“What are you doing?”
A sky-blue haired woman, who had appeared suddenly, asked with a cold expression.
This was a fresh reaction. Rather than surprise, her face showed curiosity. And this was despite the fact that she used the term 'unnie,' suggesting they were close.
“Sex.”
I answered bluntly. There wasn't really anything else to say.
Over there, a pink-haired woman was lying with semen dripping between her legs. And over there, a blonde guy was also masturbating, semen dripping. Right in front of me, there was someone in a naked apron, even exposing her breasts and vigorously thrusting with a penis attached. It would be strange to deny it now.
“Right.”
Immediately after her resigned reply, *bang*, a gunshot rang out. The pillow I had just been resting my head on was pierced and burst by the incoming bullet, scattering cotton into the air.
If Cecil, sensing the danger, hadn't grabbed me and rolled to the side, I would have died instantly.
“Oh my.”
“You should be careful, Master. Hayes always does things without warning.”
“You should have told me that beforehand.”
“I apologize, Master.”
Hayes narrowed her eyes, saying “Hmm,” and looked this way, then turned back to Cecil and asked.
“Who is that person? Your unnie's lover? Though I doubt it.”
Are you asking after you shoot?
“He is my Master. You should greet him too, Hayes.”
Cecil replied. It was a composure that might have seemed cool, if not for the fact that she was wearing only an apron with her breasts exposed.
“Unnie, you've been brainwashed. According to the original flow, the assassin shouldn't have arrived yet. That's strange. Where did the development get twisted?”
Her words were quite significant. As if she was talking about beyond the fourth wall. Even though she was supposed to be just one of the characters.
“You're making wild assumptions, Hayes. I've never been brainwashed. I'm serving my Master entirely of my own free will.”
“You say that so well, looking like that.”
“Because Master wishes it. Every part of this flesh-toy exists for Master. If Master is pleased, I would gladly go for an outdoor walk wearing nothing but a dog collar.”
Cecil said, panting as if excited. She wasn't just stating her own desires, was she?
Hayes stared at Cecil with a serious expression, then let out a small laugh.
“Unnie, won't you be incredibly embarrassed when you come back to your senses later?”
“As I said, I *am* in my right mind.”
“Alright, then, Ms. Right Mind, that's enough. And you, ahjussi, would you introduce yourself?”
Hayes said, twirling the pistol in her hand. Just now, that quick-scope—no, what am I saying? Anyway, seeing her quick-draw skill, this girl is also as skilled as Cecil. Though I don't know if her combat power is on Cecil's level.
Actually, if she's only on Cecil's level, she's not unbeatable. Just waking up Yustia, who's sprawled out over there, would make it a piece of cake, and if push came to shove, I could fight her myself.
But rushing in recklessly, her words from earlier bother me.
For now, perhaps I should just quietly go along with it.
“Before that, can I put on some clothes first? It's embarrassing for both of us if I stay like this, isn't it?”
Only then, as if realizing, she lowered her gaze to 'there.' And then her face flushed with an 'oh' expression.
“Oh, right. Can I shoot that?”
“No, you idiot.”
“Then hurry up and get dressed. I'll wait here.”
I went into the inner room and got dressed. While I was at it, I woke Yustia and brought her along.
“Why are you so useless here?”
I almost died again. This time, even though she was right beside me. Could it be that she's also the typical type who's strong when an enemy but weak when an ally?
Yustia said with an apologetic expression.
“Well... normally, Succumea-nim tells me what to do, but she hasn't said a word for the past few days... You know, darling? I'm a tool that follows Succumea-nim's will... Of course, I'm your tool too, but...”
Come to think of it, that Succumea brat had been quiet all along too. I'd forgotten because I was busy. The app works, but the SD Succumea herself doesn't appear on the screen.
“But your power is still the same, right?”
“Huh? Oh, yes. Of course. I can fight well enough.”
