My Favorite Has Started A Live Broadcast!

“Ah… Hello.”

– Only one hour? Only one hour? Only one hour? Only one hour? Only one hour? Only one hour? Only one hour? Only one hour?

– Sob sob, Baraa must hate us…

– Hello.

“What…? No… Why would I hate you all… You even give me money…”

As soon as I started the broadcast, a flood of viewers rushed in. Though it wasn’t as many as yesterday, around 500 people had come to watch.

“Well… I can only stream for an hour today… I’m just planning to play one round of Lesik and then turn it off.”

– Is something wrong?

– Are you starting earlier today, Chocoa?

“Ah, no… I mentioned it yesterday, but I need to do laundry today…”

– Now that you mention it, I didn’t see your washing machine.

“Haha… Yeah, I’ve been thinking about moving lately…”

Aroalo: Teacher, I visited the café today, but you seemed so busy, I couldn’t say hello.

“Really? You should’ve said hi…”

Aroalo: Your skirt looked really nice.

“Well, I’ll just play Lesik for now.”

– LOL

– Is Aroalo… going out?

– Wow, a skirt… I’d like to see that.

Ignoring the chat that was filling up, I hastily turned off my camera and started up Lesik to focus on my hard-working computer.

“…Hmm?”

As I launched the game, I couldn’t resist checking the chat out of boredom.

Aroalo: Teacher, sorry to ask, but could I get a friend request…?

– He’s making a move!

– Kill him!!!

“Friend request… Do you want to play a duo?”

The screen shifted, and the familiar background music of the main menu played.

“Um… should I send it? Your nickname is… R… O… underscore…”

I typed out the nickname I had seen for a long time, and shortly after, the friend request I sent was accepted.

“…Come in… Rank?”

I passed the squad leader role to Aroalo and started a ranked match with him.

“Ah… Ah… Hello? Can you hear me?”

A man’s voice came through the in-game microphone, a voice I hadn’t heard before.

“Yes, I can hear you well. Should I use the in-game mic too?”

“Ah… No, it’s fine… Teacher… I’ll just listen through the stream.”

“Alright then…”

We quickly selected a map and did the bans.

“What are you going to play?”

“Uh… I’ll just fit in with the composition… What about you, Teacher?”

I didn’t know why he kept calling me “Teacher,” but I went ahead and banned some fitting characters.

The map was Chalet, and we started on defense.

***
Choi Ga-young POV

Chocoa, not as a streamer, but as a 23-year-old university student, Choi Ga-young, lay on her bed fiddling with her phone, then opened Twitch.

“…Baraa…”

As soon as she opened Twitch, Baraa came to mind. When she searched her name, she was coincidentally live.

Even though I wasn’t a super-famous streamer, some people still recognized me on my main account when I browsed other streams, so I created a new account to watch others unnoticed.

When I entered the stream, the game was already underway. It was Lesik, the game I’d recently played.

What map is this…?

“Teacher, can you reinforce the trapdoor?”

“…Huh? Who’s that…?”

Is that… her boyfriend? Even from the tiny screen, I could hear a cheerful woman’s voice and a plain man’s voice, sparking my curiosity.

Viewer: Who’s the guy playing with her?

– He’s the ghost of Lesik.

– LOL, our ghost finally made it.

“Ghost?”

– Wow, matching with an average Plat 2 player…

I didn’t understand what it meant, but it didn’t seem like he was her boyfriend. So, I just focused on the stream.

***
Lee Su-yeon POV

“I reinforced the trap. I’ll be hiding on the second floor. Please defend the site well.”

The site was in the basement. I picked Caveira, my usual character, and Aroalo chose Bandit to defend the site. Our team’s composition was defensively strong, so as long as they held the site, I could pick off enemies for an easy win.

I hid in the study on the second floor, holding my phone.

“…It looks like the enemies are heading to the second floor.”

“It does.”

All the outside cameras had been destroyed, and as soon as I put down my phone, I heard a multitude of footsteps from afar.

The enemies, cautious as ever, were likely planning to clear the second floor first before heading down. As soon as I heard the footsteps, I stood up and activated Caveira’s silent step, sprinting in the opposite direction from where the enemies were coming, formulating a plan in my head.

I heard about three sets of footsteps, but it was unclear what the other two were doing — either droning or breaking through from another side.

