The hotel's various amenities were quite enjoyable, and Kitasan Black was in a fairly good mood.
I'm full. Let me find somewhere to rest.
Without returning to the room with her mother to unpack, Kitasan Black came to the hotel's front lobby, where there was a lounge area.
An enormous sofa, a large TV in front of it, several SEGA gaming consoles nearby, and a pool table off to the side.
But there were no other guests here at the moment. Otherwise, this place would probably be quite lively.
Kitasan Black sat down on the sofa. At first, she was a bit stiff, but she quickly forgot about appearances—this sofa was just too soft and comfortable.
Lounging lazily on the sofa, her gaze inadvertently fell on those gaming consoles.
Come to think of it, she had never really played arcade games in this world.
Because she wasn't interested in places like arcades, and she didn't like playing games in noisy environments.
arcades, internet cafes—she had never been to any of these places.
Her senpai's memories had even less experience in this area, because every one of her senpai was terrifyingly self-disciplined, like superhumans.
I wonder if I can play.
Kitasan Black walked over curiously and found that it was a fighting game console.
She noticed a box beside it containing something like cards, with a note that said "Please help yourself."
So this is free too, right?
Earlier, her father had repeatedly confirmed with the receptionist, who had indeed said that all facilities and activities within the hotel could be enjoyed for free.
Well, I'd better go ask again just to be sure.
Although Kitasan Black felt her understanding was correct, she was genuinely worried this might be a trap.
Even if it was a trap, their family could probably afford the consumption here—but if she fell for it, she would still feel uncomfortable.
So she went back to the front desk to confirm with the receptionist, and received an affirmative answer.
Those cards were account cards for the gaming consoles, and they were even custom editions.
These account cards didn't have GM privileges or anything like that—they simply had unlimited coins enabled.
Because arcade games in this world used a point card system, meaning they charged based on play time.
The era when one token could let you play all day was ancient history, buried in the past.
Moreover, even some arcade games now had gacha mechanics—that terrible system.
Although these account cards here should let her experience the feeling of pulling to her heart's content, unfortunately, the consoles here were all competitive games. While there were some characters that needed to be purchased to unlock, these account cards had all characters fully unlocked with no additional payment needed.
Insert card, power on, select online mode, match found, enter character selection screen.
Looking at the somewhat familiar interface before her, Kitasan Black thought of a game's name.
It's actually King of Fighters!
Some familiar characters were right there, though there were also quite a few she hadn't seen before.
Why are there uma musume even in King of Fighters?!
Yes, this was what caught Kitasan Black off guard.
There were quite a few uma musume she didn't recognize, as well as several she did.
Thinking about how this game also had background story, she was curious about just how fantastical this game's lore must be.
After all, quite a few of the uma musume in here were real people who existed in reality.
She casually selected a few characters that the [Player] from her previous life was familiar with, confirmed her lineup, and the game immediately entered the battle screen.
This visual quality, this smoothness—not bad at all.
It was definitely far superior to the arcade game visuals in the [Player's] memories, and the game's frame rate was high with remarkably smooth network performance.
The loading screen flashed by almost instantly—this speed was beyond what Kitasan Black had expected.
No wonder arcades in this world had always been so popular. This visual quality and smoothness were indeed a level above home PCs and mobile games.
In her first match, Kitasan Black was unsurprisingly destroyed by her opponent.
Because she had no idea how to operate the controls and didn't even know how to execute moves.
After one crushing defeat, she entered practice mode and learned the move lists for those characters, then immediately exited to challenge online mode again.
Don't ask why she didn't play single-player mode.
For any competitive game with online matchmaking, she would always choose to start with online battles.
Because for her, that was the only time she could experience a bit of fresh challenge.
Otherwise, once she got familiar with the game, she could easily climb to world champion level.
Matching was fast, indicating that this game was probably still quite popular with many players online.
Kitasan Black glanced at her opponent's ID and suddenly froze.
Because she realized this was the same player who had destroyed her in the previous match.
Although there was a possibility of duplicate names, after seeing the characters the opponent selected, Kitasan Black's eyes became several degrees more serious.
We really are fated to meet again.
Characters confirmed, entering battle.
Kitasan Black controlled her character to immediately seize the initiative. Her fluid execution was practically like an AI—flawless.
...
Somewhere in an arcade, a girl with twin tails gripped the joystick, staring dumbfounded at the game screen where her character had just been KO'd by her opponent.
