Roppongi, located along the Hibiya Line in Tokyo's Minato City, is also where the embassies are situated.
Minato City itself is a developed area of Tokyo, and because of its location, Roppongi is a hub for various entertainment facilities, including karaoke bars, dance halls, and arcades.
As for KTV, a place no one really goes to in later years, it was just beginning to emerge in Japan at the time.
It was precisely during the bubble economy, when Japanese people had too much time on their hands and money to burn, that places like KTV—where one could spend a small fortune in a single night—were born.
Compared to the dance halls of the past, KTV was a step up in both standard and entertainment value.
As for the "business KTV" style often talked about back home, in Japan, that's small potatoes—they have legitimate soaplands, and those are far more open than any business KTV! Aside from the act itself, services like "sugata" (hand relief) are practically standard.
"Gokuraku Night," a newly opened KTV in Roppongi.
Like most entertainment venues in the Roppongi area, this KTV also has complex ties behind it. However, none of this mattered to the guests who came here; they were just here to have fun.
On the first floor of Gokuraku Night, a row of arcade machines sat ostentatiously, surrounded by a group of young people in flashy clothes and vibrant hairstyles, busy playing games.
Street Fighter—you just have to play it!
The guy with the dyed yellow hair on the left controlled his character, crouching down and refusing to let go of the joystick, focusing entirely on a "turtle shell" defense.
The guy on the right with the afro controlled "Ryu," throwing a flurry of punches and kicks at the yellow-haired guy to no avail. Just when he finally tried to land a throw, the yellow-haired guy would let go of the stick for a low kick, and as soon as his opponent tried to retaliate, he'd go right back to holding the joystick tight.
After dragging it out for three minutes, he finally won with more health remaining.
"You bastard, are you looking to die?!"
Unable to take it anymore, the afro guy raised his hand and slapped the yellow-haired guy on the top of his head.
In an instant, the two turned into a real-life PvP.
However, the bystanders turned a blind eye.
It was too common. It was perfectly normal for this kind of fighting game to turn into a real-life fight.
The two weren't even fighting for real; they'd throw a few punches out of frustration, then soon go back to playing.
While they were fighting, another pair of players had already taken over the arcade machine.
The people who came up this time were clearly much better at playing than the previous two. One on the left, one on the right, they started consciously executing combo moves.
Although they hadn't yet dabbled in more intricate techniques like throws, throw escapes, or counter-hits, the spectacle was clearly more than a few levels higher than before.
"I think Ryu is still more powerful; he knows the Hadoken!"
"What's Ryu? Chan Ka-Kui is the real deal. Chan Ka-Kui saved Atlas!"
"Are you crazy? That's a movie! It's not real!"
Both sides fell silent.
The player on the right, controlling Chan Ka-Kui, began to use long-range items to harass his opponent, much like Ryu using Hadoken. Chan Ka-Kui had his own harassing tool: he fired his gun.
Why didn't the bullets kill when they hit someone?
No one cared about that question.
If Ryu could conjure a Hadoken with his bare hands, who cared whether the bullets could kill or not!
Scenes like this were everywhere in the Roppongi district.
Since they were idle anyway, they might as well sing, dance, and play Street Fighter.
If you met someone and couldn't shout "Hadoken" out loud, you were simply out of touch with the latest trends.
Among all these characters, the one universally recognized as having the best performance and being the most "cheap" to play was none other than Chan Ka-Kui.
His base damage wasn't the highest, and because he was modeled directly after the real-life Chan Ka-Kui, his in-game height was also relatively short, making him look significantly smaller compared to the two-meter-tall hulks.
However.
It was precisely because of his short stature that he had an advantage in a fight.
Because the hit detection in Street Fighter is extremely precise, shorter characters have a smaller hitbox!
Chan Ka-Kui's long-range harassment tool is his pistol. The pistol fires very quickly; it's almost impossible to dodge or react to, making it faster, more sudden, and harder to see coming than Ryu's Hadoken.
The Hadoken has a trajectory, but the pistol fires the moment he raises it!
Although it doesn't deal much damage, it's just plain annoying to get hit by!
What all players find most difficult to deal with is that Chan Ka-Kui's attack range is longer than it actually appears.
On the surface, Chan Ka-Kui's heavy punch looks like a regular punch, but when he executes it, he incorporates furniture into the attack—Chan Ka-Kui hits with the furniture directly! This means that while it doesn't look long, the attack range is actually extended by the length of the furniture.
When playing against him, for players who aren't skilled or experienced enough, this often leads to situations where they think they're safe from being hit, only to get struck instead. After the hit-stun feedback, the opponent immediately rushes in to follow up with a combo.
It hasn't even been a week since Street Fighter was released, but the player community has already established an unwritten rule.
No playing as Chan Ka-Kui during matches! Whoever plays as Chan Ka-Kui gets banished to sit at the table with the Imperial Household Agency!
After having a blast for a while, a few young men walked away, laughing and discussing their recent match techniques.
The floor manager of Gokuraku Night walked over with a man in his thirties, gesturing roughly.
"Umehara-kun, from now on, you are responsible for this area, this part here, and this entire section. When customers leave, clean up promptly, tidy the area, and keep things sanitary. If they want to smoke or fight, don't interfere; protecting yourself is what matters most. But if they dare to smash the machines, you must report it to the security department immediately. Do you understand?"
The man named Umehara nodded quickly.
"You can sit and rest when there are no customers, but if someone comes, you must give up your seat."
The supervisor gave a few more instructions before turning and hurrying away.
Umehara lowered his head and began to sweep up the cigarette butts and trash on the floor.
He was from Aomori Prefecture. Located at the northernmost tip of Japan's Honshu island, it is a very poor region, which is why he had come to Tokyo to make a living. His children back home were still young and just starting school, but for the sake of his livelihood, Umehara had to uproot his family and move to Tokyo.
In Tokyo, even sweeping the streets paid more than earning a living in Aomori!
Because of his poor financial situation, Umehara was temporarily renting a place in Adachi City.
Adachi City is at the northernmost edge of Tokyo and is considered part of the Tokyo suburbs—essentially in the same league as Daxing—so the rent was very cheap.
The distance from Adachi City to Minato City wasn't short, but commuting by train every day was still much more affordable than renting an apartment directly in Minato City.
After working busily for half the day, Umehara finally finished cleaning up the floor and had some time to sit down and rest for a while.
"Dad!"
A childish voice rang out. Umehara broke into a smile, reached out his arms to the elementary school student running toward him, and pulled him into a hug.
This was his son, Daigo Umehara. Since both he and his wife were working the night shift today and had no one to look after him, he had simply brought him along to his workplace.
Daigo Umehara stayed in his father's arms for a moment, then tilted his head back to look at the colorful Street Fighter screen in front of them, finding it quite novel.
Umehara picked Daigo Umehara up and set him on his lap so he could see the arcade cabinet in front of them.
"This is a game machine called 'Street Fighter.' A lot of young people play it. From here to there, this whole row is Dad's stage."
Daigo Umehara nodded and looked at his father: "Can you play, Dad?"
Umehara shook his head: "Dad can't play, because Dad isn't a young person anymore."
Daigo Umehara, understanding only half of what was said, fiddled with the joystick and buttons. Without a coin, the arcade machine wouldn't run, leaving only the demo footage of punches and kicks playing on the screen.
A child wouldn't understand much, but seeing the screen in motion, he started chirping and laughing again.
Umehara held his son and watched for a while, then suddenly felt inspired and pulled out two coins.
"Come on! Dad will play with you for a bit!"
It was only two hundred yen; he could still afford that!
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