The Buggiest System V1

As he scanned the crowd, he caught a side glance of the DDR machine. '...Wait. I was supposed to perfect Despaghetti.

What time is it?'

He searched for the digital clock hanging on the ceiling, and looked at the time.

'...I have about 2 and a quarter hours left. That means I should finish this right now!'

Right now, Zhou Lei's mind went blank as he jumped on the machine. He landed without any noise, the arrows under his feet flashing different colors.

He quickly grabbed a quarter from his pocket and threw it into the air. Using his other hand, he grabbed it with a swipe as it fell down. Then, he put it closer to his mouth and blowed a very small breath on it.

'This should be enough preparation...'

Zhou Lei s.u.c.k.e.d in the air from the surroundings, then exhaled all of it. He closed his eyes, preparing himself mentally for the challenge that he was about to face.

He inserted the coin into the slot, and the screen of the machine automatically went into the level picker.

Zhou Lei scrolled through the levels until he got onto the hardest one: Despaghetti.

Shaking both his hands and his head and jogging his feet a few times, Zhou Lei slapped himself on both cheeks.

"I... choose... you!"

.....

Lin Guiying walked over to the crowd. As the volume of people over there was high, she had a hard time squeezing in between them to get through. "Excuse me... I'm sorry... Can you let me pass? Thanks..."

Her body swayed left and right as she zigzagged towards the center. Suddenly, the crowd, which was relatively quiet, got rowdy and started clapping altogether.

"You're kidding me... how am I supposed to get through?"

While shaking her head, the crowd started chanting a set of words, making her feel awkward but happy. "Goddess Lin! Goddess Lin!"

As she was arriving at the center of everything, the blaring music of the Dance Dance Revolution machine came out of nowhere. Her familiarity with the sound made her guess what happened. 'Zhou Lei... is already attempting!'

Meanwhile, the sounds of the machine startled the majority of the crowd, who then turned their heads towards the machine. They saw the handsome young man who led them earlier as fanatics on the machine. The familiar young man with closed eyes looked unusually serious, even more than when he named the day, "Lost Lin Day". The crowd got quieter and quieter as seconds passed by.

As they wondered what the young man was about to do, a tune that everyone knew sounded from the machine, as if to inform them about the upcoming event. At that time, the crowd was already placated and silent, anticipation evident from their observing eyes.

Teng~

Zhou Lei opened his eyes, and he suddenly jumped into the air. As he fell down, he stepped on two arrows using both his feet!

The first note. Only the first note had come out, and yet Zhou Lei could feel the tension burning through him. There were already two simultaneous arrows from just the first note...

The crowd watched as Zhou Lei stepped on the two arrows, and they felt an amount of both respect and fear towards him. The impact of his landing made sure of that.

Then-!

Zhou Lei jumped in succession, each one faster than the last.

Treng~ treng~ trengg~~

Stomp, stomp, stomp!

Lin Guiying arrived just in time to watch the graceful movements exhibited by her friend, ones which even she, as someone who took intensive dancing lessons, wouldn't be able to do.

Her eyes were glued to Zhou Lei, and so were the rest of the crowd who were planning to leave a few seconds ago.

These hellish set of notes at the very start of the song cemented its legacy as the hardest song on Dance Dance Revolution. However, it was, by no means, the hardest part of the song.

Knowing this, Zhou Lei didn't dare get complacent because he perfected the first hard part of the song.

"Si~"

The first word came out of the machine.

Zhou Lei clenched his fists and cracked his knuckles. He flashed a small grin as he stared at the screen.

'...Nothing is impossible!'

As the first arrow slowly approached his "attack range", Zhou Lei sank into his focused mode; nothing could disturb him anymore.

And then!

His legs moved at a speed so quick, even if they were watching from the get-go, they would only be able to see a tiny glimpse of the movement.

The arrow beneath his feet lit up as he stepped on it with ultimate precision - after all, a "perfect" evaluation showed up on the screen.

Zhou Lei didn't put it to his mind as right after stepping on one arrow he moved his other leg to step on another, not noticing the speed in which he was going.

One after another, he stepped on the arrows on the machine, eliminating each and every one that was showing up on the screen swiftly and precisely, giving a "perfect" evaluation every time.

The arrows increased in speed, making Zhou Lei feel a tad bit overwhelmed.

Zhou Lei stayed vigilant and stepped back into his focused mode after getting a slight shock. He treated this wave of arrows like the others: easy to get rid of and done with.

'This... this is the guy who kept getting errors last Saturday? This is my disciple?'

She pinched herself on the cheek, but she didn't wake up. 'This is reality...'

As Zhou Lei gracefully tapped each arrow with his feet, Lin Guiying widened her already big eyes once more. 'What the hell? Is that a flex or something...'

His eyes flared up as he stared at the rising arrows. '...What did I ever do to you, arrows?!'

Zhou Lei was now filled with unending hatred for the objects in the arcade game. His fists clenched, and veins started popping out of his arms, although they weren't visible as they were covered by his black jacket.

The intensity in his eyes spread across the large room, which an unnaturally large amount of people occupied. One of those people was Lin Guiying, who was caught in a trance watching her friend do so well in the game.

All of the people felt the intense emotions coming from the handsome youth, sending a chill through their spines. Lin Guiying was no exception, being in a situation no better than the rest.

'This intensity, it's familiar... Hou Heng?'

