บท 9: Hayate and Friends! Marashi Lore?
Marashi got some ramen and Mountain Dew before returning to his desk. It was 8:30 in the morning and shortly after Iruka came to take the kids back to class.
In just that short time, he was back up to 17,400 CC Points and he couldn't help but be exasperated.
What is he supposed to do with it? Stats? Unneeded at the moment.
It's like putting the cart before the horse. He needs to build the foundation of his business before he starts balling out.
As he just saw this morning, 15 PCs are just not enough. He knew a lot of characters that could come and he wouldn't have any space for them. Sure, some might be a bit considerate and lower their play time to let others play, but that's not really a solution.
The problem was that the next upgrade cost 50,000 points. The upside was that it would give him 10 PCs which was nice.
All he has to do is save them.
In the next moment, the bell rang and he looked over to his left.
It seems Hayate came back from his mission, but what was surprising was who was with him.
To think his store is so popular now.
Standing before him were Hayate, Yugao, Genma, Ebisu, Aoba, and Raido.
"Hey, Marashi. The gang is all here." He laughed before coughing.
"Ah, how's it going?" Marashi put down his book.
"Great! I brought them over to play. They didn't believe me when I told them." Hayate looked sheepish.
Now that his friends were here, they looked a bit more open to his bold claims. The store itself looked out of this world.
"Is it true, Marashi?" Ebisu asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, you can play games here. Want to give it a shot?" Marashi asked.
The others didn't hesitate before bombarding him with questions which he answered to the best of his ability. He naturally avoided some of them.
He handed them their cards as they each paid for an hour to try out the Call of Duty game Hayate was raving about.
Marashi directly them to the PCs and they started gaming.
It was also the first time they'd play Co-op. They went through the tutorial and the CQB test.
The only one to beat his score was Yugao, his fiance. She was also incredibly surprised to see Kakashi's name on there.
Next, they invited each other to a lobby and played the first mission.
It was truly hectic.
Ebisu completely missed the rappel down the helicopter and died, forcing them to restart.
Aoba got shot in the face at first contact.
Raido was blown up by a grenade when they were pushing to the other end of the ship.
Genma was actually doing quite well along with Yugao and Hayate, until he was shot in the back of the head by Aoba when the enemy suddenly shot at them, jump scaring him into pulling the trigger.
He was soon flamed over comms.
This took two hours, and they had to buy another hour because coordination was difficult and the mission completely restarted if one of them died. It was also on ANBU difficulty by default and cannot be changed.
Yugao felt that this was quite exciting to play especially with friends. Intense firefights, coordination, and tactics with zero chance of injury were beyond fun for her.
The sentiment was shared by the others.
After they ran out of play time they began to animatedly talk to each other.
"G46C or MP5?" Aoba asked.
"MP5 was more stable and easier to shoot," Raido responded.
"Yes, but the G36C felt powerful to use wish it was a part of the mission." Genma sighed.
"Both are good. I can't decide." Yugao chimed in and Hayate agreed even if he embarrassed himself yesterday because of the huge kick to the gun.
"Hey, what's this?" Ebisu walked over to the Snack Machine trying to figure out its purpose.
"It's for snacks," Marashi answered from across the room.
They gathered around the machine and saw the options. Ramen and Mountain Dew.
Ebisu decided to buy the drink and inserted money into the slot when it glowed. The compartment opened and he grabbed it.
Drinking it, his eyes widened.
"Damn," Ebisu stated and kept drinking which surprised the others. He hardly ever cursed and seeing his expression, it must be quite good.
They each bought one and immediately understood why he reacted that way.
It was intense at first, but the taste was truly mind-blowing.
Since it was so good, they tried the ramen next and while it wasn't as great as Ichiraku, it was better than anything store-bought.
They wanted to ask where Marashi gets all this stuff from, but remembering how he deliberately avoided such questions, they didn't pry.
Hayate sat down at the table next to the machine and saw something he completely overlooked.
"What's this game, Marashi?" He asked looking at the Wizard101 poster.
"Ah, it's a new game I added a few hours after you left. You can level up, go questing with friends, farm gear for your wizard, and cast spells. You can even buy houses and customize them." Marashi explained a bit about the game and it intrigued them.
It seems far different from what they played.
"Did Kakashi-senpai play it?" Yugao didn't forget that she saw his name on the record board in the tutorial.
"Yes, along with his team. They completed the first world of the game and are around level 12." Naruto was higher but that was because he had a headstart compared to his team.
They all knew of Kakashi, of course, and hearing that he actually passed a team was surprising at the time, but him playing a game about wizards? Now that was truly bizarre.
"Do you guys want to try?" Genma asked seeing that a more lighthearted and laidback game would be nice.
The others didn't have any objects and paid for three hours, not all of it was for Wizard101, but for COD. Perhaps an hour on the game and they'd go back to the shooter.
However…they underestimated the sheer addictive force that MMORPGs provide. The stereotypical depiction of those types of players wasn't all for show, after all. Just look at Asmongold, even if he is chill like that.
+++
"Hanabi was skipping class?" Hiashi couldn't believe his ears. Neither of his children displayed such troublemaking tendencies, so what's changed?
