Instinct
Even after the stream ended, Harmony was still riding the high. She slammed the matchmaking button with her cat-ear avatar, grinning like an idiot.
"The Teacher's playing today! We're cooked!" she muttered in her high-pitched voice, full of internet slang. "I shouldn't have matched against him... seriously, this is way too much!"
"Harmony-nim, a thousand won donation! Thank you so much. Yeah, you're right... if I had been on the other team, I would've asked them to just send me out painlessly."
She was about to cry when her chat exploded.
- Facts.
- Facts lol
-Giving up shamefully vs getting canoe-killed like a dog
-Better to take a tomahawk to the head than suffer this dirty defeat lol
-Teacher, no matter what, surviving this long is too much, right?????
18 kills, 4 assists, and zero deaths.
As the controller for normal games shifted from keyboard and mouse to actual VR body movement, the gap between casual matches and ranked ones shrank dramatically. Only a handful of hardcore players remained.
Even if you trained, the difference between real tactics and simple muscle-building was night and day. So in Team Six, the higher the tier, the stricter the evaluation became: not just raw physical stats, but how well you fit with your teammates and how efficiently you handled your roles.
But the world always has exceptions.
"...Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Ah, nothing... just nothing in particular."
Five rounds of total domination, 5-0 victory.
Even with bans, picks, loading screens, and draw times, the actual playable time was only fifteen minutes. Yet Eugene had swept through the entire Bank map like a ghost in just that short window.
She had even factored in the entry time into the bank, and in hardcore mode, that still added up to roughly 1.5 kills per minute. Steady as a clock.
"Maybe I shouldn't have touched someone who needs to stay untouched."
Harmony thought this, growing even more cautious as she added, "Shall we queue another match?"
"I'm fine with whatever you want."
Mission Success! [Time Limit: 4 Hours 30 Minutes // 300,000 Won upon Success]
"Ah, mission complete! Thirty thousand won, thank you so much, everyone! Thanks to you all, I can finally pay my rent, phone bill, food, installment, AC, and my editor's salary today too! Always grateful... ah."
Two sets of eyes met in the briefing room, one wide with disbelief, the other flashing with "oh crap, she just got exposed."
Harmony froze mid-cheer, then turned with a creaky groan, like a machine that had forgotten to oil its gears.
"Ah, o-okay... I'll do half! I really haven't forgotten!"
"It's not because of that... but..."
-What are you doing lol
-Still just... 'shameful'
-This face is ugly no matter how much I earn lol
-Only daughter, I guess....
-Teacher's expression lmao
Truly an odd person.
Behind the blank expression, Eugene was already judging Harmony. She couldn't say it out loud, of course, but she didn't dislike it either. It was a prejudice, sure, but the world had people who were just plain awful no matter what you did, and others who made you smile no matter what. Harmony was clearly the latter.
Maybe that was part of being a streamer.
"...Did I do something wrong?"
Of course it was a staring contest that would drive anyone to the brink, but there was a reason. Without her, Dark Zone content wouldn't exist. Even strictly, if she weren't there, Harmony could still grind the game somehow, since the game was popular to begin with, and she could just stream her pain and still attract viewers.
But the truth was, she was riding her own popularity now, and she wasn't about to throw it away. So in the end, she had chosen to collab with Eugene not out of necessity, but because it helped her content. She would pay the price for the reward she received, but that donor... found no such greed.
The only goal was the game, and the variable of who he played with didn't seem to matter much to her....
Feeling the sting, she added hurriedly, "Ah, the income will be deposited right after the stream ends... so give me your account number soon! I'm about to forget how much to send!"
"My account is expensive."
"Wait, I thought that was just a joke from the engrain! Why is it real?!"
-?
-??????????
-What? What is this? What?
-How did it get this far already? Tell me right now!!!!!!
-Teacher's account special)expensive lol
-Our Harmony-Eugene chemistry is crazy lmao Universe Shatter, Cosmos Shatter, Poppin' Shatter lmao
What? Why is the chat going crazy?
Viewers would go wild at the slightest hint of something real, even if it wasn't her fault she had never revealed her contact info.
To explain properly, she quickly added, "Come on, why are you guys like this? Of course we have to discuss income issues, right? It's money changing hands, so I have to contact you directly."