In her emotional agitation, she nearly broke the joystick.
She had just been perfected—her opponent had taken all three rounds without losing a single character!
"What is this?!"
She remembered the opponent's ID.
They were clearly a newbie who couldn't even execute moves properly. When she first saw them, she had actually planned to go easy on them.
But in just a moment of carelessness, she had been cleanly swept 3-0 without touching the opponent. Her face was now wearing a mask of pain.
She seriously suspected the opponent was cheating, or had gotten a booster to play for them.
Otherwise, how could they have improved so rapidly in such a short time?
Without hesitation, Kyoei sent a rematch request after the match ended.
She wasn't the type of girl who gave up easily!
Kitasan Black, having finished the match, looked at the rematch invitation that popped up. Without hesitation, she accepted.
Not willing to give up? Fine—she would make her opponent accept defeat completely!
Although in the next match, Kyoei managed to put up a decent showing using her game experience, the final result was still a loss.
She felt like she was so close to winning.
Because she could tell that while the opponent was clearly cheating, they weren't completely familiar with some of the game's mechanics yet.
So Kyoei sent another rematch request. Kitasan Black instantly accepted. This time, Kyoei started the match full of confidence.
Because she believed that even if the opponent was cheating, she could use her veteran technique and experience to win!
But very quickly, she was once again staring in horror at the results screen showing another 3-0 sweep.
Her entire being fell into a state of deep existential crisis.
This was impossible.
Just one match ago it wasn't like this—how had the opponent suddenly become like a seasoned veteran?!
On Kitasan Black's end, seeing no new rematch request appear, she felt somewhat amused. Only a few matches and you can't take it anymore?
Really can't handle pressure at all.
Is the opponent reporting me to customer service for cheating right now? That would be unfortunate.
Although she also felt she was basically a cheater.
But she hadn't used any external hacks as defined by the rules—after all, being too strong personally wasn't against the rules.
Just as Kitasan Black was feeling bored and about to log off, a rematch request appeared again.
Meanwhile in the arcade, the player in front of the console had switched.
A brown-haired short-haired girl stood before the gaming console with a serious expression, gripping the joystick. She would avenge her sister!
And beside her, a blue-haired long-haired girl was watching.
"Shuneichi, good luck!"
"I believe in you, Kyoei! Go, Taka-nee!"
"Shut up."
Takao Shuneichi felt the gazes of the people around her and couldn't stand her older and younger sisters' clamoring anymore.
Are you cheering me on or putting pressure on me?
Kitasan Black accepted the rematch request.
She noticed that her opponent had changed their characters and roughly guessed what was happening.
So they got a booster for revenge?
Although she figured that was what it was, Kitasan Black didn't think the other side was being underhanded.
After all, as the Demon King-senpai had said:
When the weak face the strong, using tactics isn't shameless or despicable—because as the strong, she permitted the weak to use any means necessary to challenge her.
Kitasan Black didn't consider herself some kind of strong person, but as someone who was basically cheating, she naturally had no reason to object to her opponent getting a booster.
Characters selected, countdown finished, game entering battle screen.
Watching her opponent's character begin to attack, Takao Shuneichi hurriedly controlled her character to defend.
Although her older and younger sisters were buffing Takao Shuneichi, her skill level was really only on par with her younger sister Kyoei. She was quickly suppressed by the opponent with no ability to fight back. While Takao Shuneichi wanted to avenge Kyoei, mere determination couldn't change anything.
Using turtle tactics, Takao Shuneichi lasted a bit longer than Kyoei had, but was still completely defeated by the opponent.
"You lost, Shuneichi."
The eldest sister, Kiwami, spoke from beside her.
Kyoei went up and patted Takao Shuneichi's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Taka-nee. I know you tried your best."
Takao Shuneichi: "..."
I, who seriously tried to avenge you, am the real idiot here.
She had no desire to challenge again.
At this point, Kiwami pumped her fist and said, "Alright, then it's up to me as the big sister to avenge my little sisters!"
"Kiwami-nee is going in?"
Kyoei looked surprised.
Takao Shuneichi also said coldly from the side, "Just give up. You definitely can't win either."
Kiwami's expression stiffened. "Oh? Is that so?"
She didn't believe it!
She was an uma musume who was going to claim the Queen's throne!
Even if it was just a fighting game, she would claim the top spot.
