A/n: originally I was planning to post this on the other book, but since this chapter has far exceeded the word count I aimed for and it's no longer an 'unfeatured moment' but a chapter of its own, I decided to post an OVA chapter that ties to the original timeline of this book.

Asano Gakushuu. Can you ever imagine him being at an arcade game centre? Well, of course people would rather believe that Donald Trumb will die getting hit by a truck tomorrow than believing that the 'Universal Perfect Human Being' Gakushuu will go to a humanity destructive place like an arcade game centre...

It was dark outside. At 7pm the hardworking band members of the current rising ONE was practicing in a studio they were in a contract with.

Rumble!

Well, but they weren't practicing anymore. Not at all. Because the entire building has been cut off from electricity.

Rumble!

The thunder struck harder and harder, as if it could hit their building anytime, cooking everyone inside alive.

Amidst the darkness and silence, the clock ticked to 19:02.

RUMBLE!

A girl whose horrified face is drained out of color, stood trembled by the rain-pattered window. She drew a deep breath in and let out a mutter to herself, "Today next year will be the death anniversary of six people..."

"Ma-make sense..." Araki Teppei who overheard agreed in his trembling words. "B-b-but Asano-kun is too perfect to die from a m-mere thunderstruck."

"What are you talking about?"

They both jumped when they heard Asano from behind. Seo was clearly interjecting in with his usual belittled words aimed at the 'scaredy cats'.

"Don't stressed out, it's impossible for a low rise building like this to get thunderstruck," Asano smiled while explaining. Underneath that facade, he was screaming at how stupid they were for lacking such common sense.

"Well, since we are unable to resume our practice, how about going out to a fine dinner instead?" Ren flipped his hair and said. Asano could sense a sign of relief from him after only three hours of practice. What a lazy ass.

Regardless, he passed Ren's suggestion and the bandmates went to eat together in a Michelin restaurant except for Arina who opted for an instant noodle cup and an ice cream stick (that's the main point) in a convenience store instead.

At half past eight Seo received a phone call from her asking them to meet up again at *insert name* street.

"Sure," Seo hanged up the phone and turned around to announce to the boys.

When they spotted Arina across the street standing in front of an arcade game center Asano immediately thought to himself: This is what I call a low-class lifestyle.

She had been talking non-stop all these times. Not until his name filtered through his ear that he snapped back and turned to listen to her.

"Asano-kun! I could imagine you're very good at playing claw machine games, really, since in my opinion is it just the most difficult arcade game ever and you're good at overcoming difficult challenges and make me imagine how very happy I am if you were to be my son. Oh, how lovely—I would be bragging all day. Oh? Your son is going to Harvard? Mine has never lost to a claw machine game before, ha ha!"

Arina seemed to have wandered too far from the main track of her thought again as she came back with a startle and smashed her forehead. She took a few seconds to reboot and fixed her gaze at something.

"Ooh, there! LOOK— ah! Asano-kun! Asano-kun! Did you see how it seems so easy at first but the claw is so weak it just grabs and immediately drops that banana toy right on the spot? That's why I admire people who have never lost to this machine better than people who are dispatched to the moon. Oh, poor guy— he looks so ever depressed over it. That banana must hold dear to his heart..."

Before Asano could even reply Arina had already flew beside the stranger who couldn't get himself a banana toy and play on his behalf.

"I am here again, as a heroine, to save the day!" she threw up her arms and announced.

"Who are you?" the stranger whose look was also their age questioned. Apparently he was one of the very few percentages of people who weren't aware of anyone in the entertainment industry.

The rest of the Big Five came as well. They watched carefully as Arina inserted two coins into the machine and started it.

"Please, I really need that banana," the stranger clasped his hands and begged. His face tensed as he watched the random unknown girl press the button, and the claw dropped on the banana he wanted, which was stacked close to the exit.

"Please, please—"

All of their nervous gazes followed the claw as it rise above, then

The claw released its grip. The banana toy with its silly face (🤪) tumbled down.

"Ah..." the crowd sighed, all the initial hope and excitement dispersed just like that.

"Nishishishi," except for Koyama, who was all the time giggling even in situations that make him look like he was mocking others.

'How pathetic,' Asano didn't even move but only crossed his arms and watched from afar.

"Pfft, let me!" with a rough push Seo shoved Arina out of sight (she let out a faint 'ouw') and inserted another two coins into the machine.

