Chapter 87

1.

If you are going to devise a strategy against a person, there is one thing you must specify: people are always unpredictable and capricious beings.

If people are involved, then no matter what plan you come up with, it will never go according to plan, which is why you must never fail to prepare a second and third plan.

Isn’t there a saying? That the madness of humans is the hardest thing to predict in the world.

There is a phrase: “Plans are made by man, but success lies in the heavens.”

It means that people may devise things, but only heaven can bring about success.

There is no way to know the hearts of people.

Thus, when devising a strategy against people, it is both risky and foolish to do so with the premise that the opponent will move according to your expectations.

It’s even more so when you lack information about the other party.

Then what should you do?

What must you do to increase the chances of your plan succeeding? It’s simple.

You must make what you deem as variables not variables.

The point where variables become variables.

You must reduce and reduce again the points which you perceive as unknowns.

Thus, simply put, it means this.

“The wisdom of humans stems from knowledge.”

Even a speck of information. Even a thread of information.

Finding the starting point to extend the branches of thought.

And thereby understanding and grasping the opponent.

If your plan involves only ‘people,’

you can increase the probability of success by knowing the opponent.

“Then, conversely, you can think about it too.”

If you want to escape from the opponent’s plan.

Similarly, it is a matter of making it impossible for the opponent to predict or distinguish me.

How do you do that? Haven’t I already said this?

There is an easy and simple way.

So, to put it very simply…

“Let’s go to the arcade!!!”

It’s a matter of giving yourself over to madness.

This moment, I decided to shed the shackles of the world.

Only games. Only pleasure mattered.

2.

“So, what’s your question?”

On the way to the arcade, one of the twin girls with pink eyes asked.

As I walked towards them, I gave them an answer.

“Just… I’m looking for a hobby lately. I’ve tried a lot of different things, but I haven’t really played games much.”

“Having a hobby like gaming? Cool! Gaming is super fun!”

“Have you… ever played games?”

Unlike her sister, the twin girl with greenish yellow eyes was a bit shy when she asked.

I put my finger to my chin and thought about it.

Have I ever played games? Well, I did.

The problem is, apart from ‘Blue Archive,’ I haven’t really played many other games.

Back in school, I was dragged to play a few times, but I didn’t do it regularly.

“Yeah. I’ve played a bit, but not a lot.”

“What kind of game was it?”

“Um… It’s a game with pretty characters.”

“Tsk tsk, these days the level of illustrations has risen so much that all heroines are pretty and of high quality! Do you know the genre? RPG? FPS? Board game? Simulation genre?”

“Uh… I don’t know…”

“What genre is ‘Blue Archive’ anyway?

Damn, how can there be so many genres? Most I know, but explaining it felt a bit awkward.

After pondering for a moment, I decided to explain it in simple terms.

“So, like… collect gems to summon characters. Grow the characters. Watch the story… like that…”

“Ah! A collecting RPG? Whoa~ how did you get into such a niche genre? That’s surprising~! Sister, you don’t seem like you’d be into this type of thing!”

“That’s true. Sister looks so normal that it seems like she wouldn’t know about those types of games. It is a hard genre to get into, even as you said.”

“Uh… Not that… wait a moment.”

It was as if some button was pressed, and suddenly the flood of words caught me off guard, so I had no choice but to stop them by putting my hand to the twins.

Because the things they were saying just couldn’t be ignored.

What did they just call me?

“Girls, why do you keep calling me ‘sister’?”

“Eh? But…”

“You’re not our senior, are you…”

The twin girls looked up at me, confused.

No, I’m the one who should be confused.

I chuckled nervously while pulling out my student ID from my pocket to show them.

“…I’m a first-year, right? Same age as you, 15 years old.”

“E-eh?! Really?! But you seemed so much like a sister from the start! I was totally deceived!”

“Is it true?! No matter how much I looked, you seemed like a sister…”

“That much?”

“That much! Really!”

“That’s true!”

The two twins were shouting in shock, but to me, they felt like two little chicks chirping around.

Their small stature, young-sounding voices, and every reaction seemed like something a young student would do, making them even cuter.

“Hmm. I am kind of pretty, aren’t I?”

“…Suddenly annoying. Do you think it’s okay to hit?”

“This person… gets arrogant when praised, doesn’t she?”

As if familiar with my reaction, their response was quite cold.

The younger sister, who used to be shy, also reacted this way, meaning she must have relaxed completely.

“Haha. Sorry. Just a joke. But seriously, did you really think I was older?”

“Absolutely. I even thought you were a third-year.”

“Me too…”

Maybe because of my stature or appearance, they naturally assumed I was a senior. Perhaps they instinctively recognized that I was mentally more mature and judged accordingly.

‘If so, their instincts are incredibly sharp.’

I marveled inwardly at the twins’ insight.

Of course, since I couldn’t openly reveal these facts, I merely smiled on the outside.

“That could happen, what. Anyway, good to meet you. How about we introduce ourselves quickly?”

“Yeah!”

And so, we briefly introduced ourselves and reaffirmed some things we already knew.

In short, the girl with the pink halo was ‘Momo Saiba’, the older sister.

And the one with the greenish-yellow halo was ‘Midori Saiba’, the younger sister, but if you judged solely by personality, Midori felt more like the older sister.

“Actually, isn’t Midori the older sister? Momo clearly doesn’t have an older sister’s personality.”

“I also think so. Always fidgeting, too noisy.”

“Huh? Midori, you really think that about me?!”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m always taking care of my sister, managing homework, waking her up in the morning, cooking mostly done by me. Sister doesn’t actually do anything!”

“Grrrr… Midori, bringing up facts so sneakily…”

“…Is fact sneaky?”

Of course, when this fact was openly revealed, Momo got angry and caused a commotion.