Kiwami stepped up, full of confidence.
Two minutes later, Kiwami was kneeling in front of the gaming console, completely drained of color.
"Don't worry about it, Kiwami-nee. It's just a game."
Kyoei came forward to comfort her.
Takao Shuneichi kicked her while she was down.
"I told you—you couldn't win."
Kiwami's gaming skills weren't much better than hers and Kyoei's. That cheating player wasn't someone at Kiwami's level that could be dealt with.
"I don't believe this!" Kiwami got back up, wanting to start another match.
She had just been careless!
"What should we do, Shuneichi? Kiwami-nee's in that state now, there's no stopping her."
"Let's just report the opponent for cheating first. That reaction speed—they definitely used illegitimate means to achieve it."
The opponent's reaction speed was even faster than theirs—uma musume. Even Kiwami-nee, who was already a professional uma musume, couldn't keep up with the opponent's reactions. That was clearly not something a human could achieve through normal operation. Unless the opposing player was some legendary uma musume senpai, they were definitely cheating!
And according to Kyoei, the opposing player clearly couldn't play at all in the beginning. That was already enough evidence to confirm the opponent was a cheating hacker.
Takao Shuneichi went to find the arcade owner.
Getting the arcade owner to report it would make the feedback faster.
Kyoei stayed behind to watch Kiwami-nee recklessly continue challenging the cheater, only to get destroyed over and over.
Kitasan Black had been playing so long she was starting to zone out. She hadn't expected her opponent to be this persistent.
How many matches has it been? It's been almost two hours. What kind of person is on the other side? Using this kind of willpower for something like gaming...
Although Kitasan Black admired her opponent's spirit, and noticed that this opponent's improvement speed was somewhat remarkable...
The problem was, her own evolution speed was even faster.
Even though she hadn't seriously studied this game, the power and talent inherited from her senpai was strong to a degree that frightened even herself.
By now, quite a few tourists had returned to the hotel. People were starting to play pool nearby, and there were even people watching her play with amazed expressions.
Who is this little girl? Her technique is practically on par with the young lady!
The head of the game testing department had thought gaming geniuses like their young lady were rare in the world. But today, he had witnessed a second such genius.
No—he even had a somewhat presumptuous thought: this little girl's gaming talent might be even more terrifying than the young lady's.
After all, the young lady had learned her technique by following them, starting her journey from the very peak. Others didn't have that kind of advantageous position.
Kitasan Black looked at yet another rematch request from her opponent, sighed somewhat helplessly, then pulled out her account card and exited the game.
Although she could understand the other party's unwillingness to accept defeat, she was getting annoyed. Plus there were too many spectators around—she didn't like being watched.
Just as Kitasan Black was putting the account card back in the box and preparing to leave, a distinguished-looking man nearby suddenly spoke up.
"Excuse me, little miss, please wait a moment. Would you be interested in developing as a professional esports player? Sorry, this is what I do..."
The man handed over his business card.
SEGA Company, Game Producer.
Kitasan Black's expression turned strange.
"You're a SEGA employee?"
"Yes. The project I'm in charge of is precisely the game you were just playing. As you probably know, our game is currently holding world championships..."
The man spoke confidently, because this game was currently the most popular fighting game in the world, with countless tournaments held globally.
There were quite a few players who wanted to become professionals, and being invited by him to become a professional player under SEGA was an extremely honorable thing.
As long as they were a gamer, they couldn't possibly refuse this invitation.
But Kitasan Black had only one thought:
Why is there an employee from Diamond-ojou-sama's family here? No wait, given his position, it's normal for him to vacation at a place like this.
"Sorry, I'm not interested."
Kitasan Black tossed the business card back to the man and coolly walked away.
The man's face showed disbelief. Just as he was about to try to convince her to stay, someone behind him pressed him down.
"Manager, what are you doing? Did you forget the mission the young lady gave us? What are you doing approaching the target?!"
"Huh?"
The manager was completely confused.
What mission?
Weren't they here to enjoy a vacation as reward for being company heroes?
No, wait—hold on!
In an instant, the manager remembered something, and his expression changed dramatically.
He remembered the young lady's instructions now. They were indeed here to enjoy a vacation, but they also had a mission.
That mission was to play the role of ordinary tourists and help monitor the young lady's target.
Could it be that the little girl just now was—
In an instant, cold sweat poured down the manager's head.
...
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