A Predicament

***

The two days of the cultural festival went by in a flash and we were at the third and last day of the festival. We were planning to close our club at 2:30 PM today. We started as always and I kept winning. I didn't lose any match in all the days. It was really surprising for me. Was I really too good or just everyone else was bad at fighting games?

We made 32,700 yen from here. Quite an amount if I say so. Then there was Jiro's concert too. I wondered how much will he get today. As usual, I played and we were free at 2:20 PM. We stopped giving the tickets when the ticket for 2:20 PM was made.

"Good Work."

"You too. Well, you are the one who did all the work though."

"I would say that sitting there all the time making tickets is much more tiring than playing games, to be honest."

"It isn't that much."

"I see. Well, let's clean up then." I stood up and just as I was about to turn off the computer, a guy wearing a black hoodie came in.

"Can I play?" He asked. He was giving off a strange vibe. Unlike anyone I played against in these three days. I hadn't seen him at school too so he was probably a visitor.

"Sorry, the time has already ended and we were about to close," Yoko-san told him.

"Well, shucks. Everyone was talking about how good you were so I wanted to play against you."

"I guess I can play another game," I said. "I still haven't turned off the computer so might as well play with you since you don't seem to be from here."

"This is my birth city. However, I am mostly in Tokyo. I was here for a few days and thought I should visit the festival since I had the chance. Didn't expect there to be a gaming challenge going on though. It was a pleasant surprise."

"Well... this certainly is an unusual idea even though I was the one who came up with it."

"Well then, shall we start?"

"Sure."

"Hey, you sure about this?" Yoko-san asked me.

"Yeah, I feel like this might be a fun match for some reason."

"Alright then. As you see fit."

The match started and I was caught off-guarded. His movements definitely weren't of an amateur. It felt like he was a professional. He swiftly went behind me and attacked me with his special move 'Fire Fist' right off the bat. After that, I tried to attack back but he dodged by jumping from the wall and went behind me again, delivered a critical hit right at the head, and finished with delivering a kick in the ribs. It was a perfect defeat for me.

However, it was only the first match, and fighting games generally consist of three rounds. I had a general idea of his attack pattern now. The second round started and as expected he again tried to go behind me but this time I directly went toward the wall. I mimicked his jump from the first round making it seem like I was going to deliver a kick but instead, I punched him.

Without wasting any time, I then used my special ability against him that froze him in his place and then I slammed him on the floor. He still had a little health left.

"That was a good move." He praised me.

"Thanks for that, although you are much better."

"Well, I guess I am."

I went in for another blow but he managed to avoid it and grabbed my arm slamming me in the floor. I, however, stood up with a rotatory movement of my legs and delivered a critical hit in the head, winning the second round. It was a difficult match. I wouldn't be surprised if I lost.

The third round started. I was ready to dodge him once again when he went behind me but he didn't attack. He slipped between my legs and activated his special ability at the same time. This was a technique that required insane speed and precise timing to perform.

With this, his special ability evolved a little, and instead of a single heavy punch I got hit by five consecutive hits and then got slammed in the ground. I tried to get up and dodge with the few health I had left but he delivered a kick right in the face getting another perfect victory.

I sighed. I could see the visual surprise on Yoko's face as she was stunned by the high level of the game she just saw. She was with me here for three days. She understood full well that this was not just another usual game. This was a professional-level play.

"Congrats! It was a total defeat for me." I shook hands with him and gave him his reward.

"You are a really great player."

"Well, thanks." He was about to go but turned back from the door.

"Would you mind joining my team?"

"Team? What do you mean?"

"Oh yeah! I should introduce myself first. My name is Terada Hideki, Gamertag Raiden. The leader of the SKIMMERS team which won the National Immortal Combat Championship this year. Nice to meet you. You can call me Hideki or Raiden."

"W-wait, you mean THAT Raiden."

"Yeah, THAT Raiden." I definitely knew about him. 

I was not in Esports but this name was plenty famous due to a totally perfect victory against opponents in the national tournament. That is why he was such a pro at playing. Just then, the more important realization hit me.

"Wait, did you just meant to ask me to join your team SKIMMERS?!"

"Yes, precisely."

"But why? I am not even that good."

"No, you are plenty good and you have a lot of potential."

"But don't you guys have already four members?"

"Well... Our team member 'Destroyer' died a few months ago due to illness."

"Oh... I see." I didn't know how to react to that.

"Don't get gloomy over this. We were plenty sad about it but we can't just put a stop to everything forever. Gotta move on, you know. Besides, he won't like it if we disbanded the team because of this."

"I respect you for that." I knew pretty well how it was to lose someone close to you. It took me a lot of time to recover from that.

"So well, we are now finding someone to join our team. I wasn't expecting to find someone here though. So would you join? Or is there something else you want to do?"

"Uhhh... well..." At this point I realized. I had no dream for myself. I had never really thought about anything regarding the future. What is it that I want to do?

"You can take your time though. It is an important decision. You can call me later to tell me your decision. Here, my contact info."

"Oh yes." I snapped out of my thoughts and shared the contact info.

"Also, you know, you can really just join to give it a try too. We won't force you to stay if you join once. You will always be free to leave, except right before tournaments of course."

"But I would have to come with you to Tokyo, right?"

"For tournaments yes, not only Tokyo but other cities too. Besides that, you can practice with us fine online from here."

"But am I really that good enough though? I mean I wasn't even able to defeat you."

"Look, don't put yourself down so much. You are plenty good even right now. You managed to defeat me in a round after all. And that is a pretty big thing, in my opinion. With training, you can definitely become one of the top players. I would personally like to see your skill in FPS and racing games too."

"I-I see..."

"Well, think about it and let me know later. See ya."

"Yeah, I will. Bye." And he left leaving me with a predicament.

"H-hey, Isn't this a pretty great deal?" Yoko finally spoke. I could see that she was still trying to process everything that had unexpectedly happened. The same was the case with me.

"Yeah, it is."

"Hey! Who was that?" Kayo just entered the club room. It was a bit later than our meeting time after all.

"Hey listen, Just no-" I signed Yoko-san to not tell anything for now. I need to organize my thoughts now.

"I will tell you and Jiro later about what just happened. Let's just enjoy for now."

"Well, I don't really get what you mean by that but I will wait if that's what you want."

"Thanks."

Now then, what am I going to do about all this?