One Who Is Meant to Win Will Win
After clearing the school with Sia, I found us a car and stuck close to the side where the play zone was shrinking.
By chance, the circle closed toward the area where the older brothers were, so we decided to drive over and link up with them.
"Oh, there’s another one over there."
"Drop me off. I’ll take that one."
"Hey, take it slow~"
"It’s fine if you just take a little drive."
"Is there any reason I’d get shot while driving?"
We found a car and made it to the pinged location, but the two of them were still busy looting.
"Did you guys find a level-3 backpack?"
"Only Hazy hasn’t."
"There’s a level-3 backpack in the first room on the second floor of the place I pinged. Go grab it."
"Yes, sir!"
When I went up to the second floor room, a level-3 backpack and a single frying pan were left behind. I had been carrying a machete, but in this game melee weapons meant the frying pan was divine, so I dropped the machete and equipped the pan right away.
Yes! I’d obtained the legendary butt-cover that even blocked bullets!
"You got everything?"
"Yeah. But the circle’s a little awkward."
The zone shrank again. The only annoying part was that its center was a bit farther away from here.
Still, we had two cars, so we decided to wait a bit before moving in.
"Hazy and Sia should ride in the same car."
"Hyung, seriously... "
"I’m telling you, this isn’t me forcing a marriage broadcast."
"This is one of those situations you can’t really help."
Calling it something we couldn’t help did not really explain why the two of us were so obviously glued together all the time.
And honestly, if he cut the laughter out of his voice when he said it, it might have sounded more believable...
"Is this how it’ll be during the tournament too?"
"We’re not doing this kind of thing in the tournament."
"Right?"
"If you two die, is your marriage broadcast going to be handled by your ancestors? Obviously we’re dropping you where it’s safest."
"...I knew it."
That was what he said, but I still figured he couldn’t have been serious. Still, as the circle was moving in, I headed down to the first floor. We needed to get going soon.
"You see the pinged spot, right?"
"The location’s good, but won’t there be people there?"
"Then we fight them."
"That’s fair."
The four of us split into two cars, me with Hazy and Red Hyung with Killer Sniper, and drove toward the ping.
"There are fewer people left than I expected."
"Yeah. The plane path was insane."
It had cut across three major cities, and if you wanted, you could even reach the military base, so there were fewer people than you’d expect for a zone this size.
We’d started with a hundred players, and there were only thirty-five left already. Maybe ten squads at most.
"Wanna camp in a house?"
"The position is good."
"Then let’s camp."
We made it to the destination without any trouble. The doors were shut, but there was always the chance someone had closed them from the inside after looting, so we went into the building cautiously.
"No one’s here?"
"Let’s camp. Red and I will stay on the first floor. Sia and Hazy, go upstairs."
"Yes, sir!"
The second floor had two rooms, but the structure still gave you a view in every direction if you wanted to check it.
That meant we were more exposed too, but it wasn’t like there were no pillars or cover, and having sightlines in all directions was a real advantage for defense.
"Then why is no one coming?"
"Yeah. Maybe everyone’s outside the circle."
As soon as the zone reached the expected boundary, the next one was marked.
Centered on the house we were in.
"We’d be guilty if we don’t win this."
"Sia, that’s a flag!"
"Hazy, stand at attention. Aren’t you managing your wife?"
"...If it’s a marriage broadcast, isn’t she my girlfriend?"
"If you’ve been calling each other baby and darling, then she’s your wife."
"Exactly! If you’ve been saying baby and darling, then she’s your wife!"
-And yet the nicknames are Jadu and Aengdu
-It was fine on the first day, but Jadu just doesn’t roll off the tongue somehow
-Seriously, yeobo and jagi were better.
-It’s a shame, but once she breaks, there’s nothing to be done
I understood what Red Hyung was saying, but if even you, Sia, were going to agree with him, what was I supposed to say?
Meanwhile the viewers were talking about our nicknames. It wasn’t like I wasn’t disappointed either, but once Sia got all broken up, there was nothing we could do.
"But honestly, isn’t it a problem if we really can’t win this?"
The moment I finished speaking, gunfire rang out.
It was distant, so I looked toward the source, and at the same time several kill logs started popping up.
Even after the confirmed kill logs appeared, there were still downed logs after them, which meant at least three squads had ended up fighting all at once.
The number of players left had already dropped below thirty.
"If that’s the case, then it really is guilty if we don’t win, right?"
"All right, then if we don’t win, let Red Hyung take the blame."
"Why me?"
"Agreed."
"Agreed."
"Agreed. It has been accepted as a unanimous decision."
-Isn’t the original supposed to be rejected with three strikes? lol
-Yeah, that’s right
-Accepted by unanimous decision, lmao
-And look at Killer Sniper quietly stabbing him in the back. His instincts are ridiculous.
-Look at Sia lol the second Hazy says it she immediately goes “Agreed.” Legendary lol
-That’s why their chemistry works so well. It’s been like that since their first collab.
After deciding that Red Hyung would take responsibility if we failed to win, we focused back on the game.
Gunfire rang out from somewhere else, and before long the player count had dropped to twenty-one.
And the zone was nearly done shifting into the expected area.
"Circle, please!"
"Just one more time, help us!!!"
The new expected zone was much smaller than the last one.
"Huh?"
"That’s insane luck."
And once again, our position was at the center of the circle.
Even if the game was spoon-feeding us this hard, I wouldn’t have had anything to say. The luck was ridiculous. I just wished the tournament would go like this too.
"Oh? Car sounds."
"Two cars coming from 235."
-Bang!
