Story of a Rhythm Game Couple

Chapter 24. Determination

After verifying her game data, Sana dashed to the front desk and grabbed a tripod.

"What are you doing?" Asahi asked.

"I'm setting up my tripod. Is that a trick question?" Sana replied while unfolding her tripod.

Once the tripod was steady, she secured her phone in the holder. She even connected it to a power bank, perhaps to keep it from dying due to low battery.

"Not that... What I meant was, I've never seen you record your own gameplay at all. It seems odd to see you setting up a tripod, you know."

Despite their countless visits to FunZone to play MaiDan, Asahi had never seen her take videos of her own gameplay, except for their GCC3 qualification video. Usually, she would only capture a screenshot of her results screen, and that was about it.

"Is it? Hehe."

Sana didn't elaborate any further, only returning a smile instead. She had never shown much interest in the idea of uploading and sharing gaming videos on the internet, either, so her sudden enthusiasm puzzled Asahi even more. He scratched his head and sat back down on the couch.

After ensuring the camera was positioned correctly with the right lighting, she started her first solo credit of the day.

"So, what are you grinding today?"

After setting the sorting option by difficulty, Sana swiped all the way to the rightmost chart folder and pointed to the one just to the left.

"I'm planning to SSS all the 14+ level charts."

"Within today?"

"Well, that's the long-term plan anyway. Everything seems a bit too much for me since it's still a bit beyond my comfort zone, but I think I can get a few done today."

Level 14+ was the second-hardest difficulty in the game. For a long time since the game's release, 14+ had been the top difficulty, but with the introduction of the new level 15 chart from the recent event, PARADOXXX, the level 14+ folder that Sana was planning to grind had been dethroned. But that didn't make level 14+ charts any easier; they were still incredibly challenging and could only be conquered by a handful of the most dedicated and skillful players.

Out of 15 charts in the folder, Sana had a total of three SSS+ scores, five SSS scores, and two SS scores; the remaining charts were either unplayed or had personal best scores below 99%. Her goal for today was to push her non-SSS scores to SSS, and her SSS scores to SSS+. For consistency's sake, she also aimed to upscore on charts where she had already achieved SSS+.

"Is that maybe a bit too harsh for you, Sa-chan?" Asahi asked, bewildered by her unexpected aspiration.

Asahi had been playing MaiDan with Sana together for over a month, so he had a pretty decent grasp of her playstyle. While she had been proving herself to be a well-rounded and consistent player, her scores indicated that her strength lay in stamina. A lot of challenging level 14 or level 14+ charts utilized many straining patterns, which played to her strong suit, though she rarely touched them because she never really found the songs appealing.

"I know what I can do, Asahi-kun. Don't you worry!" Sana said confidently.

"Well, if you say so."

Asahi sat back on the couch, realizing that fretting wouldn't help.

Sana started off her session with the first three charts on which she had already achieved SSS+.

Asahi had more occasions to watch Sana play than he could remember. The delicate body movement that corresponded to the note placements on the chart, the light yet steady tapping on the buttons to the beat, and her half-serious, half-laid-back expression while playing the game had always been her things when she played MaiDan. Whether her goal was simply increasing her game statistics through getting AP or rironchi scores on easier charts or grading up her badge in Friendly Matching, she usually maintained a relaxed and serene demeanor.