Chapter 18: Backgame(5)

[Croissant…?]

A word spat into the air. Yu-ah’s voice came through the headphones.

The longer I dragged on, the more likely I was to be suspicious.

I had to say something to quickly get over the situation.

For now, I’ll just blurt out an excuse as it comes to my mouth.

[Croissant… oh. Right. I thought you were eating a croissant while doing it.]

[Croissant?]

[You like croissants, right? You always order them when you go to a cafe.]

[Yeah… that’s true. What croissant all of a sudden?]

Yu-ah’s voice indicated that it didn’t make sense.

This is f*cking ruined.

…f*ck.

What croissant? Or a bakery? Is it because Yu-ah likes bread?

When I linked Yu-ah and the word croissant, that was the only thing I could think of.

However, the situation had already deteriorated to this point.

I’ll try to handle it as much as I can.

[No. Why are you bad at playing games while eating delicious food? That’s why it felt like you weren’t good at anything. That’s what it was. Yeah.]

This is a real bastard.

I felt ashamed of myself for coming up with such excuses.

I wanted to stick my head in a hole if there was one.

Even explaining what I was saying myself, my speech was like the perfect embodiment of a real person.

If I had said something like that, it would have ruined the atmosphere of the broadcast.

But Yu-ah was such a good kid.

[Ah… something like that? Ji-bin.]

[Huh?]

[Did you eat something wrong? Or are you just talking nonsense because it’s so early in the morning?]

This is why broadcasters are different. Because they’ve been letting out so much nonsense from viewers. It seemed like this level of nonsense didn’t bother them. I was glad that it passed, but I also felt strange.

That’s why you thought I was a weird guy who always talks nonsense, right? That kid. If he’s letting it slip like this, Yu-ah must think that’s how our conversations were always like. No, really, isn’t it all that different?

[Just let it go. Is this the first or second time I’ve been talking nonsense?]

[Wait a minute. Shh.]

Yu-ah then covers her mouth and tells me to be quiet. No matter what, this is a little hurtful.

[Okay… I’ll be quiet…]

[What. Why are you suddenly gloomy…?]

[You told me to shut up.]

[No. I didn’t say that because of work. You idiot. I can hear footsteps.]

[…Ah.]

After hearing her words, I finally shut my mouth.

I really started to hear the faint sound of something approaching from around the house.

… How did you hear that? Even though you were talking with me?

Actually, Yu-ah was like a reincarnation of a rabbit.

She was sensitive not only to sight but also to sound.

[What should I do?]

[The commander should give orders. Soldiers are supposed to just follow.]

[What an incompetent soldier. Anyway, let’s wait. I don’t have the confidence to take you out and win.]

[Hey. You honest brat.]

[Hehe.]

I swore at Yu-ah, who was using extreme force like that.

I waited with her in silence for the enemy team to approach.

[We’ve arrived at the door. Let’s shoot at the same time when they come in. Okay?]

[Okay.]

I held my breath and looked towards the door nervously.

Soon, the door opened with a jerk, and I thought one of the opponent characters would come in.

But the opponent only opened the door and didn’t come in.

[What? Does he know we’re here? Or is he just checking because he’s scared?]

And Yu-ah’s briefing continued.

[There’s one more person besides the one who opened the door just now.]

[Where?]

[Over there, beyond the window you’re in.]

I could see the face of one person peeking out from behind the wall and looking this way.

Judging from the fact that he was just watching without coming in, it looked like he was trying to protect his teammate.

Yu-ah quickly glanced over the situation and quickly gave me an order.

[Those guys seem to know each other? You take care of the kid behind there. I’ll kill the kid in front of the door as soon as he comes in.]

[Okay.]

It was a quick and good decision.

The guy was much closer to the window I was standing in.

And since Yu-ah had a much better speed and shot rate, it was easy to win the close combat.

Anyway, it was hard to hit the kid hiding behind the wall with an SR…

In this case, a grenade is better.

I just happened to have a grenade and grabbed it.

Then I aimed to throw it through the window.

That’s when the guy waiting in front of the door suddenly came in.

[…Here he is.]

[What?]

Yu-ah’s soft voice was heard, and the gun fired with a thud. But I was already holding the grenade in my hand. I was so surprised that I moved the mouse and aimed wrong.

‘…Wait a minute?’

The grenade that was supposed to fly out the window missed the aim and hit the window ledge.

