I, who advocate giving up, feel like a disqualified person

"This isn't right..."

It seemed like no matter how long I spent, I couldn't tell whether he was mumbling to himself or talking to me. But no matter what, as long as he opened his mouth, I would be forced to think about the difference between "normal" and "abnormal" in front of him.

In his eyes, most of what I did could be categorized as "abnormal." His demands on me were almost nitpicking, constantly finding faults in my actions. Sometimes, he'd do it for no reason at all. All in all, I could gradually sense that he was a moody person.

If it were just this, it would be fine. But every time he pointed out my mistake, he would take me to the room I hated and say to me:

"Close the door."

"Please...close the door..."

"Close the door!" "Hey, hey——"

"Um... could you please close the door? The heater is on here..."

"Ah, sorry."

Because I was distracted, I seemed to have pushed the door of a store open. This behavior seemed to have caused dissatisfaction among the customers in the store... This must be very abnormal behavior, right?

"...Um."

I don't know what he was talking about, but I felt him grabbing my arm and pulling me into the store.

"Don't just stand there in a daze. I should have pushed the door open."

He typed these words quickly.

"...I'm sorry...about that..." But I had no idea how to explain my behavior just now.

"Hmm... Yeah." He shook his head with a look of helplessness in his eyes, then showed me the screen. "It's just a small matter. Now that we're here, let's relax."

"...here?"

As I was wondering, I suddenly noticed that my surroundings had suddenly become noisy. No, perhaps it was already noisy, but I just noticed it now.

Speaking of which, what exactly is this place?

"Then wait a moment."

"Eh? Are you going somewhere?"

"..."

No. If I do that, it might seem like I'm clingy... But, in this strange place...

"I was inconsiderate. Let's go together."

Preliminary formal thoughts

If you insist, the purpose of making games is to make money. Similarly, the ultimate goal of books, comics, and animation is to earn the creator something to survive, and that something, in the most intuitive way, is money.

Well...it's just that I don't touch paper money much anymore. Because there are more convenient payment methods.

Please place the box in the coin dispenser.

Following the machine's instructions, Yao Qiong and I, who came with me, couldn't help but look at the machine.

“Ding-dong—buzz—” “Ka-la, pa-pa—” “Gurgle-gurgle—” “Ka-ka-ka-ka—”

The sounds of games, both familiar and unfamiliar, now flooded my ears in a cacophony. While I could vaguely distinguish one or two games, I couldn't boast about them, either from a human or my own perspective. The closest sound, however, was probably the sound of game coins dropping in front of me.

“Shhh—”

The crisp sound of metal colliding with metal brought a long-lost sense of excitement to me. After all, I had never imagined that I would have such a day.

There will be so much spare money to buy game coins.

I have to say, time flies. It seems like only a few days ago that I had to walk to the counter with change to exchange for game coins, but now all I have to do is find a machine to buy game coins.

"...Is this for playing games?"

She picked up the coin curiously and looked at it carefully.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"How should I put it...it looks very sophisticated. And this thing is actually used for playing games."

"Um..."

If you don't know how to respond, it's better not to force a response.

That being said, even writers who have written exceptional works often find themselves forced by life's pressures to write about things unrelated to literature, like advertising and pulp fiction. Even today, it's still the same as it was back then: most people still pursue that kind of "simple" happiness... So, investing skill and time in games, relying on experience to gain satisfaction, is no longer mainstream. It seems that the privileges afforded by paying real money are the most accepted... Of course, that doesn't rule out those who pay for character illustrations.

Well, if spending money could make people stronger in real life, then I'd be happy to upgrade my brain function by a few levels. However, it turns out that money alone is not enough in the world. After all, it is just a lifeless thing.

"Is it okay to just sit here and watch?"

"...Hmm~" I shook my head and put some of the coins in her hand.

"...Hey, hey... You mean, I can try it too, right?"

"Ah."

We can actually communicate with just a single sound. I really should thank her for her understanding. Speaking of understanding, though, it's true that people who are good at games understand me better... er, I mean, they understand my thoughts on games better... Tsk, it seems like I'm a little confused.

Anyway, put in the coin first.

