Chapter 269
"Master. This is厖."
"Huh? Ah, this is what happens when you work hard."
In the beginning, this was a person who played with basic stab and distance control, and broke down each technique into frames.
One second is about 30 frames, so he understood his opponent's movements in 0.03 seconds.
Add to that the fact that he was an Awakened, and his unimaginably developed vision and reaction time made him perfectly efficient in these fighting games.
In other words, I am invincible in this Iron Fist 7.
"厖God Omega. I guess I'll have to take it seriously."
With that, she pulls a hair tie from her pocket, puts it in her mouth, and casually gathers her hair.
"Let's get started."
With her hair fully tied up, she sits down next to me and casually picks a character.
She chose a character called Mascara. He's a character that's considered lousy by the general public, but is said to be a master's character who can take out an opponent's soul the moment he picks him up.
She was wearing a basic look without any customization.
And I厖.
"Is that what you're going with, Master?"
"Yeah. I think that's my favorite."
Park Phoenix, a powerful one-handed character known as "Oa," was a bully known for his basic performance.
My reasoning for using Park Phoenix was simple.
Because it's good? No.
Because he has a powerful one-hit wonder? Um厖No.
There was only one real reason.
慦hen I was a kid, my brother used to throw a temper tantrum with it so he got hit with a chair.
And that's when I realized.
Winning is only half the battle.
To truly win, you need to be able to control your opponent's emotions.
In other words, 慼umanity' was the fundamental joy of the game.
And Park Phoenix, to me, was the character who could most perfectly fulfill this character trait.
"Master, your customization is厖poof."
Haru, who had been expressionless until now, burst out laughing when she saw my character.
It had a bright yellow top and bottom and red gloves that looked like rubber gloves, and a flesh-colored bandana covering his entire head.
The look was inspired by the popular anime character, One Bread Man.
"I spent some time making this."
Above all, it feels good when others laugh at my customizations.
"I didn't think you'd decorate it with cartoon characters."
"I'm trendier than I thought."
And since it was clear that if I was robbed by a character like this, my opponent would be even more dismantled, I set up this look.
"So, shall we begin?"
-Get Ready for the Next Battle!
The battle cue blares from the big TV with an upbeat sound.
Emperor and God Omega face off.
If this were an arcade, everyone in the neighborhood would be gathered around this big match.
It's the kind of battle you only see at tournaments, when top players put their hearts on the line.
"Now that I think about it, this is a battle of fighting game powers?"
There have been many champions of fighting games in the past.
Among them, there are two countries that have produced flares that are said to have made history.
That would be Korea and Japan.
"When you put it that way, I can't help but be serious."
Haru seemed to realize that I had deliberately brought up countries, and she began to stare at the screen with a sharper eye than usual.
Our record against each other is still 0-0-0-0.
However, when I pulled up our past records, it was practically as if I had lost 13 games.
Even though I didn't lose厖shouldn't I make amends?
The game begins, as mine and Haru's characters slowly begin to close the distance.
I could tell from the way she moved the joystick and stepped on the sticks that she wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
They keep stomping on each other and only look at each other.
Unable to stand this stalemate, I used the wooden bat on the character's back as a taunt.
Boom!
The bat swings into thin air.
"厖?"
"This is my first time using this, and the delay is no joke, huh?"
Haru's character paused for a moment at my sudden action, and then, realizing that what I had done was a provocation, she blushed slightly and began to close the distance between us.
Or not.
Boom-!
I swung my bat once more, and Haru didn't miss the delay.
A technique that sent the opponent flying into the sky with a powerful blow. She uses a killing blow to launch me high into the air.
"You're taking me too lightly."
She mumbles in a cold voice as she pulls off a perfect combo without missing a beat.
I'm caught in the middle of a bat attack and have no choice but to take a counter.
My health gauge is dwindling by the second.
"Are you done?"
"Not yet."
As if she doesn't want to stop there, she continues to apply psychological pressure.
I'm good at psychological warfare, too.
"Hoit."
I grabbed her ankle, stood up, and straightened my guard.
She keeps attacking and I keep guarding.
Eventually, the timer reaches zero and she is declared the victor.
But in the end, she must have known.
"I've learned all your attack patterns."
"厖I look forward to it."
She realizes that the first round is just a test of her skill.
"Now, shall we continue?"
Round two begins.
This time, Haru didn't distance herself from me, but instead began to move forward and keep her distance from me.
I couldn't reach her even if I stretched my legs out, but if she moved forward just a little bit, she'd be right in my face.
I pulled out another pattern to make up for my previous mistake.
Thinking it was a pretty cute move, I stood still in place as if to say.
-Fight!
At the start of the fight, Haru throws out a jab, trying to keep up.
But my character sneakily moved backwards, and Haru unleashed a Dragon Kick to catch him in the act.
"You're caught!"
It's a backward cartwheel that sends the opponent into the air, and if he's knocked off his feet by it, he's in for a combo like last round.
But
"Oooh~"
Park Phoenix's trademark move, a flying kick, was unleashed.
It's a one-hit killing technique that takes into account the center of the body, weight shift, and strike position while stepping forward.
The attack is executed in a very short frame, just before the strike. It was a difficult technique to execute unless you were a master.
The timing of the counter was so perfect that it sent Haru's character flying backwards.
