PVP Mode
"Harro harro, everyone~ It's been a while... Well, not really that long, but I just thought 'it's been a while' and said 'it's been a while.'"
- The moment I started, I let out a silly laugh lol
- Uncle Stone, you can't go on a broadcast while still hungover from last night
- Why the hell are you streaming at this hour??
- Stone nuuna, harro harro~
- Today's avatar looks so good even though it seems like you drank again
A dimly lit room with elegant interior design. In the center of it all, one woman with an appearance that should not exist in reality lay sprawled on a chair, staring at the ceiling.
Her hair was messy rather than neatly arranged, but the golden blonde that caught the light subtly seemed less like untidiness and more like some kind of physical trait.
Next to the red dot indicating "on air," the number gradually increased, then suddenly crossed one thousand and stabilized at 1,702, slowly beginning to decline.
And right beside it, two characters appeared.
-[Virtual Live]
As gaming devices have advanced and people have gained the power to create entirely new realities in virtual spaces, most of the effort required to stream in the real world has been absorbed.
In other words, this means that after purchasing separate computers for gaming and broadcasting, going through complex setup, and selectively installing chroma key and soundproof booths, that very labor is now done entirely in the virtual world.
It includes the new advantage of solving the two gaps that are hard to fill between the streamer’s own privacy and communication with viewers: the virtual avatar.
And so, on the Tricky platform owned by Icarus International, countless streamers now communicate with viewers alongside avatars of all kinds of impossible appearances from the real world.
And here we are again. The streamer with the absurdly huge nickname, where not even a speck of sincerity in the name could be found, was now interacting with the successfully settled two thousand viewers.
A flush rising across her fair skin. The mix of the incoherent silly laughter and the honeyed voice that made it sound like she had been drinking made it part of the streaming trademark.
"Anyway… thanks for coming to stream today too. All the content for today is up in the top right corner of the screen, so just check it out. And if there’s time left after doing all that… well, I’ll think about it then."
-You recommend me to do floating poop games a few days ago from your neighbor???
-lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-That game… Uncle Stone, if you do stuff like that you get stressed and won’t grow tall….
-how lol lol a friend recommended it lol lol lol lol lol
-Whoa, even the donations smell like poop;;
-MOPP 4 level trigger lmao
Ah, I remember that too.
While briefly recalling the past from a few days ago, she remembered the game recommended by her long-time colleague streamer Harmony on one of her SNS accounts, Engramm.
The game price was 3,600 won. Even on sale it was 1,800 won. The weirdly bizarre level design that screamed "this is a shit game" no matter who looks at it, with manipulation that is absurdly difficult….
She thought for a moment and decided to freely vent about what other streamers said, at least to this extent.
"Ah, that one… hah. No, guys. When we send messages on Engramm, we don't ask about deep stuff like that, right? So there's that kind of thing. What other job streamers do besides streaming, stuff like that."
The avatar that looked like a Russian princess who had dropped her noble status as well as a knit sweater shook her hand dismissively.
"But she… from my perspective, she seems to have a hobby of digging up weird games when she's not streaming, like a side job. She recommends all kinds of bizarre games that no one has heard of. For real, seriously…."
-lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-Side job (sewer exploration)
-Whoa, where does the poop smell come from
-Poop game specialist streamer lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-There were a lot of people who suffered because they fell for it lol
All the comments flooding the chat. Seeing that most of them clearly matched her own thoughts, she gave a small smile at the corner of her mouth.
Since it had come to this, Kim Stone decided to make the first topic of today's IRL time herself.
The sub-topic was… yeah. Something she had started doing recently, tied to Dark Zone.
"…Actually, Harmony started playing Dark Zone, right? I recommended it to her. I thought if she got a taste of god-tier games, maybe that weird aura in her body would be neutralized a bit.
As far as I remember… it hasn't been long since she started streaming Dark Zone, like three days? I peeked sometimes, but on the first day I just watched for a bit and went off to do my own things, so I didn't know much."
Then, the reason she was saying these words today began to gradually reveal itself.
"No, but. What exactly is she doing in the game… she just shoots guns all day long. Her eyes get weirder and weirder the more she goes! I went to check on her before turning the stream on today, and she was just zoned out!"
-lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-This… all of it… is Eugene's fault….
-Real talk, recently Dark Zone is in its golden age lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-I recommended god-tier games to reduce the pain from the poop games, and now I'm suffering there too lol
-Is this the creation of suffering? Legend or not
-Actually it looks like she's about to get carried away lol lol
"Anyway, I'll contact her soon, but if she gets hooked on something, she's the type who only does that, so I don't know if it'll work out…."
Whether she got entangled with that girl by accident, or whether streaming woke up her weird game taste, or whether she saw the light while doing that game as a punishment.
Either way, Kim Stone, blaming her truly difficult-to-leave streamer-colleague relationship, had no choice but to throw out her own motto of wanting to live comfortably today as well.
She wanted to live comfortably, but the surroundings wouldn't let her.
Today's absolute rule in her room was still being upheld.
"…But this game seems like it has way too many things to do. It's good that you can just do it once and then not go back, but…."
-This game was like that originally lol if you unlock all the mandatory stuff it easily exceeds 300 hours
Establishing a strategic division through West Point occupation and securing dedicated gunsmiths.
Procuring helicopters and cars for agent movement support, clearing monsters in the field and occupying control points for stable fuel supply lines.
Occupying armories for access and operation of various ammunition types and production lines. Occupying hospital facilities for rescuing detained virologists and treating infected. Searching personnel and acquiring facilities for rebuilding the Manhattan power grid….
