank you!

But then again, this little rascal managed to get ahead of me in line, so he could buy the game earlier than me.

So he immediately walked out of the line and came to Tanaka's side.

"You little rascal, how dare you skip school!"

Tanaka looked angrily.

Tanaka, who had been staring ahead in line, suddenly trembled with fear and turned his head in shock, only to find his father.

"Dad... Dad?! What are you doing here?!"

"I... of course, I saw that you were acting strange today, so I followed you over. I didn't expect you to skip school!"

Tanaka felt very frustrated; he didn't expect to run into his father here by such bad luck.

If he had known, he should have run farther away and queued up at another selling location.

But at the time, he thought that running farther away might mean queuing up for even longer, but he didn't expect to encounter his father here, which was simply extremely unlucky!

"Dad... let me explain. Today..."

"Wait until we get home, and I'll deal with you. Right now, you just wait in line obediently, buy the stuff, and come home with me!"

Tanaka: "???"

He almost thought he had misheard.