I’ll Come Clean—I’m the Tech Guy (Part 3)

I glanced at the remaining players on both sides. The score was 6:2… wait, it just became 6:1. With six of us and only one opponent left, victory was undoubtedly within our grasp.

Since I had been slacking off the entire match, it was essentially a 19-on-20 battle from the start. My teammates were truly incredible to perform so well despite being down a player. They deserved all the credit!

“It seems we’ve got this in the bag.”

“By the way, where’s the person who helped us earlier?”

“They’re in the upper left… hey? What’s that?”

Just as my teammate, Jia Feinao, having just obliterated two mechanical summons eerily reminiscent of Megatron, was about to storm the enemy’s main base, a streak of pink and blue light suddenly struck them!

The instant was so sudden, so blindingly fast, it exceeded the very limits of the screen’s refresh rate. When I finally focused my gaze, Jia Feinao’s health bar had already been depleted, and the battlefield notification flashed:

Pink Bailian – Eliminated – Jia Feinao

This was a female character, clad in divine-tier equipment.

Her profession was a “Nuclear Knight.”

“What… was that?”

“They look incredibly strong!”

While every player in this match, save for me, was decked out in god-tier gear, this particular character was exceptionally over-the-top. The descriptive text on her equipment was so long it practically pierced the screen, and the title above her head was so dense it was illegible.

From head to toe, she was shrouded in the iridescent glow of +30 equipment and the dazzling effects of countless buffs, rendering her face completely obscured. All that could vaguely be discerned was a hint of pink hair.

Pink hair, coupled with that ID… it seemed she was a devoted fan of Bailian Chomi. Truly, Chomi’s fanbase was filled with such formidable players, clearly those who poured countless hours and money into the game—a testament to her loyal followers.

As I hid in a corner, spectating, this “Pink Bailian” powerhouse was already unleashing a massacre. No one could stand in her way; she was like Zhao Zilong single-handedly rescuing his lord, cyberpunk style!

Bio-assassins found no refuge under her overwhelming firepower, the mechanical sage’s particle cannons were effortlessly suppressed, and the War God’s cyborg army suffered a crushing defeat. The situation had become utterly one-sided.

“”So cool!””

Aimira and I couldn’t help but exclaim simultaneously.

“This person must be the blue team’s main commander, right? They only appeared when the blue team was almost completely wiped out, yet they swept through everyone with a single move. What a dramatic individual.”

“No, no, this isn’t the time for admiration, is it!? Look at the player count!”

6:1 → 5:1 → 4:1 → 3:1 → 2:1 → 1:1 —

My teammates had been completely annihilated by that single opponent. Only I remained.

“Kos, this…”

“Don’t panic. In times like these, one must display the demeanor of a true general. Rash actions only lead to failure.”

“As expected of Lord Kos! What exactly should we do?”

“We must stand as firm as Mount Tai.”

I instructed my character, Net Surfer, to remain prone behind a crate on the ramp. Even if Mount Tai crumbled above them, they would not stir, perfectly utilizing the shadows and gravel to conceal their form.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…Lord Kos?”

“…Hm?”

“‘Stand as firm as Mount Tai,’ you say… Aren’t you just cowering here, afraid to go out?”

“…………Tsk.”

She had seen through me.

But what did it matter? The Nuclear Knight, Pink Bailian, was circling in the sky, clearly lacking any target acquisition abilities. With less than two minutes remaining in the match, if I could just hide for those two minutes, it would at least be a draw.

True heroes do not contend for momentary valor—

Boom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A mushroom cloud erupted in the southwest corner of the map. The sky was first illuminated by a blinding flash, then enveloped by a rain of black ash. The air crackled with static-like effects, accompanied by sputtering noises.

Player ‘I Am Your Brother’ — Acquired special debuff: Nuclear Radiation.

“Huh!?”

My character turned gray, a radiation symbol appearing above their head. Their health and mana—no, not health and mana, but ‘health bar and mana bar’! Both their maximum health and stamina were rapidly decreasing, and even—even their armor cap was dropping!? What kind of debuff was this?

“Lord Kos, she… she’s indiscriminately bombing everything.”

Pink Bailian hoisted what appeared to be an incredibly formidable, grenade launcher-shaped weapon, firing missiles in all directions with a series of thumps. Each strike was equivalent to a small nuclear bomb, and all of them caused map destruction! She was practically Julius reborn!

“She really is, indiscriminately bombing…”

If she couldn’t find me, she’d just blow up the entire arena? What was I to do? I had no idea if all “Nuclear Knights” were as formidable as she was, but I, a mere “Net Surfer,” was certainly no match. In such a situation, one should—

“…………Surrender.”

Well, what else could I do?

I was already on the verge of death from the nuclear radiation debuff; a comeback was impossible. Besides, this wasn’t a real battle, just a game. If I died, I could simply exit.

The shockwaves of the mini-nuclear explosions drew closer. I unhurriedly brought up the menu, my mouse cursor hovering over ‘surrender’—

“You… want to surrender?”

“Yes.”

I glanced at Aimira from the corner of my eye.

She looked from the screen to me, her expression as if witnessing an extremely shameful act.

“Are you sure you want to surrender…?”

