We Came to Inspect

The moment the three of us opened the door and stepped into the lounge, I couldn't hold back a gasp of admiration.

"Whoa..."

The sweet aroma wafting from all directions, and the display cases packed to the brim with games. Without even realizing it, I walked forward and pressed myself right against the glass. Through the cold pane, the games were practically waiting for me.

I had always loved console games. Dragging my exhausted body home to play with friends was the perfect way to forget all the fatigue of the day. And if I had a cold can of beer right next to me... well, words weren't even necessary. It was the ultimate relaxation.

I pursed my lips, peering closely inside the display case.

"Jeff. Are these all games?"

"Yeah."

Shine approached me, also showing interest in the massive display case overflowing with games. I scanned the case, looking for a way to open it. There had to be a button around here somewhere. Fumbling around, my hands traced down the glass.

"Ah."

And then, I found it—a small, protruding button. When I gave it a gentle push, feeling a soft *click*, the tightly shut display door began to slide open.

"Whoaaa..."

The moment the barrier separating me from the game cases vanished, my eyes sparkled, and I reached out. Games I had skipped because I lacked the time, lacked the money, or because they weren't my usual genre—every single one of them was right here.

"Hey, Rain. We can really play these, right?"

"Yeah. I don't think anyone will mind."

I looked around at her response. As if to prove her point, though people occasionally glanced our way, nobody seemed to care that we were taking games out. I pulled out a game case with a colorful cover.

"Lucy's Atelier?"

Shine muttered the name of the game I had pulled. That's right. This was a console game based on The Little Witch's Grand Adventure, an anime I used ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to watch all the time. I hadn't been very interested in it back then, but now, it was one of the games I wanted to play most. I hugged the game case, which featured an illustration of the adorable Lucy, close to my chest. Seeing this, Shine's eyes narrowed.

"Do you really have to play that one?"

"Yeah. I want to."

"Okay."

Shine nodded with a small sigh. She was actually jealous of a silly little game case. Chuckling softly, I patted her head.

"Shine, are you seriously jealous of a game?"

"No, I'm not."

"Are you worried I'll ignore you and just play games?"

"It's not that."

Shine turned her head away, clearly pouting.

"I'm playing this one!"

Rain pulled out an incredibly hardcore game. It was the 21st installment of a fighting game called Iron Fist.

"Are you good at that...?"

"I'm decent. Around the Gold ranks?"

I just nodded blankly. Since I didn't know much about Iron Fist, I didn't really understand what she meant by "Gold ranks." Since it had "gold" in it, did it mean the Gold tier? Usually, game ranks went Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and so on. So it was probably something like that, right?

"Shine, aren't you going to pick a game?"

"I don't know how to play games."

I asked Shine, who was just standing there blankly, but her reply left me speechless. Her white eyes locked onto me.

"Um..."

"Yeah?"

"Then... do you want to play with me?"

"Sure. If that's what Jeff wants."

I nodded. Clutching the games to my chest, we began moving to the next spot. Since Rain had been here before and knew the layout, she took the lead. Shine and I followed closely behind. With the chick bag on Rain's back swaying side to side, we arrived at an incredibly sweet space.

"Whoa..."

In the middle of the spacious room, a massive fountain was flowing. But it wasn't just any fountain. It was a chocolate fountain. Cascades of rich chocolate poured down, scattering a sweet aroma all around. Spellbound, I walked up to the edge of the fountain.

"Are you here to drink some chocolate?"

"Yes!"

Sitting in front of it was a man who looked like the attendant. Wearing a pristine white uniform, he gave off a very neat impression. Not a single speck of chocolate was on his clothes.

"Just a moment."

He nodded at my reply. His gaze shifted past me, landing on Shine and Rain. Reaching out with practiced ease, he grabbed three small cups. With a small ladle in his other hand, he scooped up the chocolate and poured it into the cups. The chocolate filled the beautiful crystal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cups.

"Here you go."

"Thank you!"

Bowing my head, I reached out. A cup filled with warm chocolate was placed in my hands. Right after, Shine and Rain stepped up beside me and received theirs as well. We drank the chocolate right then and there. A waterfall of sweet flavor rushed into my mouth, wrapping around my tongue. The scent of chocolate drifting to the tip of my nose brought a happy smile to my face. It seemed Shine felt the same way; for once, she wore the exact same blissful smile as me. It felt like looking into a mirror.

After finishing the chocolate, we returned the cups, and I grabbed a small basket nearby. Seeing what others were doing, it seemed we were supposed to fill these baskets with whatever treats we wanted. I focused mainly on bread and chocolates, while Rain swept up giant candies. Shine grabbed a few bags of small cookies. Now that we had our snacks, all that was left was to go play. Swinging our baskets merrily, we walked out of the sweet-scented room.

"Wait a second."

As we were walking excitedly, Shine suddenly stopped. Wondering what she was doing, I watched as she began stuffing the cookies she had gathered into her bag.

"Are those for Amy?"

"Yeah."

Shine nodded at my question. The dinosaur bag's wide mouth devoured the cookies.

"Are you packing some for Victor too?"

"Yeah."

Shine stuffed half of her cookies into the dinosaur's belly. The dinosaur's bulging stomach looked quite adorable. Seeing that, I also unzipped my bag and packed it tight with bread and chocolates. Since we had taken too much for just the three of us to finish anyway, it was the logical choice.

"Do we really have to pack stuff for Victor?"

