h

Taking out her phone, Emma quickly sent a message to someone.

Not long after she sent the message, a man wearing a neat grey suit that perfectly outlined the general structure of his body came down from a set of stairs in the distance.

The man was rather old as he had thin gray hair and a well-trimmed mustache. Despite his age, the man looked extremely refined and elegant.

With a bright smile, the man greeted Emma.

"Why if it isn't the young miss, what do I owe you the pleasure of coming here"

"Fix him up"

Cutting to the chase, Emma pointed at me. Staring in the direction of where Emma pointed at, the old man covered his mouth, "Oh my, him?"

Expecting such a reaction, Emma sighed and nodded her head, "Yeah, he's a lost cause"

"I can see that, what's the budget"

Looking at me, Emma asked the old man, "How much does a suit typically cost?"

Taking out a small tablet from his pocket, the old man patiently explained, "Depends on what type of materials we use to make the suit. Generally, our prices usually range from 5,000 U all the way to 100,000 U. With 100,000 U using the felt of some beasts coming from the outer regions"

Hearing Emma's and the man talking, excluding their shit talk, one thing caught my interest.

The prices of the suits.

They were much cheaper than I had expected.

Perhaps because I tended to spend millions of U with every purchase I made, the price for suits seemed rather cheap to me at the moment.

I had honestly expected to be asked an absurd amount of money to make a suit, but I guess my perception of money had inflated too much.

In the end, interrupting the discussion Emma and the old man were having, I chose the most expensive option.

"Give me the best that you've got"

Since I could afford it and it wasn't going to hurt my pockets, I may as well go all in.

With a big smile on his face, the old man caressed his hands. Turning around, the old man urged me to follow him.

"Very well, please follow me so that we can take your measurements"

"Sure"

Scrolling through the tablet that the old man held before, Emma casually said "Whilst you take the measurements, I'll choose the suits with the others"

Halting my steps, I protested "Wait, why can't I choose?"

Right after my words fell, everyone's stared at the clothes I was wearing. As if stating the obvious, Emma disdainfully said, "What gives you the right to ask after wearing such monstrosity?"

Offended, I looked towards Kevin for moral support "Was it really that bad?"

Deeply staring at me, Kevin bluntly nodded his head, "Yup"

With a hurt look on my face, I looked at Amanda. Feeling my gaze, Amanda turned her head to the side and pretended that she didn't see anything.

"..."

Clenching my teeth, I squinted my eyes, "Fine..."

Bunch of traitors.

Following the old man upstairs, we soon arrived in front of a small wooden room filled with suits.

Without wasting any time, the old man took out a measuring tape. Using the measuring tape, the old man measured every part of my body from waist, chest, calves, and biceps.

"Alright, we're done"

A minute after he took the first measurement, the tailor quickly wrote down all of my sizes on a piece of paper. Once he finished taking my measurements, we quickly headed back downstairs to meet the others.

Noticing my arrival, Emma casually glanced at me, "You're done?"

"Yeah"

Squinting my eyes, my sharp gaze met Kevin's. After a couple of seconds, unable to bear my piercing stare, Kevin lowered his head.

That's right.

Lower your head traitor.

Unaware of my exchange with Kevin, Emma casually handed the tablet back to the old man "Alright, we've already selected a suit"

"Oh? Can I see it?"

Shaking her head, Emma refused. "We've already ordered it, you'll see it once it arrives"

"..."

Opening my mouth, no words came out.

Did they seriously just buy me a suit without asking whether I liked it or not?

"Please follow me to the register to pay"

Smiling brightly, the old man made his way towards the register.

Dejectedly following the old man to the register, handing him my card, I paid for the suit that Emma and the others choose for me. After paying the bill, I turned around and made my way out of the shop as the old man reminded me of a few things.

"Thank you for your purchase, your suit will be delivered to you in a couple of days. In case your suit breaks, make sure you come back to us so we can fix it. We provide a two-year warranty"

"Sure, thank you"

Exiting the store and reuniting with the others, Kevin checked his watch and asked.

"Where should we go now?"

With me having finally purchased a suit, we now had time to properly enjoy ourselves and do whatever we wanted.

Emma was especially excited at the moment as her eyes shone brightly. Looking towards the distance, she exclaimed.

"Arcade! We are going to the arcade!"

Without waiting for anyone else to respond, Emma grabbed Amanda by the arm and forcefully dragged her into the arcade.

From how fast she was moving, she seemed to be itching to go.

"..."

Staring at Amanda who was helplessly being dragged around by Emma, a trace of sympathy flashed across my eyes.

"This is why she always rejects Emma"

"How did you know?"

Confused, Kevin asked. To which I shrugged my shoulders and casually said.

"Just a hunch"

"...what a terrifying hunch"

Glancing at me and nudging his head, Kevin suggested.

