Liam scanned it. $79.99. The boy’s face fell. He didn’t have enough.

“The law,” he said, “doesn’t know what it means to truly own a game. Now go home. And when you get there, search for ‘all 3DS ROMs.’ You won’t find them all. No one will. But you’ll find enough.”

Liam looked at the spreadsheets. He had 1,482 unique 3DS titles. The complete USA library was 1,421. He had all of them. The EUR library was 1,453. He had 1,401. The JPN library was over 1,700. He had 1,288. He was close. So close.

And for the first time in a very long time, Liam Vogel went home and slept without dreaming of spreadsheets.

“It’s not just files. You haven’t left your room in a week.”

Liam said nothing. His 3DS, in his pocket, vibrated with a StreetPass notification. He had last passed someone three years ago. The irony was not lost on him.