Video Battle! A Super Lazy Day in Zenless Zone Zero
A silly kind of peace has arrived in New Eridu. It all started with a single poster brought in by Billy. "First Annual Pair Video Grand Prix! Grand Prize: 5,000,000 Dennies!" With stars in his eyes, Billy is promptly dismissed by Nicole, who sighs, "Yeah, right, you're thinking of something stupid again." But when she hears the prize money could clear their debts, Anby silently presses the 'enter' button. Thus begins the laziest, most chaotic video battle in history, starring the oddballs of the
Video Battle! A Super Lazy Day in Zenless Zone Zero - Late-night random phone shop, Amby's tears
Kudari River Riverside.
Along the riverside promenade, food stalls usually start lining up in the evening. Even though it was still morning, Billy and the other two were standing here. The river water sparkled. It was the same beautiful scenery as always.
"[excited]Alright, let's give it a shot!"
Billy held up a phone in each hand. High-end rental phones. The ones Amby had ordered online. Three of them, no less. But his voice was just a little strained. It lacked his usual booming energy. Even he knew he was putting on a brave front.
Nico set down the camera bag with a heavy thud. His neatly trimmed short black hair was as pristine as ever today. But the furrow between his brows hadn't disappeared for the past three days.
"[serious]Are we really doing this?"
He muttered under his breath.
"We're doing it! Today's the day! They tore us apart in yesterday's debt video, but we're flipping the script with this one!"
"Did you think of something? A plan."
Billy's hands stopped moving. This time, it seemed he'd actually put some thought into it.
"A day-in-the-life of a phone repairman! The craftsman's spirit that keeps the shop running by any means necessary! How's that!"
Nico's eyes widened just a fraction. "...Not bad."
"Right?!"
Behind them, Amby was crouching down. Her dark gray hair, long enough to reach her hips, swayed slightly in the breeze.
"[gentle]...I'll borrow the camera."
She picked up a high-end phone. Her expression remained blank. But her fingers traced the edge of the phone. That alone was enough to tell them how much she was betting on this.
"Alright! Amby demonstrates the repairs! I'll be the straight man beside her! Nico's the director! Let's roll with this!"
The three of them lined up along the riverside promenade. On the deserted morning walkway, only the sound of water echoed. A ship's horn sounded in the distance.
Billy aimed the phone.
"[excited]Action!"
On the other side of the screen, Amby slowly took out her tools. Her movements were more careful than usual, yet efficient. Anyone could see it wasn't just bookkeeping. Her repair skills were the real deal.
(Yeah. This is good.) Billy thought. (This is solid. This is genuinely good footage.)
Beside him, Nico gave detailed instructions on the phone's angle. He had his director's face on. Even he, who was always making sarcastic remarks, was dead serious at times like this.
The band-aid from yesterday was still stuck to the back of his hand. A wound from when a Bonpu thug had shoved him. Even so, Nico didn't stop holding the camera.
——And just like that, they managed to film for thirty minutes.
The morning sun reflected off the surface of the Kudari River, brightly illuminating the promenade. All three of them thought it was turning into decent footage.
——That's when it happened.
"Uwoooooh!!"
A loud voice rang out from further down the promenade.
They turned to see four figures in flashy colored coats. Red, yellow, blue, green. Each had a white "B" patch sewn onto their chest.
Bonpu members.
The man who seemed to be the leader raised his hand.
"[laughing]Yo, phone shop crew! Filming again today!? We'll give you a hand!"
All four of them broke into a run at once. Heading for the riverside stall area. They trampled into the street lined with stalls that hadn't even opened yet.
"Wait!"
By the time he shouted, it was already too late.
The man in the red coat kicked up a folding table. Crash!!
A stall's signboard toppled over. The man in the blue coat sent a change box flying with a flashy kick. Clatter clatter clatter! Coins scattered across the asphalt.
"Kyaaah!"
A passing shopper screamed and started running.
