Chapter 22: Gaming

69th Floor of the apartment, Inside Meru's room :-

Kyle and Meru were sitting on a pure leather couch of luxurious design and extremities of comfort. They were playing a game together on the Xbox.

Meru had forced him to play games with her. He had no choice on the matter. She gave him a threat, if he didn't accept her invitation to play games, she would complain to his company about Kyle being a bad employee and given his bad records before receiving the system, he would effectively be fired from his job for angering a high class client i.e. Meru.

Thus Kyle had to accompany Meru's wishes and play with her. Kyle gritted his teeth exclaiming in annoyance.

"Hey! Can I go now?! It's been more than half an hour since I've started playing with you! I still have to end my shift for today and go home!"

Meru chuckling in amusement, waved her hand in denial as she replied. "Don't worry about it! I'll take care of that for you! Happy?"

"No, I'm not!" Kyle exclaimed again. His annoyance rapidly rising into anger. His annoyance was not because of her threats, well it was but it was the extreme minority, the major reason was because he kept losing to Meru in each round! 

She merely needed 30 seconds to defeat him each round! Not even 2 minutes to defeat him in a match! The game that they were playing was namely Street War, again a rip-off version of the original Street Fighter.

It's controls were mostly the same, but the characters were completely different, though there was still an alternate version of Ryu. But instead of a young man with refined muscles and huge bulky build, the alternate Ryu of this game turned out to be a lanky old man with a hunched bony figure and little to no muscles to speak of.

The game mechanics and general plotline was also the same as the original. Moments later, Kyle had been defeated by Meru again with extreme ease.

"Damn it all! I'm not going to play anymore!" Kyle finally snapped, getting himself ready and prepared to leave without Meru's permission and the consequences following it. He just didn't give a damn anymore.

Meru knew that she couldn't stop him, he was already stronger than her in real life and she could tell that he was angry enough to not give two cents to her threats or feelings. Even though he was powerful in real life, when it came to games she was basically a God. All of the happenings transpired because she was petty about the fact that Kyle could essentially defeat her with ease, well when it came to reality that is. She was also angry because of the spanking and humiliation she received from Kyle. Her butt was still sore from the beating it got handed to by Kyle.

She wasn't satisfied with beating Kyle, in games, just a few times she did in the last half an hour. She needed to vent out all her frustrations. So she revealed her trump card. "Wait! Don't leave yet! How about this! If you beat me once in a game I'll give you money!"

Kyle stopped in his tracks as he heard her say 'money'. He couldn't help it, he was broke AF. Any amount of money would be helpful to him in his current situation.

He turned around and asked calmly. "How much?"

Meru grinned, cheerful in being able to lure Kyle using her honey trap ahem- money trap! She raised one finger indicating the number 1.

"1,000 Yen? Alright-" Before he could finish, Meru interrupted and retorted.

"1,000 Yen? Are you kidding me?"

"Huh? Then 100 yen?" Kyle asked once again, hesitation visible on his face as he deemed 100 yen to be not enough for him to endure a beating from the gamer god that Meru was.

Meru clicked her tongue in annoyance, and spat in ridicule. "Honestly how poor are you?! It's not 100 yen either, it's 1,000,000 Yen okay?! Each time you win I'll give you a million bucks, so what do you say, wanna play now?"

Kyle froze on spot, moments silently passed and he abruptly exclaimed in agitation. "1,000,000 Yen?! You're joking right?!"

"No, I'm serious." Meru suddenly took out her smartphone and opened a dedicated app for banking.

She showed him the balance of her bank account, Kyle unconsciously drooled as he saw the numbers in Meru's bank.

It was 10 digits! Literally billions! 

Kyle snapped out of it, and immediately said. "Alright! I'll play with you!"

"Nice! Then what are you waiting for? Come sit here and let me beat your as- Cough- Pardon. I meant beat me if you can!"

Kyle decided to ignore the first sentence and went back to the couch.

"Let's start!"

Meru laughed as she replied. "Ahahaha! Of course, you're too excited, you won't be able to defeat me with your current skills anyway."

Kyle didn't answer, he himself was most aware of the gap between him and Meru!

But he won't be discouraged from that fact! He would improve round by round if he had to!

Then the series of matches started.

Match 1, Kyle was utterly defeated by Meru, without taking a single point of damage to her character!

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Match 10, Kyle hit Meru's character twice before losing.

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March 30, Kyle learned a few of Meru's attack patterns, but even so he was still defeated.

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Match 100, Meru's character's health was on the lower limit and Kyle almost won a round.

Meru was extremely surprised by Kyle's terrific improvement, within just a 100 matches his skills were already on par with most pro gamers around Japan!

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Match 254, Kyle won a single round against Meru, but he was still defeated by Meru in the remaining rounds.

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Match 365, Kyle was finally able to go toe to toe with Meru's skills, but Meru still won because of her vast experience in gaming.

Meru couldn't underestimate Kyle anymore, her expression was solemn, her face one of deep concentration as she continued her battle with Kyle.

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Match 499, Kyle finally won.  He grinned widely at his hard earned victory. Even with the enchantment running on full and his recovery speed, his hands had gotten numb from the continuous matches between him and Meru!

He was very happy to have won that single match! All of his hard work finally paid off! But more importantly he won 1,000,000 Yen! He was a millionaire!

Kyle was very happy with this result. But, he had to admit that Meru was an extremely skilled gamer. She was almost invincible. Kyle wondered if she was on par with [ Blank ], if she was she would probably be the most overpowered gamer character in anime!

He really didn't know how he even managed to defeat her, but the evidence was right in front of him! Most probably a fluke, he reckoned.

