Game~ Game~ Gaming Is So Stressful~

The perspective shifts back to the outdoor action team.

10:00 AM, at the entrance of the arcade.

The Rover and Aemeath stood at the doorway, each holding a parasol, looking around as if searching for something.

"Hey! Xiao Ya! Over here!"

The sharp-eyed Aemeath soon spotted Miss Honey Peach hurrying towards them from afar, and together they ran towards each other, umbrella in hand.

"Ah... I'm saved..." Dania sighed after tucking herself under Aemeath's umbrella.

The sun seemed to be a clock-in commuter, starting to heat up the city precisely at the start of the morning rush hour. Although it wasn't yet noon, Dania was already drenched in sweat, her cherry-colored bangs sticking to the side of her face.

Little Ai took out a tissue from her handbag and carefully and gently wiped the sweat from Dania's face, just like she would her own younger sister.

"Alright, alright~ Let's go inside quickly, there's air conditioning inside, it'll be so comfortable~" Aemeath naturally took Dania's hand and pulled her towards the arcade entrance.

"Hey hey hey! Slow down, slow down, my legs are still sore~!" Dania protested weakly, but was naturally ignored by the excited Aemeath.

After watching Little Ai and Dania rush into the arcade like a gust of wind, the Rover chuckled helplessly, then put away his parasol and followed them inside.

It's the weekend, so the arcade was packed with people. There were families with kids, as well as students and office workers taking advantage of the weekend to play a couple of rounds.

The sudden intrusion of Dania and her friends was like a refreshing breeze, breaking the stuffy air in the arcade and causing a small commotion.

After all, these girls were so beautiful they seemed unreal, as if they had broken through the dimensional barrier and entered the real world.

Many young men were eager to approach and strike up a conversation, but were immediately intimidated by a piercing gaze, and had no choice but to reluctantly abandon their little schemes and focus their attention back on the arcade game in front of them.

The Rover withdrew his intimidating gaze and looked at Dania and Aemeath, who were running hand in hand around the arcade. His head started to throb.

To be honest, taking care of children is not her forte. Back when she and Little Ai were living on the ice plains, she had to rely on reference books.

Forget it... I'll just consider it a favor Xiao Ling owes me, and I'll get it back with interest later.

"Xiao Ya, what do you want to play? It's on me today!" Aemeath walked ahead, generously offering to cover Dania's expenses at the arcade, saying that Miss Wooly would take care of it.

"Anything's fine with me, whatever you say," Dania said instinctively.

Then Aemeath was walking in front, suddenly stopped, almost causing Dania, who was following behind, to have a close encounter with her back.

Before Dania could even ask a question, Aemeath suddenly turned around and pinched her cheek hard.

"What... what are you doing... let go of the nest..."

"Xiao Ya, Xiao Ya, don't you have any games you want to play?" Aemeath pouted, seemingly a little dissatisfied with Dania's reaction. "Don't always do what others want; you should have your own ideas sometimes!"

After saying that, Aemeath released Dania's soft cheek.

Dania rubbed her cheeks, which had been pinched so hard, and then started looking for games that interested her in the arcade.

A moment later, she stopped in front of a machine.

"This one will do." Dania pointed to the machine in front of her.

"Let me see, let me see!" Aemeath immediately leaned over, "The King of Fighters? Sounds like an action game, Xiao Ya, can you play it?"

"How will you know if you don't try?" Dania said with a smirk. "What do you say, Little Ai? Want to be my sparring partner?"

"Of course I'd love to, but I'm afraid I'll make you so frustrated you'll have a mental breakdown." Aemeath gave Hajiya a heads-up beforehand.

"Don't worry, I've seen it all," Dania said, shrugging, her tone quite nonchalant.

"Alright then, this gaming pro will volunteer to be your sparring partner~" Aemeath laughed, sitting down at the arcade machine next to Dania first. "Just so you know, don't get mad if you lose, okay?"

"How could that be? I'm perfectly fine with it," Dania said calmly.

"I'm not playing anymore!" Dania sullenly lay on the arcade machine, the screen displaying the word "KO".

This is absolutely outrageous! Five times! A full five times! She didn't manage to touch the character controlled by Aemeath even once! It made her wonder if Little Ai had secretly used her Resonance Ability to change the stats.

"Don't even think about it, you're a complete novice, Dania." The Rover shook her head. "If Little Ai really used her Resonance Ability, neither you nor I would have been completely unaware."

"Waaah... Of course I know..." Dania made a cute, strange noise, looking utterly aggrieved, unable to accept the fact that she was so bad at the game.

"And why are you and Ling so equally sharp-tongued!" Dania then complained to the Rover, "You two even talk so alike, are you sure you're not family?"

"Stop playing matchmaker." The Rover couldn't help but give Dania a flick on the forehead.

She was there to prevent Little Ai from being kidnapped, not to offer herself to that lecherous man!

"So? Want to continue?" Little Ai revealed a sly, mischievous smile.

"I'm not playing this anymore, I want to play something else!"

"I'd be happy to oblige!"

So the two tried several different games, but Dania always ended up losing badly, which made her start to doubt her life. Plus, she was a little too proud to admit it, so she always firmly refused whenever Little Ai offered to let her win.

After searching around for a while, Dania finally found a game that seemed to be one she was good at.

"Tetris? The gameplay looks quite similar to Lahai-Roi Blocks." Aemeath nodded. "Want to play this? Let's make it clear first, I'm really good at Lahai-Roi Blocks!"

"Let's compete on this!" Dania said decisively.

"Good!"

So, as the classic Tetris background music started playing, the two began a new round of competition.

The Rover watched the duel between the two from the sidelines and found that their strengths were almost evenly matched, with Dania even showing a slight tendency to surpass Aemeath.

And that's exactly what happened. After the countdown ended, Dania narrowly defeated Aemeath.

"Oh dear~ I've never beaten her before~" Aemeath said cheerfully, showing no sign of defeat. "I didn't expect Xiao Ya to be so good!"

"Practice makes perfect," Dania said softly. "After all, this was the only thing I could play with at the time."

Aemeath's gaze suddenly darkened, as if a shadow had suddenly fallen over her.

She said nothing, but quietly hugged the cute yet pitiful Honey Peach from behind.

"Huh?" The sudden warmth behind her made Dania a little confused.

"From now on," Aemeath whispered in her ear with a bright smile, "If you ever get bored and want to play games, you can come find me anytime. I'd be happy to make time for you!"

"Of course, the premise is that you play the games you want to play, just like today, understand?"

Looking at Little Ai's bright smile, Dania couldn't help but smile back at herself.

"Okay, it's settled then~ Don't stand me up later~" she replied to Aemeath with the same bright smile.