That night, after standing in line the entire day and spending an extra 5,000 yen on candy to bribe his kid, he finally managed to buy the ga he had been dreaming of: Monster Hunter: World.
And this ti—he was going to play it like crazy.
As soon as he got ho, he rushed into his small study. This was his personal fortress of solitude, the one place where he felt completely at ease. Every ti he stepped inside, he felt a sense of calm and comfort.
His wife knew he loved video gas. And she figured it was still better than drinking, gambling, or cheating outside—so at most, she would just occasionally grumble about it. If he really wanted to play sothing, she usually wouldn't stand in his way.
"Daddy, are you still playing gas?"
The man had just stepped into his study, turned on his console, and inserted the brand-new Monster Hunter cartridge. It launched successfully.
As he moved the joystick, he saw a forest scene that wasn't especially large, but was exquisitely detailed.
A massive tree stood proudly at the center of the area.
...
...
All around it, nature unfolded in breathtaking detail. It was truly stunning.
This was the power of modern gas—a crystallization of modern technology!
Even though he wasn't a regular Monster Hunter player, just taking in these visuals felt worth the price of admission.
Where else on Earth could he possibly find a place this beautiful?
Maybe sowhere—but what were the chances he'd ever get to go there?
So, without hesitation, he started frantically taking screenshots.
He planned to pick out the best ones later and post them on his social dia, just to flex on all the people who didn't really understand video gas.
Maybe he'd even fool a few of them into thinking he had visited so amazing natural location.
As he thought about this, he didn't notice that his daughter had already walked up beside him.
"Sweetie? When did you get here?"
"Daddy, what's so fun about this? Is it better than dolls?"
"Well... how do I put this? For boys, video gas might be like dolls for girls. That's probably the difference between us."
"So I can't like video gas the way you do?"
"Well, that's not what I ant..." The man paused, sothing clicking in his head. Then he said, "Hey, sweetie, do you want to give it a try?"
"I want to watch Daddy play."
"All right then. Sit tight and watch closely—your old man's about to take down so serious monsters!"
His fighting spirit was ignited. In front of his daughter, he couldn't afford to look weak. He had to show her the power of a gar dad!
...
"It's just a ga where you keep hunting monsters over and over. What's there to like? Gastar is really getting lazy. They keep making sequels of this sa grindy monster-hunting ga, and people still buy them? These gars must be blind. They spend thousands of hours on this stuff—why not read a book? Watch a good movie? Or maybe even buy one of mine?"
On social dia, Logan scrolled through post after post on the trending feed.
Ever since Monster Hunter was released, the entire platform had been flooded with related discussions.
Logan saw himself as a "successful individual." He had written a published book. Even though the sales were low, he considered that an achievent in the literary world. Even with poor sales, having a published book made him feel superior. Even if no one really read it...
But every ti he saw people obsessing over video gas and wasting ti on what he saw as aningless entertainnt, a fire rose in his chest.
Why do you all love this stuff so much? It has no substance. Compared to these hollow things, my book is clearly more aningful.
Yet nobody cared.
He felt deeply disappointed in all those people who did nothing but share ga clips and screenshots every day.
He was especially bitter about how much recognition soone like Takayuki received.
Why was Takayuki so widely admired, while he, Logan, who poured his soul into a book with actual depth, remained completely unknown?
The more he scrolled, the angrier he beca.
Eventually, in a fit of rage, he shut the site down completely.
He told himself he needed to calm down—think clearly, write sothing new, make a real coback.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find peace.
The pressure bottled up inside him had nowhere to go.
In the end, he reached for a bottle of liquor and drank until he was completely plastered, only to be jolted awake the next day by a ringing phone.
"Logan, I've been calling you all night. Are you okay?"
The voice on the other end sounded worried—it was a friend.
Logan was an unknown author, but this friend of his had a successful career and a happy life.
Even so, he never forgot about Logan, because they had been childhood friends.
Lately, Logan hadn't been responding to his ssages, and his friend had started to worry.
"I'm fine. Just a bit... irritated."
"Is it because your book didn't sell well? Don't stress too much—these things take ti."
"It's not just the book. It's other stuff too. Never mind. It's pointless to talk about. You free tonight? Want to grab a drink?"
"Ah, tonight... I've got a few things going on. Might not be able to make it. But if you want, you can co over to my place. Maybe that'll help you take your mind off things."
"What would I do at your place?"
"Uh... have you ever heard of the ga Monster Hunter?"
"..."
"Logan? You still there?"
Logan felt the urge to hang up on the spot.
But this was his best friend, so he held back his growing anger toward video gas and said, "Not really in the mood. I just want a drink."
"Drink? Sure. A few of us were actually planning to play Monster Hunter together. Originally we were short one person, but we can still manage. If you co, you're welco to join, but if not, you can just drink with us and chill. Maybe it'll help with the stress. Who knows, maybe you'll even get a burst of inspiration and write sothing amazing afterward?"
Logan didn't believe that for a second. But... if it was just drinking, he could accept that.
"Fine. I'll co over tonight. But are you seriously playing that ga? What's even fun about it?"
"Logan, I swear this ga is insanely addictive. It's just hunting monsters again and again, but every hunt is so satisfying you just can't stop."
Logan interrupted, "All right, all right, I don't want to hear it. I'll bring the drinks and head over."
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