Even though it was only a single hit, the damage from the counter was comparable to a full combo.
How did I win?
The reason was really simple.
Haru's dragon kick was 16 frames, while my move was 15 frames.
"Ouch!"
Haru winced after taking a powerful punch but she got right back up, to not let me attack again. She slowly creeps toward me, mixing in short attacks.
It was a pre-move to get into a combo once again but
"Ohhh~"
One pixel in, and it's a bouncy ball.
"Oh, no, this is it!"
The gauge bar is once again dripping with blood, this time from a neatly placed bouncy ball that was only one pixel away.
慔ere's my chance.
Seizing the moment, I sprinted forward and Haru kicked out at me as if she didn't care about timing.
"Stay back from here~"
I backstab without giving her any distance.
Just like that, Haru's character is caught in a delay.
"Oah--"
Kwaaaaaaang---!!!
Once again, a merciless blow crushed Haru's character.
-You Win.
-Perfect!
-Ouch!
As if to mock the character of the day, Park Phoenix pounced on the corpse.
It was the perfect example of teabagging.
Haru's face flushes red for a moment.
"Oh, there's still one more round to go."
"That's right. We don't know the result yet."
She sounds frustrated but then
-Oh!
-Oh!
-Oh!
Once again, the character's day ends with a bang.
He sits down and gets up in front of her and teases her eagerly.
"Hey, what's this厖? It's been a while, so I'm a little stiff. Let's do it again, Master."
"You're welcome."
And so the revenge begins again.
-Oh~
"Ohhh~"
"Kwak! Again!"
-Ohhhh
"Ohhh~"
"Would you mind not doing that oooh厖?"
-Ohhh!
"Ooh~ That's easy."
"厖."
Suddenly, a notification popped up under my character.
[14 straight wins against this player!]
The notification says 14 wins, 0 draws, and 0 losses so far.
"Ah. That was fun. Should we stop now?"
At this point, she would have realized that she can never beat me in a game.
That I'm fighting frame by frame, pixel by pixel.
She lets out a long sigh and steadies her breathing.
"I think I know why Awakened are excluded from international gaming competitions."
"There are gaming tournaments just for Awakened."
"厖I'm sure you'd win a world championship if you were out there."
"Well, I guess I would, wouldn't I?"
I don't argue back.
After all, that's how I felt too.
I just didn't see a reason to厖.
"So that makes it 13 wins and 14 losses厖I can't believe I'm the one who lost. That's pretty disappointing. Do you want to play one more game?"
"No."
"厖Yes?"
I knew Eugene Han Corleone's past personality anyway.
Therefore, I smiled back at her with a little more ease.
"Haru. You're a bad dog."
"厖?"
Yep. Now I win the whole thing~!
* * *
[Character Hidden Quest Completed!]
[The gentleman抯 revenge is a game]
[Goal: Defeat Haru Inomiya]
[Reward: strengthening of vision and cognitive ability]
[Vision and cognitive abilities will be strengthened!]
Playing games and increasing my stats, it was the perfect holiday, and I couldn't wipe the smile off my face until I got home.
"Seriously, I've never seen Haru so upset in my life."
I can't tell you how many new expressions I've seen today.
In the game, she was so good at hiding her emotions, even when she was humiliated or sad.
But then she厖.
慖 will. I will definitely take revenge厖!'
Well, it was the game that caused her to shake her fists and burst into tears.
"I never thought Haru would be so serious about a game."
I returned home, vowing to be gentler with her next time, and saw a new message from Haru.
[Haru: I'm actively demanding the installation of a gaming machine in the Familia room]
[Me: Suddenly?]
[Haru: I'll pay for it, do you mind if I install it?]
[Me: Uh厖go ahead.]
[Haru: Yes. I'll get the latest and greatest]
I can't believe she was the first to offer, when normally I would have asked her why she needed such a useless device.
I thought I'd hit the nail on the head this time, but厖.
But it turned out not to be the case, as we played a co-op game after the stern talking to cheer her up a bit.
The co-op game was pretty serious, too.
~The next day~
After receiving a message from the old man in the morning saying, "The new technique is ready, come and see me," I went to the Budokan.
I felt like my body and mind were completely healed from yesterday's work.
After all, it occurred to me that there is nothing more truly healing than playing games.
"Good morning."
I knocked on the old man's door and bowed as I entered. The old man, who was wearing glasses while sitting at his desk, glanced at me and took them off.
"Yes, you're here厖."
He stood up from his seat and approached me.
"Your hand."
"What?"
"Give me your hand for a second."
"Uh, yeah."
He steps in front of me and asks for my hand, and when I give it to him, he begins to fiddle with my fist.
"Eugene, do you know what you lack right now?"
"What? Uh厖elixir?"
"Well, you're not wrong about that, but the correct answer is efficiency."
"厖Efficiency?"
I look at him with a confused expression, and he lets go of my hand and answers.
"Yes, efficiency. And I'm about to teach you the skill you need. The ultimate in efficiency, a technique that will allow you to use your power properly."
Efficiency!
The art of properly utilizing your power!
"What厖is that?"
I ask cautiously, my heart pounding with excitement and the old man replies in a serious voice.
"厖The name of the technique is called Bokken(??). It's a one-hit killing punch that can instantly kill everything."
厖eh.
"What?"
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