The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 22: Samurai Shodown

The stool was too short for Qing Ling’s long legs. She kicked off her shoes and tucked her legs in, placing her heels on the edge of the seat and resting her chin on her knees. If her expression wasn’t so icy, she would look lazy and adorable in that posture.

“Have you played the game before?” Wu Dahai asked.

“No.” Qing Ling put a hand around the joystick and seemed lost about what to do with the four buttons on the right. She didn’t even know how to pick a character after inserting a coin.

Wu Dahai was patient with a pretty girl. “Use this to move in different directions. Choose your character this way... Yeah, just pick the one you like and press A.”

Qing Ling picked the first character uncaringly.

“Haohmaru! Good choice!” Wu Dahai smiled with his whole face. “Then I’ll pick Tachibana Ukyo!”

Once they had selected their characters, the match started.

Under Wu Dahai’s control, Tachibana made a slash at Haohmaru. With a melee combo, he knocked Haohmaru down on his back, and when Haohmaru stood up, Tachibana was already in his space.

“Fatal Reprobacy!”

“Secret Sword! Light Snowfall!”

On the screen, Tachibana made a flurry of combos until Haohmaru collapsed to the ground with a cry, his hit points exhausted. Qing Ling hadn’t even managed to get an attack in.

Although Wu Dahai had killed Qing Ling without losing any blood, he didn’t feel much sense of satisfaction.

Best two out of three won.

Then the second match commenced. Wu Dahai didn’t rush in for an attack, but instead started to teach Qing Ling patiently. “A is Light Slash, try it?”

Qing Ling pressed the button. Haohmaru made a quick slash and hit Tachibana.

“B is Medium Slash, try it.”

Qing Ling did as he said. Haohmaru made a slash at medium speed, pushing Tachibana two steps back.

“A and B together is Heavy Slash.”

Qing Ling pressed the buttons together. Haohmaru made a powerful slash at a much slower speed, knocking Tachibana to the ground.

“C is Light Kick, D is Heavy Kick, and C and D together is Heavy Kick as well.”

For a newbie who had never played the game, Qing Ling was a quick learner. She repeated the moves in quick succession.

“Alright, let’s get started.” Wu Dahai started controlling his character.

Ten seconds later, Haohmaru lost. Qing Ling did make improvements though. At least Haohmaru put up a fight and dealt some damage to Tachibana.

“Best two out of three. You lost.” Wu Dahai got to his feet.

“Again,” said Qing Ling.

“Wait til next month.”

“Again,” Qing Ling repeated, her eyes burning with fighting spirit.

After a moment of hesitation, Wu Dahai said, “Fine, we’ll do it again.”

“Whoa, you made an exception just like that?” Officer Huang wasn’t sure whether he should be glad or hurt. “You wouldn’t make any exception no matter how I begged you before.”

“Of course I wouldn’t. What good would I get out of making exceptions for an old man like you?” Wu Dahai then turned to Qing Ling with a demanding look. “I’ll give you another chance, but I want to touch your hand.”

Qing Ling looked puzzled. “Why?”

Wu Dahai cackled. “To be honest with you, I have never touched a girl’s hand my whole life—I mean human girls. Monsters don’t count.”

“Is there a difference?” asked Qing Ling.

“Of course there is! I’m not interested in monsters! The women in the organization are stingy. They refuse to let me touch them. I don’t get it. They aren’t losing anything!”

Gao Yang had never met someone who was so open about their depravity. He wasn’t sure where to even begin if he was to roast the man.

After some consideration, Qing Ling offered, “We’ll start over. If I lose again, I’ll let you touch my hand.”

“Okay! Deal!” Wu Dahai didn’t expect Qing Ling to agree to the condition so easily. He was confident he was going to win!

“Let’s go.”

Wu Dahai sat back down and inserted a coin. The two chose the same characters as the last round, Haohmaru and Tachibana.

Wu Dahai felt like a pro abusing a newbie. The victory didn’t seem fair. Thus he offered to teach Qing Ling again. “I’ll show you the movesets...”

“No, it’s enough.” Qing Ling turned him down.

“Alright, I’m gonna go all in.” This time, Wu Dahai didn’t pull his punches and played even more ferociously than in the previous match.

Qing Ling didn’t sit around and do nothing, but instead kept guarding against his attacks.

Guarding was anything but simple in a fighting game. Guarding while standing wouldn’t be effective against a kick made while crouching. And guarding while crouching wouldn’t be effective against a slash made while jumping. It required quick adjustments according to the opponent’s move.

For the whole match, Qing Ling did nothing but guard.

While she was getting very good at alternating between the two guarding positions, her hit points would still go steadily down with her never taking the offensive. And if she let the opponent get close, her guard could be broken by a melee skill.

Qing Ling lost the match.

She was still calm.

In the second match, she started to attack.

She used no moves or combos—she didn’t even know how to. She simply stayed where she was and guarded when the opponent made a frontal attack. When the opponent got close, she knocked him away with quick Light Slashes by smashing A, and when the other made a jump slash, she blocked it with Medium Slash on B.

With the right timing, the two types of slashes could block off any melee attacks and jump slashes. And even when that wasn’t possible, the slashes could at least damage the opponent so that the loss of hit points wasn’t one-sided.

However, Wu Dahai was an experienced player. Once he found an opening and got close, he quickly broke Qing Ling’s guard and made a combo, cutting down half of her hit points.

To no one’s surprise, Qing Ling lost again.

“You lost!” Wu Dahai jumped to his feet, his eyes fixed on Qing Ling. “I want to touch your hand!”

Qing Ling stood up and offered her hand.

Wu Dahai was surprised by her lack of hesitation.

Midair, his hand stopped before pulling back.

Suddenly, his lips twisted into a leering smile dripping with desires. “How about this? I’m not touching your hand, and I’ll give you another chance! But I wanna touch your boobs. Let me do that, and we’ll have our rematch!”

Qing Ling seemed to be thinking, her expression impassive.

“Enough. We’ll try next time.”

Gao Yang couldn’t help but step in. If his sister had been the one getting harassed like this, he would have thrown a punch at the man already. However, he had no right to interfere with Qing Ling’s decision. The most he could do was put in a word or two.

“That’s right. There’s always a winner and a loser.” Officer Huang chimed in as well. “I’ve been a cop for more than a decade, and I’ve seen my share of girls going down the wrong path. Qing Ling, this...isn’t worth it. It’s really not.”

Fueled with her desire to win, Qing Ling ignored both of them and said to Wu Dahai, “Deal.”