It was a normal Monday for you. You had to go to school and learn pythagoras theorem, whatever that is.
You were walking back from school, tired and bored. You see an arcade and figure that you may as well go, “I mean what’s the worst that could happen” you think to yourself.
You walk in the store and see the many flashing lights. You see one arcade machine that requires a quick reaction time. You sit down and pay using some leftover coins that you had and you play.
…
You lose the game. You feel a bit frustrated and you put some more money in. You play again.
…
You lose again. You feel more frustrated, you want to leave but something draws you in. You decide this will be the last shot if you lose you walk away if you win you stay.
…
You win and it is the jackpot of 100 tickets. You feel happy but you realize that you need to go home or your parents will think that you went missing.
You get home 30 minutes later than usual. “Was the bus late again?” Your mother says as you have been complaining about the bus and how it feels like it never gets there in time.
You simply just nod. You're tired, you need sleep.
You go to your room and you get changed. Today was a long day of sitting in classes that you didn’t care for.
After you get changed you simply lay in bed and scroll though Ao3 figuring that it will soothe your nerves but your mind keeps falling back to that game you played in the arcade.
You try to forget about it and read fanfic but that memory of the game is entrenched in your mind. You decide that tomorrow you will go back and play the game.
THE NEXT DAY
You wake for another boring and dull day at school. You get changed at about 6:50am and you plan to leave the house at about 7:20am.
“Why are you leaving so early? School starts at 8:40am.” Your mother says confused and concerned.
You explain the bus has been getting more and more late and you want to be extra early so you can see your friends.
Your mother agrees that you shouldn’t be late and tells you to text her when you get to school.
While you are walking to school, you see the arcade and without a second thought you go into a quiet arcade.
You figure that no one would wake up at this hour and choose to go to an arcade out of places.
You sit down and play the game you played yesterday.
…
You win the jackpot which is 100 tickets. You count that to 100 tickets. You go to the prizes and see a beautiful cat plushie that would take about half of your bed.
You look at how many tickets you would need. 15,000 tickets you count that to be at your current rate (Presuming you win everyday) would take 100 days. The game you play costs $1. That means it would cost $100 (Presuming you win everytime).
You decide that will be your goal because you have a whole bunch of $1 coins laying around and you figure that you might as well spend it on something.
You decide to go to school figuring that if you don’t your parents will be called.
When you arrive at school you can’t stop thinking about the game. It takes up each and every thought in your mind.
After another boring day of school you go straight to the arcade and play that game.
…
You lose. You are a bit angry but you play again without even thinking.
…
You win the jackpot. Another 100 tickets you have won 300 tickets and you are getting happy but you decide to play again.
…
You win the jackpot again.
…
You win the jackpot again. You now have 500 tickets.
You decide to go home now. When you get home you make the same excuse that “The bus was super late” as always your mother buys into the lie.
After dinner, you try to read some ao3 but your brain is stuck on that game. You feel like you might be getting a bit addicted to that game but you shrug it off.
THE NEXT DAY
You wake up it is Wednesday, the middle of the week and the worst day of the week. You want to stay home but you have to go to school.
You get up and get changed. You use the same excuse to go to “School” early. You walk into the arcade and play. You lose twice but you win 3 times. Getting you 800 tickets.
You go to school, your mind fixating on the game. After school you go to the arcade and play the game for 30 minutes winning 200 tickets. You go home and use the same excuse to your mom, who doesn’t suspect a thing.
After that nothing much really happens. You play that arcade game everyday before and after school, when you're not playing the game it is fixated in your mind.
You tell your friends about the game and none of them feel the same about the game as you do. You keep telling them and they say “You're insane” or “You're addicted” but you don’t listen to them.
Your grades start to fall and those around you have noticed you have changed but you don’t listen, you play the game and feel happy when playing it. In the end though you get a job to pay for the expense of playing the game.
You work as much as possible and spend the money on the game in hopes of winning the prize and eventually you win the plushie.
You won but at what expense, your grades, your friends and your happiness. Every second you're not at the arcade you feel empty and every second you go to the arcade you feel happy. Is this a win or a loss? And if your happiness is reliant on the arcade then are you happy or not?