>>3905839

“Of course!” Her eyes light up and she flashes a demure smile as she clears her throat, bringing the notebook closer to you. “May I please ask you to sign this for me? It would really mean a lot!”

…compared to how 0phelia approached you just two weeks ago, this is downright heavenly. You’ve had a fair share of expected hecklers come into your arcade along with people who have well-wishes, but it honestly takes you aback that someone has come to ask for your autograph.

>Gladly sign the notebook for her – she seems nice, and you aren’t going to turn down such a nice request.
>Tell her you’ll do it for $20 – you aren’t about to give out your signature for free.
>Politely deny the girl – you aren’t one for signing autographs, also she could sell it on dBay or something.

Previous threads: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Gun%20x%20Glory

>Gladly sign the notebook for her – she seems nice, and you aren’t going to turn down such a nice request

>>3905840
>Politely deny the girl – you aren’t one for signing autographs, also she could sell it on dBay or something.

>>3905840
>>Politely deny the girl – you aren’t one for signing autographs, also she could sell it on dBay or something.

Hey, thanks for swinging around! Wanted to get this off the ground before I headed out - vote's open until I return! How will you answer this demure looking lass?

Also hey, I made it at the very tail end of last thread, but if you wanna come and shoot the shit or whatever, feel free to join the Discord I made for the quest. https://discord.gg/45cyyN

With that in mind, see you when I get back!

>>3905840
>>Gladly sign the notebook for her – she seems nice, and you aren’t going to turn down such a nice request.

>>3905840
>>Gladly sign the notebook for her – she seems nice, and you aren’t going to turn down such a nice request.

>>3905849
>>3905912
>>3905998
Back! Writing now.

>>3906010

You contemplate doing anything but that for a moment – there’s always the chance she could sell your lovingly spun words on dBay for however much they’re worth…but admittedly you can’t bring yourself to care. She seems nice! She looks like a puffy purple marshmallow, and honestly, when have you been one to turn down a pretty face?

You can think of several times in the last two weeks where you’ve turned down a pretty face.

“Of course, I’d love to do that for you.” You scour your desk for a pen, and you take the very bold move of holding her hand in place so you can properly begin to write your autograph on the notebook. Surely this would be considered a salacious move in various circles of popular media, but this is real life, and no one really gives a shit. Just as you’re about to touch the pen’s tip to the paper, a loud and tittering voice carries over to the two of you, making the unnamed woman jump a bit and making your face shift into a glare.

“Hold on, lady! Why would you want this dude’s autograph when you could get mine?” Golden practically barrels into the side of you and drapes an arm around your shoulder, flashing a pearly white grin at the wayward woman while she looks on in shock.

Ah, yes. The one problem that hasn’t been solved. While Rock has been jailed and 0phelia disappeared without a trace, this annoying thorn in your ass has been hanging around you all week. Thankfully he’s stopped shy of coming over to your house, but you can bet your ass that whenever you open shop, he’s right there with his long hair groomed and looking bright eyed and bushy tailed. It’s been a very large exercise in patience, especially when he’s hellbent on challenging you to Warscape, but at least he paid for a monthly pass so you can’t exactly throw him out.

You shake your head and look up at the girl once more – she’s staring at the two of you with a look bordering on that of a scared rabbit’s…how do you respond?

>Apologize to the girl and extract yourself from Golden’s grip – you won’t let a wayward twink stop you from giving an autograph!
>”Don’t you have a team to be getting back to?” You turn and stare at Golden, making your displeasure with him known.
>Sign the book and pass the pen to the boy – might as well give the girl a two-for-one deal if Golden’s gonna be pushy about it.
>Write-in.

>>3906044
>>Apologize to the girl and extract yourself from Golden’s grip – you won’t let a wayward twink stop you from giving an autograph!

>>3906044
>>Apologize to the girl and extract yourself from Golden’s grip – you won’t let a wayward twink stop you from giving an autograph!
IGNORE GOLDEN. Ask the marshmallow about her duds.

>>3906044
>Apologize to the girl and extract yourself from Golden’s grip – you won’t let a wayward twink stop you from giving an autograph!
This seems like the option that's least likely to cause a misunderstanding.

>>3906044
>>”Don’t you have a team to be getting back to?” You turn and stare at Golden, making your displeasure with him known.

>>3906046
>>3906052
>>3906062
Writing now!

>>3906073
Are you still here, Cirno?

>>3906147
Yep, just got saddled with making dinner and words aren't coming out so well - apologies for the wait!

>>3906155
It's alright bro take as much time as you need.

>>3906073

(Words are a fuck, sorry for the wait! Also doing dinner so that’s neat.)

You do your very best to ignore the boy and instead force him off of your shoulder, causing him to let out a little “eep!” as he stumbles back into your chair, looking up at you with the most put-out expression you’ve ever seen on a person. You heartily disregard him and instead turn to the lady, taking her hand once more and beginning to scribble down your screenname on the empty page.

“I’m very sorry about him, miss.” You rattle off to her as you sign the paper with a little flourish. You’ve always been just a little bit proud of your handwriting, and in a world filled with digitized everything, you’re damn sure going to flaunt it whenever you can. “By the way, your jacket’s cool.”

She does a little hop as she presses the notebook into her jacket pocket, making the little puff balls bounce as she blushes faintly at your compliment. What could you say, it’s a neat looking jacket!

“Thank you very much, Mr. Nova!” She reaches out and shakes your still outstretched hand with both of hers, practically skipping towards the door with a beaming look across her face. Without any other words, she exits into the frigid air, the draft caused by the door chilling you through your clothes. The temperature has dropped in a major way over the past week, and you’re incredibly thankful to have working heating in the arcade. You yawn a bit as you turn and regard Golden, who’s staring at the window as the girl prances down the sidewalk.

“Maaaan, she was pretty! Why don’t pretty girls ever come and ask for my autograph?” He grouses, picking up a pencil and looking as if he was contemplating stabbing you with it. “Play me in a match to make up for it, asshole!”

You let out a very long sigh – when will he get over this? You have no interest in playing Warscape with him, and you damn well wish he’d just take his win over you in beer pong and head home. He should be practicing for another tournament, anyways – you’ve never met a competitive player this lax, honestly. Even back in your day, a day or two’s rest is all you’d get before putting your nose back to the grindstone!

Kids these days, honestly.

>”Maybe it’s because you’re prettier than them?” You throw a backhanded compliment at Cyril with a smirk, trying to get his goat.
>Shake your head and make your normal rounds of the arcade – you need to make sure things are up to snuff!
>Call Cinder and ask how’s she doing – you haven’t been paying attention to the tournament, but you still have well wishes for her.
>Regard the blank envelope on your desk with a sense of dread.
>Write-in.

>>3906174
>Shake your head and make your normal rounds of the arcade – you need to make sure things are up to snuff!

File: 1453911044852.jpg (316 KB, 771x776)

316 KB JPG

>>3906174
You think I won't take that bait?
>”Maybe it’s because you’re prettier than them?” You throw a backhanded compliment at Cyril with a smirk, trying to get his goat.

>>3906174
>>Shake your head and make your normal rounds of the arcade – you need to make sure things are up to snuff!
tell him to fuck off if he's not gonna play at the machines

>>3906174
>”Maybe it’s because you’re prettier than them?” You throw a backhanded compliment at Cyril with a smirk, trying to get his goat.
Do it, no balls.

>>3906174
>>Shake your head and make your normal rounds of the arcade – you need to make sure things are up to snuff!

>>3906225
>>3906230
>>3906251
Looks like this wins! Ignore the petty man and get to work. Writing now!

>>3906254

You shake your head at the boy, deigning not to dignify that with a proper response as you walk around the desk, cracking your neck and gazing around your little home away from home. The mellow blue and purple fluorescent lights bring about a sense of calm within you, idle chatter between players buzzing amidst the low bass of the music you had chosen to play that day. You allow yourself a fleeting smile as you catch your reflection in the glass of an arcade cabinet – another thing you had done this week was get a haircut and shave, making you look significantly less like a hobo and more like a punk teenager you’d find lingering outside a mall.

Not much of an improvement, but an improvement nonetheless!

You hear Golden sputter as you begin to walk further into the arcade, and as you hear him rise out of your new and comfy chair, you look over your shoulder at him with a raised brow.

“Either play the machines, or fuck off, Goldie.” The look of indignation on his face makes that one worth it as you walk away without another word – hopefully he does the latter but knowing him he’ll probably do the former just to be a pissant. God, he’s annoying. He inspires ancient gamer rage in your soul, yes he does.

You begin to slowly make the rounds with your own little trusty pocketbook, idly noting on things that need doing. A burning out light here, a malfunctioning machine there, just another day in the life of an arcade owner. You’re damn well happy that a sense of normalcy has returned to your life after the insane week you had – the only thing different this time around is the occasional person flagging you down for a moment of your time or tossing a sneer in your direction. Even with Golden buzzing around like a little bee, you can honestly say that this last week has been pretty chill! You hope that it will remain as such.

The sound of loud sniffling hits your ears over your chill music, and you’re instantly reminded why you should never hope for anything ever.

You scan around the area and find the source immediately – a young boy sits at what appears to be a competitive RTS game if memory serves you correctly, glaring at it as if it had not only kicked his dog in the eye, but shot it right afterwards. Fuck, that’s an angry look – kids should never make that look.

>Walk over to the young lad and ask him what’s the matter with him – it’s your duty as an arcade manager to help him…or something like that, at least.
>Continue your rounds – gamer rage ain’t your business, as long as he doesn’t break your machine it will continue to be none of your business.
>Look around and see if there’s anyone with him – it’s their job to calm him down, not yours. [This will require a roll.]
>Notice that your phone is currently buzzing, and answer it – your 0phelia related trauma has subsided with time.
>Other.

>>3906334
>>Look around and see if there’s anyone with him – it’s their job to calm him down, not yours. [This will require a roll.]
then
>>Notice that your phone is currently buzzing, and answer it – your 0phelia related trauma has subsided with time.

>>3906334
I'll go with >>3906337

It's weird to me that Golden's hanging around with us now. He seemed pretty antagonistic when he was first introduced, and I thought he was actually behind the whole coughing fit we had with our band.

>>3906334
>>Look around and see if there’s anyone with him – it’s their job to calm him down, not yours. [This will require a roll.]

>>3906334
>>Walk over to the young lad and ask him what’s the matter with him – it’s your duty as an arcade manager to help him…or something like that, at least.

>>3906337
>>3906350
>>3906356
It seems this wins, so please roll me a 1d20 - best of three wins! I wonder if the rolls will be cursed this time around?

>>3906350
You still don't know what caused it - could have been a glitch, could have been foul play!

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>3906374

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>3906374

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>3906374

>>3906390
Let me guess, this kid turns out to be 0phelia's and Rock's son?

>>3906390
Cursed rolls. I see. Writing now!

>>3906393
That'd be the ultimate twist lmao

I came here to say Nova is a sore loser, fuck 0phelia, and Hail Auxilia.