'It's getting less and less...' the stranger clutched on his basket of a few coins left and sighed.

He watched Seo drop the claw and picked the banana up.

Drop. Now that it was even further than the previous attempt, the stranger paled, and Seo cursed.

"Nishishishishi, losers, let me try it!" this time, the person who has been laughing at them most, Koyama Nakihiko, set out to win over this challenge.

"Yeah, right, Koyama, and I hope you lose so we could laugh at your face too," the vexed Seo hissed.

When Koyama inserted the coins into the machine, the Big Five boys all thought to themselves how funny it would be if he really get the banana this time. So this might be the only time when they prayed internally for the claw to cast a damp over the banana fanboy.

But it didn't even happen, because ever since Koyama laid his hand on the joystick, he kept moving it around despite running low on time.

"Just press the button!" the boys all shouted.

"E-eh..." Koyama curved-up smile finally flipped over and curved down as sweat emitted from him.

'Just have to adjust a little more,' he moved the joystick in panic. 4, 3, 2, the bunch stared at the countdown and 1, Koyama finally pressed the button, but it was too late....

"Hahahaha!" as promised, Seo immediately retaliated.

"Let me try it, who knows if I could succeed~?" Ren offered as sparkles blinked around him.

The bunch watched as Ren purposely brought the banana closer to the exit once again and dropped it.

"It should work this time," he assured.

As he picked it up one more time with the claw both the stranger and Arina clasped their hands in prayer at the same time.

Drop.

Probably because this machine is stacked too high, the banana kept tumbling further from the prize pit.

"Have you considered another machine?" Teppei turned to ask with his camera in his hand, filming the experience.

"No! I only ever want that banana..." the stranger looked as if he was on the verge of crying.

"Alright," Teppei heaved a deep breathe. He beckoned Arina over to hand over the camera and lifted his glasses.

"I will be your savior, you shall remember my name," with his glasses shining under the white light's reflection, he declared and pulled up his sleeves.

'How cool!' the bunch gaped in awe while jaw-dropping.

"Wh-what's your name, then?" the emotionally touched stranger reached out and said.

With his back facing them, as if readying to jump into a battle with this claw machine, Teppei half tilted his head around and answered solemnly:

"I'm Araki Teppei, and I've been professionally trained in claw machine."

"Woaah," they marveled. Arina quickly zoomed the camera into Teppei's heroic expression.

"O-oh, Teppei, when you go home, please do edit a saintly bright aura around you," she added with a quivering voice.

"I-I will definitely remember you, my savior, Araki Teppei!" the stranger wiped his tears.

'Alright, let's do this,' Teppei grabbed the last two coins and inserted them into the machine. 'I only have one chance. Remember what Ami did with her tricks. There's a reason why she's so good at arcade games..."

'And I shall be worthy of standing next to her!'

Teppei's trembling one hand grabbed the joystick while the other laid on the button.

The stranger had so much hope in his professionally trained 'savior' now that his face appeared to be no longer tense and instead, replaced with a wide smile.

But it only made Teppei secretly tremble more when he caught the guy's expression through the reflection.

'Okay, by observing Ami for this long, I have now fully grasped the ultimate secret method!!'

The audience held their breath in silence as the self-proclaimed professionally trained claw machine warrior swung his arm up and smashed the button!

The claw accurately dropped on the banana. It seemed to have the potential of wrapping the whole thing up without slipping. The bunch cheered as hope lit up their faces.

And right at this decisive moment! Teppei widened his fiery eyes and swung his arm up once again and landed a blow on the button!

'The ultimate secret to solving one of the greatest mysteries in the universe is to DOUBLE TAP!'

"Woooooaaaa!"

Ren, Seo, Koyama, Arina, and the stranger exclaimed altogether.

From the entrance of the arcade game centre, Asano stood with his arms crossed and lifted a brow out of surprise.

But suddenly they soon went silent again.

"A...a ha ha ha...."

Teppei retreated into a corner with his back facing the world, burying his face between his knees. A dark gloomy aura wrapped around him as he considered logging out of Earth server.

"....." was the bunch's response. Light vanished from their widened eyes and they continued to stare into the void.

Seeing so, Asano let out a sigh and decided to step up.

A voice echoed in his mind, 'These chickens.'

"A-Asano-kun!" upon having Asano entering his field of vision, Ren immediately called for his universally perfect leader's help.

"Please end it once and for all!"

