episode_0001

The first thing I did after Super Plumber Brothers became a hit was an interview with a gaming webzine that was barely hanging on.

“Ah~ Nice to meet you, teacher!”

The first impression of reporter Sangho Yoo from “GameHub”, the only game webzine left in Korea, was none other than [sad].

As soon as we sat down at the teahouse and started talking without seeing a single lie, our internal intimacy level immediately exceeded 100.

“Actually, since the domestic arcade version has gone downhill, I was considering shutting it down because I had no more use for it. Haha! If it weren’t for you, I would have been in big trouble!”

“That… It’s a bit…to call me teacher…”

“Ahahaha! You look like a high school student because you’re wearing a school uniform, but isn’t it a bit much to call you teacher? By the way, I never imagined you’d be a woman!”

“How about you speak more comfortably…?”

“When doing interviews like this, I like and feel comfortable using formal language. You could call it professionalism!”

He is a very energetic person.

It’s not that loud, but it’s loud enough to hurt your ears.

“Well, I guess I should get to the main point! Even though we have plenty of time, I have a lot of questions.”

As he said, the questions seemed endless.

Starting with simple personal information (most of which I didn’t answer) to the most core questions, there were also some questions that even I found a bit embarrassing.

Q. What prompted you to create the game?

a. The existing games were not fun. Then I came to the idea that if there was nothing fun, I could make it myself. Thinking back now, I wonder what kind of confidence that was (laughs)

Q. How did you study programming?

a. I learned it by looking at the original book directly. Now, just looking at the cover gives me a headache.

Q. What is the secret behind the small capacity that is the main reason for the hit?

a. I reused the same image by changing only the color. If you look closely, you will see that the clouds and grass in the background have the same shape. In addition, I divided the image into tiles… (omitted)

Q. What are your goals for the future?

a. I want to change the paradigm of games. I would say that my goal is to create games that anyone can enjoy easily and enjoyably, going beyond the boring, undeveloped classic board games.

***

My interview was posted on the webzine the next day and caused quite a stir. This was largely due to my mysticism, which left little information about me and my games.

Of course, most of the information except for the technical part that is mentioned there is just nonsense. It’s a bit much to say that I learned it while working in my previous life…

As a result, the nickname FoxC became quite famous within Mytel. It was to the point where I had a feeling that if I went to a regular meeting, I would just sign and come back.

The programming club bulletin board was flooded with embarrassing posts all day long for me, a modern person.

-I realized that I had never played a proper game.

-The best output in the programming club is Foxy.

-We need to redefine the word game.

…It’s not like it’s some kind of surprise worship. I feel a little strange.

By the way, Mario’s expiration date is almost here.

It’s time to quickly create the next game.

It’ll soon be 93, so if it were true, the game that marked the beginning of FPS, “that game”, should have appeared, but if something like that were to come out at a time when the beauty of 2D had not yet been known, there’s a chance that 2D would die out.

As someone who created a subculture-style gacha game featuring pretty girls, this is something I cannot tolerate.

A game that hasn’t been released yet, isn’t violent, is easy for anyone to play, and is definitely guaranteed to be fun…

“Come to think of it… That must have been in the late 80s… I guess it hasn’t come out yet.”

Here comes the game that makes chiptune music flow out of your mouth just by listening to it, and smells like Russian vodka.

Once you’ve decided to make one, the thing to do is simple: grab your computer and code as much as you can before your passion dies down.

I have some of the code in my head thanks to the experience of porting outrageous classic games whenever I was bored during my undergraduate days in my previous life. At the time, my roommate called me a crazy person, but who knew it would help me this much?

However, development did not go smoothly. When the code was halfway completed, shocking news came.

“Do you all know that the college entrance exam is just around the corner?”

The high school’s most annoying flower, the college entrance exam… no, the scholastic ability test, has arrived. For the college entrance exam generation, it feels like the generation gap is right before our eyes.

I thought it would be easy because it was something I studied before, but it wasn’t like that. Isn’t it a cliché that you get smarter and can easily get through studying because of the privilege of being a reincarnated person? It’s a little unfair.

Some may ask, why study and go to college if you are just going to make games anyway?

The reason is simple. Since he is from an orphanage and has nothing in his hands, it is clear that he will not have the opportunity to touch a computer once he finishes his education with a high school diploma.

In the end, I postponed coding until after the college entrance exam and devoted myself to studying. I feel sorry for those who are waiting for my new work, but they will have to wait a little longer.

