After deciding to give up, I became popular

If it were normal circumstances, this crazy computer wouldn't be utterly defeated, or at least, it wouldn't be defeated so easily. But now, it's come to this... No choice, I'll have to use that move!

I silently muttered in my heart that I was forced to do this, there was no other way. At least I couldn't lose to the computer. Throwing fireballs is part of the game; if you don't like it, don't play... and other such phrases. At the same time, my hands began to press the buttons in a fixed, rhythmic pattern.

↓♦→+A, ↓♦→+A... Repeatedly, over and over.

Subsequently, on the entire screen, from Kasumigaoka Utaha's perspective, the character controlled by Summer River Minato began to continuously release a kind of energy ball, endlessly releasing it until the opponent's character's health bar was completely depleted and finally killed.

“……” Consequently, she couldn't help but have a strange expression on her face, looking at her junior, who seemed to be breathing a sigh of relief, sitting in front of her, not knowing what to say.

Could this situation... be considered cheating?

Although she didn't understand the rules at all, her subconscious still felt that this way of winning was too despicable.

But what left her even more speechless was yet to come—

Summer River Minato wiped the non-existent sweat from his forehead, saying with a wary expression, "That was a really tough opponent, I almost lost."

Kasumigaoka Utaha: “……”

Just as she was about to say something, an elementary school student suddenly darted out from beside Summer River Minato, pointing at him and saying, "Big brother, you're so bad."

“Ah?” Summer River Minato never imagined that he would be called bad even when playing against a computer, and by an elementary school student no less.

So he turned his head, trying to persuade him in a kind and friendly manner, "You can't say that. As the saying goes, no matter the means, as long as you win, that's what matters."

The little mushroom head nodded as if he understood, "Oh, I get it. As long as it's to win, even cheating is okay!"

“Ah? This…” Summer River Minato suddenly felt a sense of shame, thinking that he couldn't corrupt children, so he coaxed again, "But then again, it's naturally better to win a victory fairly and squarely."

So the little mushroom head tilted his head, and after thinking for a while, he finally said the most crucial sentence: "I understand... so it's because big brother is too bad."

He was merely stating a fact in a very simple tone, but for Summer River Minato, it was like setting off firecrackers in his heart, shaking him all over.

Wow, what poisonous words! How can such cold words come out of a 37-degree mouth at such a young age!

So Summer River Minato couldn't bear it anymore, thinking that even if he was a child, there were some things that couldn't be said, and he had to educate him properly!

“So, according to you, you're very good?”

“Yes, I'm very good, better than big brother.” The little mushroom head nodded very affirmingly.

Summer River Minato narrowed his eyes, thinking that this was exactly what he was waiting for!

“In that case... I'll give you three game coins, and then we'll spar a little, let me see your strength, and if you win, I'll give you another three, how about that?”

Taking advantage of the young and weak was the perfect description of the situation, but at this moment, Summer River Minato had no other choice. If he didn't do it, his thoughts wouldn't be clear! So he had to use game coins to lure him.

But this little mushroom head seemed to be quite disciplined, even knowing to hesitate and be polite.

“In that case, wouldn't me winning against big brother make big brother lose face in front of the big sister?”

After all, those were three game coins! He had originally thought he would lose them, but he didn't expect to get three more.

“Hiss…” Summer River Minato gasped, thinking that he had really been looked down upon, so he straightened his face and said seriously, "Children aren't allowed to talk nonsense, but don't worry, since I promised to give you game coins, I definitely will, as long as you can really beat me."

No matter what, he didn't believe that the little kid in front of him could beat him.

Just kidding, although he wasn't used to the settings of the joystick, his years of King of Fighters experience were there. This little mushroom head was at most 7 or 8 years old, how could he compete with an old bird who had been immersed in this game for many years?

Impossible, absolutely impossible! The experience ratio was at least 10:1, the advantage was on his side!

So, after inserting the coins for the other party, Summer River Minato very generously—chose three of his most, most, most proficient characters, not forgetting to remind him, "I'll hold back a little, I'll use my weakest three characters to play with you."

The little mushroom head ignored him, starting to choose his characters on his own.

After both sides confirmed, the game officially began.

Summer River Minato immediately perked up, starting to use a master's tactics—probing, constantly probing the other party's depth.

The so-called fighting game can basically be understood as the ultimate variation of rock-paper-scissors. You only need to take corresponding restraining moves when the other party uses a certain action. For example, if the other party releases an attack move, you defend, and then counterattack during the other party's stiff period; or if the other party defends, you use throwing techniques to break the opponent's defense. By slowly advancing like this, you can basically gain an advantage in health, and then whether to play it safe or take other tactics is up to the individual's wishes.

