"I just went out and found that I didn't know the way outside, and there were many people lying on the ground and I couldn't wake them up." Hinohara pointed outside, "So I thought of coming back to ask you what happened."

Hinata Hajime looked at him. "Shouldn't the first reaction of a person facing such a thing be to call the police? There is a police station nearby."

"Ah." Hinohara scratched his hair, "My phone fell into the water, and I'm a bit directionless. Instead of going to a strange place to find a police station, I might as well go back the same way to find you."

Hinata Hajime nodded, and he and Kamijou Izuru walked out of the river. "Do you want us to take you back to the company?"

"Yes!" Hinohara clapped his hands. "Sorry, sorry, I really trouble you, but I'm really in a hurry. The game will be released soon, but I can't go. It will be bad if the game is delayed. Everyone is looking forward to the release of the new game, and I can't let everyone down."

Hinohara Ichi kept looking at his watch. The watch was waterproof, so falling into water would not affect its operation. However, Hinata Sou noticed that the watch did not continue to move. The hands were stuck at five forty-five and did not move forward any more.

But even so, Hinohara Kazuya seemed unaware of it and just kept wanting to rush back to attend his game launch event.

"Okay, we'll take you back, but I want to ask you something about the game." Hinata Hajime said, "Can you tell us?"

"Games, of course!" Hinohara smiled, his eyes sparkling, as if he was full of energy when talking about games. "I will tell you everything I know. If you are interested in making games, you can ask me!"

Hinata Hajime quickly waved his hands, "I'm not asking about making games, I'm just asking if there have been any strange things happening in your newly released game before?"

"Eh? You're asking this, but... it's weird?" Hinohara thought for a moment, then nodded hesitantly, "If it's weird, I've been preparing this game for three years, but it's only been released now. But when we were testing it, we found some weird garbled codes on the game interface. After analyzing them, I found that they were actually just one word."

"Despair."

Hinata Hajime and Kamizuru Izuru looked at each other. Although Kamizuru Izuru looked bored, he was still listening seriously.

Analytical capabilities are receiving information and determining the context and development of the event.

"What happens next?"

"My game planners and I have been troubleshooting the problem. We checked again and again, but we couldn't find any problem. However, the bug did not appear again. After countless experiments to confirm that the bug had been fixed, we started the internal test." Hinohara smiled and said, "This problem will definitely not appear in the current game."

"Hinata-san, do you want to play? I promise, this will be the most perfect game!"

...I'm actually playing now.

Hinata thought for a moment, [The word despair that suddenly appeared does sound a lot like despair fragments.]

[Fragments of despair are lurking in the core data of this game. When players download, the core data will be downloaded, causing coma. 】 Izuru Kamida concluded calmly, 【The person in front of you is the only exception. 】

Yes, Hinata Hajime and Kamijou Izuru seemed to have entered illegally, so they could remain sober, but why is President Mo Meng sober?

Hinohara Ichi, who was standing next to him, looked at Hinata Hajime, and after a moment he tilted his head slightly.

"Um, Mr. Hinata, can I ask you a question?"

Hinata Hajime looked at Hinohara Hajime, who nodded, "Of course."

"What are you worried about, Mr. Hinata?"

"Huh?" Hinata Hajime was stunned for a moment.

"Oh, sorry, I should have explained it in advance." Hinohara put his hand on his chest, "I am actually a psychic. I have the ability to feel other people's emotions. I am not some scary psychic. Sometimes people can't tell even if I don't tell them."

"When I saw Mr. Hinata, I felt that he was constantly worried about something, but the gentleman next to him was particularly calm."

I don't know if I should use the word calm to describe it.

Hinohara glanced at Kamuzuru Izuru secretly, and immediately looked away when their eyes met.

Rather than being calm, it is more like a pool of stagnant water, without any emotion being sensed.

Hinata Hajime frowned slightly. He looked at Hinohara Ichi's figure with suspicion in his eyes.

Even if he has the ability to sense other people's emotions, why would he ask such a question? Isn't this obvious? The streets outside are full of unconscious people, and the number is still increasing. Tetris blocks fall down and hit the ground, causing the ground to shake like an earthquake.

Isn't this something to worry about?

"President Hino, aren't you afraid?" Hinata Hajime looked into Hinohara's eyes, "Have you found anything wrong with this world?"

"There are a lot of things wrong." Hinohara looked around. "There are a lot of people unconscious on the ground, and there was a bang just now. I accidentally fell into the water. It's terrible, but isn't that what games are? Games are about being different from reality."