"Driver down for now!"
For a moment, another squad was coming our way.
The instant we spotted them, Sia headshotted the driver and knocked him, while the older brothers on the lower floor were already firing.
"Right side cleared... huh? That’s a confirmed kill?"
"A confirmed kill?"
Looking at the logs, it really was a confirmed kill. So the people in the right car and the people in the left car had been on different teams?
Meanwhile, the left vehicle swung around the house to the left and parked behind cover.
"This gunfight is vicious."
The shooting still hadn’t stopped. There were even explosions mixed in, and the number of remaining players was dropping fast.
Then, all of a sudden, the sound of a mission triggering rang out.
We absolutely had to do it.
We failed.
We didn’t win. Why not?
Because the survivors turned out to be snipers, and instead of attacking each other, they kept lobbing grenades and Molotov cocktails into the house we were in until everyone died.
"So we didn’t win?"
"Who was it who said if we didn’t win, somebody would take the blame?"
"Well, it definitely wasn’t me."
The arrow naturally pointed to Red Hyung. He protested, saying why was it his fault, but once it had been accepted as a unanimous decision, it wasn’t easy to escape responsibility.
"A punishment?"
"Punishment feels a little much. Let’s do subscriber tickets."
"Huh? We lost one game and you want to do subscriber tickets?"
"Too much? Then what do you want to do?"
We talked over what kind of punishment Red Hyung should get, but in the end we decided to leave it for later.
"If we don’t get first in the tournament, we’ll pile that on too."
"Why the tournament?"
"You said you’d get first."
"I was just talking."
"Words carry responsibility."
-Red really is going after him like he caught a rat lol
-When else does the eldest brother get to get scolded like this? lol
-He gets roasted all the time anyway
-That’s one thing, this is another
After settling the matter of responsibility for the time being, we kept playing.
The good thing was that nothing like the earlier situation happened after that.
Most of the time, everyone would drop into the same major city, the school, or the military base, trade early fights, and then move positions according to the shrinking circle and keep fighting there.
That didn’t mean we never died in early fights, of course.
"Still, we’ve gotten way better at early fights."
"Have we?"
"Yeah. Look at the rank range we’re matched with."
"If you apply that to your game, it’s like an Iron player sharpening up and going even with a Challenger in lane."
-That comparison is kind of right
-The analogy is a little awkward, but it’s not wrong.
-Iron who takes teamfights at the same angle as Challenger lol
-Hazy isn’t even Iron anymore. His rank has gone up a lot too.
-But he did slam his head into the wall yesterday and drop, right?
-Fair
I wasn’t sure how accurate Red Hyung’s analogy was, but when I thought about it, it wasn’t wrong.
There was a tier gap even between Sia and me, so it was obvious what kind of players we’d be matched against when we queued as a squad with the older brothers.
Still, if in the past we could only expect to win one early fight out of ten, now our skill had climbed enough that we could win six or seven.
"Let’s call it here for today."
"Early fights are too hard. I’m so focused I feel drained."
"You’ll have to get used to it."
"You know the tournament is in three days, right? Let’s do the final practice session the day before tomorrow."
"Yes, sir!"
"Thanks for your hard work."
"Good work!"
After the older brothers logged off, I checked the date on my computer for a moment.
The tournament would start exactly three days from now. It was only a one-day event, but even so, it still felt like a dream.
Honestly, when I first started playing BattleSky, I’d never imagined something like this.
I got known for catching cheaters in an event match, started a marriage broadcast with Sia, ended up doing a real-life collab, showed my face, and then even formed a team and entered a tournament.
All of it had happened in less than a month, and yet somehow it felt like I’d been living honestly for once.
-Did he just faint?
-Why did he go quiet all of a sudden?
-Uh, call 119
-Get a grip, Hazy
"I just felt like I’d been trying pretty hard, that's all."
-Is something wrong with him?
-He was already acting sentimental earlier when he said thanks yesterday
-He’s not dying, right?
"Ha, it was a short but happy life."
-lol
-Yeah, this is right
-This is the Hazy I know
-What’s with the warm-fuzzy vibe?
Just when I tried to set the mood, he had to ruin it like that. Still, that didn’t mean I wasn’t grateful.
Even if I said it like this, I was always thankful.
"Anyway, I’m planning to go live early again tomorrow."
"What time?"
"Hmm... wait, didn’t you leave already?"
"Nope! I have to say goodbye before I go, right?"
-He was trying to leave without saying goodbye to his wife
-My God, what a terrible man
-You’ve got to say goodbye before ending the stream
-He barely got any flirting in today aside from the early game
-I think the law should require a certain number of hours of flirting per day
The viewers seemed unhappy that our marriage moments hadn’t shown up very often.
Sure. I mean, what was the big deal about saying goodbye?
"Sleep well, Jadu!"
"Yeah, you too."
"The nickname!"
"Fine, baby. You sleep well too."
After I said that, I didn’t hear Sia’s voice anymore, so I checked the chat for a moment.
-Baby?
-Baby?
-Not Aengdu?
-Baby, whoa
-All those lines about this and that for minutes were pointless lol this is the marriage broadcast and this is the real thing
-My dopamine is back
"Sia?"
There was no answer.
Watching Sia quietly leave Discord, I realized I’d called her by the wrong nickname.
"Did I just call you baby?"
-Yep
-Baby, lol
-Calling a flustered Sia baby instead of jagi is pretty damn evil
-This is just what a marriage broadcast is lol
-Today’s marriage content achieved lol ah, this is so sweet
Watching the viewers’ reactions,
I quietly hit the button to end the stream.
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