What Summer River Minato was doing now was to first figure out the other party's fighting habits, whether they were the kind who attacked blindly, or the kind who liked to defend and counterattack.

Although he was only facing an elementary school student, he didn't dare to be careless at all.

After all, if he accidentally got defeated by an elementary school student, he would completely lose face.

However, sometimes, the more you don't want something, the more likely it is to come.

Even though he was already very careful and cautious, already perked up, under the onslaught of this little mushroom head, he was like a small sailboat swaying in a turbulent sea. Although he had struggled to the extreme, he was finally overturned in one fell swoop.

“KO!”

Accompanied by a harsh sound, looking at the "Insert coin to continue" option displayed on the entire screen, Summer River Minato was silent.

He did lose, and he lost miserably, even one-sidedly, without any power to fight back.

So that's how it is, that's how it is, he is already... no longer young.

Then he stood up firmly, his eyes as firm as if he wanted to join an organization, and then handed all the game coins in his hand to the elementary school student, saying to him earnestly, "As agreed, these game coins are all yours…"

“Go for it, young man, the future is yours, this land no longer has a place for us old folks... but I believe that with your potential, you can definitely carry it forward!”

Then he squeaked at Kasumigaoka Utaha, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, and left the scene without looking back.

He also needed some time to reminisce about his lost youth—

So he didn't hear the more heart-wrenching words coming from the elementary school student's mouth:

“That big brother is really nice, but his skills are really bad, I guess he can't even beat the worst person in our class…”

“……”

PS: 3K.

Wow, it's, all night, it's almost 8 o'clock now. After writing this chapter, I feel dizzy, my chest is stuffy, and my arms are a little sore and numb because they have been pressed on the table. The key is that I'm also very hungry, but if I don't eat anything, I'll feel uncomfortable from hunger, and if I eat a little, it's not good to go straight to sleep. The most important thing is that after waiting for a while, all kinds of noises will start outside, and it'll probably be hard to sleep again. And I heard that after staying up all night, you'll become more and more energetic. I'm really a little worried that I'm going to die suddenly. That's it, I'll eat something and go to sleep. We'll see you tonight.

202. Soliloquy of a Literary Girl

“……”

“……”

Silence.

A long silence.

After coming out of the arcade, Summer River Minato never said another word.

However, he wasn't embarrassed at first, and had even started brainstorming long ago.

For him, being defeated by an elementary school student was nothing to worry about. After all, there were so many people who lost to elementary school students in games, why couldn't he? It was just that this time was a little different… he was beaten up by an elementary school student in front of a girl of the same age.

But precisely because of this, he had to start brainstorming!

乂 He had already thought of a complete countermeasure, and had even started laying out the plan as early as when he realized that he couldn't beat that little mushroom head—after losing the game, he would immediately put on a "the waves behind drive the waves ahead, and he, the front wave, was shot dead on the beach" look, and then entrust the "fighting spirit" to that "genius boy" in a posture of inheritance…

That's right! As long as he put on this posture, he wouldn't be an embarrassing high school student who lost to an elementary school student, but a senior in this field, who had passed on "hope" to the successor!

In this way, even if Senior mentioned this matter later, he would have an explanation—that guy is a genius, and if it were him, he might be able to help him realize his dream of becoming a world champion…

That's what he was thinking, and he had even prepared a complete explanation long ago, and had been making a look of great satisfaction and contentment.

However, he was faced with Kasumigaoka Utaha, who hadn't said a word since they left the house.

“……”

How could she! Be so calm!

Wasn't this clearly saying, "Junior is already in great pain from losing to an elementary school student, so I shouldn't rub salt in his wounds."

He didn't! He didn't lose! He was just passing on his will! So please say something quickly, don't pity him anymore!

“That guy… is a genius.” Summer River Minato said with a solemn expression. He couldn't bear it anymore. If he didn't say something, he felt like he was going to go crazy and collapse in the next second.

“Huh? What…” Kasumigaoka Utaha glanced at him, wondering what he was talking about suddenly.

“……”

That pure look of doubt wasn't fake at all, so Summer River Minato immediately understood.

Senior hadn't even thought about what happened just now. The reason why she hadn't spoken might just be that she was thinking about something else or waiting for him to start a topic.

In other words, this matter could have been glossed over, but he had brought it up again!

Damn it! Didn't this make it seem like he cared?!