"Wow——"

Regardless of the machine type, the sound of inserting a coin is pretty much the same. I'm not very familiar with arcade machine mechanics, but if I think about it, I think you use a coin to activate a trigger to start the game.

...I've been playing computer games for so long, so I'm going to give this a try this time. I'm not very good at it, but I played it a lot when I was a kid.

"Wow——"

"Well...?"

Before I noticed, another character slot was activated due to a coin insertion.

There is no need to say who the person who inserted the coin was. No one else would do this except Yao Qiong standing next to him.

"Well... I don't have any games I can play... So, this... should be something we can play together... right?"

"..."

Yes, I was so focused on having fun by myself that I almost forgot the main purpose.

"Yeah." I nodded and sat a little to the side.

Chapter 18: Preliminary Official Thoughts

"Oh...that's amazing..."

I actually don't really like excessive praise.

"Wow...the enemy's been defeated..."

After all, I also know my level.

"Um... that's the attack. Ah, I hit someone."

And this can be considered a team game.

"Huh? Why did I fall down?"

"You need to put in coins? Yeah... So lives in the game are measured with coins..."

"Oh, something fell out... How do I pick it up?"

"Hey—you were the only one who picked it up in the end. Why didn't you tell me how to pick up things?"

...of course, it's because typing while playing a game is a hassle! I've already taken my hands off the joysticks several times while playing, which I've never done in my entire arcade career.

"I see. Those items must be making you stronger."

What is this guy talking about? Those things obviously only have the effect of restoring health.

"Do you think it's a waste to give it to someone like me who can't play?"

"Yeah, it's normal to have such thoughts."

You are not angry after all...I just don't understand what you are thinking.

"Come to think of it, Sheji, you said you would make me like games, right?"

"...Um."

Because of some ancient pride and inexplicable arrogance, I did say this. To be more precise, I typed it.

But what does it mean to bring up this topic suddenly?

"But I always feel like I don't like...this game." She said this after getting my affirmation.

"Eh..."

This is not a complaint.

Because when I looked into her eyes, I didn't feel any emotion. It was a very calm expression...without any purpose, it was just explaining the situation to me.

Thanks to this, I realized that I seemed to have done something quite rude.

"Ah, did I say something I shouldn't have said..."

Could it be that her weakness is that she can't tell what to say and what not to say... Knowing this is a good gain.

"Yeah~ Yeah."

I shook my head and stood up from my seat.

"Go find a game that interests you."

"Huh? But..." She looked at the screen, then at me, "I don't quite understand... but I do know that you haven't finished fighting yet, right? You still have a lot of health left..."

"That's enough."

"Enough already? What do you mean?"

"Uh."

This question is really... I was just trying to be cool. Besides, the typical response would be to just say nothing and leave with me, right? Why did this guy insist on asking what that sentence meant?

"..."

Uh, this feels subtly awkward. But it's not entirely meaningless. So, even with my hands shaking with embarrassment, I can still type out some of the words I want to say.

"You don't have to complete a game to finish it, and I've already done that before. I just wanted to use this game, which hasn't been eliminated yet, to reminisce about the past. Through the time just now, I've fully recalled everything from that time, so I say that it's enough."

...I have to say, I'm amazed at my own ability to come up with excuses. Well, I'm like me.

"So this is ah..."

Even she couldn't help but marvel after seeing it.

"It seems like you really did play games alone when you were a kid."

"...Um?"

Why did she come to this conclusion...I'm very curious about what perspective she was thinking about the problem from.

"But if I've always been alone, what good memories can I have of my past experiences?"

This question shouldn't be directed to me. Because when she talked about this issue, her eyes shifted to the side... Maybe she didn't want me to see her pity.

Ah, okay, okay, just think of me as a gloomy game nerd with no friends since childhood.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's find a game that interests you."

"Oh, that's right."

After I reiterated my proposal, she seemed to accept it and looked around.

"There are a lot of machines... so it's not impossible to find them."

"..."

Is it my imagination? It feels like there's been a subtle shift in purpose compared to the previous one.

..........

This girl is definitely not normal.

Although I don't know how she lived her life before... but from all the signs, her mentality is really super stable... It's not that she has a strong mental quality, but I just feel that she uses all her reflexes in strange places.