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Chapter 582: Guilty Gear
🕑 Added 2025-08-16 04:05:51 +0000 UTCSunday, 26 April 1995, Japan.
Zaboru wasn’t working on this holiday, a rare break from his busy schedule. He took the opportunity to stroll through the familiar streets of his neighborhood, enjoying the crisp April air and the distant hum of city life. Eventually, his wandering led him to the brightly lit entrance of the nearby Toki Bakudan arcade, its glass doors rattling slightly from the bass of game soundtracks inside. “Heh, I wonder how Guilty Gear is doing,” he murmured to himself with a half-smile. Yes — ZAGE had just unveiled their latest arcade release, a high-energy fighting game called Guilty Gear. The machine had officially gone public only yesterday, developed by ZAGE USA and already creating a small buzz among local arcade-goers eager to try something new.
A couple of days ago, Zaboru had already handed down an ambitious set of instructions to ZAGE’s PC game division. They were to concentrate heavily on bringing Quake to life while simultaneously working on the first iteration of the Unreal Engine, a technical challenge that would stretch the team’s skills. In addition to these demanding projects, he directed them to design and implement Battle.net — an online multiplayer platform well ahead of its time — and to finish development on Warcraft 2 with the goal of hitting a late June or early July release window.
As for Guilty Gear, the game stood apart from ZAGE’s other fighting titles in both style and mechanics. It wasn’t like Street Fighter, which emphasized careful timing, precise spacing, and deliberate follow-up attacks, nor like Mortal Kombat, which was similar in structure but faster, more brutal, and famously gore-heavy. It also differed from Marvel vs. ZAGE, a chaotic, high-speed tag fighter that encouraged flashy team assists and relentless offense. Guilty Gear focused on lightning-fast combos where no single strike delivered the crushing blow — instead, mastery came from chaining multiple attacks together in rapid succession, pushing opponents into corners and forcing them to guess under intense pressure. It introduced an innovative tension gauge that rewarded bold, aggressive play whether you were attacking or defending, steadily filling your super meter simply by staying active in the fight. This system encouraged players to keep the pace high rather than turtling defensively. Adding to its appeal, the roster was filled with distinctive characters sporting over-the-top, anime-inspired designs, each with their own signature flair, elaborate move sets, and personality-driven animations that made the game will stand out visually and thematically in the crowded arcade market.
In this ZAGE version of Guilty Gear, Zaboru included a total of 16 characters: Sol Badguy, Ky Kiske, May, Millia Rage, Chipp Zanuff, Dr. Baldhead (Faust), Zato-1, Kliff Undersn, Potemkin, Justice, Baiken, Johnny, Testament, Anji, Venom, and I-No.
This roster was carefully assembled as a blend of characters from Guilty Gear and Guilty Gear X that Zaboru remembered from his previous life, enriched by the addition of I-No from Guilty Gear XX. This meant players could enjoy a cast that felt fresh, capturing the essence of multiple eras of the series in one package. The gameplay and art style stayed close to the fluid, stylized look of Guilty Gear X as he recalled it, yet now incorporated enhanced special moves, mechanics, and balance tweaks inspired by future Guilty Gear entries. Overall, the movesets leaned most heavily on Guilty Gear XX for their structure and depth.
Zaboru arrived at Bakudan Arcade, discreetly sporting a pair of simple glasses along with a slightly crooked fake moustache and a neatly trimmed fake goatee. The disguise gave him an almost comical air, yet it was effective — only someone who had spent a great deal of time with him, noting the small quirks in his stance or the familiar glint in his eyes, would have been able to recognize him through the ruse.
Inside, the arcade atmosphere was lively, the air filled with the rhythmic beeps of game machines, the low rumble of bass-heavy soundtracks, and the occasional triumphant shout from a victorious player. Zaboru grinned — those familiar sights and sounds never lost their charm for him. Arcades had been a part of his life since he was a kid in previous live, and stepping into one felt like slipping back into a comfortable old jacket. Whether it was the challenge of besting a worthy opponent, the satisfying click of arcade buttons under his fingertips, or simply soaking in the energy of the place, he loved visiting them whenever he had the chance.
He noticed three new cabinets labeled Guilty Gear, surrounded by players either waiting to play or just watching.
“Die, you Taku!” one guy, using Johnny, was dominating another player who was using I-No.
“Damn you, Rikiya! That’s a cheap trick!” Taku yelled as Rikiya kept pummeling him.
