The Collab Stream
"I'm back."
No, it hadn't even been five minutes. Hold it together.
"I went to get some water."
I had briefly considered browsing the community.
But it seemed like it would take too long, so I just gave up on the idea.
[Oh, you're back?]
"Yes. What were you doing? I heard Siru screaming earlier, at least."
[She left the voice channel right after screaming.]
"I see."
She must have bolted to avoid the secondary damage of coming back while still mortified.
"What about Hanbyeol?"
[She kept calling Siru over and over after she left.]
So Yubin had chased after Yuna.
"Well, once her download finishes she'll come back on her own, so let's leave them to it. Teri, what weapon are you going with?"
[I want to try a bow, so I'm going with the bow.]
"Oh."
Bows are not easy.
[What about you, Roze?]
"The hammer."
[The hammer?]
"Yes."
[...That suits you.]
Hm?
"What's that supposed to mean?"
[The Zeros will tell you.]
At Yerin's words, I checked the chat window.
...I genuinely didn't know.
"Anyway, you finished the tutorial, right?"
[Yep. Even set my cat's name already.]
She'd already finished the pet part too?
"Oh? What did you name the cat?"
"Tail-i."
"That sounds like a name about to fall into a digital world."
[...That's our fandom's name.]
"Ah."
Oh no.
[...You haven't memorized any of the members' fandom names, have you?]
"Nope."
[...Aren't you being a little too proud about that?]
"If I claimed I knew them and then got quizzed, that'd be even worse."
Same as when Seyeon asked me if I knew any of her songs — my stance is always the same.
[...Right.]
Hmm... I need to name my cat too.
Let's just ask.
When my own brain failed me, I decided to borrow the power of the collective intelligence.
"What should I name my cat? I have to do character customization soon."
[Why not use your fandom name? Zero's cute, isn't it?]
"The cat may be cute, but my viewers are... gross, so that's a bit..."
Most of my viewers are older than my body's apparent age and I know for a fact they have hairy legs. I cannot allow it.
Oh. Should I go with that?
[...Roze. Are you serious with that?]
"Oh, you were watching the stream?"
[...Yes.]
"Well, what do you think."
The cat's name was decided: Wooju.
There was no particular reason — I just figured her reaction would be entertaining later.
After the two of us chatted a while longer, Yuna and Yubin returned.
"Did you get the game installed?"
[Yes... I'm sorry, again...]
"It's fine. Thanks to you, I even got to hear a scream in a vocal register I'd never heard before."
[Ack! Please...!]
"Did you do the tutorial?"
[Yes! Finished it before coming!]
[Fufufu...! I told her Roze would chew her out if she skipped the tutorial!]
"Really? Well, I wouldn't have chewed you out even if you hadn't."
...Just how far had my reputation spread, exactly?
Anyway, I invited the members to the party and we started the quest.
[Wait, what? Roze's cat is named Wooju?! Ahaha!]
"Yes. Good name, isn't it?"
[It's adorable! You named it so well!]
I'd trusted that if anyone would take it in stride, it would be Yubin.
"Nice, everyone picked different weapons."
Yubin went with the spear, and Yuna picked the katana, huh?
Fair enough — the fast melee weapons are genuinely fun in this game.
[The katana is romance...!]
"Though in the previous game Siru bought, my main weapon was the katana, you know."
I'd never actually played the previous game, but since I couldn't exactly claim it was my main in today's game, I fudged it.
[I'm... sorry?]
Hearing the tremor in Yuna's voice as she repeated my words, clearly sensing something ominous, I pressed on.
"If you botch your combos, be prepared to receive one-on-one tutoring from me after the collab ends."
I might not know much else, but I have every single katana combo memorized.
Because, as Yuna herself said — the katana is romance.
[...Bows are safe, right?]
"Yes. I'm a melee-speed user."
[Phew...]
[Then... the spear...?]
"Ah, I never really used spears."
[Phew!]
And so the game officially began.
[Whoa... we have to take that down...?]
"Scared?"
[...Very.]
The first monster was modeled on a hyena.
"It's fine. That one's actually on the docile side, looks-wise."
Look at it long enough and it's kind of cute.
[...Of the things we're hunting today?]
"No idea."
Officially, this was my first time with this game, so even if I knew, pretending not to was the correct play.
[...You're telling me that thing is on the docile side?]
"Yes."
Huh, Yerin scares more easily than I thought...
Wait till she sees the crocodile mob in a bit — will she have a full meltdown?
It shows up three kills from now.
People who'd already played the game or seen it somewhere couldn't resist spoiling things, and were promptly purged.
I'm pretending not to know anything too, so where do you think you're going!
"Anyway, let's take it down."
GRRAAAWW!
The intro cinematic ended and the battle began as the hyena let out a roar,
and the characters who heard it were locked into a stagger.
[How do you dodge this?!]
"It's hard with anything but specific weapons. You dodged it though, Siru? Don't tell me you couldn't dodge it holding the katana?"
The katana has a special skill that lets you eat through the roar fairly easily.
Surely she didn't fail to dodge it?
[Y-yes?! No, I...! Um...!]
"That's one stack."
[Eeeh!]
[Wait, why aren't YOU staggered?]
"I said it was hard. I never said it was impossible."
You can eat through it if you time your dodge-roll just right.
As I closed in, the hyena swung its right forepaw at me; I dodged the attack with another roll, then burrowed into its underbelly.
The hyena's attack patterns left plenty of time before its next move, so I input the command —
sweeping the hammer around to my right and winding up in a baseball batter's stance, gathering my strength.
Timing my strike for the moment the hyena turned its body toward me to launch its next attack, I brought the charged blow down on its head.
CRACK!
The satisfying crunch of the hammer's broad face slamming into its skull sent a rush of pure delight through me.
Ahh...! THIS is what it's about...!
Watching the hyena reel back from my attack, I readied my next strike.
Hm... didn't the stagger gauge take a few more hits to the head to fill?
I'd rarely used blunt weapons, so my memory was hazy.
[Whoa! You're really good at this?! How did you do that?!]
"You just play until you get it."
It wasn't quite 1,000 hours...
Well, the TS buff is potent, I'll give it that.
Ignoring the chat's reaction, I issued orders.
"Siru, get to the tail side."
[Yes?! Why?! Don't tell me the tail comes off?!]
"...You didn't know?"
[I... didn't!]
...I've got nothing to say to that.
"Well, better late than never."
The thrill of that sensation — of that familiar feeling in my hands after so long — put me in a good mood, so I decided to let it slide.
Anyway, as the nearest one, the hyena charged at me, and I brought the same attack down on its head.
CRACK!
KYAK!
With a solid impact sound, the hyena shrieked and toppled sideways.
"Everyone hit it NOW!"
I moved to the fallen hyena's head and unleashed the technique players affectionately call the Kung-Kung-Tta.
Not that calling it a "technique" amounts to much more than slamming down three times in a row.
BAM! BAM!
Two simple overhead slams, top to bottom.
Then, gripping the base of the hammer with both hands, I spun a full rotation to the left, using that momentum to drive the hammer down one final time.
CRACK!
KYEK!
The moment I finished the Tta, enough damage had clearly landed — a part-break notification popped up.
"Oh, Siru? Where exactly did you just use that skill?"
[Y-yes?! You saw that?!]
"That's two stacks."
[...Yes.]
Carving out a brief moment between plays, I glanced at the chat window and one message caught my eye.
Good point. I'm curious about that too.