It fell back into the house with a thud.

Of course, an explosion came out with a loud bang and covered Yua.

[Huh?]

Yu-ah’s panicked voice echoed through the headset.

[Yu-ah_fainted from your grenade.]

[You fainted from your grenade.]

…Um. The kill log appeared in front of me at the same time, telling me that we had team-killed.

Of course, since we were a duo, we both died on the spot.

The voice became silent, unable to say anything in this absurd situation.

It was obvious what I could say in that miserable situation.

[… But one of my opponents died too, right? Let’s have a drink.]

[What should I have a drink with! You troll!]

I thought it would be 0 kills and 0 damage.

But I still got 1 kill. Of course, it was a team kill.

With such a meaningless death, her first PUBG match ended.

[Please….Please…! Just die!]

Yu-ah’s desperate voice was heard through the headset.

I was already dead, watching her screen while cheering her on.

… But really, she didn’t die even after getting hit a few times?

The final battle. In a 1v1 situation, Yu-ah and the opposing character were fighting from a long distance with SR.

And then Yu-ah calmly exhaled and finished reloading.

At the moment when she changed the angle and fired the last shot with a bang.

[WINNER! WINNER! CHICKEN DINNER!]

A message announcing our duo’s victory popped up across the screen.

Yu-ah and I cheered in victory right then.

[Gyaaaah! Finally! Finally we won!]

[Na Daejang! Na Daejang! Na Daejang! Na Daejang!]

[Yes, yes. Praise her more! This is Bae Daenyeo and this is Na Daejang! I’m a woman who’s played PUBG for 4000 hours!]

[Jeong-eun-jang! Na-dae-jang. What on earth is this skill!]

He laughed out loud while teasing her.

In the end, we, who had only intended to play one or two rounds, ended up playing for nearly ten rounds.

Our goal was only one: to eat chicken and part ways.

Of course, there were times when I died in vain, so it didn’t take up much time.

The two of us finally finished the game.

To be honest, both Yu-ah and I were tired, but we felt like we were forced to play until we ate chicken.

[You worked hard. Lifting logs.]

[You worked hard too. It wasn’t bad, was it? Considering it’s been a while since you played?]

[I admit that. It wasn’t bad, except for the suicide bombing with a grenade at the beginning.]

She didn’t do a great job carrying the game alone like Yu-ah.

Still, she came to her senses in the later games and did well enough for one person.

But I was having a hard time by myself… Could I possibly lift three third-generation members? I was worried about that as I watched her play.

[Wow… what should I do… time is a mess…]

Yu-ah checked the time now that the game was over. She sighed and worried.

[Ah. Right. Didn’t you say something came up?]

[Uh… it’s an important appointment… do I have to stay up all night like this…? Sigh.]

Seeing her say that, I thought it might be something related to work.

She can’t be late or skip it, and the schedule can’t be adjusted either.

[But you ate chicken, right? You don’t regret it, right?]

[…Uh, I don’t regret it. Yeah. I, I ate chicken.]

Actually, I was the one who suggested we stop halfway through, but Yu-ah insisted that we couldn’t do it until she finished the chicken.

[Anyway, do your best with tomorrow’s schedule. Fighting!]

[Don’t you have anything? Tomorrow? Don’t you have a part-time job?]

[What kind of schedule does a jobless person have? Hehehe. After all, working is losing. Jobless people are the best.]

[… Why me? We played the game together, so why me…]

If you feel wronged, you should be jobless too.

I should watch the replay of Rikyuel’s broadcast tomorrow and play games.

Ugh~ It’s so sweet.

[… Still, it was fun playing games with you after such a long time.]

[That’s right. It’s been a really long time since I played games with you.]

How did I forget this kind of joy? A trivial conversation, a victory in a trivial game. Enjoying such moments without hesitation.

Lee Chung-ha took these things away from me.

If that was going to happen, I should have just never dated a girlfriend.

[Let’s do it again next time. Often.]

[Or so.]

A smile formed on my face at her unhesitating suggestion.

Because I’m always welcome to play games with Rikyuel.

[…Oh, right. I had something to say to you, but I forgot. I should just say it now.]

[What do you want to say?]

What do you want to say to me? This kid. Did you catch him skipping over the croissant earlier? I was slightly nervous, wondering what she would say.

[Your mom will take you home with me. Is next week free?]

…Your mom? Me?