Chapter 67

Perhaps half of me hoped that Yellow would be hanging around the arcade early as usual, and the other half wondered if she would still be there since morning. I arrived at the arcade after finishing my preparations early on Monday morning. As soon as I got off the crowded subway during rush hour, the hot air swept over my face.

Although the weather should have gradually warmed up this season, the late summer rain brought late heat, making it impossible to believe that it was late August. If the hot weather continued like this, the training in September would be unbearably hot, causing significant worry.

This time, although I’m not participating in the training, but rather in on-site control, the situation of being conducted under the scorching sun remains the same.

I arrived at the arcade where the sounds of countless games could be heard all at once. Since it was Monday morning, there wasn’t a single person there. Yes, not a single person.

Yellow wasn’t even in the arcade, and the thought of having come for nothing made me sigh. Although the possibility of meeting her was very low, thinking about the heat outside, I immediately gave up on leaving and sat down in an appropriate spot.

Sitting in front of the fighting game machine where I had been brutally defeated by Yellow last week, feeling bored, I decided to play one game and inserted a coin. There was no other sound besides the game sounds since I was the only person there, so I could play more comfortably.

Yura and Hayang’s evaluations of Yellow were somewhat conflicting.

Yura, who had emotionally deployed with Yellow before, maintained a negative perception of her, while Hayang, who had never collided with her, seemed to interpret her based on what she had seen.

Even though it might seem like she’s just imagining things, I don’t think it’s just that. Probably, in Hayang’s eyes, Yellow is someone who “expresses herself aggressively because she doesn’t know how to convey her emotions directly.”

It’s not a bad thing to take this into consideration. Actually, her personality might be clumsy in expressing emotions. However, even if it’s true, I don’t think my negative perception of her will change right away. It’s just my opinion.

There are many people who are not good at expressing their emotions. My immediate superior, Luche, for example, usually cannot express her emotions clearly and tends to express them forcefully, but I’ve never seen anyone who complains or has emotional conflicts with her because of this.

In the end, even if the form is similar, it depends on how you do it. She has proven that even a clumsy personality can be accepted in the form of actions.

Of course, she didn’t intentionally prove it that way, but still, I could feel that despite her clumsiness, she cares about others when I watched Luche.

However, Yellow’s case was a bit different, no, quite different.

Despite sharing the common factor of being clumsy in expressing emotions, the forms and perceptions around her were vastly different from Luche’s. Yellow would freely say hurtful words to others while aggressively expressing her emotions.

I can understand this. That much clumsiness in personality, I get it.

But it’s hard to accept. Just knowing that someone’s expression is clumsy and that it comes out aggressively doesn’t mean we have to listen to those aggressive expressions with restraint.

The behavior and speech of Yellow towards Green this time cannot be overlooked just because I know she has a clumsy personality in expressing herself. Of course, it varies from individual to individual.

If she has friends and interacts smoothly with them, the probability of her friends supporting her is high. But, it seems unlikely that she would have such friends with this kind of personality.

“Huh?”

While lost in thought and operating the joystick, I saw the message indicating defeat and the countdown on the screen was progressing to 5.

“I lost.”

Thinking of playing another game, I inserted a coin and resumed the game.

Finally, after losing again to the final boss, I thought about inserting another coin but felt that continuing like this wouldn’t lead to a proper victory. So, I waited for the countdown to finish. And just as I was about to insert another coin, I heard the sound of someone operating the joystick from across.

Was I so engrossed in thought and the game that I didn’t notice who came? Out of curiosity, I got up and checked the person on the other side. Sure enough, Yellow, with short yellow hair and despite the hot weather, wearing a puffy hoodie, was focused on the screen, moving the joystick.

“Really came here.”

Seeing her playing, I sat back down and inserted a coin into the game machine. The game started, and I chose a character to start the fighting game again.

There were only two of us in the arcade—Yellow and I—and we were both intensely moving our joysticks against AI opponents.

As I played seriously, I noticed the screen of the game machine across from where Yellow was sitting. Sitting opposite, I could watch her gameplay without any reservations, and I couldn’t help but gasp at her continuous combos.

