Tokyo Soft Rice King.

So this is where the contradiction lies.

He claimed to regard the wise ruler as his most important friend, but in reality, he treated him as his own possession.

Because I was the one who first discovered him, the one who first contacted him, and the one who first proposed a deal with him.

I was the first one to arrive.

First come, first served—this is a principle everyone knows, but many people don't follow this rule.

So when I see others taking away what should belong to me, I feel very upset.

This feeling of distress is like having your beloved toy stolen.

But in fact, Hei Yuming is not his own...

He doesn't belong to me alone.

Although the brain clearly recognizes this, the mind cannot accept it.

This misalignment of perception and emotion is the real reason for my inner distress.

Hitomi Anri's thinking was very clear, but lacking experience in this area, she couldn't think of any good solutions.

These kinds of mental problems are very difficult to resolve, which is why they are called 'mental illnesses'. Unless you can hypnotize yourself, you will still feel uncomfortable.

Ultimately, she decided to seek help from outside sources.

Although I don't really want to talk to my mother about personal matters, especially things related to friends, she is indeed the most manipulative woman I know.

So on Friday night, Hitomi Anri told Akira Kuroba that she had plans with her family that night and wouldn't be going to Takanashi's house with him. She believed that Akira could handle the situation on his own.

Hei Yuming always felt that the class monitor's expression was as if she was going to the battlefield, full of determination, but when he asked, she was just perfunctorily brushed off, indicating that she didn't want him to get involved.

Then I can only wish her all the best...

Meanwhile, things went much more smoothly for Kuroba Akira.

Upon hearing that Akira Kuroba was going to Takanashi's house, Ryota Sumitomo, who lived in the same neighborhood, decided to go home with him and invited Akira to visit his house next time they parted.

Then, upon arriving at Takanashi's house, Akira Kuroba immediately spotted his target: Mirai Takanashi, dressed in shark pajamas.

It was dinnertime, and the mother and daughter were eating when they saw Kuroba Akira arrive. Takanashi Mirai didn't run back to her room, but instead glared at him fiercely, as if to say, "Why did you take so long to come!"

Aunt Qiuzi also looked at him with delight and warmly invited him to have dinner together.

Thanks to Kuroba Akira's scheme, his daughter's completely autistic state—where she never communicated with anyone or even stepped out of her room—was transformed into a semi-autistic state where she simply stayed at home instead of going to school.

Last week, Mirai Kotori was only eating in her room, but now she can come out to eat with her mother, which is a big improvement.

Kuroba Akira grinned and walked over to join Takanashi's family for dinner, where he began to eat without any hesitation.

The target has left the room!

The strategy can now officially begin!

Chapter 206 of Martial Arts: Entering the Girls' Room for the Second Time

Even though this was only their second meeting, Takanashi Mirai spoke to Kuroba Akira very familiarly.

"During the time you weren't here, I already cleared Demon Sword Chronicles III on the highest difficulty!"

Kuroba Akira quickly applauded her.

"Oh! Siguoyi! Too hot! As expected of Kotori-kun, he's a true gaming expert!"

"..."

The overly exaggerated praise made Takanashi Mirai squint her eyes speechlessly, just like her mother.

She actually wanted to say to Kuroba Akira, "So when did you defeat the final boss?", but she also knew that things weren't that simple.

If Kuroba Akira wants to complete the third installment of the Demon Sword Chronicles series, he will definitely have to pay a price.

Or rather, it requires a game of strategy with him.

After all, Takanashi Mirai isn't an idiot. Of course, she knows what Kuroba Akira is here for, and she also knows that Kuroba Akira is deliberately slowing down the game's pace, and he even pulled off several brain-dead team wipes in the middle... Of course, it's also possible that he really is that bad.

But even if you know everything, hearing that conversation that was clearly seducing you still makes your blood boil.

What bothered her most was that even if she tried to convince herself to stop listening to the conversation coming from the living room, her mind would be filled with their conversation before she even left the door, making her unable to concentrate on anything else.

Finally, I had no choice but to go back to the door angrily and continue listening. I even couldn’t help but open a crack in the door to observe secretly... because he and his mother were talking about games!

There wasn't much of a game discussion atmosphere at school, and there weren't any particularly noticeable otaku boys or girls in the class.

She was unlucky when she was assigned to a class; she was placed in a typical class for college entrance exam preparation, where the learning atmosphere was very strong, so it was very quiet during breaks, which was in stark contrast to the lively Class 1 next door.

The only group that's still relatively lively is the JK (high school girl) group that talks about fashion and music. Takanashi Mirai used to be a member of them, but they broke up because of a fight.

Just thinking about those gossipy women made her feel unlucky, and Takanashi Mirai's face became even more gloomy.

After dinner, Akiko Takanashi went to cut the fruit, leaving Akira Kuroba and Mirai Takanashi sitting face to face.

As the one being pursued, Mirai Kotori is just waiting for the other party to speak. No matter what the other party says, she will not step out of the house.

Having made up her mind, she tucked her hands into the bodice of her onesie, slumped back in her chair, and gave Kuroba Akira a look that said, "Come on! It's your turn to perform!"

Akira Kuroba was indeed ready to perform, but instead of rushing into the main act, he smiled and extended his hand to Mirai Takanashi, extending an invitation.

