Got You.
1.
"Yes, ma'am."
I nodded along to Aura's words.
Chamchican has sent you a friend request.
"Huh?"
I'd expected an invite to the scrim lobby. What showed up was a friend request. So I declined it.
Friend request declined.
"Yes."
Heukrangi tore into me like she'd been waiting for the chance.
"C-Chamchican is a guy, though…?"
"I-I can't add guys as friends. I-I mean, we're industrial workers living off money from the yuk-su brothers…! That would be basically betraying the viewers…!"
My teammates clearly had no idea what I was talking about.
The chat, on the other hand, spiked in yuk-su density almost instantly. This was exactly why putting yourself in someone else's shoes mattered.
"D-Do you people who work as VTubers not even do this kind of basic market research…? Y-You really need to step it up…."
Everyone pushed back like I'd kicked a hornet's nest.
"W-Whether you're being serious or even that denial is just more yuk-su bait, I don't know… but as long as you're a woman, the yuk-su are inevitable…!"
That was my creed.
A sudden spark of curiosity hit me.
"I have a boyfriend, you know?"
I said it with the corner of my mouth curling up just a little.
Just as I'd predicted, chat boiled over in an instant.
"…Is what I almost said~"
Chat settled back down.
"See? E-Even my stream, which you'd think has no yuk-su, is like this. So your streams are probably in a similar situation — or worse. And among all of you, Heukrangi especially…!"
"That slightly rough, easygoing girl-friend vibe you have. The chill female-friend type of stream is the one that has to be most careful…."
Her tone was pure and crystal clear.
"Yeah… You talk freely with viewers all the time, and you use titles like 'hyung' and, uh, stuff like that, right?"
"Rough, comfortable, the kind of relationship where you roast each other. The girl friend who'd shuffle out in slippers if you called her at night to hit the convenience store, then sit there drinking beer and eating dried squid with you…."
Heh heh heh…
Just imagining it was pretty nice, honestly.
"That's every guy's ultimate fantasy. So you have to be careful…."
Apparently my little speech had sent Heukrangi's viewers into a frenzy. Fair enough — I'd forcibly dredged up the filthy depths buried deep in their hearts.
"But thinking about it more… Heukrangi, you periodically thin out your viewers with the trash-talk controversies, so you might actually be fine… If you're too chill, it gets a little weird, you know…."
It was kind of like watching your cool girl friend take a dump in her pants. That was a bit much….
AuraIsTheBest has sent you an invite.
"I-It's not nonsense…."
Dismissing my Introduction to Yuk-su Studies like that? Then again, Aura's style was a little off-putting from a yuk-su perspective. She had that elegant air about her.
"Yes, ma'am…."
I'd see her in-game….
Black Crystal Tower was a capture-and-hold brawl built around three control points, with the front line constantly being pushed and pulled.
When a match started, Tower 2 in the center activated first. If Team A captured Tower 2, the battlefield shifted to Tower 3 near Team B's side. The reverse was true as well.
If the defending team reclaimed their final tower, the battlefield snapped back to the center.
The win condition was simple: capture the center tower, then either push all the way to the enemy's final tower — or be the first to score two points.
Unless the skill gap is massive, most games end on two points.
Once we ran this map, we'd have experience on every battlefield used in the tournament.
Red Outpost. Crystal Mining Area. Black Crystal Tower. Those three.
"I-If we can just win the shield fights on Black Crystal Tower… w-we have a shot everywhere else too…."
Shield fights were the purest, most fundamental structure of the game — the very essence of NOVA Syndicate. Master those, and your odds of winning on any other map went way up.
"S-So let's do our best…!"
A crystal tower jutted up between colossal mountain ranges as if it meant to pierce the sky. A pale sun flickered and vanished, and a single shaft of light came down to plant itself atop the tower.
Against that light, the transport ships carrying us touched down in our respective bases.
Select your hero.
"Hssss…."
I closed my eyes and drew a long, deep breath. Cool air seeped into the depths of my lungs. When my ribs started to ache, I let it out again, slow and controlled.
Activate.
