01x06 - Episode 6

[bunniefuu]

No way.

You're in ninth grade.

And you still don't know
everyone's name in class?

What do you even do at school?

It's fine.

They don't remember my name anyway.

Huh?

You're kind of famous now.

Ma Li Qiang's friends
came over to talk to you.

You totally ignored them.

Hm?

When was that?

Last week.

At the Boiling Blood Arcade.

Oh.

I remember now.

I had to keep pulling the
stick that whole level.

Or you'd get flattened in one hit.

You're always like that in Swordsman.

Charging straight in every time.

You can dodge most of
those attacks, you know.

Eh, just hit them.

Besides, you're the Traveler.

I can't die.

That old radio of yours...

Can it still be fixed?

Shh.

Listen.

If...

If you could go back to
any day in your life,

which day would you choose?

I'd have to think about it.

Then...

Then what?

That day...

The sky was neither sunny nor overcast.

Summer had only just begun.

I was probably playing games.

And riding bikes with He Ming Shuo.

Eating grilled sausage in the alley

and tofu pudding.

Wandering between the
bridge and the ruins.

Tuning the radio for music.

No, that's not right.

Those didn't all happen in one day.

But I can't remember
the exact order anymore.

It was such an ordinary day, after all.

That He Ming Shuo...

What was he like?

He was...

I can't really remember him clearly.

[coughing]

Why did Ma Li Qiang beat you up again?

Does he need a reason?

Fair point.

But if I had to say...

Right!

Big Ma...

Up! - You really can't...

Down! - See? That's more like it.

You should've just paid up.

Left...

I'm outta here.

I was thinking about the controls.

I wasn't paying attention...

[Sigh]

You're always like this.

So wrapped up in your own thing,

you don't see who gets dragged in.

[Sigh]

That's why I keep getting into trouble.

What's wrong with that?

Being able to focus on
your own thing is great.

That's my friend.

He Ming Shuo.

To him,

nothing ever seems like a big deal.

Oh, right.

I'm stuck on this level.

Can you beat it for me?

Whoa!

Isn't this the newest console?

You bought Psycho Slayer too?

I bought the new console
for Psycho Slayer.

Let me see.

You picked the Swordsman, didn't you?

Then I'll pick this one.

The Traveler.

I've tried this level a
hundred times. Can't clear it.

But you can, right?

Is it really that hard?

Leave it to me.

Attack is this button.

You'll need a second to get used to it.

Oh, right.

Your bike...

It's fine.

Now I finally have an excuse
to ask for a new one.

The chain...

is catching a little.

But it's a good bike.

It'll be fine.

Then we'll ride together
to the cornfields.

I'll show you a great place I found!

Ride together?

Yep.

You can use this bike for now.

In a couple days,

once I get my new bike,

I'll come by that night and call you down.

OK.

Everyone knew He Ming Shuo.

Because

he was Old He's youngest son.

The kid had seen the world.

He Ming Shuo!

You're having that much
fun with a few pens?

Stand up.

Show everyone how you play with them.

Hahahaha!

Everyone liked He Ming Shuo.

He was easygoing.

And generous.

All right, sit down.

He never took anything to heart.

You could say we had nothing in common.

We only became friends

because of games.

Can you do it? If not, let me try.

This is hard.

Yeah.

Psycho Buster got an arcade version?

Refund!

Come on, let's get tokens.

They're so bad.

Boss,



Wait, wait.

Don't buy tokens yet.

Huh?

Check the coin pushers' chutes.

Pulling that trick again?

Yes.

Every time I watch you do this,

it feels ridiculously over-the-top.

It's not that bad.

Let's go.

Coming through. - Coming through.

Hey!

We weren't done playing!

Forget it.

They'll be dead in no time anyway.

After all that time on
the handheld version—

We'd probably have a hard time dying.

This game's brutal.

Back then, I even dreamed
about ways to clear it.

He Ming Shuo used to tap out signals.

and it'd pull me out of
my post-loss thoughts.

And he'd call me out to play at midnight.

And then

we'd hop from topic to topic,

talking all night.

They said the final boss

looked a lot like Ma Li Qiang.

He really does.

That invincibility power of his

is insane!

Oh.

Look.

This feels good in my hand!

Kind of like that sword.

Hey.

What superpower would you want most?

Flying, probably.

What about you?

Teleportation?

Then I could teleport anywhere I wanted.

I still think flying is stronger.

If you teleport around in
midair, isn't that flying?

Well...

The flying part is more fun.

Skimming low over all kinds of places...