“…There are three on the second floor… I’ll check things out as I head down.”

“Okay, no footsteps near the site.”

A worse situation. The entire enemy team was focusing on killing the roamers, with all five of them slowly tightening their siege around me.

“…Two on the first floor… I’ll take care of them.”

“Huh? Should I cover…”

“It’s fine.”

The enemies, probably having spotted me with their drones, were moving quietly, making it hard to pinpoint their exact positions. The two sets of footsteps I heard earlier were faint, likely the sound of them breaking barricades.

As my silent step’s gauge nearly depleted, I descended to the first floor and hid in a small room to recharge it. The enemies on the second floor were now stomping loudly, having almost finished their sweep. I quickly checked the cameras and spotted one of them walking slowly.

I immediately put down my phone and switched weapons.

Semi-auto shotgun.

A perfect negotiation tool. With my right hand gripping it, I aimed toward the ceiling and pulled the trigger.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“One down.”

Even though I took one out, my position was now compromised, and I faced pressure from the remaining four. I swiftly reactivated my ability and bolted from the small room, diving into a larger one nearby.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—

In less than a second, a barrage of bullets poured into the spot I had just vacated, and the footsteps grew louder.

The two enemies guarding the first floor rushed toward my previous position, one aiming into the room and the other scanning the surroundings… until our eyes met.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—

“Hoo… I’m heading back to the site.”

Luckily, they were already crouched, trying to blend with the floor. Their slower reaction time gave me the advantage, allowing me to shoot through their torsos. The other enemy, about to enter the room, realized what had happened but was also gunned down. After tossing a grenade from my pocket, I made my way back to the site…

“Ah…”

An enemy who had come down from the second floor shot me from the opposite angle as I tried to return. Still, I managed to take out three enemies before dying, a pretty decent result.

***
Aroalo POV

In my opinion, Baraa was an exceptionally skilled player.

“That was close… If I’d been more composed, I could’ve killed them all.”

“Wow… That was a free carry.”

“What?”

“Oh… Uh, nothing… Teacher…”

Baraa seemed to be embarrassed by what she accidentally let slip, but I shrugged it off, needing to maintain the momentum she had created.

– ????????

– What was that shotgun play??

Don’t Leave Me Out of the Group Project: Wow

– Is this Platinum…?

– LOL, they’re dropping like flies.

– Then why don’t you try doing that?

– Sorry, sorry, I can barely handle reinforcements.

I kept glancing between the chat and the game, swapping my monitor to the one I used previously, with two screens to alternate between the chat and the game.

“Hmm… This feels kind of awkward. How do other streamers read chat while playing?”

“Uh… They usually run two monitors, don’t they?”

“…I’ll just stop looking.”

“…”

With just one minute remaining, only two enemies were left. Baraa, meanwhile, had finished disarming the batteries blocking the site’s reinforced walls. Now, he was just watching the chat.

“Thanks for stopping by… Yeah, I’ll probably be playing more games… Yes…”

The match progressed quickly. The level of competition seemed to have risen, with the enemies resisting fiercely, so much so that the match eventually stretched to 4-4.

“Haa… It’s a 9-rounder… The laundry’s almost done though…”

“I’ll try to finish as quickly as…”

Bang—

“…”

“…”

-///////////

– Dude?

– What is Aro doing? Did he just kill Baraa? Did he just kill Baraa? Did he just kill Baraa? Did he just kill Baraa? Did he just kill Baraa? Did he just kill Baraa? Did he just kill Baraa?

Things took a dramatic turn. While switching between Baraa’s stream and my own game, I had accidentally pressed the left mouse button the moment the game started, and my crosshair happened to be aimed right at Baraa’s head.

“Uh… Um… Why…”

“I’m so sorry!!!!!”
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Hmm… Did I do something wrong? Watching the kill cam, I realized I had simply fired a shot right after spawn, and it just so happened to hit his head.

***
Lee Su-yeon POV

“I’m so sorry!!!!!”

I received an ear-piercingly loud apology.

“…It’s fine… really…”

Unfortunately, the game didn’t end well. I thought Aroalo, with his calm gameplay, would bring the long game to a conclusion even without me, but he became strangely flustered and failed to replicate his previous clean plays. The result:

A disappointing 5-4 loss.

“I’m sorry…”

A week has passed since the catastrophic duo with Aroalo.