The Best Game

"I'm Rie! It's been two weeks since my debut, and I'm 20 years old!"

"Whoa! You look super cute!"

"Ehehe…."

Lately, hearing that I was cute or pretty had started making me feel a little good. Was it because I'd been living as Seo Ha-yoon the girl for so long now? I was starting to worry that by the time college started, I'd be completely changed.

"Ah, Rie's face is turning red!"

"Y-Yes?"

I jumped in surprise at Danbi's playful voice and cupped my cheeks with both hands. Wait, the cam was definitely off, and I wasn't screen-sharing—how did she know?

"Ahaha! You're just too cute."

At Danbi's laughter, I dropped my hands and stared at the monitor. Was she always ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this teasing in collabs? When I'd watched her stream before, she hadn't been this playful. But thinking about it, she rarely did collabs—you could count them on one hand—so maybe this was just her personality.

"Sorry for teasing you so much. It's been years since my last ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠collab, and even on big servers, I've mostly been a solo gukdari noona…."

Hearing her say it so casually, I could see why she was with a big corp. Dropping terms like gukdari noona so naturally was how you made it big….

"N-No, it's fine! I'm used to it with my unni…."

"Your real older sister, right? She must tease you a lot."

"Hehe…."

She teased more with her body than words, but yeah, I got teased a lot. Once Huran-unni and I had finished our intros after Ul-unni, the awkward silence was about to settle in again.

"Now that we've introduced ourselves, shall we talk positions and such first? I watched the replay from yesterday, but…."

Danbi smoothly kept the conversation going. Huran-unni and I were both the awkward type, clearly. But I couldn't help it—until two weeks ago, the only girls I'd talked to were my unni… no, my little sister? So of course it felt awkward. Well… Huran-unni had that incident last time, but she was cute, so forgiven.

"…So I think we can go with that. Huran-i as tank or warrior, Rie as showrichi, and me as ADC. What do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you think?"

"Yes, yes! Sounds good to me. Huran-unni?"

"Me too. But Huran and Rie are both newbies—is that okay?"

"Nah, it'll be fine! You two were amazing. Especially Rie—anyone would think you'd hit master with showrichi."

"Ehe… eheheht."

Danbi's words made me flinch a bit as I laughed awkwardly. Was this what real girl senses were like? Or did she just have pure game skill unlike me? How did she know from just the replay?

"I-It just fit my hands well."

"That's talent! And Huran-i, when you went in with the assassin, tanking damage—I swear, it looked like you were protecting your girlfriend!"

"Uhheheht… thank you."

Seeing Huran-unni happy at the praise made me think she really was the older one. But it was the first time I'd seen her pleased about game compliments.

Last collab, viewers calling her good didn't faze her, but maybe big-corp praise hit different? Whatever, good is good.

"Ah, so in-game, we protect Danbi instead of Rie?"

Huran-unni's suddenly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sulky voice made me freeze. She was happy from the praise, right…?

"No, no! As ADC, I have good survival, so it's better if the melee dive in with me."

"Ah! Eheht, good thing!"

Watching her brighten at Danbi's words gave me a slight chill. Was Huran-unni really seeing me as her real little sister…?

"Alright, positions set! Mind a practice game first?"

"Sure. Rie?"

"I'm good."

I answered Ul-unni and was prepping for Eternal Loop when…

"Before we start, one thing to decide."

Danbi's tone turned serious, making the mood heavy. I tensed up unconsciously—was an adult taking charge. Had I messed up? I was replaying my last words when…

"How about dropping the honorifics? Hearing 'Danbi-nim' all the time makes me feel lonely…."

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

Her aegyo-laced voice made Huran-unni and me blurt out in unison.

"We'll squad up a lot and get close, but 'Danbi-nim' feels like a wall. And it's been ages since I was called unni…."

"Y-Yes! Sure!"

Her cuteness got a reflexive yes out of me. Was this 26-year-old flirting?

"Huran-i?"

"…Sure."

Unlike my quick reply, Huran-unni sounded a bit reluctant. Imagination… right?

"Great! Casual from now on. Let's game! I'll friend you—post your Dascode nicknames!"

"Okay."

"…Okay."

We'd planned one game in Eternal Loop, but it was already our third.

"Rie! One's running—quick, eject him!"

"Ah, got it! Grabbing now!"

I hurled my dagger, snagging the fleeing enemy. As soon as he dropped, "eject" ended the game.

"Uuuht…! Three straight firsts? Are we insane? Even in normals, this looks like abusing."

"'Cause you carried, unni."

"Nah, I just run. You and Rie carried."

Huran-unni laughed happily at Danbi-unni's words. Her natural charm had us bonding fast over three games. I wanted more, but glancing at the clock, it was almost broadcast time for the unnis.

"Hey, shouldn't you two start streaming soon?"

"Ah! Almost forgot."

"Ah… too bad. Wanted more games with Rie."

Win high had made them forget stream time. Huran-unni for other reasons, maybe.

"Gonna start mine! Game tomorrow or tonight?"

"Yeah."

"Got it."

-ttororong

Danbi-unni left the voice chat first, leaving just me and Huran-unni.

"Rie-ya."

Her voice in the now-empty chat was a tad lower than usual.

"You got super close with Danbi today."

"Ah… she's just got a great personality, I guess."

Normally I'd end it there, but girl instinct said no.

"Still, good I was there, right? Alone, she'd have drained you dry."

"R-Really? Uhheheht… good thing."

Her childlike laugh cooled the chill down my spine.

"Gotta prep my stream! Eat well for dinner, game later!"

"Y-Yeah…!"

-ttororong

Last to leave, Huran-unni gone, I bailed too. Gaming wasn't hard, so why did now feel harder?