"That's right! Only you are able to beat this machine once and for all. Hpf! I must be out of my mind for giving the damn Teppei my trust!" Seo clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Nishishishi," said Koyama.

Arina, too, pulled her lips to a bright, hopeful smile. "Asano-kun! I know fully well you won't disappoint my lovely imagination."

But the poor stranger, upon having his expectations crushed multiple times before, had become numb to everything as his blank, lifeless gaze resumed staring into the void.

As Asano's instinct clicked into place, suddenly he had this huge urge to prove to the world he was always the best in everything. In order to impress the guy, he went over the counter and bought a handful amount of coins.

'Since the target toy is too far from the prize pit, it might take several attempts before I can get it close, hence why I need to ensure having a sufficient amount of coins in hands. After that, I must calculate depending on the position of the toy in accordance with the stack and the angle,' he deliberately thought over and walked toward the minions who were welcoming him as a potential real savior.

After inserting the two coins, still, the stranger soullessly stared at the scene in silence. Asano grabbed the joystick and moved it to the left where the banana was.

Even if it was their perfect leader who was handling the work right now, Ren, Seo, and Koyama no longer dared to hype things up too quickly.

"Ooh, Asano-kun, isn't it difficult to suppress your joy over the radiant sunset at the end of the day..." Arina let out a sigh of optimism and dreaminess. Well, legend said it's almost impossible for her to feel a little dispirited.

Then as expected from the rest, the claw instantly released the banana and it ended up tumbling down again.

But it was a part of Asano's plan, because it had tumbled far to the right, much closer to the prize pit than it was before!

'From observation, this machine in particular has a very loose grip. Hm, I wonder why this nerd insisted on this toy, which is nothing special,' Asano secretly made the judgment and once again inserted another two coins. 'What a weirdo. But you will have to be in awe with me.'

'Please show him that you are the most capable, jack of all trades and the best leader in the world, Asano-kun!' his minions cheered in their hearts.

"But, oh, I don't like how you always steal my heroine's spotlight," Arina sighed this time with her eyes drooped down.

Throughout three attempts, all Asano did was to bring the banana toy closer to the pit. At this time, the stranger was looking a bit tired already as he lifted his hand to cover his yawn.

'Just wait and see!!' the minions and Asano all shared the same thought.

Finally, as it reached the rear of the prize pit, Asano's expression brightened and grinned. 'Yes, finally. All I have to do now is to drop the toy just an inch to the front and it will be falling into the prize pit at last!'

Upon seeing this, the stranger recovered from his zombie state and once again followed the movement of the claw going down in pure excitement.

"This is it!!" they all shouted.

And the banana dropped on a protruding toy at the rear mouth of the pit and tumbled away in avoidance.

Silence.

'That—That's unexpected!!!' Asano nearly lost his composure.

He cleared his throat and maintained his professionalism, inserting another two coins and moved the joystick as if nothing had happened.

But this time the high stack of toys really didn't want to spare him, as it made the banana keep gradually tumbling further away.

"...." everyone was silent with their mouth opened in unfathomableness. This goddam machine!

"No worries, I do believe in your ability, Asano-kun," Arina raised Teppei's camera in line with her eyesight. "It might be a signal from the universe to remind me that I forgot to press record this legendary moment."

Of course Asano's pride was too ginormous to give up anytime soon!

His movement became a bit more impulsive as he inserted two coins and grabbed the joystick! His eyebrows furrowed.

But the same result repeated again and again.

Gritting his teeth, he stormed to buy more coins.

As checked, it was already half past 9, and the stranger was feeling so exhausted he just wanted to retreat and head home.

After announcing his intention, Ren and Seo immediately rebutted.

"Don't you see that Asano-kun is trying his best to get you the prize!?" Seo snorted rudely.

"He has already gone to buy more coins. Give it a few more tries, I swear he will win it for you," Ren, who is a bit more polite with his smile, silently prayed in his heart that Asano would be able to save them from losing faces.

The stranger looked at them with heavy eyes. His plan for now was to go home and sleep, then spend the entire day after persevering on getting the banana toy. It was fine since tomorrow will be Saturday, so he basically will get the free time to himself.

"Oh, don't be so rude," the lady-like, soft-spoken Arina spoke up. "He can sure be at anywhere and do whatever he wants. Oh, Ren, Seo, this isn't about Asano-kun. I wouldn't be so happy either to please a random person's decision to help me when I just want to go home and rest."

