In the Old Dixie Restaurant, Kobayashi Tetsu placed a bowl of neatly arranged pork cutlet rice in front of Ohba Noriyoshi.
"Try it."
Kobayashi Tetsu wiped his hands casually on his apron. "I don't usually cook for people myself."
Ohba Noriyoshi lowered his head, then suddenly looked up.
He didn't eat pork cutlets!
It wasn't because Ohba Noriyoshi had any particular religious beliefs; in fact, he didn't believe in any such religions.
Ohba Noriyoshi didn't eat pork cutlets because this kind of food lacked class; it seemed particularly low-end. With such high calories, it looked like the kind of meal that only the "three-lows" who couldn't afford a real meal would like!
Low education, low income, low class!
High-end people should eat steak!
Steak with red wine, paired with a perfectly prepared portion of meat sauce spaghetti—that was class.
What the hell was a pork cutlet? Even dogs wouldn't eat it! He wasn't a prisoner in jail!
But facing Kobayashi Tetsu, Ohba Noriyoshi still wore a formulaic, professional smile.
"Thank you, President!"
Then, he struggled to swallow a piece of the pork cutlet.
"It's delicious." Ohba Noriyoshi gave a thumbs up.
However, he was already cursing inside.
The texture really wasn't good! Fried food was just low-end! This kind of low-quality pleasure was something only people without class would enjoy!
Kobayashi Tetsu turned a blind eye to it. After eating and drinking his fill, he gave Noriyoshi Ohba a few final instructions, and the two parted ways.
Once Ohba had left, Kobayashi Tetsu's expression instantly tightened.
To not even appreciate a pork cutlet bowl personally made by the president—this was no ordinary spy. Heavy measures would have to be taken!
"It seems he's not someone who can be won over. How boring. In that case, there's no need to keep you around."
Sakura Wars was good, and Kobayashi Tetsu quite liked it too, but since he knew the creative concept behind it and had his own development team, he didn't necessarily need Hiroi or Noriyoshi Ohba.
After thinking it over for a moment, Kobayashi Tetsu decided to keep Ohba for a few more days.
He would wait for a suitable opportunity to send him straight back to Sega!
After a brief week of closed beta testing and fixing a portion of the bugs, Red Fortress was officially released.
There were no accompanying animations, and no fanfare in the promotion. Although it was a work overseen by Kobayashi Tetsu, on the whole, it could still only be considered a small-scale game. Aside from the level design being as ingenious as possible, the overall progression was not very long.
And the reason Kobayashi Tetsu didn't make a big splash was simple: because this game only bore a single title.
Kobayashi Tetsu's comeback project!
In this regard, Kobayashi Tetsu and Hideo Kojima shared a common language.
On the day of the game's release, Kobayashi Tetsu went to an offline demo store.
He had promised in the newspaper beforehand that whoever managed to find the elements for the hidden ending and submitted them to Kadokawa Game Magazine would be treated by Kobayashi Tetsu himself to a one-day tour of Atlas, along with a tonkatsu rice bowl personally prepared by President Kobayashi.
If no player actually discovered the hidden route, that didn't matter either; Kobayashi Tetsu had a backup plan.
He would simply send the walkthrough to Koyakawa and have her play it.
"But if possible, I really hope a genuine player discovers the hidden route."
With a serious expression, Kobayashi Tetsu walked into the demo store.
As the first offline demo store for Atlas, the one in Akihabara was also the only one that was profitable. There were quite a few players in the store at the moment, and Kobayashi Tetsu roughly estimated that about a third of them were playing Red Fortress.
After all, it was a newly released game, so naturally, people wanted to try it out.
Kobayashi Tetsu observed for a while, picked a player who looked like they were really bad at the game, and leaned in to greet them from behind.
"Hey buddy, what game is this you're playing?"
"You've got to be kidding me, you don't know Jackal?" The arcade gamer named "Shunsuke," without turning his head, remained focused on maneuvering his jeep to take hits. He took advantage of the brief moment after getting killed and restarting the level to reply to Kobayashi Tetsu, "This is the very first game developed by that legendary president, 'Kobayashi Tetsu,' in two years!"
As he spoke, Shunsuke died again, leaving even Kobayashi Tetsu in awe.
This level of skill was practically on par with Hideo Kojima.
"Kobayashi Tetsu." Kobayashi Tetsu feigned contemplation. "Who's that? What does he do?"
The remark left Shunsuke with a look of pure disbelief. "You don't know Kobayashi Tetsu, yet you come to an arcade? He's the president of Atlas! A lot of really fun games were made by him! But ever since Atlas released Sonic, President Kobayashi hasn't personally made a game for two years. Word is, this is his comeback game after two years, so even if it's terrible, I have to play it."
Kobayashi Tetsu asked, "So, is the game terrible?"
Shunsuke fell into deep thought this time.
Was the game terrible? That was actually a rather subjective assessment.
In the end, he shook his head. "I think it's pretty good, it's just a bit difficult."
Kobayashi Tetsu nodded in understanding and casually took the controller from the other man's hands.
"Here, let me give it a try."
Shunsuke turned his head in astonishment, looking at Kobayashi Tetsu.
Kobayashi Tetsu adjusted the brim of his baseball cap and raised a finger to his lips in a shushing gesture.
Keep it down, be low-key! Just share these kinds of things privately; there's no need to go around telling everyone he's Kobayashi Tetsu.
Shunsuke looked at Kobayashi Tetsu, his fists clenching instantly.
Who are you! Grabbing my controller the moment you walk up! Don't think I won't punch you!
Kobayashi Tetsu operated it casually, explaining as he played: "Actually, Jackal isn't that hard. The jeep has high mobility and can dodge bullets most of the time. Plus, the machine gun ammo is infinite, so you can just hold down the fire button and kill enemies by adjusting your movement path; it's still quite easy to do."
Angry as he was, Shunsuke was still a bit of an eye-opener by Kobayashi Tetsu's explanation, to the point where he couldn't even bring himself to punch him.
As Kobayashi Tetsu played and explained, Shunsuke became somewhat immersed.
He stared at the screen, lost in thought, and a moment later, a flash of realization suddenly struck him, just like in Detective Conan.
Shunsuke turned his head sharply and looked at Kobayashi Tetsu.
Familiar!
That handsome appearance, and the style of dress!
Gasp!
Shunsuke let out a sharp intake of breath at the sight of the Willys Jeep.
An idol!
Kobayashi Tetsu waved his hand casually.
"Low profile, keep it low profile. What's your name?"
"Shunsuke," Shunsuke introduced himself. "Futang Shunsuke! My name is Futang Shunsuke. Um, President Kobayashi, is it true that if you find the hidden route, you can visit Atlas?"
Kobayashi Tetsu, of course, nodded.
It was true, truer than a South China tiger.
"You can feel free to try. The hidden route isn't hard to find, and there are corresponding hints in the game; it just requires a bit of critical thinking. As for the game itself, you can remember the techniques I mentioned: move more, shoot more, and trust the mobility of the Jeep."
Futang Shunsuke nodded repeatedly.
What he said was so right!
Regardless of what Kobayashi Tetsu was actually saying, for him, as long as it was Kobayashi Tetsu saying it, he would firmly support it!
This was the professional standard of a dedicated gamer!
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