"...So, we also going to the arcade?"

"But of course"

Without hesitation, I replied.

I was also raring to go to the arcade. Especially since I was really curious as to how arcades in this world looked like.

Would there be 4-D pac-man games? 4-D donkey kong?

Just the thought made me excited.

Following Emma through the busy streets, we soon arrived in front of a large building with a large sign with? [Blisscore Arcade] engraved on it as different lights blinked around it.

By the time Kevin and I arrived at the arcade, Emma and Amanda were already long gone.

A small crowd appeared at the front of the building as they stared at the insides of the building with interest. Multiple different lights flashed from the insides of the building, as we could faintly hear the sound of music playing.

"This the place?"

"Should be"

Staring at the crowd outside of the shop, Kevin asked "Should we go in?"

"Yup"

Pushing through the small crowd that had gathered at the entrance of the building. Lifting my sleeves up, a smirk appeared on my face.

"Make way for me you noobs!"

If there was one thing I was good at back in my world, it was the arcades. Whenever I had spare money I would always go to the arcade to play some games.

After having accumulated countless hours of experience, I was confident.

I was confident that there was no game I couldn't beat.

Chapter 197 - Relaxing Times[3]

"How much do you want to change?"

"Let's go with 5,000 U first"

With a bright smile, the cashier of the arcade greeted me. Handing my card to the cashier, the cashier quickly scanned the card and handed me a black card along with my bank card.

"Thank you for your patronage"

"Yup"

"Sure"

I took the card and turned around.

To be honest, I was just as excited as Emma was. I loved arcades. Glancing behind me, I looked at Kevin who was patiently waiting in line and shouted.

"I'm gonna go play some games, meet me once you're done"

Turning his head, Kevin nodded his head.

"Sure"

"Alright"

...

Roaming the arcade, I couldn't decide on which game to play first.

'Which game should I play first? Hmm, should I try the classics or the new ones? Oh, that one over there looks nice'

There were just so many games that I wanted to play.

From the virtual race car game to 4D Pac-man, there were just so many options to choose from.

"...this is rigged!"

Whilst I was pondering on which game I should play, I suddenly heard a familiar voice in the distance.

Without even needing to look at who the voice belonged to, I instantly knew that it belonged to Emma.

Turning around and glancing in her direction, I spotted her fiercely staring at the machine before her. Poor Amanda was next to her trying to calm her down.

The sight looked rather comical.

"Emma, please don't shout"

"Is money what you want!? Take it, I've got enough for the likes of you!"

Ignoring Amanda, Emma furiously glared at the machine as she cursed.

'Ah, she's playing the crane game'

With her hand carefully controlling the joystick of the machine, Emma's lips were plucked outwards as she fully immersed herself in the game.

Lowering the crane, Emma successfully picked up a stuffed teddy. Excitedly looking at Amanda, Emma exclaimed.

"I can feel it, this time I'm going to win!"

"mhm"

Having heard the same words more than five times already, Amanda bitterly nodded her head.

"I've got this, come on..."

With her tongue out, Emma slowly moved the joystick. She was so immersed in the game that she did not notice me coming from behind her. Controlling the joystick, Emma tried to move the claw towards the small hole on the bottom left of the machine.

-Plap!

Unfortunately, she failed as the teddy bear fell before she could reach the hole. When she saw this, Emma's face turned red.

"Shit!"

Sitting down on the machine next to her, I said "That's not how you do it"

Turning around, Emma shouted, "Who is it?"

"It's me"

Finally noticing me, Emma's voice became monotonous, "Ah, it's you"

"What an enthusiastic reply"

"What? did you want me to be excited or something?"

Shaking my head, I pointed at the machine before her and said "Nevermind that, you're playing the game wrong"

Raising her brow, Emma mocked "What? Are you some kind of expert or something?"

Nodding my head, I proudly puffed my chest, "In fact I am"

This was not a lie.

In fact, the very reason why I was so good at this game was because back on earth I used this machine to make some spare change.

By winning the bears and selling them on the internet, I was able to make a small profit. With that, I was able to fuel my arcading addiction.

Not believing my statement one bit, Emma suddenly smiled as she thought of something, "Alright if you're such an expert, how about we make a bet"

Instantly, I frowned "A bet?"

Nodding her head, Emma elaborated, "Yeah, how about this. I'll pay for the next fifteen games, and if in those fifteen games you manage to get even one bear, It'll count as my loss. However, if you don't get any bear during those fifteen tries, It'll count as my win"

Hearing the terms of the bet, I almost laughed out loud.

Fifteen tries?

I didn't even need two and I was certain I could win.

Trying my best to keep a straight face, I frowned slightly. With a solemn expression on my face, I nodded my head, "Sounds fair, what are the terms of the bet?"

