Redo of a Romanceless Author's Life Devoid of Love; Another Chance at Youth

Chapter 66. Executing Operation, Codename: Date, Afternoon. (2/4)

The two of them each put a coin in then picked a song and difficulty. 

“Have you played this before Rosa?”

“No, not at all, this is my first time actually.”

“Oh, I see. Do you know how to play?”

“To be honest... it’s also my first time being in an arcade, I’ve never had the time to go to one before. I don’t know much about these sorts of things.”

“Well, it’s not too hard. You just need to press the pad on the ground with your feet which corresponds to the directional arrow that scrolls to the top of the screen with the right timing. That’s really all there is to it. Once the arrows from the bottom line up perfectly with the ones at the top, you press the corresponding pad. It’s that simple.”

“That sounds easy enough.”

“Uh… okay, let’s go with this song and difficulty then.”

Using her knowledge she carefully selected a song that would be fun for someone new, wasn’t too slow, but simultaneously not too hard because of overly complicated patterns.

I could tell by how she was navigating through the songs. She was a thoughtful and considerate person. She wasn’t interested in showing off how good she was at it.

This was exactly the type of person an arcade needed as their customers. She wasn’t just an honor student, but an honor customer as well. Damn it, why is she such a good girl? It makes me want to cry a bit. What’s with those dog shit friends of hers making her feel like a third wheel?

I had the urge to go over and bash them in the face for troubling this sweet girl, to kind for her own good.

Woah! Hold up, me. Enemies. That’s right, we’re enemies. I shouldn’t be helping an enemy any more than I need to. My existence was the antithesis to hers.

I took a seat and watched the two of them play. It wasn’t hard to tell Alicia was meticulously controlling her score so she didn’t create too wide a gap. She was missing a note here and there and not hitting back-to-back perfect notes the way she had on the first song she danced to. She was holding back until Rosa got the hang of it similar to how I had with the previous fighting game.

Rosa was a quick learner though and she caught on quickly. She was hitting more and more notes perfectly as time went on. Unlike with that fighting game we played, it seemed she excelled at these more physically demanding games that relied more heavily on one’s body.

Once the song was over and Alicia realized how quickly Rosa had picked it up she increased the difficulty a notch further. 

They went at it again. Rosa struggled a bit in the beginning when more complicated patterns showed up but she got into a groove soon enough.

She looked like she was genuinely having fun.

A few songs later and the two of them were up to the max difficulty on the songs. Alicia didn’t need to hold back and got into her own groove. They were both wearing wide smiles and having a blast together. Moving both their arms around in the air, their feet slid and moved naturally across the dance pad while laughing as they chatted together about girl stuff. Unbeknownst to them, they started to attract the gazes of those in the surroundings.

Two top-tier beauties dancing together was bound to attract such attention. People started to gather around and watch the dancing duo, but the two of them were too caught up doing their own thing to notice such a development. 

I decided to slip away and go to the washroom to avoid the crowd. On the way, I discovered that kid from before staring at the two girls dancing together having fun. It was none of my business so I ignored him.

Alicia’s score had been extremely impressive and she was on track for an AAA clear. Although Rosa had only just played today for the first time, she’d done quite well for herself. She had a seemingly endless supply of stamina. Though she couldn’t beat Alicia’s score, she still appeared to be on track for a solid A or possibly even near AA rating. If I did something as tiresome as playing this awful game, I’d have undoubtedly dropped dead. I thanked the heavens Alicia was here. She’d inadvertently saved me from hell. If it had been anyone else but her who’d used that machine, I’d have been screwed beyond belief. It being her turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Thank you, Goddess Alicia, you have saved my oh-so-limited amount of energy. I offered a prayer to her in my heart as I entered the washroom to relieve myself.

A few minutes later I exited the washroom. It didn’t seem like the two of them were finished playing yet though. That being the case I took a short stroll around the arcade and I came across a bunch of crane games I hadn’t touched yet.

Since those two were still at it I figured I’d waste some time on the crane game. It was something I considered a waste of money, but I figured I could get a momento for Rosa as she’d just confirmed it was her first time at an arcade. I felt a souvenir from the crane game was perfect.

I found one with some cute stuffed animals.

It took a few tries but I eventually got one out. Sadly it wasn’t the one I was aiming for. I pulled a cute yellow bunny directly beside the one I wanted. It was a furball in a seated position, bottom flat, arms between its open legs with its ears down beside its head. It had a mischievous but simultaneously innocent sort of look to its face, at least, that was how it appeared to me.

A bit dissatisfied, I made a few more attempts. Finally, I got a hold of it. An adorable-looking fluffy fox with a red coat, white underbelly, and black fur surrounding its white inner ears.

Satisfied with my return on investment, I took a look over where the duo appeared to still be dancing. Just how long did these two intend to go? It was already almost 5 PM by now.

Oh well, a bit longer doesn’t hurt anyone. I also had one last coin of my own to play a game. I’d used up the budget I’d allocated for the arcade. Might as well use the last coin. Maybe I can get a souvenir for myself.

I searched around for another crane game. One that looked like it could potentially cough something up with just one try. I stumbled across one that had a bunch of circular capsules with something inside them.

I figured I’d give it a shot.

