Episode 31 – Saara and I had our first

The opponent, Sato-san, crossed her arms as she checked Shun’s screen and face several times.

“I never thought that a player who can beat me here in my class ……!”
“I was rather surprised that Sato-san was so good …….”

It’s true that it’s rare to find a girl who plays gaming, but on top of that, she’s that skillful. ……
I’m sincerely glad I’m not a player.

I was surprised to see you here.

At Seiichi’s words, Saara and Nagase san looked at each other.

“We were all discussing where to go.”
“I can’t fit in the same store, and Sato-san said he didn’t want to play sports with us.”
“So we decided on a place where the three of us could play together, an arcade!”

I see. Nagase-san is not much taller than I am, and Sato-san is too physically challenged to join Ayado-san and Nagato-san.

“So that means all three of you play games?”
“Yeah. Everyone is good at it.”

It seems that not only Sato-san, but also Saara-san and Nagase-san play a lot of games.
When he asked her about it, she told me that Saara is the type of person who likes both outdoor and indoor activities when it comes to playing, and that Nagase-san plays a lot as well.

“The racing game with Saara chi was especially great. Even Suzuka-chan can’t do that kind of thing.”
“You really can do anything, can’t you, Ayado san?”
“Yuki chan too, that sound game was amazing, too. You made no mistakes on all ten buttons, that was super play.”

That’s great, very different from Seiichi over here, who has the physical strength but a devastating sense of style.
From what I’ve seen, all three of them seem to get along well with each other and have good chemistry.

“Since it’s a good opportunity, why don’t the three of us…..Ah that’s not”
“Ah, yes, that’s right.”
Seiichi tried to invite the three girls, but he hesitated.
Shun agreed.

“Hmmm, why not? You don’t want to hang out with us?”
“No, of course not, that’s not what I meant. ……”

Seiichi is glancing at Saara.
What, are you being restrained?

While tilting at the two’s attitude, I invite them to join

“Is it alright if you join us ?? Sato-san and Nagase-san, too.”
“Good one, colorful man! I’ll take you up on your offer!”
“Um, if it’s alright with you, Iida-kun. ……”

They both agreed. It looks like it’s going to be no problem.
I made eye contact with Saara and we smiled and nodded at each other.

“It looks fine to me.”

I turned around to see Seiichi and Shun making eye contact and calling …… me a little further away from the girls.

“O-Oi. Is Princess someone you can ask out?”
“I don’t think Ayado-san plays with boys. Did you get an answer?”
“She just nodded her head like a normal girl, right?”

I’ve heard that the number of “hit and miss” confessions has been decreasing lately, but is it possible that it’s getting harder and harder to ask her out?

“I’m sure she’s fine with you, Ayado-san.”
“That’s no problem, but why?”
“Well??”

I took my approval from Ayado san and looked at them both and they looked at me with stunned faces.

“…… No, Sora, you’re amazing.’
“There’s a brave man here……”

Why would I become a brave man just by asking her out, or am I going to defeat the Demon King?
I’ll give that title to the meat and potatoes who apparently gained the power to defeat the Demon King.

The arcade was a lively place with a large group of six people.
The crane game that we all tried together was annihilated, but it was still fun.
Shun and Sato-san played a dance-type sound game, but this time Shun was completely useless.
It seems that games that require a lot of physical strength are not his forte.

“It’s almost noon, let’s play something for the last time.”
“The last thing is …… to play with that thing.”

The place where Seiichi looked was a gun-shooting game that occupied a large space near the center of the arcade.
The entire wall is a display of some planet and universe, and the game is a full-fledged one in which the player shoots enemy mechs with a laser gun aimed at the display.
In front of the player’s side of the room are two large boards about a meter long with guns set up on them.

Shun looks at the game machine and groans.

“The sensor determines if you’re hiding inside this wall. It’s too serious, and I couldn’t do it because it’s too difficult for cooperative play, and it’s very tiring.”
“Wow, seriously, I can’t do it.”