>>3906401

You narrow your eyes and begin to glance around the area rapidly, trying to see if anyone came with this child so they could calm him down and not you. After a few minutes of staring, you realize that not only is this child alone, but people are beginning to give you odd looks for standing around and glancing from the child and around the area. Looks a little suspicious, one would say. You scuttle away before it can become an issue – curse trying to help! This is why you like to sit behind the desk – literally most of the bad things that have happened to you here have been out in the great unknown of arcade cabinets. You consider hiring someone to do maintenance for you from here on out, but the buzzing of your phone snaps you out of your insane reverie.

You fish it out of your pocket – and hey, it’s Alexis! Your good ol’ landlord! You lean against a machine and raise your phone up to your ear.

“Yo! My main man!” Alexis croons through the phone, causing you to chuckle.

“Yo. What’s up? Didn’t you have a meeting or something today?”

“I did, but the bastard flaked on me! So now I don’t have shit to do – called to give you a heads up, though.”

Your eyebrow raises, unbeknownst to her.

“What’s going on?”

“Looks like Cinder’s back in town, and she does not look happy.”

“Huh, really? That’s odd…where did you see her?”

“Was driving back from my meeting and saw her storming into her house – just called to let you know, because I’m sure she’ll be making her way down there soon! Use your business sense to calm her down, champ~!”

“…that sounds incredibly stupid, Alexis.”

“Don’t care byeeeeeeeeee-“

You hang up the phone before she can drag out the word any longer. Huh, that’s a bit concerning for you to hear! You’re thankful that Alexis called and let you know, though – hell hath no fury like Cinder when she’s fucking mad, this you know well. You wonder what could be getting her goat? You highly doubt it’s related to the tournament since she’s a very gracious loser…hmm, you’re gonna put a cap on this for later, speculating and assuming would make an ass out of you in the end.

How do you proceed, in that case?

>Finish up your rounds – you’ll talk to your pal when she gets here and see what’s getting her down.
>Give her a quick phone call just to make sure things are alright – you’re a bit worried for your friend.
>Pop over to the convenience store and pick up something to placate her when she arrives – you’ll have something nice for her when she gets here!
>Quickly pull up the tournament results on your phone and see how things went – maybe she got thrashed badly, or something.
>Other.

>>3906501
>Finish up your rounds – you’ll talk to your pal when she gets here and see what’s getting her down.

>>3906501
>>Finish up your rounds – you’ll talk to your pal when she gets here and see what’s getting her down.

>>3906501
>>Quickly pull up the tournament results on your phone and see how things went – maybe she got thrashed badly, or something.

>>3906501
>>Quickly pull up the tournament results on your phone and see how things went – maybe she got thrashed badly, or something.

>>3906501
>Finish up your rounds – you’ll talk to your pal when she gets here and see what’s getting her down.

Going to call it a little bit early today, as I've got some stuff to do in the morning. Thanks so much for swinging around - give any feedback or questions you have, as I need them to make this as good as it can be! Vote's open until the morning, so have a great night, anons!

>>3906501
>Quickly pull up the tournament results on your phone and see how things went – maybe she got thrashed badly, or something.
Check local news

>Finish up your rounds – you’ll talk to your pal when she gets here and see what’s getting her down.

Kid better not ruin our machine. We just got it fixed

>>3906501
>Quickly pull up the tournament results on your phone and see how things went – maybe she got thrashed badly, or something.

I bet somebody got pictures of her with us and she was bombarded with questions about us.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

Good morning, everyone! Hope you all are doing well.

>>3906549
>>3906566
Appears we have a tie between this option, so I'm going to flip for it and I'll write whichever it lands on!

>>3907039

You put the thought of the sniffling child out of your mind for a moment and lean against an antique fighting game cabinet, pulling up a website that tracks all Warscape events with a raised eyebrow. It takes a little bit of searching – a lot of Warscape tournaments have happened over the past week it would seem, both for minor and major leagues – but you eventually locate the one that Cinder took part in.

>NEW DAWN INVITATIONAL
>64 PLAYERS
>SINGLE BRACKET
>WINNER: editWorld

You scroll down the tournament roster and locate Cinder’s name – Dragon, just as a refresher – and see that she made it all the way up to the quarterfinals! Not a bad place to be at all you’d say, but as you scroll through her tournament matches, you immediately notice the problem.

>editWorld def. Dragon
>MATCH TIME: 3:27

“Yeeeeesh.” You find yourself saying aloud, a part of you cringing. Getting beaten in that short of a time would be enough to rile anyone up – you know damn well that Cinder’s no slouch in the game even with her odd choice of weaponry (dual shotguns is an odd choice for anyone as far as you’re concerned), so either she made an incredibly grave mistake early on or the guy is just that good. Seems like modern Warscape players are made of some different stuff! You make a mental note to pick up some lunch for her later, sliding your phone back into your pocket and moving off of the machine – you wince as you hear a small grinding within the cabinet, and you quickly mark down to check that out when closing time rolls around.

Now that you’re armed with KNOWLEDGE, what do you do?

>Go back and deal with the sad child situation – the least you can do is cheer him up, and also you don’t want him shattering your machine.
>Walk away and continue your rounds in another area – you’ve only been through half of your arcade, after all!
>Go up to your desk and inquire about the player with Golden – as much as you find the antagonistic boy irritating, he’s an on hand source of Warscape knowledge.
>Other.

>>3907069
>>Walk away and continue your rounds in another area – you’ve only been through half of your arcade, after all!

>>3907069
>Go up to your desk and inquire about the player with Golden – as much as you find the antagonistic boy irritating, he’s an on hand source of Warscape knowledge.

>>3907069
>>Go back and deal with the sad child situation – the least you can do is cheer him up, and also you don’t want him shattering your machine.

We're a responsible arcade owner!

>>3907069
>>Go back and deal with the sad child situation – the least you can do is cheer him up, and also you don’t want him shattering your machine.

>>3907069
>Go back and deal with the sad child situation – the least you can do is cheer him up, and also you don’t want him shattering your machine.

>>3907069
>>Go back and deal with the sad child situation – the least you can do is cheer him up, and also you don’t want him shattering your machine.

>>3907084
>>3907089
>>3907095
>>3907108
You are a responsible arcade owner, that's what you are. Writing now!

>>3907109

(Sorry for the wait, had to do a quick bout of schoolwork!)

You shake your head and turn to move back towards the child – the rest of the arcade can wait, it’s not
like it’s going anywhere! You also take a moment to glance up towards your desk, and it seems Golden’s flitted off somewhere. You’re not quite certain where he went, but you’d hazard a guess and say the Warscape machines – when he’s not trying to challenge you to a match, he’s usually over there attracting a small crowd. It’s not every day that a member of Auxilia swings around to the local arcade, after all…and for that matter, it’s not every day that the owner of said arcade is a disgraced ex-pro!

Cascade is just the place to be nowadays.

When you round the corner of cabinets and begin to make your way over, you notice that the child is no longer at the seat, nor is he anywhere in the area. You furrow your brow at this – you think you vaguely remember noticing he was in the middle of a game? Eh, he must have rage quit, and it doesn’t look like he’s damaged your machine at least. You let out a sigh of relief and go to turn back around, when a new sound assaults your ears – the sound of mocking laughter, followed by a high-five.

You narrow your eyes immediately, and you grit your teeth as you turn around to find the source.

On the set of machines opposite to this row, you spot a dark-haired man who started coming around right after Cascade reopened for business. You’re very used to him walking in at around midday, throwing a snide comment your way, and disappearing over to this set of RTS machines. He’s firmly cemented himself as a local terror among fans of the game, and you’ve had to issue a warning or two for ruthlessly antagonizing the competition until they either quit the match or storm out of the arcade in a huff. He’s stopped being verbal about it after you threatened to bar him from entering, but he still manages to get his opposition riled up.

All and all, he’s a total cunt.

>Walk over and remind him about your warning – bullying small children ain’t cool, bro.
>Walk away and continue your rounds – you warned him to stop shittalking, and as far as you can tell he’s abided by that – dude must just be good at the game.
>Sit across from him and challenge him to a match – you have literally never played this game before in your life, but who better to school this chump than the owner of the arcade?
>Other.

>>3907182
>Walk over and remind him about your warning – bullying small children ain’t cool, bro.

>>3907182
>>Walk over and remind him about your warning – bullying small children ain’t cool, bro.

>>3907182
>Walk over and remind him about your warning – bullying small children ain’t cool, bro.

>Walk over and remind him about your warning – bullying small children ain’t cool, bro.

>>3907182
>>Walk over and remind him about your warning – bullying small children ain’t cool, bro.

>>3907201
>>3907203
>>3907204
>>3907261
>>3907295
Alright after a multitude of delays I'm finally back - and hey, we have a unanimous vote! Please roll me a quick 1d20, best of three wins, and then I'll get writing.

Rolled 15 (1d20)

>>3907577

Rolled 20 (1d20)

>>3907577

>>3907600
Welp, looks like we're goid

>>3907600
Awwwww shit, neat. Writing now!

>>3907603

You resist the urge to facepalm as the boy begins eagerly chattering to the two other guys who have walked up to him, pointing exaggeratedly to the screen.

“Did ya see that shit, Jerry? Fuckin’ kid couldn’t even hold a candle to me! What’d he expect?” He slaps his knee and pounds his fist on the control panel, wiping a faux tear away from his eye. You bite your tongue and walk over to him whilst his back is turned, taking a quick glance at the machine as you do. Your observational skills must be on point today, considering that you see something wrong with it right away – namely, a little piece of plastic peeled away from the machine and what appears to be a miniscule USB drive sticking out of it

Oh, that’s funny. You haven’t seen one of those little guys in years!

Way back when you first started up your arcade, there were a group of girls who ran a small little scam with some of the newer machines. Normally that little slot is used to backup machines in case they fail suddenly! You, at the time, were basically clueless to the machinations of arcade machines and their respective glitches…so you had no clue that they were using little thumb drives like that to exploit certain glitches in the code. When you eventually grew wise to it, you barred them from coming back and managed to make them pony up the cash they had taken from others unfairly…that’s why you have a very strict policy against people being able to bet money on matches! You can’t have eyes everywhere at once, and while a lot of arcades in the area would turn a blind eye to money matches between players and claim that it’s none of their business, you are a lot more honest than that.

Unlike this dude, apparently. With your newfound knowledge due to top tier observation skills, how do you approach the situation?

>Play it cool – take out the USB drive and show that you’ve seen through his trick, and politely ask him to leave.
>Firmly reprimand him about his behavior and the USB drive, and tell him that if he’s caught again, he’ll be barred permanently from the arcade.
>Sleight of hand that USB drive out of the slot and beat this fucker at his own game without him knowing – once a cheater, always a cheater, right? [This will require a LOW roll.]
>Other.

>>3907646
>>Play it cool – take out the USB drive and show that you’ve seen through his trick, and politely ask him to leave.

>>3907646
>Play it cool – take out the USB drive and show that you’ve seen through his trick, and politely ask him to leave.

>>3907646
>Play it cool – take out the USB drive and show that you’ve seen through his trick, and politely ask him to leave.
Go and stay go.

>>3907646
>>Play it cool – take out the USB drive and show that you’ve seen through his trick, and politely ask him to leave.

