Sworn Buddies?
Under Lulu's so-called orders, Aris and Elia played the game with absolute loyalty.
"Hey, girls…? Let's hide inside a building."
"Sure."
"If we hide over there, we should be fine until the next circle."
Following Lulu's order, the three of them entered a building, climbed to the second floor, and each took a different direction to watch.
And almost immediately, the other two started scolding Lulu.
"Don't go downstairs. Just keep watching from here."
"Got it, but… there's an enemy over there… should I shoot?"
"Absolutely do not shoot!"
"Don't shoot!"
"Yes, ma'am."
Calling them "orders" was generous. It was more like they would indulge whatever Lulu wanted as much as possible—while ruthlessly cutting off anything that bordered on trolling.
Then Lulu opened her mouth in a slightly airheaded voice.
"But… I think I just made eye contact?"
"Huh?"
"No, I think they saw m—"
—Bang!
"Kyaaaaah!? I got hit! I got hiiit!!"
"Aigoo…"
"Unnie, I'll go revive you."
"I should've shot! I should've shot!!"
"Well yeah, who told you to stick your head out?"
In reality, it had felt exactly like Lulu had peeked her head out and gotten sniped for it.
The proper way to check your line of sight is to stay behind a wall and only expose the right-side angle. Lulu, however, had just shoved her entire head out the window and gotten sniped.
—Fwooooosh…
Elia threw a smoke grenade and immediately started reviving Lulu, while Aris asked Elia for the direction.
"Elia, you know which way?"
"Probably… the west side."
"West, huh… Okay, found them."
Aris headed downstairs, barely peeked her head out, and—
—Click!!
—sniped the enemy cleanly with a silenced sniper rifle.
"Okay, cut for now. They're gonna revive that side too."
"Unnie, nice~!"
"Aris, nice!!"
After praising Aris, the two immediately launched into banter.
"Unnie, you're healed up, right?"
"Yep!"
"Then how about we step outside for a second? I'll teach you how to hold an angle."
"I already know! Stick to the wall and look to the right!"
"……You knew?"
"Rude! Of course I knew!"
The moment she heard that, Elia asked in a voice full of pure, genuine bewilderment.
"Then why did you die?"
"……I just stuck my head out?"
"You knew and still stuck it out?"
"Hehe."
"Haaaah…"
The second Elia's frustrated sigh left her mouth, Aris jumped on it with perfect timing.
"She's always like that. Just deal with it."
"Yes… I will…"
"Huh? No, that was a mistake…! I won't do it next time!"
"Sure, sure~"
"Unnie, fighting."
"Uuuuuugh…!"
Somehow Lulu had been demoted to the little-sister position, and it suited her perfectly.
And odds were high that Lua really was the youngest of them in real life, too. After all, she was one of those rare underage streamers.
"Aaaah…! I can do this!!"
"Yes, yes, Unnie. We'll be counting on you?"
"Yeah…!"
I was starting to get the feeling that Elia was the one handling Lulu now. Maybe Lulu had even planned it that way—but I decided not to think that far.
I knew Lulu was smart. The thing was, the charm of Lulu's cuteness lay precisely in that airheaded appeal. The moment I started thinking even that was calculated, I couldn't fully enjoy her streams anymore.
…And honestly, that was Lulu's fault too. No—Lua Im's fault. Because I knew the red pill of who Lulu really was, because I knew how clever Lua was, I couldn't enjoy it wholeheartedly.
Suddenly I felt wronged. Before, I had watched Lulu's streams purely for fun, and most of my admiration had been for her stream sense. The second I started interpreting most of Lulu's behavior as calculated, her streams became cute but no longer something I could enjoy without reservation.
I was going to have to get revenge later by tormenting Lua Im. How, though? Pinch those cheeks and stretch them out? Or flick her forehead?
Either way worked. I just wanted to land at least one hit on Lulu… on Lua. She was the one who'd stolen my fun, after all.
While I was thinking that, the circle shrank again.
"…Ohhh."
"This is pretty nice."
"Pretty circle…!"
The reason was simple. The building the three of them were in had landed right on the edge of the blue zone. Thanks to that, they could stay inside until the next circle closed. And by the time that happened, there would only be a dozen or so enemies left at most.
