Exia

Ultima Beam!

*Flash*

*Crash*

Oh yeaaaaahhhh!

Eighth Dragon, down!

Nothing can withstand my Ultima Beam!

Killing dragons is a breeze with this!

Now it's time to see if there's any truth to the rumors.

Words are that if you gather all the companions and

kill all eight legendary dragons,

a hidden boss dragon will appear.

Before I do that though, I better get some stretching in.

What the...?!

I know I've got enough power.

...

...！

This is an emergency!

My console is broken!

Noob...

I'm over here, Noob.

Noob...

My gaming console...

it's...

it's broken.

Yeah...

I've contacted all the repair shops I know,

and they say it'll be tricky to fix

since it's an outdated model.

Yeah. They stopped manufacturing these long ago.

...!

I could never do that!

Gamekid Evolution is the only console

that can run Final Quest VI.

The one and only.

You're right.

It is supported on numerous platforms,

because Final Quest is the crème de la crème.

However, there's something you're not taking into account.

All my game saves

are stored in THIS console.

They represent

all my blood, sweat, and tears.

If this console never runs again,

all my saves are toast!

Not just Final Quest VI,

but Dragon Dungeon, and Iron Punch...

It'd be sayonara

to all my saved data!

So,

it has to be this console.

...

I can't live without it.

Yes, but do you have any idea how to do that?

BOOM!

!!

Then there's no time to waste.

This takes precedence above all else, Noob.

Take me to this magical place.

Missilis Laboratory?

Mr. Commander? And Ms. Exia?

What can I help you with?

A handheld?

!!

Oh wow!

Wow!

Don't tell me...

Is this the Gamekid Evolution?

I never thought I'd see one of these with my own eyes!

What an honor this is!

Extremely.

So I'm not surprised by your reaction.

The Gamekid Evolution is

every gamer's dream console.

That's right.

This thing is the stuff of legend.

Back in those days, everything revolved around this little console.

We'd gear up as warriors, slay monsters, and start off on new adventures.

Next thing you know, we're inseparable companions.

...

Doesn't that sound awesome?

Just hearing those slogans really gets you energized, doesn't it?

Final Quest, Dragon Dungeons, and Iron Punch...

It's a veritable feast of masterpieces! The golden age of classic gaming.

After the release of BOOM, the game industry underwent a seismic shift,

and it was all led by the legendary slogans from the Gamekid Evolution.

Anyone who's into classic gaming knows them by heart.

I must ask, however:

Is this a genuine handheld?

The rules for true gamers are iron-clad:

no pirated products are to be accepted.

I have stuck fast to them all these years, and still do.

Where did you get this anyway?

Not the Dark Net, I hope?

Well...

I presume you have plenty of cartridges as well?

What do you have?

I...

Do you have BOOM by any chance?

I bet you do!

You do, don't you?

Noob, help me out here.

Sorry, it's just that I'm so excited!

My apologies, Ms. Exia.

So, what exactly seems to be the problem?

I can't turn the console on.

Can you fix it?

Ah, yes. You wanted to fix the console.

Just a second.

...

Hmm...

...

Well...

...

Okay, I'm done checking it.

Well?

The battery is completely shot,

as well as many other small parts.

That's why it won't work.

Really?

You said you were playing it just a while ago?

Considering the state of this thing, that's a small miracle.

It was fine yesterday.

That's a testament to this console's quality. It's quite well-made.

How long have you been playing it?

A long time.

Since before I became a Nikke.

Yeah.

That's why it means so much to me.

... I see.

Don't worry, Ms. Exia.

I'll fix this console for you if it's the last thing I do.

...!

Really?

Sure. Trony is fond of collecting parts in her spare time.

She should be able to help.

Thank you...

Think nothing of it. After all, the last thing I want to see is a Gamekid Evolution bite the dust.

I'll see what I can do.

It shouldn't take long.

Allow me to introduce Trony.

She's the one who's gonna fix the console for us!

...

Let me see that.

Hehe, it should be just a minute while she works her magic.

Do you have all the parts you need, Trony?

All right.

...

Yeah.

When I decided to become a Nikke,

I threw away all my possessions,

save for this handheld and the game cartridges.

Do you think it's weird that

the only thing I kept was this console?

You dodged my question.

Fine. I shouldn't hide it from you.

Before I was a Nikke,

people always wrote me off as a good-for-nothing. A loser who was addicted to video games.

Socializing was exhausting for me,

so I kept canceling plans I'd made,

until one day I looked around

and saw that I was all alone.

That's when someone came to me with an offer.

They asked if I wanted to be a Nikke to facilitate Enikk's work.

Most people would have ignored such a request,

but not me.

