I Only Have Eyes for You
Dead by Dawn, or DBD for short, is a hide-and-seek style survival horror game where one killer hunts down four survivors.
The killer's objective is to execute all the survivors, while the survivors must avoid the killer, find four keys, and escape the map.
A key feature of the game is that the killer possesses various supernatural abilities, while the survivors have multiple tools at their disposal to outsmart and evade them.
It used to be a massive hit, but these days, it's mostly played by a dedicated niche or used as a go-to game for streamer collaborations.
And today, Yebin and I had once again answered the call of Marty-hyung and Ggumyong-nim, turning on our streams to play some DBD.
• A collab once a week? Yes please
• At this point, they're dating in real life, right?
• They're definitely dating for real.
"I'm going to ban every single one of you. Any jokes about us dating for real will get you banned instantly."
At my angry warning, the viewers quickly quieted down. It seemed Yebin's chat was in a similar state.
"I told you, he and I are not in a virtual marriage! That's it, Moderator! Get him! And you, go reflect on your actions!!"
Wow, she's actually swinging the ban hammer over there. How terrifying. At least I haven't gone that far yet.
Meanwhile, Ggumyong-nim, who had invited Yebin and me, was busy introducing us to her viewers.
"Today, we're joined by my darling Marty! Our cute little sister Vini! And Do Do-nim, who is currently in a real relationship with Vini! Round of applause!"
• tsk tsk tsk
• Whoa!
• Clap clap clap clap
"Why are you guys clapping?" I asked.
• Got a problem? What are you gonna do about it?
• We clapped because she told us to?
• We just did what we were told, why the hate?
• Let's kick the streamer lol
"You're the one getting kicked."
Go reflect on your life for exactly one minute.
After giving the guy who suggested kicking me a one-minute timeout, I immediately got back to the stream.
"Everyone, we're a bit short on players, right?"
Just as Ggumyong-nim said, we were short-handed.
Normally, DBD is played with one killer and four survivors. But right now, there were only four of us. We were missing one person.
And of course, Ggumyong-nim had already prepared someone to fill that final slot.
"That fifth player! I will call them in now! Please welcome them~!"
"Yay! Hello, everyone! I'm Aris~!"
• ?????
• Suddenly bringing in a giant streamer?
• Whoa! It's Aris!
• No way, Aris is actually here?
I knew Aris well.
She was a VTuber under the agency 'Fantasy Live' and was highly famous for being incredibly good at games.
For the record, I was a fan of hers.
"Aris-nim, I'm a big fan."
"Oh, Do Do-nim! I've watched your mad movies too!"
Aris and I shared similar main games.
Her primary games were Endless Return and Battle of Legends, and I was someone who had started my streaming career with Battle of Legends.
In fact, Aris had reached Master tier in Battle of Legends. High Master, at that.
Since I was a Grandmaster, we had run into each other occasionally during solo queue. She was exceptionally skilled, which made her stand out in my memory.
"But Do Do-nim, won't your girlfriend next to you get jealous?"
"Pardon? Girlfriend?"
"You and Vini-nim are dating for real!"
...I couldn't believe I had to hear this "real dating" nonsense from Aris of all people.
"We are not dating, and we're not doing WGM either."
"Ah, so you're just a married couple?"
"...Aris-nim, I'm going to make it my personal mission to kill you today."
"Kyaaa~ so scary~!"
I knew Aris had a playful personality, but I hadn't expected her to be this mischievous.
Still, she kept her teasing within polite boundaries, so I could let it slide.
"But Aris-nim, don't you think I'm the one who's too good for her?"
"Aw~ I think you two look like a lovely couple! Of course, I don't know what either of you looks like, but that's just the vibe!"
"I'm definitely the good-looking one, but she's a troll."
"What kind of bullshit is that? I'm the fairy, and you're the troll."
As if long accustomed to our bickering, Ggumyong-nim quickly stepped in to mediate.
"Yes, yes~ Save the domestic dispute for later~ Let's take turns playing the killer, how about that?"
Since we had already discussed this beforehand, no one objected to the rule.
"Then~ for our very first killer~ we'll decide by drawing lots!"
As soon as she said that, we all switched our screens to Ggumyong-nim's broadcast.
Ggumyong-nim began setting up a ghost leg lottery to determine the order.
And the result of that lottery?
"First is Do Do-nim! Next is Aris-nim! Then me! Then Marty! And finally, Vini! We'll rotate in this order!"
I was the first killer.
If I'm the killer...
"Everyone, you know the drill, right? I only target one person."
"You crazy bastard...!"
You're dead to me today, Lee Yebin.
You are seriously dead.
The game started, and it was time to select our survivors and killer.