“Then let's get dressed and subdue her as soon as we go out there. I'll help depending on the situation.”
“Understood, darling.”
After getting dressed, I left the room. In the living room, a fierce battle was already well underway.
“Hey, stop using cheap tricks.”
“That's part of the game. If you don't like it, call the game company and tell them to ban it.”
Cecil and Hayes were sitting on the living room sofa, vigorously moving their joysticks. On the screen in front of them, a pixelated fighting game was in full swing.
When did they start playing? More importantly, it's a very old game. The kind that would have been considered a classic even in my original era.
“What are you doing?”
When I asked, dumbfounded, Cecil glanced back and replied.
“Oh, Master, you're out. I was just teaching this one a lesson. Please wait a moment. I'll make her cry soon.”
“You're losing 3-0, yet you talk big, unnie.”
“M-My hands aren't warmed up yet! There are still two rounds left to lose, so I can definitely turn it around!”
“You always say that. And it was supposed to be a single match to begin with. You insisted on best of three, and now it's somehow best of five. In two more rounds, will it become best of seven? Oh, right, this is the same routine every time.”
“This time it's different! I'm not the old me anymore! I'll win spectacularly and make you prostrate yourself before Master!”
“That's a bit of a cowardly thing to say. I don't think I could make unnie more embarrassed than she is right now, no matter what I made her do.”
Hayes sneered and scoffed. Whatever else, it was clear they had a very good relationship. Though it was twisted in a rather strange way.
“What should we do, darling? She looks defenseless. Should we attack now?”
Yustia asked in a small voice from behind me.
“...No, it's fine. Let's wait and see. It looks quite entertaining.”
I went behind the sofa and watched their match.
Indeed. Just watching one match, I could tell there was an enormous skill gap between them.
They talked about cheap tricks and whatnot, but even their basic blocking was different. Hayes was watching and blocking, even spacing herself, but Cecil would just put up her guard as soon as Hayes moved. That's a move that only comes from having a defeatist mindset ingrained in your bones. How much has this girl been unilaterally beaten in the past?
Unable to watch any longer, I whispered into Cecil's ear to motivate her.
“If you win even one round, I'll screw you all night. Work hard.”
At those words, Cecil looked back in surprise.
“Really, Master?”
“Hey, hey, focus on the game.”
“Understood! This silver onahole will definitely win for Master!”
And so, the newly motivated Cecil... ended up losing all seven matches, without winning a single one.
“Ugh... J-Just one more round...”
“It's not fun anymore. I'm stopping.”
Hayes ruthlessly pushed away Cecil, who was clinging on disgracefully.
This one's pretty good.
While Cecil was disgustingly bad, Hayes was also genuinely good.
You could tell just by her combo execution. Once she started, the opponent barely touched the ground.
“Hey, move aside, scrub.”
“Huh?”
Cecil got up from her seat with a reluctant expression. I took her place, grabbed the joystick, and said to Hayes.
“Hey, fight me too.”
“You, ahjussi, can you play this too?”
“I used to be pretty good back in the day.”
It wasn't an empty boast. When I was young, I used to frequent arcades. While the detailed specifics of this game might differ slightly, in the grand scheme, it's not much different from the arcade fighting games of that era. Even the joystick was exactly like those from back then.
“Hmm, really?”
Judging by her reaction, she seemed interested.
“Then just one match.”
“Before that, can I practice for a bit?”
“You said you knew how to play?”
“It's been a while.”
“Fine, do whatever.”
Hayes let go of the joystick. I went into computer versus mode and tried controlling a character. Indeed, the controls felt very similar. This much was manageable.
“Are you ready now?”
“Yeah. You can start.”
We officially entered game mode. Hayes chose a male character with wings. He was shirtless. I chose a character that looked like a kunoichi.
Round 1 was a reconnaissance. She used a lot of low attacks. It seemed the wind-up was short, and if hit during the attack animation, the opponent would be launched into the air, leading to a combo. Unaware of this, I lost Round 1 quite spectacularly.