Hinata Hajime: ...

He finally realized what was wrong.

Hinohara Hajime seemed to know for a matter of course that he was in the game world, and didn't think it was a big deal. After seeing the unconscious people, he was just confused for a moment, and then regarded it as a game setting. He was even more like a player than Hinata Hajime and Kamijou Izuru. Going to the game company to host the game release was just a player's task.

"you……"

"He is an NPC." Kamiya Izuru suddenly spoke.

Hinata Hajime and Kamijou Izuru looked at each other, with a hint of doubt in their green eyes, "NPC?"

"Mo Meng once said at the press conference inside the game that he would place Easter eggs in the game. The Easter eggs are the NPC image of President Mo Meng." Kamukura Izuru looked at Hinohara Hajime who was muttering about the game in front of him again.

So he didn't think there was anything wrong with the unconscious person and was only focused on returning to the game company to preside over the game release.

"Come to think of it, I once wanted to make a doomsday survival game." Hinohara was walking on the road, looking at the unconscious people around him thoughtfully, "It's like this, a group of people fell into a coma due to an accident, and after waking up again, they were parasitized and turned into something else. The player needs to resist the parasite while cleaning up the parasitized companions."

Hinata Hajime followed behind him, trying his best to remember everything Hinohara Hajime said.

Although he is just an NPC, he is placed here so he must be related to this game.

At this moment, with a bang, the Tetris block fell down, and the ground shook again. Hinohara looked at the block with a little relief in his eyes.

"You know what? I put this Tetris here on purpose."

"For timekeeping," Kamukura Izuru answered.

"Yes, it's used for timing!" Hinohara gave Kamukura Izuru an admiring look, "I've always felt that timing activities in games are too traditional, so I came up with this little game that is doomed to fail to count the time."

"In the case of two people working together, one person plays Tetris while the other fights monsters. The game ends when the Tetris is put into a row or goes out of bounds. The timer stops and the other person can only start over no matter how far he has fought. This will bring a lot of fun."

Hinata Chuang thought about it, for example, he played Tetris by himself, and then accidentally failed to time it, and failed to defeat the last boss of Nanami.

...Is this really a fun game and not a prank?

Hinata Hajime said this while thinking this.

"Of course not!" Hinohara denied. "I thought about this setting when I was a kid. It would be fun to use Tetris timing in the game. And the game must end when the blocks disappear after being completed. So the game must be controlled at a time when the blocks are not complete and the game cannot fail."

“This is a game that really tests your skills and timing, and it will certainly be fun!”

Does this mean that ordinary players are not taken into consideration at all? Or does this setting only exist in the Easter egg of President Mo Meng?

Kamijū Izuru looked at him, he quickened his pace, and blocked Hinohara Ichi before he was about to walk to another path.

Hinohara Ichi was startled, and the president of the legendary game company almost jumped up. Then he covered his chest and looked at Kamijou Izuru blankly, as if asking what Kamijou Izuru was thinking.

"This... sir?"

Hinata Hajime glanced around and realized something was wrong when Kamuzuru Izuru made his move. Hinohara Ichi was circling around him. If he continued walking along the path he turned, he would return to the river bank where he started, which was the place where Kamuzuru Izuru judged he fell into the water.

With his fingertips tapping in the air, the figure of Hinohara Hajime was reflected in his red eyes, and Kamukura Izuru spoke, "What is your setting?"

"Set...set."

With a crackling sound, a series of data of different colors burst out from Hinohara. His body was distorted due to the collapse of data. His face, which had been the same as a human before, became dull and empty. The data kept turning into red, then replaced by green, and finally, the green color swirled around Hinohara again.

Hinohara opened his eyes and gave the warmest smile since they first met.

He said: "My dream is to make a game that makes everyone laugh!"

With a click, the surroundings went dark, Hinohara Ichi's smile froze, and then he turned into a beam of light and dissipated from the air. A piece of paper was rolled over, Hinata Hajime reached out to catch the paper, and then he saw the words on it.

"Clue 1: Momo's president, Hinohara Ichi, has a dream. He wants to create a game that can make everyone laugh."

"We got into this Easter egg game by mistake." Kamijou Izuru pulled the paper from Hinata Hajime's hand, and accidentally touched Hinata Hajime's fingertips when pulling it away.

Hinata Sou regained consciousness and put his hand down. He put his hands behind his back, but the place that had just been touched was getting hot and numb.