"Nishishishi," Koyama said.

Just then, Asano came back with coins doubled the previous amount. The stranger dropped his shoulders in burden and guilt. Regardless of Arina's defense, he chose to stay and endure.

'I would rather die than losing face!' Asano internally screamed. He winced and repeated the process this time with Ren instructed to stand beside and help him observe the correct angle.

Time flew and soon it was already close to midnight. Luckily this arcade game center opened 24/24. Asano lost his sense of time and his unstable mind swirled with the arcade game music, background noises, Ren and Seo's mourns each time he dropped the toy, and Arina naming each toy inside the machine.

She repetitively pressed and lifted her index finger from the machine's glass as she pointed and revised through their names for the third time. "Barnie, Marnie, Annie, oh, Asano-kun, don't forget, the tomato fellow next to Winnie is Tommie—"

Asano's intake of the tangible world soon shattered as he hallucinated tomato Tommie waltz dancing with Winnie.

"Ah!" Ren and Seo shouted as the banana (Barnie) dropped and rolled on his friends once again.

Behind them, the stranger had already slipped inside a sleeping bag and was snoring in his dream.

The clock ticked to 2am. Asano sipped his cup of coffee as he aggressively smashed the button. Behind him, Ren and Seo switched to playing cards while waiting for the news. Arina was cooking curry with her portable pot reserved for homeless people. Koyama no longer has his smile on but he was the only one who was still loyal enough to continue watching his leader's effort.

The clock ticked to 4am. Asano finished his third cup of coffee and squashed it. His dark circle eyes squinted in determination as he gritted his teeth. Without asking, Seo squeezed into the snoring stranger's sleeping bag and slept beside him. Meanwhile Ren was going around hitting on girls to relieve his boredom. In fact, only gyaru girls could be found around these hours.

🎶Hey, braid my hair, baby,🎶
🎶Just don't make it crazy,🎶
🎶I asked for a date—🎶
🎶But now it's hazy!🎶

Arina promptly came up with spin off lyrics for her recently discovered favorite song 'Call Me Maybe' in English. She sat on a couch and braided Koyama's hair while the guy was half asleep.

By the time the banana toy dropped for the 300th time she finally finished braiding Koyama's hair into a cornrow head and paired a flower hairpin she brought with herself.

As Asano groaned in frustration, Arina looked up while humming happily and laid snoring Koyama on the couch. She flew up and walked toward him.

The clock ticked to 5am. Asano massaged his temples and decided to take a little break.

'There is nothing in life that is comparable to losing face. What if I never manage to walk outside with that toy in my hands?' upon being physically and mentally drained, he sighed internally and prepared for the worst.

"Oh, warrior—I shall call you warrior!"

Arina appeared by his side as he took a glance at her and sighed outwardly this time.

"Sorry for setting up your expectations. Arina, you may rouse others and all of you could leave and rest properly at home."

"Oh, Asano-kun, but we all choose to have our expectations high and mercy me, you don't disappoint at all. We all gave up after several times but you don't. You are just as persistent as ever, hence why you're good at overcoming difficult challenges. Oh, you're indeed, just like a warrior," sighed Arina dreamily as if she was carried away with infatuation.

As soon as these kind words were processed, Asano stared wide-eyed at her. 'My beloved Arina!'

"Oh, but—but, even though resembling a warrior is nice enough, you still broke my very heart when you rejected the curry I poured my heart and soul into." For a moment Arina was recalled of something that upset her and sighed in distress this time. "A warrior is of no use when you become a cruel curry rejecter."

But Asano only had to hear the first paragraph to get his vigor back. With a firm mindset, he grabbed more coins and headed back into the battle.

'I would rather suicide than losing to a f*cking claw machine!!'

Two more hours passed...

Anyone would have become a living corpse at this point.

Everyone aside from Asano who looked like he caught up in the border between life and death was sound asleep now.

Ren had originally leaned his head on a girl's shoulder to rest but she sprang to her feet and left so he now ended up in a very awkward position. He slumped his body to the side and slept sitting.

Arina was curling up next to cornrow-headed Koyama on a leather couch, dreaming of a full reality tv show of the claw machine toys living their bizarre lives until a giant showed up and try to kidnap one of the friends in their friend group, Barnie.

"Oh, release him..." she murmured in her sleep.

'489, 490, 491....' Asano counted his failed attempts and continued. '499....500.'

