The next moment, I walk towards the machine, standing in front of it and also picking my own mallet as Player B.
Just like before, the guard walks forward with the whistle, raising it in the air before moving it slowly towards his mouth, blowing it with all his throat's muscles.
The moment the sound of the whistle went off, with a sudden click the moles slowly started to pop out. But me and Mordrick effortlessly smash the moles without using our aura.
Then... We carried on in this manner till things started to get fierce.
[Player A—25,000] [Player B—24,996]
*BAM*
*BAM*
The consistent slamming of mallets echoes throughout the hall as we slam our mallets against the moles, moving at a very fast speed. At this point, Mordrick is already using his aura while I on the other hand is simply using my strength and agility.
Barely any sound can be heard Inside the arcade shop beside the sounds of wooden mallets slamming against the surface of the cold metallic machine which is now emanating a lot of heat due to the intense beating it's taking right now.
[Player A—33,000] [Player B—32,997]
Right now, I see a lot of frustration on Mordrick's face as he panickingly glances at the scoreboard while hitting the moles. From what I have seen so far, he hasn't hit his limit yet because it seems like he still has more trucks under his sleeves as he seems pretty confident about it.
But what appears to bother him is the fact that he's only ahead of me with only three points since the start of the match without it reducing or increasing— a realization that I intentionally allowed him to be ahead of him.
[Player A—89,737] [Player B—89,740]
Since I was able to discern the place where the moles would come out from, I was able to be ahead of Mordrick with the three points of head start I gave him. Additionally, due to the speed of the machine increasing with each mole, it begins to become incredibly hard to follow the movement of the moles and Whack them. I have to admit, this game indeed requires intense calculation and attention.
If you move too fast than the moles, you'll lose. And moving too slow is also a very bad idea.
It was at this moment that I realized that one can't use speed to win this game since it's precise. One can only win with patience and stamina.
We continue to play the game for a couple more minutes— and then something strange begins to happen. As I slammed one of the moles with my mallet, the machine
suddenly stops working. But it doesn't stop there, it abruptly lets out several clicking sounds.
Fuck!
Gathering enough energy, I leap into the air, doing a series of backflips mid, moving away from the machine. And just at that moment, the giant Whac-A-Mole machine buzzes with energy, lights flashing, the mechanical sounds growing louder. Then, out of nowhere, I hear a deep, grinding noise from inside the machine, and the whole thing shudders.
Before I can react, a sharp *crack* echoes through the arcade shop, and one of the moles shoots up so fast it smashes into the ceiling, leaving a huge dent. Springs, massive ones, start snapping loose, whizzing past my head like coiled bullets. I duck, my heart pounding, as a spring tears through the ceiling tiles, sending dust and debris raining down.
Looking down, I noticed that the machine's insides were completely giving way. Gears and bolts explode outward, one bouncing off a nearby pinball machine with a metallic *clang*. The mallet in my hand drops to the floor as the whole arcade erupts into chaos. People are screaming and ducking for cover as the Whac-A-Mole monstrosity keeps shredding itself apart, parts flying in every direction.
One of the panels bursts open, sending wires whipping and slithering through the air like angry snakes.
I land on the ground just as the machine jerks violently, then collapses in on itself with a final, resounding crash. The ceiling above it is cracked, and the air smells like burning rubber and ozone.