After finishing their ice cream, the three continued strolling through the amusement park.
They wandered into a quieter section, where over a dozen claw machines stood in a row. Lu Chen noticed Ei eyeing them curiously.
"I know all about these!" Lu Chen said confidently, leading the two over.
A young couple was currently burning through coins at one of the machines. Lu Chen heard the metal claw clatter as it moved, the plush doll swaying precariously beneath it.
Soon, with a disappointed sigh from the girl, the doll slipped off and tumbled back down.
The guy clearly couldn't accept it. Embarrassed in front of his girlfriend, he kept feeding in coin after coin.
"This seems pretty interesting," Miko said, resting her chin in her hand.
Of course, she wasn't interested in the claw machine itself—but she found the couple's frustrated expressions quite amusing.
"It's just a probability game," Lu Chen said casually. These machines are rigged to control the claw strength—it only grabs firmly once every few tries.
But probability meant nothing to him. If he wanted to win, he could clean out the entire machine.
He nudged Miko's arm with a teasing tone. "I can get one every time. Don't believe me? Wanna bet?"
Miko studied his expression closely, then shook her head.
"No bet."
"Why not?"
Her reaction gave Lu Chen an odd sense of frustration—he'd really wanted to show off a little.
"Whenever you make that face, you've clearly got something up your sleeve. You're not a kid anymore—can't you rein in your childish need to show off?"
Lu Chen chuckled. He hadn't expected Miko to see through him so easily.
"You don't get it—men are boys forever!"
Then he added, "A guy who can catch dolls? Super cool."
Miko rolled her eyes hard.
"Not even a little."
While they were bickering, Ei had already walked past the claw machines and headed straight for a different machine.
It was a punching strength tester—the kind where you punch the target and get a score, then claim a prize based on how high you score. So that's what caught her interest.
"Knew it," Miko chuckled. "This is exactly Ei's kind of game."
"I'm good at this too, you know." Lu Chen casually flexed his barely-visible biceps.
Miko covered her mouth, laughing. The two of them walked over to Ei's side and watched the other visitors take their turns.
At the machine, another couple was up. A tall, broad-shouldered guy threw a punch and scored over 5,000 points. His girlfriend clapped excitedly, drawing glances from the crowd.
Lu Chen glanced at the prize rack: there were standard plushies, pillows, mugs, and the pricier ones—huge cartoon dolls.
When the three of them approached, they drew even more attention than the 5,000-point punch—thanks entirely to the overwhelming beauty of Ei and Miko.
Lu Chen noticed the muscular guy stepping down from the machine look at him with pure envy, as if saying, Bro, you're living the dream.
He glanced at the high score board—top score was 5,350, just set by that guy.
Then he turned to Ei.
"Ei, what prize do you want?"
"Chen, what prize do you want?"
They asked the question in unison, then looked at each other and laughed.
"I'm not really interested in anything..." Lu Chen shook his head. It just wasn't as fun as claw machines.
Ei wasn't in it for the prizes either. She was clearly just curious about the punching machine.
Lu Chen didn't plan to play, but he still figured they should choose a prize—Ei was definitely going to get whatever score she wanted.
So he scanned the most expensive plush toys.
"Oh?" Lu Chen's eyes lit up.
"Miko!" He pointed.
"What do you want now? There's nothing I'd like."
"No, no," Lu Chen said, still pointing. "It's Miko!"
"Huh?"
Miko followed his finger—and instantly frowned.
It was a light pink fox plushie. Huge. Big enough to fit two Qiqis inside.
"Such a cute fox plushie! That's it—this will be the prize! I'll give it to Miko!"
Miko glared at him, clearly displeased.
"I don't want it!"
"Why not?"
"Get lost!"
"Hahaha, you're not embarrassed by your old self, are you? You were so cute back then!" Lu Chen figured now was a good time to start telling her some stories from the past.
Just as the fox was about to blow her top, the punch tester let out a loud bang!
They both turned around—the red numbers on the scoreboard were skyrocketing, quickly surpassing the 5,350 record... and still climbing.
The tall, buff guy who was just leaving stood frozen with his mouth wide open.
Even the staff was stunned.
Finally, the score stopped at 9,999—the machine's maximum limit.
Lu Chen noticed the guy shooting him a look of sympathy, as if to say, Bro, you're on your own now...
"Is the machine broken?" the owner walked over and tapped it. No way he believed that kind of score came from a young, pretty girl like her.
Lu Chen walked up to greet Ei, who returned triumphant. He leaned in close and teased, "I'm impressed you didn't break the machine. Seriously, well done."
If Ei had gone all out, this entire amusement park might've been reduced to rubble. That punch must've been extremely restrained.
Afterward, the overwhelmed shopkeeper handed over the massive fox plushie. Lu Chen and Ei proudly handed it to Miko. She looked at their smug faces and shook her head with determination.
"No!"
"I said I don't want it!"
...
The sky had darkened, and the sun was beginning to set.
Miko, still hugging the fox plushie—which was bigger than two Qiqis—trailed behind them, cheeks puffed up in frustration.
The scene drew plenty of amused onlookers. People whispered, "So cute," and "So pretty," while some even thought they were filming a variety show and pulled out their phones...
Even Miko blushed now, burying her face into the plush fox.
Lu Chen and Ei exchanged smiles as they looked at Miko, who had become completely different from her usual self after a day at the amusement park.
"This is her true nature, huh."
Ei nodded. "In my eyes, she's always been like this. It's only because everyone left one by one... that Miko had no choice but to carry the weight of Narukami Shrine alone."
Lu Chen's smile faded. That was true. The drastic change in that little fox came from her trying to shoulder everything—imitating the adults who once surrounded her in the courtyard.
Kitsune Saiguu's cunning, Makoto's wisdom, Ei's strength... and maybe a dash of someone else's recklessness...
"No wonder she turned out so... petty."
Thinking that, Lu Chen turned back to glance at Miko, who still had her head buried in the plush toy but occasionally peeked out with a scowl.
"I won't let you face it alone again. I promise."
Ei nodded slightly in agreement.
When they reached the meeting spot with Venti, they found the others already sitting and eating cold treats—it looked like they'd been waiting a while.
Xiao sat there with his eyes closed, meditating. Qiqi was nibbling at her ice cream in tiny bites, seemingly having found something even tastier than coconut milk. But neither of their expressions changed much.
They were exactly the same as before—stone-faced.
Venti, however, had a lot more to say. The moment he saw Lu Chen, he started complaining nonstop.
"Sure, Xiao didn't beat up the haunted house actors..."
"But the moment he put on the Yaksha mask, the actors were so scared they all passed out."
"And then—while we were playing—some weirdo was tailing us like a paparazzo, asking me to sing."
"In a haunted house, seriously? What kind of lunatic sent that guy?"
Lu Chen found it funnier the more he listened, but the moment he heard "lunatic," he clammed up.
"Yeah... who was the lunatic..."