Game 40: The Final Problem

“Nope! No! No! No!!!” Takeshi yelled into the void. “I am not doing this!”

Takeshi Ishida had enough. He wanted to go home…

“Do you not wish to explore more potential wishes?” the voice in the void called out to him. “Explore your truest desires, Takeshi Ishida…”

“I don't know what I want!” Takeshi yelled. “I don't know what I want to wish for!”

Takeshi Ishida was back inside The Game, as if nothing had happened. Takeshi even checked to see if he had kept the pirate outfit or any of his schoolbooks. He even checked to see if he had sprouted any number of tails. 

He was just regular old Takeshi Ishida.

“Well, that's disappointing,” Mr. Set told him. “You failed this challenge.”

“What?!” Takeshi was understandably shocked.

“The whole point of that test was to see if you could handle your wish. You couldn't handle several wishes; therefore, you failed.”

“It's not that I couldn't handle them,” Takeshi corrected him. “I rejected them. All of them. But also… I don't know what to wish for…”

•

“You don't know what to wish for?” Mr. Set asked. “Why are you fighting then?”

“I'm not entirely sure…” Takeshi admitted. “But what I do know is… This is all wrong! Trying to rewrite everything just to get what you want is wrong!”

“So you would rather keep this broken, pathetic world?” Mr. Set asked him. “You would rather have a world with pain and sickness and greed and hate?”

“I would rather earn the life I want than have it be handed to me,” Takeshi answered. “I might not know what I want, but I know how to get it!”

“Very well, then. Onto the second test.”

Two speeders then appeared before them. The Test of Skill was to be a race across the landscape. One lap, whoever completed that lap first would pass the test.

“On my mark,” Mr. Set said as both players prepared to start the race. “Go!!!”

The two players launched off the start line.

•

In the real world, people were realizing The Final Game was being transmitted on every single screen, from Main Street to Times Square, from Notre Dame to Shibuya, from Sydney to Buenos Aires to Cairo. In Times Square, Rita, still in a daze from having woken up for the first time in who knows how long, saw Takeshi on every single screen.

“Takeshi? What's he doing?”

In Tokyo, it was Makoto observing the final battle. There, a giant pillar of light could also be observed reaching into the sky.

Elsewhere in Japan, Jun Kitaoka laid in bed, refusing to get up for any reason. Not even his assistant, Toshiro, could get him out of bed.

In Frankfurt, Germany, it was Proteus.

In Brisbane, Australia, it was Eileen Stewart.

•

The two players raced across the Badlands-esque terrain. Across plains, alongside cliffs, up and down ridges, and over sandy desert they raced. Takeshi had learned a lot from practicing driving speeders with Rita, as well as from prior experience racing across the Badlands.

As Takeshi raced across the landscape, he noticed something bouncing around in his bag. That bag, he remembered, was the last connection he had to the real world. Carefully reaching for it, he opened it up to reveal a strange rare item he stored away and forgot about: the Vendi Whirlwind. He remembered that he got it from the treasure chest after defeating a charge of slime dragons.

“Still not sure if I can use this, but this might come in handy for this race…”

Mr. Set attempted to cheat by quickly coding modifications into his speeder. Takeshi took notice and rammed into his opponent, sending Mr. Set slamming into the ground.

Forcing Mr. Set off his speeder gave Takeshi enough time to build up enough of a lead that even such a rare item as the Vendi Whirlwind couldn't be used against him. Takeshi was about to win the race.

But he had forgotten: Mr. Set was a Game Master. He was not afraid to cheat in order to get what he wanted. Mr. Set hacked his own location data in an attempt to cross the finish line before Takeshi. However, before he could get on his speeder to resume the race, Takeshi found a way to cut off his path.

As Takeshi crossed the finish line, he sent his speeder into a power slide.

“Showoff,” Mr. Set commented. “Alright, so you passed the Test of Skill. But can you handle the final test? The Test of Strength?”