And then, on the long-awaited college entrance exam day, my brain went blank and just went blank.

After that, I continued coding for the remaining two months until graduation and succeeded in completing the game a week before graduation.

A Russian-style cathedral made of dots and four-block blocks that keep falling.

A thumping Russian folk song-style music that is the epitome of chiptune.

A strange addiction that you can’t get out of once you start.

[Tetris] appeared in the world.

***

“Huh? Foxy uploaded another game.”

The man’s hands move busily and the sound of typing on the keyboard echoes throughout the room.

A man who, after spending dozens of minutes downloading the file after seeing an article titled [A new game is released], is excitedly opening the game that has finally been downloaded.

After learning the game rules and controls written in the text during the dozens of minutes of downloading, the man started rolling his head and rolling the falling blocks as soon as he started playing the game.

But the game doesn’t work out the way you want it to. It doesn’t fit in as you think and disappear.

Still, the man didn’t quit the game. The reason was simple. It wasn’t boring. The content of the game would have clearly made him cry out, “What a fucking game!” But instead of saying such things, the man was laughing out loud.

When the game is over, press play again and struggle to update your score. As you go, your high score will increase and your survival time will increase.

A sense of accomplishment. That feeling he had given up on ever feeling again was enveloping him once again.

He was growing and achieving. Every time his final score was updated and increased, a thrilling electric current flowed through his body and his brain continued to release dopamine.

That day, the man stayed up all night with his computer.

But the sense of accomplishment and improvement he gained in exchange for sacrificing sleep pushed him to step outside once again.

The next day his life was turned upside down forever.

***

Most popular post recently – [Programming Club Winter Meeting to be held.]

The schedule for Jeongmo, the flower of PC communication, has been set.

Up until now, I haven’t had time to go to meetings because I’ve been coding and studying at the same time, but it’s time to break the mystique (semi-mandatory) and make my face known.

Basically, my output is not bad. Rather, it is beyond the level of not bad, and it is at a level that most people would say is pretty. It is not that I was able to survive the bullies that were rampant in the 90s high school where only the strong survived, even though I was stuck in the computer room for no reason.

I was a bit skinny and had a lot of minor ailments, but I could actually replace it with the moe factor of being sickly. That was my appearance objectively. On top of that, I had the skills and creativity to create a big wave in the programming club. Anyone could see that I was a talent with enough star qualities.

My plan was this: Based on the star power I mentioned above, I wanted to grow my influence and advance into the public domain, while at the same time bringing the culture of gaming into the public domain.

The starting point is the meeting.

So I went to Seoul.

***

When I arrived in front of Seoul Station, the whole place was packed with people. However, thanks to the fact that I saw a lot of people gathered in front of a sign that clearly said “Programming Club,” I was able to join on time.

“Oh! Are you a member of the club?”

“Welcome. There are so many people here this time. What’s going on”

“There was mackerel in our club too? You’re even a woman? What’s your nickname?”

Why are you all so popular? I thought everyone who was in a programming club on Mytel, a PC communication service, would be a bunch of nerds, but it’s a little bit, a lot different from what I thought. These swindlers…

In fact, the possibility that he is a hikikomori nerd who stays home and only looks at the display has already disappeared from the point of suggesting and attending the gathering…

“That… My name is FoxC, who uploaded a new work this time… Nice to meet you…”

My voice was spit out into the world, timidly and without confidence, with the tail of my words trailing off. And at that moment, the surroundings became quiet in an instant.

And then after a few seconds, there was no sudden, intense reaction as if time had turned back…

“Hey~ Even if it’s mackerel, impersonating it is a bit…”

The cynical response that it is a fraud is coming back. It is not that I do not understand. Even if I were to say that the person who created something close to a new civilization from scratch was a high school girl, I would tell them not to make fun of me.

By the way, how should I explain this… If this continues, it is clear that I will have to have a Q&A session reminiscent of a National Assembly hearing.

“Ah, Foxy! Long time no see!”

And then there’s a familiar voice from behind. It’s Yoo Sang-ho, who interviewed me last time.

“Oh my~! If you’re coming, tell me first! No one will recognize me, haha!”

Oh, please explain on Witness 1’s behalf.

As Mr. Yoo Sang-ho continued his explanation, the atmosphere gradually relaxed, and when he finished his explanation, everyone was looking at me with admiration.

Then a man came out holding a piece of paper and a pen.

“Ugh… If you don’t mind, could you sign…”

I knew this would happen.

The meeting started long after lunchtime due to an unexpected autograph session.