>>3907646
>Sleight of hand that USB drive out of the slot and beat this fucker at his own game without him knowing – once a cheater, always a cheater, right? [This will require a LOW roll.]
I kinda want to know what the game is

Having dinner so vote's open until I get back - I am VERY sorry for all of the delays, this will be the last one and then I'll be going full steam ahead for the rest of the night. Hope you all are doing well!

>>3907709
no need to worry man, these are more updates than most quests.

>>3907646
>>Play it cool – take out the USB drive and show that you’ve seen through his trick, and politely ask him to leave.

Alright - we are back. I am fed, I am watered, so LET'S GET DOWN TO BUSINESS. Sorry again for the wait!

>>3907659
>>3907699
>>3907702
>>3907703
>>3907818
You're a cool cat, and a polite one as well. Writing now!

>>3907982
I forgive you if you remove the curse from this thread

>>3907998
I'm trying my best anon we need someone else to have a birthday so the rolls aren't shit.

>>3907982

You adjust your posture so you’re standing to your full height, calmly slicking back your freshly groomed hair and leaning down to pluck the small thumb drive from the slot. As you rise back up, you see both of the people that the man is chatting to look in your direction, causing the blonde man to spin around with the cockiest grin you think you’ve ever seen in your life.

When he sees that it’s you and sees what you’re holding, he visibly grows pale and deflates like a balloon. You can see it in his eyes – he was most likely ready to challenge you immediately before realizing who you were, and he might have even prepared a long-winded excuse that would require more quick judgement calls. But that’s neither here or there, as Wolfgang “Eagle Eyes” O’Neal is on the case.

You are absolutely positive that no one has ever called you that before.

He goes to open his mouth, and you raise a finger to shush him just as quick – you immediately point to the door.

“I am going to ask you to leave – not only have you violated my warning, but you’ve also violated the rules here. I’m not gonna tolerate anything further.” You give him the blankest stare you have in your arsenal, and he begins to sputter in protest. After a few tries of trying to get words out, he hastily stands up and kicks over the chair in front of the cabinet, spitting on it right afterwards.

“Let’s go, guys. Fuck this chump – I’m gonna tell people about this place! You can bet I’m gonna give you a bad review!” He pivots and walks away with a smirk and a sashay, his two lackeys scrambling after him as quick as they can. Oh, woe is you – a single bad review will surely sink your business, of that you’re certain. You don’t know what this man’s name is, but you’re pretty sure it’s something comically stereotypical – and hey, he forgot to take his thumb drive too. Looks like you’re in possession of yet another cheat!

You silently toss it into the garbage. You are not a cheater.

>Finish your rounds – your job beckons!
>Search around for that kid and explain what happened – you don’t want it lingering on his conscious.
>Meander back to your desk – you highly doubt anything is terribly wrong with the other machines anyways.
>Give Cinder a quick call just to make sure she’s alright – you are WORRIED about your friend!
>Other.

>>3908087
>Finish your rounds – your job beckons!

>>3908087
>>Finish your rounds – your job beckons!

>>3908087
>Finish your rounds – your job beckons!

>>3908095
>>3908106
>>3908110
Writing now!

>>3908126

With the situation at hand dealt with, you lean down to pick up the chair and put it where it’s supposed to be. Another person a few seats down gives you a smile.

“Thanks for that, man. Dude’s been an ass ever since he came in here.” You give him a thumbs up and fish out your pocketbook once more, preparing to walk over to the VR section of Cascade (which really takes up about two walls worth of space at this point). As you walk by the guy, you catch that he’s playing the only original Pac-Man machine that you have in the place – it was a large expense to get your hands on the old thing, so you’re happy it’s receiving some love! The classics are where it’s at, both in Warscape inventory and in video game cabinets.

The rest of the walk around the place is pretty droll – you note that one of your VR headset wires is beginning to fray, you notice that the same two kids are fussing over their strategy game, and you also get beckoned over to watch a match of Warscape for a few minutes. All in all, it’s a fairly routine day – you’re quite surprised at how normal it’s become to have notoriety as of late, and how it’s not all that bad? You figure you can only say that because you’re not plugged in to social media anymore – if anyone wants to shit talk you, they’re gonna have to do it personally! And while you do get the occasional snide remark from players wandering in, it’s pretty fucking chill overall – just another reminder of why you love this place so much.

“Hey, beanpole!” You feel a finger jab you in the ribs, causing you to whirl around to face the perpetrator – surprise, it’s Golden. He’s sitting in a Warscape booth, and must have just came out of a match considering he’s holding the headset between his dainty ass hands. “Figured you’d come this way eventually! Ready to cave and play me, yet?!”

You hear some people chuckle at the scene – oh yes, this has become a common occurrence over the past week, to the endless amusement of some of your clientele. You glance around and notice that a casual line has formed next to one of the other machines – another familiar sight, as he actually has people lining up to try and face him. As far as you know, no one has beaten him yet – at least he’s never belittled them for losing like the other guy did.

>”No.” Shut him down for the umpteenth time – you have no interest in stepping into this game again for the time being.
>”Go back to your team, then we’ll talk.” You snipe at him – if he actually does it, you’ll be free of the twerp.
>Just turn around and walk away from the brat without a word – if you’ve learned anything over the past week, he’ll just get mad and go back to the game.
>Other.

>>3908206
>Just turn around and walk away from the brat without a word – if you’ve learned anything over the past week, he’ll just get mad and go back to the game.

Pretty tired so I'm gonna head to bed for the night - I sincerely hope you've enjoyed reading so far despite the delays, and thank you for swinging around! I'll be back at it in the morning, so the vote will be open until then! Feedback and otherwise is appreciated as always, and I'll see you soon. Have a great night, anons.

>>3908206
>Just turn around and walk away from the brat without a word – if you’ve learned anything over the past week, he’ll just get mad and go back to the game.

Good morning, everyone! Gonna get some breakfast and then we'll get this ball rolling. How are you all doing today?

>>3908228
>>3908320
Ignore the buzzing bee. Will write when I've returned!

>>3908515

(Very sorry for the extended wait – I had intended to get started right away, but my new dog had a sudden medical issue, and taking care of her is of the upmost importance to me. Thank you very much for your patience, and I am incredibly sorry for how inconsistent I’ve been over the course of the thread.)

Forcing down the sudden swell of irritation caused by Golden being himself, you turn on your heel and silently wish the line of players good luck in beating him. He needs someone to knock him down a peg or ten, and whoever does it certainly isn’t going to be you. Maybe you should set up some form of event – something like “Come one, come all! Face Golden from Auxilia – the winner gets a free monthly pass card!” or some shit like that. It could be a great business venture – you scribble it down for further contemplation in your pocketbook as you meander back to your desk.

Just as you make your way past the various throngs of arcade cabinets, you feel a chilly draft wash over you, causing you to rub the exposed skin of your arms with a free hand. Looks like you have yet another arcade goer – and hey, it’s the woman of the hour!

“Yo.” Cinder Faye says to you when you come into her sight, crimson dyed hair pulled into a messy ponytail. She’s apparently done well in taking the weather into account, wearing a trendy white jacket that fits well and seems warm as hell. Before you can take in anything else about her, she strides up to you and reaches a hand into her pocket, pulling out a stack of dollar bills and extending them out to you.

When you finally look up at her face, there’s none of the aforementioned anger that Alexis had warned you about. The only detail you can discern from her face is the cheesy grin plastered across it, and the fact that her cheeks are rosy red from the cold.

You notice, however, that the smile doesn’t reach her eyes.

>”What’s this for?” You ask her curiously, reaching out and taking the stack of bills.
>You reach out and push her hand back gently – you can’t think of anything she needs to give you money for.
>”A simple hug would have sufficed.” You joke and grin back at her, hoping that her obviously fake grin turns to a real one.
>Other.

>>3908737
>A simple hug would have sufficed.” You joke and grin back at her, hoping that her obviously fake grin turns to a real one.
Don't accept the money yet.

>>3908737
>>”What’s this for?” You ask her curiously, reaching out and taking the stack of bills.
I guess she's just paying for a pass, she's not a cheapskate playing for free just because we're friends.

Also
> crimson dyed hair
She's not actually a ginger then? My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

>>3908737
>>”What’s this for?” You ask her curiously, reaching out and taking the stack of bills.

>>3908737
>>”A simple hug would have sufficed.” You joke and grin back at her, hoping that her obviously fake grin turns to a real one.

>>3908737
>”A simple hug would have sufficed.” You joke and grin back at her, hoping that her obviously fake grin turns to a real one.

>>3908737
>”A simple hug would have sufficed.” You joke and grin back at her, hoping that her obviously fake grin turns to a real one.

>>3908741
>>3908751
>>3908760
>>3908767
Joke with your friend and turn her inner frown upside down! Roll me a quick 1d20 - best of three wins - and then I'll get cracking.

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>3908772

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>3908772

>>3908777
I am so very sorry. Her inner smile is gone forever.

Rolled 17 (1d20)

>>3908772

>>3908777
>>3908780
Can't believe she's lost her smile forever. Writing now!

Wondering how we could possibly have fucked this up in a way worthy of a nat 1

>>3908788

“A simple hug would have sufficed.” You say to Cinder, shooting her a smile in the hopes that the false one she’s presenting will fade. She looks at you for a moment, exaggeratedly rolling her eyes and stepping forward in order to pull you into the aforementioned hug. Shit! You didn’t expect her to take you seriously! You had intended the remark to be a joke, and yet this is the fate that has been bestowed upon you! Truly the worst possible outcome on this day! You think you hear someone say aww far off in the distance, and you don’t even care.

Unfortunately when she draws away from you, her smile is nowhere close to being real – in fact, it looks a little more strained. Not in an uncomfortable way, but more of a guilty way? If you had to ascribe a characteristic to her face, you’d say it looks like one a child would have if they had accidentally broken their friend’s toy. Just like the anger Alexis had told you about earlier over the phone, this is an emotion that doesn’t fit well on her face – Cinder may be many things, but guilty isn’t one of them. She’s the type of girl to stick by her decisions no matter what they are, which is why this is now throwing you off so much.

You notice that the money is no longer in her hands as well, and judging by the unfamiliar shape in your back pocket, she must have slid the stack of money inside. You reach back and take it out, briefly flicking through the stack – damn, that’s $300!

“…I know I don’t charge that much for cards, Cinder. What’s the occasion?”

“Just…uh…showing my appreciation for all you’ve done for me over the past five years!” That grin looks like it’s about to break off of her face, and you feel your eyebrow raise.

>”What did you do.” You say flatly, feeling a red flag plant itself firmly in your head.
>”Uh…thanks?” Your smile this time is hesitant – if she feels this is necessary, you won’t pry.
>Notice that your phone is buzzing in your pocket – seems you’re a popular guy today!
>Other.

>>3908810
>>”What did you do.” You say flatly, feeling a red flag plant itself firmly in your head.

>>3908810
>>”What did you do.” You say flatly, feeling a red flag plant itself firmly in your head.
Did she have a gamer moment on one of our machines?

>>3908810
>”What did you do.” You say flatly, feeling a red flag plant itself firmly in your head.

>>3908814
As long as it wasn't a 'heated gamer moment'.

>>3908810
>”What did you do.” You say flatly, feeling a red flag plant itself firmly in your head.
I think I know what happening here. We have to duel someone for her.

