After I Confessed to My Childhood Friend and Got Rejected, I Threw a Game Offline Meetup to Cheer Myself Up, Only to Find Out My Long-Time Gaming Buddy Was Actually the Quiet, Silver-Haired Swedish Beauty Who's the Cutest Girl in School - Chapter 15.2: Entry Exam and Sudden Development

Chapter 15.2: Entry Exam and Sudden Development

The two started up a nearby computer and logged into a certain game.

The familiar screen―――”Arcadia Fantasy.”

“Amane senior, Kenmochi senior. Please do PVP with us on this!”

PVP.

The function where players fight each other in real time.

“Arcadia Fantasy” had PVP, used by many players, with tournaments held frequently.

The seniors’ skills were unknown, but for a game they had grinded since middle school, they figured they had the advantage, so Amamiya and Karina bet on that.

“Hohum, this one. I like this game too☆.”

“To challenge us in our strong field, that is laughable!”

The seniors logged in with familiar motions.

There, Amamiya realized. Their thinking had been naive.

Because the characters the seniors operated were names of players who had won consecutive championships in the repeatedly held Arcadia Fantasy PVP tournaments.

Amane “Sky Music” fighter.

Kenmochi “Sword Master” archer.

Amane’s character was a tall, busty big-sister type.

Kenmochi’s character equipped a bow and arrow instead of a sword; was it different from the name’s image?

“N-No way! That Sky Music and Sword Master!?”

Far from scared, Karina’s admiration rose, and she was on the verge of fainting.

He understood the feeling, but he wished she would grasp how bad the situation was.

But Amamiya and the others were also top players.

Not as famous as the seniors, but Karina “Dragon Head” and Amamiya “Rain” had skills feared by some players.

In teamwork, they lost to no one.

“Then, the exam starts!”

At Amane’s signal, the exam began.

A few minutes later, Amamiya and the others were thoroughly defeated.

The entry condition was a draw or victory only.

The two losers’ entry was not recognized.

After it ended, Kenmochi looked apologetic, and Amane joyfully celebrated her victory.

———

“…We lost.”

5:30 p.m. The outside was still bright, perhaps because summer was near.

But Amamiya and Karina’s faces were clouded.

Even with their teamwork, they could not win.

All their moves were anticipated, and no attacks got through.

The seniors’ skills, who won consecutive tournament championships, were not for show after all.

They could not join without winning.

No image of beating those two came to mind, and Amamiya was at a loss.

Karina placed her hand on such a his shoulder.

It was a white, slender hand, just like her.

“Let us win next time. There is still a chance. As long as it is this year, we can challenge as many times as we want. It is all about practice.”

If Karina, who bluntly said what she thought, said it, then it was surely no lie.

From the Tojo and Takasaki incidents, he knew she was a born sore loser.

(To be a man worthy of Karina, I have to respond to her feelings too…)

“Yeah, it is not over yet. The seniors have pride as pro gamers too, so we have to get strong enough to be recognized.”

Once decided, it was practice time.

But from the fight with the seniors, he learned that just bantering in the game was disadvantageous.

Amane and Kenmochi had operated while giving verbal instructions to each other.

In contrast, Amamiya and Karina had been silent throughout. That was probably one of the reasons for the win-loss.

“Chatting from each home might be less efficient than practicing in the same space…”

“Yeah, that is right after all. As expected of my partner. Takaaki and I have a long relationship in the game, but in reality, it is still short. But the two seniors are different. They were like one body and soul.”

“Yeah, scary how…”

The two seniors had fought as if staking their lives on the game.

Even now, he could vividly recall that terrifying figure.

“Then, can I come over to your house, Takaaki?”

“Huh…”

“Because it is three stations by train for me? I cannot make you go back and forth on purpose, so I thought your place on foot, but… is it no good?”

Karina coming to his home.

Bringing a beautiful girl he had just met in reality into his house.

Weird thoughts flashed through his head, and Amamiya spaced out, his cheek poked by Karina’s finger.

“Uh, my place! B-But it is not cleaned up, so it might be messy~.”

He gave a gutless reply typical of an introvert.

“It is fine. My real home in my home country was messy too, so I do not mind at all.”

Her home country’s real home meant Sweden.

It was not messy or anything, but Amamiya, who had no experience inviting girls other than Tojo into his room, was simply chickening out, in short.

But here, Kumagai would probably chant “Let her in, if you are a man, let her in” with a scary face.

(Steel yourself, Amamiya Takaaki!)

“O-Okay. Then… to my house, l-let us go.”

“Yay~!”

To the embarrassed Amamiya, Karina was in her usual mode.

But the fact that she, who was salty to others, showed him alone a smile made him happy.

“Hm?”

His smartphone in his pocket vibrated, so he took it out and checked.

It was an email from his childhood friend Tojo Chika.

They had not exchanged messages since the rejection day.

Surprised, Amamiya put the smartphone away without opening the email.

He was not in the mood to talk to Tojo now.

(I have to explain to my little sister Anna so there is no misunderstanding about my relationship with Karina…)

A beautiful girl he felt unworthy of was coming to his house, a sudden rom-com-like development, and Amamiya was wrapped in an unprecedented tension.