Chapter 88

1.

I was utterly defeated.

No, it went beyond mere defeat—I was mocked.

“……”

I stared with trembling eyes at the K.O. title that had appeared on the screen in front of me.

There was my character lying on the ground, and Momo’s character standing triumphantly before it. Adding insult to injury, there was Momo’s voice teasing me from beside me.

Each element only added to my frustration.

“Hahahah! A master crushing a novice in the blink of an eye—this is the true essence of fighting games! How’s it feel? Was it too hard for a beginner like Hiiro~?”

“Uh, onee-san… stop teasing him… If this keeps up, newbie Hiiro might lose all interest in the game…”

“Eh? C’mon, surely not… Hiiro, you’re not mad, are you?”

“……”

No, it wasn’t frustration—it was anger.

Most of all, having done nothing and lost was like proof that my skills were even worse than Momo’s. And it wasn’t because I couldn’t accept losing to her, or that my pride was hurt.

Of course, if Yuzu had been the opponent, I might have accepted it.

But, “this time is different.”

Why had I lost to Momo?

Because her hands were just too fast?

Because it was my first time playing the game, and I didn’t adapt well?

Or because the hypersensitivity I experienced since entering the arcade hadn’t settled yet?

No. None of those reasons were true.

For the average person, keeping up with the rapid back-and-forth in a game screen is impossible with the naked eye. Without the exceptional reflexes of true experts, the brain simply can’t keep up with the pace of virtual combat.

But…

My hypersensitivity allowed me to perceive every movement on the screen as if it were in slow motion. I could detect my opponent’s attacks quickly and follow Momo’s advice to execute defensive motions by manipulating the pad.

But the result? I was still hit.

Why?

Even as I was defeated by Momo, I quickly realized the answer.

“Maybe the lag was on the other side.”

My hypersensitivity-driven reflexes far outpaced the game’s processing speed. My character’s actions, my opponent’s actions, and any actions I attempted to take all happened slower than I expected.

It was like playing a lagging game where your actions always come a beat late.

Upon realizing this, I tried to adjust the timing while considering my hypersensitivity. But by the time I understood, Momo had already seized the upper hand.

Through that foul, despicable move—”Bungken.”

Once you were caught in that pattern, it was hard to time your reactions even with hypersensitivity active.

“One more match. Let’s try again. I figured it out.”

“Eh? Uh, sure… Yeah, alright!”

Let me try fine-tuning my hypersensitivity this time.

With that thought, I challenged Momo to another round.

And shortly thereafter, the game ended.

“Eh?”

“…What?”

Confused voices from Momo and Midori filled my ears as I grinned and looked at the screen.

[ K.O. ]

The two letters indicating my victory were displayed prominently on the screen.

Easy. So easy once I got the hang of it.

“Hmph.”

Looking at Momo’s dumbfounded face, I couldn’t help but grin with joy—a satisfaction that spread despite my better judgment. This was the feeling of victory, wasn’t it? I now understood why Momo had mocked me earlier.

“Alright, wait! Hiiro, let’s go again!”

“Okay. Let’s do it.”

“Eek…! I’m never letting this happen again!”

Now it was Momo’s turn to ask me for a rematch.

Confidently nodding, I gave her my agreement with a smile I hadn’t shown before.

Of course…

[ K.O. ]

Even with my newfound understanding of controlling hypersensitivity, the result was unchanged.

“This is impossible!!”

“…Sis, you’re really bad at games. I’m embarrassed for you.”

“Puhaaah!”

“IIIEEKK…! Fine, then you try it, Midori!!”

“Eh, wha?”

“Alright, Midori, let’s fight!”

[ K.O. ]

“Wha—?! Wh—What just happened…?!?”

“What?! How did you suddenly get so good?! This is insane!!”

“Is his reaction speed for real?!”

“Look! He woke up after just one match! Is he some kind of monster?!”

Ugh, monster?

Tutting with a shake of my head, I prepared the perfect comeback line to wind them up.

“Do you feel the gap in power, human?”

“AGGGHHHHH!!!”

“AAAAGGGHHHHHH!!!”

And with that, both of them collapsed, utterly defeated.

Such satisfying reactions—this is hilarious.

“Alright, that was fun. Let’s move on to the next game.”

“Uh-huh…”

“Yes…”

As the pair answered despondently, I grinned inwardly.

How does it feel to use a superhero’s hypersensitivity? Isn’t it dizzying?

I also realized something important: even the hypersensitivity I kept active day-to-day far exceeded the capabilities of an average person’s senses.

Clearly, I needed to start training to control my hypersensitivity more precisely.

—

2.

“How about this one next?”

Next, I pointed toward ‘Air Hockey.’

It’s a simple game where you stand on either side of a wide table, hit a puck-shaped plastic piece across the surface, and score by getting it into the opponent’s goal.

I’d never played it, but I had a general idea of how it worked, and I was fairly confident.

Most importantly, as a physical game, it was incredibly advantageous for someone with hypersensitivity like me.

“Who do you want to challenge?”

“Of course, both of you.”

“Eh?”

“Ne?”

“I’m going to take on both of you. Come at me.”

“W—What?!”

My overly confident statement left Momo speechless, trembling as she pointed a finger at me.

“You bastard! Did you think we’d refuse?! Challenging us sisters?! We’ll make you regret it!”

“We will make you regret challenging our sister duo for a party play…!”