I put the coin in then carefully lined up the crane hook. Once I felt confident, I pressed the button and the hood descended. When it rose back up I was caught off guard. Lucky! It was two for one. My favorite kind of special, buy one get one free. 

When they popped out and I saw what they were I felt a bit dejected. It wasn’t something I’d be able to use. Looking at what was inside them, I could tell they were two necklaces. Both intended for girls from the look of it.

What the heck? I don’t want to keep any of the things I got for myself.

What do I do with the extras I got? Should I just give them to Alicia or something? The yellow bunny I got doesn’t suit Rosa at all, but it does suit Alicia. She’s innocent like one after all. I originally wanted the red fox because Rosa was sly and crafty as a fox.

Just when I was thinking of heading back to their location, I discovered the two of them approaching me. They appeared to have worked up quite a sweat. Though Alicia was still catching her breath, Rosa was only breathing a bit faster than usual.

KiraMinoru

Series Progress Report: 11/29/2021

Volume 5 releases tonight. If not at Midnight EST, it'll probably be 3 AM EST going off of my experience last month with it.

As for Volume 6, I don't know if I'll make it for pre-order this time around. Volume 6 is turning out to be a good bit longer than previous volumes. I was hit with a bout of inspiration for the sequence of events in the latter half of Volume 6 and right now the word count is up to 117k. It could end up reaching closer to 150k by the time I'm done with it. I'd estimate I should be finished writing Volume 6 in the next 10-15 days. It may get released on New Year's Eve, but I'm still not sure on that.

Going off on a complete tangent, the spoiler below is completely random and unrelated to the story. It's more of a rant about something pretty stupid(my toxic love-hate relationship with original coke) that I'm sure no one cares about.

Yesterday, I decided to stop drinking coke forever. On average I'd say I've been drinking four or more cans of coke daily for probably 15-20 years straight, that might even be a conservative estimate. It's the only thing I drink every day too, but as of today, I'm on day two of my coke strike and have switched to strictly water.

Now, why have I gone on a coke strike all of sudden? Is it to improve my health? No, I couldn't give a shit about health.

Is it for political reasons? Fuck no, I don't give a shit about politics either. A product is a product to me. I don't care about ideological bullshit.

Then why?

Well, there are two reasons. One, I'm a cheap bastard. Two, the last batch I bought a few days ago tastes like shit, the aftertaste to be specific. For the original coke, the last two to three years, whenever winter comes around, it suddenly has this garbage orange aftertaste to it. Dunno if they alter the formula a bit for cold and hot weather or something to avoid them freezing and exploding in transit, but it tastes terrible. (edit: decided to call them and they say they don't, they sent it over to their quality team to look into though)

I'm sure nobody cares, but I like to believe I have the credentials to make this assessment. I've got 15-20 years worth of experience under my belt drinking this shit after all. I'm bold enough to declare I'm more seasoned than whoever is on their quality team at least when it comes to original coke. I'd even go so far as calling myself the wine tester equivalent of original coke, I can tell the smallest minute difference in the taste of original coke.

Simply changing the medium in which original coke is consumed can change the taste altogether. Drinking from the can, a plastic, styrofoam, or glass cup, out of a straw in a can, cup, or bottle, out of a glass or plastic bottle, or even a thermos, all of these mediums have their own unique taste associated with them. But no matter how I drink this crap, I can say with confidence, this aftertaste is some god-awful dog shit. I can just taste the smug asshole on their board of directors practically spitting into my mouth telling me to fuck off and enjoy it like a little bitch. I gest of course.

The first time I ever stumbled upon this aftertaste was two to three years ago in winter when I'd purchased in bulk about 25, 24 pack cases. Each and every can in that batch, it was all the same crap. When I discovered this, I actually called the company, something I've never once done before and they gave some vouchers for a few free cases. That's it. They took down the batch info, but it seems that was all that was done. Seeing how this aftertaste keeps popping up now every winter(at least that's when I've noticed it), I feel like they don't really give a shit about the quality at all.

Aftertaste aside though, it used to be about $6 for a 24 pack only a few years ago on sale, now it's $11-$12. Shittier tasting product for a much higher price(thank you inflation)? I'm done, from now on water's good enough for me.

On average 8, 24 packs, a month is my typical household consumption. Crunching some numbers and it turns out about $1050 alone is spent on coke a year. A 24 pack of bottled water costs about $3 for me. If the consumption remains the same, which it probably wouldn't be as my consumption would very likely decrease since coke is designed to make you thirstier, I'd end up spending $288 a year instead. At some point, I might even downgrade to tap water. I'm just that cheap.

Well, let's see how long I last with just water. I'm pretty curious what impact it will have going from all that sugar to no sugar all at once. Considering how I typically only eat once a day and don't eat any snacks, chocolates, or just sweats in general... not sure what I'll get my daily sugar intake from now.

This has been my Ted Talk about the shitty original coke aftertaste and inflation being a bitch.

Anyone else drink coke and notice this orangy aftertaste? I'm curious if I'm the only one noticing and bitching about this.

I feel like turning this into a story arc for Volume 7 lol. For a date idea with Rosa, MC loses his shit because of an orangy aftertaste when drinking coke so he busts into a coke facility to steal the secret recipe.