Having caught my interest, Emma laughed inside of her heart. She knew that she had baited him.

It was already her fiftieth try, and she had still not got a bear. The machine was rigged and Emma knew it. There was no way she was going to lose this bet.

This was her chance to get back at him!

Trying her best to keep a straight face, Emma proposed.

"If you win, dinner's on me. Regardless of place, I will pay"

"What if I lose?"

Emma smirked, "he...If you lose?" Crossing her arms, Emma cocked her head up a little, "If you lose I want you to apologize to me"

Hearing the terms, I tilted my head "Apologize? Apologize for what?"

Glaring at me, with her arms still crossed, Emma gritted her teeth "For being rude to me"

"What? When have I ever been rude to you?"

Snapping her head at me, she bared her teeth "Don't pretend that you don't know!"

"ehh...okay, sure?"

Seeing how snappy she was being, with a confused look on my face I didn't ask for more details.

Even though I didn't know what she was talking about, it didn't really matter. I was gonna win anyway.

I was that confident in my skills.

With a confident look on her face, Emma extended her hand, "Deal?"

'Hmph, let's see for how long you can keep that arrogant attitude of yours. I'll use this chance to get my revenge on you'

Irked by her attitude, I smiled and shook her hand, "Deal"

'Since you're asking to be humiliated, don't blame me for humiliating you'

Turning her head towards Amanda, Emma said, "Amanda, you can attest for the bet"

Alternating her eyes between me and Emma, Amanda helplessly nodded her head.

"Okay"

Tapping her black card on the side of the machine, the number fifteen was instantly displayed on the right side of the machine as the mechanical claw returned to its regular position. Standing up and taking the seat next to it, Emma smiled as she patted the machine, "Alright, you can start"

"I won't be polite"

Taking Emma's seat, I took the joystick.

In one swift motion, I quickly moved the claw machine to the right. Stopping right before one of the bears, standing up I looked around the machine to see if I had gotten my angles right.

In order to make the game harder, the workers tended to change the strength of the claw throughout the day. Knowing this, I knew that I couldn't rely on the claw of the machine. Only proper angles could help.

"Perfect"

After finding the right spot, sitting back down I pressed on the red button of the machine.

Staring at me intently, Emma snorted, "Hmph, I wanna see where your confidence comes from"

Emma firmly believed that the game was rigged.

There was no way he could win.

Unfortunately for her, she had spoken too soon. As soon as the claw clutched the bear, it quickly went back up and deposited the bear in the bottom left compartment. Staring at the bear in my hand in disbelief, Emma's face turned red as her voice raised a few pitches.

"...w-what! Impossible!"

Smirking at Emma, I casually said "I guess dinner is on you today"

Recovering from her stupor, Emma gritted her teeth, "Y-you!"

Raising my brow, I teased "What, you not going to honor the bet?"

"Who said I'm not! Amanda let's get out of here"

Gnashing her teeth, Emma tried to drag Amanda aways. At the moment she wanted to bury herself inside of a hole.

She was too embarrassed.

Seeing that Emma was about to leave, I shouted "Wait, who said I'm done"

'You think I'm just going to let you run away after only one bear?'

No, no, no.

I was going to thoroughly crush her pride today.

Halting her footsteps, Emma looked at me in confusion "You're not done?"

"Watch me"

Turning around, I once again repeated the same process. This time, I failed.

Seeing me fail, Emma felt slightly better as she couldn't resist the urge to mock me, "I guess you were just lucky"

Glancing at her from the corner of my eyes, my lips tugged upwards

"Oh really?"

"Yup, just dumb luck"

Smirking, I once again turned my attention back to the claw machine. Repeating the same process as before, this time I succeeded. Opening her eyes wide open, Emma's mouth dropped to the ground.

"W-what! How come!"

Staring at Emma, I mocked "Luck"

Gnashing her teeth together, Emma's chest heaved up and down unevenly. Not bothered by this, I turned my attention back to the game.

For the next couple of minutes, I continuously harvested teddy bears as a crowd slowly formed around me. Not minding it one bit, I skillfully controlled the joystick and once again took another bear.

"And that's the sixth!"

In the end, after I used up all of the fifteen tries, the total harvest came to six bears.

Emma, who stood by the side looked as though she had seen a ghost as her complexion was extremely pale. Pointing at me, she weakly said.

"Y-you're cheating!"

Rolling my eyes, I retorted, "I've been using the same machine you were using before. If I had cheated someone would've been able to tell. Moreover, you were right next to me the whole time. If I had cheated, you would've noticed it immediately"

Unable to refute, Emma dejectedly lowered her head in defeat. "Ghh..."

"Here"

Ignoring Emma, I casually threw one of the teddies in Amanda's direction. Confused, she asked, "Me?"