Rikiya was clearly a decent player, someone who had logged plenty of hours on fighting games before. His movements were confident, his spacing sharp, and he clearly knew how to punish mistakes. In the end, he defeated Taku’s I-No by a wide margin, sealing the win with a flashy combo that drew a few impressed murmurs from the crowd. He leaned back in his seat with a cocky grin, clearly savoring the moment. “Hehehe! I’m really good at this! This new game rocks! So—does anyone here have the guts to fight me!?”
Someone stepped up using Baiken, but Rikiya still won. It was true — Rikiya was skilled.
Zaboru chuckled, his eyes gleaming behind the glasses, and stepped forward with an easy confidence. “Mind if I take you on? You look like you can put up a real fight.”
Rikiya grinned, eager for another win. “Sure thing, dude!” Of course, Rikiya had no idea he was about to face Zaboru Renkonan himself.
The arcade crowd gathered, the hum of CRT monitors filling the smoky air. Two cabinets were linked for versus play — on the left, Rikiya’s Johnny, all cool swagger and shining blade; on the right, Zaboru’s I-No, smirking with her electric guitar slung low.
Round 1 began. Rikiya stepped forward, but before his Mist Finer could even start, Zaboru sent a slow, arcing note across the screen, forcing him to block. She slid in with Stroke the Big Tree low, clipping his legs. The crowd reacted — “Ooooh!”
Rikiya grit his teeth and tried to dash in for a throw, but Zaboru had already read it. A backdash into instant air dash forward again, delivering a brutal combo.
“What the hell!” The crowd was surprised — Rikiya was being overwhelmed! Every attempt he made — a coin toss into Mist Finer, a quick poke, even an air-to-air — got countered. Zaboru dismantled his options with 2S pokes, sliding under, or locking him down with another note into a brutal high-low mix.
Zaboru beat him without breaking a sweat. PERFECT.
“It’s just a fluke! Next round I win!” Rikiya declared.
Zaboru smiled and started Round 2.
Rikiya was searching for answers, but Zaboru was already inside his head. Every jump got clipped by a perfectly timed vertical Chemical Love. Every ground approach was smothered in note pressure. His tension gauge was full, but Zaboru gave him no room to breathe.
One last desperate Mist Finer whiffed. Zaboru punished with a counter-hit Stroke, Roman Canceled, and rode the combo straight into I-No’s super move Megalomania. The final guitar chord echoed through the arcade. PERFECT.
The crowd’s mouths hung open in astonishment, and Rikiya’s eyes widened in disbelief. It was as if every move, every feint, and every intention had been laid bare — this guy had read him like a well-worn book.
“Yo… you’re a pro gamer, right?” Rikiya asked.
Zaboru chuckled and shrugged. “Who knows?”
Then, breaking the brief silence after the last match, someone in the crowd suddenly blurted out, “OH MY GOD, IT’S ZABORU RENKONAN — AND HE’S WEARING A FAKE MOUSTACHE!” The words seemed to ripple through the onlookers like a shockwave. Heads turned, eyes widened, and a collective gasp rose from the gathered arcade-goers as the realization dawned on them all at once.
“N… no way!” Rikiya gasped, it makes sense he lost!.
Zaboru chuckled, removed his moustache, and smiled. “Yes, it’s me. Anybody want to try me?”
“Ooh, Zaboru! I’m your biggest fan!” “Zaboru, damn, please shake my hand!” The crowd’s excitement was electric, voices overlapping as people reached out toward him. Zaboru was hugely popular in the gaming community — not just because of his unmatched style and legendary skill, but because he was widely regarded as the savior of the video game industry because he revived a dying video game industry. Despite his wealth and fame, he carried himself with an easy humility, taking time to greet fans, smile genuinely, and enjoy the moment with them. And of course, everyone knew he wasn’t just rich and influential — he was really good at gaming, a true master whose abilities spoke for themselves.
As for Zaboru himself he didn’t really happy when he treated like god of video games because he knows that mainly he just copy of games from his previous life while occasionally creating games or improving it by himself thats why he never flaunt it anyway in the end he is just himself the guy who loves playing video game more than anything.
Everyone cheered, lining up to fight the God of Video Games himself. Even though they got beaten badly, they didn’t care — playing against Zaboru was an honor.
And just like that, Guilty Gear became ZAGE’s newest fighting game success.
To be continued