As Arina's kind words almost wear off, and as he bent his knees out of fatigue, from outside, a sea of people suddenly poured in at once.

At 7am the next day, Asano found himself being ambushed by news reporters! What the heck? His minions were roused up so suddenly they were bearly able to comprehend what was going on.

"Asano-kun, based on a clip of someone recording you being so persistent as to play with this machine for ten hours straight, what makes you so addicted to this activity?"

"Asano-kun, what is your thought on accidentally setting a new world record?

Then Araki Teppei, who had dissapeared since last night's embarrassing moment, also showed up.

"Sorry for leaving yesterday without saying anything, I was too embarrassed! But I sure missed a lot of things..." he delivered his gaze around and spotted Arina on a public couch at last.

"Arina! Where is my camera?!" he rushed over to the girl who was still processing the real world in a blur after waking up and saw the cornrow-headed Koyama Natsuhiko, who at this point hadn't acknowledged his new appearance yet.

'Wh-what is going on...?' Asano silently judged. As soon as his reasoning skills came back with a start, he flew his eyes wide open and frowned.

'FROM NOW ON I WOULD BE KNOWN NATIONWIDE AS THE STRAIGHT-A STUDENT WHO IS MADLY ADDICTED TO AN ARACDE GAME!'

Cameras flashed. A clerk answered in all honesty to the interviewers, "Oh, we haven't had a customer like Asano-kun before. In a single night his presence alone made up of fifty customers at once. We would be very grateful to have him come back anytime soon in the future."

'Grateful my ass!' Asano's head burnt in anger.

Just when he was about to open his mouth and free himself from all the misunderstanding, a familiar figure entered the centre.

It was his dad, Asano Gakuho!!

The interviewers instantly turned the mics toward him.

"I was worried that my son didn't come home last time. I thought he ran into some troubles but turns out he is here fishing for a banana toy the whole night."

"It isn't for myself! It's for someone else!" Asano quickly spoke up to defend himself.

"Ho? And even in such trivial things, you are as useless as ever."

Asano popped a vein, though instantly drew up a confident smile. "Well said! Only when you haven't given it a try. Have my word, father, that you are no better than me."

"Su—suddenly things have escalated into a Father VS Son scenario!!" a commenter screamed into the cameras held before him. "Let's sit and watch how this battle will unfold!! Break a leg, gentlemen!!"

The chairman didn't show even a single sign of self-doubt. He smiled and marched toward the claw machine!

Asano stepped aside to leave room for his dad. He secretly smirked, 'There's only enough coins left for two attempts. The target toy is too far away from the prize pit to get it through with just two tries!'

'Father, today is the day I will get to see you embarrass yourself.'

After inserting the coins, the Chairman calmly moved the joystick.

"It's the banana," Asano reminded.

The Chairman then gripped not just one, but two toys at the same time— 'how is that humanly possible??' Asano began to panic. And the claw didn't let go of the toys either. In the end, within a single try, the Chairman won two at one go: a banana and an eggplant.

"........"

Asano and his minions—they gathered next to him—failed to keep their jaws closed.

"My—my savior!!" the stranger didn't believe in his eyes as he hurried over to hug the Chairman out of pure joy.

"Now it's officially mine, see ya~" with that said, he claimed the banana toy and left casually.

"........"

The Asano bunch were still unable to fathom what just happened.

"This just shows you are still as weak as ever," the Chairman commented ruthlessly.

The reporters wrote down what they heard in thrills.

Ren double-blinked his wide eyes and looked over at Asano, who was clenching his fists. His body shook in suppressed anger.

"Oh, chill, chill, Asano-kun!" Ren and Arina simultaneously turned to pat his shoulders on each side.

"After the radiant sunset there will be stars, dear Asano-kun. Don't be very mad, the world is just as bright as ever after losing to a claw machine game," Arina blinked at the ceiling in reverie.

Even Arina had accepted the reality of his cruel defeat!!

His face turned mad red, and without a word, Asano stormed out of the arcade game centre amid the shock of everyone.

"Ah!"

Arina clamped her mouth. "Merciful me, did I say anything wicked?"

For the following years, the clerks in the claw machine centre have been welcoming the most profitable customer ever—Asano Gakushuu—and with thousands of hours in practice, the world has introduced a claw machine god who is so perfect he never loses for even once. That sure is an achievement better than being dispatched to the moon. The only con is that it was not something the Chairman could go around and brag about...