Watching the defeated Masao, Eriri couldn't contain her smug satisfaction. She planted her hands on her hips, her triumphant laughter echoing all around them.
"See that? That's what true power looks like! Ahaha~!"
It was a scene straight out of a fighting game: the victor reveling in her win, the loser slumped in dejected defeat.
Masao scowled, a pout forming on his lips.
"That was a complete fluke. You just got lucky and mashed the buttons for the finishing move."
"Lucky?" Eriri's chest swelled with pride. "Call it what you want, but I'm the one with the victory screen. It's all skill. The move's right there in the command list—nothing was stopping you from using it."
It was true that the finishing move had been unleashed through a combination of frantic button-mashing and chance, but that minor detail did nothing to diminish Eriri's glory.
If anything, the accidental nature of her victory made it all the more satisfying.
"I demand a rematch," Masao insisted, his competitive spirit flaring. "I won't accept this loss."
Eriri responded by striking a dramatic pose—left hand covering her face, right elbow cradled in her left palm. It was a perfect, exaggerated JOJO pose.
"Your challenge is accepted!" she declared.
The second round began in earnest.
This time, the tentative probing with simple jabs and kicks was over. Both players dove straight into experimenting with flashier techniques and complex combos.
"Hey! I did it! An energy blast! Take this—Hadouken! Hadouken!" Eriri cheered.
"That's broken! How do you do it? Show me!"
"What's this one? A mini-fatality? So cool!"
"How did you pull off that full finishing move from before?"
"I'm not even sure myself. Like this? No… maybe like this?"
"Let me try…It's not working!"
After a quick consultation of an online move guide and several minutes of shared experimentation, Masao was the first to successfully execute a full finishing move.
Less than a minute later, the combination finally clicked for Eriri, and her character performed the same devastating attack.
"Success!"
they shouted in unison, instinctively slapping their hands together in a celebratory high-five.
For a beautiful moment, the competition was forgotten. They were simply two gamers united by the thrill of pulling off something spectacular.
After a few seconds of shared excitement, Eriri caught herself.
She looked at Masao's genuinely happy face and quickly schooled her features into a mask of indifference. She crossed her arms and turned away with a dismissive sniff.
"It's just a special move. Really, it's no great accomplishment. Anyway, I've clearly mastered everything this game has to offer. Let's move on to something else."
"Fine by me," Masao agreed, getting to his feet. He was ready for a new challenge, too.
—
They migrated to the nearby racing game section.
The setup was impressive, enormous, hydraulically-controlled seats designed to simulate the genuine feel of driving a high-performance car, all without the risk of a real-world crash.
It was a paradise for aspiring speed demons.
Eriri buckled herself into the driver's seat, her hands gripping the steering wheel as she gave it a few experimental turns.
"You ready? I'm itching for a proper, white-knuckle race!" she said, buzzing with anticipation.
Masao stretched his wrists and rolled his shoulders.
"Ready. Prepare to be humbled by the skills of a ten-year driving veteran."
It wasn't a complete lie; in his previous life, he had held a driver's license for close to a decade.
[*3, 2, 1, START!*]
The moment the countdown vanished, Eriri stomped the virtual accelerator into the floor.
"Go!"
The seat responded, throwing her back with a powerful surge of force. The adrenaline hit her and she was consumed by the thrill of speed.
Meanwhile, Masao drove as if he were on a public road. He applied gentle pressure to the accelerator, building speed gradually.
Once his digital speedometer hit a conservative 60 km/h, he settled in, maintaining a steady, safe pace—a tortoise in a world of hares.
Just as he was navigating a gentle turn with intense concentration, a piercing shriek came from the seat beside him.
"Aahhh~!"
Eriri's lead-footed approach had backfired.
Taking a corner at breakneck speed, she lost all control. In a panic, she wrenched the steering wheel hard.
The game's physics engine sent her car into a violent spin. While she was in no real danger, the motion seat reacted with terrifying realism, bucking and shaking as if it were actually crashing.
Masao managed a quick glance at the chaos.
"Serves you right for driving like a maniac," he quipped before snapping his focus back to his own screen.
Distracted driving was dangerous, even in a game.
As her seat finally stabilized, a flustered and slightly dizzy Eriri found her voice.
"I don't want to hear that from Mr. Sunday Driver himself! Hmph! Coward!"
Her words were brave, but her actions were cautious; she didn't immediately floor it again.
Masao, approaching his first real corner, demonstrated his "veteran" skill.
He smoothly let off the gas, tapped the brake, and guided his car through the turn with clean, efficient lines.
Drifting? Far too reckless. The jarring sounds of Eriri's demolition next to him were proof enough of that.
Eriri's journey, however, was a symphony of destruction. Even at a more manageable speed, her aggressive driving led to a constant barrage of collisions.
Her car ricocheted off the guardrails and scraped along the walls, each impact translating into a violent lurch and shudder from her seat. She yelped and gasped, her knuckles white on the steering wheel.
It was during this chaotic, bumper-car progression that the methodical Masao, with his pristine, undamaged vehicle, calmly caught up and began to overtake her.
The sight of his slow car gliding past her was the ultimate insult. A wave of competitive fury washed over Eriri. She targeted the rear of Masao's car, a wicked grin spreading across her face as she slammed her foot down.
"Get out of my way!"
CRASH!
The sound of rending virtual metal filled the air as Eriri's car rammed full-force into the back of Masao's car.
He was thrown forward as his seat jolted violently with the impact. The shock was so sudden and unexpected that a sharp curse escaped his lips.
"What the f**king hell?!"
Regaining his composure, he turned to glare at her.
"Eriri! What was that for?!"
Eriri, who had braced for the impact, was far less shaken. She met his angry gaze not with remorse, but with glee.
"A little love tap! It's called aggressive racing! Maybe if you weren't crawling along and blocking the racing line, it wouldn't have happened!"
"You…!" Masao's temper flared. "You want to play it that way? Fine. Let me show you what a 'love tap' really looks like!"
He punched the accelerator, his car surging forward before he expertly swerved, pulling up directly alongside Eriri.
A sense of impending doom washed over her.
"What are you doing?! Don't you dare—!"
But her protest was cut short. Masao yanked his steering wheel, slamming the side of his car squarely into hers.
The force of the impact was devastating.
Eriri's vehicle was sent pinwheeling across the track before smashing hard into the concrete barrier.
On screen, it was a wreck, screeching hideously as it ground against the wall. In the real world, Eriri's seat went wild, pitching and shaking so violently she had to cling to the steering wheel for dear life to avoid being thrown from the seat.
"You idiot! What are you doing?! I'm going to kill you! Aah! Aah! Aah!" she screamed, her voice a mixture of rage, terror, and the jarring physical feedback.
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[email protected]/Raven_scroll (30+ Advance Chapters)