“How boring. You seem even worse than unnie.”
Hayes said with an unenthusiastic expression. I didn't reply.
Round 2 began. When I pulled the joystick forward, she reacted. Another low attack came in. But it was blocked.
This character's low counter-attack was powerful enough to lead into a combo, but if blocked, it had severe recovery frames. One of the iron rules of fighting games: powerful moves are fatal when blocked.
I immediately launched her with an uppercut and executed the combo I had practiced. Half of her health was chunked away. That's a characteristic of classic fighting games. Combos are incredibly difficult, but conversely, they're that powerful.
“...Ugh.”
She seemed flustered. She measured her distance even more carefully than before.
I boldly pushed the joystick forward again. As she approached, she aimed for a low attack again, extending her leg. You fool, you fell right into it. I blocked again and launched her into the air.
The result was a perfect victory in Round 2.
“That's what happens when you just throw out attacks without thinking.”
I said, as if provoking her. Hayes just glared, saying nothing.
Round 3 began. I once again boldly pushed the joystick forward. Hayes's character flinched, moving. But she didn't actively go for low attacks like before.
I expected this. I immediately threw an uppercut. If she had gone for a low attack, it would have whiffed and she would have been launched into the air. After that, there was a possibility she would have been thoroughly beaten, leading directly to defeat.
In other words, this was a gamble. But a gamble with a high chance of success.
At an amateur level like ours, fighting games are half aggression, half bluff. This 'bluff' is literally psychological warfare. But unlike the mind games of pros, our psychological warfare is mostly just lies.
A lie that I've figured you out. A lie that I'll adapt to you from now on. You just throw out attacks while telling those lies.
The moment this works most effectively is when the opponent believes those lies. Just like now.
“Agh!”
Perhaps she hadn't expected it, as her guard was late. Hayes's character was launched spectacularly into the air. Her health was chunked away again by the ensuing combo.
After barely landing back on the ground, she was barely given a chance to counter. However, instead of a big attack, Hayes threw a series of passive jabs.
Unlike me, who had gathered information by watching Cecil get unilaterally beaten from behind, she had no data on me. Moreover, since she had overwhelmingly won Round 1 like that, she probably thought I was on her level or even worse. So it was natural that she didn't know. For someone who had always been a winner, approaching from a loser's perspective is quite a headache. But in fighting games, I've spent more time getting hit than hitting.
Someone who has defeat ingrained in their body goes through a tough process to win. But once they win, they rarely let go of that victory.
After blocking all the jabs she threw out, aiming for openings.
I pushed the joystick forward. Hayes reacted sharply. As if she had been waiting for this moment.
“Amateurish.”
I was reading her thoughts. I was bluffing that I was reading her thoughts.
In truth, at our level, techniques are limited to one or two, at most three. Moreover, most of them follow the same basic pattern. This girl probably doesn't know many combos beyond the one that launches with a low attack.
So, in this losing situation, it's natural psychology to want to respond with the method you're best at. Exploiting that psychology, I feigned an uppercut but didn't throw it. Instead, I blocked her low attack.
“Gah...!”
The tackle was blocked uselessly. Now, it's time for her to get hit, right? I immediately countered with an uppercut, launching her into the air.
The 'LOSE' screen appeared before the combo could even finish. Hayes slammed the joystick down roughly, as if frustrated.
“How did you do that...?!”
“It's obvious at a glance. You, you've never fought an opponent stronger than yourself, have you? I can tell all that just by watching your gameplay. Things like that.”
This girl, so to speak, is a smurf. She doesn't know how to respect her opponents. She's sharply honed, but while she's keen, she lacks solidity. So when she meets a tough opponent, she breaks without resistance.
“L-Let's play one more round.”
“Will one round be enough?”
“Just shut up and play!”
In the end, the game went to five rounds. It was my perfect victory, 5-0.