COTE Year 2 Reimagined

Volume 7:Part 7

I made my way over to where Kei and I were supposed to meet, and she was already there waiting for me.

"You're early."

She noticed me when I spoke to her and moved towards me.

"More like you're late."

She shoved her phone in her face to show me that I was indeed two minutes late. I shrugged at her, and she sighed, then started walking.

"Did you see any of the stalls?"

She glanced back towards me and started thinking.

"I noticed a few, but I didn't buy anything."

After talking, she stopped for a moment, and her eyes lit up.

"Isn't that so cute?!?"

She pointed towards a stuffed animal kept on a shelf inside a booth. Below the animal, a few soda cans were set up, and I noticed fake guns on the counter. Was this a shooting game?

"Kiyotaka, win it for me! Please!"

She looked at me pleadingly, and I was somewhat confused.

"Win it?"

She tilted her head and then started explaining.

"Yes! This is a carnival game. You have to shoot the gun at the cans to earn points, and if you earn enough, you can buy a prize!"

I see. So it was a shooting game as I suspected, I've never held a gun before, but I've learned how to properly handle them.

"I'll try."

I moved over to the counter and grabbed the gun, I noticed a judge sitting inside the booth who was a student from Class 1-D he glanced in my direction for a second and then looked away.

"You get 5 shots. Good luck."

I aimed the gun at the first can and adjusted my posture appropriately, and then shot. I ended up missing, but it was fine. I adjusted my aim according to the trajectory of the bullet I just shot and pressed the trigger again. I missed once more. The second bullet went in a completely different direction.

Were the bullets not built the same way? The second one felt a lot lighter than the first. Then how was I meant to adjust my aim? I shot the third and fourth bullets while trying to adjust my aim to hit the can accurately, but it didn't make a difference. I missed two more times.

I clicked my tongue and muttered under my breath.

"This is frustrating..."

Did this game rely on luck? I closed my eyes and aimed in the general direction of the can, then shot my last bullet. Surprisingly, this one landed perfectly. It was pure luck.

"So even the great Ayanokoji fails, huh?"

Hosen came from around the corner and started taunting me while laughing. I put the gun down and looked towards him.

"The game is unfair. It's rigged."

Hosen looked at me in confusion and then laughed again.

"You some kinda moron? Of course, it's rigged dumbass!"

He turned around and kept laughing. So these games were really rigged to make sure you lost? But Hosen revealed that to me quite easily... does that mean it's common knowledge that these games are rigged? If so, then who would even participate in them if they knew they'd lose? I didn't understand any of it.

I walked back to Kei, and she was giggling like a little kid for some reason.

"I lost."

She flicked my forehead and turned around.