In the sanctuary of the God Realm, where Shallow Vernal resided, she and Kuromueina were sharing a quiet cup of tea.
"By the way, Kuro. Are you aware that Kaito-kun is opening a festival stall?"
"Eh? Yeah, I know. But what about it?"
"Take a look at this."
As Kuromueina tilted her head in confusion, Shallow Vernal produced a single paper bag and presented it to her.
"These are the prototype Baby Castella Kaito-kun made first. Are you jealous?"
"Eh? No, I’m planning to enjoy them on the actual day to get the full festival experience. I’m looking forward to buying them then, so I don’t really mind..."
"Does it frustrate you to have fallen behind me regarding the Baby Castella that define your very identity?"
"...No. Like I said, I’m not really competing over the order in which we get them."
"I was first. Kuro was second."
"...I don't know what's gotten into you. As I've been saying, I don't care about the order, but Shiro... the way you’re acting so incredibly smug about it is starting to get on my nerves."
Kuromueina couldn't read Shallow Vernal's minute facial changes as well as Kaito could, but even she could tell that Shallow Vernal was wearing a blatant Doyaaa Face.
In truth, her expression remained as static as ever, but because massive 3D text reading "Doyaaa" had manifested in the air behind her, Shallow Vernal's mental state was literally spelled out for all to see.
"My win. Kuro’s loss."
"I didn't lose! We weren't even having a contest! Seriously, Shiro, are you picking a fight with me? Is that why you called me here today?"
"I see. So this is what they call the howling of a sore loser."
"...Huh? I told you, I didn't lose! You’re being weirdly provocative today, aren't you? There’s nothing for you to gain by making me angry, so can we just drop this?"
A vein throbbed in Kuromueina’s forehead, but she tried her best to remain calm. Shallow Vernal’s true intentions were a mystery, but given how blatant the provocation was, it was clear she was trying to bait a reaction. Kuromueina managed to maintain a modicum of composure.
More than anything, it was galling to think she might be dancing right into Shallow Vernal’s hands.
"Very well."
"Good. I’ll just pretend this conversation never happened. Let’s get back to our tea..."
"It would be cruel to bully the loser any further, after all."
"...That’s it. Challenge accepted. I’m going to blow you away."
"To actually seek out a second defeat... you certainly are an eccentric one."
"I haven't even lost once yet!"
Even Kuromueina had a breaking point. She and Shallow Vernal were close enough that they didn't feel the need to hold back, which often led to bickering, making her self-restraint even thinner than usual.
As Kuromueina stood up, dark smoke swirling around her in her fury, Shallow Vernal spoke with a calm voice.
"Then, let us settle this here."
"...Wait, what’s that?"
"It is the same otherworld game I gave Kaito-kun for his birthday."
"...Excuse me?"
Shallow Vernal suddenly placed a black, box-like device on the table. Kuromueina’s anger vanished instantly, replaced by a look of utter bewilderment.
This was a development she hadn't seen coming at all.
"Kaito-kun likes games. He often plays this gift with the others from his world."
"...Yeah. And?"
"I wish to play games with Kaito-kun and enjoy ourselves. However, while I have acquired some knowledge about them from the Earth God, I have never actually played one. I decided that practice was necessary."
"...Meaning?"
"Some of these games allow two people to play against each other. Therefore, I required an opponent."
"Wait, all of this was for that!? You’ve been insulting me for the last ten minutes just to bait me into playing a game with you!? Couldn't you have just asked normally? I wouldn't have said no..."
"Hmm. I shall keep that in mind for next time."
Kuro had thought Shiro was being uncharacteristically inflammatory, only to realize it was all a ruse to secure a player for a competitive game. Kuromueina sighed, exasperated by Shallow Vernal’s characteristic airheadedness.
Still, she had no reason to refuse, so she sat beside her and picked up a controller.
"...Though the fact that Kuro is about to lose repeatedly remains unchanged."
"I told you, I haven't lost! ...Seriously... I’m going to crush you."
With that final jab, Kuromueina fixed her gaze on the screen projected in midair with newfound intensity.
And so, Shallow Vernal and Kuromueina began their gaming session, but...
"Hey, Shiro! This thing isn't responding! Look, it’s way too slow!!"
"How foolish, Kuro. This device was calibrated for human capabilities. If you cannot adapt to its pace, you will simply lose... Oh."
"You aren't adapting either, Shiro! Your character is just twitching all over the place!!"
"...Unbelievable. It does not even register a response within one ten-thousandth of a second..."
"It might be slow for us, but normal humans can't react that fast anyway!"
Both of them were struggling immensely. Kuromueina and Shallow Vernal possessed such overwhelming power that the game's internal processing couldn't keep up with their inputs, making play nearly impossible.
"Ugh, this is harder than I thought. Regardless of our physical strength, our reaction speeds are just reflexive. Once you press a button, it's locked in for so many frames... Plus, it won't even recognize button mashing past a certain speed. We have to throttle ourselves."
"It certainly is more troublesome than I anticipated."
"Maybe we shouldn't have started with something this fast-paced. Do you have anything more relaxed... like a board game? We should probably get used to the interface with something like that first."
"A fair point. Let us try something with less intensive movement then..."
They were both complete novices when it came to gaming, so a steep learning curve was only natural.
"...Actually, I just realized something."
"What is it?"
"We're currently struggling because we aren't used to this, right? If we challenged Kaito-kun now, it would be a fair match... or rather, Kaito-kun would probably have the advantage because of his experience. Wouldn't it be more exciting to play with him while we’re still like this, instead of waiting until we’ve mastered it and learned how to compensate for the lag?"
"...You have a point..."
Engaged in their chatter, the two continued to play the otherworld game, laughing and bickering like the old friends they were.
Serious-senpai: "It’s that same issue from the racing games—having base stats that are too high actually makes the game harder..."
???: "I can play them just fine, though."
Serious-senpai: "Well, you probably already had plenty of experience playing them in your original world."