"Wh-what the hell are those guys!" "Call the cops!" "Run!"
In the blink of an eye, the morning promenade descended into panic.
Billy stood frozen, still holding the phone up. Reflected in the lens were people fleeing in terror. Goods from overturned stalls. The man in the yellow coat was trying to snatch a customer's bag.
"It's a shoot! We've got front-row seats!"
The men ran around shouting. Laughing as they watched the chaos.
Nico raised his voice.
"[angry]Billy! Stop the camera! We can't use this footage!!"
Saying that, he lowered his own phone. The screen went dark.
Even so, Billy kept his phone aimed. With trembling hands.
"[scared]...Dammit."
It was a hoarse whisper.
Amby——silently began putting her tools away. Efficiently, neatly. As if nothing had happened at all.
But her deep purple eyes were fixed intently on the fleeing people.
——Just then.
"Whoa!"
Something came flying at him. Splat.
Something hot smacked him right in the face.
A skewer of yakitori. Thrown from one of the stalls. The sauce was sticky and thick, turning his vision brown.
For a moment, Billy's eyes went wide. Then he fell flat on his backside with a thud.
"[laughing]Hyahaha! Suits you perfectly!"
The man in the green coat shouted as he ran off.
Nico rushed over.
"Hey! You alright?!"
Peeling the yakitori off his face, Billy said,
"...I'll manage somehow."
His usual catchphrase. But today, no one laughed.
Nico grabbed Billy's shoulder.
"[sad]Enough. Stop. Don't chase them. You'll just get hurt again."
The band-aid on the back of his hand. Nico stared hard at the wound from yesterday.
Billy stood up. Wobbling. The yakitori sauce traced the scar on his left cheek.
The phone screen was still recording. Showing the wrecked stalls and the backs of fleeing people.
Slowly, he pressed the record button.
Beep.
——Random Phone Shop.
Evening.
The three of them were back at the shop. The shelves were still piled high with junk phones. Behind the counter, the repair space. The same place as always. But the atmosphere was completely different.
Only the second hand of the wall clock ticked on, tick, tock.
Nico placed the camera bag on the floor. The phones inside were safe. Because Amby had grabbed them and run. But all the footage they'd shot was unusable.
Billy stood in front of the desk. His messy brown hair was still stiff with yakitori sauce.
"[excited]Alright! We're shooting the third one! Starting this evening!"
He slammed the desk. It was a loud, forced voice.
"It's a revenge project! The theme is——uh——the shopping district's impromptu talent show! We get random passersby to perform on the spot!"
Nico put his hands on the desk and shook his head. The band-aid on the back of his hand was starting to peel off slightly against the desk.
"[sad]...Not today. It's impossible."
It wasn't rapid-fire. It wasn't a sarcastic jab. It was just a tired voice.
Amby——
Without a word, she turned off her own phone. Click. The screen went black. Then, she gently placed it on the table.
She said nothing, her bangs still perfectly straight, her head hung low.
Billy stopped slamming the desk.
"[scared]...But we've only got two days left."
His voice grew small.
He looked at Nico's face. His eyes, usually half-lidded and ready with a snarky comment, were looking straight at Billy today.
(Ah, this is seriously bad.) Billy thought.
Amby kept her head down. Staring at the phone she'd placed on the table.
No one said a word.
Outside, night was falling. The neon lights of Torino Street Shopping District flickered outside the window. An 800-meter-long shopping street. About 120 shops. A street that was usually fun was just a blinding glare tonight.
Before he knew it, Billy was on his feet. He opened the sliding door. The bell jingled.
The taiyaki shop next door, "Karimochi-Do."
Auntie Tae was closing up. Wiping the square iron griddle with a cloth, putting away the sign.
"[surprised]Oh my, Billy-chan."
The auntie stopped her hands. Still in her white apron, she looked closely at Billy's face.
"Three taiyaki."
"What flavor?"
