It started as a quiet afternoon.
The store had no customers.
Nyx was organizing inventory.
Bella was leaning on the counter reading something on her phone.
Goro the Oni was carefully stacking soda crates like they were sacred artifacts.
And Vario…
Vario had discovered the workplace computer.
He sat in the small office chair behind the counter, staring at the screen with intense focus.
"What is this game?" he asked.
Nyx glanced over. "Oh. That's a bullet hell game someone installed."
Vario squinted at the title screen.
TOUHOU PROJECT
He cracked his knuckles.
"How hard could it be?"
Bella didn't even look up. "Very."
The game started.
A tiny character appeared on the screen.
Then the enemy appeared.
Then…
The screen filled with thousands of glowing projectiles.
Red bullets.
Blue lasers.
Purple spirals.
Yellow stars.
Vario leaned closer to the monitor.
"…What."
The character died instantly.
GAME OVER
Vario blinked.
"That was a warm-up."
He restarted.
Ten seconds later the screen looked like a fireworks factory had exploded.
His character disappeared inside a wall of glowing bullets.
GAME OVER
Vario leaned forward slowly.
"…This is cheating."
Goro watched from behind him. "Is this a war simulation?"
"Probably."
Vario tried again.
The music intensified.
The screen became a storm of projectiles.
He moved left.
Right.
Up.
Down.
His character exploded.
GAME OVER
Bella finally looked up.
"…You lost again."
"I refuse to accept that."
Vario restarted the game.
Five attempts later he was sweating.
"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY BULLETS?!"
Nyx laughed from the shelves. "That's the whole point!"
The next boss appeared.
A girl floated onto the screen.
Then the screen exploded into pure chaos.
Thousands of glowing projectiles covered every inch of the monitor.
Vario's eye twitched.
"I… cannot see my character."
The character died again.
GAME OVER
The boss theme played happily.
Vario slowly stood up.
Bella immediately recognized the posture.
"…Oh no."
Vario pointed at the screen.
"You think you're funny?"
Goro stepped back.
"I have seen this look before."
Vario grabbed the keyboard.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE BETTER THAN ME?!"
He slammed the keys.
The computer beeped angrily.
The screen filled with bullets again.
The character died instantly.
GAME OVER
Silence.
Vario lifted the keyboard.
Nyx shouted, "WAIT—"
CRASH
The keyboard hit the monitor.
The screen shattered.
The computer sparked.
Everyone froze.
Smoke slowly rose from the destroyed machine.
Vario stood there breathing heavily.
"…I won."
Bella stared at the broken computer.
"You destroyed company property."
Nyx buried her face in her hands.
"It was the inventory computer!"
Goro nodded respectfully at Vario.
"…You defeated the machine."
Bella pointed at him.
"You're paying for that."
Vario crossed his arms stubbornly.
"That game was unfair."
From the cracked monitor, the frozen boss sprite remained on the screen, smiling calmly.
As if she had already won.