The largest plush in the machine swayed beneath the oversized mechanical claw, wearing a smile that was, frankly, not very attractive. In the end, though, it still failed to escape its cramped little prison.
It dropped with a heavy thud, knocking the medium-sized Silence Suzuka plush beneath it off to the side. Seeing it land sitting bolt upright like that, Offside Trap let out a miserable wail.
"Negative emotion +10"
"Trainer, this is all your fault! If you hadn't added four more pace sets this morning, my legs wouldn't be so weak right now!"
With her knees pressed together, Offside Trap had to brace herself against the claw machine just to keep her sore legs from giving out. She turned and glared at Terazumi Shinji, complaining bitterly.
Shinji made no attempt to hide the smile on his face, one that looked suspiciously like schadenfreude. To him, this game could also count as a kind of training. Maintaining focus under all sorts of distractions—Offside Trap still needed a lot more patience.
Offside Trap took a deep breath. Just looking at Shinji's smiling face made the blood rush to her head and filled her with the urge to go feral. He could absolutely have helped her get the one thing she wanted most—the giant Offside Trap plush—but he refused to help, and even kept tossing out sarcastic remarks from the side.
"If you'd been a little steadier just now, it wouldn't have fallen."
Shinji spoke just after Offside Trap fed in another coin, and the fire in her eyes immediately flared higher. She was on a time limit here.
"And why did you use yourself to smash Silence Suzuka? Don't turn personal grudges into public revenge."
"Ahhhhhhh!"
People nearby all turned at the sound of her breakdown. All they saw was one horse girl grabbing the man beside her by the shoulders and shaking him back and forth.
"You're almost out of time."
"I know!"
Offside Trap desperately tried to calm herself and make her movements gentler.
The huge plush was getting closer and closer to the prize chute, just barely large enough to swallow it whole. The light in Offside Trap's eyes grew brighter and brighter.
Beep beep beep beep—
The buzzer signaling the end of the round went off. Instantly, the claw stopped responding to Offside Trap's controls. No matter how close she came to snapping the joystick in half, it refused to move.
The giant plush dropped heavily back down, once again landing on top of the Silence Suzuka plush it had knocked over earlier. Offside Trap stared at the scene before her in total despair.
"You see? I told you, if you hadn't wasted time shaking it around—"
"Trainer."
"Hm?"
"Shhh."
Offside Trap's body trembled faintly. As far as she was concerned, the entire day was ruined.
Shinji's smile only deepened. Then he slowly walked over to her, gently helping her step aside.
"All right, enough messing around. I'll get it for you."
Offside Trap took a deep breath and handed him the coins in her hand.
This trainer of hers might always be teasing her, but he really was the most reliable person she had ever met.
…
"So this… is the plush you caught for me?"
Offside Trap stared blankly at Shinji's cheerful expression, then slowly, step by step, walked over to the machine. The Offside Trap plush was still sitting there quietly, waiting for its original self to rescue it.
The only difference was that the Silence Suzuka plush that had been pinned underneath it a moment ago was now sitting in Shinji's hand.
"Negative emotion +30"
"It! Was under it! How did you even grab that?!"
"If you don't waste time, it's easy enough."
"Negative emotion +20"
Offside Trap collapsed onto the floor, utterly drained. Her pale little hand covered the coin slot in grief. This machine had devoured most of her afternoon, as well as a good chunk of her savings.
She suddenly felt like crying. Crane machines were awful. She would have been better off just sleeping in bed all afternoon.
There goes her gaming addiction.
The system sneered in his head, apparently disgusted by Shinji's behavior.
I don't like the way you're saying that. This counts as a gaming addiction?
Shinji retorted with perfect confidence. Then he crouched down and looked at Offside Trap's watery eyes.
"You really want it that badly?"
"Yes!"
Aggrieved, the horse girl wrapped her arms around Shinji's neck and pressed her warm, soft body into his arms. She was genuinely upset. Tears were already gathering at the corners of her eyes, and she had no choice but to bury her reddened gaze in his chest.
"Then take a look at this."
Hm?
Offside Trap slowly lifted her head, only to see Shinji pulling a giant Offside Trap plush out from behind the machine. She had spent half the afternoon fighting for it, and now, the moment she could finally touch it, she snatched it up and hugged it tightly.
"Negative emotion +50"
All the negative emotions born moments earlier were instantly cleansed by Shinji's little surprise. Offside Trap no longer felt sore, tired, or weak. She kissed the plush several times in delight. The few tears that had only just appeared had not even had time to fall before her smile had already returned in full bloom.
"You look kind of ugly right now."
"Hmph!"
Offside Trap did not care in the slightest. She lovingly pinched the plush's cheek, her eyes full of joy.
The more she looked at it, the more she loved it. The more she held it, the less she wanted to let go.
"It's all your fault, Trainer. You completely ruined the fun of crane games. That's not how you're supposed to play them. The fun is in winning them yourself!"
"Now it's my fault again?" Shinji curled his lips mockingly. "Wonder who it was that was crying just now."
"That definitely wasn't me—"
Her lively voice made more people nearby turn and look, and only then did Offside Trap belatedly remember that there were still tears on her face.
Her face turned crimson in an instant, right down to the tips of her ears. Grabbing Shinji by the hand, she bolted out of the arcade.
Apparently fleeing one floor was not enough, because she dragged him up another level. She remembered there was a drinks shop up there that sold something really delicious.
Today I'm in such a good mood, I'll treat Trainer to a honey lemon!
Thinking that, Offside Trap turned back proudly.
Shinji's face entered her view. Walking backward, she held the plush out in front of her.
"Isn't it cute?"
"It's okay."
"You have to say it's cute!"
"Oh."
"Negative emotion +10"
Offside Trap waved a tiny clenched fist at him.
"Would you like a honey lemon?"
Hope colored her voice. She swallowed, already making herself thirsty just thinking about it.
What she really wanted was a honey-based drink, but because Shinji made her drink lemon water every day, even the honey drinks on her mental menu had gradually turned into honey lemon instead.
At the thought, she was just about to once again show off how obedient and disciplined she was—something like See, I really do listen to what you tell me—when she failed to notice that the man before her had suddenly stopped walking.
A faint tremor passed through those eyes of his. The warmth in his expression cooled.
"Ow—"
Her foot suddenly caught on a raised edge in the floor, and Offside Trap nearly stumbled. She immediately realized she had probably stepped on someone while walking backward, so she turned, ready to apologize.
But before she could even fully see the green hair in front of her, a cold voice rang out beside her ear.
"He likes lemon soda, coffee, hawthorn juice, and coconut juice. He also prefers milk tea and other dairy drinks. If it's this shop, you can order him a matcha latte with oats added, or a coconut pearl milk tea, or fresh oat milk…"
Only now did Offside Trap get a clear look at the other girl's face. Her delicate features, framed by sleek green hair, made her look like an elf born beneath some sacred tree, every line of her brows and eyes like something shaped by an artist's hand.
"Did you remember all that?"
Meeting Offside Trap's still somewhat dazed eyes, the other girl's gaze was full of disdain and ridicule.
"Shinji's new trainee…"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter108)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter82)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter144)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 99
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 95
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 99
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 92
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 47
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 44
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player 43
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 26
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 32
Uma Musume: From Beginner 26
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