Chapter 0170: Deal
Hephaestus no longer had the leisure of crossing her arms and leaning against the desk behind her—she was now sitting properly in a chair, behaving like an elderly cadre using a computer for the first time.
"Right, first move the mouse to any square and click the left button."
"See these numbers? A '1' means there's one bomb in the adjacent squares, a '2' means there are two, and our goal is to mark all the bomb locations!"
"Start with the easiest spots, like this corner. It's surrounded entirely by '1's. First, right-click to mark it, then move to the side and press both buttons together. Yes!"
"See? We've cleared a few non-mine squares now!"
"Ohh..."
Hephaestus, trying the game Minesweeper for the first time, showed an expression of understanding. She carefully moved her mouse and, after a stumbling four minutes of gameplay, finally cleared the beginner difficulty (9x9).
"Whew—"
After letting out a long breath, Hephaestus wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and said with a serious expression, "What a tense and thrilling game!"
Hayashi: "Uh... yeah!"
This is tense and thrilling? If I had you play Beach Head, wouldn't you get so excited you'd forge a gun on the spot, charge into a dungeon, and go pewpewpew, pewpewpew, firing wildly?
"Surrounded by mines, using observation and wisdom to mark them ensures your safety," Hephaestus analyzed with a stern face. "A single misstep means hitting a real bomb and being blown to smithereens—isn't that just like an adventurer's journey in a dungeon? Whether it's a monster feast or mutated species, they're all 'bombs' that require extra caution!"
Sh-she was actually thinking about it so seriously? Was my thinking too shallow?
"So, another round—"
"?"
Under Hayashi's gaze, Hephaestus started another game. This time, seemingly unsatisfied with the easy difficulty, she chose the intermediate level (16x16). For the next ten minutes, Hephaestus engaged in a battle of wits with the computer program, putting on a stunning display of intellectual combat.
You can take that at face value.
"Whew, what a tense and thrilling game."
Hephaestus wiped the cold sweat from her forehead again, then said with a serious expression, "Any small mistake could lead to immeasurable consequences, just like adventurers exploring dungeons—a single error could result in total annihilation."
"So, one more—"
Before she could finish, Hayashi, with a darkened expression, pressed down on her right hand holding the mouse.
He had underestimated the situation. He never expected video games to have such a devastating effect on these idle, bored gods. Even Hephaestus, a reliable adult goddess, couldn't escape the "true fragrance" law.
"Goddess, the trial period is over!" Hayashi said expressionlessly, looking at Hephaestus. "We agreed earlier—just one game, right?"
Yet you've already played two rounds and still tried to sneak in another one!
Damn it, I never thought Hephaestus would resort to such tricks!
"!"
A large exclamation mark popped up above Hephaestus's head. She clicked her tongue regretfully, then sat up straight with a serious demeanor and said, "The evidence you provided has effectively proven the existence of another world."
If those materials could still be explained away as "suddenly mutated monsters from some remote area," the little purple creature that emerged from Hayashi's shadow was truly unheard of. Moreover, the energy-charged weapons he brought out opened Hephaestus's eyes—in this world, the only weapons capable of releasing magic were consumables called "magic swords," and magic swords couldn't possibly be recharged.
Most importantly, there was the item called a "laptop" that he produced—it was definitely not a product of this world! Hephaestus could swear on her divine authority!
"Since you're willing to acknowledge this reality, Goddess, things will be much easier," Hayashi said with relief, a smile spreading across his face. "I hope to establish a cooperative relationship with you."
After all, she was a goddess who had lived for hundreds of millions of years. Once freed from the influence of the video game, Hephaestus quickly regained her composure.
She leaned back in her chair, interlocked her fingers, and placed them on the desk as she analyzed, "From your act of presenting those materials, I can guess that what you need is my forging skills. So, what can you offer to persuade me?"
Hayashi placed his hands on Hephaestus's desk and said earnestly, "How about various equipment, materials, and knowledge from another world that could be useful to you?"
"Hmm..." Hephaestus showed a hesitant expression and glanced reluctantly at the laptop on the desk. Seeing this, Hayashi immediately understood.
"Lady Hephaestus, if you choose to cooperate now, there's a grand opening promotion!" Hayashi decisively raised a finger and said, "Not only will you receive a laptop as a gift, but also a package of 500 mini-games, including classics like Minesweeper, FreeCell, Spider Solitaire, 3D Pinball, Raiden, Contra, Super Mario, Snow Bros., and Salamander. And as a loss-making bonus, I'll throw in two game controllers!"
"!" Upon hearing this, Hephaestus nodded almost without hesitation and said, "Deal!"
