Editing Rapid Fire King:Volume1 Chapter 4 (section)

===1===

The second floor was like an entirely different arcade.

It had fewer customers than the first floor.

There were only three people here, including himself.

The stairway gave the second floor an L-shape and the cabinets here were only set up along the walls. The number of games was probably about the same as downstairs. The second floor was smaller, but the lack of a counter and racing games allowed for more games.

His position at the top of the stairs gave him a view of all the screens.

He searched for Super Rapid Fire’s screen from among them.

…''It sure is quiet up here.

There was no sound.

…''Why is that?

He figured it out quick enough: the games were not making any noise.

No, some of them were. But…

…''Only the ones someone is currently playing.

The ones only running their demos were silent.

…''But they’re always making noise on the first floor.

The silence seemed to make them less game-like, but that did not change the fact that the games here were silent.

Conversely, the music and sound effects of the few being played echoed through the room.

He sensed something else while listening to that.

…''It’s not as hot.

But he shook his head and refocused his gaze. He remembered he was here to find Super Rapid Fire.

So he looked closer.

“Ah.”

There it was.

The game he wanted was in the center of the games along the wall bordering the road.

The title was displayed large on the screen.

…''Found it.

His hesitation vanished and he walked toward the cabinet.

He heard footsteps from the stairs.

That Freeter was walking up.

…''I wonder if he’s here to play Super Rapid Fire too.

He reached into his uniform’s inside pocket and pulled out his wallet while walking over. Even he could tell he was rushing himself as he grabbed a 50-yen coin from within.

He pulled it out.

…''Okay.

He stood in front of the cabinet.

The title text looked up at him. He was ever-so-slightly reflected in the clear acrylic panel used to protect the screen.

The difficulty was displayed below the title: normal.

He had thought the games on the second floor had their difficulty lowered, but apparently not this one.

''That’s fine,'' he thought. ''I’m glad I’ll get the full experience.

He only managed to stay still for a moment.

He inserted the 50-yen coin in the slot.

He heard the piano sound that indicated a coin had been inserted.

He jumped at how loud it was.

Worried someone was watching him, he looked back.

He immediately saw the color brown.

“Ah.”

The Freeter stood not too far away.

It was the man’s brown suit he had seen.

He could of course see more than that. He had to be seeing the man’s face and legs too.

But he did not have the guts to view the man’s face.

He looked forward again to see a message on the screen: Push 1P or 2P Start Button.

The cabinet had two joysticks and sets of buttons positioned on the left and right sides.

There were two start buttons as well.

He was sitting at the 1P side on the left.

So he pressed that button.

The game began with that man watching from behind.