>>3908813
>>3908814
>>3908816
>>3908817
Writing now!

>>3908827
Hope you dog is doing well, and is a very good dog

>>3908827

“What did you do.” You say immediately, and to her credit, the guilt in her eyes only grows a tiny bit larger.

“Nothing at all, man! Just wanted to give you interest for the one time I forgot to pay for my card, as well as this months!”

“$300 for two cards? Also, I let that forgotten charge slide a long time ago.”

“I basically spend all of my free time here, so why not give a little back, right?”

“You’ve given me more than enough by being by my side throughout all of the bullshit that happened two weeks ago. So much so that I was tempted to let your monthly cost slide for a little while.” You say bluntly, causing Cinder to sharply look away – you think you spot a little bit of red on her face, and it’s not due to the cold! Indoor heating is king in this frozen hellscape of a town.

“Well…can’t you just take the money and let it go? I know you’re stubborn, but this is a little ridiculous!” You have to stifle a snort at that one – you’ve never seen such an obvious attempt to misdirect prying eyes before, and also that’s the pot calling the kettle black. She’s one of the most stubborn people you know, for fuck’s sake! Not intending to give you time to respond apparently, she ducks her head low and begins to move past you over to the Warscape machines – damn, she must really be in a low mood.

>”If you did something wrong, you know I’m not gonna get mad at you for it.” You tell Cinder before she can get too far away – you hate seeing your friend in such an odd mood, and doubly so because you’re now increasingly concerned about whatever she thinks she did.
>”If you’re really that sure…” You say with worried eyes – you don’t exactly want to push the issue if she’s this adamant on avoiding it.
>”Hey, if you broke one of my machines, at least tell me which one!” You attempt another joke, reaching out to grasp her wrist – maybe another attempt to ease her mood will prove fruitful? [This will require a roll.]
>Other.

>>3908847
>>”If you did something wrong, you know I’m not gonna get mad at you for it.” You tell Cinder before she can get too far away – you hate seeing your friend in such an odd mood, and doubly so because you’re now increasingly concerned about whatever she thinks she did.

>”Hey, if you broke one of my machines, at least tell me which one!” You attempt another joke, reaching out to grasp her wrist – maybe another attempt to ease her mood will prove fruitful? [This will require a roll.]

>>3908847
>”If you did something wrong, you know I’m not gonna get mad at you for it.” You tell Cinder before she can get too far away – you hate seeing your friend in such an odd mood, and doubly so because you’re now increasingly concerned about whatever she thinks she did.

>>3908847
>>”If you’re really that sure…” You say with worried eyes – you don’t exactly want to push the issue if she’s this adamant on avoiding it.

We'll probably realize why we need $300 soon enough, lets just wait and see.

Going to grab some dinner - vote's open until I return! Thanks for swinging by everyone, and I'll see you soon. Hope you're all doing well!

>>3908845
She's doing okay now, and I will inform her that she's a very good dog.

>”If you did something wrong, you know I’m not gonna get mad at you for it.” You tell Cinder before she can get too far away – you hate seeing your friend in such an odd mood, and doubly so because you’re now increasingly concerned about whatever she thinks she did.

Seriously what could she possibly have done that she thinks would ruin our friendship?

Back - food was great! How's it going, anons?

>>3908855
>>3908864
>>3908932
Writing now!

>>3909038
i'm doing good finally had something else than a grilled cheese sandwich

>>3909038

“If you did something wrong, you know I’m not gonna get mad at you for it.” You say to her just as she’s about to move out of sight, and you can see her pause. One of her visible hands is balled into a fist, gripping the end of her jacket lightly. For a second you think she’s about to ignore you and be on her merry way – which would be fair, you suppose – she lets out a deep sigh and turns around, slouching back over to you with an embarrassed look on her face.

“Ugh…fine.” She grouses, sending a full-fledged pout at you. You are unfazed by this – hell, you’re just glad she didn’t make this into a whole issue – and instead beckon her over to your desk. When you’re both behind it, you open the door to your back room and make a sweeping gesture for her to enter. You’re guessing if she’s this hung up about whatever the situation is, she probably doesn’t want it to be overheard by any of your clientele. She takes a moment to look from you to the door before sighing again, moving past you and into your rarely used security room. As you go to close the door behind you, your eyes trail over to your desk – namely the unopened and blank envelope poking out from underneath one of your books.

That will be a whole different beast for another day, you think to yourself. No need to dwell on it.
You flick on the lights as you shut the door behind the two of you, and now you’re alone and cut off from the rest of the place. The room is the same it’s always been – same single monitor, same boring desk, and you carried the computer you use for footage all the way back here once the place reopened. You really need to decorate the inside of here, if only so it doesn’t look so fucking droll.

Cinder wastes no time in shrugging off her jacket and hooking it onto the back of the chair, exposing a red shirt that you think has the logo of some sort of rap group plastered across the front? The only music you listen to is the playlist you have pulled up for the arcade, so you’re a bit out of the loop on that front.

The two of you look at each other in silence, and Cinder is the one who breaks it.

“…so, to put it plainly, I fucked up.”

Oh boy, this’ll be a good one.

>”What happened?” You lean against the door and cut to the chase – now that you’re alone, hopefully she’ll be forthcoming.
>”I mean…you didn’t do that badly in the tournament?” If something with the tournament is on her mind, she did pretty alright up until that editWorld guy.
>”Oh god, you really did break one of my machines before you left, didn’t you?” It would explain the money she handed you. This is clearly what happened.
>Other.

>>3909116
>>”I mean…you didn’t do that badly in the tournament?” If something with the tournament is on her mind, she did pretty alright up until that editWorld guy.

>>3909116
>”What happened?” You lean against the door and cut to the chase – now that you’re alone, hopefully she’ll be forthcoming.

>>3909116
>>”What happened?” You lean against the door and cut to the chase – now that you’re alone, hopefully she’ll be forthcoming.

>>3909116
>”What happened?” You lean against the door and cut to the chase – now that you’re alone, hopefully she’ll be forthcoming.

>>3909116
>”What happened?” You lean against the door and cut to the chase – now that you’re alone, hopefully she’ll be forthcoming.

>>3909138
>>3909151
>>3909163
>>3909173
Writing now!

>>3909226

(This is going to be the last one for the night unfortunately – I have homework and studying to do, and that’s always fun. Sorry again for how sporadic I’ve been so far – this week really hasn’t been ideal in a multitude of ways, but I won’t let the QM curse get me yet! Tomorrow I have an exam and I’m going to be donating blood, but I’m going to try to get as many updates out as I can despite those things! Thank you very much for reading, and I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed despite my schedule being wack. I’ll see you all tomorrow! Have a great night, anons.)

“What happened?” You ask your friend, leaning back against the door and crossing your arms. “Walking in all of a sudden with a guilty face, offering me money out of the blue…that’s pretty weird for you to do, not gonna lie.”

She lets out a nervous laugh and scratches her cheek, plopping down in your computer chair and splaying out across it promptly afterwards. You suppress a smile – that’s more like it.

“Well, you know how I went to that tournament last week?”

“Yeah – I looked up the results before you came here.” You say simply, shrugging your shoulders. You can see her sigh in relief, despite her brow furrowing at how casually you said it.

“Well, that saves that explanation. Long story short, I got my ass handed to me. Normally I’d be cool with that, shit happens, but the guy really got on my nerves after the match. Dunno why, I’ve never seen him before in my life, but he said some pretty nasty shit and it got to me. I ended up losing my temper, and well…”

She trails off, her face twisting into a nervous smile as she looks up at you from under her bangs.

>”…did you sign me up for a match?” You feel your eye twitch – you said you wouldn’t get angry with her, but you’re a little sick of getting pushed into things without any control over it.
>”...please tell me you didn’t beat him up?” You look at her with wide eyes – while you’re aware Cinder is a pretty smart girl, sometimes her temper can rule her actions if pushed far enough.
>”…well, can’t blame you there.” You shrug your shoulders – hell, if someone walked into your arcade and started slinging shit at you, you’d be pissed too. Oh wait, that already kinda happened, so you get where she’s coming from.
>Other.

>>3909273
>>”...please tell me you didn’t beat him up?” You look at her with wide eyes – while you’re aware Cinder is a pretty smart girl, sometimes her temper can rule her actions if pushed far enough.

>>3909273
>>”...please tell me you didn’t beat him up?” You look at her with wide eyes – while you’re aware Cinder is a pretty smart girl, sometimes her temper can rule her actions if pushed far enough.

>>3909273
>”...please tell me you didn’t beat him up?” You look at her with wide eyes – while you’re aware Cinder is a pretty smart girl, sometimes her temper can rule her actions if pushed far enough.

>>3909273
>”...please tell me you didn’t beat him up?” You look at her with wide eyes – while you’re aware Cinder is a pretty smart girl, sometimes her temper can rule her actions if pushed far enough.

donating blood takes the piss out of you, it's good to just sit in bed and do nothing for the rest of the day. also don't be dumb like me and drink coffee before donating and nearly passing out

>>3909273
>”...please tell me you didn’t beat him up?” You look at her with wide eyes – while you’re aware Cinder is a pretty smart girl, sometimes her temper can rule her actions if pushed far enough.

>”...please tell me you didn’t beat him up?” You look at her with wide eyes – while you’re aware Cinder is a pretty smart girl, sometimes her temper can rule her actions if pushed far enough.

“And if you did, how good was the punch?”

Good morning, everyone! Gonna get some breakfast and then we'll start for the day - reminder that I'll be heading out at around 3. How are you all doing today?

>>3909280
>>3909281
>>3909323
>>3909340
>>3909350
>>3909746
Did she beat him up? Who knows. Will write when I get back!

>>3909910

(Breakfast was incredibly high tier.)

“…oh god, please tell me you didn’t beat him up, Cinder.” You say after a few seconds of silence, eyes widening in disbelief. Is that why she offered you the money? As a precursor for asking to lay low for a couple of days? Is she on The Run, as the youth of today would say? You can hardly believe that your close and trusted friend would bribe you in such a manner – you’d do it for free, probably!

Cinder gives you a startled expression before raising a hand to her mouth, stifling a sudden giggle. You feel the tension in the air dissipate a little – it’s about time that the guilty expression slipped from her face!

“No! That’d be incredibly stupid to do over a game, and that would make me no better than Rock! I’m still recovering from his boot, for Christ’s sake!” She pats her stomach gingerly, the guilt that had adorned her features shifting to abject anger – the fact that she’s still recovering doesn’t surprise you one bit considering how strong the guy is. You’d like to chastise the girl for going to the tournament with an injury rather than resting, but you know she’d get on your case for it, so you keep that remark to yourself. “I just…well, he got me to agree to another match while I was fucking pissed.”

“…that really doesn’t seem like it’s worth $300 to tell me, Cinder. So what? You know how he plays, so work around it.”

“It’s not that, Wolf! He challenged me to a fucking 2v2, and I don’t have a partner!” You’ve never seen someone’s face shift so fast from guilt, to anger, and settling firmly on shame.

