The One Destined to Succeed
At first, it seemed my worry had been for nothing. The more we practiced after that, the smoother our coordination became.
"Enemy on the ridge at one-thirty!"
"Get ready to move on the next call."
"There's one stuck to the rock ahead. Watch it."
Unlike the first round, when we were still loosening up and playing pretty casually, the atmosphere now was completely different.
The viewers seemed to sense it too, because they weren't making the same kinds of mission bets as before.
"One ahead!"
"There's one by himself over there. Just push in and you'll catch him."
"Got him!"
And there it was again, the familiar victory message on the screen. The more used I got to seeing that sentence, the more it really felt like we might actually take first place.
"Hyung, we're seriously going to win this, aren't we?"
"Of course we are."
"Wasn't it you who said you'd be lucky just to win the couple's award someday?"
"Did I say that?"
-lololololol
-But seriously, I didn't think Hazy would get this good after fixing his posture
-It's normal for it to take some time to adjust
-He's actually better than before he fixed it lol
-Still, this team balance is pretty good.
-For real, having two veterans holding down the center makes everything feel so much more stable
With Red-hyung and Killer Sniper-hyung calling the shots, the whole team movement fell into place, and the game definitely felt easier to play.
The problem was the early game...
"Hyung, the early fights are going to be pretty rough, aren't they?"
"Hazy, stand at attention."
"Yes, sir!"
-A streamer who somehow can't fight early game
-Late-game monster streamer
-There are streamers who die early and win later from the same angle?
-Even if you told him to do it on purpose, it'd probably be hard
The reason the early game was the problem was me. I kept dropping into places crowded with people, which meant I died way too often in the opening fights.
For some reason, whenever I got into an early skirmish, my aim would fly off. Maybe it was because I was too tense. Even when I was focused, I still died in ways that felt too frustrating and too pointless.
"For now, we'll stop practice here. Hazy, you've got homework."
"Homework too?"
"Because you're the worst one here."
-He really is the worst lol
-Whether you look at tier or the group's ranking, he's the weakest
-Third place has to do homework
-If he does the homework, can he get first place in solo squad?
-??? : Hah, Hazy, do you think first place in solo squad is that easy?
Apparently because I was the weakest, Red-hyung said I had homework.
What kind of homework? Aim training, maybe? But that didn't quite fit, because the only time my aim was off was in the early game.
"Until our next practice, your early-game landing spots are restricted to schools, military bases, and big cities."
"Huh?"
-Translation: improve your early-game fights
-Harsh medicine lol
-If it doesn't work, keep going until it does
-Did Red come from the Marines? Is that why he's called Red?
-He got exempted
-Lmao
I had been planning to practice, but the homework was harsher than I expected. Schools, military bases, and big cities all had a ton of people dropping there, which made early fights vicious.
Of course, those places also had a higher chance of spawning good loot, but since I wasn't confident in early fights, I had always tried to avoid them as much as possible.
But if Red-hyung gave me that as homework, there was no avoiding it now.
"Next practice is in two days. You can handle that, right?"
"I have to. I refuse to be the reason we don't win."
"Then that's it. Dismissed!"
"Thanks for your hard work."
After a brief farewell, Red-hyung and Killer Sniper-hyung left. Hearing the sound of the Discord call disconnecting, I leaned back in my chair.
"If I just keep smashing my head against it, I'll improve eventually, right?"
-You'll improve, yeah
-You have no choice but to improve
-Trust the me who trusts you
"My skill is so miserable I can't exactly trust the me that you're trusting."
-Well, that's fair
-Can't argue with that lol
-But what can you do? You gonna give up?
-If you're really that unsure, just go with trust-me-trust-you, I guess.
Yeah. It was too hard and too difficult to just give up. The team had already been formed, and there wasn't much time left.
Besides, since I had said I would participate myself, there was no way I was going to become dead weight for the team.
"It's a little early to log off, so let's do some Heding and then call it."
"Play with me!"
"Agh! You startled me!"
"Pfft!"
-That reaction lol
-Your voice really sounds like you got scared
-Did you not know Sia was still there?
-Her Discord profile was still lit up the whole time
As I muttered to myself and got ready to queue up, Sia's voice suddenly came through. I had thought she disconnected with the others, but apparently she had stayed.
Meanwhile, the viewers already knew. I was the only one who didn't.
"You scared me..."
"I said play with me."
"Don't you have any other content?"
"Nope. So play with me!"
"...Feels like you found a new toy."
"Caught me?"
-Caught red-handed
-Got him
-This is why I hate sharp ones
-Your wife is asking to play with you, and you're reacting like that...
-Seriously, Hazy, use your head for once
Watching the comments that I couldn't tell whether were from my viewers or Sia's, I invited Sia to the party.
Right away, her character appeared beside mine. Looking around while fiddling with her sleeve, Sia's character was wearing something strangely familiar.
"You're dressed just like me?"
"Could you use the word couple outfit instead?"
-Seriously hopeless
-Calling that "dressed the same"...
-Wow, that wording is just...
-This guy is definitely a total bachelor
"Definitely a total bachelor? You picked the wrong fight. I'm a bachelor, so what have you contributed?"
-Whoa, whoa
-Everybody, take your hands off the keyboard!
