Who am I, where am I, and what time is it now?
Tian Chong had never imagined he could play that game with his child until one o'clock in the morning.
Then, when he arrived at the newspaper office the next day, he felt somewhat disoriented.
Ah, getting older, a little lack of sleep makes you feel uncomfortable all over.
Tian Chong rubbed his temples at his desk, his mind occupied not with work, but with how to defeat the final boss in Contra's fourth level.
At that moment, someone approached, their badge indicating they were the chief editor.
Looking at Tian Chong, who was rubbing his temples, he said, "Tian Chong, it's your turn to write the lifestyle section today. Remember to submit your article on time. If it's late again, I won't let you off the hook."
Tian Chong opened his eyes, somewhat weary. "I know, I'll submit it before I leave work."
"Huh? You don't look too good, did you do something naughty last night?" the chief editor suddenly joked.
"Ah, at this age, what mischief can I still do?"
"Don't worry, I won't tell your wife. Come on, tell me, was it Ginza?"
"If you mention it again, I won't submit the article."
The chief editor's face darkened. "Fine, I won't ask." With that, he left to urge other editors to submit their articles.
Hmm, the fourth level... No, I should think about how to write today's lifestyle news.
Tian Chong absentmindedly picked up some manuscripts that were on his desk.
They were articles from the morning newspaper's journalists and some contributors.
He only needed to find a decent article or news from them and polish it up to submit.
Hmm, I should be more careful with the final boss in the fourth level. That's how it should be played.
At this moment, thoughts of the seemingly insurmountable final stage of Contra flooded Tian Chong's mind again.
He and his child had struggled with this level for half a day without success.
According to his child, it seemed many people were stuck here, finding it very difficult.
Wait, what am I thinking about? I should be working!
Tian Chong shook his head vigorously to banish Contra from his mind.
But soon enough, those thoughts would resurface, making it difficult for him to focus on reading those manuscripts.
Part of it was also because those manuscripts were incredibly boring.
All about mundane, everyday things.
These incompetent contracted writers couldn't write anything innovative? They could write about the same topic for months on end. He didn't know what the readers thought, but he was sick of it.
And these idiot reporters, why do you always investigate those boring street news? Can't you find some interesting news? Like this FC home entertainment computer.
It's closely related to families, and of course, to life. With this, you can play with your son for a long time without getting tired of it. Just write about how this thing helps improve the relationship with your son, isn't that good?
What a bunch of idiots, wasting their fees and salaries.
Speaking of which, the fourth level...
Huh?
Wait a minute.
Tian Chong blinked.
Home entertainment computer!
He suddenly remembered something, excitement glinting in his eyes.
This... should be considered news, right? Should be considered something fresh, right?
Although it feels like it's not particularly relevant to life.
But just recently, the chief editor requested more fresh content. The newspaper's sales have been declining lately, with complaints about outdated content making people drowsy.
This news should be just right.
With that in mind, Tian Chong eagerly opened his computer.
Since the journalists and contracted writers weren't reliable, he'll do it himself!
Tian Chong began typing frantically on the computer.
An hour later, a fresh and hot article was ready.
Review, edit, all done in one go, without wasting much time.
He quickly tagged it and uploaded it.
Phew!
Today's work went surprisingly smoothly!
Rarely does he feel so exhilarated.
As he described playing with his child, those contents were almost genuine, filled with the essence of life.
He barely even needed to edit them.
Right, the fourth level...
...
Meanwhile, at the home of Tsukino Aya, it was as dark as ever, with only the signal lights of the server occasionally blinking.
Tsukino Aya stared at the online forum with dark circles under her eyes, resembling smoky eye makeup.
"Did any of you buy a game console yesterday?"
"Hehe, of course, I bought it. I queued for over four hours."
"The people in front of me were despicable, queuing up days in advance. If I had known, I would have done the same."
"How is it? How does it feel to play at home? I have to wait three more days for my game console to be delivered."
"Hehe, let me tell you, it's amazing. You can play freely, lying in bed if you want, it's freedom at home, and there's no time limit, no one rushing you."
"Hey, looks like you're single, huh? Nobody's rushing you, I envy you. When I played last night, I often had to fight with my child for the controller. He insisted on playing Super Mario, but I wanted to play Dragon Quest."
"I suggest you buy another one."
Watching the lively discussions about the game console, Tsukino Aya couldn't help but feel envious.
She still had to wait another two days, which was simply torture.
However, at that moment, there was a knock on the door.
"Hello, I'm from the delivery service, I have your package."
Initially feeling a bit down, Tsukino Aya instantly sprang up from her chair when she heard the word "delivery", but her feet slipped and she fell with a thud.
"Ouch..."
Tsukino Aya rubbed her forehead, but she quickly got up.
She hurried to the door and looked outside through the peephole.
A deliveryman in a red uniform was holding a package, waiting for the door to open.
"Hello? Your package is here, it's a total of 31,000 yen that you need to pay," the deliveryman said, seemingly hearing someone at the door, but wondering why it wasn't opened immediately.
At this moment, the deliveryman faintly heard the sound of coins dropping.
He lowered his head in confusion and saw four 10,000 yen bills sticking out from under the door.
"Hello, could you please leave the package and change at the door?"
The deliveryman was a bit puzzled. This family was so strange, wanting to pass money through the door crack. But since it was their request, he could only comply.
He took out the change from his pocket and placed it along with the package at the door.
"Then I'll leave. Thank you for your patronage."
He still had many packages to deliver today, and the number of packages in the past two days had been surprisingly high, almost double the usual amount, and they were all products from the same company, seemingly some kind of new product.
After the deliveryman left, Tsukino Aya cautiously opened the door and swiftly pulled the package inside with her snow-white arm.
Some hundred-yen coins accidentally fell out, but she didn't bother to pick them up.
Thud thud.
Tsukino Aya suddenly felt her heart pounding.
Finally, she could play Dragon Quest in its entirety.
She was going to have a blast!
Holding the package, she quickly went to the living room and unpacked it. Inside was the packaging box of the game console itself, and next to the game console were several exquisitely packaged game cartridges, the first batch of games.
Not all of the games would be to Tsukino Aya's liking, but her OCD compelled her to buy them all.
If she didn't buy them all, it would feel like something was missing.
Such behaviors are usually later referred to as OCD.