NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52
Suddenly, such thoughts crossed my mind.
Am I not working really hard these days?
I mean, I’m broadcasting almost every day, not skipping school, and having daily conversations with Suzuha Koga and Yukari Akabane. I must be super diligent, right?
So, I kind of feel like I want anyone to give me some intense praise.
Thinking about my human relationships, it’s pretty much just Mom, Yuyika, Suzuha Koga, Yukari Akabane, and the Izutomo guys…
Mom is out of the picture. She’s busy abroad for work, and I’m not looking for compliments from family.
Yuyika is obviously out too. I mean, she shows me way too much affection on LINE practically every day.
Suzuha Koga is out as well. Honestly, getting praise from her would be the best, but she’s not that sweet toward me.
…It’s not like I already asked and got rejected. I’m sure Suzuha Koga has her shy moments too.
As for Yukari Akabane… it’s ambiguous. She’s friendly to me, and we have similar traits, but we differ in important ways, making her feel like a frenemy.
If Yukari Akabane were to give me intense praise for no reason, I couldn’t handle it for my pride.
To get praise, I’d probably have to beat Yukari Akabane head-on and then bask in the glory…
Then, what’s left is only the Izutomo guys.
They tease me front and center, but deep down, they like me more than anyone else.
How do I get those guys to praise me?
Lately, the Izutomo have been a bit gentler, but if I directly say that, they wouldn’t just praise me.
They’re basically filled with abusers towards me.
So, I need to subtly get them to cheer me on…
“Hmm.”
Let’s think about it.
When did the Izutomo ever praise me or hype me up while I was streaming?
Maybe when I played BN with Hikari Kurokami, or when I cleared the Hard mode of Arcana Shooter on my third try…
The answer is games, after all.
Otaku guys generally like girls who are good at gaming.
But my current main content is gaming, so just playing games normally might not mean anything.
…Then, maybe.
“Is this the time to do it?”
★
[【Membership Exclusive】Let’s Play #KainohIzumi#StarsFlow#MiniGameSurvival]
Mini Game Survival.
A game where up to 80 participants split into winners and losers through random mini-games.
Losers cannot participate in the next game, and only the winners remain until the final champion is decided.
They say that kind of game is called the last man standing genre.
Anyway, the reason I chose this game was simple.
Right now, I want to receive intense praise from the viewers for no apparent reason!
Anyone would do; I just wanted to be lifted up!
Thinking about that, this game was definitely optimal.
I could subtly appeal for them to let me win, and if I did, everyone would hype me up anyway.
Plus, since it’s a membership-exclusive stream, the regular abusers would be a bit nicer.
In fact, I’ve never participated in games like this with a group before, excluding TLQ, which had no viewer participation at all.
So, this is absolutely a foolproof plan…
—I thought Mei-chan would dislike this kind of game.
“I don’t, I mean, as long as it’s not a horror game, I’m good.”
For me, gaming is… not murder, but a hobby, so fun is what matters.
In fact, I kind of like mini-game genres.
After intense competition, only one winner can stand tall at the end.
If I can make it till the end, wouldn’t that be an exhilarating experience?
At least that’s what I think.
—You should give a heads-up before doing this kind of thing…
“…S-sorry about that.”
To be honest, I started this stream impulsively just because I wanted to be praised, so I didn’t consider those things.
I feel sorry for those who might have gone out on other commitments after seeing there was no broadcast schedule or for those who are missing out on the mini-game survival.
But Izutomo, you’ve already been watching me for over three months, so you should know by now, right?
I do have a tendency to do these streams impulsively.
So, isn’t it actually not that bad?
I genuinely feel remorseful…
“…I-I already set up the room. The room number is 532, and the room title is ‘People to Play With’, and the password is between 500 and 600, uh, you know.”
As soon as those words ended, characters of other people began entering the room I had set up in a flash.
From adorable cat-like default characters to slime characters that cost a decent amount of money to acquire.
It didn’t take long at all for all 80 slots to fill up.
…Why isn’t slime the default character, by the way?
I don’t know either.
“So, shall we, um, begin right away?”
[Loading…]
With the message announcing the game preparation and a crackling sound, the waiting room screen flipped.
The first stage was ‘Sticky Jump’.
