NOVEL NEXT Chapter 42
“Alright, let’s give it a shot!”
Before I knew it, while chatting about random stuff aside from the recent community post, the update for Royal Ground was finished.
– Gonna snipe waiting, lol
– Just aim and fire, dammit, lol
“Go ahead and snipe all you want. I’m confident in my skills. Let me fetch some water first.”
After saying that, I switched the broadcast screen to standby and quickly logged into Royal Ground.
Honestly, just because I said not to snipe doesn’t mean people wouldn’t— I’m going to sneakily start the game anyway.
But…
Boom-!
The grand sound that plays when starting the game echoed through the broadcast, and at the same time, the chat began to scroll up rapidly.
– ???
– Hey, you! lol
– Gotcha trying to play a secret game, lol
– Water? Nonsense, lol
– Turn the mic back on
– Capture complete
“Agh…”
Busted.
But instead of turning the mic on right away, I kept an eye on the chat.
– Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go! Let’s go!
– Aim and fire, lol Aim and fire, lol Aim and fire, lol
– I’ll take you down, Miro! lol I’ll take you down, Miro! lol
“What a mess…”
Is being a sniper really that enjoyable? I didn’t get it.
Still, to avoid detection as much as possible, I set it up so no sound would be transmitted and started the game.
After that, I pretended not to be playing and turned on the mic.
“Ah, I’ve got the water.”
– Yes, yes~ I guessed so!
– Oh, I see!
– Enjoy your water~
“Agh… busted. Let’s quickly do a custom match before we start the game.”
Saying that, I looked back at the screen, and the game had already been caught.
…What’s going on? Does it usually get picked up this fast?
Since the game was caught, I streamed the screen again properly.
– ??? What is this?
– What is it?
– Wait, already caught?
Looking at the chat reactions, it wasn’t me being targeted?
Is there some event going on?
“Aren’t you guys the ones targeting me?”
– How would we even target you?
– Yeah, that’s correct!
Not sure? I guess I’ll find out when I start the game.
“Anyway, as you can see, we have a random duo.”
Random duo is a mode that matches me with one other user randomly.
“Ah, hello?”
I activated the team voice and tried to speak.
I wanted to know if they were a viewer or just a regular person.
[Hello?]
…?
“Yes?”
[Um… ah, I’m not sure!]
– lolololol
– Sushi girl in the chat, lol
– Whoa
– Welcome, Japanese person, lol
“Umm… hello?”
Could they really be Japanese? What are the odds? Especially since this is a Korean server.
[Hi! Yoroshiku onegaishimasu!]
“Ah… hi…”
– lololol
– Are they understanding and responding?
– Sushi girl has a nice voice, yesss!
– Epic win!
What’s this? A concept or something?
Their nickname was in English, though it felt like just a random selection with no meaning.
[Um… I’m going to use butakurēmu.]
“Uh… hi! Wakarimashita!”
I responded using the few Japanese phrases I knew.
How many Japanese anime has Kim Soo-hyun, the female viewer, seen, and how many native virtual YouTubers has she watched?
I can manage some casual Japanese vocabulary.
[Do you speak Japanese?]
“Uh? No, no, no.”
[Eh… yes…]
Of course, I wouldn’t say I’m good at it.
When asked if I could speak Japanese and I vehemently denied, I heard a defeated voice on the other end of the mic.
Isn’t it obvious I can’t?
But feeling a bit guilty, I threw out a word of encouragement.
“Uh… Ganbare.”
[…! Hi!]
Wow, what a reaction.
It seems like the Japanese person should be the one doing the broadcasting, not me!
– lololol
– Sushi girl is cute, lol
– What’s up??
– Just get down already
– It’s already too good; it’s all gone by…
– Jump down, let’s go!
“Um, ah,”
I lost track of the timing to jump down while focusing on the conversation.
What do I say to jump out of the airplane in Japanese again?
Momentarily freezing up, luckily the Japanese person spoke first.
[We… we’re going!]
While a bit awkward, it was definitely solid Korean.
“Hi…”
– Why is the Japanese person speaking Korean and the Korean speaking Japanese?
– Neither are really good, lol
– Just stick with one language already.
While we were down and farming, I temporarily turned off the team mic and chatted with the viewers.
“If I speak Korean, you won’t understand, right?”
– Clearly, I can’t even understand that awkward Japanese.
– Sounds like you know some Korean from how you talk.
“I think that person’s the same. They probably speak Korean instead to comprehend because they can’t catch my Japanese.”
– Hmm… is that so?
– But can’t we just speak Korean?
– Well, you should learn to understand if you’re on a Korean server, right?
“Please be kind. At least I’m trying to speak Korean.”
– Yep ^^
– But then the Japanese person…
[Thanks for the 1,000 won donation, ㅇㅇ!]
If someone asks if Dokdo is our land, it’s 10,000 won.
“Whoa!”
– lololololol
– You’re holding back?
