Postman, we’re sorry for laughing at you.

There are over two dozen games in Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda franchise, but to this day 2000’s Majora’s Mask still stands out as “the weird one.” Not only does it change the setting from the customary kingdom of Hyrule to a different realm called Termina, it puts hero Link on an ever-ticking clock, giving you just three in-game days until the titular moon crashes into the world and kills everyone.

Needless to say, characters’ psyches start to fray as their impending overhead doom draws closer, resulting in some very strange behavior. For example, when the game was still new and Japanese Twitter user Dr. Vegepamyu (@dr_vegepamyu) was still a kid, he got a chuckle out of the dialogue for Majora’s Postman on the third and final night, when the character says:

“Ohhh… I want to flee! B-but, it’s not written on the schedule.”

Revisiting the game years later, though, Dr. Vegepamyu, who’s now a salaryman, had a very different reaction, tweeting:

“Back when I was a kid, I was totally into The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask. At the time, when you meet the postman who won’t run away unless his company tells him to, even though the moon is going to come crashing down on everyone, I thought it was weird and funny. Now that I’m a grown-up, though, I realize I’d do the same thing that he did.”

It’s not clear whether Dr. Vegepamyu’s conclusion is coming from being required to continue commuting to work during the coronavirus outbreak, or is simply a broad observation on how Japanese work culture, in general, keeps people chained to their workplace desks for exhaustingly long shifts. Either way, though, his working world-weary words struck a chord with others, who left comments such as:

“After growing up, it hurts to think that I understand exactly how Postman feels.”

“It’s really a painful part of life.”

“Nintendo can be really incisive like this sometimes.”

“Majora…a truly traumatic game.”

However, Majora’s Postman isn’t doomed to spend his last few moments alive slaving away at his job. The player has the ability to manipulate time through the use of magic songs, winding it back again and again until he can find a way to prevent the cataclysm. Unfortunately for Dr. Vegepamyu and others in his situation, however, there’re no such spells in real life, other than finding the courage and assertiveness to tell your boss “I’m not coming in today” when you need to make your health and safety a priority.

Source: Twitter/@dr_vegepamyu via Hachima Kiko

Top image: Pakutaso

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