Chapter 4
Chapter 4
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: It's Not a Self-Deprecating Broadcast
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[Starting new character creation.]
[Scanning the user's body.]
Hearing the mechanical voice for the first time in four years sent chills down my spine.
As I instinctively resisted the floating sensation, a girl with a familiar appearance soon appeared before my eyes.
Judging by the sudden new character creation, it seemed the past Victoria had hated games too.
It was practically the same as buying the VR device just to use as a coffin, which left a complicated feeling in one corner of my heart.
[Body scan complete.]
[Beginning customization.]
At the mechanical voice's guidance, the girl in front of me lifted her head.
It was the body I'd lived with for the past four years, but seeing it from a third-person view felt incredibly awkward.
Glossy black hair, jewel-like eyes, and dark circles that contrasted sharply with her snow-white skin.
She clearly had the cute looks of a beautiful girl, but her unique decadent aura made her seem gloomy.
[You can freely customize to your desired appearance.]
[Customization exceeding 20% requires purchasing a usage pass.]
Hearing the mechanical voice, I unwittingly raised my hand.
I hadn't planned to tweak my appearance at the start, but seeing my gloomy self made me inexplicably angry.
So I decided to simply erase the dark circles.
Even with just 20% customization, it was possible to turn into a completely different person, but for someone like me who'd never even tried makeup let alone plastic surgery, this was my limit.
[Customization complete.]
[Please set your desired nickname.]
The finished character was one anyone would call pretty.
My guess that she was an aspiring actress must have been spot on; just removing the dark circles changed the atmosphere dramatically.
But looking at my own cute face, my stomach was churning.
That innocent-looking face was identical to "the me I saw before being dragged to the battlefield."
The memories of that day were impossible to forget no matter how hard I tried.
The time when I boarded the Trans-Siberian train without knowing anything. The foolish girl who couldn't even resist as she was hauled off to war.
"Sukka..."
The unfair memories made curses spill out automatically.
I couldn't stand the loathing for my past foolish self.
At that moment, an irritating alert sound scratched at my nerves, and my view switched against my will.
I could only gape blankly at the following guidance.
[‘Sukka’ is an available nickname.]
[Character creation complete. Moving to the library.]
‘It worked?’
It was so absurd I let out a hollow laugh.
It seemed the Korean server couldn't recognize my foreign words.
Even so, I had no desire to create a new character.
This might be the last time I'd ever play a VR game anyway.
‘Time to stream as promised.’
My new nickname was decided: ‘Sukka.’
In modern Russian, it meant ‘bitch.’
*
[Sukka's personal broadcast]
Starting the broadcast wasn't difficult at all.
Universe, the massive corporation, dominated VR devices, game development, and internet streaming alike.
Thanks to that, I could open a personal broadcast channel right away without any signup hassle.
Fortunately, with my smartphone and VR device linked, contacting Shin Ara was a breeze.
『Debuting, you gold digger lol hi』
『I'm here! You can start now!』
『Whoa first stream and already premium? Wildㄷㄷ』
『I want to upgrade my VR too!!!!』
The problem was the unexpectedly large number of viewers.
Victoria's coffin must have been top-tier expensive, as the premium badge from high-quality perks drew them in.
When one megacorp ruled everything, this kind of nonsense was apparently allowed.
The sight didn't sit well, knowing even streaming favored the rich.
I should have put a password on the stream if I'd known.
Among the chats scrolling on the right of my view, I couldn't tell which was Shin Ara.
"Uh, hello?"
『A girl?』
『Not showing your character?』
『Voice is super cuteㄷㄷ Tentatively guessing middle schooler』
"Character? I didn't touch the settings, but you can't see it?"
『Nope』
『It's first-person view right now』
『This one's got the VShooter tag too』
"Ah... I didn't expect anyone to watch, so... It's just a test stream anyway—could you let it slide?"
『No can't hold back』
『But with the VShooter tag, you're probably maxed out on custom anyway right?』
『Yeah, not raw face, so no need to see it?』
Still, having viewers wasn't all bad.
Just over twenty, but chatting with them felt nice.
