My Favorite Has Started A Live Broadcast!

***

Lee Su-yeon POV

“Oh, the match was found quickly.”

I was thankful for the quick match and focused on Chocoa’s broadcast that I had on. The game hadn’t even started yet, so there was no one to criticize me. I felt like I was forgetting something, but I ignored it and set the map while listening to Chocoa’s voice.

“I’ve been playing Lesik during my free time lately, but it’s so hard. You have to memorize the maps, memorize all the character traits… How can a company named Newbisoft not be soft to newbies at all?”

Certainly, Lesik does have a certain entry barrier.

RO_:?

Suddenly, a chat message popped up in the chat window.

“Whoa, it’s been a while…”

It had been a month since we last met, but here we were, still in Platinum 2. It felt like the only thing that had changed was me.

The map was decided. Coincidentally, it was Consulate again, the same one I had played earlier. Meeting someone again by chance on the same map made me feel good.

Since I didn’t care about character bans as long as my main character wasn’t banned, I just went with what my teammates voted for.

We did the most standard ban, and the first round was defense.

This is actually good.

***

??? POV

How could I explain my current situation? It was a long story. I didn’t have much to do, so I queued up for a game, wandered around Twitch, stumbled upon a new streamer, and coincidentally got matched with them in the same game. That streamer played amazingly, syncing with me multiple times in the game. On top of that, the streamer had an insanely good voice, and to top it off, she was a female streamer. Even thinking about it made my head spin. Since the game had started, I turned off the stream and gathered my thoughts.

I’ll post this story in the community later.

Once the bans were over, I looked at our team’s composition. Since it was the basement, we had a strong defensive setup with Bandit, Frost, and Doctor. But Barcode wasn’t playing defensively.

Just knowing Barcode was playing his main made me excited, and I eagerly grabbed my Cutie (nickname for my equipment).

The game started, and during the short prep phase, which always felt too brief, I hurried to reinforce the garage’s exterior wall. Reinforcing the fragile wooden wall with steel so it couldn’t be easily destroyed by guns, knives, or explosives, Bandit rushed over to the wall after finishing his other reinforcements.

Bandit connected his special ability, which looked like he had just ripped it out of a car engine, to the reinforced wall, sending a jolt of electricity through it.

As Frost finished placing her bear traps, a key part of her special ability, she killed a drone rolling on the floor. While some might dismiss the traps as trivial, anyone who stepped on one was as good as dead.

I also set up my gadget that disabled electronic devices, placing it in common drone spots and strategic locations.

Doctor, being the team’s healer, just reinforced walls without much else to do.

As I was heading back to my position with little prep time left, I heard a loud noise from above.

It was probably Barcode reinforcing the trapdoor, the hatch that connects the upper floor to the basement. It’s a high-risk, high-reward area where bullets could fly from unexpected angles, so unless there’s a specific reason, it’s better to reinforce it.

Since I had a shotgun, I found a spot where the enemies wouldn’t expect me to hide.

***

Lee Su-yeon POV

My main character, Caveira. The character often sparks heated debates in chat, but she was my favorite. The reason was simple: she was fun to play.

Roaming—it was hard to understand at first. Roamers don’t stay on-site like the rest; they move around the map, picking off enemies and creating psychological pressure as the enemies try to approach the site.

But this also makes it difficult. I’ve memorized all the maps, hidden where I thought enemies might come, only to miss the timing and die to them. I’ve been spotted by drones and killed while hiding. And there were times when, while I was hiding, the enemies overran our site, and we lost pitifully.

I was hiding on the second floor, quite a distance from the basement site, but that distance made it a good hiding spot.

Thankfully, I hadn’t been spotted by any drones. Even as I focused on listening, I only heard Chocoa’s voice and no drones.

“……”

There was an unfamiliar sound. Rappelling.

There were two sounds, indicating that the enemy was carefully checking the second floor before descending. But I wouldn’t allow that.

Remaining crouched, I moved toward the area with two windows where I could faintly hear someone climbing up the wall.

I stuck as close to the wall as possible so that even if the barricades on the windows broke, the enemies wouldn’t spot me right away. Switching from my pistol to my shotgun would make noise, and the repelling sounds were already so close that it was too late.