…ah, it’s all coming together now. When Cinder’s truly pissed off, she’ll just let shit fly right off the top of her head – you don’t know who that editWorld guy is, but he clearly used that against her and now Cinder won’t back out because if she says she’s going to have a match, she’s damn well going to have that match. You recall her briefly talking about the subject a year or so again – something about honesty and competitive etiquette and all that jazz. Makes no sense to you, because you exited the scene a long time ago.

>”And again, why the $300? If you wanted to ask me to pair up, you could have just asked outright.” You appreciate that she owned up to it, at least.
>”Why not just block the guy – you got pissed and said something you didn’t mean to, simple as that.” Pride or not, if she’s this torn up over it, she shouldn’t have to do it.
>”If you’re looking for a partner, why not just queue up with a rando, or talk to some of your other friends.” You can’t imagine her not having at least a few people on her friends list.
>”Do you have any idea why he tried getting on your nerves so much?” You let out a long sigh – why are gamers like this? You’ll never understand it.
>Other.

>>3910020
>”Do you have any idea why he tried getting on your nerves so much?” You let out a long sigh – why are gamers like this? You’ll never understand it.

>>3910020
>>”Why not just block the guy – you got pissed and said something you didn’t mean to, simple as that.” Pride or not, if she’s this torn up over it, she shouldn’t have to do it.

>>3910020
>>”And again, why the $300? If you wanted to ask me to pair up, you could have just asked outright.” You appreciate that she owned up to it, at least.

>>3910020

>>”And again, why the $300? If you wanted to ask me to pair up, you could have just asked outright.” You appreciate that she owned up to it, at least.

>>3910020

>”And again, why the $300? If you wanted to ask me to pair up, you could have just asked outright.” You appreciate that she owned up to it, at least.

>>3910029
>>3910091
>>3910097
Writing now!

>>3910099
Did you pass out while donating blood, Cirno?

>>3910426
He's been isekai'd into Warscape and has to win a tournament to return home.

>>3910426
I think donating blood in a euphemism for sacrificing to the dice gods or something.

That QM curse is no joke.

>>3910533
This is exactly what happened.

>>3910426
But actually this was what happened. That and necessary errands have kept me away, and now I have an exam to turn in. This week is fucking poised against me, I swear to christ. Can't apologize enough for how spotty I've been - if I can get this exam done relatively quickly, I'll try to push out a few updates.

Thank you all for your patience.

>>3910099

(Exam done, I feel physically and mentally drained, but here we go. It turns out the anon yesterday was right that donating blood takes a lot out of you. Sorry for the delay – this week has been a shit show. Going to bed now. Thanks for your patience.)

“And again, why the $300? If you wanted to ask me to pair up with you, you could have just asked me outright. No need for money to be involved at all.” You say to the girl, causing her to look away and reach up to scratch her cheek with her right forefinger. You could definitely understand her hesitation to ask in the first place, but she should know that you wouldn’t get pissed at her for asking…you really hope she knows that, anyways.

She takes a few seconds to speak, and when she decides to, she doesn’t meet your eyes.

“Well…admittedly you were the first person I thought of, and it took me the whole drive home and the walk here to even consider getting up the nerve to ask you. I thought offering some money would sweeten the pot for later, but then I felt bad about coming up with that approach as soon as I did it! I’m not any good at asking people for help, especially when it’s my own damn fault that I’m in this situation.” She props her elbow against her thigh, leaning her cheek against her palm as she does. “And I know you have every reason to never want to pick up the game again after last week, and so I’m just real fuckin’ confused about what to do, and now I just feel bad for offering the money in the first place.”

“You could always block the guy, you know. If it’s taxing you this much…” You go to say more, but she interrupts you just as fast.

“I just don’t want to lose to him again, is all. I don’t give a shit about having the match itself, I just want a partner that’s worth a damn – the dude saw through my playstyle and outmatched me in under four minutes! I don’t want to give the satisfaction of another win to a provocative cunt like him! People that willing to say awful shit to people they’ve just met need to be taken down a peg or a hundred, and I’ll be DAMNED if I’m not gonna be the one to do it!” By this point she’s risen out of the chair, hands balled into fists as she paces across the room with a deep scowl across her features. Fuck, you haven’t seen her this riled up in ages – you can’t really blame her for having tumultuous thoughts, considering how much of her outrage is gnawing on her brain.

This is definitely more of the Cinder you know, no two ways about it.

>”Well, I have to know now. What did he even say to you?” He must have been downright venomous if she’s this steamed.
>”Tell you what, Cinder – let me think about it.” You’ll decide what to do closer to the end of the day – there’s still a long day of work ahead.
>Go outside the room and pester Golden to be her partner – as much as you hate his attitude, he’s a damn fine player in his own right, and he knows the game better than you.
>Other.

>>3911495
>”Well, I have to know now. What did he even say to you?” He must have been downright venomous if she’s this steamed.
If she's gonna be angry, we're gonna be angry too!

>>3911495
>”Well, I have to know now. What did he even say to you?” He must have been downright venomous if she’s this steamed.

>>3911495
>”Well, I have to know now. What did he even say to you?” He must have been downright venomous if she’s this steamed.

>>3911495
>Go outside the room and pester Golden to be her partner – as much as you hate his attitude, he’s a damn fine player in his own right, and he knows the game better than you.

>>3911495
>”Well, I have to know now. What did he even say to you?” He must have been downright venomous if she’s this steamed.

>>3911495
>>Go outside the room and pester Golden to be her partner – as much as you hate his attitude, he’s a damn fine player in his own right, and he knows the game better than you.

>>3911756
Support.

And when we’re Cinder’s partner, flex on Golden on how we are playing with her and not him

>>3911495

(Ever just die for 16 hours? Boy howdy that’s a great feeling.)

“Well, I have to know now. What did he even say to you?” You ask the girl, moving across the room to sit in the chair as she storms back and forth across the room. When you say this, she whips her head around, beginning to go in on another tirade.

“He called me every fucking name under the sun in-game, he started belittling my game skill due to how fast he beat me, and as soon as the match was done he walked over to me and said ‘told you so – you’re a fucking failure and a blight on this game.’ I ended up giving in to my rage and when I started to respond, he introduced the offer of a 2v2 to settle the score, and I ended up agreeing because I was fucking pissed! What kind of person just goes and says that to someone they’ve never met – and to their face no less! I can handle that shit online, but what kind of motherfucker struts up and does that shit, especially to the opponent they’re playing against in a professional environment no less!? It’s goddamn bullshit, and I’m going to fucking DESTROY him.” She drives her fist into the palm of her hand, eyes squinted in anger and teeth visibly gritting together. You can’t help but lean back in the face of her wrath – considering how much stock she puts in competitive etiquette, you have no trouble understanding why her anger has reached this peak.

You find yourself unable to blame her – shit like this isn’t kosher.

“Couldn’t the GM do something about it? Sounds like shit that should have garnered him a penalty, at least.”

“Voices aren’t broadcast to anyone but the players during matches, unfortunately. Not even to the GM. As long as you’re in a match, it’s essentially a soundproof zone.”

“It didn’t used to be that way.”

“I’m not sure if you noticed, Wolf, but hardly anything about the game is still the same from your time.” Her tone is a bit harsh, but she shoots an apologetic look at you – must not have been how she intended it to come out. You get that, tensions are running high.

How do you proceed?

>”Well, shit. Honestly, I hate players like that more than anything, so I’ll throw my hat in.” You’ve experienced nearly the entire Warscape player base bearing down on you – even if it’s just one guy, you’ll be happy to help your friend get one over on a cunt.
>”I hope you can understand me not wanting to play again Cinder, but I’ll do everything in my power to set you up with someone who’s worth their salt.” You’ve had enough of Warscape for the time being, and you have at least two contacts who might help if you ask them.
>”Let me think about it, okay?” This is a lot for you to take in suddenly, and you’re still struggling with your own feelings towards the game. You’ll let the day run it’s course and see how you feel at the end of it.
>Write-in.

>>3912530
>>”I hope you can understand me not wanting to play again Cinder, but I’ll do everything in my power to set you up with someone who’s worth their salt.” You’ve had enough of Warscape for the time being, and you have at least two contacts who might help if you ask them.

>>3912530
>"Yeah sure I'll help you dunk on this guy. He's a disgrace to the sport."

>>3912530
>”Well, shit. Honestly, I hate players like that more than anything, so I’ll throw my hat in.” You’ve experienced nearly the entire Warscape player base bearing down on you – even if it’s just one guy, you’ll be happy to help your friend get one over on a cunt.

While we're at it maybe we could have her explain all the new shit in the game. You know, so we don't have to keep on making educated guesses on what does what.

>>3912530
>>”Well, shit. Honestly, I hate players like that more than anything, so I’ll throw my hat in.” You’ve experienced nearly the entire Warscape player base bearing down on you – even if it’s just one guy, you’ll be happy to help your friend get one over on a cunt.

>>3912530
>”Well, shit. Honestly, I hate players like that more than anything, so I’ll throw my hat in.” You’ve experienced nearly the entire Warscape player base bearing down on you – even if it’s just one guy, you’ll be happy to help your friend get one over on a cunt.

>“I’m not sure if you noticed, Wolf, but hardly anything about the game is still the same from your time.”
I can't believe Cinder just 'ok boomer'd' us.

>>3912548
>>3912553
>>3912558
>>3912568
Pledge your help to your fiery friend. Writing now!

>>3912568
You know she had to do it to you.

>>3912576

You end up raising a hand and scratching the back of your head, looking at your distressed friend. You can’t deny your apprehension about pledging your help at the drop of the hat, considering that you have no idea about many things that the game has changed. For example, what are all the strange liquids you’ve found throughout the game? How does the apparent weapon crafting system work regarding what they actually do to the final weapon product? And you’re still very concerned about the glitch that occurred with your armlet, and you’ve just had a hell of a time of it over the past two weeks, and you have a business to run…

A deluge of reasons to not assist your friend pop into your head, making you frown and grit your own teeth. You spent five fucking years away from the spotlight, and now that it’s all been dragged up and spread on display for anyone watching, why would you want to pursue it any further than you had before? Your hands clench as you glare at the ground, and you feel a hand press against your shoulder.

“If it’s eating you up that bad, don’t worry about it, Wolf. I can find another partner given the time! Like I said, I understand why you wouldn’t want to.” You detect no traces of malice or even disappointment in her tone, and for some reason it kicks you right in the heart. You can hear her turn and begin to walk towards the door, and before you can even think of stopping yourself, you find your hand darting out to clasp her wrist. You hear a surprised gasp come from her, but she stops walking.

“…to be honest with you, Cinder, I hate players like him with a passion. They put down their opponents in order to torment their minds, act like they won with pure skill, and then have the gall to flaunt it after the fact.” You find yourself saying, the words tumbling out without any thought behind them. Once upon a time you’d have been able to keep your trap shut, but Cinder’s been with you through thick and thin throughout the turmoil that 0phelia and Rock brought to you, more than proving that she’s a real friend. You take in a deep breath, and then exhale it in the mother of all sighs.

God, you can’t believe you’re saying this.

