Chapter 173: Raging Revenger: Burnout

When you try to beat a game, collecting and organizing information is the first and the most crucial task that you need to do. So let’s take a moment to summarize the differences between a Pro Gamer Silvia Goldberg and me, the casual gamer.

First of all, the basic playstyle…… Apparently she’s just the same type as me, someone who gets to play better the more tension work on her, and who’s attacks rely on mostly on intuition. It’s a direct opposite of Katsu or Pencilgton who like to plan their every single move, but as a result would get destroyed once the situation goes out of the bounds of their own predictions.

It’s hard to believe, but looking at the Gatling shots just now it was the truth. She was able to avoid all of them simply on predictions like the angle of the muzzle, approximate speed of the bullets, sound of the shots, impact time and overall position. Maybe that’s because her skills as a gamer are high, but her knowledge about the game must be deep as well.

Unless there is some sort of innovation being brought to the table, the technology in games does not change all that often. And when we talk about the games of the same series done by the same company, there may be some changes in graphics or new mechanics, but the core gameplay stays largely the same.

If a sh*tty game player such as myself achieved the knowledge about the ins and outs of a certain title because of my hard work, then Silvia is like a cutting-edge computer AI. Good, that’s actually good. Because there are things that machines can do, but also things that they cannot ever hope to achieve.

And above all else, I completely happen to understand the way in which Cursed Prison is supposed to perform……!

「It’s a gamble I must take every time, but that also means that you yourself don’t have a whole lot of room to maneuver!」

「You certainly like to talk much……」

I had some confidence in my theory. Especially after watching her battle against Pencilgton. So in theory it was all a matter of picking a good strategy out of the few options available to me at any given moment. If I can limit her movement options, I might be able to pull this off.

Think of it like a fire engine. If you don’t connect a hose to it or some fire hydrant, there’s no way for it to use its full potential and fulfill its purpose. Sure, you can use some of its other features, but what’s the point in doing that if you can’t do what you wanted to do in the first place? …… Besides, a speeding fire engine was much easier to avoid.

Without that winning even a single round might have proven to be extremely difficult…… No, that might actually be good for stalling for time, but I don’t think my heart would be able to withstand the tension. To begin with, Pencilgton managed to earn us a minimal amount of time, so it was now entirely on me to stall for long enough to make Katsu VS Silvia Goldberg a reality. Ahh, just thinking about it makes my motivation drop significantly……

「Haa, I thought that picking Cursed Prison would actually come as a surprise, but oh well…… I’m stalling for time anyway, right?」

「Muu.」

She nailed it.

「I thought it was strange that Kei didn’t show himself after so much time. I don’t know what he’s doing at the moment, but you try to earn time for him to come here, right?」

「Muu, muu.」

I dodge quickly just in time to avoid the kick that pulverized a huge portion of the wall right where I was standing a moment ago.

「I mean, the only reason you’ve picked the Cursed Prison is because you want to stall for time, riiight?」

「Mumumumumumu.」

「Fuh…… Oh well, let’s have a good match, I guess?」

While I was shriveling in disbelief, Meetias used that opportunity to jump. She then do a somersault that swiftly transitions into a dive kick. I couldn’t really see her facial expression, but oddly enough I knew what it was.

Yes, it’s an expression that I’m very familiar with. It’s the face I would make when the carefully planned strategy would finally come to fruition and I would get some result.

Certainly, there’s no better feeling than that of having your opponent on the ropes. Especially if that opponent is someone who’s not really trying and only wants to earn some time. On the other hand, even if I tried to explain it to her, it would probably do me no good. So her action was totally understandable.

I see, I see, I see…… It was a feeling as if some sort of switch got flipped inside of my head. Then what comes after that is the feeling as if a molten lava started coursing through my veins instead of caffeine. Who would have thought it would be so graphic?

