#002. Sorry, Sorry!

Thankfully, the computer I'd set up for coding wasn't low-spec. RoyalGround—or Log for short—is a well-optimized game, and since there weren't many other programs installed, I had plenty of storage space too.

RoyalGround (Log). A survival game where 100 players drop into a map, loot up, and fight each other. I'd watched friends play it a ton, but I'd only tried it myself once or twice at a PC bang.

"...I should at least do the tutorial, right?"

Even back then, I'd played on a friend's account for a few rounds, so mine was basically brand new. I named it [AI_neru].

WASD to move, right-click to aim, left-click to shoot. Piece of cake. I'd never played seriously, but I had the basics down.

"Ugh, these guns are a pain to control the recoil on."

For the record, I was a full-fledged 24-year-old adult who'd done my military service. ...Until my body swapped, anyway.

Anyway, after finishing the tutorial, I learned I'd have to play one match to unlock the other modes, so I jumped in. Squad mode for four players per team, but I got wrecked right away.

It starts on the plane, which wasn't in the tutorial, so I panicked a bit.

"Uh, where do we drop?"

The map was huge, so I hung back, watching my teammates. Best strategy was to follow them down. Their nicknames looked weird:

[UNV_iori]

[UNV_rey]

[UNV_seira]

UNV prefix probably meant same clan or something. Definitely friends partying up, so I got a little nervous about not wanting to get flamed by the group.

"Why aren't you dropping...?"

They finally jumped near the edge of the map. I hit F to follow as best I could.

.

Universe. A virtual idol group created by 'Yuseol,' a 700k-sub NewTuber. Made up of five unique female members, they exploded with fat sponsorships and grew into a major corporation overnight.

Three of those members—Kagura Iori, Tsukishiro Rei, and Hibiki Seira—were doing a Log collab stream today. They were supposed to squad up with big sis Kurose Ritsu, but she was running late for some reason.

"When's Ritsu unnie coming?"

"She said she's talking with the president, so a bit late."

"Wanna queue up a match then?"

All three turned on their streams and queued for squads. They weren't pro-level, but with about 100 ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hours each, they had solid basics.

They loaded into the familiar plane screen when a voice piped up.

"Uh, where do we drop?"

"??"

"Whose voice is that?"

Looking closer, it was coming from the random teammate [AI_neru]'s mic.

"Whoa, it's a girl?"

"Mic's probably set to always-on?"

"Her voice is so cute!"

They chatted with viewers about the mystery cutie(?) and missed their drop timing. Then another hesitant voice from Neru: "Why aren't you dropping...?"

"She was waiting for us."

"Newbie, huh?"

"Let's drop anyway. She'll follow."

Viewers watching ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were hyped too, flames lit in their chats.

Of course, Neru had no clue.

"What? Why am I so slow?"

The three landed perfectly, but I was still gliding. I finally touched down about 100m away.

"Where is this?"

The other three burst out laughing too. Iori finally turned on her mic.

"Neru! Come to us! We'll give you a gun!"

"Huh? Oh, okay...!"

I sprinted over empty-handed. What I overlooked: enemies had dropped there too.

Bang—!

"Kyaaak!"

I ran into someone on the way—well, more like startled by the gunshot. Mic didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠even pick it up fully.

"Neru!"

"Hah... this f***ing rude jerk..."

"What."

Sounded like she almost swore. With that pure voice? Iori hesitated.

Of course, I'd tried to curse, but auto-censorship filtered it. Lucky.

"Got 'em. Solo queue scrub."

"Nice! I'll revive Neru!"

Revived. Heart still pounding, I stood still, then mumbled thanks weakly.

"Whew, thank you. Thank you. I was so startled..."

"No worries. You streaming or something? What's AI—from which group?"

"Huh? No... AI just means artificial intelligence..."

What kind of person is this? Iori was genuinely curious. That pure voice, almost swearing then correcting—that charm. Not streaming? She'd assumed AI was a virtual idol group abbr, like UNV for Universe on theirs.

.

I was seriously shocked. I'd set audio decently since sound matters in these games, but a shotgun blast right up close nearly gave me a heart attack.

Luckily, my teammates seemed nice. They noticed I was spooked and took care of me.

I quickly lowered the volume, looted guns in the house they directed me to.

"Neru, follow us! Storm's closing!"

"Okay—huh? Right!"

Running with my gun, we barely escaped the circle.

"Phew... Hngh?!"

Rat-tat-tat—!!

Sure enough, enemies waiting at the circle edge. I nearly flung my mouse again from the shots.

Calm down—hid behind a rock with the team.

"Two in that house over there. See 'em, Neru?"

"Huh? Where?"

"Right in front, window. Can't see?"

I squinted hard. Yeah, movement in the window!

"Should I shoot?"

"If you can, shoot! They're shooting us!"

"Ah, got it!"

Ta-ta-tat—!

Recoil still tough, but I sprayed where I saw them. Took a few hits myself, HP down, but lucked out—downed one!

"Nice! Revive fast!"

"Huh? Okay!"

Ducked back, healed with a medkit. Team pushed since I'd downed one.

"M-me too, hurry!"

Remembered a NewTube tip: grenades for enemies holed up! Aimed the arc into the window... about there...

"Now!"

Perfect calc—grenade rolled inside. Result:

"Gah! What the—!"

"Neru!!"

Two enemies down, two allies down. Allies downed, technically.

"Sorry! I'm sorryyy...!"

Rei, the survivor, cleaned up the rest. I rushed to revive the two.

"S-sorry! First time throwing one..."

"Ahaha, that's hilarious."

Even as I kept apologizing, the three just laughed it off. Kinda touching. Good thing we wiped the enemies.

After that, we kept clearing squads into late game. Enemies felt easy...

"Oh, that? Probably bots... and you did great too, Neru!"

Bots, huh. Bit disappointing, but Iori's pat on the back gave me pride. First game, this far? Skill.

Down to 20 players, I had 3 kills. Two from nade, one gun. Team took the rest after.

Switched guns: sniper and double-barrel shotgun. Recoil-proof.

"Fight over there! Let's go?"

"L-let's! But I'm a sniper..."

Car already rolling; my protest ignored.

Late game—no boring bots, just sharpshooters.

"Neru, enemy behind that rock! Ready?!"

"Y-yeah! Go!"

Car stops, hop off—enemies shooting. Left hand sniper, right shotgun. Fired shotgun twice: one rock, one miss.

"T-timeout! Gotta reload!"

Reloading, got shot—downed. Pray teammates carry.

"Kyaaak!"

"Unnie, behind!"

"Flanked!"

No dice—they dropped one by one. We placed 6th.

"Neru, that was fun!"

"Y-yeah. Thanks. Sorry..."

No top rank, but wholesome end—more fun than expected.