Bang!–

The barricades shattered in an instant, scattering debris around.

Unfortunately, it was the window closest to me, so I had no choice but to fight. The enemy seemed to be surveying the area, delaying their entry. In the meantime, the barricade on the adjacent window was also breaking down bit by bit until it was completely destroyed.

If both came in at the same time, I had little chance of winning with just a pistol.

While I was processing this, the enemy kicked the wall and bounced inside through the window.

Luckily, I hadn’t been spotted, but the enemy was already coming in. As the repel ropes tightened, I switched to my shotgun.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

I quickly raised my body and fired toward the closer window. One enemy was instantly down, and the other, who had already made it inside, would now aim to kill me as fast as possible. Even with an automatic shotgun, it was easy to miss if I had to turn and shoot quickly.

As I pulled a knife from my waist, I swung it in a large arc, turning my screen.

“Wow…seriously…how do you get a double kill in just 30 seconds in close combat…”

If I had the stream’s audio on, I could probably figure out what was happening, but I didn’t have time for that.

The enemies were now drilling into the site.

The non-reinforced ceilings were being torn apart by Ash’s breach charges and various explosives. Fighting enemies from the basement while they’re on the first floor is extremely tricky. Usually, this is a job for roamers, but no one is criticizing our roamer right now. The situation was 5v3 and looking good, but two of my teammates were critically wounded by bullets pouring through the holes in the ceiling. With our defensive composition, we could tough it out, but if the enemy reported to their team that there was a roamer on the second floor, our roamer could be killed.

Or maybe they were already inside. With little health remaining, I moved cautiously. The enemies had already scouted with their drones, knowing our team was filled with traps, so they seemed determined to finish us off from above, constantly applying pressure.

There was a staircase leading safely to the first floor, but the risk was too high. I chose the safer circular staircase, even though it was a bit longer.

As I ascended, the sound of the enemy mercilessly pressuring my team continued.

Reaching the top of the stairs, I switched from my shotgun to my secondary weapon. An SMG, a weapon with such a high rate of fire that recoil became a non-issue, perfect for moments like this. The reason was simple: the shotgun made too much noise.

If I took even one more step forward, I knew I would die.

Beyond the doorframe, I could faintly see the red light waiting quietly for someone to pass by.

Tap.

I disarmed the claymore, switched back to my shotgun, and slowly made my way to the first floor. At the same time, Barcode was descending from the second floor, giving us a chance to catch the enemy from both sides.

We confirmed each other’s positions and slowly moved toward the source of the noise.

Bang!–

From a distance, a familiar shotgun sound rang out, and a kill notification appeared. Two of my teammates had already died, despite Doctor’s healing efforts, due to the overwhelming firepower of the enemy. Doctor was now in a near-death state, barely holding his position.

It was essentially 2v2 now. The enemy team likely knew RO_’s location. I quickly activated my ability and rushed to help RO_.

Caveira’s special ability: while active, her footsteps became significantly quieter, and she wielded her silenced pistol. Though her pistol could kill in just two shots, it often left enemies injured. I’ll explain the reasons for this later, but first, I needed to regroup.

As RO_ retreated after taking down one enemy, he had taken a few hits, his health now about halfway. The enemy would likely pursue him to finish him off, so I decided to target them.

RO_ kept luring the enemies with his shotgun, drawing them in.

One enemy chased him quickly, while the other lagged behind.

Pop! Pop!

The silenced pistol made an oddly cute sound, different from its damage output, and I managed to wound the slower enemy.

The loud footsteps continued, suggesting the chase was still ongoing.

I quickly approached the injured enemy, crouched down, and placed my knife at his neck, whispering softly.

-Where’s the remaining enemy?

As the short line ended, my knife finished off the downed enemy, revealing the location of the last enemy.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat–

Bang-bang-bang-bang!–

RO_ was finally killed, and the first round ended. Surprisingly, the one who got the last kill was Doctor. As I watched the kill cam after the round, I saw that as the final enemy tried to kill the fleeing RO_, Doctor, who had been holding his ground, quickly moved, aimed at the ceiling, and fired, killing the enemy.