After I Beat the Battle Maniac, He Insisted We Date

[Research-obsessed, sharp-tongued, low-energy catlike woman x battle-crazed, cheerful doglike man]

You picked up a dating game.

The game had gorgeous character art, incredible models, excellent voice acting, stunning visuals, and a carefully crafted story. It should have been universally acclaimed, but its high difficulty made reviews mixed. The most hardcore route was

[The Former Paladin Captain Who Slaughtered Gods and Fell to Demonic Ways]

According to the official guidebook, this guy was an ultimate battle maniac. You could only unlock his affection after defeating him, and his combat power was off the charts. Even more absurdly, he could reach enlightenment with every move he fought against the player. In the online mode, where everyone's stats were shared, his combat power evolved exponentially every second.

...But it was a dating game, after all. Surely it couldn't be that hard, no matter what?

You bravely drew your sword and went after him.

But five tries in a row, you were killed by his ultimate move before you could even get within a mile of him.

You: ...?

You calmly thought it over

Forget romance for now. You should focus on learning how to fight.

You began studying combat, taught yourself mathematical modeling, and developed an AI to simulate battles and analyze each fight. You spent every day studying him and challenging him, sometimes taking more than a hundred million health and mana potions and fighting him for three days and three nights straight

After three years of fighting tooth and nail, you finally beat him on the day before the servers shut down.

You felt great.

Come to think of it, why had you started fighting him in the first place? You pondered it, then gave up

Whatever. It didn't matter.

You'd won!

You ignored the romance panel that lit up on the other side, and the red heart that appeared on it. You didn't even know you were the only player on the server to have beaten him.

You happily deleted your account and quit the game.

*

You started playing another dating game.

The new game's opening animation showed a sea of flames, with a dazzling blond young man standing before you.

He wore bloodstained silver armor and held a holy sword dripping with blood.

“Long time no see.” He gave you a sunny smile, like a pure and noble knight, warm and friendly. “I got a little excited thinking about seeing you, and accidentally killed a few too many people.”

“So I'm sorry, but there isn't anyone else alive in this world.”

He laughed cheerfully, without a shadow of gloom, while the firelight shone in his crimson eyes.

“If you want romance, why not come to me?”

You: ...?

You calmly thought it over

Forget romance for now. You should focus on saving the world.

Theme: Hardcore players never give up