Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki (弱キャラ友崎くん)

Game Set!

Attack Families .

Also called Tackfam.

Simple in concept,

yet it achieves a rare level of perfection.

No wonder it has the largest player base

in the online gaming community.

Truly a god-tier game.

I'm playing against a normie,

Shuji Nakamura. His offline life is perfect.

He's number one when it comes to

looks, grades, sports, and girls.

The undisputed leader of our class.

Whereas I, on the other hand...

Sure, in real life I might be on the losing team.

But not here. Not when I'm in this world.

-- Game Set! -- After all,

I'm Fumiya Tomozaki, a top-ranked Tackfam player.

In fact, the best in all of Japan.

My character sucked.

Huh?

I picked the worst one, and that's why I lost.

Well, no, um.

Found and Foxy are pretty identical, abilities-wise.

I meant the matchup's bad.

Of course your fighter's gonna win every single time.

It's rigged.

Not to start a fight, but Foxy drops fast,

making it easier to string combos.

Get real. You had the advantage.

It's not fair.

Huh? Sounds like an excuse.

I'm totally right.

You're only defending it because you beat me.

Game's garbage.

You never blame a game for the player's mistake.

There's no greater shame for a gamer.

You lack effort and reflection.

I'd still win without playing Found.

Is that right? You wanna try?

If I win, you'll admit I'm better.

Yeah, yeah, fine.

I'll acknowledge your mad skills or whatever.

But that's not all.

Huh?

You insulted Tackfam by calling it garbage.

Foxy! Ready!

I want you to say it's a god-tier game.

Three! Two! One!

Fight!

For the second time, I claimed victory.

Shuji? You're just now heading home?

Yeah, well, you know.

No, we don't. What kept you so long?

Makin' out with someone?

It's nothing important. Can we move on?

Your clubs are over, right?

Let's grab a coffee.

Yeah! I am so down with that!

If there's caffeine, count me in!

Life is a god-tier game,

or so one famous copypasta goes.

But from where I stand, that's total B.S.

You get crapped on because of your looks, build, age--

things you can't help.

Doesn't matter how hard you try,

if your health fails you in a clutch, you lose.

It's full of all these absurd rules that everyone accepts.

I'm a good example.

It's not like Nakamura and I are friends.

We only wound up playing Tackfam

because he heard I was good at it.

But usually, I hardly talk to anyone.

Absurd and unbalanced.

That's how life is.

And I know what some people would say to me.

"You suck at it 'cause you're not trying hard enough!"

Sure. As if the people who think that

aren't biased and born with maxed out stats.

Like they have any right to talk.

Must be nice blazing through life on easy mode like a noob.

What do they know about real gaming?

Anyway, I've dominated enough titles

to know how reality stacks without even playing.

And the game of life is garbage.

Found!

"NO NAME."

He's gotten better.

Not just from studying my moves either.

He refined his counter strategy, too.

This could be close.

Still, I'm better at fighting maneuvers and combo-building.

He's already got me beat at dodging multi-attacks, though.

We're almost complete opposites.

At my level, I rarely get trapped by combos.

I'm not alone.

Most of the other top players are better at offense.

But not this opponent, NO NAME.

For someone who's nationally ranked second after me

he's super experienced at defense.

Which would mean... he's training.

Now it makes sense.

He's been eating my moves, learning how to dodge 'em.

So one day, he can defeat me.

Game Set!

Winner: Found!

I better start watching my back.

A DM?

Anyway, the point is...

The rumors should already be going around.

How I took on Nakamura.

Please, make sure you take good notes.

I haven't heard anyone say a word yet.

They must have guessed what happened

and they're treading lightly.

Enough talk. Let's go grab some lunch.

Good idea.

Wonder what's on the menu!

Hold it! You're on duty today, Shuji!

What? Are you sure?

Lunch is gonna have to wait.

First, you have to come with me to the staff room.

What a pain.

Aoi Hinami. The best student in our grade.

Even at sports.

She's the top female athlete in our school.

Track-and-field all-star.

A classic Japanese beauty with brains to match.

She has a simple innocence to her.

The perfect heroine, loved by everyone at school.

Going here's all we have in common.

Being around her,

I don't feel a sense of likability as much as sheer awe.

Huh?

Hey, Tomozaki!

Huh?

Who? Me?

I mean, hey.

I heard a rumor you played Tackfam with Shuji!

I, um, yeah.

I guess word got out?

Everyone's talking about it. So?

Which of you guys won?

Well, we--

Not like it really matters, but he did.

Wow! He kicked your butt, huh?

It's a dumb game. C'mon, Aoi, let's go.

Gotta run. Just ignore him.

See you later!

Whose side are you on?

When the weekend came,

I went to the rendezvous point to meet NO NAME.

I accepted his invitation 'cause I was curious

to see just what sort of person he was in real life.

This player who had the potential beat me.

A skirt?

Is that you... NO NAME?

Sure is! Which would make you...

Wait, what?

No way. You?

Just hang on a sec. I need to gather my thoughts here.

You're Tomozaki from school, and yet, somehow,

you're also nanashi?

Um, yeah, that's right.

You're NO NAME? So weird.

Well, this sure sucks.

Huh?

I had high hopes, meeting my rival.

But it turns out he's a loser.

I've gotta stop getting so carried away

when it comes to playing Tackfam!

Sorry?

It's nothing. Forget about it.

I understand if I startled you.

In my head, I pictured you somehow different.

Bet you did, too.

Well, sort of.

But now, we know who the other is and nothing will change that.

Um, I mean, finding out it was you all along is kinda a shock.

I guess?

Yeah, well, I'm disappointed.

To think that nanashi, the one person I respected,

is really a total nobody.

Without any direction in life or motivation is just--

Uh, hey...

Hold on, you didn't have to put it like that, y'know.

Well, it's the truth now, isn't it?

Doesn't matter if it is.

Some things are better left unsaid.

It's rude being so blunt to someone you hardly know.

That's all that I meant.

Yeah, fine. It was rude and I apologize for saying it.

But if you ask me,

that outfit you're wearing is plenty rude, too.

People are free to dress however they want!

But there should be a minimum effort taken

when meeting someone for the first time.

Look at you:

Dirt-caked sneakers, jeans with tattered hems,

shirt full of wrinkles.