“Fuck it, I’m game. I’m more than willing to help you dunk on this guy, so I’ll throw my hat in with you for sure. He’s a disgrace to the damn sport.” This time Cinder whirls around, an expression of pure shock across her face as the words leave your lips. You stand from the chair and give her a semblance of a wolfish smile, trying to hide your internal struggle from your friend. You can see her begin to respond, mouth opening as an expression of pure happiness and relief flitting across her features. The grateful look almost makes the feeling of giving up five years of hard work by your own free will quiet inside you.

Just as she goes to speak, something startles the both of you – a single knock on the door to the security room.

>Roll a 1d20 – best of three wins.

Rolled 10 (1d20)

>>3912624
It's editWorld, here to announce Golden is his partner for the 2v2!

Rolled 9 (1d20)

>>3912624

Rolled 5 (1d20)

>>3912624

>>3912640
Could the might of editWorld and Golden trump that of an ex-pro and a solo scene competitor? Who knows, I'd bet on Golden. Hail Auxilia. Writing now!

>>3912671
He did beat us in beer pong. Without knowing warscape history that leaves him at 1-0 on us, with a nice undefeated record.

>>3912671

You make a motion for Cinder to be quiet and try to concentrate, trying to pick out any voices that can be heard beyond the door. You definitely hear what appears to be two people talking, but the door to the security room is quite thick, so you can’t make out anything except the fact that two people are indeed conversing. You frown – who the fuck went behind your desk without permission? That’s your sacred space, and also that’s an employee only area due to it containing your game pass cards and the means to activate them via your computer. The only reason you let Cinder back there is because she’s a trusted friend, and the only reason Golden was allowed is because…well, he’s irritating, and he already bought a card. You’re about to ask Cinder if she can make anything out, but someone knocks against the door again, slightly louder this time.

You frown deeply – it appears that someone is trouncing and running roughshod over your rules! A sense of business-like disappointment washes over you – whoever is doing this will need to receive a stern warning, as well as further disciplinary action if they fucked with any of your shit. Man, why can’t people be trusted in this day and age? The youth of today are something else, that is for certain.

How do you respond to this upsetting and slightly unsettling knocking?

>Stride out and have stern words with whomever is causing a ruckus behind your desk.
>Send Cinder out first – she’s more intimidating than your scrawny ass.
>Wake up the computer behind you and use the surveillance cameras to assess the situation.
>Write-in.

>Stride out and have stern words with whomever is causing a ruckus behind your desk.

Only one that is allowed to ruin my life is me.

>>3912706
>Wake up the computer behind you and use the surveillance cameras to assess the situation.
Um, duh?

>>3912706
>Stride out and have stern words with whomever is causing a ruckus behind your desk.

Big dick energy at maximum

>>3912715
>>3912735
Execute big dick energy and venture into the unknown! Writing now.

>>3912759

(Gonna go make dinner – thank you very much for reading, and I really hope you’re all enjoying it! How’s it going, anons? What’s the vibe? See you soon.)

“We’ll talk about our game plan later, alright?” You murmur to your pal, standing up to your full height and striding over to the door. You don’t know what’s going on, but it’s just as easy to find out this way rather than checking the cameras. Never let it be said that you aren’t an adventurous man! Charging into unknown territory without nary a care in the world – except that’s an utter fucking lie because you’re damn well caring about what’s going on behind your desk.

You walk up to the door and turn the knob, throwing it open and allowing the gentle blue light of your arcade to wash over you, the previously unheard lo-fi hip hop beats to game returning in full force. You immediately observe the area behind your desk, checking for any fallacies or miscreants to bring your wrath upon as you shut the door behind you.

When you do, you notice a few things. For one, Golden is now bent over your desk and glaring at you, presumedly because you just shoved him off of the door. Okay, the person who was knocking has been identified. The second thing you notice is that someone menacing is standing across from the two of you, looking at the scene with a laid back grin.

If you had to ascribe a word to this boy, you’d call him a punk. His bleached hair is spiked in every which way, parts of it dyed both purple and red down to the roots. He’s about as pasty as one’s skin could be, and his grin reminds you eerily of a shark who’s found his prey. He has a multitude of piercings in both ears, including one on his right that droops down just above his black coat, the hood lined with most likely artificial fur. The shirt he’s wearing is a low cut V-neck that shows way too much skin, and his hands are casually in the pockets of what appears to be black skinny jeans. Looking at him makes your skin crawl.

“Yo! You the owner of this joint? I’ve been lookin’ for you!” God, even his voice sounds sleazy. You’ve only just laid eyes on this guy and you want to never see him again.

>”Yes, I am. Can I help you with anything?” You give a clipped business like answer, crossing your arms at the man.
>”Nope, he’s out, I’m the janitor.” You don’t want to spend any time talking to this douchebag.
>Ignore him entirely and move to help Golden up – you didn’t think that the guy knocking was right against the fucking door!
>Write-in.

>>3912842
>Ignore him entirely and move to help Golden up – you didn’t think that the guy knocking was right against the fucking door!

>>3912842
>”Nope, he’s out, I’m the janitor.” You don’t want to spend any time talking to this douchebag.

>>3912842
>Ignore him entirely and move to help Golden up – you didn’t think that the guy knocking was right against the fucking door!

>>3912842
>>”Yes, I am. Can I help you with anything?” You give a clipped business like answer, crossing your arms at the man.

Well, at least now we know editWorld's teammate. Unless this is editWorld?

>>3912842
>Ignore him entirely and move to help Golden up – you didn’t think that the guy knocking was right against the fucking door!

Confirmed that Golden can't handle the big dick energy. Or doors in his face.

>Ignore him entirely and move to help Golden up – you didn’t think that the guy knocking was right against the fucking door!

How did Golden beat us? Guys frail as fuck.

>>3912929
He's good at videogames
>>3912842
>”Yes, I am. Can I help you with anything?” You give a clipped business like answer, crossing your arms at the man.

>>3912929
Rock was about a billion times more built than us and we beat him.

>>3912957
I meant him beating us at beer. Guy should be blacked out by 1 glass of red wine.

>>3912842
>>”Yes, I am. Can I help you with anything?” You give a clipped business like answer, crossing your arms at the man.

Yo! Gonna get my homework out of the way, so vote's open until I get back!

Also dinner was great, burritos are great.

>>3912854
>>3912862
>>3912871
>>3912929
Ignore the menacing boy and help the frail being. Writing now! (Got an A on homework, so that's lovely.)

>>3913115

You shake your head and wisely choose not to respond to the boy. He looks like a cocky teenager and speaks like he’s searching for an argument, so you employ a tactic that you used before you dropped out of high school – averting your eyes and focusing on something else until he goes away. With that in mind, you move forward and grasp the back of Golden’s jacket, pulling him from his bent position over your desk and to his feet.

“Geez, Goldie – a stiff breeze could blow you over.” You remark to him, smirking as you see his eye twitch from the comment. He lets the remark slide, instead choosing to brush his hair out of his face and over his shoulder. You really don’t know how he can maintain having hair that long – you have a hard-enough time getting your hair to agree in the morning, having hair down to your ass must be a whole different sort of beast.

“Yo! Ignoring a customer isn’t a business-friendly practice, you know?” The black clad man taps his fist five times on your desk in a lame attempt to draw your attention, moving so he’s half sitting on the desk. “I mean, it fits your look, but still! It’s a wonder that all these people are here with an attitude like that!”

You feel your own eye twitch at that – the fuck did he just say to you? Before you can respond to him, Golden speaks up, stepping forward and crossing his arms.

“Hey, if you’re gonna be a smart-ass, why don’t you move on?” Golden snipes at the man, obviously irritated with his general demeanor. “There’s nothing for you here. Either play a machine, or get the fuck out.”

Damn, you’re surprised Golden is sticking up for you, let alone regurgitating words you had tossed at him earlier. Might be him trying to brown-nose into your good books, so you’ll take it with a grain of salt at best.

“Hey, why don’t you be quiet? I’d like to speak with the owner here, and I don’t need a washed up Warscape player telling me what the fuck to do.” He reaches across the counter and pokes Golden square between the eyes, and you find yourself placing a hand on Golden’s shoulder because he looks like he’s going to attempt to knock the guy’s lights out. Washed up? That’s a term that you’d apply to yourself rather than Golden, considering that you know him as Auxilia’s poster boy. Regardless of the questions that raises, the man digs his hand into his pocket to bring out a card. “Anyways, I’d like one of your game passes, mate. You can do that much for me, can’t you?”

>”Why yes, sir, I can do that for you.” You force out between gritted teeth – you’re feeling like reaching across the desk and punching him yourself, but you instead duck down to fish out a card.
>”If you’re going to keep harassing my clientele, then you can leave – simple as that.” You say with a chilly tone, keeping your grip on Golden’s shoulder steady.
>Continue ignoring him and instead pull Golden back – he’s been out here longer than you, therefore he knows more about what brought him in here, hopefully.
>Write-in.

>>3913176
>”Why yes, sir, I can do that for you.” You force out between gritted teeth – you’re feeling like reaching across the desk and punching him yourself, but you instead duck down to fish out a card.

>>3913176
>>”Why yes, sir, I can do that for you.” You force out between gritted teeth – you’re feeling like reaching across the desk and punching him yourself, but you instead duck down to fish out a card.

>>3913176
>”Why yes, sir, I can do that for you.” You force out between gritted teeth – you’re feeling like reaching across the desk and punching him yourself, but you instead duck down to fish out a card.
I hate this guy already. He might be worse than 0phelia.

>>3913176
>>”If you’re going to keep harassing my clientele, then you can leave – simple as that.” You say with a chilly tone, keeping your grip on Golden’s shoulder steady.
Why hello there, person who most likely dissed Cinder!
You can leave now.

>>3913176
>”If you’re going to keep harassing my clientele, then you can leave – simple as that.” You say with a chilly tone, keeping your grip on Golden’s shoulder steady.

>>3913203
Changing to
”If you’re going to keep harassing my clientele, then you can leave – simple as that.” You say with a chilly tone, keeping your grip on Golden’s shoulder steady.
Because I don't want him here.

>>3913205
>>3913211
>>3913218
Be upfront - he'll need to leave if he doesn't knock if off. Writing now!

>>3913239

(Sorry for the wait – words are a fuck!)

“If you’re going to continue harassing my clientele, then you can leave – simple as that.” You say to him, a chilly tone seeping in to your voice as you stare him down. You don’t care who this guy is, you aren’t going to be talked down to in your own place of business, nor will you allow the people around you to be.

“Hm! You do have some bite to you, then. Surprising considering the history between the two of you, but hey, expectations are surpassed all the time!” He raises his hands up in mock surrender, and you can feel Golden’s shoulder tense under your grip. The unnamed man makes no move towards the door, either.

“If you’re talking like you know me, why ask if I’m the owner?” You ask him, tempted to go back into the security room just to put a further barrier between the two of you. The way he’s looking at you makes your skin crawl, and the way he speaks makes you want to either scream at him or punch him in the eye.

“Well, there’s always a chance you could have cracked under the pressure again, so I made no assumptions.” This time it’s Golden who puts a hand on your shoulder, considering how that remark physically made you lurch forwards, your hands immediately forming into fists. What can you say, that one fucking stung. “But I digress – it’s neither here or there. Came with a simple question, and then I’ll be on my way! This place ain’t really my scene. You the one Dragon chose as her partner?”