Proud of this achievement, he turned his attention to Meru, whose expression was full of shock!

"How did you do that?!"

Kyle was a bit confused by her question, so he asked. "What do you mean how?"

"I mean how did you even defeat me?"

"Oh that? Honestly... I don't know; I hate to admit it but you're extremely skilled at games, it's almost like it's impossible to beat you. Well… almost. So to answer your question… I just memorize your attack and combo patterns, and the rest is just me finding a way to counter them." 

Meru's eyes brightened, she exclaimed in astonishment with a hint of glee. "That's amazing! You're absolutely amazing! To think someone could beat me at games! I never once lost in a game till today!"

Kyle didn't believe her and stated. "You're simply boasting."

"I swear on my gamer's heart, I haven't tasted defeat in any games until today, you're absolutely amazing to be able to break my winning spree!" Meru answered seriously.

"Alright, fine, I believe you. It doesn't matter anyways, so where's my prize?"

"What prize?" Meru tilted her head.

"The 1,000,000 Yen obviously! I won, didn't I?!"

"Oh! That small matter, give me your bank account no." Kyle immediately gave her his bank account and Meru didn't even blink as she transferred the 1,000,000 yen to Kyle's bank account.

He was very happy to see many zeroes on his account book! His eyes were sparkling!

"I'm finally not broke anymore!" Kyle was very happy about becoming a millionaire! 

"Okay. Now, let's play another match! The conditions will be the  same as before, if you win I'll give 1,000,000 yen!" 

Kyle was tempted to play another match, but he noticed that it was already past midnight!

He was greedy, very much so. But he knew he couldn't bite more than he could chew!

"No, thank you. I'm satisfied with only this. Moreover, even if I wanted to, I can't, it's already too late. We still have classes tomorrow, I don't know about you but I don't intend to bunk school. I'm going to go home and sleep."

"Ehhhhh? You still care about school even when you could earn millions here? Don't get me wrong but even if you graduate from college and get a decent job there is no way you can earn a million like this in a single day!" She spoke in a matter of fact tone trying to goad him to stay and play with her.

"That's true, but I've made up my mind and I don't intend to change it." 

Meru was... happy and a bit disappointed, to be honest she was glad that this man that bested her in both real life and virtual world wasn't a gold digger, she smiled as she replied. "Alright, I won't force you."

She took something out from her pocket and threw it towards Kyle.

He caught it by instinct and opened his palm to see that it was a stylized gold rimmed and platinum colored card, he was a bit confused and asked. "What's this?"

Meru casually replied. "A key card. You can use it to get inside my room, feel free to use it whenever you want and come here."

Kyle was seriously dumbfounded at her reply, and immediately reprimanded. "Are you for real? You're giving the key card to your room so casually as if it's not a big deal? Look here, little girl, I'm just a guy you met merely a few days ago! We're basically  strangers! Don't be reckless like this."

"Ohhh~? You think so?" Meru answered without giving two cents to his reprimands.

"Oi! I'm serious here! I'm not your boyfriend, you can't just casually give your spare key card to me so that I can enter unhindered!"

"You, my boyfriend? That doesn't seem bad. So be it then." Meru grinned while staring at him, a bit of longing in her gaze which Kyle missed due to the irrationality of this conversation.

"Oh shut up, I have no intention of dating you, especially so since you look like a middle schooler brat, grow up a bit! I just might change my mind then."

Meru was extremely annoyed and a bit hurt at his reply, it hurt her pride as a woman! Kyle's mocking words hit squarely at her sore spot, it wasn't her fault that she had the body of a loli, she didn't want this, she wanted to look more feminine and not like a middle schooler. It was simply genetics!

"Get your ass out of here, you jerk!" Meru stared at Kyle annoyingly, her voice suggesting that she was sufficiently hurt at Kyle's words.

Kyle smirked at Meru's expression. "I'll do that. Anyways, but I'm asking again, can I really have this card?"

"Of course I do, why else would I even give it to you?" She spat out still annoyed.

"Alright, later, then." Kyle unhurriedly walked towards Meru's apartment door, fully intending to leave and go home.

Meru was staring at Kyle's back and pondered a detail. 'Now that I think about it… he never really mentioned my name except for the day I first informed him of my name...'

She noticed that Kyle paused just before arriving at the door, she wondered and asked. "What's wrong, Kyle?"

Kyle looked back at Meru and smiled apologetically; it seemed that he had noticed his words had hurt her. "I'm sorry for calling you middle schooler, I didn't mean it, I just wanted to agitate you a bit. You're very cute, Meru, don't think of what I said before. This is my genuine thoughts. Now, that I have said my piece, see you later, Meru."

Kyle left Meru's room at the next instant, meanwhile Meru was was still registering Kyle's words, she couldn't believe it. The mean guy who beat her up actually praised her beauty!

It took her awhile to snap out of the daze, and then she smiled brightly, her cheeks flushing, her gaze riddled in shyness. "Ehehehe, he called me cute… but why did he have to say it before he left… I would have… geez did he do if on purpose? If he did…. he's one hell of a guy, he really knows how to make a girl like him!"

While Meru was thinking about Kyle's words, The loli hun... ahem- criminal named Kyle was totally clueless that he had raised a 'maiden in love' flag unintentionally!

In the parking lot, he suddenly started sneezing. "A-chou! Ooof! Did someone think of me? Is it Meru? Did she fall in love and is daydreaming about me? Nah who am I even kidding."

Kyle shrugged, started his scooter and went on his way, driving to his aunt's apartment, unaware of how true his guess was...

( `END` )