Chapter 7: Brother, are you sure you can do it?

“Speaking of which, I’ve already turned into a Witch. Is it really okay for you to tell me information about the Magical Girl Faction so bluntly?”

As the game finished loading, Mahiru asked the question casually, as if they were just making small talk.

“Are you even aware you’re a Witch now? Well, telling you isn’t a big deal. It’s not like you’re going to live much longer anyway. Once this game is over, it’ll be your time to die.”

“Hey, don’t just decide I’m going to lose on your own!”

Seeing that Xiaoye, who was sitting beside him, was still focused on killing him, cold sweat couldn’t help but break out on Mahiru’s palms.

It was obvious that this game match had escalated to a life-or-death situation.

He had to treat it with caution.

“You were the one who just said it. If you were really my brother with exceptional gaming skills, would you still be worried about losing to me now?”

Xiaoye’s words were full of mockery and sarcasm toward Mahiru, causing him to knit his brows tightly.

‘Xiaoye, you…’

It seemed that this duel, which would determine his life or death, was merely a formality for Xiaoye to toy with him.

Though Xiaoye was usually this naughty and willful, for some reason, Mahiru found it incredibly infuriating now.

At this moment, he had cast aside all thoughts of life and death.

Even if he had to exhaust every bit of his life force, he was going to teach this disobedient sister a lesson.

“Alright, alright, the game is starting. Since this is the last time you’ll ever play a game, I’ll let you pick your character first!”

While they were talking, the game on the screen had finished loading and entered the character selection page.

“Hmph, you’re definitely going to regret this, Xiaoye!”

Mahiru manipulated the controller, moving rapidly through the numerous character boxes before landing on a dignified-looking middle-aged man with a goatee.

Without hesitation, he clicked the confirm button.

Xiaoye leaned forward slightly to take a closer look.

“Huh? Mou Liu Yan? This character looks so weak. Is he actually useful?”

“Hmph, you’ll find out after one match!”

Mahiru raised an eyebrow at Xiaoye, looking as if his victory was already a foregone conclusion.

To thoroughly crush Xiaoye, Mahiru, who had already lost once by mistake, chose his best character, Old Liu.

In their previous duel, he had underestimated Xiaoye’s gaming potential and picked a power-type big man in green clothes and a red hat.

As a result, his swinging animations were repeatedly interrupted by the technical character Xiaoye had chosen.

He hadn’t even managed to land a single heavy hit before he died.

So, this time, he chose a character that required high mechanical skill to compete with Xiaoye’s hand speed.

As a veteran gamer, there was no way his hand speed could be slower than Xiaoye’s.

Seeing that Mahiru had locked in his character, Xiaoye also manipulated her controller and happily selected a cat-girl character.

Accompanied by the line, “If you must act, please come at me first,” a smile that said everything was going according to plan appeared on the corners of Xiaoye’s mouth.

When Mahiru saw that Xiaoye had chosen the same character from their last duel, Meow Sun Luyu, he maintained a calm expression on the outside, but inside, he was practically jumping for joy.

While Meow Sun Luyu seemed to counter Mou Liu Yan’s attacks and could interrupt most charged moves — making her look very troublesome — Xiaoye didn’t seem to know that even if a charged attack was interrupted, it would still build Rage.

Once Mou Liu Yan’s Rage meter was full, he would activate his exclusive weapon, the Zhangba Serpent Spear, and his attack range would widen significantly.

Then, the Haji Yu who could only swipe her claws and hiss would be left helplessly poked to death by him. He might even be able to earn the “Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained” achievement while he was at it.

If he could achieve national peace and public joy, wouldn’t that be wonderful?

“Xiaoye, are you using that character again?”

“This is the only one I know how to play,” Xiaoye replied matter-of-factly.

“Why? Isn’t she cute?”

“What’s the point of being cute? Who likes using a character that only has nice art but does zero damage?”

“Hmph, you’ll regret underestimating her! Don’t come crying to me after I destroy you. Oh, wait, if you lose, I’ll kill you immediately. You won’t even have the chance to cry.”

“I think you’re the one who’ll be crying! Let me show you how this game is actually played!”

As their intense exchange of trash talk ended, the fierce battle began.

They were playing a fighting game called *Zhen Sanguosha Wushuang*.

Over 100 civil officials, military generals, harem members, and eunuchs competed on the same stage.

The game would only end when one side’s health bar was completely depleted.

As a true veteran of this series, Mahiru had been playing this game day and night since the open beta.

Although he didn’t dare claim to be invincible, taking down a novice player who knew nothing about games and just mashed buttons was a piece of cake.

As long as he didn’t make any low-level mistakes, even if Xiaoye had an extra Nirvana, she wouldn’t be able to beat him.

That was what Mahiru originally thought.

However, things always went beyond his expectations.

He had calculated everything but forgotten one crucial thing: the Mou Liu Yan he chose was a character that heavily relied on mechanical skill, yet he currently only had one hand free.

His other hand was tightly handcuffed to the table leg next to him, making it impossible for him to use it on the controller.

In other words, he couldn’t play Mou Liu Yan perfectly.

Every time he attacked, he was half a beat slower than his opponent.

Gradually, he was pushed into the corner of the screen by Meow Sun Luyu and found himself unable to move.

What he thought was an advantageous match turned into a sweating, desperate struggle.

Mahiru was soundly defeated in the first round, failing to even take a single drop of health from Xiaoye before he died.

Xiaoye, sitting beside him, couldn’t help but sneer.

“Hey, brother, can you even do this? Weren’t you so confident about destroying me earlier? Why are you quiet now?”

“I just let you win the first round. What are you getting so excited about? There are still two more! It’s not over until it’s over!”

Fortunately, this match was a best-of-three.

As long as he played well in the second round, he could still put up a fight.

However, the pressure Mahiru felt in the second round didn’t decrease at all.

Xiaoye controlled Meow Sun Luyu with lightning speed, hissing at him repeatedly.

Mahiru, playing with one hand, almost cramped up his fingers.

Thankfully, with the experience from the first round, Mahiru adjusted his positioning in advance to avoid being trapped and beaten in the corner again.

Eventually, he managed to hold out until his Rage was full and unleashed his ultimate move.

Xiaoye had never seen this ultimate before and didn’t have time to react, quickly falling in defeat.

The victory of the second round finally went to Mahiru.

“Heh, now you’ve seen how strong your brother is, haven’t you? Even with one hand, you’re no match for me.”

“You only won because you luckily managed to get your ultimate off. There’s nothing to be proud of. Just wait and see how I beat you so badly you won’t know which way is up in the final round!”

However, just as they were preparing for the final showdown, the large screen in front of them suddenly went black.

It wasn’t just the television screen — the lights above them went out as well.

The entire living room was instantly plunged into darkness, leaving only two pairs of large eyes staring at each other.

“Eh? Is this a power outage?”