An Explosive Ending?!

An explosive ending?!

The terms of the bet were simple enough. Survive to the end and take first place. Time limit: two hours. Put like that, it hardly sounded difficult. I had already grabbed first in the last match, and I had taken it more than once across the two broadcasts before that. Little Boy had to know that. So what was he cooking?

I slid him a sidelong glance.

"Alright! We can't just leave the game this simple, now can we? So I just pinged the game director and got us a brand-new tool!"

"...Excuse me?"

What? Why? I tipped my head, genuinely unable to see the point of going that far. All I wanted was to enjoy the match, take first, and then go, Ah, looks like I won. Still, it'd be a shame to leave it here, so I'll come on as a guest next time! A little wave, and everything would have been fine.

Little Boy looked at my face, smiled, and said,

"What's with that look? Aww, come on~ Don't tell me you were thinking you'd just snag first in a single match and then go, 'It's a shame to part like this — please invite me as a guest next time!'?"

Is he a psychic?

"N-no way. I was just curious what kind of game you'd cooked up. It'll be fun, right? After stirring up this much aggro, it wouldn't be something lame like, 'Donations apply a debuff!' ...would it?"

"...Huh?"

Little Boy's eyes started rattling in their sockets.

The viewers piled on, roasting a man who couldn't tell a lie to save his life.

"In that case, let's crank the difficulty way up!"

The new terms Little Boy slapped on the table: one match, ninety-nine viewer players versus a single host. If the host won, she would grant one of PUG's requested conditions. If the host lost, a special guest appearance on the next broadcast. And then—

"How about this: the viewer who takes down the host gets Jiwoo's special autograph, plus a modest prize presented in person?"

"...."

The scale of it had ballooned past anything I had expected. I glanced over at Kang Ho-yeon. She thought it over for a beat, then formed a circle over her head.

"Yes — Manager Unnie says it's not a bad idea. Let's go with those terms."

I nodded without a shred of hesitation.

There's no way I'm going to lose.

Hnnnnnngh...

A plane hung in the sky. Inside, people sat rigid in their seats, wound tight with nerves. Everyone was in the same bizarre state — nothing on but light underclothes, a single backpack strapped to their backs.

At the captain's announcement ringing through the cabin, people began peeling off one by one and leaping from the plane. I was still weighing when to jump when a familiar ID drifted into view overhead.

Arahan?

If it was Arahan, he was the game streamer who had dropped a million won on me during PUG's first broadcast of the game — and one of PUG's official partners. And that was not all.

Even the nicknames of former Survival Ground pros slid into view.

Why are they here? Don't tell me former pros showed up just to hunt down one person? Why bother?

My head went a little blank. I turned away. No matter how many times I shook it, the names sitting in my vision refused to change. While I was still busy denying reality, people kept peeling off the plane two and three at a time, until the only ones left were two or three of us, myself included.

This is bad! I missed my drop!

I scanned ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ground beneath the plane, picked a landing, cinched the parachute tight, and jumped. Most of the lobby had already ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠claimed the good spots. Only two places were left. One was a wide-open field with no weapons worth taking and nowhere to run or hide the second you met an enemy. The other was a tiny island that spawned decent guns — but it sat so far from the main island that without a boat you would be swimming for a very long time.

I have to pick one.

While I dithered, even the last stragglers jumped. I was the only one left.

"Ah, whatever!"

Come what may!

Shuuuuung!!

I felt the whole of Earth's gravity in my bones as I plummeted.

I'll just have to trust my skill and go for it!

Not that I was expecting much. I popped the chute and touched down safely, unlike some people. Then I started sweeping the area as fast as I could, hunting for anything usable.

"Oh! Jackpot!"

A Panzerfaust 250 — overwhelming firepower in a single tube. And then,

"Found the rounds too!"

Not far off, I even picked up ammunition for it. I would have to fire, reload, and fire again, which was a pain — but if even one shot landed clean, it would drop a pro no matter how good they were. One hit, one kill. The kind of phrase that makes a man's heart pound. With this, I actually had a shot.

The problem was—

A woman's voice cut down from the sky. A roulette spun fast and slammed to a stop on a single result.

