Chapter 181: Throwing Your Baton Like an Anchor Part 1

「Really now, nothing can ever beat good sushi!」

「It’s a tribute for all of your hard work, although I wouldn’t be mad if you chose to go to yakiniku instead.」

「Both are equally as good if you ask me……」

「And that’s the problem with you, Katsu-kun! You have to make a clean distinction when it comes to things like that!」

「So in other words you’re that kind of man that can’t appreciate the uniquiness properly. What a shame.」

「Why can’t you guys never agree onto something, even for a moment? And while we’re at it, I know that I said it’s my treat, but don’t you think you’re going a little bit overboard……?」

「You sure you want to say that? Come on now, show our dear Pumpkin-kun and myself here some appreciation. And let’s hear a word or two from him, while we’re being at it!」

Ehhh……? You’d really do something like that and catfish people to praise you……? It was really weird to see someone who would play like a complete demon act in such a middle-school manner.

Umm, umm…… Crap, I’m really no good when it comes to public speeches like that. That’s why I really hate public events!

「Ahh, umm…… By drinking Blood Riot, you can achieve the level of play that’s on par with Pro Gamers. You should give it a shot from time to time.」

「Dude, are you some kind of sponsored influencer or something……?」

S-Shut your trap! I’m not quite like you guys, being able to throw cheesy lines around like it’s the most natural thing in the entire world!

Fuck me, now my head starts to hurt. My caffeine fuel is exhausted, but I don’t want to risk overdosing on energy drinks too much. Looks like it’s going to be impossible for me to play some ShanFro today after all that.

「Mister Pumpkin Head!」

「Uwoah!?」

Then I felt someone grabbing my hands from the side and forcefully turning me around. Raising my eyes, I could see none other than Silvia Goldberg with her eyes sparkling brightly. She didn’t seem exhausted at all.

「Good game! Good game!」

「Eh, ah, likewise……」

The force and intensity with which she was shaking my hands showed just how excited she really was. But who would have thought…… It seems they understand Japanese, at least to some extent.

But sadly, my language capacities were fairly limited in real life…… Hey, come on, give me some real-time Babel here so I could at least understand them! Or at least tell them to speak Japanese, can you do that for me?

「Fufufu, what a shame, huh, Silvia Goldberg.」

「???」

「I’m nothing more but an assist here, you see our Kat…… I mean, our boss wanted to defeat you in combat.」

「Eh? I didn’t say anything like that.」

「Yes you did, Katsu-kun. Yes you did. “I want to defeat Silvia with my own two hands, so please make that possible by buying as much time as possible.」

「No, no, no, I most certainly didn’t say it like that!」

「T-That’s right! Kei will be the one who will end your undefeated streak! …… Isn’t that right?」

「MEGU!?!?」

Dude, you can’t even admit to your own faults even after we went so far and still manage to lose?

After a short pause, it seems that the meaning of our words finally managed to reach Silvia Goldberg. Her facial expression, beautiful enough to be on the cover of some modeling magazine, was distorted by a ferocious smile.

「Don’t you worry, we’ll take responsibility and settle this some another time.」

「Maybe once you’ll make it big as a Pro Gamer. Although it won’t be an easy path to travel.」

「D-Do your best!」

「But don’t think we’ll make that climb any easier for you…… Oh well.」

Even though we’ve been joking around like that, it is true that no real gamer ever plays with an intention to lose in the end.

We’ve all did our very best. Myself, Natsume-san and Pencilgton. We’ve also experimented quite a lot and tried a ton of different things.

「Well, having said that…… We’ve gone so far already, so don’t you dare to fuck this up.」

Show us a match that will be as good as Pencilgton’s, a match that will turn the whole city inside out and that will prove that you are better than Meetias once and for all.

「If I’ll win…… I get to decide what kind of food we are going to eat.」

「Of course it will be yakiniku.」

「It will be sushi.」

「I want to eat pasta.」

So maybe an Italian yakiniku? What do you say to that……?

「It’s the first time you’ve spoken so clearly, Silvia.」

「You’ve been always using that suspicious combination of both English and Japanese…… Silvia.」

If the match is a Hero VS a Villain, Villain will always receive a thirty seconds of extra time before the match actually begins. However, in Hero VS Hero scenario or Villain VS Villain, they will always start at the same time.

Right now, two Heroes are facing off against one another in Chaos City. Right now, all the damage from the previous games was gone, so there was no trace of evil plants, exploding stuffed animals, leveled buildings or meteor crates. The map was completely reset.

「It’s actually surprising to see you discard Amdrava.」

「I wanted to use him initially, but I decided not to in the end. Sometimes the only thing that you need is a change of pace and perspective.」

In one corner, the Meteor-Hero, undefeated right until that point. In another corner, a different Hero wearing a silver jacket and pointing his finger at Meetias.

「Today I shall finally end your reign with this Hero here…… Silver Jumper!」

Even though they were surrounded by the cityscape that was about to turn into a warzone, Silvia could tell that the heart of her opponent was full of passion and burning fighting spirit, about ready to go all out.

Until that point, he lost to her time and time again. But even in spite of that, his spirit didn’t shatter and he was still bringing himself up after each fall, adamant on catching up to her and defeating her. Silvia really liked men who were so persistent in trying to get what they wanted.

「Well, well, well…… I’m really looking forward to this. Oh, yeah, but before we get to that…… Why cat ears? Is this your hobby or something like that?」

「Ahh, this? Those guys forced me to do this. Please don’t worry about that. It’s better to not delve over their crazy for too long.」

「Is that so? Alright then. Well then, it’s finally time…… If I end up winning today, will you tell me the real identities of your Villain colleagues?」

「Ahahaha, fine by me, but I’m warning you: they really lose a lot when you actually meet them in person.」

It might have looked like a simple exchange of pleasantries between two rivals. But that statement couldn’t have possibly been furthest from the truth. Because in reality it was nothing short of a declaration of war.

Silver Jumper. It’s a side character that appeared on the pages of the comic book “Gold Edge” and is currently the oldest character under the Galaxia label.

Although it was a character that underwent many changes, reboots and adjustments across the years, his core concept was always staying the same.

「Easy to play, but difficult to master!」

「Now then…… Show me how you’re going to beat me!」

It seems that the blue Meteor Hero was not tired after all that fighting in the slightest. However, Kei had a different opinion on the matter. He was sure that the fights against Clock Fire and Cursed Prison managed to put quite a dent in the reigning champion.

Continously optimizing her own performance whilst not falling victim to fatigue. In other words, her actions were directly connected to her current approach to her opponent.

「Hitting your opponent square in the face is not the only way in which you can wing matches in this game……!!!」

After running many tests, Katsu, Pencilgton, Sanraku and Natsume all concluded that the characters they could use during this exhibition match could be roughly split into three categories.

First category: “Fighter Types” such as Meetias and Cursed Prison.

It’s the most basic type, where the characters shine in close quarters combat and can pull off really impressive moves.

Next is the “Fixer” type, a type that refers to characters that are weak in direct combat and must rely on tools in order to succeed. Clock Fire is just a character like that.

Those characters tend to control the events from the shadows, thinking up plans and intricate strategies that would allow them to not engage in combat themselves.

And last but not least, the Seeker Type. Silver Jumper is the excellent representation of that playstyle.

He’s not nearly as powerful to have faith in close quarters combat, but at the same licks the wit and cunning necessary to set traps and scheme various evil plans. But if it’s like that, then at what characters like him excel at?