Jealousy

"N-noona! Please marry me!"

"What."

This was the first time in my life I'd ever received a confession and a marriage proposal. And it came from an elementary school boy. A super ultra elementary school boy, at that.

How on earth am I supposed to react? These feelings are complicated and delicate.

I checked the chat window and, sure enough, it had exploded into chaos.

Are these guys actually jealous? Even then, getting jealous over an elementary schooler is a bit much…

"Nooooo… Everyone, please stop typing weird stuff. I'll check the VOD later and hand out bans, okay?"

After giving the chat a quick warning, I turned to look at the little kid who had just proposed to me.

"How old are you, anyway? Shouldn't you be in school today?"

"I-I'm eleven! Today's a school holiday!"

"I see. But why do you want to marry me?"

"Because noona is pretty…."

"Hmm."

Kids these days really don't hold back. Proposing marriage based on looks alone? That's skipping every single step. Normally you'd date, learn about each other's feelings, then propose in some romantic location, right?

Or maybe he's just that pure. Thinking about it that way, it actually seems kind of cute. As a grown adult (who's never dated), I should be understanding. Hehe.

"Really? That's all? You think noona—I mean, big sis—is that pretty?"

"Yes! You're the prettiest noona I've ever seen!"

"Puhuhuhuhu… Oh really? Kyaha~ Did you all hear that?"

The Myungies' reactions made me burst out laughing. As a bonus, Jam-ssam kept muttering "So pretty…" over and over after seeing my smile.

'He's seriously adorable.'

I had originally planned to gently turn down Jam-ssam's proposal, but.

I suddenly felt like messing with him a little. It seemed like a waste to just send him away like this.

"You want to marry noona that badly?"

"Yes… Yes! Please marry me!"

"Alright. I'll marry you."

"R-really? Waaaaah…."

"Pfft…."

The Myungies were losing their minds at my acceptance. I held my laughter in and continued.

"But instead, if you can beat me in a game, I'll do it."

"…A game?"

"Yep. Any arcade game you want. You pick."

"Then I want to play Legend Fighter!"

"Okay."

Legend Fighter. One of the popular fighting games that even regular people play a lot at the arcade.

I gladly accepted and sat down next to Jam-ssam at the machine.

"Noona, this guy's a total expert. You sure you can win?"

The other kid who had only been watching from behind spoke up teasingly.

"Expert? How good is he?"

"I'm not exactly sure, but I heard he's Purple Rank."

"Oh, for real?"

Surprised, I glanced sideways. Jam-ssam was going "Eheheh" and looking bashful. Looked like it was true.

Wait a second, Purple Rank at eleven years old? That's seriously talented. With that kind of potential, he could debut as a pro with just a little polishing.

'Still no match for me, though.'

I wasn't an absolute monster at the game… but I was pretty good. I'd even touched Gold Rank before. Anyway, I inserted the coin and we reached the character select screen.

The character Jam-ssam chose was the classic Kazuya. I picked the classic girl character Lili-chan and started the match.

"Hap!"

From the very beginning, Jam-ssam came at me with a cute battle cry and flashy Mishima waves.

The wave was no joke. It was at a level even the Mishima grandpas would acknowledge.

Kazuya is a character that uses those flashy waves to set up low and mid mix-ups. And among his low moves, the most famous one is Narak, which…

Oh, wait. Why can I see this?

Tap!

"H-he blocked it…."

Jam-ssam's expression froze instantly. Of course it did—the Narak he had thrown with full confidence had been blocked.

Still, thinking it might have been a fluke, he reset his stance and focused again.

However.

"Huh?"

Tap!

"Huuuuuh…?"

Tap!

I blocked every single Narak in every round. The match ended in my victory. I had basically just blocked and punished, yet the game was already over.

"N-no way…! Noona, are you reacting to those?"

"Hmm…."

Jam-ssam stared with wide, disbelieving eyes.

No, but I'm surprised too? Narak isn't a move you're supposed to be able to block on reaction.

So why do I keep seeing it? Is this another TS buff? The TS body is seriously, seriously overpowered… yeah.

"Please play one more round with me! Ah, no… Let's make it best of five! First to three wins!"

"Alright. Let's go."

"Thank you!"

I accepted the best-of-five suggestion. I also wanted to test whether I could keep blocking Narak on reaction.

The result of the rematch with Jam-ssam was…

"W-why isn't the mix-up working… ugh."

"Haha."

I took the remaining two rounds overwhelmingly as well. Blocking every Narak again was just the cherry on top.

This proved that becoming a woman had pushed my reaction speed beyond human limits.

Ha, should I try becoming a pro gamer at this point? With physical ability like this, I'd probably be good at any game… hehe.

'No no, that's not it.'

I was tempted for a second, but no. That wasn't right.

My dream is to become a VTuber. There can't be any other career for me!

"Puhuhuhu… Everyone calm down, calm down~ How can you block Narak on reaction? It was purely luck. Hehe."

I calmed the chat that had exploded into a Narak reaction-speed debate and glanced sideways.

"Uuu…."

Jam-ssam, having properly felt the wall between us, was now slumped over the machine in despair.

He wasn't crying, was he? I felt like I should comfort him.

"You okay? Don't be too heartbroken. Your opponent was me, after all."

"Uuuuuuu… I'm okay."

Fortunately he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠didn't look like he was actually crying. My words must have worked. Hehe.

"N-noonaaaaa…."

Jam-ssam fidgeted, watching my expression, before finally speaking up.

"Can't you keep playing games ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠with me from now on too? I'll get a lot better…."

"……."

This kid is seriously serious. Does he really want to marry me that much?

It had started as a joke, but somehow.

I felt like I wanted to answer that sincerity.

"Sure. I'm always here around this time, so come challenge me whenever. And if you manage to beat me even once…."

Heh.

I continued with a playful smile.

"Then I'll marry you like I promised."

"W-waaaaaah…."

Boom—!

If this were an anime, that sound effect would have played right now. Jam-ssam's face had gone beyond red and turned full tomato.

He really is cute. I lightly patted Jam-ssam's head and left the arcade.

"Kyaha~ That was fun. Mmmmmm…."

I stretched as I spoke. My body felt refreshed after having a pretty enjoyable time.

I was about to ask if the Myungies felt the same way, but….

"Seriously."

…They really didn't seem to feel the same at all.

They were spamming the serious-face emote (-_-). It looked like they really didn't like that I'd made a marriage promise with Jam-ssam.

Are these guys actually jealous? Of an elementary schooler?

Absolutely unbelievable… heh.

"Huh?"

As I was snickering, a donation flew in. Without even a second of hesitation, I answered in a perfectly casual tone.

"No? I'm not planning to come here often anymore anyway."

It was spring.

After Myungie ended her stream, the Harmony Gallery was, as expected, buzzing with talk about her.

Among the hottest topics was, of course—

It was her gaming ability. She had perfectly blocked Narak—a move no human should be able to block—a hundred percent of the time.

The story spread to the Legend Fighter Gallery, the Game Gallery, and various other communities, sparking a massive Narak reaction debate that eventually reached…

"Huh? Is this real? How interesting~eri…."

Even the ears of Eris—the VTuber Myungie used to like the most—had picked up on the story.