Setting Up Flags

Chiyo had a secret. She hadn’t discovered the Gaming Club from a poster that Takae had taped around campus—these posters didn’t even say where the clubroom was. Instead, she’d found the club by tailing after he’d finished putting up these papers, like a character completing a side mission. She admired his passion and grit; he’d advertised everywhere from the billboard outside the faculty lounge to the locked room of the Murder Mystery Club–now, how had he managed that?

I can fix him. I can fix him, Chiyo thought. Just like how I can buy a computer and replace its GPU, so too can I take Matsumura-san and swap out the weirder parts of his brain.

Chiyo had mentally saved the clubroom’s location, and on Tuesday arrived earlier than Takae with a special surprise. Though she was dressed sloppily, with her hoodie covering her school uniform’s blouse, she spoke with a clear, kind voice.

“Hey, Matsumura-senpai, we got off on the wrong foot last meeting,” Chiyo said. “So, I decided to bring a board game that we can both enjoy.”

Takae’s neck muscles bulged.

The box on the table was video game-sized, and her laptop whirred menacingly as though it were an invading robot from a sci-fi film. Two controllers were plugged into the USB slots on the computer’s side, wires slithering into the controller bodies resting on the couch. Chiyo held the plastic box in her hand, finger underlining a key phrase on the cover art.

“A virtual board game. B-o-a-r-d g-a-m-e. Boradu gamu,” Chiyo enunciated. “Repeat the words and understand what they mean. B-o-a-r…”

“You can’t fool me. I won’t be tricked by what’s clearly a—”

“Board game. Board. Game,” Chiyo said, as though she were playing peek-a-boo with a toddler.

Geez! I bring a board game and Matsumura-senpai’s still fighting against it. I downloaded this just for him! I even made this box art to really help sell it to him… I’d understand him not wanting to play a real video game, but this is just an electronic board game that’s supposed to get Senpai used to a controller.

“Hey Senpai, in gym class, you go out of your way to partner with anyone, even if your partner isn’t any good at sports. Are you saying I’m not good enough to game with you right now?”

“I don’t remember doing anything like that.”

“I guess that comes so naturally to you that you don’t even notice.” Chiyo sighed, looking up. The ceiling fan spun, the AC unit rattled and clacked, and a light breeze touched her skin. Takae stared at her with big, furrowed eyebrows, silent, until finally, Chiyo grimaced and sucked in a great, big breath.

She writhed on the couch like a fish freshly caught from the sea.

“Ow, my arms—they’re so cramped I can’t move! It must be because of my terrible gamer posture. How can I possibly play board games with you like this? My hands, thumbs, and wrists are perfectly okay, by the way.”

“We can make some accommodations.” Takae sighed and picked up his controller.

🎮♟️🎮♟️🎮♟️

Chiyo’s cramps mysteriously disappeared, and she was grinning from ear to ear. Takae’s hands wrapped perfectly around the controller she’d set up—probably from its ergonomic design, but also perhaps because he was a natural at playing games this way. Step one of the Senpai Accustomization Plan complete, Chiyo thought, as she booted up the screen.

“Devil Dance is a board game-like video game popular overseas. You go to school in the demon world and after ten weeks, you invite someone to the Monster Masquerade. Levy, Sloey, Asmo, Satanie, Luci, Mammon, Bel, entering a contract with any of the students counts as a win,” Chiyo explained.

“Hmph. They must call this Devil Dance because computers sucked out the soul of the game’s design.”

“Uh, no, Matsumura-senpai. I think the reason they call it Devil Dance is pretty obvious,” Chiyo said, as she flicked through the succubus, fallen angel, and vampire-themed heroines in the sim. “And though it calls itself a board game, there’s not too much strategy involved—just read the story events and most of all, have fun!”

Takae leaned towards the screen, plunged into a campus map of six different sections—a classroom, a library, an athletic field, an amphitheater, a graveyard, and a dungeon—and moved his cursor around with a joystick, muttering to himself as he selected where his character would visit first.

“So I pick locations, meet characters, make event choices. Whenever I make an event choice, it increases or decreases my character’s traits. By choosing carefully, I can raise whichever traits are important to the student I want to ask to the masquerade.”

“You’re quick on the uptake, Takae.”

“This is allegedly a board game, after all.”

Takae’s character appeared on screen, a spitting image of Takae himself.

>>>Takae’s Stats have been initialized: Courage is 0. Intellect is 0. Rizz is 0. Sin is -1.

“That’s quite low, but everyone has to start somewhere. I’ll go to the library first,” Takae mused.

>>Arrived at the library.

“I’d like to study, but that demon girl, Sloey, seems a bit lost. Maybe we can study together? It’ll be more effective that way.”

>>>Roll complete! Courage check passed!

>>>Rizz increased by 1. Sin decreased by 1.

>>>Sloey affection raised.

Takae allowed a slight smile. “Your turn, Fujitaka-san. We only have two hours to finish within club time, so we’ve got to go fast.”

But weeks flew by in Devil Dance, and for Chiyo, it felt like she was spending weeks side by side with Takae. Every quip and comment from him felt like he was boosting her own affection points towards him, and it was fun to strategize and laugh and groan at the story’s gags.

There were moments—minutes, even—where she forgot about their disagreements and simply played the game in front of her. Right now, Chiyo was quite satisfied to bask in the light of her 4K HD 60 hertz monitor and in Takae’s handsome, focused face.

