Rina is out shopping for new Retro Games for her collection. She came upon a small second-hand thrift store she had never seen before. She decided to check if they have any for sale.
She greets the store owner and asks if she sells any old video games in her store. The owner says that she only carries donated furniture to sell, but there is one game that she has. It was a loose Famlicon game that belonged to her first son. She walks behind the cashier counter and pulls it out from a small storage box. She begins to look at it sadly. Perhaps she is reminiscing about her son, Rina thinks. Rina begins to feel a bit guilty for asking her. The store owner quickly regains her composure, smiles, and hands it to Rina. Its cover is completely missing and there was dust on the contacts. There is no telling what this game is. The store owner can see that Rina is a connoisseur, so she decides to gift it to her. Rina smiles and accepts it. She thanks the store owner for her generosity and promises to take good care of it. The store owner smiles and appreciates her. Rina then leaves the store and heads home to try it out.
Hoping it’s a Rare game, she brings out her repair kit for her Famlicon cartridges and begins to clean the contacts. Meanwhile, Mel is cooking dinner. She calls out to Rina to tell her it’s almost ready. It’s their favorite meal, Cabbage Soup with mixed vegetables and rice, and sweet warm honey buns for dessert! Rina replies that she’ll be in the living room trying their new game.
Mel turns off the stove and washes up for dinner. She walks into their living room to see Rina putting the new game into their Famlicon console setup. Seeing how excited Rina is, she decides to sit next to her on the couch as the game boots up.
The title screen flashes. Evil-sounding music plays. “Reign of the Demon King” is the name of the game. Rina enthusiastically cheers that the game actually works. Mel smiles to see her best friend happy. It’s warming to know little things like this bring joy to their humble lives. They don’t have this game in their collection, and it’s a game they’ve never heard of before...
The intro sequence begins to play as they watch on their large TV screen. In 8-bit graphics, the story is told by text and sprites: Long ago, a powerful warrior was summoned from another world to vanquish the evil Demon King. After many trials and battles, the Demon King was defeated, then banished to the Dark Realm. The lone warrior hero decided to not return to his home world. He had fallen in love with the Princess. He'd married her. And when at age, became the King of the kingdom that summoned him. All the seven kingdoms of the world lived in peace and prosperity.
On one tragic day, the great hero died of an illness, caused by a wicked curse of vengeance. Leaving behind his wife, the Queen, and his two young children. With the death of the hero, the Demon King was able to return from the Dark Realm. With his massive army of Orcs, Monsters and Demons, he conquers all the kingdoms of the world. Only the great hero’s kingdom remained. The denizens of the hero's kingdom are now frantically evacuating, before the Demon King's army inevitably arrives.
The son of the great hero, a child Prince named Daiki, was reading a magical spell out loud from a book with his Queen mother. They are attempting to summon new heroes to save them, but with no avail. His mother, while holding his toddler sister, expresses to not give up. This book is their salvation. It will summon new heroes to save them all in their darkest hour, just like she summoned his father long ago. The castle’s alarm bell abruptly rang loudly into the air. The army of the Demon King had finally arrived and immediately began their attack.
Daiki’s mother quickly packs a sack with a corked water jug and wrapped bread rations. She puts a small bottle filled with a potion into a small pouch, and ties it to a rope neckless. She then ties the neckless onto Daiki's neck and tucks it under his robe. She tells him, if ever you feel you are out of energy and cannot continue, this Rare Elixir will fully restore you. Hope you will never need to drink it. She then hugs Daiki with tears dripping down her eyes. I love you, my son, she says. I need you to be brave, just like your heroic farther. You need to run away. As fast and far away as you possibly can. Do not stop and don’t look back. You can never let the Demon King have the magical book.
Daiki, scared and dripping tears, does as his mother tells him. She ties the sack of rations behind his back and hands him the magic book. Daiki kisses his sister goodbye on her forehead and promises both that he will not fail them.
Mel and Rina look at each other.
This story is really in-depth for an old Famlicon game, says Mel.
Daiki runs out of his castle holding the book firmly against his chest, passing all the carnage and destruction caused by the Demon King’s army. He makes it outside the castle wall gates, and continues to run as far away as he could with no stopping.
He eventually collapses in an open field miles away and quickly opens the magic book. He begins to read the spell with desperation, crying out with tears to the sky for his savior…
Rina and Mel are a little upset by the game's intro story, but Rina presses Start to carry on.
Oh, It’s an RPG!, says Rina.
There are up to four characters to select with job classes. Rina decides to only select two, naming the mage character after herself and the warrior character after Mel. Rina pushes start again and a confirmation message appears on screen. The message reads, “Are you sure you’d like to begin?” Rina selects “Yes” and pushes Start.
What happened?, says Mel.
Rina frustratingly groans. She thought she had cleaned the cartridge well enough.
A bright white light blasts from their TV. Mel and Rina jump from their seats, and hold each other as they scream in terror.
The white light engulfs their entire living room and the two girls disappear into it without a trace…
❤️ Mel and Rina 💙