But why is a fact sneaky?

I tilted my head, but no one was there to explain.

3.

After overcoming numerous obstacles, we finally arrived at the arcade.

Upon entering, my impression was this:

“Wow, what’s that noise?”

Glitter-glitter-

Clatter-clatter-

Tap- tap tap- tap tap tap-

The dazzling indoor lights flooding in, the various screens from the game machines, and the sounds created by the people enjoying themselves all merged into what could be called ‘noise’.

Damn, it’s so loud. So dizzying.

Is this what an arcade is usually like? I’ve been here before, but I can’t adapt. It’s dizzying.

Is it always this crowded?

“Today seems to be unusually busy. Usually, not many people come to the arcade.”

That’s how it is. Rubbing my head, I nodded.

Soon,

The shiny arcade interior slowly drew me in, and then, an overwhelming sensation grabbed my senses!

Too many sensations to adapt to, I couldn’t help but bow my head and feel dizzy.

“Ugh…?”

“Are you okay? Do you feel seasick from just this? Should we just go back?”

“Never… seen this much before… What should we do?”

I waved my hand to indicate I was fine even though they were worried that I got motion sickness from this chaotic atmosphere.

This wasn’t motion sickness due to arcade noise, but rather a feeling of dissonance from the excessive number of sensations caught by my usually heightened senses.

Visually, aurally, there was an indescribable amount of information swirling around in this space.

“Huff, huff… It’s okay. I’m slowly adapting.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? If it’s tiring, we can just go outside and go to the PC room instead.”

“Sweating so much…”

I shook my head from side to side.

Since we’ve come so far, I should at least try the games, right?

And in fact, I was slowly getting better.

“Okay. Don’t worry about it. What should we do first?”

“Hmm. Since you said you’re an beginner venturing into this for the first time, why don’t we look around first?”

“Yeah. That seems better. Slowly walk around and see what you want to try. We’ll guide you.”

“Okay.”

As they suggested, I began to walk around slowly and look around the arcade.

As soon as I entered the arcade, I noticed ‘pump’ machines. There were rows of pump machines, and students were dancing happily, hitting the panels in rhythm. Further inside, there were monitors lined up with joysticks and pads.

“Wow, how many types are there?”

“I’ll explain them one by one! Come on, this way!”

“Oh, it’s fine even without…”

“Our sister is unstoppable once she gets going. It’s better for you to just follow along.”

Isn’t there someone to stop her?!

By now it seemed she had gained momentum. Leading me around and introducing various games. I learned about different genres in a short time: claw machines, rhythm games, racing games, fighting games, puzzle games, danmaku shooting games, etc.

Some I knew, some I didn’t.

Games that looked similar to those I had seen in stationery shops and others that were completely new to me.

Even though ‘Kiburatos’ is a different world, all these unfamiliar games looked interesting.

This thought struck me; choosing gaming as a new hobby might have been the right decision.

“Isn’t this VR?”

“Yeah, it’s a VR room where you can play various genres of VR games. Want to try it later?”

“Uh, okay, let’s.”

There were also VR-based games, rhythm games like ‘Taiko Drum Master’ that you only saw on YouTube from Earth, and games demanding physical dexterity, like punch machines or basketball hoops.

“Those physical games might actually be fun.”

More than anything, I felt confident in the physical games.

After all, with my greatly enhanced physical abilities and heightened senses…

“But let’s try other games first.”

Hmm… What should we try first?

True to its name as one of the several entertainment facilities within Millennium Campus, the funding and cutting-edge technology were evident, dazzling with lights and colors.

There were many eye-catching attractions, and the atmosphere was alluring, making you want to sink money into the games.

“Forget it. We came to have fun, anyway.”

Today, I’ve decided to let go completely and have a good time.

I chose a game and called Momo.

With her sister Midori tagging along like a combo meal, Momo approached me and asked,

“Did you pick a game?”

“Yeah, I’m going to try this one.”

I pointed to the game machine in front of me.

“Um. Are you really going to play this?”

“Seriously, Hiiro…?”

“?? Yeah. Why?”

“Oh. Hmm. No! Come on, let’s play quickly!”

“Sis… Be gentle…”

The twins were reacting oddly.

Confused, I sat in front of the game machine.

As soon as I inserted the coin I had fetched earlier, the game, which was showing a cutscene, stopped and brought up the lobby screen.

[Queen of Fighters]

The familiar yet different name of a fighting game.

This was the first game I chose to play.

Since I planned to try out various types of games, I picked a popular genre at first.

“Start quickly! Hiiro, I’ll go easy on you since it’s your first round!”

“Alright, thank you.”

“heehee. Yeah, yeah.”

Momo, grinning mischievously nearby, was focused on the character selection screen, so I didn’t catch her expression.

4.

“Shit!!!!!!!!!”

“kekeke…!! heheheheheheheheheh!!!”

“Momo! You crazy woman!!! Stop it already!!!!!!!”

“Ho ho ho. You don’t know, Hiiro! This kind of game is all about learning as you get hit!”

Stop being such a lunatic, you woman!!!!

[Thwack~!]

Bang!

Momo’s character made an odd sound and delivered a punch, causing my character to fall helplessly.

I frantically hit the control pad, but the situation didn’t change.

[Thwack~!]

Bang!

“Play the game properly, you woman!!!!!!!”

As I screamed, which was almost a shriek, Momo only laughed, clearly enjoying beating up a newbie.

Damn it!

[Thwack~!]

Bang!

[Thwack~!]

KABOOM!

[ K.O ]

At the shocking result that appeared before my eyes, I could only tremble and mutter under my breath.

“Damn, you play like shit…”

“Thank you for the compliment!”

“Not a compliment, woman!!!!!!”

It turned out later that the comment I had made was one of the highest praises one could give to the opponent.

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