And thus, the promised day arrived.
“Waa~ This feels kinda strange, doesn’t it!” (Aya)
“Ahaha, I know right? I never thought that there would be a day where I’d play games with a customer.” (Haruto)
Haruto and Aya were talking to each other through the app, Diacord1.
“Wait, is this Haruto-san’s account? [Oimo_daisukiyo]2, ahaha~!” (Aya)
“I knew you’d say that!” (Haruto)
“So, you like sweet potatoes (oimo)?” (Aya)
“Well, not particularly, but… it just sounded like a nice name, you know?” (Haruto)
“If someone got hit by this ID, they’d be irritating.” (Aya)
“Irritating? Like a sudden desire to eat sweet potatoes…?” (Haruto)
“Huh? Hahaha.” (Aya)
Laughter erupted.
“Of course not! Irritating as in getting angry!” (Aya)
“Oh, I see! Well, if you think about it, with this name… yeah, it could be a bit provoking.” (Haruto)
“Oh, speaking of provoking, Haruto-san, have you heard of the ABEX streamer, Oni-chan?” (Aya)
“Oh, uh… that, you mean the streamer who’s infamous for always provoking others?” (Haruto)
When suddenly asked, Haruto’s heart raced, but he managed to respond calmly.
“Yeah! Well… he’s actually a pretty kind person, you know. Have you ever been told that you sound just like Oni-chan? Especially over the mic, it feels that way.” (Aya)
“R-really? That’s the first time someone told me that.” (Haruto)
(It’s okay, calm down… It’s just a practice account, so there’s no way she’d find out…)
With such composure, there was no need to panic
“Well, if you’re going to say that, then Shirayuki-san also sounds kind of similar to the Vtuber, Ayaya-san, you know? The dialect is similar too.” (Haruto)
“Huh…!? That’s just because we have the same dialect! Haruto-san, you sound pretty much like Oni-chan.” (Aya)
“Oh, ahaha…” (Haruto)
The conversation repeated itself. If he were to respond again, they would likely spiral into another loop.
However, it genuinely pleased Haruto that someone like Aya knew about Oni-chan.
“Well, it’s probably just our imagination, so let’s not worry about it.” (Haruto)
“Y-yeah! We’re both in the Platinum rank after all!” (Aya)
“That’s right.” (Haruto)
This was a topic he didn’t want to delve into. Whether Aya was reading the atmosphere or simply going along with it, her cooperation was appreciated.
“Oh, so should we go for ranked or casual? And should we do duo or trio?” (Haruto)
“Hmm. I think the chaos is fun, so let’s go for casual and form a trio. The third teammate can be a random.” (Aya)
“Got it! Let’s get started then!” (Haruto)
“Okay~” (Aya)
With both of them ready, they started finding a match.
As it was a highly popular game, they were able to find a solo teammate relatively quickly, and once they formed a three-person team, they moved to the character selection screen.
“By the way, Shirayuki-san, what’s your main?” (Haruto)
“I’ll use… Gibraltar!” (Aya)
“Alright, then I’ll go with Octane.” (Haruto)
“Hmm, interesting. Oni-chan also uses Octane.” (Aya)
“Uh, well… Octane is a popular character, so…” (Haruto)
While making excuses, he screamed internally.
(What am I doing…!)
Being told he’s similar to Oni-chan and then choosing Oni-chan’s main would naturally lead to him being suspicious.
He managed to pull off a strained smile and came up with a quick excuse.
“W-Well… let’s do our best.” (Haruto)
“Un~!” (Aya)
On the screen, the countdown for the game began, and the player-filled aircraft traversed the expansive map.
During this time, they had to make the important decision on where to land.
“Oh, our teammate marked a popular area! Pretty aggressive from the get-go.” (Aya)
“Haha, looks like it’s going to be an intense fight right from the start…” (Haruto)
This was a casual match which didn’t affect their rank so there was no problem taking such risks.
Following the teammate’s marked location, they descended simultaneously into the central area of the map.
During this descent, they scanned for enemies heading to the same location, assessing how many parties they might be fighting against.
“—Two parties, huh?” (Haruto)
“—Two parties, eh?” (Aya)
“…” (Haruto)
“…” (Aya)
For that brief moment, they both were thinking about the same thing.
“We were thinking the same thing, weren’t we?” (Haruto)
“Y-yeah! What a coincidence…” (Aya)
Her laughter, accompanied by an unsteady voice, seemed to reveal a sense of nervousness.
∮
[Aya’s PoV – On the day before Haruto and Aya played together]
“Hehe, tomorrow I’ll be playing games with Haruto-san. Yay~ (yatta~)!” (Aya)
Of course, she was looking forward to playing with Haruto, but what excited her even more was the fact that she received praise from someone she admired.
He was a Platinum-ranked player, a whole three ranks below her, who had reached the Predator rank. This meant there was little chance she would be a burden, and on the contrary, there was a high chance that he would praise her if she could show off her skills.
