Anime Crossover: The Losing Heroines Have Become Witches

And so, the group departed from the dōjinshi sales area in a grand procession and headed toward the game zone.

Although it was called the game zone, most of the items for sale were still small-scale dōjin games; a work like True Sister Ultimatum, which was formally produced by the small-scale studio Alice+, could already be considered a "major title" in this setting.

"Eh? Why isn't there a demo for the new game?"

Kirino looked at the True Sister Ultimatum booth with some confusion.

"Kiririn-shi, the kind you're talking about is usually only in the corporate booth hall," Saori said to her with a cat-like mouth.

"Damn it, that means I can't settle things with the Black One (referring to Ruri) right away!" 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Kirino grumbled dissatisfiedly: "Work a bit harder, game studio!"

"Don't say such unsympathetic things; class barriers are very hard to cross," Saori said.

"Whatever. Anyway, first I'll buy the new True Sister Ultimatum... huh?" Just as Kirino was about to buy the physical disc of the new game, she suddenly froze: "Where is the line to buy the game?"

"As expected, has this game cooled off so much that no one wants to buy it anymore?" Ruri remarked with an air of detached indifference: "The balance must be so terrible that the players have abandoned it."

"Impossible! Even if hardcore players abandon True Sister Ultimatum, us Moe-Sister-style players will never abandon her!" Kirino said stubbornly.

"Ah." At this moment, Saori seemed to see the trick of it: "It looks like the stock has already sold out, so they've stopped sales."

Asakura and the others looked in the direction Saori pointed, and sure enough, they saw a label with the word "Sold Out" pasted on the side of the True Sister Ultimatum booth, where the sales window used to be.

"Sold out? How can that be?!" Kirino stared at it longingly: "I was looking forward to it so much..."

"My, my, it seems I spent too much time in the dōjinshi hall." Saori, who had set the plan to "slowly tour the entire Comiket," looked a bit sad: "We'll just have to admit defeat this time and buy it after the event sales end."

"But the event-limited edition has special bonuses..." Kirino grumbled unwillingly.

"Bonuses?" Asakura asked curiously.

"A few swappable outfits and a special victory move for the little sister character," the girl said dejectedly.

Just then, a staff member who was working over at the booth noticed the commotion and walked toward the group.

"Are you players looking to buy True Sister Ultimatum? I'm very sorry, the stock prepared for this time is completely sold out."

"I see..." Kirino's shoulders slumped, and she stared at the person with a somewhat resentful gaze, making the staff member feel subtly uneasy.

"H-however, our studio's main stage is currently holding an event, and the prize is a limited edition disc. If you want it, you might be able to get one through that," the staff member said.

"What event?"

Facing Kirino's overbearing questioning, the staff member spoke to Asakura's group with a hint of trepidation:

"Today is the scheduled announcement for the arcade version of True Sister Ultimatum, which will start distribution next quarter. Any player who defeats the character controlled by our staff will receive the reward."

The staff member pointed toward the main stage and explained: "Guests who want to participate please go over there to line up. However, the person we sent out is an internal test staff member who is very familiar with the arcade version and extremely skilled; it won't be that easy to win! We prepared ten prizes, but so far, not a single one has been given out."

If the event ends and none have been given out, isn't that a failed event in a sense? Asakura complained in his heart.

The group went to the main stage to line up.

Asakura observed carefully for a while and soon understood the situation.

Just as the staff member said, the internal tester on stage—since it's easy to get confused, let's just call him the "Beater" (Cheater) for now—was quite powerful.

Even when facing an opponent who was quite skilled and clearly a high-level player of True Sister Ultimatum, he could win with a considerable advantage.

Not to mention those casual players; they were sent away with a "one-vs-three" sweep before they could even touch his character.

If you listened closely, you could even hear some players whispering.

"That guy is using a hidden character that doesn't exist in the console version, right?" "I recognize that guy's ID; isn't he one of the top ranks on the online leaderboard? To think he's actually official staff..." "He's almost at a fifty-win streak. Damn it, the officials don't want the players to win at all!"

"Is this really okay? That person is quite good," Asakura asked Kirino.

"It's only interesting if they're good."

Kirino said haughtily: "It's my turn. Keep your eyes wide open and watch my performance!"

She walked quickly onto the stage and made a victory declaration to her opponent.

"Get ready, I won't waste too much of your time!"

Then she lost in an instant.

"What was that? I thought she was some pro player." "A zero-point finish, she didn't even scratch his health. That's a total defeat." "Feels like choosing the character took longer than the fight."

The surrounding players discussed animatedly.

Kirino walked down dejectedly.

"You certainly didn't waste much time; at least you weren't wrong about that," Ruri sneered.

"Hah? What's with the sarcasm!"

Kirino immediately snapped back angrily.

"After saying all those words, I thought you would win. In the end, you were taken out before I even had time to come up with a retort." Ruri's smile became even more mocking.

"Damn it, how is it possible to win against a guy like that! It's cheating! Cheating!"