Though I’m not an expert, I could tell whether she was good or bad at the game based on her knowledge and experience. Her skills, which I noticed last week, didn’t seem like they were acquired in just a day or two, and they left me speechless.

At this level, she could probably make a name for herself in regional tournaments.

“Oh, oh… oh!”

I exclaimed in admiration while watching her gameplay from the opposite seat. My own game had already ended in defeat, and the countdown had passed, but I didn’t care anymore.

My admiration was solely focused on her impressive gameplay.

How much does she have to play to perform like that?

Games are truly amazing. Playing them myself was fun, but watching someone skilled play was equally enjoyable. Feeling satisfied watching someone else’s flawless performance was not bad at all.

After watching her play for nearly 30 minutes, I snapped back to reality and remembered what I needed to do. Now, I needed to investigate HunterKiller member Yellow.

Regaining my composure, I stood up and moved around pretending to leave, observing Yellow as she pretended to play. Was she concentrating on the screen or just blankly sitting there with an unreadable expression, skillfully controlling the character on the screen with the joystick?

Pondering how to proceed, I suddenly realized that it was perfectly normal to watch someone else play games in an arcade. This realization struck me because I am a Spacystro. Last week, when there were more people, I thought about getting closer, but until then, I approached cautiously out of fear of being recognized.

Then, I realized that Yellow wouldn’t recognize me since I’ve never taken off my helmet in public, not even during confrontations. The tension from surveillance made me forget this obvious fact, and despite knowing that I wouldn’t be caught, I still felt tense as I approached her from behind.

Yellow, who hadn’t shown any interest in me despite my presence, was still focused on the game. It wasn’t that she didn’t pay attention; rather, she was too absorbed in the game to notice me.

And at the moment she cleared one stage and moved to the next, she seemed to notice me standing behind her, giving me a fleeting glance. Thankfully, our eyes didn’t meet, but I felt my heart drop momentarily as her gaze briefly turned towards me.

Yellow didn’t recognize my identity. She simply reacted to the presence of someone behind her while playing.

Watching Yellow refocus on the game, I began to think about how to gather information about her. Observing her in the arcade is fine, but waiting for her in the arcade without knowing when she might appear or where she might go is a waste of time.

As I watched Yellow continuously playing, I noticed her hands. Her swift movements, rapidly pressing buttons, showed clean and precise actions. Looking back at the screen, I recalled Yellow’s movements from a few months ago during our confrontation.

“Ahh!”

I couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration, startling Yellow, who looked back at me from behind. Her eyes filled with annoyance made me genuinely nervous, and I quickly apologized.

Looking at Yellow play again, I couldn’t help but recall my own defeated appearance from a few months ago. The movements of the character on the screen reminded me of Yellow’s fighting style, holding a weapon.

I never imagined I would recall her previous movements just by looking at the game screen. From then on, my perspective on watching her play changed. I imagined Spacystro soldiers in regular suits, and I realized that Yellow’s various movements were displayed in the game.

‘How much…’

To copy such movements in the game, how much…

‘How much…’

If she could perfectly execute these movements just by playing, how much…

How much did she play alone without any friends?

This was the moment when my speculation about Yellow having no friends became a certainty.

Frankly, all HunterKiller members tend to lack friends. Yubin didn’t have friends either, Yura’s few friends had disappeared, and Hayang spent time taking care of children, leaving no room for friendships. Green was the same.

However, unlike the others who didn’t have friends despite not wanting them, Yellow voluntarily avoided making friends. Or perhaps, her strong conviction was that she couldn’t make friends due to her crazy personality.

After clearing the final boss, Yellow stood up and glared at me with an irritated look.

“Damn, you’re so noisy.”

Hearing her curse and leave, I was stunned. I didn’t expect her to be so straightforward and firm in her irritation.

“Huh, really.”

Unable to think of anything to do and lacking the ability, all I could do was sigh. Yellow left the arcade, and considering the danger of chasing her, I paused the pursuit. Even if I followed, I doubted I’d learn much about her immediately.

If she didn’t come to the arcade today, I wouldn’t be able to observe her further, but I knew that if she was playing games, she would definitely come to the arcade.