Had they seen my skills in the fighting game, their leniency toward me as a beginner was now gone. Instead, they treated me as a strong opponent, ready to work together.

The twins stepped up to the opposite side of the table, each grabbing their hockey pucks and getting into position, while I did the same.

“Alright, are we ready?”

“Bring it on!”

“Be prepared!”

The cute twin threats didn’t fail to amuse me as I inserted a coin to start the game.

Clunk!

As soon as the coin was inserted, a flat, round puck dropped into the center and quickly slid over to the twins’ side.

“Haha! Lucky, huh? First serve! Let’s gooo!”

“Sis! Hit it hard!”

Bang!

Momo struck the puck hard, sending it curving toward the left wall, bouncing off before charging directly toward my goal.

It would’ve taken less than a second for the puck to slide under my ribs and into the goal.

But…

“Too slow.”

Through my active hypersensitivity, those fleeting moments seemed stretched out, giving me time to move my arm in slow motion toward the puck’s trajectory.

Compared to the fighting game, where I had to rely on manual timing adjustments, this time my body moved purely under hypersensitivity’s guidance.

I was confident. Confident enough to know I’d never lose in this game no matter who or how many I faced.

In an instant, I swung the puck just like Momo.

Guided by hypersensitivity, my enhanced physical abilities kicked in, aiming straight for the goal between the twins.

BOOM!

When my puck hit the puck, the sound was deafening, and the puck disappeared into thin air, as if it had never existed.

“Huh?”

“Wha?”

The twins blinked confused eyes, surprised to find the puck vanished in the blink of an eye.

Just as they turned to me with questions, the sound of reality revealed itself.

Ring!

[ 1 : 0 ]

“…What? What’s going on?”

“How is it 1-0…?”

Confusion clouded their voices.

The game gave them no time to dwell, as the bell signaling the start of the second round rang, releasing another puck from the center.

The puck rolled over, this time toward me.

Crash!

Another swing, another instant disappearance of the puck, and the score incremented accordingly.

Midori and Momo’s facial expressions shifted from confusion and inquiry to shock and despair.

Ring!

[ 2 : 0 ]

“Ah… I messed up a bit.”

“Is this guy some physical monster!? Is that what that sound was…?”

No “slip up” should ever allow such chaos to unfold.

“Is the arcade breaking apart or something?”

Does missing get you killed in real life?

Fear started to creep into Midori’s expression.

What started as a fun game now filled her with dread as she looked at me, wanting to drop her puck.

But I didn’t give her that option.

“Another round?”

“Never! Stop it!”

“KYAAAHHHH!!!”

Midori, screaming internally, wondered:

Air hockey may be physical, but did somebody really need to play it with such brute force?

With inner despair, Midori weakly swung her puck, but neither she nor her sister scored a single goal against me thereafter.

[ 23 : 0 ]

The twins’ faces contorted in despair at the final, crushing score.

Then they remembered something they’d forgotten.

This girl standing before them was someone quite well-known in the academy. That ridiculous strength made sense now.

“Little Double-O…”

“That’s why they call her that!”

“No physical games ever again! Never!”

“If we play, it has to be strategy-based—not physical!”

The twins decided:

Never challenge Hiiro to physical games again. If they played, it would have to be collaborative ones.

Even with just a taste of Hiiro’s monstrous physical abilities, the two were already scared to become his adversary.

—

3.

“Heh. That was fun.”

“If… if you say so, good…”

“Urgh… This newbie isn’t the one I knew…”

After thoroughly enjoying the games, the twins muttered in near-death voices as we left the arcade.

I smiled brightly while walking with an arm around each of them.

“Next time, I’d like to try other games too. Can I visit your clubroom next time?”

“Uh-huh… I don’t mind, personally, but…”

Saying so, Momo glanced at her sister nestled under her arm.

“I’m fine too, sis. It was tough, but it was fun today, so… haha.”

Seeing Midori’s positive reaction, Momo finally smiled brightly and spoke cheerfully.

“Hmph. Great! Next time, come visit us at the clubroom! We’ll teach you console and PC games too! And you can meet Yuzu, who you haven’t seen yet!”

“Oh? Who’s Yuzu?”

“She’s the leader of our Game Development Department. Usually, she doesn’t leave the clubroom, so you’d need to visit to meet her. However, even then, she’s probably going to stay inside her cabinet… So it might be hard to see her face…”

“Is that so?”

“Yup. Yuzu’s a bit awkward around people.”

I nodded as if I already understood, though I already knew.

With them snuggled under my arms, they seemed pretty adorable. Quietly walking like this felt like carrying two kittens as big as humans.

They looked up at me, confused, like kittens who couldn’t understand what their owner just said—super cute!

“Huh. Don’t do that. Dangerous.”

“Eh?”

“Uh-uh?”

“Sis’ heart hurts…”

“What are you talking about?”

“……?”

“Nothing, I just think you guys are cute.”

As I tightened my arms around the twins’ waists, their faces showed a mix of confusion and embarrassment.

“W-w-what?”

“I-I-let go now…”

Suddenly embarrassed, the two started squirming, but I held them even tighter.

And so, I carried the twins all the way to the building housing the Game Development Department’s clubroom, cutting right through Millennium Campus.

The fact that they were embarrassingly near death during the journey was a minor detail.

…

…

…

“Damn it.”

That evening, Rio’s official intervention finally started.

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