God Vessel Online

Chapter 51: Saturday Friend

While Erika spent her morning at school on Saturday, Mina had an adventure of her own. A day before, Erika left a vague declaration:

"Sorry, Mini. I have student council work tomorrow. I'm not sure when I'll be able to come over... if at all."

These words annoyed Mina for some reason. The concept of "school on Saturday" was alien to her.

"Bah, that damn Titan must be lying about freakin' school on Saturday... or is she?"

Mina pondered about the topic for many hours, but she couldn't figure out anything. It made her restless and she turned from side to side on her bed. Even when she woke up on the following morning, she still had no idea what to expect.

"What an annoying Titan..."

Mina picked up her controller and booted up Soul Claymore, her favorite fighting game. Even with one paralyzed arm, Mina insisted to maintain her daily training regime; she couldn't allow her skills to rust.

Her main character in the game was Reeyne, a tall amazon with a huge axe. Reeyne was a difficult fighter, requiring complex button inputs to execute combos. Reenye barely scratched the bottom of SoulClay's top tier characters, but Mina was a technical goddess who transcended such facts... at least, when she could fully utilize both hands.

"Bah! Shit! You fucker!!"

Mina lost five matches in a row. All her online opponents were monsters of the highest rank, just like Mina herself. She normally maintained a decent win ratio against these pros, but she couldn't do so when her crappy left hand didn't move as she pleased.

Thanks to taking a break from God Vessel Online, Mina's paralyzed arm showed great improvement. At first, she couldn't move the arm at all. Now, there was only faint numbness remaining in her fingers. It was a meager handicap for normal players, but split-second slowdowns were fatal for players of Mina's level.

"Bah, when's that dumb Titan coming!?"

After each defeat, Mina peeked out of her room. She felt that Erika would magically appear if she stared at the door strong enough. Alas, time flew by and Erika didn't arrive. Mina jumped every time she heard footsteps outside, but the footsteps never belonged to the Titan she waited for.

"Is she really coming? She said maybe... bah! How annoying!"

The more Mina thought about it, the more irritated she became and the worse she fared in battle, which in turn irritated her even more. Thus, a neverending cycle of negativity was formed.

GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWL

Mina's room shook as if hit by an earthquake. It was already afternoon, but only now she realized that she didn't even have her breakfast yet.

Frustrated by her continuous defeats and by the fact Erika didn't come over, Mina decided to order tons of pizza. It was a godly dish which could bring her out of every slump.

"Mmmmm!!! This shit is always the best! Nom nom nom!"

She tore the pizza to shreds with sharp bites. The divine flavor of pizza sank into her and cleansed her soul. Her level of irritation was greatly reduced and she now reasoned calmly.

"Well, it's the weekend after all... it's not like she gotta come especially for me..."

Mina mumbled while chewing on another pizza slice, which refused to fit into her stuffed tummy.

Erika had no obligation to come over on a weekend. The two girls vowed to cooperate until Mina's arm was cured in GoVe, but there were no additional agreements like "playing on weekends". Mina wished to resolve this problem quickly in order to keep playing GoVe, but Erika had no reason to share the same sentiments.