10 - Princess Knight and video games
Inside the camper on a rainy afternoon.
The position was already set in place, Sophia and Mimi in
the kotatsu, and Naoto in the driver's seat, which was reversed to face the
interior.
All eyes were on the large TV.
There was a game console set up next to the TV, and both
Sophia and Mimi were holding the controller.
It's a controller with an LCD, about the size of a plate of
grilled fish.
“Whoa, we're up to fourth place. Go, Mimi.”
"Buuuuuuuu"
"Ku!"
The princess knight and the half-elf girl, the two of them
are playing a racing game.
On the LCD screen of the TV, a kart racing game starring the
plumber brothers, which has been around for more than 15 years, is displayed.
Mimi, her controller looking large in her petite body, moved
left, right, and every time she turned a corner, her own body also moved
towards the larger bend.
Sophia, on the other hand, is hunched over, barely moving
her body and operating with only her hands. In contrast to the smiling Mimi,
she has a very stern look on her face.
As inhabitants of another world, they naturally had never
played a video game before.
Mimi, however, had gotten used to the game within an hour of
starting and was playing it normally enough to place fourth out of twelve,
while Sophia was still struggling and was at the bottom of the list.
“Mimi is amazing.”
“Ogo♪”
“They say the younger you are, the faster you grow up, and
it's true.”
It reminded me of a baby of about a year old who was
operating a smartphone as if it were a limb that he saw in a diner about a
month ago.
Sophia, on the other hand.
“Oh, they've passed me again. I'm two weeks?( 週)
behind.”
“Kuuu! Naoto! Can't you take these guys down!?”
“That's absurd. It's a racing game. How can you possibly
beat it?”
“Kuuu... oh, Naoto! I just got blown up by some kind of
green shell! I thought you couldn't defeat them.”
“Oh, I'm sorry, I can't take you down, but I can blow you
up.”
“What a cowardly move!”
“That's how the game works.”
“Damn.”
“Oh, Mimi, you're gonna win first place.”
"Oshii"
Mimi was completely fighting for the top spot and narrowly
missed out on first place in that race when she was hit by a kart just before
the finish line.
Sofia, on the other hand, faltered and barely made any
headway, smashing her kart into the wall, dropping it into the water, or
sending it off course.
“Sofia, why don't you just retire?”
“No, I'm not giving up. I'm not giving up!”
“No, it's faster to retire.”
The princess knight's words about not giving up were
powerful and encouraging (in many ways), but in the game, she was being lapped
by even the 11th place, and there was no chance of winning.
In the end, eleventh place finished and the race was forced
to end with her in last place.
"Damn, what a humiliation…”
"No, it's just a game.”
“Sis, let's do it again!”
“Of course! Next
time I won't lose!”
“There's nothing to win here…”
Naoto smiles bitterly. When even the computer-controlled
eleventh place is lapped, there is no way to win, but Sophia is determined to
win.
The next race begins.
“If you press the button now, you can rocket dash, Sophia.”
"This is... oh!"
Naoto, who couldn't see it coming, advised her on the
timing, and she succeeded in making a rocket dash right after the start.
Sophia's princess character bumped into the other karts, but
got off to a furious start and jumped into first place.
“Ohhhh”
Sophia squealed with joy, but...
"Let's go, sister!”
"Oh, you can't spray me with that black stuff!”
The item Mimi used painted her screen in squid smears.
That made her panic, and even more panic over her bad
controls, and she fell to the bottom of the pack.
Eventually, the race was forced to end with her in last
place.
“One more time.”
And the next race.
“This time.”
And the next race after that.
“That's frustrating... but next time...”
In the next race, she continued to finish in last place.
Naoto sipped his tea and watched as the two played their
game.
Suddenly, he saw a ray of sunlight coming through the
window. Looking out the window, he saw a rainbow in the sky after the rain.
“Hey, doggy, stop it!”
Suddenly, Mimi makes a different sound than before.
When she looked, she saw the puppy that had gotten up before
she knew it, chewing on her sleeve and trying to pull her languidly outside.
“What's wrong, doggy?”
“Woof!”
“It's sunny. Do you want to go for a walk, doggy?”
“Woof!”
“Big brother, I'm going for a walk with the doggie.”
Before he could say goodbye, Mimi and the pup ran out of the
rain-soaked car.
Her cart, which had been battling for the lead, came to a
complete stop, and one by one... even Sophia passed her.
"Ku, this ... oh!"
Sofia shouted as she took control of her kart.
She was seriously and desperately absorbed in the game, and
after going off course and being obstructed by items, she was finally able to
reach the goal on her own for the first time.
"I did it Naoto!"
Sofia posed with a small gut pose, her happy face was
beautiful, but Naoto looked at her warmly because it was a smile caused by the
11th place finish.
“What's the matter, Naoto? Why are you looking at me like
that?”
“Oh, it's nothing.”
“What? Where's Mimi?”
She had been concentrating, and now she seemed to notice
that Mimi, who had been playing with her, was gone. "A little.”
“Mmm, I see. Well then, Naoto, you'll have to do it for me.”
“Me?”
“Yeah.”
“No, I won't.”
“Fuu”
When Naoto refused, for some reason Sophia smiled
triumphantly.
“Are you scared?”
“…Yes?”
For a moment, he didn't know what she was talking about.
“Are you afraid of losing to me? Well, I don't know, but I'm
sure you'd be just fine with me right now.”
"Huh?”
“I don't want to force you, Naoto, but you can sit there and
watch me do it.”
“That's a funny thing to say.”
Naoto said, and picked up the controller that Mimi had
thrown out.
"Oh, you'll do it?”
“Yeah, I'll... I'll do it.”
“Mmm. I'll show you how strong I am.”
"..."
Naoto smiled silently and looked at the screen.
He chose a course and the race began.
"Hmmm, Naoto's a big boy for failing to start...”
Naoto threw the green straw that he got right after the
start at Sophia's cart.
“What are you doing? Ah, again.”
"......”
“Naoto, that's not fair--again!”
After throwing three green shells, Naoto backed up and took
the item again.
This time, he found a set of three red shells.
He hit Sophia with the auto-tracking shells as a matter of
course.
"Oh, come on, Naoto, don't--don't do that!”
Sophia in 11th place, Naoto in last place.
Naoto, distracted from the race, followed closely behind her
and kept hitting her with items.
Sophia's teary eyes gradually turned to a look of despair.
“What are you doing, Naoto...”
“Oh, I forgot to mention...”
Naoto stares at the TV screen and says with a big smile on
his face.
“It's a game like this.”
He wanted to knock the despairing princess knight into more
hell.
After this, he hit her really hard.
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