Ah, so this must be the man of the hour – figures, since he’s gotten under your skin in a way that 0phelia hadn’t even come close to. At least she attacked your business and personal, this dude is hitting at your emotions and is doing a damn splendid job of it. You briefly consider turning off the surveillance cameras and having Cinder beat the shit out of him, but you realize that the action would be taking things way too far. You inhale, then exhale. Calm yourself, Wolfgang. Just because this guy is making you want to strangle him doesn’t mean you can let your emotions run roughshod…you miss the days when you could be detached from everyone.

You’ll still blame 0phelia for this one – as soon as she crosses your mind, your eyes flash to the blank envelope. Another beast to tackle, still.

>”Yeah, I am.” You see no reason to lie to him – if anything, maybe it’ll be able to illicit some sort of reaction other than smug from him.
>”What’s it to you?” You gaze coldly at him – you won’t give him the satisfaction of an answer, you just want him to get the fuck out of your arcade.
>Wordlessly point to the door – he’s enraged you beyond belief, and if he sticks around any longer, you’re liable to lose your cool.
>Open the door and use Cinder as backup – you appreciate Golden’s silent support, but you need your good friend right now.
>Write-in.

>>3913289
>”Yeah, I am,” you see no reason to lie to him – if anything, maybe it’ll be able to illicit some sort of reaction other than smug from him.
May as well continue channeling big dick energy while we have momentum. Express a little smugness of our own at the chance to legally kick his ass.

>>3913289
>”Yeah, I am.” You see no reason to lie to him – if anything, maybe it’ll be able to illicit some sort of reaction other than smug from him.

Think I'm going to head to bed for the night! Hope you've all enjoyed reading, and thank you for coming around! Please leave any feedback or questions that you have, and I'll see you all in the morning! Vote's open until then.

Have a great night anons, and see you soon!

>>3913337
Good night cirno thanks for running

>>goldie’s face when new asshole cuck him out of a match with wolf just like that

>>3913289
>”Yeah, I am.” You see no reason to lie to him – if anything, maybe it’ll be able to illicit some sort of reaction other than smug from him.

>”Yeah, I am.” You see no reason to lie to him – if anything, maybe it’ll be able to illicit some sort of reaction
other than smug from him.
>unspool 2 ft penis to assert dominance

>>3913289
>...did you seriously stalk her all the way back to my tiny arcade? Wow dude. Get a life.

Good morning, everyone! Gonna get some coffee and food, then we'll get this ball rolling. Hope you all are doing well!

>>3913296
>>3913325
>>3913472
>>3913627
Unspool your penis and assert dominance. Holy shit, anon. Writing when I'm back!

>>3913344
Thank you for reading!

>>3913759

“Yeah, I am.” You say simply to the man, hoping to inspire some reaction in him other than this obnoxious smugness and general assholery. Unfortunately, he throws back his head and gives a loud laugh, attracting the attention of other nearby players. When he lowers his head again, he raises up a hand to wipe a fake tear out of his eye – holy shit, this dude is actually unbearable.

“Great! That’s real great to hear, Nova. I was worried she might have teamed with Fletcher, but you? Man, that’s a fuckin relief, I’ll tell you what!” He digs into his pocket and pulls out his phone, fiddling with it for a second before tossing it onto the desk, not even caring that the screen cracks a little bit. “Go ahead! Take a look for yourself.”

After a few moments, you let out a sigh and lean over – he’s pulled up what appears to be a sort of gossip news site, and at the top there’s a picture of you, Aidan, and Cinder walking through the parking lot of the stadium. Your brow furrows, especially when you read the title of the article.

>FLETCHER AND NOVA REUNITE – GENESYS REFORMATION IMMINENT?

“Due to that, I had to swing by here to check things out – there’s no way someone as shit as her wouldn’t try to seek out people who actually know how to play. Well, formerly in your case – seen your matches, and you’ve really let yourself go! Girl must be a fuckin’ bonehead if she chose you as a partner!” You feel your own rage start to surge and hit a boiling point – this motherfucker is going to walk into your place and shit on both you and your closest friend? You can’t remember being as angry as you are right now, but this dude seems to have a real penchant for pissing people off. When he sees your own reaction, you see his grin widen, as if it was all according to his plan. He puts his hands in his jacket pockets and leans forward, bringing himself down to eye level with you. “But I already knew how fuckin’ stupid she is – I played her, after all. Surprised she’s coasted by with her shoddy gameplay – like I said to her, she’s a fucking blight on this game, and so are you.”

You feel something inside you snap, and it takes all of your will to not reach across the desk and grab him by his collar. You hate that he’s here, you hate what he stands for, and you hate that you’re playing right into his hands. Just a month ago, this wouldn’t have been a problem – but now you’ve been thrust into the thick of things, and acting as a detached arcade owner isn’t something within the realm of possibility at the moment…at least, not with this motherfucker standing in front of you.

>Please roll me a 1d20. Best of three goes through.

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>3913871

>>3913872
Yay, we're going to be Rock's cellmate

>>3913872
Bravo anon bravo

>>3913872
I have no words. Keep the rolls coming, though, you never know what will happen!

Rolled 6 (1d20)

>>3913880
Like hell they will. The dice gods are out for blood

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>3913871
oof

>>3913872
>>3913887
>>3913890
Off to a good start

>>3913872
Going to go make some lunch, then writing the results of this! What's the vibe, everyone?

>>3913899
imminent destruction

>>3913899
Immense panic

>>3913899
Panic, the gods are displeased.

Let's cut the bullshit and skip animals. Get straight to the human sacrifices and see if the god's prefer that.

File: 6228CFD6-CF2C-442A-8BA5-4(...).jpg (69 KB, 520x678)

69 KB JPG

>>3913872

>>3913899
Golden please save us with your beer pong skills and trap superpowers.

>>3913899

Before you can stop yourself, you begin to reach towards the man so you can physically force him out of your establishment, but a dainty hand grabs your wrist and holds it in place with a surprising amount of force. You look to your right and see that the perpetrator is, surprisingly, Golden.

“Man, you’re sort of a prick, aren’t you?” Golden muses audibly, letting go of your hand and moving around your desk with a lackadaisical gait. Edit finally averts his gaze from you, eyebrows raising as Golden walks right up to him. You find yourself tensing up – what’s Golden thinking of doing? You’re so used to him acting like a petulant child that seeing a shroud of seriousness fall over him is a little fucking weird?

“I wouldn’t say that! I’m just a blunt kind of guy…which I think is loads better than a dropout like you.” The man stands up from his slouch and towers over Golden, who looks up at him unwaveringly. You’re not sure what Edit’s comment meant, but it’s apparently struck a chord with Golden, who’s piercing blue eyes grow cold.

“Then put your money where your mouth is, shitlord.” Golden jerks a thumb towards the various Warscape machines, cracking his neck as he does. “As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see your partner anywhere around, which means you have no business being here. You seem like the type of guy who’s let a bit of success go to his head, and I’ll be happy to knock you down a few pegs…either play me or get the fuck out.”

…damn, you gotta admit, that was a pretty cool line from Golden. The effeminate looking boy is standing his ground, and on your behalf no less…someone could probably say that it’s a little lame having him stand up for you, but honestly you’re just glad to have a little breather after being verbally lambasted by Edit. You have to admit, Golden might have earned just a little bit of respect from you for staying cool under circumstances where you couldn’t!

Golden turns to you right after he says this, and all of your newfound respect immediately dies in flames.

“And if I win, you have to play me in a match, Wolf! It’s been a week and you’ve been turning me down every single day!” He points at you, previously cold eyes now blazing as he levels his terms at you.

“I don’t recall agreeing to your match.” Edit smirks down at the blonde-haired boy, to which Golden’s response is to turn around and grab him by the collar, yanking him down to eye level.

“I don’t recall giving you a choice.” Golden hisses, glaring daggers into the man’s eyes. “If you’re going to call me a dropout, I’ll make damn sure you regret it.”

…you literally recall Golden just giving Edit the choice of playing him or getting out, but okay, sure.

>”Yeah, fine.” You sigh and agree – if it’ll get Edit out of your sight, you’ll go with it.
>”Still a no.” You don’t want to play against Golden, and you’re sticking to it.
>Ignore the both of them and go into the security room – you need a break from this tension.
>Write-in.

>>3914143
>>Ignore the both of them and go into the security room – you need a break from this tension.

>>3914143
>”Yeah, fine.” You sigh and agree – if it’ll get Edit out of your sight, you’ll go with it.

>”Yeah, fine.” You sigh and agree – if it’ll get Edit out of your sight, you’ll go with it.

You win this time.

>>3914208
Seconding this. Honestly, we probably would've done something stupid had he not jumped in. Maybe throw in a grudging thanks somewhere.

>>3914143
>>”Still a no.” You don’t want to play against Golden, and you’re sticking to it.

>>3914143
>”Yeah, fine.” You sigh and agree – if it’ll get Edit out of your sight, you’ll go with it.

Let's see this asshole's playstyle, the better to crush him later.

>>3914143
>”Yeah, fine.” You sigh and agree – if it’ll get Edit out of your sight, you’ll go with it.

>>3914208
>>3914232
>>3914241
>>3914259
>>3914272
Finally back, had some work around the house to get done. You'll cave to Golden - but only just this once. Writing now!

>>3914410

(Sorry for the wait, words suck!)

You take a very long look at Golden, before letting out a long sigh – might as well go with it for the moment, if only to get Edit off your back so you have a moment to calm down. As well as that, you can call Cinder out from the security room – you still don’t know why she hasn’t came out yet, but fair enough – and the both of you can go watch the match in order to ascertain how the douchebag plays. You have no idea who his partner could be, but knowing how one member operates is a third of the battle – if this guy can actually back up his words, you dread how his partner will be, or even how the two of them will work together. You shake your head – now’s not the time for all this speculation.

“Yeah, fine. Whatever.” You begrudgingly say.

Golden actually does a double take when you say this, before a wide smile splits his face, looking like he might break out in a little jig at any moment now.

“Hell yes! I can finally prove that I’m better than you!”

“Like hell.” You instinctively shoot back at him, running a palm down your face in irritation. Man, you’re fairly certain that all of your interactions since seeing him again have been based around him trying to get one over on you in Warscape – funnily enough, the two of you have only faced in Warscape once, and that was the finals of the Invitational where you cheated. With the media surrounding you as an incredibly young prodigy, and the fact that he was on the top team occupying the same role you played…well, it was only natural that people wanted to see it. Golden must be still be holding onto that for some reason…he should learn to let go.

“God, you both should just fuck already.” Edit snipes at the both of you, shoving Golden against your desk and making his way towards the machine. As he does, various people get off of their machines to follow him – looks like there will be quite a crowd for this one. Maybe you should hang up a whiteboard outside that’s advertising the match? Nah, that would be silly. “Doesn’t matter if you make that deal, considering you’ll both be crushed underfoot. Hey, maybe you should call your girlfriend, Nova – I’d like to get a look at her when I crush her hopes yet again.”

Hoooooly shit, you want to hurt this man.