“…There’s no way we can win, is there? So, I’ll surrender. It’s just a game, it’s not like I’ll actually die.”

“Indeed, but… well, it can’t be helped…”

“…………”

…I see.

Though she didn’t say it aloud, she… hah, it was understandable.

No one wants to see their idol lose.

Especially a dreamy young girl in the prime of her youth.

For her sake, I’d give her a little fan service—

‘Looking back, I was an absolute idiot to completely lose my head at that moment.’

“Surrender my foot! Charge!”

I broke my prone stance, stood up brazenly, and leapt out from my hiding spot on my cyber surfboard. Pink Bailian immediately spotted me. Perhaps for dramatic effect, she didn’t launch a ranged attack. Instead, she raised her +30 Wrath of the Bug God and plunged towards me.

This Star Wars-esque greatsword spewed raging white flames from its blade as propulsion, a single strike powerful enough to cleave through the entire map.

Whatever. It’s fine.

‘Physical damage immunity, this is an order.’

Swish!!

The colossal, iron-like greatsword sliced through my body, passing straight from chest to back, as if my character had no collision detection in the physics engine.

The opponent’s character stiffened for a moment, seemingly in surprise.

This won’t do, my friend.

Believing everything would unfold as they envisioned, presuming that action alone would yield corresponding results—the arrogance of an inexperienced fledgling truly causes immense harm.

“Humans, you see… they must be scolded, beaten, and spat upon while lying on the ground before they can grow into useful adults.”

Therefore—

“Allow me to teach you a lesson, you little brat.”

Forced Domination — Acceleration Gear — Character movement speed increased, activated.

Forced Domination — Eight Gates Divine Artifact — Skill cooldowns removed, activated.

Forced Domination — WPE — Server fraud activated — Physical attack maxed — Magical attack maxed — Wall-hack — X-ray vision — Auto-heal — Auto-aim —

Net Surfer stood still, unflinchingly taking a direct hit from the epic weapon, BattleMoon-Warlord’s nuclear blast. Not only did they not lose any health, but not even their armor was broken. Seeing the dire situation, the Nuclear Knight immediately used the propulsion from her +27 Windfury Boots to create distance.

However, before the after-animation of her displacement had even vanished, Net Surfer’s basic attack struck her in the face.

“Accept the harsh realities of society!”

Ding!!!!!

Her ion shield shattered to pieces, and her +33 Gundanium Alloy Armor crumpled like paper. Her health bar, long enough to practically pierce the screen, instantly emptied by half.

“A fragile soul, virtual data, an existence utterly devoid of freedom within the system’s framework.”

“You are obsessed with illusory numbers, mistaking a character’s achievements for your own. And people like you just eat it up.”

“Face reality, you pathetic, lamentable clown.”

“Losers in the real world remain good-for-nothings in the virtual world too, hah!”

I gave a cold laugh and clicked my mouse.

And so, my Net Surfer began to mercilessly pummel the opposing VTuber simp.

‘Voiceover: Although he spoke with impassioned righteousness, this scumbag was merely cheating.’

“Ah… ah… ah………………………ah?”

[Hey, hey, hey… What… is this…]

Cyan’s real body was slumped in her gaming chair, her mind interfaced with the full-dive apparatus, experiencing the sensation of being brutally beaten from her character’s first-person perspective.

The opponent’s profession was Net Surfer, a universally acknowledged bottom-tier class—and to make matters worse, they wore plain, white-grade equipment, were only level 20, and their title was “Fledgling Light Fool,” completely devoid of any fashion or skins.

Yet, a character like this was currently pinning her to the ground and beating her.

The +20 Giant Smoke Shield was kicked away.

The +30 Wrath of the Bug God inflicted absolutely no damage.

The epic weapon BattleMoon-Warlord missed every shot.

The layers of buffs completely lost their effect, devolving into mere light pollution. Unable to tolerate it any longer, she activated the Nuclear Knight’s fourth-tier ultimate skill, “Crossroads Sunbath.” Of course, it was utterly useless.

For him, the nuclear explosion covering the entire battlefield was merely a gentle breeze, and the special debuff ‘Nuclear Radiation’ had no effect whatsoever. He was only using the lowest-tier attack skill, “Data Wind Blade,” which had short range, low damage, and a long cooldown. Its attached slowing effect was practically nonexistent.

Yet, this seemingly weak attack consistently landed critical hits with armor penetration, and its damage was absurdly high. She watched helplessly as her health bar plummeted, with absolutely no way to counter.

Finally—

“ROUND LOSE—YOUR TEAM… OPPONENTS…”

She stared at the glaring “Eliminated” on the screen.

Having secured the high ground and crushed everything in her path, it should have been a guaranteed victory, one that even a world champion team couldn’t have overturned. Yet, at the critical moment, this mysterious character, appearing from nowhere, elegantly eliminated her, instantly reversing the score by a massive margin.

The opponent character, named “I Am Your Brother,” turned around, facing directly towards the girl’s monitor.

In that moment, Cyan was certain.

She had found the man she had been dreaming of—what a load of crap!

“This person is hacking, right? Absolutely hacking!!!”

Someone was openly hacking in the world’s number one online game—and during a live stream by a popular VTuber, no less! Aaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!!