He never played Mario Kart online again. But sometimes, late at night, when his Switch was in sleep mode, he'd hear a faint, slowed-down version of the character select theme, coming from the cartridge slot.
It read v1245184 .
[Missing String: kart_boost_failure] [Missing String: lakitu_respawn_negative_one] [Missing String: please_stop_playing_this_version] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe -0100152000022800--v1245184...
∞-∞-∞ Road: 1 race. Time: [ERROR: TIME NOT LINEAR]
He didn't respawn.
And the shopping cart squeaked. Once. Then fell silent.
That number wasn’t a mistake. 1,245,184. Not 1.2 million players. Version 1,245,184. He never played Mario Kart online again
He selected the only track available:
Kevin fell off the track—but there was no fall. The void below wasn't empty. It was filled with every unused texture from every Mario game . Fludd's beta nozzles. Mario’s tanooki tail from Super Mario 3D World’s cutting room floor. A single, sad Yoshi egg labeled "not_used_pls_recycle." sad Yoshi egg labeled "not_used_pls_recycle."