The circle had already locked onto open plains, so the survivors—who had numbered over forty—were already down to the twenties from fighting each other. And they were still fighting.
No one had been brave enough to pick a fight with Lulu's team, but there were still enemies licking their lips, waiting for a chance to swallow them whole.
"Aris Unnie, you saw the ones on the right, right?"
"Yeah. They're camping us, waiting to kill us."
"What should we do?"
"Taking them out first wouldn't be a bad idea."
If they waited until the blue zone forced them out, the side that had to leave the building would be at a disadvantage. Knowing that, Aris suggested dealing with them first. It was a slightly risky strategy, but if they could clean up the nearby enemies, it was a solid one.
"Elia, I'll watch from above."
"Okay~ Lulu Unnie, let's head down to the first floor."
"Uh, huh? Uh-uh?"
Lulu, who still hadn't caught up to the situation, had a giant question mark floating over her head—but the other two were already executing the plan on their own.
From the second floor, sniper rifle in hand, Aris gave Elia the order.
"Elia, tell me when you're ready to push."
"……Ready."
"Starting."
—Click!
The moment she said "starting," Aris pulled the trigger. The muzzle found its mark and dropped one enemy cleanly.
"One down. One behind the tree, one behind the rock. I don't see the fourth—be careful."
"That's more than enough!"
"I'm coming too…!"
Elia sprinted out the second she finished speaking, and Lulu scrambled after her. Elia paid Lulu no mind and simply did whatever she wanted.
—Dadadadadadada!
She dropped the enemy behind the tree while running, then—
—Click-clack! Click-clack!!
—Whoosh!
—Thump!
—reloaded and immediately threw a flashbang. The enemy behind the rock got blinded, and Aris did not miss the opening.
—Dadadadadada!
Elia dropped one more. In the end Aris took one and Elia took two, and they won the engagement almost too smoothly. Truly outstanding skill—both Aris and Elia.
But that wasn't the important part.
"No confirmation kills?"
The three enemies they had dropped weren't fully dead. In Shooting Ground, as long as even one teammate is still alive, you don't die instantly. You can crawl around on the ground waiting for a revive. Right now every enemy was crawling—which meant someone was still alive.
Sure enough.
"Right side rock! One more!"
The call came, and Lulu charged out.
"Lulu!?"
"I'll handle it!"
Lulu dashed out with absolute confidence, and then—
—Dadadadada!
…she absurdly took a bullet to the head and evaporated.
—Dadadadadadada!
And as if determined to troll properly on the way out, the enemy finished her off so thoroughly that a revive was impossible.
—Click!
Aris cleaned up the last one, but the milk was already spilled. Lulu was dead, and there was no bringing her back.
"Luluuuuuu…!"
"Aaaah, I'm soooorry…!"
Aris chewed Lulu out regardless—but separately from that…
"Hoo. Anyway… Elia. Looks like it's just us now."
"Ahaha… So we just do it ourselves, right?"
"Yeah. Let's wipe them all."
"Yes…!"
The shackles had come off those two. The Lulu shackles—the Lulu limiter—were gone.
In a normal game, those two's skill was literally on another level. The one holding them back had been Lulu. And now that Lulu was dead?
The massacre show began.
—Click! Click!
—Dadadadadadada!
—Dadadadadadadada!
—Bang! Bang! Bang!
Their muzzles spat fire without rest, and enemies dropped like autumn leaves. Before long…
"Woooow…"
"Elia, you're good."
"Aris Unnie's good too~"
The two of them secured the win with almost casual ease. The final circle had been lucky, sure, but even accounting for that, their skill was simply outstanding.
However…
"Saving Lulu Unnie was a failure, huh."
"Yeah. If a certain someone had tried a little harder, maybe."
"Buuu…!"
In the end, Operation Save Lulu had failed.
After that the two of them queued a few more games—with Lulu in tow. The result: win or lose, Lulu kept dying. Our proud potato Lulu, embarrassing no matter where you put her.
And as a side note…
"Elia, want to duo later without Lulu?"
"Sounds good~"
"Uh… girls?"
Apparently those two had become excellent sworn buddies.
As expected of the Great Friend-Maker Lulu.