Chapter 13: Afterglow

The air inside Level Up Arcade was warm and still—no longer buzzing with the clicks and dings of competition, but heavy with the quiet weight of exhaustion and satisfaction.

It was almost 10:00 PM, hours after the Retro Showdown Tournament had officially ended.

The crowd had slowly filtered out over the last two hours—some lingering to chat, others taking selfies in front of their favorite machines. A few even stopped to thank Ethan personally, telling him how they hadn't had this much fun since high school. Or childhood. Or ever.

Now, only the core crew remained inside:

Ethan.

Amanda.

James.

Trevor.

They were all slumped in different corners of the arcade, surrounded by empty water bottles, folded bracket charts, and the last remnants of tournament chaos.

The glow of idle arcade screens pulsed gently around them. Even the machines seemed to be catching their breath.

Victory in the Silence

Ethan sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the Time Crisis cabinet, back against the machine, head resting on the wall. His arms ached. His legs hurt. His brain was fried.

But he'd never felt better.

Trevor was sprawled on a beanbag chair from the back room, sipping what might've been his fifth Gatorade of the night. "So... when's the next one?"

"Don't even joke," Amanda groaned, lying flat on her back on the carpet near the DDR pad.

James didn't say anything—he was still staring at his laptop, which now showed a spreadsheet with final match stats, a folder of video clips, and a stream of live notifications.

"Uh, guys?" he said, squinting. "You should see this."

Ethan sat up. "What's up?"

James turned the screen toward them.

A 30-second clip from the Mortal Kombat II final—Tyler's perfectly timed Raiden fatality—was posted on a local gaming subreddit.

Views: 2.1K. Comments: 43. Upvotes climbing.

Another clip showed Kaylee's Max 300 finish from DDR.

That one was doing even better.

Over 6,000 views in two hours.

And then there was a selfie video of Old Man Rick walking out of the arcade holding his Time Crisis poster, saying, "Still got it." That had been retweeted by a retro shooter account with 90K followers.

Ethan blinked. "No way."

James smirked. "Way. We're going viral, man."

Amanda sat up suddenly. "Are we gonna be famous now? Should I open a merch store?"

Trevor added, "We should get t-shirts. I want one that just says 'Arcade Dad.'"

Ethan chuckled, overwhelmed and giddy. He leaned back against the cabinet again, letting it all settle.

This was real.

They had pulled it off.

And the world was noticing.

Moments of Joy

He thought back to the highlights of the day:

Tyler and Nico holding their prizes like they were championship belts.Marcus and Jun shaking their hands like old coaches passing the torch.Kaylee's mom tearing up as her daughter got a standing ovation.Rick, silently nodding before slipping out into the night like a ghost who just completed a side quest.

And throughout it all, his friends—his volunteers—working tirelessly beside him.

They hadn't just helped.

They had made it possible.

Ethan stood up slowly, brushing off his jeans and walking behind the counter. He rummaged under the register, pulled out a worn zip pouch, and opened it.

Inside was a small envelope for each of them, labeled by name.

He walked over and dropped one in front of each of them.

James looked up. "What's this?"

Ethan smiled. "Payment. For today. For everything."

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "We said we didn't want—"

"I know," Ethan said, cutting her off gently. "But I didn't get to do this alone. You guys ran the floor, kept things moving, fixed problems, made people laugh, helped create something bigger than just a tournament."

Trevor opened his envelope, saw the bills inside, and held up a hand. "Ethan, we didn't do this for money."

"You didn't," Ethan agreed, "which is why you earned it."

They looked at each other.

Amanda sighed first. "Fine. But next time, I want a staff shirt."

"Same," James added. "And a clipboard with my name on it."

Trevor grinned. "Still want that 'Arcade Dad' shirt."

Ethan laughed. "Deal."

[New Quest Complete: Compensate Volunteers – Crew Morale +20 | Loyalty Boosted]

[Business Basics Progress: 62% to Level 3]

Ethan tucked the pouch back under the counter, still smiling.

They sat together in silence for a moment, listening to the soft ambient soundtrack still playing from a nearby cabinet.

Online Echoes

Meanwhile, James refreshed the social feed.

"Dude. We're on TikTok now," he said, pointing. "Someone posted a full bracket recap edit. Dramatic music. Slow-mo DDR finish. It's blowing up."

"Let me see," Amanda said, hopping over.

Trevor joined too.

Ethan stayed where he was, watching them from behind the counter.

The people who had helped him keep this dream alive were now watching it grow beyond them.

And it felt... right.

He pulled up his system window quietly and checked the most recent event log.

[Retro Showdown Tournament – Final Report]

Attendees: 143

Revenue: $787 (not including regular plays)

New Followers: +320 (across all platforms)

Machine Downtime: 0 thanks to emergency repair

Viral Reach: Growing – Next milestone: 10K views total

Customer Feedback: 98% Positive ("Best arcade experience in years")

Arcade Reputation: +++

Ethan leaned back, heart pounding with the kind of calm joy that only came from knowing that—for once—everything was heading in the right direction.

Tomorrow, there'd be cleanup.

Monday, there'd be a spreadsheet full of expenses.

Eventually, someone would still come knocking about that looming rent bill.

But not tonight.

Tonight, they had won.

Together.