Squatting next to me, Rain asked with a frown. She looked incredibly grumpy, as if she was happy to pack things for Amy but absolutely loathed the idea of giving anything to Victor. I reached out and pulled the corners of Rain's mouth upward with my fingers, forcing a silly, stretched smile onto her face.

"Victor will feel left out."

"Mmmgh..."

At my words, Shine crossed her arms and began to ponder. Her twitching eyebrows made it look like she was in deep, serious thought.

"Victor is such a meanie, I don't want to give him anything..."

"But Rain, you're an adult. Can't you be the bigger person and forgive him?"

Rain's eyes snapped wide open at my words. She looked up at me with a sparkling gaze.

"Right? You think so too?"

"Yeah."

"I knew it. Since I'm the adult, I should be the one to forgive him, right?"

Rain muttered to herself as she began stuffing sweet snacks into her bag. The little chick bag's belly swelled up as if it were about to burst.

"All packed!"

Having packed all the treats to share with Amy and Victor, we immediately stood up. It was rude to squat in the middle of a busy hallway for too long.

"The consoles are this way!"

Rain grabbed Shine's and my hands and started running. She was in an even better mood than before. Praise could make even Rain dance—not just any praise, though. Calling her "adult-like" was the key. I filed this incredibly important piece of information away in my mind.

Where Rain led us was a hallway lined with several doors. It seemed each room was a private space equipped with a gaming setup. Rain picked the largest room of them all and stepped inside.

"Hurry up!"

The room we entered following Rain was incredibly comfortable. It was spacious, with a clean, gleaming floor, a plush-looking sofa, and a massive monitor. On a small table in front of the sofa, game controllers were neatly arranged. There was even a computer set up in the corner of the room.

"I think this lounge is way better."

I muttered blankly. The building where we lived with Amy didn't have a perfect space like this. Rain ran over and threw herself onto the sofa as if she owned the place. Before I knew it, she already had a controller in her outstretched hand. Shine and I went over and sat down next to her. The soft sofa felt incredibly comfortable.

"Is there only one monitor?"

"Nope. We can bring out a few more."

Rain answered my question. She pressed a small button protruding from the side of the table. At that, the single monitor slid to the side, and another monitor of the exact same size rose up from directly beneath it.

"Whoa!"

It looked just like a giant robot being deployed. Thrilled by the awesome display, I drummed my palms excitedly on the table.

"Alright, this one's mine. And that one is for Shine and Jeff."

Rain slid a disc into the console installed right beneath the sofa. Watching her, I did the same. There was a small basket on the table. Rain reached into it, pulled out a pair of small earphones, and popped them into her ears.

"Here, Jeff and Shine, take these."

Rain helped us set up everything from start to finish. She was starting to look incredibly mature. My mouth hung open in admiration of her expertise. Shine and I each took one side of the shared earphones and put them in.

"I'm starting!"

Swallowing hard, I booted up the game. A moment later, a grand yet adorable melody played as the game's title logo appeared on screen. I immediately mashed the buttons on the controller to skip the opening. I already knew the starting story from watching it on MeTube before. But as I was rapidly skipping through, it occurred to me that Shine, sitting right next to me, didn't know the story at all.

"Hey, Shine. Do you want to watch the story for this game?"

"The story?"

"Yeah, there's a video that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shows how the game starts and what the plot is about."

"No, I'm fine."

Was she really fine? But Shine shook her head as if she truly didn't care.

"Okay."

Since Shine said she was fine, I skipped the entire opening sequence. Then, the little witch Lucy popped up on the screen. It looked like a character customization system window.

My hands trembled at the sound of Lucy's vivid voice flowing through the earphone. Although it was called customization, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the basic model couldn't be changed. It only allowed you to modify things like hairstyle, hair color, and costumes. I chose Lucy's default look.

"Yeah!"

I answered Lucy's question without even thinking. Hearing my reply, Lucy smiled brightly and drew a star in the air.

"I don't like it."

Behind the sound of the flashy, sparkling star magic, Shine's grumpy voice drifted in.

I immersed myself further into the game. The story followed Lucy as she ran a magic atelier. You would explore various dungeons to gather materials, craft high-grade items, and complete quests with companions. Fulfilling requests from occasional customers was Lucy's main job.

"Here, Shine. This is how you do it."

I handed the controller to Shine. Taking it from me, she gripped the vibrating controller tightly.

"Like this?"

As Shine manipulated the controller, Lucy on the screen tossed various ingredients into a giant cauldron.

"That's too much!"

"Eh..."

Due to Shine's input error, a massive amount of unnecessary ingredients ended up in the pot. The recipe gauge on the side of the screen began plummeting into the negatives. Lucy's expression on screen turned sour, and black smoke began billowing from the cauldron.

Lucy muttered softly. At that exact moment, the cauldron exploded with a massive bang.

*Boom!*

The aftermath of the explosion left Lucy's shop in absolute ruins. Covered in pitch-black soot, Lucy slumped onto the floor with a tearful face.

"I like this."

Shine wore a satisfied smile as she looked at the ruined Lucy. I silently averted my gaze.

Glancing over, I caught a glimpse of the game Rain was playing.

High. Low. Mid. The character Rain was controlling parried and dodged the opponent's attacks at lightning speed. Every single one of them. She didn't take a single hit.

I stared at Rain with a look of disbelief. *No way... is she using her abilities while playing a game?*

Rain's character beat her opponent to a pulp. Having taken a relentless, merciless thrashing, the opponent couldn't land a single blow on Rain's character until the match ended.