48 Hours a Day - Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Can I Borrow Two Tokens?

Going first had its good and bad sides. If he performed well, he could exert tremendous pressure on his opponent, putting him under a lot of stress. At the same time, that would also mean his trump card would be revealed. The guy speaking fluent Japanese hesitated for a while before choosing to go after his opponent, suspecting that his nemesis was playing tricks on him.

After they made their choices, everyone from the opposing team had their eyes on a plump guy standing amongst them. When compared to others of the same age, he looked like an ordinary, unassuming guy that no one would notice. The outdated Bosideng down jacket that he wore would surely pass unperceived. Earlier, when his friends were playing the shooting game, he just stood there silently without saying a word.

“Why did you guys bring me trouble again?” he asked, then smiled when he realized that everyone was looking at him.

“We are all just hanging out since its Christmas Eve. I will buy everyone supper when this is over,” Wang Bin proclaimed while handing the laser gun to the plump guy.

“This will be the last time I’ll be doing something like this. Teacher Guo advised us to stay out of trouble while we are here.”

The moment he picked up the gun, his temperament switched entirely, as if transforming into another person. One could instantly tell that he was no amateur from the way he held the laser gun. Immediately, the guy fluent in Japanese could feel that something was not right. Still, he was left with a tiny bit of hope that he could beat the plump guy.

The moment the game started, the plump guy’s performance completely annihilated whatever little hope he had. He might have looked ordinary, but his shooting skills were definitely something out of this world. At the early stages of the game, his superb skills weren’t apparent as the game was still easy. When the balloons started appearing faster and faster on the screen, he could still land his shots on the balloons that carried the most points.

His scores were rising steadily. Left in shock, the guy who spoke fluent Japanese realized that his opponent had surpassed his best score, and he still had half a minute left to complete the game. Right until the end, the balloons appearing on the screen became so fast that it almost faded into a blur. It was at that moment that the plump guy started to miss.

It was no longer relevant, however, as his score was high enough for the top prize. Upon seeing the win, the attendant of the arcade carried the giant teddy bear and approached him.

“I don’t need this giant teddy bear,” said the plump guy while putting down the laser gun.

“What now? Do you still want to compete with us?” asked Wang Bin while tapping on the shoulder of the guy who spoke fluent Japanese.

At that very moment, he realized that he had walked into a trap. The plump guy was no ordinary man. There was a reason why he was in the same school as Wang Bin. His forte was clearly not physical sports. From the way he performed just now, everyone realized that he must be a professional Esports competitor.

“You should honor the bet you made since you’ve lost the game.”

Wang Bin then took out his cellphone from his pocket and turned on the camera, switching it to record. The guy speaking fluent Japanese was deeply embarrassed in front of everyone. He knew that Wang Bin had intended all the while to make him look like a fool in public. What he did not expect was his opponent recording anything on video. His reputation would be eternally tainted if the clip were uploaded to the internet.

The worst thing here was that his impulsive decision had also dragged Hayase Asuka and Zhang Heng in with him. Despite all that, however, he did not hear Wang Bin saying anything about the loser having to do whatever he was asked to do.

He was so distracted that he did not realize the two persons beside him were gone. The plump guy harrumphed and saw that a crowd had started to gather around the arcade machine. He pinned the Eastern Tree Leaf drink he was holding under his armpit and picked up the laser gun.

“Can I borrow two tokens from you?”

Suddenly, Zhang Heng voiced out, asking Wang Bin for the coins.

“Not about to give up, huh? Fine.”

Wang Bin then took two tokens from his pocket and tossed it to Zhang Heng, who inserted one of them into the machine and placed the other under the screen.

“This token is for you to challenge my score later,” Zhang Heng told the plump guy.

Immediately, the crowd fell into a hushed silence. Even the guy fluent in Japanese thought that Zhang Heng had gone insane. Everyone saw that the plump guy dominated the shooting game. According to the arcade’s employee, the giant teddy bear had been sitting there for two months, with nobody managing to claim it as their own. This was the first time that someone had won it fair and square.

The plump guy was surprised that Zhang Heng wanted to challenge him. The crowd had started booing, but Zhang Heng chose to ignore them, starting the game instead. Somehow, he held the gun in a rather amateurish way. There was nothing particularly skillful about that.

Then, the tables started turning.

The moment he started firing a few shots, the plump guy quickly suspected that Zhang Heng might actually be better than him.

Outsiders were just there to watch them compete, but a real pro like the plump guy could instantly tell that Zhang Heng was a truly skilled marksman. In the game’s early stages, most players gained points at a predictable rate. Although the balloons had gradually appeared faster and faster on the screen, the plump guy observed that Zhang Heng still maintained his calm, and his performance had remained steady.

Zhang Heng played the game differently from the plump guy. Zhang Heng’s score increased bits by bits. After all the in-game battle-hardened training he got, his observational skills had grown better than most. Unlike the others, he did not impulsively focus only on the highest-scoring balloons while missing out on the rest.

After observing for a while, the plump guy noticed that Zhang Heng would arrange the balloons on the screen based on their value in the shortest time possible. He would not necessarily always shoot the ones with the highest value. Instead, he made sure to take out the rest of the valuable balloons before they left the screen as well. That meant Zhang Heng had to continually change his shooting sequence.

The plump guy had no idea how Zhang Heng managed such an incredible, striking great fear in him. Two minutes soon passed.

When Zhang Heng finally put down the laser gun, he realized that half of the crowd from the arcade center was watching him. Finally, his points on the screen stopped increasing. His final score was 2,765, 636 points higher than the plump guy’s. Hayase Asuka was filled with excitement when she compared the scores.

This time, the group that bullied them was left speechless. Wang Bin quickly turned around and looked at the plump guy hoping that he would start another challenge. The plump guy, however, could only gaze at the coin on the machine with a bitter smile.

“I don’t think I can surpass his final score.”

Wang Bin and the rest of them became deeply embarrassed. Never in their minds did they imagine that he would lose to Zhang Heng. They were at a loss, not knowing what they should do now.