Forced to move out of his apartment, Haida resorts to spending his nights in an internet cafe.
He knows he has to find a job, and fast, to escape homelessness and, with an unexpected IRL encounter with his online friend, he may have the means to scrape by.
However, Retsuko becomes increasingly suspicious when she learns that he lost his home.
Tropes
- Contrived Coincidence: Of all the internet cafes in Tokyo to stay in, Haida winds up picking the one that Shikabane stays in. Even Shikabane lampshades the absurdity of the situation.
- Cliffhanger: With Shikabane's help, Haida is able to rest better for work. However, when they heard that a "newbie" wants to see his moves in action, he accepts the meet-up, unaware that Fenneko is trying to dig into his situation when Retsuko refuses.
- Metaphorically True: Washimi and Gori theorize that Haida is avoiding Retsuko because she is constantly contacting him, driving him away from home to the arms of a girl he met in their online game and formed an intimate relationship behind her back. Their guess is only half accurate; Haida was evicted, he just met Shikabane in person, a Gamer Chick, but he is only sleeping in her cafe booth while doing temp work and having free time gaming with her, all while avoiding the shame of telling Retsuko the truth.
- Never My Fault: Shikabane calls Haida an idiot for spending too much on the gacha event, even though she kept pressuring him to continue playing. She later acknowledges that she does feel responsible for his predicament and allows him to sleep at her private booth so he can be refreshed for temp work and searching for a more permanent job.
- No Kill like Overkill: Haida's latest combo attack in the online game allows him to deliver a multi-digit Cap damage on a boss. Both he and Shikabane believe that was a bit much.
- Poor Communication Kills: Retsuko tells Haida that they have to take a break until he gets a new job. Worried that she'll think even less of him after being evicted, he decides to keep quiet. As time passes he continues to run himself ragged while Retsuko's friends think he is either still caught up in online gaming or, worse, is cheating on her.
- The Reveal: Haida discovers that his gamer friend is in the same internet cafe he is crashing; a gamer and freelancer skunk girl named Shikabane.
- Samus Is a Girl: Shikabane tries to avoid this because she doesn't feel too comfortable when her online friends discover she's actually a girl in real life despite using a male avatar. The only reason why she decides to see Haida is because he recently talked about his girlfriend Retsuko.