– (You’re really good~!)
– (You’re so reliable!)
– (How are you so good!?)
She had imagined hearing such praises. She believed she could impress him, and perhaps, by playing more together, they could get closer!
“H-how should I respond if he praises me? I’d probably get too happy and my words won’t come out at all… and if I end up saying something weird… yeah, that’s not good.” (Aya)
Just the thought of that made her chest hurt.
Aya squeezed her pillow, trying to motivate herself. She fidgeted, grabbed her phone, and lay on her back, staring at the ceiling.
“Um, let’s see…” (Aya)
In the dimly lit room, she turned on her phone and opened a memo, swiftly typing away. She was writing down lines of script just like Oni-chan would.
“Hehe, I’m going to be praised a lot. Maybe I’ll even get to use up all the replies I thought of.” (Aya)
No one would have expected Aya to be doing something like this. In reality, this was the first time she had done something like this. In other words, she really didn’t want him to think that she was weird.
“Nnn~! I wish tomorrow would come sooner. I really want to be praised a lot… also, I want to get closer to him…” (Aya)
She stretched, letting her overflowing excitement fill the room.
She indulged in elaborate fantasies, but things didn’t unfold exactly as she had imagined.
∮
The first casual game:
Haruto: 2870 damage, 6 kills, 2 assists, 9 knockdowns.
Aya: 3210 damage, 8 kills, 3 assists, 11 knockdowns.
Together, they eliminated around 5 squads.
Team ranking: 1st.
The second casual game:
Haruto: 2343 damage, 7 kills, 1 assist, 8 knockdowns.
Aya: 2255 damage, 6 kills, 3 assists, 8 knockdowns.
Together, they eliminated around 4 squads.
Team ranking: 1st.
Third casual match:
Haruto: 3171 damage, 9 kills, 4 assists, 9 knockdowns.
Aya: 2828 damage, 8 kills, 4 assists, 6 knockdowns.
Together, they eliminated around 7 squads.
Team ranking: 1st.
Three consecutive victories.
After the first match, there were exchanges like ‘That was lucky!’ ‘Feeling a bit good today!’ ‘You’re good!’ flying around.
Similar conversations continued after the second match.
However, after the third match, that kind of conversation disappeared.
The performance metrics such as damage dealt and kills were suspicious, but it wasn’t just that. Their speed in providing cover, predicting safe zones, the speed at which they eliminated enemies, and their overall strategy—all of these factors highlighted that both of them possessed a ‘similar level of skill’.
“Haruto-san, that’s definitely a smurf3 account! You’re way too good! What’s the rank on your main account!?” (Aya)
“Well, even if you say that, Shirayuki-san, you…” (Haruto)
“I’ve been watching Haruto-san’s movements closely, but aren’t you actually at the top-level?” (Aya)
“H-How do you know? Is Shirayuki-san saying that because she has reached Predator rank before… or something?” (Haruto)
“I-I’ve watched videos of top players before!” (Aya)
No matter what excuses they made, it was clear that they had a skill level not far from top players.
At this point, the question lingering in their minds was about their main accounts… and with these suspicions, they entered the fourth match.
—But then tragedy struck.
Chat (Teammate): [Wait? Is this for real!?]
A random teammate in the solo queue suddenly entered this message into the chat.
“…” (Haruto)
“…” (Aya)
The two of them, having seen the chat, fell into silence. Cold sweat started to bead on their foreheads.
These were words not casually thrown around to ordinary players. These were words reserved for streamers or content creators…
And the target of this chat became evident with the next set of words.
Chat (Teammate): [That’s Oni-chan’s smurf account, right?]
“Ahaha. I-I think our teammate is misunderstanding something…” (Haruto)
Haruto immediately tried to address what was typed in chat but…
“…” (Aya)
“I-I wonder what’s our teammate saying? R-right, Shirayuki-san?” (Haruto)
“…” (Aya)
While Haruto was asking, Aya remained silent.
In her silence, she started typing in chat to the other teammate.
Chat (Aya): [Why do you think that?]
Illustration of Aya
TL Notes:
Thanks for reading!
Got a bit lazy during the weekend so there were no chapters~
I was thinking about just leaving it at the tragedy-struck part, but that would be too evil won’t it? Either way, there’s absolutely no way he’s gonna be dodging this one… right?
The title of the chapter might have been translated wrongly cause it doesn’t make sense, but idk, it might change as I continue translating the chapter.
I was just looking through some old novels I had in my library to see if there was something I could pick up, and omg I found this.
I’m Not Going to Do Something Like Break off Our Engagement
I’m not sure how many of you read this, but I rmb liking it. Chapters are long, but updates took forever. I wonder if I should pick this up.
Thanks for the chapter!
Ahoge!!! I couldn’t resist it!
Pull it and maybe you’ll get an alter