Just thinking about it feels amazing!

We died over and over.

Then we promised

we'd clear it together, no matter what.

Select your character.

Finally,

on a completely ordinary day,

we played out of our minds.

Never seen anyone make it this far!

Someone can get that good?

This is it!

Amazing!

- Whoa!

- Woo! - Yeah!

Someone actually cleared it!

That's incredible!

Y-You guys are...

That was awesome!

What?

Why isn't the screen changing?

What's this?

What does that mean?

Huh? - Huh?

Ah...

What?

Didn't see that coming.

There's a hidden boss.

Not a big deal.

We've got plenty of time.

We'll get there.

Mm-hm.

I'll think of

a new move.

Hm?

Have you seen this?

"Infinite Energy"?

That's such nonsense.

Oh, that thing.

Even if it were real,

what's so bad about that?

True.

Maybe we could teleport, fly,

maybe even travel through time.

Hey.

A train's coming.

I've never been on a train.

You will someday.

A train is like some ultimate weapon.

What?

Like, even if everything
here is a total mess,

you can still get on a train

and go somewhere bigger, somewhere new.

Guan Chao.

[Coughing]

-[Coughing] - If you
had a world of your own,

what would it be like?

Huh?

This is your room from now on!

Yeah!

My new room!

There'd be a bed.

And a game console.

Some unfinished comics.

That's it?

Mm-hm.

That's enough.

Just one room big.

And then...

maybe the borders would
be lined with mirrors,

reflecting everything around.

That way,

I could stay inside forever,

and no one would find me.

Sounds nice.

Eh...

What about you?

What would you put in your world?

I don't know.

In my world,

it feels like there's nothing.

Everything just passes through me.

Nothing ever stays.

So...

sometimes I envy you.

You don't care what other people think.

Your world is unbreakable.

I just bury myself in games.

For me,

games have rules.

But being around people...

that's way harder.

Thinking back,

we'd known each other for a long time.

But whenever we hung out,

we'd jump from topic to topic.

We hardly ever talked about real life.

So I always felt like I didn't know him.

Like I had no idea what was on his mind.

Hey, He!

Come on!

Come play!

No.

I've got something to do later.

Come on, just for a minute.

I'll watch you guys play.

Fine, fine.

He Ming Shuo always moved faster

than everyone around him.

His schedule

left everyone else far behind.

Yes!

Backboard! Backboard!

Catch it!

Here! - Pass it!

Whoa.

Is that his driver?

I'm so jealous.

You're jealous of everything.

So what?

His family's got everything
lined up for him.

He can have anything he wants.

Of course I'm jealous.

Where have you been?

And where'd you get that console and bike?

Answer me!

Guan Chao!

Lately,

have you been hanging around Old He's kid?

Old He bought dinner today

and made a point of telling me

to keep you away from Little He.

He's worried you'll mess up his grades.

You know what Old He's family is like！

He has choices.

What do you have?

What are you going to do
with your life like this?

Collect scrap?

Guan Chao, are you listening?

You want me to hit you too?

You need to be realistic!

How... How could this happen?

What the hell happened...

[retching]

[coughing]

[retching]

Do you think your dad's pathetic?

After all these years, I
haven't gotten anywhere.

Look what I've become...

Guan Chao, I know it's been hard

having a dad like me.

You have to study hard.

Don't end up like me!

Don't drift through life!

Take responsibility for yourself!

Make plans for your future!

"The future"?

How much longer are we stuck in this dump?

You should think about
your child's future too!

Rain has been frequent lately.

High heat and convective
weather are occurring together.

Here are your report cards.

You're graduating soon.

You need to think about your future.

The future...

When I came back to myself,

I had no idea where all the time had gone.

Why I was here now.

Or what I was supposed
to do with my future.

You're afraid.

Time is passing.

Life is short.

Like nothing really matters.

If only now

could last forever.

Day after day at this job,

you can see the rest of
your life stretching out.

Oh, be grateful for what you've got.

Where else could we go
if we quit this job?

[laughing]

Give it to me! Give it!

[laughing]

I don't wanna live!

Looks like someone's jumping.

They saved him.

Idiot.

Hey, Guan Chao.

Have you picked your
high school choices yet?

All he does is sit around playing games.

He won't answer you.

Huh?

You think Ma Li Qiang's
repeating for the fifth time?

He really looks like the
fake boss in that game.

Ahh!

Open up! Open up!

Dude, how much longer are
you gonna be in there?

Ah!

Big Ma...

What?

Cat got your tongue?

Eh...

