When I finished washing the ashtray and was wiping my hands, my phone rang.
Jiang Xia picked up his phone, glanced at the caller ID, and saw that it was a call from his blond-haired subordinate.
Delinquent teenagers aren't delinquents every day.
Normally, they also skip classes, mess around, and work part-time for pocket money like regular people…
The difference is that delinquents also gather periodically for meetings to confirm that they are still themselves, those unique rebellious teenagers.
Actually, Jiang Xia felt that these gatherings were a bit of a formality.
But the subordinates were still good people, and they were also very easy to fool at critical moments… Ahem, they could be very useful.
So, necessary social interaction still had to happen.
For example, today was the weekend.
As per tradition, they were going to hit the arcade in the afternoon to break some records.
Afterward, they'd have a meal together.
Finally, when night fell and it was quiet, they'd ride motorcycles on less crowded roads, acting like a gang of bikers who came and went like the wind.
…
These past few days, Jiang Xia's energy had been focused on “how to make the Ghost Fetus give up on random pairings” and “how to trick the Ghost Fetus into voluntarily signing a contract.”
Plus, he habitually skipped classes, so he hadn't paid attention to what day of the week it was.
He almost stood them up for this weekly routine…
Jiang Xia answered the call from his subordinate.
By this time, the blond-haired subordinate and the other subordinates were already settled in the arcade.
Jiang Xia said he'd be there soon and headed out to meet up with his unreliable friends.
…
Originally, he thought this would also be an uneventful day.
Who knew that when he got near the arcade and was about to enter, the Ghost Infant suddenly poked him excitedly.
Jiang Xia froze and looked in the direction it was pointing.
He saw a black Porsche quietly parked in the shade of a tree across the street.
Jiang Xia: “…” This car looks really familiar.
…Hmm, those murderous eyes in the window crack are even more familiar.
Jiang Xia accidentally made eye contact with his superior in the car, and his steps towards the arcade instantly halted.
With the Ghost Fetus, Jiang Xia was actually no longer afraid of Gin.
But no matter what, Gin was still a superior who had intermittently paid him for a year.
Going to the arcade to play video games in front of a superior who was busy as a top…
It felt like playing games with his legs crossed while the teacher was huffing and puffing, carrying buckets and mops to clean the classroom.
…His professionalism hurt a little.
Jiang Xia hesitated and stopped.
But then he thought, since Gin hadn't actively looked for him, it meant there was nothing for him to do, and going over uninvited didn't seem right either.
Thinking this, Jiang Xia took another step towards the arcade.
After taking the step, he looked back again.
He saw Gin exhale a puff of smoke and silently roll up the car window.
…He didn't know if he felt that this behavior of “wasting time in the arcade” was reprehensible and wanted to avoid seeing it.
Or if he envied Jiang Xia for being able to play on the weekend.
Or if he simply wanted to pretend not to know him…
…
Once the car window was closed, his view was blocked by the dark tint, and he couldn't see Gin anymore, so Jiang Xia immediately felt much more at ease.
He continued walking towards the arcade, secretly dropping the Ghost Infant onto the ground at the same time.
The Ghost Infant knew exactly what its master was thinking.
While still in mid-air, it flapped its arms, struggling to float towards Gin's direction, and after landing, it moved its short legs and ran straight for the Porsche.
…
The driver's seat of the Porsche was empty.
Jiang Xia guessed that Vodka was handling something nearby.
Gin probably wouldn't leave before he returned.
As he thought about it, Jiang Xia couldn't help but feel a little anticipation:
After so many days of not seeing him, Gin must have accumulated new murderous aura that he could harvest…
Since he had rarely encountered him, how could he not take some?
Although the effect was minimal, this could be considered helping his hardworking superior reduce stress.
Reasonable, very reasonable, and very conscientious.
…
As Jiang Xia thought, he entered the arcade and sat down at a game machine near the window.
In his peripheral vision, the clever Ghost Infant ran across the street, first climbing onto the Porsche's body along the tire, then it pressed against the car door and squeezed in with a gurgling sound.
Jiang Xia idly wiggled the joystick of the game machine, pretending to play, while concentrating on watching.
Just then, the sound of a game over effect came from beside him.
…
—Next to him, the blond-haired subordinate sighed unhappily, looking at the “Game Over” filling the screen.
As he returned to the main menu, he glanced at Jiang Xia next to him.
Then he was shocked to find that his boss was actually showing a faint smile at the screen.
The blond-haired subordinate froze, then got excited: “Did you break the record? What's the new record?”
Saying that, he eagerly leaned over to look.
He saw that on the screen of his all-rounder boss, there was also an identical “Game Over.”
Unlike his own, a conspicuous zero was suspended in the scoring area in the upper right corner.
Blond-haired subordinate: “…?!”
He pondered for a moment and understood.
—If someone else got 0 points, they definitely didn't know how to play and crashed immediately at the start.
But his boss was different.
…This must be a new way of entertainment his boss discovered!
—To control the plane, avoid all scoring points, get 0 points, and at the same time, not fall into traps and fly to the finish line.
It was equivalent to doubling the number of things to avoid.
This was a very challenging operation!
Thinking this, the blond-haired subordinate rolled up his sleeves, sat back in his seat, and with a strong experimental spirit, reinserted a coin and pressed restart.
This time, he no longer controlled the plane to eat those scoring orbs, but instead avoided all orbs while also avoiding bombs, to prevent the game from ending directly.
On the interface, scoring orbs and bombs flew everywhere, and the blond-haired subordinate was in a frantic mess.
After just ten seconds or so, his plane accidentally hit a gleaming golden orb, and the 0 points in the upper right corner turned into a “1.”
Blond-haired subordinate: “!”
As expected… it's really difficult.
As expected of the gameplay invented by his boss!
…
Jiang Xia was still paying attention to the car outside.
After a minute or two, he noticed the Ghost Infant dragging a wisp of ribbon-like murderous aura, passing through the car door, and pattering towards the arcade.
When the Ghost Infant ran to his feet, Jiang Xia bent down to pick it up, put away the murderous aura, and was very relieved.
Then he withdrew his attention from outside, looked at the game machine, took out two game coins, and prepared to restart.
Just as he was about to insert the coin, he suddenly felt something was off.
Jiang Xia turned his head warily.
He saw that at some point, a circle of subordinates had gathered around him, each looking at him with admiration.
He didn't know what they had unilaterally imagined while he was distracted.
Jiang Xia: “…?”
He thought for a moment and didn't insert the coin directly.
Instead, he skillfully pulled the closest subordinate, stood up, and pressed him into his seat.
Jiang Xia adopted a coach-like posture, stood behind and patted the subordinate's shoulder: “Did you learn? You play a round, and I'll see the effect.”
Let him observe carefully what these chuunibyou youths were thinking…