1 Shin

"Shin," the middle-aged man firmly advised, "You should abandon that futile dream."

In the room, a middle-aged man addressed the young man before him, his voice echoing with frustration. "Continuing this nonsense will yield nothing!" he thundered, leaving the young man bewildered.

'Huh? Where am I?' wondered the young man, bewildered by the middle-aged man's outburst.

'Who is he?' he pondered as he gazed at the middle-aged man, dressed in a sleek black suit.

"Do you hear me, Shin?" inquired the middle-aged man, noticing Shin's dazed state.

"Sir... Who are you?" Shin asked, his voice tinged with confusion.

The middle-aged man was taken aback. "Don't play games!" he yelled, adding, "Your attempts to deceive me won't work. Regardless of what you say, my decision stands."

Shin stammered, "Wha-what decision? Who are you really?"

As Shin scanned the room, he noticed its spaciousness. He sat facing a desk adorned with a nameplate, likely used for office. The middle-aged man stood before him, while a couch and a table occupied the room. Shin turned to look out the window, observing the exterior and neighboring buildings.

*Slam*

In frustration, the middle-aged man slammed his hand on the desk. "I said, stop fooling around! Your charade won't succeed! If you can't accept my wishes as your father, you're free to leave my care!"

With that, the middle-aged man rose, adjusted his attire, and cast an annoyed glance at Shin, who still wore a bewildered expression. "If you insist on playing this game," he declared, "I'll indulge you. Wondering who I am? I'm your father, Shiro Suzuki."

Having spoken, Shiro walked away and exited the room.

*Slam*

The door slammed shut as Shiro left.

Shin remained dazed, staring at his hands.

"My hands... They look so young and healthy, devoid of calluses," Shin mused as he examined his palms. "What is happening..."

Shin's eyes widened as a realization struck him. "Could it be..." He searched for a mirror and quickly found one on his desk, rushing to inspect his reflection.

"No way..." Shin gasped in shock as he studied his unfamiliar face. "This isn't me..."

His new face was above average, with black eyes and hair. His eyes had double eyelids, and they were sharp. His nose was finely shaped, and his lips were thin.

"Could it be... I've been reborn?" Shin whispered, finding everything too incredible to believe.

Suddenly, a searing pain pierced his head, causing him to clutch it in agony.

"Ugh!" Shin staggered from the pain, covering his mouth with wide eyes. In his other hand, he tightly gripped a office nameplate, as the pain temporarily disabled some of his bodily functions while a flood of memories rushed into his mind.

After a minute, the pain finally began to subside, but for Shin, that minute felt like an eternity.

"Ah, now it makes sense," Shin murmured with a chuckle. "I truly have been reborn."

He then examined the nameplate in his hand, which he had clutched tightly during the painful ordeal. He focused on the name.

'Shinro Suzuki,' the design of the font resembled elegant calligraphy, bold and graceful, and it was written in Japanese.

In his previous life, he had been nothing more than a loyal employee of a certain company. He had done everything for that organization. However, at the age of 30, his boss, the CEO of a gaming company, had decided to terminate him. This decision came after he had inadvertently witnessed his boss engaging in an illicit affair with a family member, the daughter-in-law. Although he had kept silent about it for a month, his boss had mistakenly believed that he intended to expose the affair. This misunderstanding led to the end of his life.

For that sole reason, Math Algebra, his name in his former life, had passed away at the age of 30.

"I've been reborn into a wealthy family..." Shin muttered, tossing aside the office nametag.

"But why..." Math sighed. Despite being reborn into this affluent family, he couldn't find happiness. Why? Because he was the family's black sheep.

He was the youngest, and all his siblings had their own thoughts, but they all shared the same view of him, Shinro Suzuki. 'A waste.'

They considered him useless, a freeloader who contributed nothing of value to the family business.

However, Math disagreed. Shin had considerable foresight.

Why? He wanted to create video games.

It might not sound impressive, but in this world, it was groundbreaking.

In this parallel world, there were no wildly popular video games, and the video game industry was practically nonexistent, except for Tetris and a large console version of Ping Pong. In fact, this world was still in the year 1990, with no Mario or similar pixelated games. The only forms of entertainment were novels, television, soap operas, sports, movies, and games played on large machines or consoles, which were not yet commonplace.

What's amusing is that Tetris had been created much earlier in this world, but the game only consisted of parentheses. Unlike the Tetris in his previous world, which was 8-bit, featured various shapes, and was colorful. Here, it remained unfinished, created by a Russian.

No wonder the people in this world found it boring.

Math chuckled, placing his hands in his pockets and sighing. "It's challenging, but fun. I like this world. I consider myself a bit of a gamer, as I used to play Flappy Bird during my free hours. I might not be as skilled as a gamer, but I know a lot about games from my previous job at a gaming company."

In fact, if given the choice, he would have become a full-time gamer. However, life had been too demanding, so he had settled for playing Flappy Bird despite working in the gaming industry.

"As a token of gratitude for giving me this second chance at life, I'll treasure it and live it to the fullest, fulfilling your dream, Shin," Math muttered. He then retrieved the office nameplate he had tossed aside earlier and stared at the name. "I'll take your place, and from now on, I'll be Shin."

Shin smiled, but it felt like the merging of two kindred souls who had once been lost.

...

In a state of annoyance, Shiro strode into the company's grand hall. Upon entering his opulent office, his secretary greeted him with a respectful bow.

As he sank into the plush chair behind his desk, the phone on his desk began to ring with a classic, old-fashioned *Beep* *Beep* reminiscent of a 1990s phone.

"Hello, honey," Shiro answered as he brought the receiver to his ear.

"Hello, husband. How is Shinro doing?" a female voice inquired.

The voice belonged to Airi, Shiro's wife and the mother of Shinro.

"Why are you still worried about that boy? He's incredibly stubborn," Shiro sighed, irritation evident in his voice. "I can't believe he hasn't inherited a single one of my genes..."

"Stop with those thoughts! Shinro is your son!" Airi's voice carried a note of anger.

"Hmph, why can't he be more like his elder brother Shiko? Both Shinro and his second brother have these absurd dreams!" Shiro's frustration erupted as he bellowed into the phone.

"Husband, they're your-"

"My sons!? I'm well aware! What I can't fathom is how you allowed Shinro to drop out of high school and establish a subsidiary company under the Suzuki Group without my consent!" Shiro's voice thundered, cutting off Airi.

"Husband, I'm simply supporting our child..." Airi's voice quivered with sorrow.

"Support? Do you genuinely believe you're helping him? Look at what happened to our second son! He resorted to begging on the streets to pursue his dreams! You supported him too, and look at the outcome!"

Airi's voice turned melancholic. "But... music is what makes him happy, husband..."

"Happy? Hahaha, it won't last. Your support has only made them worse. If you don't know what you're doing, it's better to do nothing at all," Shiro declared, his frustration unabated.

"I... I understand," Airi's voice responded sadly over the phone.

+++ +++ +++

THIS IS MY NEW FANFIC NOVEL OR MORE LIKE AN ORIGINAL BUT THIS WILL PLAGIARIZED GAMES SUCH AS MARIO OR OTHERS SO IT IS IN THE VIDEO GAMES FANFIC CATEGORY.

Word counts : 1367