Shun is physically unable to do it, and Seiichi can’t do it either due to the difficulty level of the game.
Then, he turned to me ……

“Then, I’ll give it a try for the first time.”

I take the gun on the left side and pick up a sci-fi gun made of plastic.
As I held up the lightweight, easy-to-hold gun, a sight appeared on the screen.

The sights on that screen increase to two.

“Wow, that’s great.”

Next to me, Saara was holding a gun.
So this means that Saara and I are going to play together.
I’m looking forward to seeing her technique, which has been the talk of the town.

“How is it?”
“It’s a fresh look, it suits you quite well.”

It is interesting to see a high school girl holding a gun, which is supposed to be a mismatch, but when Saara does it, it looks so elegant.

“Yay! You’re so hot! I’ll send it to Iida-kun later! I mean, I’ll take a picture of you, too.”

I started the game with a wry smile as Sato-san, who had turned into a lively gallery, held up her smartphone.
She held the phone firmly with both hands to stabilize the sight.

First, one of the enemies in front of me appeared on the screen.
Even though it’s visible in the distance, I can take it down if I aim accurately.
Next, just as I thought…. seeing a just-appeared enemy in the center of the screen, an enemy fighter exploded.

“Okay!”
“Whoa, Ayado-san, you’re super fast!”
“Isn’t your aim too accurate, Saara? Are you a sniper returning from the battlefield?”

When I turned my gaze toward Saara, she looked at me and gave me a thumbs up.
This is a two-player cooperative game, so there will be times like this, but it’s not cool to keep getting rescued here. ……

This time, I took out the enemies in the middle one after the other, and in addition, I took out the enemies on Saara’s side.
Saara turned to me for a moment, smiled lightly and shrugged her shoulders.
I’m a mouse operator, but I play these games too.
If I’m going to aim and shoot, I’m a day ahead of you, I can’t lose.

From that point on, we were all fighting for the enemy, shooting at each other’s fighter planes on the screen.

Finally, a giant robot appeared.
Me and Saara look at each other for a moment, and then we take down all the small turrets on our side.
We can’t take them down before the enemy attacks, so each time they come at us, we hide ourselves behind the wall in front of us to get through the damage.
Okay, this takes a lot of physical strength. ……!
It’s nerve-wracking and a really good workout because if you don’t bend down, your head will come out.
I’m starting to sweat a little.

When the count for the giant boss’s charge beam starts, we both keep shooting until just before it accumulates, and the moment the number ‘1’ appears on the …… screen, we dive into the wall in exactly the same symmetrical motion.

The moment I bent down, my eyes met Saara’s.
Saara has a big smile on her face and makes a V-sign with a gun in her hand.

“It’s so much fun playing together!”

Her smile was so joyful, as if she was not nervous at all, that I couldn’t help but smile back at her and say, “Ah!”
Yes, this kind of fun in cooperative play is something that you can’t get even if you play games by yourself.
Especially when you are playing network games, you can’t see your neighbor’s face.

As soon as the boss’s attack stops, we both show up and completely shred the remaining gauge.
The giant mecha explodes in the center of the screen, emitting a huge light and sound, and the words “MISSION COMPLETE!”

“Yes!”
“Yeay!”

When I put the gun down, Saara had her palm up.
I make a nice popping sound toward that right hand.

“Whoa! I come here a lot, but I’ve seriously never seen anyone clear it! Both of you are so skilled!”

I turned to Sato-san, who was marveling at the game, and saw that Sato-san had been holding up her phone the whole time.
She released her posture, pressed a button, and started to check what she had saved.

“…… no way.”
“I took a video of it.”

Later, a screenshot of the video of us high-fiving each other amicably was sent to Saara.
Sato-san, you are too shrewd to be really helpful.

This was my first experience, and I really enjoyed it.
I want to thank the two guys for inviting me, and also the two girls.