With those words, he disappears behind a row of machines, and Golden and the rest of the crowd hurriedly follow. You hear the two of them exchanging heated words all the way to the back of the arcade, and all you can do is take a moment to close your eyes and try to let the tension leave your body.

Looks like it’s gonna be another one of those days.

>Adjust your perspective.

>>3914529
>Adjust your perspective.

Gonna go and get started on dinner - last delay for the night, promise! Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed so far!

What's the vibe, everyone?

>>3914568
fuck this guy

>>3914568
Reminds me of tsurubami from medaka box with his insults? (Hope I'm remembering his style right.)

>>3914568
This guy keeps forget we crushed rock and 0phelia. One of them being one of best players in the current climate.

we may not be able to beat the shit out of him in real life, but we will in the game.

>>3914568
Golden is a bro

>>3914568
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJVt8kUAm9Q

Back - food was great! Writing now.

>>3914671
All he wants to do is face you, man. It's all he wants.

>>3914916

As the world comes into view amidst layers of polygons, a bird chirps excitedly in the distance. The familiar sound of cicadas reaches your ears, followed by the gentle brush of the wind against your face. Looking around the area, you discover that you’ve been placed into what appears to be a forested area – the air here is hot enough to be oppressive, so you take off your coat and toss it to the side without much thought, seeing how you’re already clad with a bullet-proof vest and your weapons. You look down to reaffirm what you already know is there – an assault rifle with a grenade launcher under the barrel, a fully automatic pistol strapped firmly against your hip, and a cavalry saber tucked into your belt. Whilst there were definitely more fancy guns on the market, you’ve found the classics to work just fine.

Stepping forward as quietly as you can, you snatch your equipment belt from a thick tree branch, putting it on and inspecting the contents. Four sticky grenades that will explode as soon as they stick to something, four smoke grenades that automatically tagged the enemy as if you were looking at them through an infrared lens, three health patches that are certainly not Auxilia branded, a grappling gun that you can attach to your wrist (you do so immediately), and a clear orb that has a purplish galaxy swirling around within its confines.

You don’t know what it does – you’ve never used it before, after all.

These equipment items cost you a pretty penny, but at this point in your life, you have plenty of in-game currency to toss around. If memory serves you right, you were placed at #5 on the richest player list for Warscape, although that was about a year ago now. More stars have popped up as more things get added to the game, making its landscape be more tumultuous for those trying to make their way into it. You had been lucky, starting off when you did – nowadays people crash and burn far more often than they succeed. You wonder if the man you’re facing against – editWorld – would qualify as the latter or the former?

You shake your head with a smirk crossing over your features – doesn’t really matter what he qualifies as, honestly. You’ve been on a hell of a hot streak recently, and you aren’t gonna concede that to some no-name motherfucker who dares to fuck with someone of your caliber.

What can you say – after being Auxilia’s poster boy for as long as you did, you think you’ve earned the right to put sniveling little cunts like this in their place. Giving the area one last look over, you begin to plan a course of action.

Riley “Golden” Lawrence…what do you do?

>Player: Golden
>HP: 100/100

>Use your grappling gun to get an elevated view from the trees – you need to know what you’re working with.
>Make your way forward with your gun drawn – it will be slow going, but caution is worth it.
>Take out your saber and pistol and dart into the forest – you’ll get the drop on him as quick as you can.
>Write-in.

>Use your grappling gun to get an elevated view from the trees – you need to know what you’re working with.

Anyone that doesn’t immediately use a grappling hook doesn’t deserve to have one

>mfw we golden

>>3914984
>>Use your grappling gun to get an elevated view from the trees – you need to know what you’re working with.

>>3914984
>>Use your grappling gun to get an elevated view from the trees – you need to know what you’re working with.

>>3914984
>Use your grappling gun to get an elevated view from the trees – you need to know what you’re working with.

>>3914984
>Use your grappling gun to get an elevated view from the trees – you need to know what you’re working with.

>>3914993
>>3914994
>>3915010
>>3915022
>>3915037
Prove that you deserve that grappling hook. Writing now!

>>3915056

You raise your hand up and trigger your grappling gun, the object firing quite a ways up and latching onto a branch that should give you a relatively good view of the landscape in front of you. After a moment, you soar up and find your footing, the wire snapping back into the device with a little ‘click’! You crouch down low and try your best to ascertain anything of use from your newly acquired vantage point. To your left lies what appears to be the base of a mountain, or at least a very large hill. To your right, you think you can make out the glimmering of the sun across a body of water – you can’t make out it’s size all that well. And in front of you? Well, there’s just a shitload of trees that lead who knows where.

You let out an irritated sigh – fucking Christ, maps where you actually have to explore are the worst! You almost want to fire off a shot just to get the ball rolling, but you stop yourself – no need to waste a bullet this early in the match.

>Player: Golden
>HP: 100/100

>Special items:
>Grenade launcher ammo: 4/4

>Inventory:
>Sticky grenades x4
>Infrared smoke grenades x4
>K.O.R.A.L. healing patches (+20 HP)
>Grappling hook
>Unknown galaxy-colored orb

>Begin to make your way towards the mountain – you might be able to scale it, or you can at least use it to avoid getting lost.
>Make your way towards the body of water – there could be fish, and those can count as healing items.
>Continue forward into the woods – keep as low of a profile as you can, as he could be anywhere.
>Sequester yourself away on the branch – you’ll keep scanning for him and hope you can spot him before he spots you.
>Actually do fire a round into the sky – fuck it, you’ll kick this off with a bang!
>Write-in.

>>3915157
>Make your way towards the body of water – there could be fish, and those can count as healing items.

>>3915157
>>Make your way towards the body of water – there could be fish, and those can count as healing items.

>>3915196
>>3915221
SEARCH FOR FISH - writing now!

Actually, I think I'm going to head to bed for the night, I'm incredibly tired and I have work to do in the morning. Thank you very much for reading everyone, I hope you've enjoyed so far! Please tell me what you're thinking about it if you'd like, affirmation and discussion fuels my soul

Have a great night anons, and I'll see you in the morning!

>>3915269
Fish&chips move !

>>3915376
Firstly, love your stuff! It's been a while that I've been on /qst/, and when I found your quest, I immediately binged on the archives. Damn fine work, too. Keep it up!

That being said, I do remember saying last thread that you didn't like Twitter (which is understandable). However, your Discord Invite Link seems to be broken. Could you provide a new/non-expiring one?

Yo, good morning everyone! Going to be updating later than usual, as I have two essays to get done and I don't want to write with that on my mind lmao. I hope you're all doing well - how is your day going?

>>3916096
Thank you so much, anon! Must have accidentally given a non-permalink earlier, so here you go! https://discord.gg/bfBa2uX

See you all soon!

>>3916099

(Ever just work on an essay for thirteen hours, feeling your will to live slowly seep out of you as you wish to bang your head against the corner of a desk? Yeah. This is gonna be the only update for the night. I’m fucking tired as hell. Goodnight, anons. See you soon.)

Your head flashes around as you to craft a plan of attack in your head, and once you’ve realized that the chance of acquiring fish is on the table, you use your grappling hook creatively to get back down to the ground, and then you’re off in a low sprint towards the lake.

The forest is mostly quiet, the only sound following after you being the quiet thumping of your feet against dirt. There’s hardly any grass here, and even less leaves to create a racket – you’re able to move without too much worry of making a sound. Regardless, you are very attentive even as you rush towards the body of water – for all you know, the guy could have already moved over here via gadgets or has a bead on you with a sniper rifle. You’ve literally never seen this player before in your life, so how he operates is a total mystery to you…you’re pretty certain of your victory, though. Your entire specialty is being flexible, after all!

Not like Wolf, though. Where he had seemed to make his way on traps as of late, you’re backed with pure skill…as well as various grenades and an unknown orb.

Shaking off your little mental exchange, you make it to the water without any impediments. It’s a relatively small lake that’s not very far around, yet the water looks incredibly clear as the sun reflects off of it – you can even see a few moderately large fish swimming around at a moderate pace! Looking around the area further, you notice a dilapidated wooden shack across the lake from you – as well as this, there are no other trees besides the forest. The lack of cover makes you feel incredibly exposed, but bounty may lie ahead for the daring…or some shit like that, you dunno.

>Begin to fish – you’ve lucked out by finding them this early on! [This will require a roll.]
>Make your way into the dilapidated wooden shack – there could be items inside, and it’ll at least give some semblance of cover.
>Move back into the forest – you do not like how exposed you feel here, especially with not knowing how he plays.
>Other.

>>3917287
>Begin to fish – you’ve lucked out by finding them this early on! [This will require a roll.]

>>3917287
>Make your way into the dilapidated wooden shack – there could be items inside, and it’ll at least give some semblance of cover.
We can fish from there as well

>>3917287
>Begin to fish – you’ve lucked out by finding them this early on! [This will require a roll.]

It's ballsy, but it might pay off.

>>3917287
>Do some fishing

How many hp patches do we have again? 3?

Weird how they're not Auxilia branded, considering we're the poster boi.

>>3917287
>>Begin to fish – you’ve lucked out by finding them this early on! [This will require a roll.]

>>3917623
I don't think Golden is affiliated with his old team anymore.

Yo! Very sorry for vanishing for the day yesterday - I had to leave real early in the morning to go and get my college shit set up for next semester, and by the time I got back I ended up passing out and only waking up an hour ago. My bad for that one, but I am here now!

>>3917307
>>3917560
>>3917623
>>3917626
Fish and acquire heals! Roll me a 1d20 - best of three wins.

>>3917623
Yep, you have three! My bad, I forgot to put the amount you had in the last inventory section.

Rolled 7 (1d20)

>>3919024
Rolling to catch a blue whale

Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>3919024

Rolled 14 (1d20)

>>3919024

>>3919030
Not bad at all! Writing now.

>>3919034

You walk towards the lake and analyze the fish swimming in the water – they’re purposely meant to be fast in order to provide a challenge to getting them, but you have experience with this sort of thing. You roll up the sleeves of your shirt and crouch at the lip of the water, and you go to reach your hand out for a fat looking fish swimming particularly close to you…and you fire your grappling hook, promptly impaling it and pulling it right back to you.

Why the fuck would you do it by hand? You have the power of TECHNOLOGY! It is situations like this where the classics absolutely do not work. It’s still struggling on the end of your hook, so you rip it off and slam it’s head against the rocks. A dulled crack confirms that you’ve done the deed, and you lazily toss it into your bag without much care.

>Item acquired: Dead cod x1 (+10 HP)

If this were a team game, you’d spare some time to cook it so it would heal a properly good amount, but you don’t think you could pull it off…well, you absolutely could, but without knowing how Edit plays you figure it would be a ballsy move. Also, you still have to debone the fish even in game, which is fucking stupid.

Now that you’ve acquired a very juicy and very dead fish, what do you do?

>Player: Golden
>HP: 100/100

>Fish for MORE! YOU NEED THE HEALS! [This will require a HIGH roll.]
>Meander your way into the dingy shack – you’ll have cover, potentially items, and who knows what else!
>Go back into the forest – you’ve spent all the time you’re willing to here, can’t have him getting the drop on you!
>Give a cheeky thumbs-up – you know your match is visible on the arcade screen, and you want to piss off Wolf.
>Write-in.