"Gaaah...!"

My movement turned to sludge. It felt like I was hauling lead weights with every limb. I had been planning to swim for the main island as fast as I could. At this speed, I was not sure I would even make it before the day was over.

"Come on, isn't this a little much?"

I had not even met an enemy yet and they were already slapping a debuff on me. Wrestling my sluggish body left me no time to check what Heaven had in store next.

Well. Fine by me. If I rake in the donations and still win the game...

Heaven, however, had no intention of leaving it at that. Out of nowhere the roulette spun again.

Huh? What did it just—

I looked up. A swarm of planes tore across the sky above my head, dumping black droppings without end.

"W-wait! This is too much! I'd rather die to an enemy! To a person! An explosive ending?! You're giving me an explosive ending?!"

I wrangled my lead-heavy body for all I was worth, crawling, rolling, sprawling across the dirt. When one of those black droppings — bombs, to give them their proper name — slammed down beside me, my palms went slick with sweat.

"S-sto oooooop!!"

Even my screaming could not refuse the will of Heaven.

After dodging no fewer than three Red Zones, a minute and a half had gone by.

"H-holy... how am I even alive?"

The ground around me was plastered with black ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠scorch marks. Somehow, I was still remarkably clean.

Meanwhile, in the hours Jiwoo was running PUG's game broadcast, Tsuki wrapped up practice in a rush, hurried back to the VTuber Idol Dormitory, and immediately powered on her computer.

"Hurry, hurry... I had way too many lessons today and now I'm late. I have to see Jiwoo-chan..."

Tsuki, self-proclaimed Jiwoo's number-one fan. The idea of missing Jiwoo's stream was simply not allowed. The other members knew the situation and had agreed to cover cleaning the practice room in exchange for Tsuki doing it alone next time.

"Ah! I didn't miss it. But..."

She clicked the new alert floating beside the broadcast window.

The contents were about viewer participation. Tsuki read the whole notice and let out a little snort of a laugh.

"Thank goodness. Other accounts work, not just Korean ones."

Lately she had only been using a smurf account to teach Jiwoo the game. This time, she had to keep her identity hidden. Tsuki logged in on her main. Because she had to squeeze into that first-come, first-served list of ninety-nine, she did not use the computer in her own room. She used the streaming PC Lee Yuwol broadcast from.

"Jiwoo-chan said it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission."

Ordinarily she would not have dreamed of touching it — the calibrated settings were locked in, and the second those values drifted, Lee Yuwol's wrath was not something she even wanted to imagine. She had known that, and she still had not planned on laying a finger on Yuwol's computer... but this time was special.

"Sorry. I'll beg for forgiveness later. Right now... Jiwoo-chan is more important!"

The machine connected to the game at a speed far beyond her own. Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! Click! After several attempts with no sign she would get a seat, she told herself this was the last try and hit join on the waiting room.

"Huh? I got in!"

She had made it into the lobby. Tsuki wandered around looking for Jiwoo. With a full hundred people packed in, the place was chaos. She never did find her before the match began.

The instant the screen cut to the inside of the plane, she checked the map and locked onto the spot with the best loot and the best odds of lasting a long time.

Jiwoo-chan will come this way too!

She was sure of it. Every time they had played together, they had always dropped there. Watching the stream would have told her exactly where Jiwoo was landing — but as a gamer, and as a fan, that was not something she wanted to do.

No! If it's Jiwoo-chan, she'll definitely come!

Trusting her celebrity, she strapped on the chute and left the plane. And then—

Shuuuuung!!

People fell with Tsuki. All of them dropped at once, chasing a good spot, chasing good guns.

"Th-there's too many!"

Fifteen people had landed in the same place. Rather ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than scramble for a weapon, Tsuki raised both fists.

"Pow! Pow! Die! Die already!"

She beat the enemies without a shred of mercy.

"Don't even think about it! This is Jiwoo-chan and Tsuki's spot! Pow-pow!"

And so, barely five minutes after the match began, fourteen players were already out.

"Come at me, all of you! I'll put a hole right through your skulls!"