Since each survivor and killer had different abilities, it required a fair bit of thought.
I knew how to play quite a few of the killers, so I decided to ask my viewers.
"Everyone, who should I play?"
• Nightingale isn't bad either
• Dark Sovereign Dark Sovereign Dark Sovereign
• Ghoul Ghoul Ghoul Ghoul
• Ghost Ghost
Naturally, the viewers immediately recommended the most overpowered killers.
Overpowered killers are great, sure. Honestly, if I wanted to tryhard, I'd prefer picking Ghoul or Dark Sovereign. Or maybe Blighter.
But where's the fun in that?
"I'm going with Trickster."
• You're playing Hak Jae-woon?
• Lmao
• Jae-woon lolololol
• You're playing Jae-woon here?
• Streamer, is this really it?
Trickster, real name Hak Jae-woon.
He was a killer character who chased down and eliminated targets using throwing knives.
He had a flashy appearance fitting his lore as a former K-pop idol and an agile attack style based on knife throwing. However, his movement speed was incredibly slow and he lacked mobility skills, making him low-tier in a game where speed was everything.
"I don't care about anyone else. I only have eyes for Vini. I'm going to beat Vini to death."
• Obsessive pure love lol
• Now this is true devotion lmao
• Wow lol
• Vini is absolutely screwed today
• Streamer, are you sure you won't get reality ganked?
Was I sure I wouldn't get reality ganked?
"I'm pretty sure I will."
It was bound to happen. I could bet Yebin's neck that I'd get reality ganked at least twice today. It was that certain.
Why was I betting Yebin's neck? Because my own neck was precious.
"Hold on a second."
I got up and went to find Yeon.
"Yeon, if Lee Yebin asks you to open the door today, absolutely do not open it."
"Oppa, what kind of prank are you playing on Vini-eonni now?"
"Just trust me. Got it?"
"I'll think about it~"
As expected of my little sister. Utterly unreliable.
I quietly returned to my room and locked the door.
"Alright, I locked my door. I told my sister not to open the front door, but she'll probably open it anyway."
"Anyone making jokes about meeting the parents is getting banned."
After banning one more guy (though it was only a one-minute timeout), I addressed the viewers.
"Meeting the parents, real dating, marriage, husband and wife. If any of those words show up, you're getting banned. Got it?"
• It's a reign of terror!
• Booooo
• If you don't like it, stop being so sweet!
• You're the one acting like a real couple!
I could practically hear the viewers' complaints, but I couldn't care less.
The only thing that mattered was that I was going to destroy Yebin.
"Get ready, Vini."
I'm going to make you so mad today that you'll have no choice but to reality gank me.
The game began, and I started humming a tune.
"Hmm-hmm-hmm~"
Humming to myself, I began wandering around the map.
In this game, the killer's base movement speed is relatively slow, and skilled survivors can easily run circles around them. Because of this, there was a running joke in the community that the killer was actually the victim.
But today, I didn't have to worry about being treated like a pushover. Except for Aris-nim, I was skilled enough to catch everyone else, and besides, I didn't care about them anyway.
Only Yebin. I would only kill Yebin. That was my sole focus.
As I was walking along...
"Kyaah?!"
I stumbled upon Ggumyong-nim.
"Ggumyong-nim~ Come over here~!"
"Kyaaaaaah! Trickster! Trickster! It's Hak Jae-woon! Kyaaaaaah!"
"Where~ do you think~ you're going~?"
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Jae-woon threw a flurry of daggers at the character Ggumyong-nim was controlling, and her character collapsed to the ground.
"Aaaaaah! How are you hitting all of those?!"
"I can read your movements like an open book!"
I picked up Ggumyong-nim's character and headed toward a hook to hang her up.
In this game, the killer can't kill a survivor immediately upon catching them. They must hang them on a hook and wait for a certain amount of time to pass.
"Hey, Ggumyong-nim. Would you like to make a wonderful deal?"
"...What is it?"
"Tell me where Vini is, and I'll let you live."
Ggumyong-nim was quite close with Yebin. On top of that, they had known each other for a long time.
So I expected her to hesitate at least a little bit...
"Vini went toward the center of the map."
Deciding it was better for the stream's entertainment, Ggumyong-nim immediately sold Yebin out.
"For real?"
"For real."
"...You won't change targets if I'm lying?"
"Yep."
Instead of hooking her, I dropped Ggumyong-nim onto the ground.
This way, she wouldn't be hooked, and if another survivor found her, she could be healed back up.
Either way, that wasn't what was important. What mattered was...
"Get over here, Vini! Prepare to get your head smashed!!!"
I was going to find Yebin and kill her.
I absolutely had to hear her scream in frustration.