With a determined attitude, I went out to eat lunch and, after eating, considered ending the day until I decided to check the arcade one more time just in case.

When I returned, Yellow was already playing games again.

‘How much does she love playing games?’

By the afternoon, several people were coming and going at the arcade. I occasionally watched others as they passed by, but Yellow paid no attention and kept playing. It wasn’t just focus on the game; she seemed indifferent to everything around her, and this indifference made me uneasy.

Lastly, let’s review. To Yura, Yellow is a crazy woman, and to Hayang, she is someone who struggles with emotional expression. Based on what I’ve observed, Yellow is a woman who lacks friends and loves playing games.

A method to understand someone who lacks any communication elements came to mind, but I wasn’t keen on it. Despite trying, I couldn’t think of any other approach.

To understand someone without communication elements, approaching them directly is the only option. While I have intentionally approached other HunterKiller members before, I felt an unease about approaching Yellow first.

Still, deciding to find out more, I resolved to do what needs to be done. For now, I planned to observe her until she leaves the arcade and goes home.

In the evening, the arcade became crowded, and after Yellow won against her opponent, she left her seat. I followed her from a distance, keeping a reasonable distance.

Carefully tailing her, I observed as she took the subway, walked through the market, bought food, and headed home.

When she entered a side alley, I quickly followed and arrived at the spot.

“What are you doing?”

I encountered Yellow, who was standing right there in the alley.

“!”

Stupidly, I had been following her without realizing the obvious intuition of a hyper-human.

“Well, it’s like…”

“What? Are you a stalker? You’ve been bothering me ever since I was in the arcade. Did you follow me because you knew I’m a hyper-human?”

She confidently declared herself a hyper-human, not to distance herself due to the general disdain non-hyper-humans have, but to assert that she could overpower ordinary people physically and handle someone like me who was stalking her.

“No, it’s not like that…”

Never had I been this tense when encountering other HunterKiller members. Unlike other members, I didn’t encounter them in suspicious ways, and I didn’t think they would take physical action even if I acted suspiciously.

But why am I so tense at this moment? Why can’t I think of what to say first when facing Yellow? If Yellow uses physical force on me here, it won’t just end with me getting hit; there’s a risk that my identity might be exposed.

And even though communication is almost nonexistent, she could still inform other members of HunterKiller about the stalking or surveillance by Spacystro.

I need to respond. I need to show Yellow that I didn’t approach her with any suspicious intentions.

I need a response that will make Yellow relax her guard and not use physical force on me, even if I seem suspicious to everyone.

“Can you teach me… how to play games?”

This was the worst possible response. It was so ridiculous that it could top my list of worst statements ever. Why did I come up with such a response? Was it because I had been watching her play games all day?

Yellow’s eyes softened as she looked at me, but her expression remained bewildered.

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone like you, even though I’ve been in arcades for a long time.”

I could understand her reaction. I could barely understand myself, so how must she feel being stalked?

The unexpectedness of being stalked and the suspicion of being followed by a strange person overshadowed her confusion at my request to teach her games.

“From what I can see, you haven’t even played a game before.”

Just as she could see my gameplay from her seat, I could see hers from mine. I hadn’t expected her to notice.

Even if she did notice, it was just a brief glance, and she likely sighed at my poor gameplay.

After seeing my bewildered expression, Yellow sighed and looked at me.

“What a strange person. Play games yourself in the arcade, and if you follow me again, I’ll really kill you.”

The seriousness of her threat made me break out in cold sweat. She turned and headed toward her house.

Though it was an absurd response, it helped me avoid the situation. But the crisis wasn’t over. Now, I was marked as a suspicious person by Yellow, which could cause major problems when observing her in the arcade. In some cases, I might have to give up on closely observing her.

…For now, I’ll think about it at home.

Yellow entered the penthouse on the top floor of the elevator, feeling the usual emptiness of the empty house. She placed the food she had bought on the living room table and turned on the game console.

“Can you teach me… how to play games?”

The first time being followed was baffling, but her request was so absurd that it didn’t even elicit a laugh.

“Crazy.”

The first time meeting such a crazy person left her with only that impression. She erased the recent situation from her mind and started the game.