Kirino said in a fit of pique.

"Then let me be the next one~"

Marin walked onto the arena with a beaming smile.

In the end, she only lasted just over a minute before being defeated, stepping down from the stage with regret.

"Then it is my turn next," Saori said with a beaming smile. "Through the efforts of Kiririn-shi and Kitagawa-shi, I have seen through that guy's fighting style!"

"What!" Kirino looked at Saori in shock.

"Perhaps it is an operating habit developed on home consoles; when he switches to his Super Special Move, his left hand subconsciously moves outward by about two centimeters." Saori pushed up the thick glasses that looked like the bottoms of beer bottles, a white reflection flashing across the lenses. "Even if it is a gap of less than a second, it is often the key to victory."

"As expected of Saori, go give that guy a good lesson!"

Kirino said excitedly at once.

One minute later.

"Apologies, I have lost."

"The speed of being swept three-to-zero was even faster than mine?!"

"Because I do not play True Sister Ultimatum very often."

"Then what was the point of what you said before going on stage?"

"How shameful, I did not expect to suffer a crushing defeat before even seeing the opponent's special move."

"..."

As she spoke, the girl stopped her movements and subconsciously raised her head in confusion: why hadn't Takuma-senpai come to stop her from saying such things?

Then she discovered that Asakura's figure had somehow also made it onto the stage and was currently battling the official "Beater."

Originally, Ruri was a bit worried that Asakura would be easily defeated by the opponent, making him feel bad, but the reality was quite the opposite.

"You actually won? Asakura-shi is actually a True Sister Ultimatum expert!" When Asakura stepped down from the stage holding the disc amidst the awestruck gazes of the other players, Saori also asked him in surprise.

"That's not the case; today is my first time playing this game." Asakura shook his head.

"The first time?!" Not only Saori, but even Kirino was stunned.

"However, I have played other competitive games, so I wouldn't be considered a fighting game novice, I suppose." Asakura added.

"No, no, no, because every competitive game has different mechanisms and physical parameters, the 'feel' and the command lists are almost entirely different. Even with experience in other competitive games, it is basically impossible to learn a brand-new competitive game in an instant..."

Saori said, pushing up her glasses.

"How is it impossible? B is block, RB is dodge; isn't that all you need to know?"

Asakura said, "I confirmed it just now; those two button mappings are correct."

"It's no good if you don't even know the light and heavy punches, throws, or the command list!" Kirino complained.

"When the opponent attacks, I just block everything with B. If it's a grab that can break a throw or super armor, I use dodge to evade it. When there's an opening, I just tap the attack button twice to chip away at their health... Is this playstyle really that hard to understand?"

Asakura answered as if it were a matter of course.

"Most people can't do that! It's mainly about reaction speed..."

Saori murmured.

However, she instinctively felt that Asakura was not lying, because that was exactly what he had done on stage just now.

He blocked and dodged almost all of the enemy character's attacks, and every time there was a tiny opening, he immediately used fast light punches and brat-like low kicks to chip away at their health.

The Beater's character suffered in the agony of being completely unable to hit the enemy, as if being eroded bit by bit by army ants, his health dropping slowly until he finally lost in utter humiliation, unable to do anything.

It was like Saori's match in reverse; he didn't even manage to touch a pixel of Asakura's character's health before it was game over.

The surrounding players thought Asakura was venting his frustration for them, intentionally choosing this long, torturous way of fighting.

But in reality, it wasn't so; it was simply that Asakura had no idea how to play True Sister Ultimatum and couldn't pull off any visually appealing combos.

"By the way, Saori, this is for you." Asakura handed the disc in his hand to the girl.

"Eh, is it for me?" Saori was stunned for a moment.

"Didn't you say just now that you wanted to practice True Sister Ultimatum? So I'm giving this to you." Asakura said generously.

"Oh dear, now that you mention it, I feel a bit ashamed. Please take such a precious item..."

Before Saori could finish, Asakura shook his head. "I don't have a computer, so there's no point in me keeping it. It's better to give it to someone who can play it."

Actually, he did have a computer, but it was currently back in the Service Club room collecting data and training AI; heaven knows what kind of nonsense it was rendering now.

"Even if Asakura-shi says so..."

"Besides, this is also a thank-you gift."

"A thank-you gift?"

"Yeah, thanks for that scroll of urban legends you gave me before, Saori. A lot of the content in there has been quite useful."

"It was just a small favor, nin-nin~"

"Anyway, take this disc box, or else I'll just have to return that urban legend map to you as well."

"You are truly forceful, Asakura-shi. Since you've put it that way, I can only keep this for you for the time being."

Saori, who usually looked like a careless otaku girl, had the corners of her mouth curl up slightly at this moment, revealing a brilliant smile appropriate for her age.

"I'm up next!"

Eriri, seeing that Asakura seemed to have won so easily, stepped onto the stage slowly like a hero under the incredibly expectant gazes of the surrounding players.

Then, thirty seconds later, she fled back down in a wretched state.