"Anyway, let's play some games together first!"

"……what?"

Still playing?

Could this guy really just be here to play games for free?

However, after watching him and his mother's battle for several days, she did get a little itchy to join in.

Mom was thoroughly thrashed by her. It was obvious that he deliberately threw the games he lost, which shows that this guy's gaming skills are pretty good, and he should have a lot of fun.

This will also be a good opportunity to teach him a lesson... Bring it on! Who's afraid of who!

So the daughter replaced her mother and started the second round of the fighting game competition.

"Ora ra ra! Take this seven-hit combo! I'll one-shot you from full health... Wait, why aren't you dead! You still have a sliver of health left! Ah! No!"

After squandering all their resources, they were ultimately defeated by Kuroba Akira with only a sliver of health remaining.

"Huh?! Wait, wait a minute, don't come any closer! No, I'm stuck! I'm trapped in the wall!"

After moving to the edge of the board, a strange bug was triggered. Takanashi Mirai's character got stuck in the corner, and Kuroba Akira maliciously manipulated the character to slap her butt to taunt her, which made her so angry that she had a stomachache.

"Don't cower there! Attack! ...Wait, I told you to attack, not to just keep throwing projectiles! You're using that underhanded projectile-flooding tactic! Playing the game like that won't bring you any fun!"

"Takanashi-kun, I'm the type who cares more about the outcome of a game than the process. Only victory brings me joy, so... go to hell!"

"Ugh...! This utterly pointless and despicable tactic... Damn it... Watch me get past it with my reflexes... Ah! Oh no! Huh? I jumped over? Perfect opportunity! Take this Spiral Pile Driver move! Yay! I won~"

"..."

At this moment, Kuroba Akira was also wondering, what's wrong with this guy?

This series of emotional ups and downs and changes in expression...

How interesting!

That is to say, Takanashi Mirai is more interesting than the game itself.

It's only been a few rounds, and all sorts of unexpected things have happened, including a comeback from near-death, a bug being triggered, and various reversals and amazing plays...

Regardless of whether they had fun or not, you could tell from the expressions on Aunt Akiko's face that it was very entertaining.

The key point is that Takanashi Mirai is still very arrogant. When she wins, she mocks others like crazy. She's basically a big little brat, which makes Kuroba Akira take her completely seriously.

However, it must be said that she is indeed a cut above the rest, and her understanding and proficiency in the game far surpasses that of Kuroba Akira.

This is no longer an opponent that can be defeated by sheer strength alone.

However, he hadn't originally intended to defeat his opponent, and he wasn't acting like a teenager anymore; his competitive spirit wasn't actually that strong.

The important thing is that through this trip, I successfully became friends with her.

Then, just as the atmosphere was getting more and more heated, Akira Kuroba suggested that they change to a different game.

The convenience of Takanashi is that it has more than one game console. In addition to playing fighting games and other competitive games on the same screen, it can also play other online games.

This world naturally also has famous monster hunters, and Kuroba Akira's most frequently used katana...

But I didn't climb the dragon!

However, the original katana didn't have the Rising Dragon skill. It was only after the release of Monster Hunter World that a large number of new players entered the game, and that katana users started to become popular.

Although the dragon ascension technique wasn't included, for some reason, the Iaijutsu (a type of sword technique) was still incorporated into the design. Perhaps it's due to the Japanese people's inexplicable obsession with Iaijutsu.

Iai is indeed very cool, but in actual combat, sheathing the sword is of no use other than showing off. In fact, the real Iai is just a technique that uses the scabbard to speed up the sword drawing, striving to kill with one blow.

However, these techniques were artistically rendered in the game, becoming quite exaggerated... but they just look really cool!

The price is...

"Holy crap! This Iaijutsu can be empty!"

Iaijutsu is a skill that heavily relies on memorization and reflexes, and Kuroba Akira was unfamiliar with these unfamiliar monsters, resulting in him getting repeatedly overturned.

If it weren't for the veteran player, Takanashi Mirai, guiding him, Kuroba Akira would have been carried away long ago.

Then, although Takanashi Mirai complained about Kuroba Akira's various cringeworthy iaido misses, she still gave him medicine despite her reluctance, and even took out rare, treasured items that she had hardly ever used.

Moreover, Kuroba Akira is very good at flattery, spouting all sorts of compliments and praising her to the skies, maximizing her emotional value.

So Takanashi Mirai felt like she had become a savior in the game, her hand holding the controller trembling slightly, and she felt incredibly happy.

Is this why experienced players are willing to mentor newbies?

This is absolutely the highest level of gaming companionship! The feedback is amazing!

Unfortunately, happy times are always short-lived, and soon it was eight o'clock in the evening, which was the time Kuroba Akira usually went home.

It turned out he was just playing games and didn't mention anything about school.

Takanashi Mirai felt a little unsatisfied; she hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

This reminded her of her elementary school days, before Anri Hitomi made her 'declaration of leaving the group', when several of her childhood friends would often come to her house to play.

Compared to the 3D graphics of games today, the graphics of games back then were terrible, basically just a blurry mosaic, but you could still play them happily all day long.

At the time, there were five players, but many games only support a maximum of four players on the same screen, so Takanashi will always give up the controller in the future.