"Boss, what are you doing?"
The one eared student looked on in confusion as Chris, who currently looked less like a hero and more like a scavenger, crouched on all fours and began rummaging through the grass near the riverbank.
After dealing with the Wraith Armors and crossing the river, Chris hadn't been in any hurry to move on. Instead, he'd stopped to perform his current, peculiar activity.
"I'm looking for an Easter egg," Chris replied directly, not even bothering to look up.
Beside him, Shedinja floated along, its expressionless face mimicking Chris's movements even if it had no idea why. It wiggled through the tall grass, acting as a secondary pair of eyes.
Even though it was only a temporary summon, a clear bond had formed between the two.
Under the influence of [Midnight Parade of a Hundred Demons], Shedinja had finished its transformation. It had said a permanent goodbye to its "Wraith Armor" template and was now a pure Pokémon with its own stats and rules. It couldn't go back even if it wanted to.
The one eared student and his roommate were baffled, but lived by the mantra, 'Whatever the Boss says, goes.' After a moment of hesitation, they both dropped to their knees and joined the search.
About five minutes later, Chris felt his knee press against something hard hidden beneath the foliage. A moment later, a distinct thump echoed in front of him.
"Holy crap! It actually exists!"
Chris sprinted toward the sound and found a red and white pinwheel lying quietly in the grass.
Back in the NES era, many games included Easter eggs referencing other titles from the same company. Usually, finding them required a specific sequence of actions or a very sharp eye.
Some were purely for points, while others had functional effects.
The red and white pinwheel sitting before Chris was the "Yashichi", a functional Easter egg. Specifically, a negative one!
When people think of old-school gaming mascots, they usually think of Mario with his big nose, Kirby the Pink Demon, or Sonic the Hedgehog. Even SNK had a weird guy named "G-Mantle" who wore a tuxedo mask.
Capcom's mascot, however, was even more obscure.
It wasn't Mega Man, and it wasn't Ryu or Ken. It was the Yashichi, that dangerous, red and white pinwheel. It had originally appeared in the 1986 side scrolling shooter Side Arms: Hyper Dyne as the protagonist's robot companion, "Mobi-chan."
Despite its obscurity, the Yashichi appeared in dozens of other Capcom titles.
It showed up in shooters like Gun.Smoke and 1943, beat 'em ups like Warriors of Fate, fighters like Street Fighter Alpha 2, and of course, the very world Chris was currently in: Ghouls 'n Ghosts.
And true to form, Capcom's developers had displayed their "sadistic streak" by including versions of the Easter egg that actually hindered the player.
"Don't touch it. I just wanted to confirm it was here," Chris said, raising a hand to stop the others from approaching. "This thing is a trap. Just treat it like a different kind of Mimic."
Hearing the word "Mimic," the one-eared student recoiled slightly, while his roommate practically leaped several paces back. Their experience with the Vampire Magician had left them permanently traumatized.
In the original game, triggering this specific Yashichi required the player to crouch in the grass right after crossing the third section of the river. For an unaware player, it was lethal. Picking it up didn't give points or items; instead, it instantly deducted thirty seconds from the stage timer.
In many old school games, the timer was the ultimate authority. If it hit zero, the character died instantly.
Chris had only stopped to check because he was passing by and there were no enemies left after the Wraith Armor waves. He'd been curious.
The primary reason for his curiosity was a specific Dungeon Modifier.
[Original Flavor: While following certain laws of reality, it highly restores the scene construction and settings of the original world.]
'If it's a high fidelity restoration, then does it include the Easter eggs that require specific inputs?'
Now, Chris had his answer: Yes. Even the secrets were "authentic."
They were currently about halfway through the first stage of Ghouls 'n Ghosts. There were a total of five Easter eggs in this stage, three of which were in the section they'd already cleared.
However, even though he'd found one, Chris had no intention of heading back for the others.
For one thing, he was currently at peak condition, full, hydrated, and energized from the fight. He needed to save that stamina for the stage boss. Backtracking would waste time and likely cause more enemies to spawn.
For another, most of the eggs, both good and bad, didn't provide immediate combat power.
If he had time left after killing the boss, he could come back. Or, he could wait until he had a map and was better prepared for a "completionist" run in a private instance later.
As for the Yashichi in front of him, he planned to leave it for later as well.
If touching it triggered its effect immediately and docked him several hours of mission time, he'd have nobody but himself to blame.
Besides, Chris had a slightly suicidal idea in the back of his mind... He wanted to see if he could use the Easter egg to exploit a known game glitch.
In the original game, the negative Yashichi subtracted thirty seconds. If the timer hit zero, Arthur died.
But if a player picked up the Yashichi when they had less than thirty seconds remaining, the timer would "underflow" or reset to zero, and the stage timer would be disabled for the rest of the level.
The catch? In that state, Arthur's armor became useless. A single hit--even while armored--would instantly turn him into a pile of bones.
'Risk it for the biscuit? Maybe later.'
Chris led the group around the pinwheel, his stride significantly lighter as he headed toward the end of the forest.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]