GAMENOVA Is Open for Business

GAMENOVA (Nova Games)

The two of them struggled to hang several large illuminated letters on the wall, then switched on the power.

"Game Nova..." Sam murmured as he read the words, his eyes growing brighter.

"Jesse-no, Lin! This is a great name!"

Although he had helped buy the entire set of illuminated letters, seeing the whole shop name light up on the wall still filled him with excitement he could hardly contain.

It was born in a violent explosion, its brightness surging until it suddenly became dazzling.

It was born atop the glorious funeral of an aging star, preparing the way for a newborn star.

That was precisely what Sam hoped for from Lin Lixin.

Lin Lixin patted Sam on the shoulder. Although his tone was calm, the undisguised delight on his face betrayed him.

"All right, if you've looked your fill, get inside and get to work. We've got plenty to do today."

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Saturday, clear skies.

Early that morning, the faintest streak of white had just brushed the horizon.

A furtive figure darted across the silent street, creeping toward Nova Games.

Vivian arrived right on time, carrying a bag of bread and soda.

But when she reached the entrance to Nova Games, she was dumbfounded.

More than a dozen incredibly familiar-looking players stood in a long line, chatting and laughing together.

They were no less well-equipped than Vivian. Someone had even brought a picnic blanket and spread it on the ground so a few friends who hit it off could sit cross-legged together.

There were a few unfamiliar faces Vivian had never seen before, clearly friends called over by those hooked players.

Someone in the line recognized Vivian and greeted her with a smile.

"Oh, Miss Vivian, if you're still planning to grab first place, you'll have to come a few hours earlier."

"Ha! She thought we'd still wait until noon to show up like last week!"

Vivian looked at the long line and gritted her teeth. "You bunch of unchivalrous jerks! Haven't you ever heard of ladies first?"

"Sorry, I believe in first come, first served."

"Oh, give me a break. Just last month I heard you yelling that 'gaming is dead.'"

"That was before. Their game is different, seriously. Oh, you'll understand once you've played it."

Watching them descend into another babbling argument, Vivian completely deflated and silently joined the end of the line.

An hour later, a long line had formed behind her too.

Most of them were familiar faces, people she had seen at the trial session that day.

As for the remaining strangers, Vivian could tell at a glance that they had to be friends dragged along against their will.

Their expressions alone made the distinction clear.

The "veterans" who had come to line up of their own accord were all positively glowing. Even after standing outside for hours, they showed not the slightest boredom. In fact, they grew more excited as time passed.

The friends who had been dragged along, however, were in an entirely different state, as sharply divided from them as two distinct streams.

On a precious weekend, they had been hauled out of bed before dawn to stand in a long line outside this old arcade that looked utterly dilapidated!

A few of them could no longer hold out and had already sat down on the ground to doze, unable to muster the slightest energy.

"I swear, Mike, if that 'masterpiece' you mentioned turns out to be more of your bullshit, I'm going to kill you. Damn it, it's only seven!"

"Trust me, Neil. When have I ever lied to you, buddy?"

"Every time! Mike, every single time! Remember when you dragged me out of bed before four to rush out and buy E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial? In case you've forgotten, let me remind you: I bought three copies! Three!"

By the time Lin Lixin and Sam had washed, dressed, and left their apartment, the line across the street had almost reached their apartment entrance.

Not daring to delay, the two made their way through the cheers and opened the arcade doors.

This was the day Lin Lixin gained the deepest understanding of the expression "streaming in like fish" in his entire life.

The players who had waited all morning practically surged into the shop, packing it so tightly that not a drop of water could have passed through.

Their first targets were naturally the three Tetris machines in the center.

After all that time spent getting things ready, Lin Lixin and Sam had increased the number of Tetris machines to three, a 200% increase.

But even that could not come close to accommodating the players' enthusiasm.

Once the initial scramble ended, they quickly split into three groups, each lining up for one machine.

As for the other machines in the shop, they could not even be bothered to glance at them.

Neil, who had been dragged there by his friend, was repeatedly knocked around in the crowd before finally managing to extricate himself.

"Unbelievable. What a bunch of lunatics!"

After being suckered into buying E.T., Neil hated these hot-selling products more than anything else.

Video games are dead.

After he had played the games Atari released that Christmas, that thought had been branded firmly into his mind.

Even if arcades were the last unspoiled haven, Neil was no longer willing to look kindly on video games.

If Mike had not insisted on dragging him along, he would never have come to a place like this.

He looked at Mike standing eagerly in line and could not bear to spoil his fun, so he sighed silently and surveyed the arcade's other machines.

"My God, did they pick all these machines out of a junkyard?"

A casual glance at a Pac-Man machine told him clearly from the condition of its screen that these machines had been around for years.

Could a shop that pinched pennies by buying even its arcade machines secondhand really get hold of fun new machines that even he had never heard of?

His gaze settled on a Xevious machine. Its screen seemed to be in the best condition of the lot.

"Oh well, I'm here already. Might as well play a little."

Neil naturally knew Xevious, the forefather of scrolling shoot-'em-ups, and had even been thoroughly addicted to it for a time.

But when he approached the machine, he saw that the cabinet painted with Xevious artwork was not running the Xevious he wanted to play at all.

Instead, it was running a game he had never even heard of.

1942

"Huh?"

Neil paused, then simply fished out a coin and dropped it in.

Before he could figure out the controls, a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder.

"Hey, buddy, want to play co-op?"

Neil turned his head. Something he could not understand kept blazing from Sam's eyes.

Those eyes were like those of a warrior who still held fast to his convictions after undergoing the baptism of war.

"Uh... sure, but this is my first time playing."

Behind the counter, Lin Lixin reclined in a lounge chair, leisurely taking stock of the current situation.

He had already received a reply regarding copyright protection for Tetris, so he could start preparing for production and sales over the next couple of days.

The application for 1942 had also been submitted, and he reckoned it would only take another few days.

He closed his eyes and summoned the system panel.

He had been busy since yesterday, and still had a skill gift pack he had not opened.