-Bye-bye
-Oh, see ya lol
-Of all things, he had to poke at a sore spot
I snapped at them, but I didn't actually issue any chat penalties. Thinking about it, they weren't wrong.
We were doing a fake married-couple broadcast, after all, so calling it a couple outfit really would make it feel more immersive.
"So? You were wearing blue shoes, so I wore pink."
"...Looks good. It's got a nice point to it."
"Mm-mm, not that."
"Not that?"
"You know what I mean. There's another way to say it. Use that one."
-Wow, Sia's insane
-She's really dangerous in the cutest way
-That's a fox spirit right there
-Look at how naturally she's acting cute
-Damn, that's sweet. I'd honestly make them do nothing but couple broadcast content all day
-22222
I had said it looked good because she mentioned that we were wearing the same outfit except for the shoes, but apparently that wasn't the answer Sia wanted. She must have had something else she wanted to hear, because she casually acted cute while pressing me for a different reply.
What was it, then? Was there some other answer? Saying it suited her didn't seem all that different. What did she want me to say?
"Hurry up. We're about to drop."
Somewhere along the line, my character and Sia's character had disappeared, and what was on my screen now was the in-game pre-drop view instead of the waiting screen.
Fine, I'd just blurt out whatever came to mind. If that wasn't the right answer, she'd probably keep asking until she got the one she wanted anyway.
"Uh... you're pretty. It suits you really well."
"H... hey! Let's go to school!"
-lolololol
-The second she hears it, she breaks down lol
-The way they're both digging each other's graves is hilarious lol
-Still, Sia's cuteness is pretty rare
-Her face must be bright red right now. Looks like a cherry.
Either my answer broke Sia again, or something else happened, because she started stumbling over her words and jumped out of the plane.
Why did she always have to lead me into the answer and then break down over it? Thinking that, I jumped out of the plane too.
"There are so many people."
"There's probably a lot of sniping too."
"Right. I completely forgot about snipers."
As I said that, my character landed on the rooftop. Unfortunately, the people who dropped with us grabbed all the guns, so I left them behind and vaulted over the railing to fall to the first floor.
The second I entered through the central entrance, gunfire erupted all around me. Luckily, there was a weapon in the room right in front of the entrance.
-Ratatatat!
"...It was a trap."
"I died too."
In an instant, both Sia and I were dead. When I went into the room to pick up a gun, someone was already waiting there after having picked up a different one.
Back on the waiting screen, I let out my disappointment.
"I died without even firing a shot."
"Yeah. That sucks."
-That one was just bullshit
-It's still frustrating though
-Do better next time
-The night is long, so don't worry
There was one weird comment at the end, but it wasn't wrong, so I decided to let it go.
Come to think of it, I'd seen a good way to address her in the chat a moment ago. I paused my hand before pressing the start button.
"Aren't you starting?"
"Hang on, I just saw something in chat."
I scrolled back up through the chat, and the comment I had seen earlier stood out immediately.
This might actually work as a nickname.
"Baby."
"P... stop it!"
-lolololol
-He really just lunged in without warning
-Hazy has no concept of push and pull lol
-Wow, that startled me too
-They picked a nickname yesterday and he's already used to it lol
Judging from Sia's reaction, that nickname definitely wasn't going to be easy for her to get used to. In that case, I figured it was better to choose something else quickly.
But I wasn't sure whether Sia or the chat would agree.
"Sia."
"...What?"
"Want to change the nickname?"
"Change it?"
"Yeah."
-You're changing it after only one day?
-But since Sia keeps breaking down, maybe we do need to change it
-That's part of the fun though...
-At this rate, they might not even be able to keep the content going later
-Wouldn't she get used to it eventually?
As expected, the chat was split. In that case, Sia's opinion was the most important one.
"Did you have something in mind?"
"Are you really changing it?"
"If I hear it and it's okay?"
If it was okay, I'd change it. So that meant anything reasonably normal would work.
"What about Cherry?"
"Hm..."
"A viewer said that when they saw your face go red earlier, you looked like a cherry."
-Not bad
-Honestly, that's better
-But she really did turn cherry-red
-Her lips were almost the same color
-lol for real
Her lips were almost the same color? Just how red had she gotten?
While I was wondering that, Sia made her decision.
"Cherry sounds good."
"Really?"
"Yeah. It's way better than calling me baby... dear."
"Cherry."
"That doesn't mean you should start calling me that right away!"
-lolololol
-She said it was okay and he immediately started with Cherry
-Legendary no-hesitation move
-Forward is Hae-pyeong lol
-The proof-is-in-the-sauce legend lol
-Don't come complaining to us.
Since she said it was fine, I tried calling her once to see how she'd react, and the fact that she answered right away made it seem like Cherry was definitely better than baby.
At the very least, she didn't break down.
"All right, Cherry it is. It doesn't break you, and it sounds pretty."
"What am I supposed to call you, then? If I call you Cherry, I can't exactly call you hubby or dear, right?"
-We're fine with it
-Just keep calling him that
-That's what suits Sia
-Isn't there a better one?
Come to think of it, that was true. If we were going to match, we had to match on both sides. What good was it if only one side got a nickname?
The viewers mostly sounded disappointed, but there was nothing to be done. In fact, once we settled on pet names, it would probably make it even easier to get overly invested in the act.
"Then instead of hubby, I'll call you Mister Husband!"
......
Let's just give up on this.