I continued to spin the lottery machine and accepted a few more presents while keeping an eye on the tournament progress. Eventually, the first competition reached its final stage, and I settled in to watch.
The four finalists were Kuro, who had been exceptionally skilled throughout the games; Amel-san; Vul... and Elis-san. The latter had lucked out by not being assigned to any blocks with high-level players, allowing her to advance despite being palpably outmatched by the other three. She was currently mounting the stage with the blank, hollow eyes of a dead fish.
To be fair, it wasn't that Elis-san was bad at the game. Being human, she didn't suffer from the reaction-time lag that some of the others did. She had adapted quickly and advanced by steadily picking off opponents who struggled with the controls.
However, she paled in comparison to the other three. Kuro was an overwhelmingly dominant force. Amel-san was a veteran gamer with extensive experience and deep knowledge of character gimmicks. Vul was a natural prodigy who had mastered the game in the blink of an eye with dexterity rivaling Lilia-san's. Elis-san seemed painfully aware of her deficit, and her expression suggested she was silently asking, "Why am I even still here...?"
"And now, we've finally reached the finals! Fate-san, what's your take on this match?"
"Hmm~ Kuro-rin is the clear favorite. In a one-on-one, I'd say she wins without a doubt. But this is a four-player free-for-all with items in play, so it all depends on how the variables shake out."
Just as Fate-san said, Kuro was the most likely victor. If Amel-san and Vul managed to coordinate and focus their fire on her, the outcome might be uncertain... but the character Kuro had selected for the finals was a mid-to-long-range specialized technical character. Although difficult to handle, its ability to fight from a distance made it well-suited for taking on multiple opponents.
Kuro was surely aware that she would be a target and must have already devised countermeasures. All things considered, she held the advantage.
Once the finals began, the battle unfolded as expected, with Kuro maintaining the upper hand. Of course, Amel-san and Vul were experts in their own right, and they managed to land a significant amount of damage, making it a truly high-level contest.
Unfortunately, Elis-san was unable to keep up with the frantic pace and was eliminated early on. Paradoxically, she looked relieved, as if a crushing weight had finally been lifted from her shoulders.
The heated struggle took a decisive turn when Kuro maneuvered perfectly to catch Vul off-guard, eliminating her in an instant. With the battlefield reduced to a duel between Kuro and Amel-san, the momentum shifted entirely. As Fate-san had predicted, Kuro was untouchable in a one-on-one scenario. She overran the persistent Amel-san to claim the championship.
"It's over! Our first winner is Kuro-san!"
"Wow~ that was an even closer match than I anticipated. Kuro-rin would have been in trouble if she’d taken even a few more hits..."
Alice presented the trophy to Kuro, and then came the next event: the exhibition match. In other words, a match against me.
"Now then, as our champion, Kuro-san will now face Kaito-san in an exhibition match. The gift-giving seems to have reached a lull, so let's jump right into it. Is that alright with you, Kuro-san?"
"Yeah, I'm ready. Kaito-kun, look forward to it."
"G-Go easy on me, okay?"
Watching her performance in the finals, I honestly didn't feel like I had a ghost of a chance. Still, I decided to just try and have fun, regardless of the outcome.
Ein-san handed me a controller as an enormous monitor manifested in the venue. The battle was a one-on-one using an HP system. We both started with 999 HP, and the first person to deplete the opponent's two stocks would be the winner.
I chose a well-balanced, easy-to-use character, while Kuro opted for a powerful but highly complex technical character.
"And now, the exhibition match... begin!"
At the signal to start, Kuro's character charged straight at me.
The character she had chosen this time was a "growth" type whose special moves evolved in stages based on damage received. Simply put, it became more powerful the more punishment it took.
Under an HP system, its performance became truly monstrous once its health dropped below 100, easily surpassing any other character in the game. However, it was strictly for advanced players, as it required the user to deliberately manage the damage they took and fight while teetering on the edge of defeat to unlock its full potential.
As a deterrent, I fired off a light normal attack at the approaching Kuro. She made no move to dodge, seemingly intending to take the hit. Since her character's true strength didn't emerge until it took damage, she was likely trying to calibrate her health by soaking up some minor hits. My reflexive poke was exactly what she wanted—I had been baited into striking her.
But when my low-power attack connected, Kuro's character was blasted backward, suffering "over 500 points of absurd damage."
"Wait, what?! Whoa, whoa... H-Hold on! Time! Time out!! Shaltier! You mentioned that Kaito-kun's character was getting a stat boost, but... exactly how much did you buff him?!"
Kuro looked completely blindsided, and for good reason. I, the one who had landed the hit, was just as stunned. I'd heard there was going to be a boost, but since the character's movement speed felt normal, it hadn't really sunk in. If a single light jab dealt 500 damage, a heavy special move would probably be an instant kill...
"Oh, right. I suppose I forgot to explain the details. Let's pause for a moment... Regarding Kaito-san's character, we've buffed the basic stats while leaving the animations and movements untouched. The rate of the buff varies based on the opponent's skill level. The better the player, the higher the stats are boosted. Normally, Canaris-san assesses the opponent and handles the adjustments... but for Kuro-san, at her own request... Shallow Vernal-sama handled the tuning."
"Why would you leave it to Shiro, of all people?! She's the last person you should ever put in charge of balance! Shiro! How much did you buff Kaito-kun's character?!"
"I boosted his stats fiftyfold."
"Fif... fifty...?"
No wonder the damage was so insane. That deterrent poke should have dealt maybe ten damage at best. With a fiftyfold multiplier, it made perfect sense that it had hit for 500.
"Wait, at that rate, any clean hit is going to be a one-hit kill, isn't it?!"
"Indeed."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...I mean... my character is just going to die instantly, isn't it?"
"Is there some problem with that?"
"See!! This is why you can't leave things to Shiro!!"
Shiro-san merely tilted her head in genuine confusion as Kuro protested the absurd power creep. It was, in every sense of the word, classic Shiro-san.
??? [For reference, Kaito-san's character has had its attack and defense power increased fiftyfold by Shallow Vernal-sama, and the properties of certain techniques have been enhanced.]
Serious-senpai: [...Honestly, it’s a mistake to expect any sense of balance from that Natural God.]