What game are you guys talking about?

Every day, I tried everything

to clear that game.

But what was I supposed
to do after I cleared it?

I didn't know either.

That He Ming Shuo...

isn't with you?

After they took my console,

I actually felt relieved.

Guan Chao?

What's going on with you lately?

You've been acting weird.

Have I?

For the first time in ages,

you're not gaming after school.

Ma Li Qiang took my console.

He told me to meet him by
the railroad at 7 tonight.



That's really soon.

[sigh]

Let him have the console if he wants it.

But your save files are on it, right?

So?

I'll go get it with you.

No.

I wasn't going to play anymore anyway.

It was just wasting time.

You'll get better the more you play.

How is it a waste of time?

You already came up with
that new move, didn't you?

Let's give it one more push.

Maybe we'll clear it!

It's not about clearing it.

Huh?

Then what's it about?

He, have you ever thought about it?

Where you're going afterward.

What you're going to do.

Beat that hidden boss together with you.

Wasn't that the plan?

No.

I mean the bigger future.
The things that matter.

Playing games every day.

Wandering around.

Talking about nothing.

Wasting time on meaningless stuff.

Then one day looking back and
finding I've done nothing.

I don't want that.

Meaningless?

Wandering around.

Feeling the wind move past you.

Smelling grass.

Watching ants climb a wall.

Watching shadows shift across the ground.

Clearing a game you love.

Those things matter on their own.

We're not talking about the same thing.

This is the same thing.

You're not like me.

You have so many choices.

You never have to worry about any of this!

You wouldn't understand.

It's okay.

Everything will be better tomorrow.

Guan Chao, you're here!

He Ming Shuo isn't with you?

No one can find him.

Old He's frantic!

I've got a really bad feeling.

Guan Chao!

At that moment,

I hesitated.

I was afraid.

Suddenly, nothing I could
do would change anything.

It was too late for everything.

Meaning...

The future...

Anything that mattered...

How could I ever take days
like that for granted?

I shut that scene out of my mind.

I refused to think about
anything that happened here.

Like I was really starting to forget.

The memory hollows in Guan Chao's mind

are multiplying.

At this rate,

all his memory layers will disappear.

Until, in the end,

he loses every memory,

and all that's left are hollows

that devour everything.

All we can do is drink tea here?

Isn't there anything else we can do, Boss?

From here on,

it's all up to you,

Guan Chao.

This is...

the source of the hollows?

Calm down.

Move!

Guan Chao!

Come play,

Guan Chao.

Every time you lose,

I'll eat one of your memories.

These are...

my memories.

This is...

that game...

I still...

have a chance!

I've made up my mind!

I have to go back!

Again!

Again!

There's still a chance.

I can't stop here.

Again!

Again!

Why do you keep losing, Guan Chao?

I have to...

go back to reality.

Save He Ming Shuo!

All these years,

we've gotten along so well.

You depend on me to live.

You can't clear the game.

And even if you did clear it,

it wouldn't mean anything.

This is the last time.

I'll eat

all this pain.

In reality,

there was so much I had to face.

The future was confusing.

It left me breathless.

So I chose to go numb

and run away into games.

I kept running away.

I think

you'll become someone amazing someday.

I'd always known

I wasn't amazing at all.

I was just a coward who ran into games.

I regreted it deeply.

All the more reason not to forget.

These memories...

I'll never let the hollows erase them.

Little by little...

I can't remember anything...

It feels so easy...

Maybe it would be nice

to just fall asleep like this...

That melody... feels familiar.

What is it?

I remember, around this time,

the radio could pick up
the music from that game.

Hm?

That's strange.

I remember it was around this frequency.

I think

connections between people

are a little like radio waves.

It's whether your
frequencies line up or not.

Some people might

never be on the same frequency as you.

Found it!

Guan Chao!

He Ming Shuo...

How is this possible?

That game we used to play together...

we never did clear it all
the way through, did we?

You be Player 1 this time.

I don't have much time.

Use your shield to cover me.

One last time,

let's clear it together.

Guan Chao!

Catch!

Use that move you came up with.

Give him the final blow!

Congratulations. Game clear.

Traveler.

What will you do

next?

Looks like that memory object

has revealed its true power.

Back then, we stood

on an endless plain.

We never imagined

that days like those would end too.

Like the game we never cleared,

we thought it would never end.

Didn't you ever worry about the future?

Mm...

I guess not.

Because I believed the future me

would be okay.

The future me?

Mm.

The future me.

[sigh]

Looks like it's not over yet.