*Hooked!

"I'm begging you, act normal! People are going to think we're lunatics!"

Lin Lixin pried Sam off the arcade cabinet with some difficulty, gave the newcomer a slight bow, and greeted her awkwardly.

"Hey, beautiful, want to try out the new arcade game we developed?"

This had to be the strangest first meeting in the world.

The corner of Vivian's mouth twitched. She involuntarily took half a step back, inwardly crying out that this was bad.

She had run into a pair of gaming nerds!

She often heard that these people had weird personalities, never took part in group activities on campus, and spent all day squandering their precious youth in game shops!

If I'd known, I wouldn't have come over just to see what was happening. Have I somehow become part of their kink?

"Uh... haha, I was just passing by. I didn't even bring any coins. If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

She wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible.

"That's fine, miss. Your first game is free." Seeing that Vivian was about to leave, Lin Lixin called out to her and fished a quarter out of his pocket, his expression as sincere as could be.

Vivian knew what arcade machines were, and she knew what video games were, too.

They were nothing but a new kind of scam that preyed on consumers' feelings.

Only...

This was her first time seeing someone put an arcade cabinet outside their own apartment.

Wasn't this thing supposed to go outside a convenience store or a bar??

Looking at Lin Lixin's harmless smile, then at Sam on the ground, whose gaze at the cabinet was practically dripping with longing, Vivian began to waver.

Once curiosity seized the high ground in the brain, all reason had to give way.

Hmm... it's free anyway. Trying it won't hurt.

With that thought, she stopped retreating.

Taking the coin from Lin Lixin, Vivian couldn't say why, but she kept feeling that his smile concealed something hard to put into words, as though he were gleefully watching someone else's misfortune unfold.

"It's really free? This isn't some scam where you suddenly force me to pay afterward, is it?"

Caution prompted her to ask another question.

"No cheating anyone, young or old, miss." Lin Lixin nodded. "Twenty-five cents a game."

Vivian pulled over a stool and sat down, taking a few careful looks at the machine.

A large "Tetris" had been painted on the cabinet, looking as though someone had scrawled it on directly with a brush. Even the paint was still wet.

Farther down hung an eight-digit digital display, evidently meant to show the player's score.

The monitor was somewhat old, but the images on the screen were clear enough. They were nothing but crude blocks.

A few passages on the control panel briefly explained the controls to the user.

But that wasn't where Vivian's attention lay.

Her gaze followed this set of buttons to the right, only to find another set with the same layout.

"This has multiplayer, too?"

Although Vivian rarely played games, she still knew about smash hits like Pac-Man.

Pac-Man, for instance, had a feature that let players take turns challenging the game.

Lin Lixin smiled, took out another coin, and tossed it to Sam.

Sam knew that Lin Lixin was finally allowing him to play, and eagerly plopped down on the other stool.

"If you don't mind, we could have a match."

Putting the arcade cabinet out for everyone to try was already a settled fact. He could only accept it.

Even if he couldn't keep it all to himself anymore, he could still be the one who loved Tetris most!

Vivian didn't know why, but she kept feeling an inexplicable hostility from Sam, as though she had stolen his beloved wife.

That baffling feeling riled Vivian up, too. She had clearly come to help Sam. Never mind not getting a word of thanks-why was he treating her with such hostility?

Now she absolutely had to win!

She would teach this rude bastard a proper lesson.

Vivian put her coin straight in, and an option appeared on the screen asking whether to skip the wait and enter single-player mode.

As Sam inserted his coin as well, the option vanished, and the split-screen game immediately sprang into action.

Lin Lixin yawned, revealing a satisfied, wicked grin where neither of them could see it.

He hadn't expected Sam's fit of madness to accidentally hook his first customer for him.

A quarter to bait the fishing spot-the cost really couldn't have been more affordable.

"Sam, I'm going back to sleep. Remember, don't hog the machine. If anyone comes to play, be good and give up your seat."

After leaving those instructions, he dragged himself off with eyelids he could barely keep open and collapsed facedown on the bed.

Modifying this arcade cabinet to support two-player battles had been no simple job.

Both the code and the hardware had needed a complete overhaul.

Porting the version he had written on the C64 to this Z80 in particular had worked him to the brink of ecstasy and agony, even with the system's help.

Filling in the gaps in his hardware knowledge had made Lin Lixin realize the enormous opportunity here.

A machine that supported two-player mode could double the rate of coin insertion.

At the same time, the competitive urge generated by this head-to-head gameplay could produce a mindset of "the winner gets carried away, the loser refuses to concede," turning it into an all-out battle of one coin after another.

Lin Lixin plunged headfirst onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

He had no idea how much time had passed before the incessant system notifications ringing in his head suddenly woke him.

[Ding!]

[Milestone completed]: 10 players gave positive reviews after playing the arcade game

[Reward]: Free attribute points x5

[Milestone completed]: The arcade machine reached a total of 100 rounds played

[Reward]: Free attribute points x5

[Milestone completed]: Return rate exceeded 60%

[Reward]: Skill pack x1

[Milestone completed]: Worked through the night once

[Skill acquired]:

[Hardened Liver]: [Stamina cap ↑, rest efficiency ↑]

"Huh?"

Lin Lixin rubbed his aching, swollen head and climbed out of bed. Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation shoot from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head, instantly washing away most of the aftereffects of staying up all night.

Someone outside the window was making a nonstop racket. It was a noisy mess.

Daylight filtering through the thin curtains told Lin Lixin that it was already high noon.

He flexed his joints, sore from his terrible sleeping posture, before shuffling over in his flip-flops and drawing the curtains.

The sight outside was like an uppercut that knocked the sleep right out of him, instantly jolting him fully awake.

The neighborhood where Lin Lixin and Sam lived was a typical residential area. Apart from two convenience stores and the already-closed arcade on the corner, there weren't any other shops.

Going anywhere else generally required a car or a bicycle.

For that very reason, this street had always been an incredibly quiet haven for rest.

But now everything outside had changed!

Several young men and women sat scattered casually along the street, chatting and laughing under the blazing midday sun without a care.

Even more people stood in a line that stretched away into the distance.

And the thing they were willing to queue for beneath that sun was none other than the Tetris arcade cabinet outside his door.