Chapter 34: — “Noob at the Keyboard"

Riku adjusted his headset, leaning comfortably back in his gaming chair. The monitor glowed with vibrant colors as his character sprinted across the battlefield. Kenji’s voice crackled through the mic, excited and loud as usual.

“Bro, we’re surrounded! You better have my back!” Kenji shouted.

“Relax, I got this,” Riku smirked, his fingers flying across the keyboard. “You just focus on not dying.”

From the corner of the room, Mika sat cross-legged on her bed with her laptop in her lap. She tilted her head, squinting at the screen, where the game was still installing. Her small frown deepened. “Umm… Riku? It says thirty minutes left. Is that… bad?”

Riku turned his head slightly, annoyed but trying to keep cool since Kenji could hear. “That’s… fine. Just let it finish. Don’t touch anything, okay?”

“I wasn’t gonna!” Mika puffed her cheeks, clearly already fiddling with settings.

Through the mic, Kenji laughed. “Yo, is that Mika? She sounds like she’s already breaking something.”

“I’m not!” Mika quickly leaned toward Riku’s desk, shouting toward his mic. “And I’m not some ‘thing’ to break either, okay!?”

Kenji cackled. “Ohhh, she’s feisty. Riku, man, you sure she’s not your—”

Riku slammed his palm on the desk. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence!” His ears burned. “She’s just… here. Playing. Because she wanted to.”

Mika hugged her laptop tighter, secretly grinning.

By the time her game finished installing, Riku was half-exhausted from carrying Kenji through matches. He pulled Mika’s chair closer to his desk and helped her sit down beside him.

“Okay,” Riku said with the tone of someone about to babysit. “Rule number one: don’t press random buttons. Listen to me. Got it?”

Mika nodded firmly, determination in her eyes. “Got it.”

“Good. Now move forward with W—”

Mika pressed Q. Her character spun in place, waving her weapon around aimlessly.

“…I said W.”

“Ohh! Sorry, sorry.” Mika corrected herself, only to slam her finger on S. Her character immediately walked backward into a wall.

Riku buried his face in his hands. “This is gonna be a long night.”

Kenji wheezed through the mic. “I can’t... oh man, this is comedy gold.”

Mika ignored him, eyes glued to the screen. “Wait, wait, I think I got it now—look, I’m moving! I’m moving, Riku!”

Her character ran straight into a river and drowned.

“...Unbelievable,” Riku muttered.

Minutes passed with Riku trying desperately to explain the basics.

“Press space to jump.”
“Okay.” Presses shift, crouches instead.
“No, that’s crouch.”
“Oh! Teehee.”

“Left click attacks.”
“Like this?” Swings sword at an ally, dealing friendly fire.
“NOT ME!”

Kenji couldn’t breathe from laughing. “Bro, protect your ankles, she’s gonna take you out herself!”

Mika puffed her cheeks, defensive. “Hey, don’t laugh! I’ll get better, you’ll see! I’m gonna… I’m gonna defeat the biggest monster here!”

Riku groaned. “At this rate, the monsters are safer than we are.”

Eventually, they entered a proper match. Riku and Kenji were strategizing over voice chat when suddenly Mika’s panicked shriek cut through.

“RIKU! HE’S CHASING ME! THIS MONSTER’S CHASING ME!!”

“Then attack it!” Riku barked, trying to focus on his own fight.

“How?!”

“Left click! LEFT CLICK!”

“I’m clicking! I’m... oh wait, I healed it…”

Riku’s jaw dropped. “You WHAT!?”

Kenji was howling with laughter. “She healed the enemy! Oh my god, I didn’t even know that was possible!”

“Neither did I!!” Riku shouted back.

After several chaotic minutes, Mika somehow survived by sheer luck. She was panting like she had run an actual marathon.

“Did you… did you see that? I almost died like… five times.”

“You don’t say,” Riku said dryly.

Kenji snorted. “You know what though? I kinda like her playstyle. Pure chaos. Keeps the enemy confused.”

“It keeps ME confused!” Riku snapped. “She’s supposed to be helping me, not giving me a heart attack.”

Mika stuck out her tongue. “Well excuse me for being new.”

But then, something surprising happened. When Riku’s character got cornered by two strong enemies, Mika panicked and slammed random buttons. Somehow, she activated a special ability she didn’t even know existed. A burst of magic exploded from her character, saving Riku just in time.

“Whoa,” Mika gasped. “Did… did I do that?”

Riku stared at his screen, stunned. “…You… actually helped me.”

Kenji whistled. “Yo, not bad! Maybe she’s a natural after all.”

Mika’s face lit up with a wide smile. She turned to Riku eagerly. “Did you hear that? I saved you!”

“…Don’t let it go to your head,” Riku muttered, but his lips curved into the faintest grin.

The night continued with Mika gradually improving. She still screamed every time an enemy appeared, still clicked the wrong buttons sometimes, but slowly, very slowly, she was starting to get it. And every time she succeeded, she looked at Riku with that same proud, shining smile.

Riku found himself softening. As much as she drove him crazy, it was… fun.

Kenji, of course, never stopped teasing. “Man, you two sound like an old married couple bickering. This is great.”

“SHUT UP!” both Riku and Mika shouted in unison, then blinked at each other.

Kenji nearly fell out of his chair laughing.

By the time they logged off, Mika slumped back in her chair, exhausted but grinning ear to ear. “That was… so fun! I wanna play again tomorrow!”

Riku leaned back, arms crossed, still trying to act cool. “We’ll see. You’re… not terrible. Anymore.”

Mika giggled. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Kenji yawned into the mic. “Alright, I’m out. Later, lovebirds.”

“WE’RE NOT—!!” Riku shouted, but Kenji had already disconnected.

Mika giggled again, hugging her laptop. “I like Kenji. He’s funny.”

Riku groaned, burying his face in his hands.