Chapter 320 Rome Stories March 2 New Share |
"Yeah, yeah, it’s all Stardew Valley land. There’s really not much difference," Lewis chimed in at just the right moment.
Their responses convinced Sophia, so she stopped dwelling on the matter.
Gus and Leon, however, saw right through it. Leon didn’t care, and Gus didn’t want to trouble Sophia, so the two tacitly watched as Lewis and Robin talked her around.
After lunch, Sophia and Leon stood up together. Each glanced at the other, thinking the other was leaving, and didn’t think much of it.
Then, by sheer coincidence, both began clearing the table at the same time. The synchronized moment caught them off guard, but they kept going without pause.
Once the plates and cutlery were all stacked in the kitchen sink, Sophia looked at Leon.
"Are you trying to show off?"
"I’m just trying to make things easier for Gus," Leon shot back with a glance.
"You see Gus as family too? Or maybe like an uncle? Why are you so nice to him?" she asked curiously.
"Gus is a good friend. When you eat at a friend’s place, isn’t it normal to help clean up?" Leon countered.
"And that’s got what to do with me?" Leon replied helplessly. "Can’t I just want to help?"
"Alright, looks like you really were being nice. Sorry for misunderstanding." Sophia’s apology was crisp, and Leon’s answer even made her think a little better of him.
Before leaving the kitchen, she suggested, "Want to finish Prairie King’s Big Adventure together?"
"Don’t you need to deal with the vineyard this afternoon?" Leon asked.
"That can wait. Robin’s fixing up the old house, and I can’t help with that anyway. I’d just be idle, and now that I’m back, there’s plenty of time in the future," Sophia said.
"Alright." Leon thought about it—he had nothing else going on either, and the game was close to the end. He was curious to see how it ended.
After all, in the game he’d never gone out of his way to finish Prairie King’s Big Adventure, only playing a small stage during Abigail’s events. He was curious about the ending.
"Then let’s do it." Sophia clapped her hands happily when Leon agreed. The two went to the game room to continue their save file from the morning, diving back into the game world.
"Leon, quick, help me!"
"Coming!"
"Leon, upgrade the weapon!"
"Got it."
"Leon, hang in there, I can’t last much longer!"
"Relax, I’ve got this."
"Leon, the boss is almost dead!"
"I know."
In-game Sophia was the polar opposite of her usual self. Maybe she was completely immersed, or maybe gaming brought out her true nature—but during their co-op run, she never stopped talking.
She also got much more practiced at calling his name. When they finally brought down the last boss—a flower-launching thug shouting about destroying pure hearts—Sophia picked up the on-screen heart and triggered the ending cutscene.
The scene showed the shopkeeper humming and dancing in his store, until Sophia’s character approached, holding up the heart.
She handed it over, and the game’s hero and the shopkeeper shared a fiery, passionate kiss.
"Wow, they were a couple all along!" Sophia gasped.
"Yeah, I didn’t see that coming. He sure didn’t give us any discounts while selling us upgrades," Leon muttered.
"Maybe they fell in love during the adventure," Sophia guessed.
"A brave cowboy defeats all the prairie’s villains and ends up falling for the shopkeeper who’s been helping him—super romantic, right?"
"This is your first time seeing this ending too, huh? So you’ve never beaten it before?" Leon asked, seeing her grinning at the two little characters.
"Nope. I always got stuck at the stage-four boss. This is my first clear," she said proudly. "But it’s still better than you—you were stuck at stage three."
"Sure, sure," Leon sighed. Sophia had some skill, but not much. In the later stages, Leon was carrying the team, acting as the main damage dealer. Sophia was so busy dodging the insane bullet patterns that she forgot she could fight back at all.
After the cutscene, the score tally came up. Since they’d cleared it, the score was huge—over triple the previous high score of the AB initials, bumping it to second place and taking the top spot.
When it was time to enter their initials, Sophia instantly typed "SL."
"We beat it together, so you’re in on the score too. Happy?"
"As long as you’re happy," Leon shrugged.
The screen faded, and Prairie King’s Big Adventure’s start screen came up again—ready to begin anew.
Sophia finally let go of the joystick and buttons, giving Leon a thumbs-up.
"Didn’t know you were this good. Maybe we should be gaming partners and take the top spot on every machine in the arcade."
"Some of us have to work, you know. Can’t be this free every day," Leon teased.
"True… but you still need to rest sometimes. Working all the time is exhausting." Sophia’s expression dimmed for a moment, but she quickly brightened again.
"You could take a break now and then."
"I’ll think about that when I’ve made enough money," Leon said with a shrug. "Until I’m financially free, a lot of things aren’t convenient. You get that, right?"
"I don’t." Sophia shook her head. "I don’t even know how much I’ve saved, but it’s a lot—probably more than I could spend in a lifetime. I honestly don’t feel much difference between having money and not having it."
"…!!!"
Leon froze at that, barely stopping himself from blurting out, I don’t want to work hard anymore.
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