...It's terrible, how can a person be so useless!

"The Easter egg game." Hinata Hajime tried to change the topic to normal, "It seems that this desperate incident is indeed closely related to President Hino."

"The Easter Egg Game won't be too difficult at the beginning. It's more about collecting clues." Kamukura Izuru pointed forward.

Among the fainted crowd, a little boy was squatting there. He looked around curiously with a little innocence in his eyes, as if wondering why everyone was lying on the ground sleeping. After a while, the little boy lay down too. Three minutes later, he got up again, jumping happily.

Perhaps it was because Kamukura Izuru had just intervened directly to put the game on the right track, so Hinata Hajime was able to easily see the words above the little boy's head.

Hinohara Hajime (5 years old).

The 5-year-old Hinohara Ichi quickly spotted them, and the boy ran over with bright eyes. His initial target was Kamijou Izuru, but he stopped abruptly one meter away from Kamijou Izuru, then paused and fell directly onto Hinata Hajime's legs.

"That brother is so scary!" said Hinohara.

Hinata Hajime: ...

Kamuzuru Izuru stared at the kid calmly. He said expressionlessly, "Boring."

"Although he looks scary, he's actually not scary at all." Hinata tried to explain.

Hinohara Ichi quickly hid himself behind Hinata Hajime and did not dare to look at Kamuzuru Izuru.

Helplessly, Hinata Hajime and Kamijou Izuru looked at each other, and Kamijou Izuru looked away, having no interest in pleasing children.

Knowing Kamuzuru Izuru's communication ability, Hinata Hajime could only sigh and squat down. He looked at the little boy, "Why are you here alone?"

"Well, my name is Hinoharaichi, I'm five years old, and I'm waiting here for my friends to come find me." Little Hino said happily according to the game settings, with a little pride on his face, "They want to invite me to play games with them, brother, do you know? They really like to invite me to play games with them."

"Really?"

"Yes!" Hinohara nodded vigorously, "This is a secret, but I will tell you if you ask me."

Hinata Hajime stretched out his little finger and hooked it with him, "Then I promise I won't tell anyone."

"Actually, I have superpowers." Hinohara Ichi said mysteriously in Hinata Hajime's ear, "I can read their minds. I can hear what they are thinking and know what they need when playing games. So, every time I play games, I can make them stronger. They love playing with me."

“That’s amazing.”

"Isn't it?" Hinohara looked up proudly. After a moment, he lowered his head and sighed like a little adult, "But this is a bit boring."

Hinata Hajime nodded, "Yeah, it's really boring to always help others but not be able to play the game properly."

"Yes, that's it!" Hinohara hugged Hinata Hajime's arm as if he had found a confidant, "Brother, do you have this problem too? When playing games, you always give the best to others, and everyone is happy. Although I am also happy, I always feel that this game is not so interesting anymore."

"It's better to keep important things yourself." Hinata Sou nodded, "After all, sometimes things that you think are important are actually worthless in the eyes of others."

Hinohara waved his arms, "I figured it out!"

"What?"

"I want to make a game in the future! Let everyone play together in different places, and work together to reach the end on different games. This will make me happy, and everyone will be happy too!"

Hinata stood up and watched the five-year-old child run out happily, waving at him as he ran away.

The clear laughter of the children still lingers in his mind.

A white piece of paper fell in front of Hinata Hajime. Hinata Hajime picked up the paper and saw the words on it.

"Clue 2: 5-year-old Hinohara Ichi wanted to make a game that could make himself and his friends equally happy."

"He is a person full of hope." Hinata Sou said, "He is gentle and kind, full of hope for the future, and he has no problems on the road to his dreams. I haven't seen such a person in a long time."

Kamukura Izuru glanced at him and said, "You are envious of such a person."

"Maybe." Hinata Sou sighed, "In fact, Nanami is right. People with talent seem to have no desire for dreams and motivation to work hard because they can easily achieve their goals. Although they are just NPCs and may have been beautified, President Hino really likes making games."

Kamuzura Izuru stood beside Hinata Hajime, "Humans are really strange. They only use things that are so ethereal that they are hard to grasp as motivation, but they don't even look at things that are within reach."

"It's because we can't get it that it's more precious." Hinata Sou sighed.

Those things that you want so much that you keep chasing them, because you can't get them, will pursue them like crazy, even if there are volcanoes or glaciers in front of you, it can't stop you.

So, Kamizuru Ide...

Will you understand?

How much I care about you.