"Take it, I don't need this teddy"

From the very beginning, Amanda had been staring at the bears with a longing look on her face. I wasn't dense. With her secretly loving cute things, I knew that she wanted the teddy bear.

Thus, I gave her one.

The other five were for Nola.

"Thank you"

Thanking me and taking the teddy, Amanda's face did not change.

Seeing her reaction, I shook my head.

Even though it did not show from her expression, at the moment she was very happy. I could tell since whenever Amanda was happy, her brows tended to go up.

Just a small character trait that she had.

Weakly tugging Amanda's sleeves, Emma said "Let's go Amanda, I'm no longer in the mood to play this game"

"Okay"

Putting all of the teddies in my storage space, we went out separate ways.

During the time, I roamed around the arcade looking for new games to play. In the end, we spent a total of two hours inside of the arcade before we finally decided to leave and have dinner.

To honor her bet, Emma invited everyone to a fancy restaurant that resided on the top of a high-rise building.

Since it was free I naturally did not hold back and ordered the most expensive dish they served.

'Steamed Arcane Sparrow glazed sprinkled with a touch of white truffle and a side of foie gras'

With her mouth open, staring at me who was gulping down the food like a starved beast, Emma exclaimed "Although I said I was going to pay for everything, did you really have to order the most expensive dish? Two at that?"

Stuffing myself with the food, I gave Emma a casual look. "Hm? You're loaded anyways, this is merely spare change for you"

"No, that's not the point"

"Soo good"

Ignoring Emma, I blissfully ate the food before me as my tonsils jumped with joy. With every bite of the dish I took, juices would come rushing into my mouth promoting me to eat more.

Staring at me, Kevin shook his head as he tried to console Emma. On the other side of the table, sitting next to me, with a knife and fork, Amanda cut the steak before her as she took small bites of the steak.

Ignoring the others, as I ate my food, I couldn't help but reminisce at my past self back on earth where I would continuously eat fast food every day as it was cheap. Even after I came into this world I had not treated myself to proper high-end food.

I have to say, after today, my palate will forever be changed.

Instant noodles? To hell with that I say!

After an hour, I was finally stuffed. With a dark look on her face, Emma went to the cashier and paid for the food.

In the end, the total bill for the food came at a whopping 750,000 U. As the food was made from rare beasts and herbs, it was naturally very expensive.

Staring at the bill in Emma's hand, I took a step to the side and whistled in the air.

'Let's just pretend that 450,000 of that 750,000 wasn't just me'

Unfortunately, my wish did not come true as Emma glared and cursed at me.

"You! How can you eat so much! You pig!"

Shrugging my shoulders, I hid behind Kevin "You are the one who proposed the bet. It's on you not me, plus you're rich anyway, this shouldn't be too much for you anyways"

"Hmph!"

Crossing her arms, Emma turned her head away from me and proceeded to ignore me. Noticing how angry Emma was, I frowned.

'Why is she reacting this much?'

I was honestly confused. Since I had created her, I knew her character best. And I knew that she wasn't a stingy character as she never bothered forking out millions of U for useless stuff.

Stepping in, Kevin tried to calm Emma down.

"Alright guys calm down, how about we go back to the academy for now. It's already getting late"

Hearing Kevin's remarks and calming down a bit, Emma nodded her head, "Fine"

"Good"

Like that, the shopping trip came to an end as we all took the air train back to the academy.

...

Outside of the train station, near the Lock.

After parting ways with Emma and Amanda, only Kevin and I remained.

Looking at me, Kevin said, "Weren't you being a bit too harsh on Emma?"

"Me? harsh? I was just teaching her a lesson"

"What lesson?"

Without hesitation, I replied, "Don't bet against me. You're bound to lose if you do so"

Unless I was certain about my victory, I was not the guy who would take a bet.

That was my principle.

Therefore, if I ever accepted a bet, it was because I was certain that I was going to win.

Shaking his head, Kevin patted me on the shoulder and changed the topic, "If you say so. Anyhow, I wish you the best of luck for tomorrow"

Confused, I looked at Kevin, "What are you talking about?"

Smiling mysteriously, Kevin didn't answer as he walked towards his dorm.

"Good luck"

"Wait, hold on, tell me what's going on!"

With his back facing me, Kevin casually said.

"You'll see tomorrow"

"What, come on!"

Despite all of my protests, Kevin refused to answer me. In the end, shaking my head, I muttered "What's up with him being so vague?"

'Tsk, what a terrible friend. First, he betrays me, and now this? Hmph, I'll get you back in the future'

...If it were me, I would've immediately have told him everything.

Turning around as I kicked a rock to the side, I wondered what Kevin meant by good luck. Was something going to happen tomorrow that I was not aware of?

Unfortunately for me, I would only find out what Kevin was referring to tomorrow.

And when I did find out, my face twisted so much that my charm dropped all the way down to H rank.