Neo closed his mouth abruptly.

'I'm here to have her join us on the S-rank mission.'

'It's better to be careful of what I say.'

He opened his mouth.

"I rang the doorbell twice.

"There was no answer and I suddenly heard you scream.

"That's why I entered the room."

"As you can see, there is no problem here. So, get out."

"…"

Neo took a deep breath.

'Don't react to her taunts. That's what she wants.'

'I'm here for a job. Focus on it.'

Leonora was the only heroine he disliked with passion.

It was not easy for him to get along with her due to his personal bias.

"Look, can we just talk? I have something important I need to discuss—"

"Shut it and leave. I'm busy."

"Like what?"

He pointed at her room.

"I bet you haven't attended classes during the past days and you didn't join us on the missions.

"What was important enough to keep you busy?"

"I was beating the Enma Shrine 3."

"Enma Shrine 3…?"

"Yup, I beat in it just 2 days."

Her smug expression confused him.

"What's Enma Shrine 3?"

"You don't know about Enma Shrine 3? I guess I shouldn't have expected much from an idiot."

She clicked her tongue.

"It's the game that will receive Game of the Year for this year.

"It already broke most records.

"Even though it came out only 2 days ago, it had more sales than entire Sanguine Penguin series combined!"

Leonora grew excited as she spoke.

She stopped, stared at the empty air next to her and coughed.

Suddenly, she became calm.

"You skipped classes just for a…."

Neo stopped speaking.

He couldn't chastise her.

After all, he had been in the same situation when Elden Ring and AC Odyssey were released.

He was a worse gaming addict than Leonora.

'Was she such a hardcore gamer?'

He didn't like it.

He didn't like how he shared his favorite hobby with her out of all people.

"Just?

"That's what you say because you can't understand the greatness behind Enma Shrine 3

"I bet you can't defeat even the first boss."

"…What?"

Neo failed to realize how smoothly and confidently Leonora was talking when she was within her room.

He stopped caring when he challenged his inner gaming addict.

"You think I can't do what you did?"

Gaming was the only field where he could call himself the best—

His face scrunched up when he recalled he lost the last game he played in his previous life.

"Fine. I'll show you your place."

He went past her and picked the other controller.

"Hey, what are you doing!? Leave that alone!"

"I'm just proving your words otherwise."

Neo saved her DLC progress and created a new save file for himself.

Leonora was about to stop him until she saw he understood the know how of gaming.

'Is he angry because I said he couldn't clear the first boss?'

Leonora was exasperated.

She couldn't follow his train of thoughts.

'He was fine when the entire academy was calling him fraud.'

'But he can't stand this?'

Seeing Neo focused on the game, Leonora felt he forgot why he came to meet her for.

"This game is like Elden Ring. It's almost like it's plagiarized." Neo frowned.

"What's Elden Ring?"

"A game," Neo said. "A good game."

Neo did not take long to defeat the first boss.

His control surprised Leonora.

She sat next to him without realizing it and pursed her lips.

"That… that was luck. Besides, I defeated the first boss on my first try too.

"It's the second one where it gets challenging."

Neo scoffed.

He continued to play.

When he died after meeting the second boss, Leonora chuckled.

"See, I told you, you were lucky."

"…"

He chose 'PLAY AGAIN' and went towards the second boss the second time.

It took him five tries to win.

"tsk, I swear it's the controller that I can't—"

Neo, about to give an excuse, noticed Leonora's stunned expression.

"How many tries did you take to clear the second boss…?"

"…"

Her silence spoke plenty.

The corner of Neo's lips rose into a smug grin.

Leonora snatched the controller from his hand and created another save file.

She started the game from the beginning and defeated the second boss in three tries.

"I took three chances," she answered with a smirk.

"If that's how you are going to do this then let's try again."

Neo took one chance to defeat the second boss.

Leonora achieved the same after her next try.

"I defeated the boss faster," Leonora said.

"You must be blind. Should I give you glasses?"

His shamelessness made her grit her teeth.

"There are more bosses. I don't believe you can get lucky enough to defeat them all."

"Just accept it's a skill issue on your part when a newbie can clear the bosses before you."

Both of them were immersed in the game.

Their entire focus was on deciding who was a better gamer.

Sometimes Neo was faster, and sometimes Leonora.

It wasn't until they reached half-way into the game and the doorbell rang that Neo recalled his purpose for visiting Leonora.

"Check the door."

"Why should I? It's your room. Go yourself."

"I'm busy with this boss. It will disturb my concentration if I leave now."

"I wish you were half as good at games at you are with excuses."

Neo shook his head and stood up.

He opened the door and saw Christian.

"…!?"

Christian's brows shot up.

"What are you doing in Miss' room?"

"I was here to ask her join us for the S-rank mission," Neo answered with a yawn.

"This early in the morning? And why… does it look like you've been awake the whole night?"

"What are you talking about? Its afternoon right now…"

Neo stopped speaking when Christian showed him the time.

"It is six o'clock in the morning."

"We've been playing games for the whole day?"

Neo was stunned.

He massaged his eyes and spoke to Christian.

"Why did you come to Leonora's room?"

"I wanted to ask Miss if she would join us on the mission and....

"Is it really true you were just gaming?"