"Yes, Hiashi-sama. She skipped with some other students, but was mostly enticed by stories from the Third Hokage's grandson." Ko Hyuga bowed.
'Konohamaru?' Now that made sense to him. He has been going on a rebellious streak lately, even trying to 'kill' his grandfather to become Hokage.
His mind focused on the reason why his daughter was influenced.
"What stories?" Hiashi looked at Ko demanding an answer.
"A shop called Computer Cafe has games there where you go 'inside' the computer to play as a wizard to cast spells." He nervously replied given the sheer incredulity of the situation.
Hiashi's mind blanked.
If you were to come up with a story, then you should make it sound believable! What's a computer and what wizards and spells?
"So it's just nonsense that Hanabi fell for." Hiashi thought this was a good thing as to not believe everything she heard. It's a small lesson that could save her life one day.
"Yes, I didn't go in, but I found out the store is owned by Marashi, no family name, who recently added a 'Computer Cafe' sign above the door." Ko didn't feel the need to go inside as he thought they were just curious about shinobi equipment.
Hiashi's gaze instantly sharpened.
"Marashi? As in the son of Mitsubari? How long was Hanabi in there for?" His interest was ignited as he had gone to that store in his younger days and liked the shopkeeper there.
Ko was confused by his sudden interest but he thought nothing of it.
"About 30 minutes until Iruka Umino walked them back to class." He responded.
"I see, dismissed." Hiashi waved him off and Ko bowed shutting the door behind him.
Hiashi, lost in his memories, gained a nostalgic look.
'I haven't seen little Marashi since Hanabi was born. Perhaps I should pay him a visit?' He thought. He didn't have any meetings and the Shinobi Council didn't meet until tomorrow, so there was no problem in going over.
He decided to go over with Hanabi and Hinata once the former was let home for the day. The latter was free around that time and while he may be disappointed in her progress, she should still meet the son of the woman who saved his life.
Marashi's mother was a student of Tsunade Senju.
+++
Since there were 6 of them, they split into 2 groups. Raido, Hayate, and Genma. The other was Ebisu, Yugao, and Aoba.
"Death is ridiculous. Hayate can attack and heal himself!" Genma was speechless at such a game mechanic. Attacking and healing seemed a bit too strong!
"It's pretty fun." Hayate laughed as he once again felt no urge to cough in the game.
"Genma, you're Life, can you heal me?" Raido asked a bit annoyed that he kept hitting FoulGaze, a boss in Olde Town before Lord Nightshade.
"Why does Storm have such low HP? I healed you twice already! Pack some shields in your deck!" Genma was irritated.
"I'm doing the most damage, why should I shield? You should shield me!" After this, Genma felt like strangling him.
The other group, currently at Nightshade had a different vibe.
"Can you use Balance Blade on me, Ebisu?" Yugao asked as she cast a Fire Blade on herself.
"Sure, can you shield, Aoba?" Ebisu selected the spell.
"I got you." Aoba, being Myth, used a set shield on Yugao who had the lowest health.
Marashi couldn't help but laugh at the difference between them. Hayate's time ran out and bought 2 hours of game time 60 minutes in.
He sipped on a bottle of Mountain Dew before going back to his own game.
Finishing the three streets and the side quests during this time, he felt satisfied.
He long planned that he would 100% the game, side quests and all. It'll be painful, but he's a completionist.
Another hour went by and both groups beat Wizard City and Colossus Boulevard.
They held off on going to the next world and kept farming Harvest Lord and Lord Nightshade for spellements and gear.
Being shinobi, they were disciplined and patience was key, so they kept going at it.
3 hours. They grinded for 3 hours and all of them got some usable gear while a few even upgraded a spell to tier 2.
The sense of visible progress was very addicting.
All of them were also out of time as they kept getting up to pay for more time.
Why they didn't just buy in bulk? They figured that they wouldn't be playing for much longer, only to realize that they do.
They got off VR to eat some ramen and some more Mountain Dew.
Thinking of how they spent so long in the store, it was truly some of the most fun they've ever had.
When they were all laughing and conversing the front door opened.
It was Team 7.
"Why'd we only do two missions? I need money for games, Mountain Dew, and ramen…" As Naruto started yapping they noticed those sitting at the table eating.
"Ah, you guys…" Kakashi was surprised to see many of his old classmates and people he went to the academy with. They were in the same generation after all.
Marashi sighed.
'Yep, definitely need more PCs.' He stood up from his screen and walked over to the desk.
Naruto spotted him.
"Hey, who's Hinata Hyuga?!" He still hadn't figured it out yet.
Sasuke and Sakura's heads whipped to Naruto in surprise. Yes, even Sasuke could see how much Hinata was infatuated with the moron.
Marashi couldn't help but facepalm, he really shouldn't have expected much. The bar was low but look at Naruto, limbo dancing with Kurama.
As he was about to explain, it seemed fate answered for him.
Hiashi, Hanabi, and Hinata walked in behind Team 7.
==
What up! It's past midnight so this will be Tuesday's update, hopefully, I can stock up on some chapters.
Now the store is practically full should everyone get on.
Until next time!
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