Mr. Set then equipped his tiger's claw gauntlet and leaped down to attack Takeshi. Takeshi responded quickly with his sword, taking away two Lives from his opponent.

“Do you even know what your plan would do to the world?” Takeshi asked.

“Once enough energy has been gathered,” Mr. Set explained, “the winner of this contest will unlock the key to creation itself. You could create a new world in your image! All to fulfill your greatest wish.”

They continued to fight. Both combatants tried to disarm the other in the hope that this would win the round for them quickly. Mr. Set was stronger, but Takeshi was faster and had more range.

Guessing that Mr. Set would try to cheat again, Takeshi equipped his Brilliant Angel armor. “Let's rocket!”

Their fight led them to the base of a large cliff. Here, Mr. Set decided to switch things up, trading his gauntlet for a magic cannon. He aimed the cannon right at Takeshi.

“No fair!” Takeshi complained. “That's cheating!”

“Cheating? No,” Mr. Set explained. “Mr. Ishida, this is chaos. And from chaos, a new world shall be born.” He fired a single warning shot near Takeshi, sending him flying into the cliff. The force of the impact left a giant crater in the cliff face, but Takeshi himself remained alive… barely…

As Mr. Set approached him, Takeshi quickly pulled the Vendi Whirlwind out of his bag. He had an idea.

With a smile, Takeshi quipped, “You talk too much…”

“Why are you smiling?” Mr. Set asked him. “Don't you realize you're about to die?”

“My mom always told me to carry at least ten thousand yen in my wallet…”

“What does that have to do with anything?” Mr. Set asked.

“If I hadn't done that… If I hadn't found that stupid ragbunny… I wouldn't be here right now.”

“Shut up!” Mr. Set realized what Takeshi was trying to do. “Shut up and die already!”

“Thank you, Mr. Set…”

“For what?!”

“Now I know what my wish was… To give my life meaning.”

Mr. Set would not be swayed by Takeshi's attempts to talk him down. “Goodbye, Mr. Ishida. I'll see you in the next isekai!”

Takeshi needed perfect reaction time in order to pull this off. As soon as he saw that Mr. Set had pulled the trigger, he activated the Vendi Whirlwind.

In an instant, Takeshi and Mr. Set had switched places!

Mr. Set was now facing his own cheap shot.

A massive explosion rocked the entire level, sending debris flying everywhere. Despite that, Mr. Set simply stood there, laughing at Takeshi.

“I always win, Mr. Ishida…” Mr. Set taunted him. “I always…” He noticed his body was starting to vanish. “No… No!”

No matter how many Lives one had left, a direct hit from magic cannon fire would have defeated them regardless.

Takeshi said nothing as Mr. Set charged at him in an attempt to attack him one more time. His body faded away before he could make contact.

Takeshi Ishida had won The Game.

•

In the real world, people were cheering for Takeshi's victory. The underdog had won, why wouldn't they? Almost as if he knew he was being watched, Takeshi gave the world a thumbs up, which only made everyone cheer even more.

"Unbelievable!" someone said excitedly.

"I can't believe this! This fight has swept me off my feet and the fighters have stolen my heart!”

“That was the best game ever!”

•

Takeshi saw that the pillar of light was still there. Something, or perhaps someone, was beckoning him to step inside. Seeing as there was really nothing else he could do, he did so.

Once inside, the voice in the void once again asked him, “What is it that you wish for?”

“I'm sorry,” Takeshi answered, “but I already got my wish granted. I managed to give my own life meaning.”

“You mean you don't want anything? Come on, Takeshi Ishida. I have rules to follow here. Just ask for something. I didn't come all this way just to do nothing!”

Takeshi asked, “What exactly are you?”

“Maybe I'll tell you when you get older.”

Takeshi thought about it for a while. If he had to ask for something, he needed to make sure it would cause minimal rewriting of reality. Otherwise, he'd be going against what he said to Mr. Set.

“How good are you at writing a simple happy ending?” Takeshi asked.