Differential treatment

"Quick, look! The rankings are out!"

"Who's in first place? Is it still that Taiga Oono?"

The arcade in Adachi Ward didn't open until around 8:40.

As soon as it opened, many players rushed in, craning their necks to see the latest ranking list.

"Wow! Someone surpassed Taiga Oono again, and with a record-breaking speedrun time!"

"How did they manage that? I thought Taiga Oono's speedruns were already at their limit."

"Can't say for sure what special techniques they used."

"Hey, look, the speedrunner is from our Adachi Ward!"

"Takasugi Ki! Does anyone know Takasugi Ki?"

The crowd shook their heads in confusion.

They hadn't heard that name before; at least, none of them were acquainted with Takasugi Ki.

Meanwhile, among the crowd, a young man could no longer contain his excitement.

Four first places.

Just the monetary reward alone amounted to 40 million yen.

That's even higher than the annual income of a high-end corporate worker.

And all he did was use a little cleverness on his computer to effortlessly achieve all this. Truly, easy come, easy go.

"Players, please quiet down."

At that moment, a somewhat rough voice echoed.

A bald man stood in front of the television, looking friendly at everyone.

However, his friendly expression somehow made people feel uneasy.

"I'm sure you've all seen the latest rankings. Let's congratulate the player who achieved first place, Mr. Takasugi Ki. Is Mr. Takasugi Ki here?"

"I'm here!"

Takasugi Ki happily raised his hand.

Everyone immediately looked in his direction, then showed expressions of admiration.

"So amazing! Really amazing!"

"Huh? This person looks familiar. I think I've seen him clear a level before, but it didn't seem that fast."

"You probably only saw him in a practice run; after all, there are three attempts in the challenge."

"That makes sense."

Under the admiring gaze of the crowd, Takasugi Ki walked up to Masashi Ota.

The moment he saw Masashi Ota, he felt as if he were being stared down by some fierce beast, causing his body to tremble.

Masashi Ota reached out his hand friendly, warmly patting Takasugi Ki on the shoulder.

"Congratulations. Next, we'll go to Minato Ward for the award ceremony. All players ranked in the top 1% can also go to Minato Ward to receive exclusive prizes. I'll take the winners with me."

Takasugi Ki was thrilled.

At this moment, he began to imagine how he would spend the 40 million yen.

First, buy some luxury items to give to the goddess he had long admired. When she sees his income and fame, perhaps she'll favor him even more.

Then, take the goddess to Hawaii for a wonderful 28-day vacation.

Just thinking about it filled him with hope.

"Um, I wanted to ask, can the prize money and awards be given out today?"

As they sat together in the car, Masashi Ota's previously friendly expression immediately disappeared.

If Takasugi Ki dared to cheat in his Bara-Q machines, he would be in for a severe beating, at the very least. But now, he couldn't act like he did in his delinquent days; savage behavior would only invite more trouble.

Since he couldn't give him a beating, he wouldn't bother with being overly friendly.

Just now, he refrained from tarnishing the reputation of GameStar Entertainment in front of most people.

"Um..."

Takasugi Ki thought Masashi Ota hadn't heard him clearly, so he wanted to ask again, but when he saw Masashi Ota's gloomy expression, he immediately stopped talking, feeling somewhat anxious.

What... what's going on?

Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?

Fortunately, before he showed any signs, Masashi Ota didn't bother saying another word to him. Both of them remained silent as they drove to the arcade in Minato Ward.

By now, the venue for the award ceremony had been set up. To host the ceremony, they even rented a nearby park. Reporters from Tokyo TV arrived promptly, along with some reporters from other newspapers.

And this was somewhat newsworthy.

After getting out of the car, Takasugi Ki felt like he was breathing fresh air. He almost suffocated in the car; Masashi Ota's stern expression was too scary.

Goodness, why does the award ceremony feel like being led to the gallows?

I'm the winner, after all!

Honestly, it seems like I shouldn't participate in these challenges anymore, unless they offer this much prize money again.

After getting out of the car, he naturally attracted a lot of attention.

It was already noon.

Since Adachi Ward was quite far from Minato Ward, and there was also a delay due to machine checks, players from other areas who were interested had been waiting here for a long time.

Takasugi Ki's group was almost the last to arrive.

Takasugi Ki's appearance naturally attracted the attention of the crowd.

"Please find a seat and sit down. We'll have the award ceremony shortly."

After getting off the car, a staff member said somewhat coldly to Takasugi Ki.

This only made Takasugi Ki more dissatisfied.

Why should someone who broke four gaming records be treated like this?

It's obvious they're a bit reluctant to part with their prize money.

If you're not willing to part with the prize money, why host the challenge?

If they're unwilling to easily distribute the prize money and awards later, I'll find a media outlet to sue them!

He reluctantly took a seat, and the person next to him immediately asked curiously, "Hey, friend, who are you? Why did you come so late?"

"I'm Takasugi Ki. Don't mention it, there was a small problem over there; the arcade opened late, so we arrived late."

Takasugi Ki said somewhat unhappily.

"What? You're Takasugi Ki? The gaming god who broke four gaming records?!"

Upon hearing the other person's address and surprised expression, Takasugi Ki immediately smiled proudly and said, "That's right, it's me."

"Then you shouldn't be sitting here. The top ten are all seated up front; they'll be presenting prizes and awards one by one."

"Huh?"

Takasugi Ki was stunned.

What's going on?

"All the top ten are up front?"

"Yeah."

"What? What's going on? Why is the gaming god in first place sitting here?"

Sharp-eyed individuals also gathered around, partly admiring the record-breaking player and partly curious as to why Takasugi Ki was seated here.

After hearing this, Takasugi Ki felt even more dissatisfied. He had already decided that if a TV station or newspaper came to interview him later, he would express his dissatisfaction with them.

After all, he was the winner; this treatment was completely disproportionate!