Hou Heng, the popular celebrity, went through her mind. The thought disappeared as fast as it came. She shook her head. 'He wouldn't have enough time to mentor anyone, I would think. But why is it so familiar...?'

How did he finish this in one go, when he anticipated to finish it after ten or so tries? Was it just because his prior preparation and practice were enough, or did the huge crowd pressure him into performing beyond his previous peak?

His stress was uncloaked. Everyone in the crowd started worrying for Zhou Lei, especially Lin Guiying, who had been with him from the time he started playing Dance Dance Revolution.

'Why is he so stressed about finishing this level? He can just attempt it later, or even tomorrow. What is he feeling so urgent for?'

Zhou Lei inhaled a deep breath, then exhaled. He rested his brain for a split second, allowing him to reach concentration levels of new heights. His feet were now faster than before, and his pupils, which could barely follow the number of arrows crowding the screen, now moved around his eyes with a speed never before seen, at least not in this scene.

The DDR machine shook, as did the floor in the immediate vicinity of the machine. Every audience member felt the ground quaking. Of course, they knew that it wasn't a sign of an impending earthquake, but rather a result of Zhou Lei's frantic stepping on the panels of the machine.

The last 10 seconds of the song approached Zhou Lei. Instead of being frightened and pressured, as a single mistake could easily render all of this effort useless, he felt excitement coursing through his veins. The sweat that slowly covered his eyes didn't impede him either.

"He's gonna do it!!!"

The crowd knew that they were watching a historical moment right now. This would be the very first time that anyone perfected the hardest level on a notoriously difficult game, Dance Dance Revolution. They continued to watch, their eyes completely glued onto Zhou Lei. Even the ones who felt like their bladders were about to burst stayed, afraid that they would miss such an important event!

'...You can do this!' Lin Guiying had her hands clasped and clenched both of them, to the point that pain could be felt from it. However, this didn't do anything to stop her from doing so.

Top-left, top-right! Pink bottom-right, pink bottom-left! Right side of the screen!

4!

Pink left, pink right! Left side of the screen! Top, bottom! Right side of the screen!

3!

Left and right and up and down and top to bottom left right!!!

2!

AAAAHHHH!!! Up! Up! Down! Down! Left! Right! Left! Right!

1...!

Up down left right top bottom pink left side pink right side up down up bottom top down left top left pink left side pink right side up down up bottom right down up bottom right side up down up bottom top down!!!

Zhou Lei chose his left foot and smashed on the left arrow, the very last arrow on this level! Everyone was on the verge of screaming! Even Lin Guiying, who needed to hide her identity, especially in a place infested with her fans like this, couldn't hold her excitement and wanted to scream!

Normally, such a scream would expose her identity to passionate fans like these ones, who knew just what her voice sounded like. However, everyone's focus was on Zhou Lei, so she felt it was fine to shout, even just a split second.

Suddenly, a cracking sound disturbed everyone's anticipation.

Zhou Lei stared as the last arrow that was supposed to have disappeared by now continued to ascend. The panel was unresponsive.

"Shit! Shit!"

Time stopped for everyone. Zhou Lei turned his head in lightning speed to check the source of the cracking sound.

"Th- th- the arrow shattered!"

The left arrow had been broken into pieces. All kinds of wires and other mechanical stuff could be seen through the now crushed panel.

Zhou Lei's face drained of color. He had forgotten - only his appearance was of a buff high school boy! His weight remained unchanged, and that meant that the machine was put under too much pressure from his unending weight!

He turned back to the screen, to see that the arrow was almost out of the screen. A decision made not by his brain, but by a knee-jerk reaction, caused his left foot to suddenly rise up and land on the broken panel!

To his surprise, rather, to everyone's surprise, the machine was responsive and received the input... however, it was also kind of... destroyed.

Who cares, he finished the level!

"Perfected!"

The little soundbite from the machine caused everyone to snap back to reality and realize that Zhou Lei had perfected the hardest song... "Despaghetti".

"OOOOHHHH!"

The crowd was in an uproar!

Swept up with emotions, Lin Guiying felt tears run down her cheek. She had met Zhou Lei because of Dance Dance Revolution in the first place, and he had already finished it.

Zhou Lei ignored all of the cheers and focused his attention onto the system prompt.

"Congratulations for completing the quest. The reward of 100 upgrade points, 10 lottery tickets, and Mystery Prize ready to be received."

His eyes lit up. System, of course, did not count using the Dancing book as cheating. After all, the book was, generally speaking, about dancing, and it just so happened that Dance Dance Revolution was about dancing as well.

'System, thank you for your benevolence!'

If System knew what he was thinking right now, its ego would inflate to the point of bursting, so he didn't say it directly and just kept the thought inside his head. It was the sentiment that counted, anyway.

Zhou Lei shook his head. He didn't plan on redeeming his rewards right now. He was terrified that the Mystery Prize might induce a bug...

He stepped down the machine. The crowd made way for him, all the while screaming and cheering!

"Not only is he handsome, he's also skilled at Dance Dance Revolution!"

"That's our fanclub leader!"

"Wait, babe, where are you going...? Stop following him!"

By matter of coincidence, Lin Guiying ended up in the middle of the crowd, and Zhou Lei's path led straight to her. She saw his majestic figure walk towards her. In her mind, she was likening him to a god already...

Zhou Lei saw Lin Hanying and flashed a smile for her. The whole crowd feasted upon the sight!

Lin Guiying flushed red as she saw his smile. She ran towards him and gave him a big hug!