In a way, weren't they all like Shin Ara—safeguards against possession?
Clinging to that belief gave me the courage to move forward.
『So what's the stream concept?』
『Remember this... Premium gear + no FPS = crime』
"Ah. I'll play games. I have reasons why FPS terrifies me, but I decided to overcome the trauma this time."
『What bullshit?』
『Obviously Frontline Archive then?』
"Frontark? What's that?"
『#1 concurrent FPS』
『Frontline Archive』
『Enlisted girl gonna play?』
『Frontark's 18+ tho?』
"Ah... Must be a trending game these days."
I got the Frontline Archive recommendation and checked the library's game list.
Luckily, it was one of the pre-installed VR games, and I quickly found the title ‘Frontline Archive.’
True to its #1 concurrent claim, even the trailer was brutally intense.
Clicking without prep, a sudden firefight scene popped up, and I thought my heart stopped.
【Kukudas donated 1,000 coins!】
〔Sukka? For your first time, wouldn't it be better to start with a healing game?〕
Then, amid coin-raining sounds, a mechanical voice came from somewhere.
Someone, fed up, had sent a message via donation.
It was probably Shin Ara worrying about me.
The nickname Kukudas irked me a bit, but it helped me barely regain my composure.
『Ah! What healing game lol!』
『Saying it again... Premium gear + no FPS = crime』
『Fr real VR minus FPS is all trash』
『Pls for the love do Frontark』
『No vibe』
『Gonna smash Kukudas』
But the viewers' reactions were overly aggressive.
They seemed ready to curse if I didn't play Frontline Archive.
Who knew just over twenty viewers could set the chat ablaze like this.
The mood made it impossible to heed Shin Ara's advice for another game.
"Ah, got it. I'll try Frontline Archive. FPS was the goal anyway."
I had no choice but to go with Frontline Archive.
Ultimately, I needed FPS, so straight ahead wasn't wrong.
Better to take the first hit, as they say.
It ignored Shin Ara's caring advice, but I'd steeled myself from the start, so I resolved to push on.
"Loa-loaded it. What now?"
『Treat tutorial as capture match first go』
『Wait wtf is your rig? Quality's insaneㅋㅋ』
『Damn... not a middle schooler... I'm out bye』
Calming my trembling body, I launched Frontline Archive.
Skipping the scary-looking intro, a lobby-like scene unfolded—a warehouse full of military vibes, soldiers milling about.
The battlefield stench hit hard, my heart pounding like mad.
"Ca-Capture match? That spot labeled capture match? R-Right?"
『Yeah first time basic gear so straight to capture fine』
『ㅋㅋㅋㅋShe's actually scared』
『First stream concept too hardcore?』
Following viewer guidance, I dragged my shaking legs.
Strangers by name and face, but now my lifelines were viewers like Shin Ara.
The capture match desk had one NPC woman.
I stood before it with a near-tearful face; she looked up from papers.
"Applying for capture match?"
"Uh, wait... not that..."
"There's an ongoing capture match. Join mid-game as support?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Participation confirmed. Good luck."
Too tense to even say wait.
It felt like being dragged to the Eastern Front again.
Zero regard for a lowly soldier's opinion.
The nightmare familiarity choked me.
『Why she like that?』
『You okay? Looks sick?』
『If serious auto-logs outㅋㅋ All actingㅋㅋ』
My view blacked out, the scene shifting.
Soldier chatter vanished; clacking train noise filled the air.
Looking down, I held a cold rifle.
Wiping tears on stiff uniform sleeves, I saw other soldiers aboard.
Rage, fear, madness—their faces chillingly familiar.
The desperately suppressed trauma crashed in like waves.
"No, no..."
View narrowed, chats vanishing.
Lifeline snapped; tremors wouldn't stop.
Trying to focus only sharpened the horrors.
Regret and fear plummeted my sanity.
"No... hate it..."
Please be wrong, but I knew.
I'd been possessed into hellish war game again.
Thick gunpowder, savage artillery, roaring shouts, horrific screams.
Thrown back into war, despair broke me utterly.