All of these were things accomplished by investing about 100 hours after finishing the tutorial and peeling off the newbie sticker.
Of course, with the 1:3 time acceleration multiplier applied, at the stated rate of a little over three hours a day, it would have been easily finished in about ten days even if late.
But with the insane drive to push it through in just a few days, and the skill to match that drive, and then she got tangled up with the wrong person.
Harmony, sitting on the bench, let out a deep sigh. The breath she exhaled from her mouth met the cold outside air and cooled, while heat seeped out slowly from between her bulletproof vest.
Her third day in Dark Zone had begun at the shooting range.
"While doing this, I realized I don't want to beat my own body to death like this. I didn't know there were living beings in this world that don't listen to commands at all. Why is there someone in this world who forgets everything in three seconds after learning…."
-lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-That's actually normal, it's fine
-This is pretty fast-paced, isn't it?
-If you're that good with eyes, your adaptation is insanely fast lol
-Those who can't do their job in raids or PVP and don't reflect are all gone, it's okay
The advice from viewers who usually only want Harmony to suffer was rare, but even that didn't feel particularly refreshing today.
Actually, there was no other choice. From the beginning, this game was fundamentally different in design from the shit games she had been playing so far, like those where you just grind insane time and eventually break them at some point.
After separating the magazine, putting it into the ammo box insertion point, and instantly completing the reload, Harmony stretched her arms out into the air as if stretching.
One person who had quietly approached from beside her.
"How are you feeling?"
"Ah, sensei."
The word had stuck to her lips now.
Although it was only her third day, streamers had always treated games as work, so when playing on a computer, it was common to pour in more than twelve hours a day by real-world standards.
It was difficult to say that constantly gaming with one viewer was the streamer's true calling, but Eugene belonged to a completely different class than ordinary viewers who had to put some heart into their actions.
If their interactions weren't sharp like a knife, she would have been rejected by Harmony long ago.
"Even when I'm alone and practicing at the shooting range, switching to the pistol when a malfunction occurs doesn't feel good. Panicking and fumbling around and then getting shot in the head immediately…."
"That's unavoidable. Only you can solve it yourself."
After a short silence, the next words came.
"I checked for a few days, but even with 100% correction, it's hard to perfectly reproduce all human actions. Rather, lower the correction percentage and practice so the body remembers the actions."
"…Won't lowering the correction take a long time?"
"Even if it's long, it will be solved within a week, so it's fine. Think of practicing the piano."
"Ah."
Eugene added while fiddling with the scenario.
"There are many scenarios at the shooting range, including ones for practicing malfunction response and weapon switching. After checking, focus on practicing the necessary ones."
"What do you think I should do?"
"At first, aim to get familiar with the guns and shooting itself, and even just practicing hitting moving targets along with that will make you much better than now."
"Ah."
Somehow, about guns and shooting… this person had no trouble at all.
She had no doubts or uncertainties about her own words, and instead offered an accurate solution after thoroughly analyzing it. She looked more like a doctor than a gamer.
The explanations continued afterward. Prioritizing accuracy over speed, how to build priorities in combat, how to increase the speed of single shots, tactical movement, reloading, and countless other elements….
It was the kind of talk that made one wonder if doing just one game required that much explanation, but whether luckily or unluckily, Eugene had simply listed all those things.
In the midst of that, one donation appeared.
-Do you like PVE or PVP? Can you tell me once??? Woo??? Yo????
"Mr. Wolfram Alpha Go, thank you for the thousand won donation… but this game has PVP too, right?"
-??????
-Then none? lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-After shooting guns at the shooting range all day, my nasa is unlocked lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-If there's no PVP, the number of connected users halves lol lol lol lol
-It's so absurd that I don't even know where to react lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
-Get your shit together, Harmony! Get your shit together! Get your shit together! Get your shit together! Get your shit together! Get your shit together!
It didn't take long for Harmony to realize that her own words were quite stupid.
With an incredulous, almost deranged laugh, she exhaled a sigh that seemed to weigh on her heart, and asked Eugene, who was checking the firearms beside her, right away.
"Do you prefer PVE or PVP more?"
"…PVP was there too. Besides that uncontrolled area last time, is there anything else?"
Of course, it goes without saying that the chat became a mess at this point.
At least for more than a minute, countless donations kept appearing, compressing the content roughly into "pairwise backstabbing," while two idiots were being relentlessly trolled. Only after that did the atmosphere gradually subside.
Naturally, many PVP experience missions were then registered, and Harmony, hesitantly considering the cash flashing before her eyes, opened her mouth carefully.
"No, but… even if it's PVE, PVP is a competitive content, right? Even if it's not ranked match, you at least need to have some skill. Otherwise you'll just trip up your teammates, you know."
-"Just do any PVP mode. Survival, escape, whatever, just PVP mode for me"
"Ah, no. I already told you. If you go into a mode where you compete with others, in the end there will be words spoken. My skill level is like this, so who am I going to play with?"
-"Do PVP for me"
"Ah, no, seriously… ah…."
-"Do it for me"
"..."
The eyes grew larger as time passed, and at the end, Harmony looked at Eugene as if she had been hit by heavy rain, in a pitiful pose like a cat soaked to the bone.
"…Um. Eugene…?"
"Yes."
"PVP… anything, can you play with me just once?"
Later, Eugene testified that the most unsightly words in the middle of that were "I'll split the mission cost in half…."
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