His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 240: Game Boss

** Harper **

"Welcome to The Den, aka. the best hidden gem around town I’ve ever had the fortune to discover." Harper introduced proudly, pleased to confirm that this odd place she had accidentally come across in college was indeed off of Eli’s radar. "Let’s start with the first floor first — it should be less of a cultural shock for you that way."

She winked mysteriously as they passed the vending machines and coin exchanges by the door. The first floor was mostly a standard arcade, and the telltale sounds of 8-bit music were already ringing through the hallway, mixed with scoring chimes and cartoon-style cheers from various game characters. Then a kaleidoscope of colorful lights opened up to them when they entered the proper interior of the room.

"Oh, pinball!" Eli’s exclamation was both surprised and relieved. "I haven’t played these in years!"

Two long rows of pinball machines lined the space in front of them, flashing a full spectrum of bright neon rainbows. A good number of the spots were already taken, and as the players slammed on their flippers, dramatic jingles and clatters bursted clamorously, turning the whole room into a riot of colors and sounds.

"Up for a challenge?" Harper grinned. "Think you’re still good enough to beat me?"

"Hell yeah. Did you seriously think you could get an embarrassing photo of me playing such a simple game?" Eli gave her an are-you-kidding-me look. "Pick a machine. I’ll go first."

Harper immediately got into her gaming boss mode, rubbing her palms together in readiness. This actually wasn’t her ultimate destination of the day to get that picture taken ... but she could never resist the temptation to take up Eli in a duel and crush him.

"Let’s go with the dragon one over there," she announced after a quick scan of the room. "See who makes it roar first with a bullseye shot!"

All too confidently, Eli strode over and popped the coins into the machine. The red dragon head at the center of the playfield lit up, and a deep voice resonated:

"Your quest begins now, brave adventurer! The ancient treasures of our world lie hidden, guarded by the trials of fire and steel. Gather your courage and aim true, for only the strongest will emerge victorious!"

"Dramatic much," Eli remarked, and he started whacking on the flippers.

Harper clapped her hands together beside him, watching without blinking as the ball started flying across the table, lighting up a chaotic trail behind it.

"Oooh, good start! Ramp shot!"

"Oof that was so close ... Strike harder!"

"Wait is that a multiball?"

"Yes yes yes get it into that hole!"

"Arghhh!!!"

They cheered and booed in turn as the ball thrashed its way across the dragon’s lair, sending score numbers blinking and the dragon’s roars echoing. Then, both of them groaned when the ball went a bit too far into the center of the field, flying straight down the space between the flippers.

"Seriously? Only five million? Oh boy you suck!" Harper blurted when she saw the final scoreboard.

"Wait, what? I thought that was pretty decent!" Eli protested. "Also, I lasted almost five minutes, which is above average for me."

If Harper was in a different mood, she might immediately start going with a dozen jokes about "lasting almost five minutes". But currently in her game boss mode, she only eagerly pushed Eli out of her way. "Geez, you’re losing for sure. Watch me."

She added her coins and went straight for it.

"Ha, the same ramp shot for a start!" Eli commented, half impressed.

"Wait, another one?"

"Ahhh bullseye!!"

"Oh my God are you going for the jackpot?"

"Wizard mode! Damn you just got in the wizard mode!!!"

"..."

Maybe they were shouting a bit too much, getting more and more high-key as the game went on. Judging from the noises gathering around them ... it seemed like that some of those comments weren’t coming Eli anymore? Were they somehow attracting a growing audience to their game date?

Harper had to focus though, so it wasn’t until she finally slipped and lost control, watching the ball escaping and stomping her foot in a groan of frustration, that she confirmed the fact that they had indeed created a tight crowd around them ... because she had just inadvertently stepped on someone else’s foot.

"Wow, that was amazing!" The person who she stepped on waved off her haste apology. "I haven’t seen such a smooth wizard mode in a while! It was so cool!"

"You made it to the top of today’s leaderboard!" Someone else pointed at the machine’s display.

"You should consider joining the league!" A new voice chimed in. "The Den has an official competitive team that’s looking for new members!"

"..."

Excited comments sounded from all directions, and as Harper smiled politely in return, she realized belatedly that her two-person date was suddenly ending up not so private anymore ... freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

"Um, maybe next time we’ll come when the place isn’t so busy. This is too much bathing in glory that I don’t exactly need." She made a face at Eli when the crowd finally dispersed, leaving only him at her side. "But hey, told ya I’d win! That was a good one even for me! Can’t believe it’s really been over twenty minutes ... No wonder my neck is getting sore."

The familiar touch of a warm hand landed over her shoulders, giving her a comfortable squeeze right where the soreness was building up. "Yep, you were completely right," Eli sighed defeatedly. "Your glory is well deserved, and I admit I suck."

Harper giggled triumphantly. Then she felt a tickle of breath inching beside her ear. "As the loser, I’ll gladly be the one to do all the sucking tonight," Eli whispered. "And I’ll make sure it lasts more than twenty minutes."

"..."

Alright, maybe their two-person private atmosphere hadn’t been too interrupted by the crowd, after all.

"Oh, don’t make the promise so soon yet," Harper cooed with a sly smile, turning back to him. "There’s still a lot more to this place ... and we’re only getting started."

She nudged him through the aisle of flashy machines, continuing toward the stairs in the back.