For one minute, players had to avoid obstacles and climb up to the goal. It was a simple map.
However, as the name suggests, sticky obstacles, colloquially known as ‘stickies,’ fall from the sky, and if you get hit, your movement speed decreases significantly.
If your movement speed decreases, your upward speed slows down too, but the biggest problem is you won’t be able to stop other players from messing with you.
There are already famous clips on YouTube of first-place players getting smacked by stickies just before the finish line and then getting pushed down to last place.
[Game Start!]
The sound of a bell announcing the game’s start rang out.
Since it was the first stage, the maximum number of players that could reach the goal was 60, which was generous.
Well, it might be fine to ask to be sent off in first place from here, but that would bruise my pride.
It’s really dangerous to say such things.
At that moment, seeing the Izutomo sacrificing themselves for me would boost my self-esteem.
[Puong!]
Along with the adorable sound, my blue slime jumped toward the sky.
Since it was still early in the game, not many obstacles were falling from above.
My rank was 31st.
I felt confident I could easily make it within the top 60.
And just as I thought that, a sticky fell right above me.
But its speed wasn’t too fast, so I could easily dodge it…
“Ugh?”
The moment I jumped to the left, someone pushed me back to the right.
Naturally, I got hit by the sticky.
[Puong….]
The pitiful cry of my tired slime echoed.
“W-what the hell…?!”
Naturally, there was no response.
In this game, chatting during play is impossible, and the voice chat feature isn’t available either.
All I could see was just the chat filled with green words from the broadcast.
Leaving my sticky-hit slime behind, countless characters zoomed past me in an instant.
38th. 45th. 62nd.
When the sticky effect finally wore off, my rank was 71st.
“W-wait!”
Even shouting that, the characters far above me had no intentions of stopping.
And slowly, the end of the game began to approach.
11/60. 27/60. 45/60.
“Wait, wait a minute….”
No, this game is meaningful precisely because we’re playing it together, right?
If they just pass me by, it loses all its significance, doesn’t it?!
This is a joke, right? A prank?
You’re intentionally letting me squeak into 60th, right?
To make it fun for me?
Turning that happy circuit in my mind, I diligently leaped upward.
Thankfully, as expected, the number stopped at 59/60.
“Haah…”
Before I knew it, the finish line was in sight.
Sure enough, the Izutomo might enjoy teasing me, but they’re reliable when it counts.
I almost got let down there.
“Th-thanks, everyone….”
[Puong….]
Huh?
Why is my slime’s position getting pushed to the left?
And why is there sticky goo on it?
Why does it feel like my slime is falling toward the ground…?
It didn’t take long for my rank on the right screen to hit 80th.
And simultaneously…
[Game Over!]
A message like that popped up on my screen.
★
“Why? Why?! Why…?! Why are you, why are you torturing me like this?!”
I thought the first round might be an exception.
I had suddenly started a stream without any notice, and I hadn’t even mentioned playing a mini-game survival before, so I was okay with accepting that as a small revenge from the Izutomo.
But now I’ve been eliminated in the first stage for three consecutive rounds.
“This game is meant to play together with me, right? If you just drop me out from there, it loses all meaning…”
—A round with Mei-chan is enough.
—Since we did the first stage together, isn’t that okay?
“Th-that’s not the point…?”
This is strange.
It was supposed to be a perfect plan; why did it turn out like this?
[Loading…]
With those thoughts, I pressed the game start button again.
Is it unavoidable?
Should I just use that trump card, even if it’s just the first stage?
It bruises my pride, but what choice do I have?
The 60 who already moved ahead are racing away so they won’t get overtaken, and the 19 lagging behind are hell-bent on obstructing me.
In such a situation, no matter how great my gaming skills are, I can’t win.
This game requires not just pure skills but also a ton of luck.
[Game Start!]
This stage was ‘Spinning Board’.
Just staying on the randomly rotating board is enough for this map.
Most situations arise when the board suddenly spins the other way or gets pushed off by other players.
In other words, it’s the best stage for the Izutomo, who are trying to make me come in last.
[Meow…!]
As expected, as soon as the stage started, the Izutomo characters all charged at me.
[Puong….]
I naturally recorded last place.
For real, too many abusers…!