She wasn't a greedy goddess, and the terms Hayashi had offered were already incredibly tempting to her—especially that so-called "500-game bundle." Just hearing about it sounded overpowered!
This was 500 games!!
Hayashi extended his right hand: "Then, pleasant cooperation?"
Hephaestus shook his hand: "Pleasant cooperation!"
Behind them, Erina, Hisako, and Yunyun all wore rather twisted expressions.
Yunyun: 'What turned Hayashi-nii into a capitalist...'
Hisako: 'Was it his experience as an emperor in the Overlord world?'
Erina: 'Did it teach you how to make the horse run with the least amount of hay??'
...
...
Astraea looked at Hayashi with a strange expression and said, "How on earth did you convince Hephaestus?"
Heaven knows how shocked she was when she learned that Hayashi had actually persuaded Hephaestus to custom-make equipment for his party members—damn it, she was so startled she swallowed a croquette whole in one gulp, you know? In one breath!
Don't think this is just a trivial matter! It was only by a hair's breadth, really just a hair's breadth (gesturing with thumb and forefinger), that she would have become the first goddess in Orario's history to return to heaven by choking on a croquette—this was the kind of shame that would be nailed to the pillar of disgrace for a lifetime!!
Unbearable, truly unbearable.
"That involves my secret—" Hayashi, who was also holding a red bean cream-flavored croquette, replied while eating, "I offered to let you and Hephaestus hear it earlier, but you said you weren't interested."
Astraea chuckled lightly and shook her head, saying, "I'm indeed not interested in probing into others' secrets. I was just asking casually."
Alright then.
What else could Hayashi say? He could only innocently swallow his croquette and reply, "Well, then just ask whenever you become interested, Goddess-sama."
"Hmm..." Astraea slightly furrowed her brows and said, "I just realized, you've been calling me 'Goddess-sama' all this time, right?"
"Is something wrong?"
"I believe I told you all to just call me Astraea, didn't I?"
"Oh, right! But I think 'Goddess-sama' suits you better!"
"However, I'm not very comfortable with others calling me that. Could you use a different form of address?"
"Hiss, a different form of address..."
"Mm!"
"Then... God-sama?"
"Huh?"
An unexpected path had appeared.
Astraea stared wide-eyed at Hayashi, completely unprepared for such an address to come out of his mouth—
God-sama!? What the hell kind of god-sama!?
"Ahem—"
Erina, standing nearby, covered Hayashi's mouth with a darkened expression and awkwardly laughed, "Astraea! Don't mind him, Hayashi forgot to bring his brain today, ahahaha—"
Astraea watched blankly as Erina dragged Hayashi away, then lowered her head and muttered to herself, "Is there really a race in this world whose brains can be detached?"
...
...
"I was really afraid Astraea would strike you down."
After entering the bedroom, Erina hung her clothes on the hook by the door while speaking to Hayashi behind her.
He chuckled and said, "Just kidding. Astraea isn't that petty."
If it were Loki, Hayashi would never dare to make such a joke—Loki was already extremely sensitive about her flat chest, as if her character model lacked any breast bone structure. If Hayashi dared to call her a male god, she would definitely jump up and angrily kick his knees.
But Astraea was different! The Goddess of Justice was actually a very gentle person—of course, provided you weren't a cunning villain, otherwise she would show you what true cruelty meant.
Hisako nodded in agreement and said, "Erina, don't worry! Astraea wouldn't mind a joke of this level."
Erina turned her head and said with a hint of annoyance, "Fine, consider me meddling in others' affairs."
"Not at all! Who said you were meddling?" Hayashi immediately wrapped his arms around Erina's waist, buried his face in her hair, took a soft breath, and whispered, "Doesn't this just show how caring our Erina is?"
Erina couldn't help but curl the corners of her mouth upward, but she felt she shouldn't be so easily appeased. She tried hard to suppress her smile and snorted, "Are you thinking in your heart that I'm particularly easy to handle?"
Hayashi blinked, then gently stroked Erina's smooth waist and said, "No! I was just thinking how nice Erina's waist feels to touch."
Who's talking about that! And your hand, your hand!
Blushing, Erina pulled Hayashi's wandering hand out from under her clothes, glared at him, and said, "Yunyun is still here!"
"Oh—"
Hayashi understood. He turned his head and shot a sharp glance at Yunyun—Little one, here's a look, you know what I mean, right?
"Oh—"
Yunyun understood. She bowed, pressed down on the hat on her head, and jumped out of the window—this is the fastest way to slip away, I'm very experienced at this!
"Now she's gone—"
"Hey... Mmm!"
Congratulations, congratulations.