The Acolyte of Spirits and Curses

In the small security room tucked behind the arcade floor, a single monitor replayed the scene of Evelyne kicking and damaging the machine.

Evelyne stood there with her gaze fixed on the floor in embarrassment.

"...They didn’t have to replay it this many times," she muttered under her breath.

Standing beside her, Klein watched the footage with a blank expression.

The security guard standing across from them coughed lightly, clearly trying to maintain professionalism despite the situation.

"So... you can see the damage, right? Your girlfriend kicked and damaged one of our machines."

Klein nodded calmly. "Yeah, I can see it."

"And you understand that the repair cost-"

"I’ll pay for it."

The guard paused, slightly surprised by how quickly Klein responded.

There was a brief silence before the guard nodded, relieved that this wasn’t going to turn into something more complicated. "Alright... we’ll prepare the invoice."

Klein gave a small nod in response.

As the guard stepped away to handle the paperwork, the room fell silent.

Evelyne shifted slightly and finally lifted her gaze toward the screen "This is humiliating."

With a soft chuckle, Klein spoke "It’s alright. I can understand your frustration."

Evelyne glanced at him and seeing his soft smile, she was relieved that he was not mad at her.

"I-I... am sorry, because of me, you als-"

"No, no," Klein cut in gently, shaking his head before she could finish.

"As I said... it’s alright. You are my date today, so you are my responsibility."

"And honestly, I completely understand your frustration. You don’t know how many keyboards I’ve broken in anger when I lose a game."

"...Eh?"

Her eyes widened slightly as she turned to look at him in surprise "You... break things?"

"Used to... well, back when I played a lot."

Evelyne stared at him for a moment, clearly trying to reconcile the image of him "...You don’t seem like the type."

"That’s because you didn’t see me back then."

"...How many?"

Klein paused slightly, then gave a thoughtful hum as if genuinely considering the number. "...More than like... fifteen maybe."

Evelyne’s lips parted slightly before she quickly pressed them together, trying to hold back a small laugh.

With a faint teasing tone, she muttered "...So you’re saying, that if this machine was in your room back then..."

"It wouldn’t have survived," Klein replied without hesitation.

"Hahaha!" Evelyne let out a soft laugh as she slightly leaned against his arm for support.

"...That’s terrible," she said between small breaths. "You were worse than me."

"Was."

"Are," she corrected immediately, lifting her head just enough to glance at him with a faint smile on her lips.

Klein let out a small sigh "I didn’t pull out a sword in public like a certain lady."

"Oh come on, that machine totally deserved that."

At that time, the guard returned with a slip of paper and handed it to Klein. "Here’s the estimate."

Klein took the slip of paper and glanced at the baseball bat at the corner of the room.

"Actually..." He said slowly, tapping the paper lightly with his finger as if reconsidering something, "...I have a better deal. Can I meet your manager?"

"Huh?"

---

Evelyne stepped out of the room, swinging the baseball bat lightly in her hand, testing its weight.

She walked to the machine and stood in front of it with the bat in her hand as if she was going to a war.

A few people nearby slowly backed away, sensing something was about to happen.

Klein stood behind her with a smile on his face.

Her eyes narrowed just slightly "...You humiliated me."

The machine, of course, said nothing.

She adjusted her grip on the bat and raised the bat.

CRACK.

The sound rang out sharply across the arcade, and the impact echoed through the room as the bat connected with the machine’s glass panel.

The first strike shattered the surface into a web of cracks, but before the fragments could even settle, she pulled the bat back again and swung with more force.

CRACK-!

The glass gave way completely this time, collapsing inward as shards scattered across the inside of the machine.

The claw arm jerked violently from the impact and its mechanism stuttered uselessly as sparks flickered for a split second.

Gasps echoed around them, and people stepped back in horror.

But Evelyne still didn’t stop.

Her expression remained calm as she stepped forward and brought the bat down again.

THUD-!

The casing bent inward with a metallic groan.

And Evelyne kept hitting, determined to break the machine.

By the time she finally stopped, there was nothing left to "win."

The glass was gone, and the claw hung crookedly inside.

The entire front of the machine was destroyed, and the plushies are scattered onto the floor.

Evelyne lowered the bat slowly and let out a deep breath "...There. That’s what you get for cheating."

The arcade had gone completely silent around them.

A few people in the crowd stared at the destroyed machine, while others stared at her in confusion.

One of the guys in the crowd quickly rushed over to the security guard, clearly agitated as he pointed toward Evelyne.

"Why aren’t you stopping her?!"

The guard just sighed and rubbed his forehead like this was already more paperwork than he wanted to deal with.

"Her boyfriend already bought that machine for five times the money."

"...What?"

"Yeah. Said something about ’covering damages in advance.’"

The guy blinked and glanced at the destroyed machine "...So... this is allowed?"

The guard shrugged. "At this point? I’m not getting paid enough to argue with them."

Klein walked forward, stepping over a few scattered pieces of glass as he came to stand beside her. "...Feel better?"

Evelyne looked at the wreckage one last time and gave a small nod. Then, without another thought, she casually tossed the bat aside.

"...Yes."

At that moment, Evelyne’s gaze shifted slightly.

Something inside the broken machine caught her attention.

She stepped forward, carefully reaching past the bent frame and shattered glass, and a second later, she pulled something out from the wreckage.

The plush toy that she wanted.

She brushed a bit of dust off it, holding it gently in her hands, and turned to look athim with a bright smile on her face.

"See," she said softly, lifting the plush slightly as if presenting proof of her victory, "I won."

Keeping his smile, Klein replied, "Congratulations. Though you destroyed the battlefield."

Evelyne tilted her head slightly, completely unbothered. "...Victory is victory."

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