CH 5.06

After school, the day we encountered Susanoo, Yui and I immediately stopped by the game center in front of the station.

There are two game centers in front of the station, and they are not as crowded as those in the city center, but they are still reasonably busy.

In the future, game centers will be less common partly because it will be easier to play online with video game consoles but presently, there are still many of them in the city.

I used to go here sometimes with what little allowance I had.

-0-

One was a bright and clean gesen* inside the station and the other one was a dimly lit, privately owned gesen a short distance away from the station.

TN: Short for game center. Similar to ranobe which is short for light novel.

Once a hangout place for delinquents, the number of clean gesens had increased. This is the transitional period.

It was when I was still in junior high school that delinquents were still popular.

According to a student who went to another high school, there are still “collections” happening on the campus.

「Is this your first time in an gesen?」

「Yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.」

She has an innocent smile even though we’re just going to the gesen.

As expected of an ojousama…..is what I would like to say but she’s not that gamer so she doesn’t really have a reason to visit.

TN: I highly recommend watching/reading “High Score Girl”.

Let us just start with the clean gesen.

「Oh….there are a lot of purikura and crane games…..」

Fighting games occupy much of the store.

This is the golden age of fighting games with a number of titles being released every year.

Aside from the student gamers, who seem to be on their way home from school, there are also a few office workers.

It is not even 1700 yet. Are they skipping?

I am getting the feeling that different individuals are connected by games.

I’m scared to play against strangers though.

After all, I came here today to do some research…..

「And how am I supposed to do that?」

I don’t know what to do because there are so few clues.

「Maybe it will be quicker to let the other party find me. I guess the first step is to blend in, right?」

「You mean?」

「Let’s play the most popular game.」

Sounds like a lot of fun.

Maa, that’s not it.

I just don’t have any choice.

「Most popular….what is the current most popular? In terms of genre, the game should…..」

It was a time when there were so many different titles.

「Let’s look around and look for what you like the most.」

It’s more fun to play a game that you like how the characters and the graphics look rather than the gameplay.

「Hmm, okay.」

While I was looking around with Yui, a tremendous number of eyes were staring at us.

It is already unusual for a girl to be here and she’s also a blonde, big breasted, JK in black tights.

It was impossible to not stand out.

「How about this one?」

Yui stopped at “Nightwalker Saber”.

It’s a 2d game in which different kinds of monsters from east and west, from vampires to succubus to snowman, fight each other.

It is one that stands out in my memories. I’ve been waiting for the sequel but it was never released before I reincarnated.

Saber 2? I don’t recognize that desu ne.

「Pretty good choice.」

「Really?」

「This is actually a pretty fast game but with Yui’s dynamic vision, it wouldn’t be a problem.」

「You think so? Then, let’s give it a try.」

「Let’s try over there.」

There are about eight Nightwalker Saber machines lined up in a row.

Among them, I chose the one where no one was sitting on the opposing consoles.

It’s not a good idea to suddenly barge in.

-0-

Yui chose the succubus, who is often treated as the main heroine.

She is a highly exposed oneesama.

I look over her shoulder to teach her the basic controls.

At first, she couldn’t even press the buttons properly but after two rounds against the CPU, she was able to do a set of commands.

A very smart girl.

「If you press the buttons in succession, the normal move will connect, right?」

「What are you talking about?」

It’s a feature of this game but she couldn’t seem to get the gist of it.

「I’ll tap the buttons on top of your finger.」

「Ah……」

I gently tapped the button where Yui’s finger was lying on.

This is so embarrassing!?

Somehow, I feel like we’re a bakapol*.

TN: Baka(idiot), couple.

「Tsk….」

I just heard a click of tongue behind us.

Unfortunately, I know how you feel…..

The man in the black leather jacket, who clicked his tongue, went around the console and sat on the opposite side of Yui.

And on the screen over here, the words “a challenger has appeared” appeared.