Chiyo started. Takae had squished his handsome, focused nose against the screen. “Wait, what are you doing?”

“Immersing myself,” Takae said. “I’ve learned the rules, so now I’ll follow your advice and try to have fun.”

>>>New System Notification

>>>Takae’s Stats have changed: Courage is 0. Intellect is -5. Rizz is -10. Sin is -1.

>>>Satanie dislikes you more.

“You just called Satanie your heavenly angel! In demon language, that’s deeply insulting–it’d be like mixing up Americans and Canadians…”

“I have my eye on a certain student, so I want to make sure I don’t trigger any more of her events by accident. I’ll just talk to someone like Sloey or Luci instead.”

>>>New System Notification

>>>Takae’s stats have changed: Courage is -10, Intellect is -5, Rizz is -20, Sin is -4.

>>>Sloey now dislikes you.

>>>New System Notification

>>>Takae’s stats have changed: Courage is -20, Intellect is -10, Rizz is -30, Sin is -3.

>>>Everyone now dislikes you.

“Personally, I actually have the most fun when I win. I’ve noticed you have a competitive personality–it’s well-suited for the Gaming Club–so you probably understand that too….” Takae said.

“I like winning, true–but winning doesn’t mean anything if the other person’s trying to lose!”
“I’m not trying to lose though,” Takae said \seriously.

>>>Takae’s Stats have changed: Courage is -30, Intellect is -20, Rizz is -60, Sin is 0.

“Trust the process, Fujitaka-san. It seems I’ve unlocked a hidden event.”

>>New System Notification

>>EXPELLED

Chiyo was speechless. Expelled? Really? He was doing just fine, but then he started acting like he’s possessed. Does Senpai’s brain leave his body whenever he plays anything that’s even close to a video game? Is he allergic to LED screens?

“It’s unfortunate that Devil Dance seems to be not working, but I’ll still try to finish my turn,” Takae continued.

>>New System Notification

>>GAME OVER

Matsumura! You’re not making any sense! You’re not making any sense at all! Chiyo’s thoughts screamed. If you don’t like this game, just tell me! Don’t pretend that you’re dumb!

I’m sorry! I’m sorry for trying to coerce you into doing this! Just return to your senses, Senpai!

Takae set his controller aside, as though putting a warrior to rest. He then rose from the couch, turning towards Chiyo and wearing the same warm expression that he’d had all session.

“Based on the rules, if I take any student to the Masquerade before Week 10, I win, right?” Takae said.

“Well, yes, Senpai, that’s what the tutorial said—but it might be a little late for that now.”

Takae had his hand pressed against his forehead as he spoke, in a confident, commanding tone. “Then I beg your pardon, Fujitaka-san. Instead of Levy, Sloey, Asmo, Satanie, Mammon, or Bel, can’t I go to the dance with you?”

“Huh?” Chiyo’s eyes bulged out as if she were turning into a monster herself.

“The tutorial said I win if I take an academy student to the Masquerade, and your character counts as a student, right?”

“Huh… that’s correct, I guess.”

Takae stood tall, smiling at his own ingenuity, casting a long shadow over the couch on which the two of them had been playing. “Then let’s finish the session in the funnest possible way—in a shared victory. My character declares love for yours. Will you accept?”

“Matsumura-senpai…” Chiyo felt like she was choking. “You’re not allowed to say something like that to me—to my character! If this were the event chain of our relationship, this would still be the second event!” Her voice hitched and rose.

“What’s so embarrassing about trying to win a game?” Takae spoke in his same bold, bombastic tone. He stretched out a lanky arm, though as Chiyo froze, his hand started to shake more and more.

Actually, I just realized this is really embarrassing. Chiyo read Takae’s thoughts from his face.

Chiyo’s own thoughts spiraled faster and faster—

Senpai’s an idiot! He doesn’t think about what he says or does at all! I suppose since he mostly plays board games, he thought he could win however he wanted as long as it was written in the rules, but the system of Devil Dance doesn’t support this move. It literally doesn’t have the code for it. And to ignore the creative vision of the designers, programmers, and artists who put hundreds of hours into this project just so he can salvage first place… why, that’s just an insult to creativity itself.

Chiyo shuddered. She either needed to turn him down or jump out of the clubroom’s window. The Gaming Club was on the Annex’s first floor, so she’d probably survive the five-foot fall—it was the principle that counted. Chiyo licked her lips, tasting the salt, skin and fear.

“I acc—”

She clapped her hands around her mouth, squeaking.

I accept?

Was that what she’d been about to say?

Had she been so swept up by Takae’s passion for her…her character… that she’d forgotten to stand up for her beliefs? That because of her good memories and good feelings towards the President, for just a moment, she’d been willing to forget her passion for video games and give up what made part of her, her. Chiyo had a new understanding of why the game was called Devil Dance—it was as though she’d been about to lose her soul…

Her breathing came as quick and panicked as the sentences in her mind.

“I’m sorry. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. I really can’t. No! I’m saying no! You lose, Matsumura-senpai! You’re a loser! Not in a life way, but in a board game way! And we’re not playing anything like this ever again!” Chiyo spat. She pulled her charger plug from the electric socket, clumsily scooped up the laptop into her arms, and strode out of the clubroom in a clatter of electronics. The door opened again just a second later.

“But I’ll see you tomorrow, Matsumura-senpai,” Chiyo added, before slamming the door shut for good.