“I mean that child just now, he has amazing talent, and has the potential to become a world champion in the future…” Summer River Minato continued to explain with a forced smile. It would be even more of a cover-up to say that it was nothing at this time, so he should just treat it as a normal topic and chat about it casually.

“Oh, is that so…” Kasumigaoka Utaha nodded noncommittally.

She had no interest in this kind of thing at all. In comparison, she was more concerned about the fact that her junior actually liked to come to this kind of place. She just didn't know which other girls had accompanied him to various scenes for dates besides her…

She understood, and she believed that Summer River Minato also understood—girls generally don't like to go to this kind of narrow, cramped, and noisy environment. Although some claw machines can slightly attract attention, fundamentally, this kind of place with mixed crowds and full of games is not favored by girls.

It could even be said that if a boy set the date in this kind of scene, unless the relationship was good to a certain extent, it would definitely be disliked, and might even lead to a breakup—"You only think about yourself."

And for a literary girl like her, it was even more unlikely that she would like this kind of place, but her junior still brought her here.

Was it a momentary oversight? No, she didn't believe it.

Similarly, she didn't think that her junior wouldn't understand her personality—he was always able to do things that suited her preferences in previous dates, and could accurately hit every target. There was no reason why he couldn't do it now? He even seemed to be running in the opposite direction…

Could it be that he was deliberately trying to make her hate him?

Based on her understanding of Summer River Minato, this was absolutely impossible. She trusted her judgment, and her judgment had never been wrong—except for the time her junior confessed.

She thought that she had already hinted clearly enough at the time, "I hope that my junior can face her with his true self, and she will accept all of him without hesitation." She clearly wanted to express this meaning, but he misunderstood it as "she can't accept his confession now." And so, he began to leave her, and even threw himself into that idiot blonde's arms later.

This was unacceptable to her, and she even interfered and obstructed him on her own initiative. In the end, she even broke the pot and told him to his face, "I clearly care about you, as long as you can…" But before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by him with the words, "Please don't tease me anymore, Senior, and please don't look for me so often, I'm afraid Eri will misunderstand our relationship." Then, he left without even looking at her.

From that moment, she understood that she had deeply hurt him before, in a way that she herself hadn't noticed, and he wasn't even willing to listen to her explanation because of it.

So, from then on, she kept her posture very low, and no longer regarded herself as the "favored one." She even began to actively initiate "capture," and then little by little, she finally eased the relationship between the two of them until now—she was even able to be brought to this kind of place by her junior.

Doesn't this prove that her junior also felt that the relationship between the two of them had returned to what it was before, or even a better level?

She might have misjudged some things, but she couldn't possibly miss the "things are looking up" signal, and it also aligned with her long-held wish—that her junior would face her with his true self.

His own personal preferences, his own thoughts, not action patterns taken to cater to her thinking, what he likes to do when he's alone, everything about him, she wants to understand everything—only then can she respond to him with the same unreserved and passionate feelings.

Because she yearns for such pure romance, wholehearted love...

"..."

203. A Better Choice (3K)

"Not continuing?" Seeing Xia Chuanzou looking a little absent-minded, Xia Zhiqiu Shiyu spoke up in a timely manner.

"What?" Xia Chuanzou was taken aback, a little confused.

"Of course, I'm referring to the date—" Xia Zhiqiu Shiyu reminded, then changed the subject, "Junior, you should have other places you want to go, right?"

"..." Xia Chuanzou turned to look at her, but he didn't complain. He nodded and said, "That's right... but is it okay with you, Senior? You should have things you want to do, right?"

"I don't mind." The senior shook her head, her lips parted slightly, her tone seemingly rising.

"Since I said I would accompany Junior, I will naturally keep you company to the end, so no matter what unspeakable places Junior wants to take me to, or what unspeakable things you want to do... I will keep my promise, okay?"

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior, but I still want to maintain my qualifications to be human for the time being." Xia Chuanzou nodded slightly. After getting used to it, this level of teasing basically has no impact on him.

But when it came to places he wanted to go, he was in a dilemma.

For boys like him, they usually don't go out. If there is no appointment with anyone, they can usually stay at home all day, playing games and listening to music.

Although he has a small hobby of traveling, this takes a lot of time, so unless he is sure that there are no other arrangements, he will not easily go out, especially when he decides to act alone temporarily like today, he has no way to make detailed travel arrangements. In addition, he originally thought that going to the bookstore and the arcade could completely kill time, but he didn't expect that he would be exhausted after a while.

"Senior, is there any place you want to go?" Xia Chuanzou turned to ask her again. He didn't choose to accommodate her, but he really couldn't think of anything, so he might as well just ask for suggestions.