Save Point

As I got home, I thought about inviting Soejima out, so that we could discuss Restart!’s development direction in-person. However, upon starting up our message chat, I was soon reminded of my fiasco from earlier. She was all excited to make a game for me to test out…

Huh? How would I test out a Co-op mode alone? I’m not some kind of super-gamer-god to play a 2-player game with my hands and feet…

All of a sudden, my phone started vibrating again, just like in the morning. Once, twice… Then a million times over.

Then, the access link for the download soon followed.

“Are you not angry at what I said earlier today?”, I asked, worried.

[...]

“What?”, she replied immediately, with a confused face soon after.

“The whole thing about you not pulling all-nighters…”, I introduced the subject. 

“Oh, that? It’s okay!”, she answered.

“Weren’t you gone because you got upset with that?”, I inquired. 

“Wha- I can’t believe you thought of it like that! LOL”, a laughing face followed right after. 

“... May I ask, why were you gone, then?”, I got less worried, more curious. 

[...]

She typed for a while.

[...]

A long while.

“Sorry… I got just a bit flustered because you were worried about me…”, she finally replied.

“Oh, my bad! Sorry!”, I apologized, and I couldn’t believe what I had just read.

“No, no! I’m sorry too!”, she, in turn, did the same.

I couldn’t believe we were both that silly.

“There’s nothing to be done but laugh. LOL”, I concluded.

“Right? XD”, she sent that message, then a swarm of kaomoji followed.

“Hey, Sora… I just realized something. How am I gonna test a co-op feature by myself?”, I asked.

[...]

“Have you no friends, Toki²?”, she asked.
“XD”, a laughing face followed. “Just kidding!”, she added.

“U_U”, I replied, matching her style.

“LOL!”, she replied. “So, about the co-op…”, she started typing more.

“Actually, I was thinking-”, I interrupted her thoughts.

“Yes?”, she allowed me time to write my own thoughts.

“Would you like to go to Savepoint with me?”, I had the courage to ask. “If you take your laptop, we could play co-op mode there… I’ll bring my own controller!”, I then added.

[...]

[...]

[...]

I was nervous. She’d disappeared once again.

Oh, crap. Did I screw it up all over again?

…

No, wait. If she got flustered easily, then… Is she even more flustered now!? Did she misinterpret it as me asking her out to a date!?

“So that we can discuss Restart! and play it co-op. I’d appreciate some of your own insights, and I felt like it would be easier to have that kind of business meeting in-person”, I panicked and wrote up one more text.

“Ah, yes! For business”, Soejima replied almost instantly. “I was looking up Savepoint on the internet, and… I’d love to go with you”, she added.

“Perfect! "Tomorrow, when I come back from school. Does that work for you?”, I asked.

“Sure!”, Soejima replied.

“Right. See you then!”, I threw my phone onto my bed and leaned back on my chair.

Why do I even get so on edge when talking to her?

Is it because she’s technically my boss now…?
Or is it…
Never mind.

I went back to playing the latest version of ‘Restart!’ Soejima had sent me that day. However, for some reason, I also couldn’t quite shake off the song by Easter Eggman I’d heard. So, I booted up a playlist by them and messed with the in-game settings to mute the music. Not that Soejima’s music was any bad, but maybe some sections, cutscenes and the opening could have different music, since those sections are more tied to the general vibe, rather than the gameplay.

“Soejima would really benefit from some real-life music recorded for her games…”, I thought out loud. “Maybe I could take her to one of EEM’s concerts when they get a gig…”, I let out a whisper.

As I thought about all of that, I ended up playing Restart! late into the night, and some different aspects of the story were revealed on each playthrough.

The game began recognizing that I was sort of time looping. Some characters exhibited Dèja vu, and when I solved some puzzles by simply inputting the solution before finding the answers, some things changed.

“So she even thought of that, huh…”, I got excited with the prospect of finding all the secrets she’d hidden.

As it grew later and later, way past midnight, I started reclining myself back on the chair. Eventually, I was just about horizontal on it. And, just a little bit later, I fell asleep while playing the game.

I’d turned the in-game music back on, and the themes for the level I was in were so relaxing that I slept until the Sun rose and invaded my room through the window.

My mother found me there, in the morning, still fast asleep.

“... Shigeo?”, she’d opened the door and looked. “... Shigeo?”, she repeated.

My headphones were still on, so of course I wouldn’t hear.

She approached slowly, careful to not trip on the carpet, and also to not wake me up abruptly with the noise.

…

And then she tripped anyway.

BAM!, a loud thump from her forehead hitting the wooden floor.

“WHOA!”, I screamed as I awoke in fright from the noise and vibration. “Mom!? What are you doing here!?”, I yelled as I took off my headset.

“Sorry!”, she mumbled from the floor. “I tried not to wake you up…”, she added, disappointed in herself.

“It’s okay, you tried…”, I scratched the back of my head.

“It’s morning; you should start getting ready for school”, mother said as I helped her up.

“Right…”, I rubbed my eyes in an attempt to make sure I wasn’t in a dream.

“Still, this is a really cute game, right Shigeo?”, she couldn’t get her eyes off of my computer screen. “I understand why you’d spend the night playing it. But don’t do it too often!”, she cutely attempted to scold me.

Mother was a really understanding person, probably due to her past as an idol, as she had to fight off her parents over many things, and didn’t want me to have to do the same.

“Glad you like it, mom. I’m helping the creator to test it out”, I explained.

“Ooh! How nice! Are they paying you?”, she asked.

…

…

I completely forgot to ask Soejima if there would be any monetary compensation for the beta-testing! What a dumbass I am!

“… Guess I’ll find it out today, on our date- I mean, business meeting”, I said.

“Good luck!”, she went out as I got ready for school, and also for the upcoming Savepoint encounter.