-Ah lol that can't be helped
-All the people who asked questions here haven't done social life, right?
-Overly invested lol
-Social life sucks? Just watch a cozy Harmony stream instead lol
-Another single guy in a studio room staying up all night lol
She hadn't meant to add that. It had turned into pure damage.
From now on, I'll tone down the deal with the viewers, Harmony thought as she carefully turned off her nerves amid the chaotic chat.
In her head, a different thought was spinning. About the content. Could this really deliver enough fun to the viewers?
Though she hadn't been playing long, she had tried this game on a computer before and remembered... it was pretty difficult.
In short, you needed to master the map's structure and gadget usage to extract fun from this mechanism.
Could she really claim to understand it?
Maybe. But even a quick thought showed the answer was obvious, and it would lean positive.
Still, she couldn't just switch to another content without explanation, so she prepared to apologize.
"Anyway, everyone. We'll end the Team Six mode here for now. Honestly, I only did one round, but today's theme is showing what PVP looks like."
She added that there were still other external missions to complete, and only then did the viewers' defeat begin to show.
These people had been waiting only for the start button... what a cruel ending, but hey, the main character was Harmony.
Meanwhile, a new donation floated on screen.
[Kimblerazz-nim Donated 1,000 Won!]
"Kimblerazz-nim, thank you for the thousand won donation. Ah, avatars and reality are different, right? That's right, Teacher?"
"...."
"Teacher?"
What?
If it were the real Eugene she knew, she would have answered immediately. But the gaze was shifting away... from Eugene's side, stealing glances...
No way.
"Teacher Eugene?"
"...I handle cold weather very well."
-??????????
-No way, Teacher? lol
-Pya pya pya pya pya lol
-Is this about gap moe? Teacher really is a genius?
-Heh, snake eyes, I need to roll...
It had come.
Not just for content, but on a human-to-human level... ah, who knows. How was she supposed to deal with this?
Harmony's brain froze for a moment, then started spinning in a different direction. It was closer to a simple happiness circuit than pure math, but that's why.
The choice was instant. Instinct didn't need complicated conditions to replace reason.
And since Eugene wasn't the one running the party... at some point, Harmony had switched to Survival mode matchmaking in Team Six.
Her voice carried both desperation and apology. "...Teacher. I'm truly sorry. Just once... is it okay?"
"...Huu."
Eugene's expression, answering that way, carried a faint, helpless, gentle smile.
────────────
[Dark Zone - Team Six Sub Gallery]
[General] Today's... True Crazy Girl... gif
-[damage] HP
Team Six mode clip of Eugene smashing a tomahawk spike into the enemy's spine
What kind of executioner concept play is this in a total game?
The people playing with her are all terrified, they're about to quit the game, fuck lol
[All Comments][Registered Order]
-I've done a lot of melee kills, but surviving this is insane lol
-This guy's been appearing in every gallery lately, what kind of person is he?
-ㄴWe don't know either lol, there was a guess he was a former special forces member, go check it out
-ㄴIt makes you want to puke
-If I were directly facing him, I'd cry and beg for mercy with my pants wet lol first to me
-ㄴWhen will I ever get my head chopped by an axe in my lifetime? That'd be a rare experience
-ㄴWhen did surviving become a rare experience lol
-ㄴSerious Dark Zone addiction
-But is this guy really hardcore mode? Is he a joker?
-ㄴYeah, already analyzed in the niche gallery, it's real hardcore~
-ㄴHow can we believe that? Did they give official status in real Ikarus?
-ㄴThat's something only you can figure out
-Anyway, fuck, those Rainbow Six people are everywhere making waves, can't stand the look of them, don't even want to know lol
-ㄴWow, Wind Knight-nim is here today, still guarding the gallery with passion^^7
-ㄴRead the notice, idiot, it says restricted Rainbow Six mentions
-ㄴIf I see it, it'll look like the neighbors are spamming
-ㄴWhat is this guy even doing, so curious
-Hacker? I know it's old news, but is he really a hacker?
-ㄴFor real. Yeah, it looks that way lol.
-ㄴI wish he'd give a clean explanation
-ㄴIf she appears in a corporate broadcast, why bother? Let her get banned later however