Upon my arrival in the Carnival Room, I saw Chiaki and Mukuro inside. Chiaki was looking over some of the arcade-style video games, while Mukuro was playing a shooter game involving zombies.
Deciding not to break Mukuro's concentration, I decided to approach Chiaki instead.
"Hi, Chiaki! So... um, what do you think of this room?" I awkwardly ask.
Chiaki shrugged, not showing much emotion. "I've been around games like these a lot. While I usually avoided carnival games, I have always enjoyed their arcades."
I nodded. "Makes sense, I guess. I couldn't really see you playing Skee-Ball or throwing darts at balloons."
Chiaki smiled slightly. "True."
Meanwhile, Mukuro breathed a sigh of relief behind me.
"This isn't exactly like shooting real people, but this zombie shooter game is... competent," she remarked.
My eyes were drawn to a game called "Stay or Go?". It contained 16 Monorakuns, each holding a briefcase with a number on it. I remembered a TV Game Show with a similar setup, but I never really cared much for it.
Instead, I turned my attention towards a fashion game, called "Dress to the 9s". It had a handsome young man and a pretty woman on the banner, standing next to each other. The man was wearing a tux, and the woman was wearing a gold dress with a long slit down the side, revealing her left leg up to the thigh.
Curious, I placed my E-Handbook on the pedestal next to the game to play it. The pedestal scanned my E-Handbook, giving me a small beep and a green light.
First, I had to select my person. I could choose from the man (Art) or the woman (Mira).
Despite Art looking interesting, women tend to have more options in dressing up, so I decided to try out Mira.
My E-Handbook beeped. Looking at the screen, it was saving information. Apparently, I could play Art later, and switch between the two.
The game started with me in the projects, wearing a torn pair of jeans and a dirty T-shirt. I could choose to work at a gas station, a grocery store, or a restaurant.
I elected to choose the restaurant. The starting pay was lower, but the chance for tips could pay off.
I noticed Chiaki watching me. Curious, I turned my head towards her.
"Nice choice," Chiaki commented. "The Grocery Store has the least amount of stress, and the Gas Station has the most flexible hours, but the Restaurant has the potential for the best payout."
Nodding in agreement, I start working there, which consisted of taking order, selecting the items the customer mentions, and ensuring I remove any condiments the customer says they don't want. Refusing to take any days off (as they would be unpaid and deduct against my threshold), I focused on working and saving my money for newer clothes.
After working my third week, I was able to buy a knee-length black skirt, a pink tank top with a logo on it, and some sneakers. I didn't quite have enough for the knee-highs yet, but I could afford the black no-show socks with $5 to spare.
After the 5th week, the boss called me into his office for a meeting. I received a 10% raise for meeting the threshold, and was given more flexibility in my hours.
With this, I could start taking a day off work to do other activities (though I still would not be paid if I did so), but so long as I didn't do it more than twice a month, I would still meet my next threshold at 13 weeks.
At 7 weeks, I was able to afford some black flats, a pair of pink knee-highs, and a V-neck tank top. I couldn't wear the V-neck to the restaurant job, but with it, I could finally enter the local town beauty contest.
I quickly realized I would need more accessories, like earrings, necklaces, or purses, but I did manage to place third in the event, winning me a decent amount of money. I missed second by 2 points, and first place by 7.
"A little early to enter, but at least you came out ahead," Chiaki commented.
With the extra money, I was able to purchase a small handbag, pink and black with a small strap. While I couldn't put anything in it, it did give bonuses to Fashion, which would be helpful.
I decided to save my progress at this point, and head to another game.
I found Mukuro looking at a hunting game, but she decided against it, instead turning to a sniper game, called "One Shot". It was a one or two player game, with the intro showing the second player would be stationed at a different location within the scenario.
I put my E-Handbook on the pedestal, while Mukuro gave me pointers on sniping.
"First off, don't be too hasty on taking the shot. Sometimes, if you wait, a better shot will come along. Second, keep your hands steady, and hold your breath before you take the shot. Third, keep an eye on any balloons, flags, trees, or other objects in the wind. The wind will help you aim, if you know how to use it."
We started the game together, and we are introduced as snipers for the US Army, assigned to various countries to locate and eliminate threats to US Interests. Our first assignment was in Agrabah, where our assignment was to locate and eliminate a spy.
We were given his description (male, black mustache and goatee that do not touch each other, wearing a black and red outfit with a black and gold hat).
We were then warned that each of us would only have one shot, and that missing the target would leave us compromised.
We were then loaded into a marketplace, with people wandering all over the place. Mukuro was on a tower to the left of the marketplace, while I was on a lower tower on the right side.
After about 20 seconds, we saw a man wearing black and red, with a mustache and goatee, but the two touched, so I let him go, as did Mukuro.
15 seconds later, a man matching the description wandered into the screen, talking to one vendor and buying a pineapple. I then watched as he approached a young boy, giving him the pineapple and taking something small in return.
As soon as the little boy left, Mukuro fired, hitting the man in the side of the head and dropping him.
A new screen loaded, congratulating us on eliminating the target, as he was found with a remote control connected to explosives at a nearby empty stall.
"I had to wait for the boy to go away," Mukuro commented. "Best to take the shot when there are no witnesses interacting with them."
As I stepped back from the game for a moment, I noticed someone leave, but they were gone before I noticed who it was; I only noticed the movement near the doorway.
Curious, I saved my progress, removed my E-Handbook from the scanning pedestal, and headed towards the doorway, but saw nobody.
Shrugging it off, I decided to check the Prize Counter, to see what I could get for my Monocoins. I noticed several items had already been purchased; a yo-yo, a bottle of perfume, a TUTEC journal...
As my eyes scanned the missing prizes, my breath caught in my throat. Three other items were missing, and I suddenly became VERY concerned.
The long rubber gloves, the night goggles, and the Taser were all gone, too.
Did this meant what every bone in my body screamed it meant?