Going out on a business trip like that. Pulling all-nighters to play games. Study this particular game here. Eating an oversized parfait that almost made me feel sick. Being forced to play against a human version of Wezaemon, but even more overpowered than he was. Being exposed for the whole world to see. And now my perfectly thought out strategy was seen through just like that…… What word would be more suiting here? Disgusted? Disappointed?

I see, I see, I see, I SEE, I SEE…… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

Round Two. Fight!

「I’ll wreck your face in!」

Stalling for time? Waiting for Katsu to arrive? Reception? Who the fuck cares! I certainly don’t give a flying fuck about neither of those things anymore! Just throw it all away from my mind and don’t think about anything unnecessary!

Yeah, yeah, you’re right Silvia Goldberg, your every guess was spot on, but…… Why didn’t you tell everyone else that you’ve caught on!? Oh, I know just why! What is Goldberg!? What is the best in the US!? I’m going to take that gold medal of yours for myself!

What’s this? It’s as if the scales have finally fell from my eyes. It’s that refreshing feeling as if I was sleeping for a dozen of hours only to awaken fully refreshed and well-rested while basking in the rays of the morning sun. Still, there was one desire that was burning brightly inside of me right about now. To crush that Hero that was before me and show her that her place is right under the sole of my boot.

「That’s right, you…… You don’t want to win as a result of a freaking set-up……!」

Role-playing-wise, the previous round was a complete disaster. I was so preoccupied with responding to Silvia Goldberg’s actions that I didn’t have time to actually role-play as Cursed Prison. But right now my heart was full of anger. Angry at the Hero Meetias, full of resentment, holding a grudge…… Ahh, right, so that’s what this is. It’s just like being thrashed by the last boss even though you’ve done a whole lot of power leveling. Or besting normal boss in battle only to be obliterated by him on the cutscene. Such things were the epitome of crap. And I absolutely reject such repulsive piles of sh*t.

「Great, just great, isn’t that ideal!? Ahh, I thought as much!」

I found it. It’s minimal, barely even visible, but the widow of opportunity for countering is certainly here. Now I only need to provoke her into doing exactly what I want her to do.

「Why hello there, mister white bicycle. Would you mind if I borrowed you for a moment or two? It would really make my day brighter. Not that you have any right to refuse, you know.」

Now let’s hear you howl.

Equipment troubles. One-on-One duels. Interviews after the match. It’s been a while since he last did that, hence his delayed return. He even dashed out of the hall where the match was taking place right after it ended, skipping the award giving ceremony and having to shout to his agent “I’ll leave the rest to you!”

He then squeezed his way to the hall where the Exhibition Match was taking place, squeezing his way through backstage and passing the members of the servicing crew that were all looking at him in a funny way and asking things like “Is your ass okay?” Paying that no mind, Kei finally took the last seat on the Nitro Squad side of the stage.

「………???」

He didn’t expect that his arrival would be cheered or anything, but he at least hoped that Sasahara would notice and comment on that, or at least someone from the audience…… But it was then that he noticed that the eyes of everyone present were directed somewhere else.

「I’m impressed that the executives themselves graced us with their presence.」

「…… I’m really sorry about that, how’s San…… How’s No Face doing? It’s his turn, right?」

「If you’ve come a little bit earlier it might have ended peacefully, but……」

For some reason Pencilgton laughed in a dry manner, which forced Kei to turn his head towards the display where No Face could be seen.

The reason for that laugh was there on the display alright. What was shown there was the match between No Face and Silvia Goldberg, most probably. Then there was the sound of a truly maniacal laughter. And the sound of tires rubbing against asphalt road so furiously that you wouldn’t think it possible.

It was a laughter of someone who finally gone past the point of no return and the last screws that were keeping his mind intact came apart. Worse yet, that laughter was dangerously close to the laughter of Kei’s gaming fried that he held in high regard……

「No, you see…… There are so many things that went wrong that I don’t know where to start……」

「Ah, I thought that might be the case, but could you please summarize?」

「All sorts of different things.」

「Isn’t that a little bit too brief?」

The undefeated champion smiles at the passionate challenger.