I thought to myself,

"No one will miss me if I become a Nikke."

"Becoming a Nikke had to be better than the life I was living."

"None of my memories were positive ones, so if I were to abandon this life, who cares?"

That's why

I threw away all my belongings.

All done!

Oh, sorry, did I interrupt something?

No.

I was just about to jump up and down with excitement.

??

Anyway, here you are.

...

...!

Hooray!

Hee-hee, I'm glad to see it working again.

You and me both.

Also...

Yes?

If you want... we could swap out the LCD screen and buttons for new ones.

We've got plenty lying around.

Thanks, but I've gotten used to the old ones.

I prefer them this way.

Thank you for the offer, though.

No worries. I understand how old keys can feel better.

Thank you both.

No problem!

Come see us again if you need anything.

I really appreciate it.

One should receive rewards after clearing a stage.

What is it?

I just told you.

It meant a lot to me, so I wanted to keep it.

...

Noob, let's sit down.

Have a seat.

I can tell there's something you want to ask me.

You want to know

why this console was the only thing I kept, right?

And that doesn't make sense to you because I said I had no positive memories at all.

So why would I keep this?

Is that what's throwing you for a loop?

I just forgot to throw it away with the rest of my things, that's all.

... all right, all right.

I know you won't buy that for a second.

It's actually quite a boring story.

Are you sure you want to hear it?

...

Before I was a Nikke, the thing that bothered me the most was

how no one could understand what I said.

Exactly.

But it wasn't always like that.

Before I got sick of it,

I longed for affection.

Someone who could understand me

without having to say a word.

I know that it sounds silly, but...

...

I've spent a lot of time and effort seeking just that.

As you can see, however, I clearly failed.

I grew sick of socializing,

and when it was all said and done, I ended up alone.

I embraced the bad ending.

Because I knew games were my only option for obtaining it.

Since I knew my entire world was confined

to the pixels on this screen,

my best way of finding affection was in there.

I thought I could do that by

practicing and working hard to make friends with the NPCs.

But it was useless.

I didn't get what I wanted and ended up all alone, yet again.

This handheld, and the saved files in it, are all that I have.

I was never happy as a human,

but without this,

without those saved files,

my entire life would have been meaningless.

So I couldn't bear to throw it away.

I told you that

it wasn't an interesting story.

...?

Yes. Why?

??

Noob？

Yes.

... Noob?

Sort of.

Huh?

...

What's all this about?

Why do you want to know about them?

...!

...

Do you know how the branching story pathways work in this game?

That's right.

One of the many reasons Final Quest VI is heralded as a masterpiece

is that choosing different NPCs to be your companion

can lead to different endings.

The first save file

is about a sensitive magician.

His Ultima Beam attack can blast through bosses like they're nothing.

He'd be a great choice for a beginner like you.

A word of forewarning, though.

The magician can be quite sensitive, so you have to exercise caution when choosing the dialogue options.

If you choose the wrong one, he'll straight up leave your team,

and that would be quite embarrassing.

Back in the day, I accidentally caused him to abandon my party several times.

Here we have the taciturn thief.

With him, you can steal a potent item

to defeat the exclusive Boss on this route.

The tricky thing is that

the thief will leave the team

if you do something that goes against his beliefs.

To maintain an optimal relationship with him, you have to work as hard as you do with the magician.

All right, Noob, you've reached the last stage.

All you've got to do is gather all your companions and defeat the final Boss, and you're done.

There is a hidden companion monster who only appears on this route.

There's a substantial language barrier though, which makes it difficult to become companions with it.

However, as you defeat more enemies during your adventure together,

you two will become close before you know it.

If you want the reach the true ending,

you've got to upgrade your affection level with your companions to the point where you understand each other without saying a word.

Otherwise, they'll leave the team halfway through the adventure.

Thus giving you the bad ending.

I didn't expect you to clear the final stage on your first try.

Even a veteran like me

got countless bad endings

before I finally figured it out.

The secret to obtaining the true ending is to know your companions well

by upgrading your affection levels.

A gamer should never be disappointed by bad endings.

It's just one step along the journey to reaching the true ending.

You've defeated the legendary boss dragon that appears

after all eight dragons!

The Big Boss Dragon!

A lack of stamina is the Achilles' heel of most gamers.

It's okay, I understand.

Noob.

How was the game?

One of the charms of games

is that you can turn a bad ending into a good one through your efforts.

What do you mean?

...

... Noob.

...!

... Back in those days,

everything revolved around this little console.

We'd gear up as warriors, slay monsters,

and start off on new adventures.

Next thing you know, we're inseparable companions.

Are we companions, Noob?

Thank the stars above that I kept this console.