Since it was the weekend, the arcade was crowded.
Tanaka Masao and Eriri each held a box full of game tokens, searching for a game to play.
Eriri looked left and right, unable to make up her mind for a moment.
However, Tanaka Masao, who was already prepared, had a target in mind.
"How about we play a fighting game together?"
Eriri looked at the unusually lively fighting game area, a confident smile on her face.
"Then I'll show you how good I am."
If she wasn't holding game tokens, Eriri would have already put her hands on her hips in a proud pose.
Although many people were gathered around the fighting game area, quite a few were just watching the matches.
So, Tanaka Masao and Eriri easily found an empty spot in a corner.
There were two types of arcade fighting game setups: one where two people each used a separate machine linked together for a match.
The other type, which Tanaka Masao and Eriri were currently using, involved two people sharing one large screen, operating from the left and right sides.
Originally, the game space was quite ample, but because Tanaka Masao was a bit overweight, the space felt a bit cramped once they both sat down.
Eriri shifted her butt to one side and said with some displeasure, "It's all your fault for taking up too much space; I can barely operate the controls."
"I can't help it."
Tanaka Masao was a little helpless and could only change the subject, saying, "Alright, let's pick our characters quickly."
As he spoke, Tanaka Masao operated the joystick and quickly locked onto a chubby Japanese sumo wrestler.
Eriri looked at the character Tanaka Masao had chosen and couldn't help but complain, "Why do you have to choose a character that looks like you in real life? If that's the case, then I'll choose her."
With that, Eriri locked onto a character.
Tanaka Masao looked at the character Eriri had chosen; it was a blonde British beauty, and indeed, her appearance bore some resemblance to Eriri.
However, looking at the female character's curvaceous figure on the screen, it didn't look like Eriri at all.
Tanaka Masao wisely chose not to mention it.
The countdown ended, and the match officially began.
"Take this punch!"
Eriri yelled, starting with a jab.
Tanaka Masao, however, landed a left front kick, using his reach advantage to knock down Eriri's character first.
During her stun, he followed up with a right roundhouse kick.
Several consecutive attacks sent Eriri's character flying.
Eriri controlled her character, who had just gotten up from the ground, to create distance, and said cautiously, "I didn't realize you were quite good, you guy."
Hearing this, Tanaka Masao was quite pleased.
"Now you know how good I am, watch this!"
With newfound confidence, Tanaka Masao prepared to capitalize on his lead, launching directly into a jumping flying kick.
This time, Eriri didn't press the punch button; instead, she pressed light kick, which directly knocked Tanaka Masao out of the air.
Seeing this, Eriri's eyes lit up.
"Watch me!"
Her fingers frantically pressed the attack buttons, pursuing her advantage.
A flurry of random button presses successfully sent Tanaka Masao flying.
Looking at Tanaka Masao's health bar, which had lost a large chunk, Eriri was quite smug.
"How's that? Did you see how good I am?"
Tanaka Masao was very unconvinced, stubbornly saying, "I was just careless; I didn't dodge. I won't give you a chance next time."
Both of them became extremely cautious, constantly probing, with more than half of their attacks hitting nothing but air.
But once they seized an opportunity, they would furiously mash the attack buttons.
No matter what kind of attack it was, they just went all in.
...
Well, not only was Eriri a noob who rarely played fighting games, but Tanaka Masao was too.
Tanaka Masao's desire to crush Eriri in a fighting game came from a mysterious, unfounded confidence.
However, even though both were bad, they quickly became immersed in the game when they found themselves evenly matched.
Their commotion soon attracted the attention of other onlookers nearby.
"Their gameplay is so bad."
"Yeah, it reminds me of when I first started playing fighting games; I also just mashed buttons randomly."
"But I don't know why, even though their match isn't exciting at all, it feels very interesting."
"They look very happy. Is this the initial joy we seek when playing games?"
Just as everyone was reminiscing about the past and recalling the joy of first playing games, someone suddenly said,
"Are they a couple?"
That one sentence instantly silenced the originally warm and harmonious atmosphere, and everyone fell into an eerie silence.
The resentment in the air visibly increased.
"Tch, another couple showing off their affection."
"This kind of playful bickering match is disgusting and not good to watch at all."
"Explode, normies!"
The word "couple" brought tears of envy to the single people present.
They screamed internally:
"Why don't I have a girlfriend to play games with?"
...
Meanwhile, Tanaka Masao and Eriri, completely engrossed in the game, had no time to pay attention to the people around them.
With the score already tied at one-one, they had entered the final decisive round.
And both their characters' health bars were down to about one-third.
Eriri's eyes lit up as she saw Tanaka Masao's character approaching, and she instinctively launched a kick attack.
Seeing this, Tanaka Masao smiled faintly.
"Eriri, you fell for it!"
His character quickly crouched, dodging the kick, and a crouching kick successfully hit Eriri.
"Ah!"
Seeing this, Eriri shouted indignantly, "Tanaka, you're too despicable, you guy!"
Her left hand frantically shook the joystick, her right fingers rapidly pressed the buttons, and she yelled, "Don't give up, get up for me!"
"It's no use! Watch my Muda Muda Muda!"
Tanaka Masao was extremely excited, as if he could already see victory.
Whether Eriri's prayers worked or not, just as Tanaka Masao was about to hit Eriri, whose health was down to a sliver...
Eriri's character portrait suddenly appeared, and Tanaka Masao's character seemed to have been paused.
"Finishing move!" x2.
Both of them exclaimed at the same time.
However, one was surprised, and the other was in disbelief.
As the character controlled by Eriri unleashed her finishing move, the outcome of the match was quickly determined.
"Yatta~ (Yay~), I won!"
Seeing her victory, Eriri excitedly jumped up from her seat and raised her hands in celebration.
A radiant smile on her face, with her fangs showing at the corners of her mouth, proved how incredibly happy she was at that moment.
On the other side, Tanaka Masao looked as if all the strength had been drained from him, his eyes staring blankly at the screen.
"H-how... how could this happen?"