"...Red bean paste, please."
The auntie was silent for a moment, then lit the griddle she'd already put away. The smell of sizzling oil. Taiyaki batter flowed onto the iron plate.
"You don't have much energy today."
Billy gave a wry smile.
"[sad]...Think I'll manage somehow, auntie?"
He muttered quietly. It wasn't his usual cheerful "I'll manage somehow!" It was just a question, lacking any confidence.
Flipping the taiyaki, the auntie said,
"I wouldn't know."
She said it curtly. Then, putting the finished taiyaki into a paper bag,
"But go on home."
She thrust it toward him.
Billy took it. The paper bag was still hot.
"[gentle]...Thanks."
——When he returned to the shop.
The lights were off. Only the small security light shone dimly above the counter.
Under that light, Nico was sitting. Hunched over, both hands on the desk.
Amby was sitting across the same desk.
Both of them were just waiting for Billy.
"...I'm back."
No one answered.
Billy placed a taiyaki in front of each of them. Hot, the sweet smell of red bean paste filled the room.
Nico picked up his taiyaki. He took a bite, chewing slowly.
Amby held her taiyaki in both hands, staring at it intently.
Her hands were trembling, just a little.
Billy noticed.
"[whispers]...Amby?"
He called out to her.
Amby kept her gaze fixed on the taiyaki. Then, slowly, she raised her head.
Her deep purple eyes wavered faintly.
"[gentle]...Is it alright if I talk for a bit?"
Her voice was small. Quiet and careful, as if layering sheets of paper one by one.
Billy and Nico exchanged glances.
Amby placed the taiyaki on the table. Then she placed both hands neatly on her knees and straightened her back.
It was a gesture that seemed like she'd been hesitating for a very long time.
"It was a year ago."
She began to speak.
"My parents ran a small construction and repair shop. A tiny place. In the suburbs of New Eridu, they did house repairs and renovations."
Her voice was flat. Her usual, matter-of-fact tone.
"But three years ago, work started to dry up. Then it got worse and worse. A year ago, the shop went bankrupt."
Nico's hands clenched tightly on the desk.
"My father and mother, still saddled with debt, disappeared in the night. While I was sleeping."
"[surprised]...Wha..."
He couldn't form words.
"Before that, my parents showed me a document and said, 'We need you to stamp this.' I was sixteen, and I stamped it without understanding what it meant."
Amby blinked, just once, for the first time.
"It was a joint guarantor contract. I found out the next day when the debt collectors came."
Nico gasped.
Amby continued.
"The debt was four million Dennies. I was left to pay off the debt my parents left behind, all by myself. The only thing left in my hands were the shop's account books."
Her hands moved slightly on her knees. The gesture of flipping through a ledger. Amby always handled the Random Phone Shop's bookkeeping perfectly.
——So that's it.
The puzzle pieces clicked into place in Billy's mind.
She wasn't just good with numbers. Numbers were the only way she had to understand what her parents had left behind.
"That's why I needed the prize money."
Amby said.
At that moment——
Something glistened at the corner of her eye.
She blinked, and a single drop traced down her cheek.
Her voice never wavered, right to the end. But the tears wouldn't stop.
"[whispers]...I didn't want to cause trouble for you two, so I didn't want to say anything."
Amby continued, looking down at the taiyaki.
"It's all my fault. Alone in my room, I calculated it over and over. Looking at the books, writing down the remaining debt. 'Mathematically, it's checkmate.' But even so, I wanted to clear it with the prize money. That's why I pressed the button. That's why, I..."
"I'm the one to blame for everything, so I should have done everything myself."
Her voice trembled, just a little.
A profound silence fell over the shop.
Nico was at a loss for words, his mouth hanging open, staring at her tears.
Billy——
"[angry]No!!"
He tried to shout.
But his throat seized up, and no sound came out.
Amby, at sixteen. Abandoned by parents who fled in the night. Stamping a document without u
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