Solo Live / Shut Your Trap / Zero Communication

Cracks raced across the floor in an instant.

KRAKOOM—!

Enemies caught in the shockwave toppled like autumn leaves. Fire boiled up over them a heartbeat later and swallowed the fallen whole.

"Kill them all!"

I lobbed a bio grenade into the pack of enemies, then raised my sniper rifle and picked off the ones beside me. I swung my paralysis pistol toward the enemy Leonhardt next, and then—

Don't even need to shoot.

Heukrangi had already locked onto the Leonhardt with a charge and was barreling straight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for the cliff. The second she hit the edge, her body slammed to a stop.

WAAAAAAAH—!

The enemy Leonhardt was not so lucky.

That massive frame went flying into empty air. He bounced once off the rocks below the cliff, then vanished into the distant gorge beneath the mountain ridge.

Aura and the Momoru-Harumong duo were gleefully finishing off the downed enemies too.

They never used to be like this…

Somehow, ever since I showed up, they'd started turning into this. Their personalities had gotten a little worse — but their skill and momentum had gone up, so whatever. Wins all around!

Vmmm—

After that we captured Tower 3 and took the win on the Black Crystal Tower map.

Pride swelled in my chest as the letters floated up in front of me.

"G-great…! L-let's keep this going and win the next scrim too!"

Ding—

The notification that someone had joined the voice channel chimed, and a gravelly man's voice came through — the kind of voice that sounded like it burned through two packs a day.

I flinched at the unfamiliar voice and turned my head toward the left monitor. The name Chamchican had appeared above our teammates.

Heukrangi immediately snarled like an animal.

Aura sighed and answered for her.

Chamchican let out a hollow laugh.

Heukrangi cut in, crowing.

He had a point.

The scrim had gone five games total, and we'd only taken two. In the end, we'd lost.

"Heh, hehe…"

I'd just been quietly focused on the conversation, and for some reason the viewers decided to come after me about it.

I couldn't take it anymore and fired a warning at chat.

But my warning only made them worse. If anything, they got even more fired up roasting me.

So I fired right back.

"Son of a…"

One bit had been bugging me the whole time, so I threw it right back at them.

"Y-y-you fucking bastards…!"

I shot up out of my chair and slammed my desk once.

Aura's panicked voice through the headset instantly killed the heat.

"Ah…"

Right. I was still on the call.

"S-sorry… I-I got into it with the viewers and got so mad I just…"

I sat back down and bowed my head. They couldn't see it, but it still felt like something I needed to do.

Chamchican tried to comfort me in an awkward voice.

I could see him scrambling to change the subject. His kindness only made me feel more pathetic.

"Y-yeah, that's right…"

I still had to answer, so I managed a nod.

"R-really?"

"Th-thank you…"

"I-I was reading everything, yeah…"

"Yeah… it just, all of it just calculated itself somehow…"

He clearly didn't fully believe me.

"I-I'm serious."

I really could do it, and the half-doubting way he said it made the heat surge right back up.

"L-later, if we end up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the same Swiss Stage group… I'll beat Chamchican's team so badly you can't even breathe, and prove it… so just wait…"

He jumped at my declaration.

Heukrangi and the Momoru-Harumong duo burst out laughing. I didn't think I'd said anything that funny — why were they like this?

Ding—

Chamchican left our channel, still sounding a little unsettled.

"I-it's true and he wouldn't believe me, so it pissed me off…"

Aura let out a shallow sigh.

At Aura's praise, I grinned ear to ear.

"Y-you're right… t-this kind of thing, only I can do it. Ehehe…"

"Shut your trap, beast girl…"

"Says the one who made over ten million won for the drama channels with her trash-talk controversies and took up over a hundred pages of Zibzig Gallery's featured posts…"

"…Knowing would only hurt you."

Aura cut in fast and reset the mood.

Momoru's voice was packed with energy.

Harumong chimed in, bright and sunny.

"Th-that's thanks to me… Originally you were a bottom-tier ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trash, food waste, unrecyclable nuclear-waste-tier team, but…"

I answered Aura quietly.

"Yes…"

"F-for the Round of 64…!"

And that night, a single post went up on the Fall of the Great notice board.

Ding—

I checked the notice late and hopped into the voice channel. Every teammate was already there, but no one was quick to speak.

"Yeah…"

Everyone answered Aura's question in a small voice. The mood was heavy. It wasn't exactly good news for us.

Heukrangi's voice was edged with irritation.

She wasn't wrong.

It wasn't just that fewer teams would advance.

In a Round of 64, a little luck could still get you through — a soft bracket, strong teams eating each other, or scraping by on set differential.

But a Round of 32 was different.

Only eight teams per group.

In the end, to climb out, we had to beat teams stronger than us. The problem was that our team had only just started hitting its growth curve.

We weren't a finished product.

We'd only just started clicking, only just started learning each other's strengths and weaknesses. What a team like that needed was as many real matches as possible — the kind of experience you only get by making mistakes and getting broken open.

But the shift to a Round of 32 had thrown all of that off. What we needed now wasn't experience. It was the kind of performance where you simply weren't allowed to make mistakes.

Well… not like I can really complain. Other teams already went through all of this ages ago. We're the ones doing it with the tournament right on top of us.

I was the late arrival. What else was there to do? Nothing for it.

"W-well, what is there to do… nothing's really changed… w-we just have to play well…"

"Confident?"

I answered while looking at the letters floating in front of my eyes.

"Nope."

"I'm confident… I'll lose!"