Aim Assist Lv.2 — Active
ABILITY READ Lv.1 — Active
A clear ding rang through my head. The noise in my mind slowly settled. Everything felt sharp and vivid.
"Stick with what we've been running. Heukrangi — you're on Leonhardt."
I issued the order.
"We can't win just doing what we're comfortable with. Roadgrim can't even play a shield fight in the first place."
"Don't dig your heels in. When I tell you to do it, you do it. Leonhardt isn't that hard of a hero. I'll call everything for you. Just trust me and play. If you mess up, that's on me."
Heukrangi answered in a sulky voice. I felt a little bad, but I could apologize later. Winning came first.
"I can't see chat while I'm playing. And I don't look either. So keep it civil on your own."
The moment the countdown ended, we sprinted for the central crystal tower. As we closed in, enemies started filling our vision one by one.
Figures.
Their comps were a little different from ours, but they had also locked Leonhardt and Grace.
"I'm not micromanaging every detail. Just do your best in your own roles."
I kept my voice low.
"But when I call something, you move immediately. No hesitation. Got it?"
I nodded at their answers.
"Use Flame Sword Wave and rake the backline. Make sure you hit their Leonhardt with it every single time."
The words were barely out before Leonhardt's greatsword erupted in flame.
Whoooosh—!
The blade swept through the air. A wave of fire cleaved across the battlefield, grazing the enemy Leonhardt holding the front and raking through the heroes behind him in one pass.
Health bars tumbled down in a cascade.
"Again."
I yanked my crosshair up hard.
Target: their backline. Specifically, the main support holding the bio rifle — Grace. Same role as me. Which meant she was the first one who needed to die.
Whoooosh—
The Flame Sword Wave flew again. Once more, it scraped their Leonhardt and the backline at the same time.
Taking a one-sided beating must have finally set him off — the enemy Leonhardt dropped his shield and raised his greatsword.
Got him.
In this game, aside from movement, you could only perform one action at a time. Attack meant attack. Defend meant defend.
Which meant the instant he used Flame Sword Wave, his shield had to come down.
A gap of about one second.
Barely a heartbeat — but for me, it was more than enough. I nudged my crosshair a fraction to the side.
Target: Grace. Their main support. Same as me.
Bang—!
The first round punched into her head.
Bang—!
The second tore through her body. Her health bar shredded in an instant. But she wasn't dead.
Grace — HP: 12%
■□□□□□□□□□
One sliver left.
Their Leonhardt slammed his shield back up in a panic. Some order must have come through. But it was already too late.
Whoooom—!
In that same moment, a bio grenade left my hand.
"Got you."
BOOM—!
The grenade arced over and detonated at Grace's feet. The razor-thin scrap of health she had left was swallowed by a green explosion.
Grace (Bullet) eliminated Grace (Rurari).
"Push forward. Hit them with the charge."
I barked the order the second the kill feed lit up. Heukrangi kicked off the ground like she'd been waiting for it.
CRASH—!!!
The two Leonhardts collided head-on. With a thunderous impact, massive armored bodies went tumbling across the floor.
Both were locked down — but the situations couldn't have been more different. Our main support was still alive. Theirs wasn't.
And a fallen Leonhardt meant the shield protecting the enemy was gone.
Pssht—!
I drew my paralysis pistol and tagged the main DPS who'd been standing still dumping bullets. The round hit home, and his body went stiff before he collapsed to the ground.
"Focus fire on the Leonhardt."
Tat-tat-tat-tat—!
Allied fire poured down onto the fallen Leonhardt. Their remaining support frantically dumped heals and cooldowns, but there was no way one person could tank five people's damage alone.
Grace (Bullet) eliminated Leonhardt (Chamchican).
Leonhardt went down.
When the shield disappeared, the front line might as well have collapsed with it. The backline was nothing but moving targets now.
Bang—!
Aura's shotgun roared as she punched into their ranks.
One down.
Bang—!
Another.
The moment the enemy wiped, the capture gauge on the central crystal tower started filling at a sprint. We'd been fighting right on top of it from the start.
Crystal Tower 2 has been captured.
The second the capture finished, I gave the order.
"Let's go. Tower 3."
Weak Team Detector, my ass.
They're just a weak team.