– If you don’t, you’re a traitor, right?
– Hurry up!
“What if someone says it’s Takeshima? What shall I do?”
– You’re the worst!
– This girl is ridiculous…
– That results in war, for sure.
– Is she out of her mind?
“Hey, the viewers led me to that first!”
– When did we do that, you crazy lady?
– We’re strangers here~
– Get outta here!
– Who are you anyway?
– Cut the anti-Japan nonsense!
“Now you’re trying to dunk me. Alright. I’m going to go chat with the Japanese person, so keep yourself entertained.”
– ??
– Did… we do something wrong?
– I’m apologizing!
Now that I’d done enough farming, I turned the team voice back on and made an effort to communicate with the Japanese person.
“Uh… Ikimasu…!”
[Hi! Going, going!]
– What is this, lolol
– Sounds like pretty incompetent people, lol
“This way… uh… um, over there!”
[Hi!]
Surprisingly, I was able to communicate enough with the Japanese person.
Honestly, there was no need for complex words in-game; as long as I informed them where to go, everything was fine.
And…
“Hurry up!”
[Hi… ei! Teki!]
Tatatatang-!
“Uh… oh…”
This Japanese person is really good.
Unlike me, who wouldn’t go so far as to say I’m great at FPS, they dealt with enemies swiftly, taking down two attackers single-handedly.
“Whoa… awesome!”
– Whoa, awesome, lolol
– What are you doing?
“What can I do if they’re doing well?”
– Are you going to give up Dokdo?
– You just lost the Korea-Japan match.
– Better swim back.
“Anyway, I think we’ll take first place this round?”
The Japanese person is doing an amazing job.
And I’m not too shabby myself either, right?
I primarily supported them by tossing smoke bombs or driving the car quite effectively.
As a result, only two teams remained, and we fought fiercely around a small circle.
“Uh! Yabe…”
But unfortunately, the unlucky Japanese person got hit by a grenade and was knocked out first, leaving me alone.
“What do I do now?”
The opponents were from the last two teams who had taken down everyone else.
I didn’t think I could take on two opponents by myself.
– 2 vs. 1, let’s go!
– Let’s save the Japanese!
– Let’s take down the Japanese and grab the loot!
“Guys, I usually deal with driving and smoke bombs, so I can’t take them both!”
I’m not a combat specialist, you know? I don’t even have grenades; just smoke bombs set up in my inventory.
– (Interpretation) I’m really bad at shooting!
– Then what do we do?
– Let’s throw smoke and revive the Japanese!
– We’ll take out the Japanese and throw smoke to steal the loot, let’s go!
As I sat there, unable to make a move with two opponents staring me down…
I heard a voice through the headset from the unconscious Japanese.
[Please… help me!]
Though shaky, the Korean words were a clear and desperate plea.
Yeah, if I rode along to this point, I had to do something, right?
“Alright… Mankai!”
[…!]
I immediately threw every smoke bomb around the area where the Japanese person lay knocked out.
“I’m going!”
After the smoke began to spread adequately, I dashed forward, dodging the hail of bullets raining down from all directions, and picked up the unconscious Japanese.
[Onni…!]
“I couldn’t just leave you behind, my dear friend.”
– T_T
– How touching, T_T
– Epic win, Miro, T_T
But as I laid down the smokes, it seemed the opponents had closed in because I soon heard footsteps right in front of me.
[Run away!]
Wait? If they’re running away, we didn’t come to save them.
In a hurry, I sought refuge behind cover to revive the knocked-out Japanese.
Steps could be heard getting closer.
[Onni!]
“Ganbare! I’ll buy you some time…!”
I had just recovered the Japanese, but their health was at rock bottom.
I had to step up as the one who was at least maintaining health.
I plunged straight into the smoke, firing bullets to draw their attention.
Bang-! Tatadang!
I held my ground as the enemies fired blindly into the smoke and bought some time.
[Go! Go!]
Boom! Bang!
Soon, the Japanese person, fully healed, joined the fray, and together we secured first place.
“Nice!”
[Yaay!! Onee-san, awesome!!]
“Phew…”
What a lingering aftertaste.
We actually took first place.
I had just played my first game, yet I poured all my energy into it.
– Wow, lol
– From today on, I firmly support Japan!
– A Korean-Japanese masterpiece, T_T
– For real, a classic!
– Legendary, lol
“Next round? That’s a bit…”
Saying that, I closed the game. I simply didn’t have the energy for more gameplay.
– ?
– ???
– Don’t go crazy on me.
– ??
“If our paths cross again someday.”
– Oh come on…
– Can you please rejoin?
– I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…
– I raised my hands, please… I raised my hands, please… I raised my hands, please…
[Thank you for the 100,000 won donation, Master Miro!]
I don’t need to play anymore; just please join again and send me a friend request with the Japanese person…
“Whoa…”
I logged back into the game, and thankfully, the Japanese accepted my friend request.