Chapter Sixty-Five: The Fallen Angel of Chiba, Black Cat, Has Been Defeated

In the dimly lit room on the second floor of a small building, a man in a trench coat with his hood up crouched motionless in the corner, clutching a shotgun.

Aoki Shiji stared intently at the screen, listening through his headset for the slightest rustle around him.

Aside from the distant, unending crackle of gunfire, there seemed to be no sound nearby.

“Shiji… be careful. Someone’s sneaking toward you. I’ll be there soon!” Sora’s voice came through, tinged with excitement.

Aoki Shiji’s lips twitched as he glanced at his health bar, which, thanks to online guides, he’d barely managed to restore to eighty percent. Right on cue, faint footsteps echoed in his headphones. He swallowed nervously, aiming his shotgun at the door.

Suddenly, a burst of gunfire erupted in his ears. He saw his teammate’s health bar at the bottom left start to drop—maybe by about two percent?

“Shiji, watch out. She’s spotted me and is running into your building. I hit her a few times—she shouldn’t have much health left!” Sora’s voice was calm and collected.

Aoki Shiji could only pray silently: Don’t come for me. I didn’t do anything. Don’t come in, don’t come in!

But things rarely went as one wished. The footsteps drew closer, and he could even hear someone ascending the stairs below.

Don’t come into my room, just keep going, don’t come in!

He didn’t dare blink, his mouse trained steadily on the door.

“Shiji, can you hold out?” Sora’s voice was anxious; she sounded like she was rushing over as fast as possible, but still couldn’t make it in time.

Aoki Shiji remained silent, remembering the others could hear him if he spoke—though he still didn’t know why…

The door suddenly swung open. A female character, as shabbily dressed as Aoki Shiji, stood in the doorway with an assault rifle, locking eyes with him. She seemed startled, jumping back in alarm, and at the same moment, a shrill, unfamiliar scream pierced his headset.

Startled by the scream, Aoki Shiji instinctively clicked his mouse. His shotgun erupted in a blaze of fire; the enemy before him was blasted backward by the force, blood spraying, and collapsed to the ground.

“Odriew killed Black Cat with a shotgun.”

Aoki Shiji stared in surprise, then after a moment, burst out laughing. “Ahahaha, it’s fine, Sora, I took care of it!”

“You… you’re so despicable!” The corpse before him suddenly spoke with an angry, girlish voice.

Aoki Shiji chuckled, sidling over to loot her by pressing TAB, picking through her items. “You were the one who walked into my house—how can you blame me?”

“Hmph, shameless scoundrel! Fate will give you the cruelest punishment!” The female character named Black Cat lay prone, ignoring the fact that Aoki Shiji had already stolen her shoes, and rambled on indignantly: “To kill me, Chiba’s Fallen Angel Black Cat, with such underhanded means—someone as unknown as you should remember this day. Just wait for the flames of vengeance to consume you! Black Cat will not let you off so easily! Prepare for my revenge!”

Aoki Shiji snorted with laughter. “Oh?”

“You don’t believe me?” The girl’s tone grew even more annoyed. “Just you wait—tonight, Chiba’s Fallen Angel Black Cat will cast her spell, and you’ll be cursed with misfortune!”

With a final huff, she exited the game.

Aoki Shiji was left bewildered. Perhaps this was what they called “chuunibyou”—a delusional middle-schooler syndrome. Thankfully, Sora didn’t have that problem!

“Shiji… I know this Black Cat,” Sora’s voice sounded a bit surprised.

“Huh?” Aoki Shiji froze.

“Yeah, I ran into her at an online gaming tournament once. She talks a lot,” Sora replied, sounding slightly annoyed. “But she seems pretty skilled.”

“If Shiji can take her down, you must be really impressive!” Sora’s words made Aoki Shiji laugh sheepishly.

Aoki Shiji felt that this game was actually quite interesting—not as hard as he’d thought. Especially lying in wait for others to walk right into his trap; it seemed he could handle it just fine. After all, all he had to do was aim at the door and pull the trigger when someone appeared. His reaction speed was decent, too. It seemed he’d found the style that suited him.

Yes, this is my path! As long as I play like this, relying on my reaction speed and a quick click of the mouse, I’m not useless after all!

“Come on, Sora, let’s check out another house!” With that, and to Sora’s bemused confusion, Aoki Shiji hefted his shotgun and snuck toward another house from which gunfire echoed.

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In an ordinary, not-too-large Japanese-style room, a beautiful girl with long black hair, fair skin, and a tear-shaped mole at the corner of her eye furiously tapped out a report.

Her elegant black Gothic dress and the purple headband in her hair suited her perfectly, though at the moment her sour expression and the rapid clatter of her fingers on the keyboard, accompanied by muttered complaints, made her seem rather less dignified.

“This player is camping in a room, maliciously startling other players and causing psychological trauma. This could lead to sudden cardiovascular incidents. I hope the officials will ban his account!”

After sending her message, the girl smacked the table in frustration, only to wince in pain and cry out.

Wait a minute, this ID looks awfully familiar.

She thought for a moment, then her eyes brightened as she muttered angrily to herself, “So, it’s you—my lifelong nemesis, the Pure White Angel! Weirdo! I remember Odriew is one of your alternate accounts, isn’t it? Hmph! I used to think you were a worthy opponent, but I never imagined you’d lend your account to such a despicable scoundrel.”

“No matter. Since he’s your minion, I, Black Cat, will never let him go. Just wait—I’ll settle old scores and new alike!”

She let out a cackling, villainous laugh, as if in her mind it sounded evil and terrifying.

In reality… well, it was actually quite cute. And just a little bit ridiculous.