Chapter 327: The Game Machine That Creates Trouble
After Howard's successful proposal, the busiest person wasn't Bernadette, who had already begun preparing for the wedding, nor Howard, who was still laughing and joking as if nothing had happened.
Nor was it the heartbroken Rajesh, but rather Amy, who was spending all her time dragging Penny and Bernadette shopping, more enthusiastic about the wedding than the bride herself. She was like a woman possessed, constantly running around, offering suggestions for the wedding.
"Women are all such emotional creatures. I thought Amy would be different, but I didn't expect her to be just like that common woman, Penny. Would you like to play my new three-player chess game with me?" Sheldon sat on the sofa, chatting idly. In front of him was a strange chessboard.
It was strange because the board consisted of three sections, allowing three people to play simultaneously.
"I've invented two more chess pieces, you'll definitely be interested..."
"No, we're not interested at all," Ron said, sprawled on the sofa after his meal. To be honest, if it weren't for the free meal, he wouldn't want to listen to Sheldon brag about his new inventions. "I think your previous suggestion was better, a retro game night. Even just playing an old game from over a decade ago would be better than this weird three-player chess. What do you think, Leonard?"
"Me too. I'd rather play the oldest version of Super Mario than that damn thing."
"Hey, maybe we should try this," Howard started rummaging through the old box next to him. "This is what Rajesh and I bought on our way here from an estate sale at that 'murder house.' I remember there was a game console in there, it looked really good, definitely vintage."
"A murder house?" Ron was a little confused by the term, but after a moment's thought, he immediately understood: "You're probably referring to that old house you passed that looks almost abandoned, but which is actually inhabited by an old man, right?
I remember he was a tragic figure. His son disappeared suddenly when he was in high school, and then his wife went insane and died not long after. Everyone said he killed his son, which drove his wife insane, but the police never had any evidence.
He always insisted that his son ran away on his own and has been searching for him all over the neighborhood."
"Ron, how do you know so much about one of your neighbors?" Rajesh asked, his mouth agape in shock.
"Don't forget, I'm a federal agent," Ron shrugged. "As a federal agent, having intelligence on everyone in your neighborhood is a basic skill, especially since conspicuous targets like murder houses are my primary focus from the start.
However, according to my investigation, this person has a clean record, and the case file confirms what the police said—there's nothing suspicious. His son seems to have vanished into thin air, making this one of the LAPD's unsolved mysteries to this day."
"Found it! It's an original Nintendo!" Howard excitedly rummaged through the box and pulled out a dusty, old game console—one of the earliest cartridge-based ones, just like the NES Ron played as a child. Ron showed a hint of nostalgia.
"This is good. Hopefully, tonight won't be so boring. Quick, check your box for any games. Contra or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be even better, or Double Dragon would be fine too."
"Wait a minute, let me see," Howard, like a groundhog, plunged into the box and started rummaging around. "DAMN! That old guy is sneaky! All these game cartridges are broken! Wait! There's one good one here..."
When Howard emerged from the box, he held a green game cartridge. "But I don't think I've ever seen this game before. Has anyone played this game?"
"This... I don't recognize it either..." Sheldon took the game cartridge, examined it carefully for a long time, but still couldn't recognize it. "I've been playing games with my Meemaw every day since I was nine. How can there be a game I don't recognize? That's strange."
"What's so strange about that? Let me see," Ron snatched the game cartridge from Sheldon.
"Jumanji?" Ron murmured the name. "How about we try playing it first? I think I've heard this name before, but I've never played it. Maybe back then, some bankrupt game developer didn't release many copies?
Everyone should be prepared for this to be a terrible game."
Ron vaguely remembered the name, but couldn't quite place it.
Meanwhile, Leonard had already quickly connected the game console to the TV, turned it on, and the game screen popped up smoothly. It seemed undamaged, and everyone cheered again.
"A game designed for those who want to find a way away from the real world, welcome to Jumanji!" Rajesh read aloud the words on the screen. "Hey! Why can't I select this character, Jefferson 'Seaplane' McDonough? It's grayed out!"
"I guess it's a hidden character that needs to be unlocked through a special storyline later in the game?" Sheldon smiled slightly. "Dr. Smolder Bravestone, archaeologist and explorer, hey! This character even has a doctorate, just like me. I've decided, this character is mine!"
As Sheldon spoke, Howard also selected his character. Sheldon glanced at him and gave a mocking smile. "Professor Shelly Oberon? A curvy genius cartographer, oh Howard, you know that a doctorate in a game is useless in reality, right? In reality, you're still just a master's degree holder in engineering."
"I just randomly picked a character! Ron, Rajesh, Leonard, there are three more characters left. How are you going to choose?"
"Let me see," Rajesh said with a lecherous grin, switching between character introductions. "I bet none of you want this female character, so I'll take her. Ruby Roundhouse, the killer of men? Wow, I bet she has those killer long legs, I love it!"
Ron rolled his eyes. He'd seen through Rajesh's plan from the start; everything else was just a smokescreen.
Ron didn't waste any words. After some polite back and forth with Leonard, he chose a martial arts character named Mouse Finbar.
The last remaining character naturally went to Leonard.
After selecting their characters, everyone clicked "confirm" to enter the game.
However, a magical scene unfolded...
(End of Chapter)
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