Why Only Me?

Two days later, as I was about to fire up the stream, a familiar window popped up right in front of my eyes.

"...Huh?"

I was a little thrown off by the phrasing, like some cheesy home shopping ad. Sure, there'd been a preview that something would be added to the point shop, but this was nothing like what I'd expected. I figured it'd be something like a stamina recovery potion or whatever.

"It's way too expensive from the jump, and I don't even need it anyway."

It's not like I can't game—I just haven't been playing. ...That's what I genuinely believed, at least.

And so what if I suck at games? Sure, if I could pick up the AI's killer computation skills in this body, it'd probably come in handy somewhere. But shell out 10% Humanity Points for it? Yesterday's debut stream lasted about two hours and only netted me 2.7%.

"Plus, buying this won't make me drift further from humanity or anything, right?"

It was a perfectly reasonable suspicion. Neru had emphasized no side effects, but it still felt off somehow. I swore I'd never buy it.

...Until this moment.

Today was the day for the 2nd gen collab stream. The plan was for us noobs to party up and run squad matches in RoyalGround (Log).

From what I'd heard, though, Ren had been gaming a ton before, with around 500 hours under her belt. Yuzha the idol trainee hadn't touched games much, just like me, and Luna was more into sports than gaming. My Log playtime? About two hours total—from that random queue with the 1st gens last time and some practice sessions in between.

Are people dumping 1,000+ hours into this actually insane? Even two hours a day makes my head overheat—seeing folks with thousands of hours was straight-up awe-inspiring sometimes.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Time to boot up the stream..."

The scheduled time was closing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in, so I flipped the switch.

I threw on some music for a bit while waiting for people to trickle in, then opened my mouth.

"Hey everyone. Day two of streaming."

Maybe because it was only the second day, but viewer count was lower than debut. Right on the money, as expected. Followers had been skyrocketing at first, but after hitting 50k, the growth had slowed to a crawl.

"Did I eat? Yeah, cake."

"Cake fills me up, so it's a meal for me. Basque cheesecake."

I read off a few scrolling chats, chatting back and forth, and started thinking maybe I had a knack for this streaming thing. Most newbies trip over their words from nerves, but I felt weirdly chill, like I had ice in my veins.

"Anyway, today we're playing Log with my 2nd gen crew."

I hopped into Discord, and voices from the other 2nd gens rang out as they launched Log too.

"Neru, you here? Get in quick!"

"Yeah, jumping in now."

The group was chatting lively.

"Ren's on lead, right~?"

"Probably gotta be..."

All our characters were in default outfits, but Ren's was some cute cyberpunk getup that matched our aesthetic.

"Ready to start?"

"Yup."

We dropped into the familiar lobby, and suddenly people swarmed us out of nowhere. Then they started pummeling our characters!

"What the— what is this?!"

"Sniping, I think? Whoa, this many~?"

Bad vibes already. Should've blocked the screen during matchmaking. Nearly twenty randos had zeroed in on us.

Finally, the plane screen loaded.

"Guys, hit M for the map. Bottom left, plane icon? Tap that to auto-follow."

"Oh, nice~ Thanks~"

Handy feature. I hit follow like Ren said, and she pinged the map before dropping. But a ton of players were hot on our tails.

"Uwaaah! So many!!"

"N-No choice. Gotta deal. Stick tight!"

We clump-landed at the massive school building, and footsteps echoed everywhere. I scooped a pump shotgun off the floor and racked it.

"Ugh! Get lost!"

As I finished loading, fist-fighters started charging me. I blasted away with the pump, but my aim sucked—they wouldn't drop.

"Ah! Stop hitting me! Kyaa!"

"Neru!! They're on me too... Uwak!"

Chaos in seconds. I downed two with five shots, but had to reload. That's when more rushed in, pummeling me with fists.

"Uwaaak! You shi—"

"—tty bastards!"

HP hit zero—I went down.

"Uwot! I'm down!"

"I slipped out!"

"Neru, hang on. Coming to save ya!"

Some viewer hoisted my downed self and started dragging me off.

"I'm getting kidnapped! Hurryyy!"

"Got it!"

Ren showed up just in time, AR blazing, dropping my kidnapper. Luna and Yuzha had looted outside and were circling back.

Why only me?!

It's our first time! Don't noobs all flail and eat fists on drop?!

As betrayal sank in, a grenade landed behind Ren as she tried to revive me.

"Explosive detected! Ren, get out!"

"Uh, u-um!"

Boom!

Ren ducked inside and survived, but I ate the full blast and got squad-wiped from down.

Luna and Yuzha, fresh with guns, backed her up. They went down, leaving Ren to clean house.

School enemies mostly cleared—we won the fight, ragged but alive.

"Good thing the system's solid now. Just eat the chip off a body to rez—lifesaver."

"No, why only me...?"

I got pummeled and killed while everyone else...? Kinda felt cheated.

"Ahaha... I got tips and bailed outside quick~"

"Folks handed over their guns—super cooperative."

Yuzha had eyed the situation and zipped out for quick loot. Luna got donations of guns. Ren, obviously, flexed her skills.

"Ugh... You guys ganging up on me?!"

No matter how mad I got, chat was just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠flooded with lolz.

Rez'd by Ren's heroics, I re-looted a gun. Last time was pure melee mess—I couldn't aim for shit. But two downs with five shotgun shells? Not bad, right? (One was looking away, but still.)

Do I look that much like easy prey? Can't have that.

I vowed to show my true skills. Post-school loot run done, we piled into a car for the safe zone. Ren naturally went for the wheel, but I grabbed it first to prove myself.

"Eh...? Neru driving?"

"Yeah, watch this."

Oh yeah, I'd slipped into casual speech. Was gonna stick to polite, but too much on my plate—polite concept on hold.

Four-seater loaded with us four, me at the wheel. I'd gotten my real-world license, after all.

"Gotta floor it~? No heals here~"

"Gotcha."

I mashed W, gunning it over bumpy hills. Front wheels caught air, launching us high.

"Whoa! Tree ahead!"

"Eep."

Thick branch snagged the front tire—car spun out!

"N-Neru!"

"W-Wait! How do I steer this?!"

Slammed ground hard and flipped.

"..."

"I-It’s fine. First try~"

"Then why'd Yuzha and Luna go down?"

"I-I bailed during the spin..."

"Same here."

They didn't trust me. Fair.

As I tried reviving Yuzha, bullets started pinging from nowhere! With two already down, I ate a sniper headshot mid-revive.

"Kyaa!"

"How does it snowball this bad...!"

Ren solo'd behind a tree, but zone damage and enemy fire finished her.

Our first Log squad: ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠total wipe.

"Neru, at attention."

"...Y-Yes, ma'am."

"Never touch the wheel again."

"Y-Yes, ma'am..."

Ren chewed me out good.