My Favorite Has Started A Live Broadcast!

Step, step.

I walked forward. In response, the enemy raised the knife he had lowered while staring at me.

“……Hm?”

I didn’t draw my knife. I simply raised my hand and tossed aside my bulletproof vest, which now felt like nothing but heavy baggage.

“Sigh…”

Let’s think. The opponent was the one who initially proposed a knife fight. That meant he was confident, and he demonstrated it by ruthlessly killing Yoon Gae, who wasn’t someone to be underestimated in the Gold tier.

Swish…

The biggest reason Yoon Gae died…

While I was considering how to win, Chocoa’s voice came through the headset.

“Get him!”

“Hmph…”

I loosened my grip on the knife handle a bit, removed the helmet obstructing my vision, and threw it into the air.

“…!”

The helmet, floating in the air, began to fall. Gravity, after all, was an obvious principle even in a game. But the helmet didn’t hit the ground as expected. Its landing point was my foot.

Bang!

The enemy, unable to react to the flying helmet, took it directly to the face. It wasn’t a fatal blow, but it caused enough confusion and obstructed his view.

I ran, freely.

Lowering my body, I charged towards the enemy who had lost his balance, the heavy combat boots thudding as I moved.

Swish, swish—

The enemy, still off-balance, quickly tried to regain his stance and swung the knife. Though he hadn’t put his full strength into it, the slashing was threatening enough. However, I was nowhere to be seen in his field of vision.

“…..Interesting…”

He reacted to the sudden stab of the knife from below. Rather than calling it a reaction, it was almost a miraculous evasion. My knife, aimed at his throat from below, grazed his helmet, then shot upward, and he pushed my arm aside to create some distance.

“……..”

Just like before, as with the reason Yoon Gae died, my hand held no knife, while my opponent had two.

***
Opponent POV

I had played Lesik even before I started streaming. It was incredibly fun, and I had a knack for it. After bouncing around between Gold and Platinum for quite a while, I began streaming and enjoyed it with a decent number of viewers.

I had a regular feature that I did at least once a week. This was the content that helped me gain more viewers and subscribers—it was my talent.

Knife fights.

Whether it was viewers, Gold, Platinum, or even Diamond, few had ever managed to defeat me.

But why.

After surviving that fluke and pulling out my knife, I should’ve had the advantage. The control was undoubtedly mine, as I had a knife, and she didn’t.

But why… did her thick, heavy boot cut through the air in a clean, swift arc, aiming straight for my head?

Thud! Crack—

I somehow crossed my arms to block the kick, but a horrendous sound echoed through my headset as my guard dropped from both arms.

The last thing I saw before I died was a pair of piercing red eyes looking at me, white hair flying, and the fierce approach of a combat boot aimed to take off my head.

***
Lee Suyeon POV

“…Huff…”

With about 30 seconds left, I steadied myself, gripping the knife I had taken with determination.

“Wow, you really won. That was amazing.”

Though she couldn’t see me, I twisted my fingers in embarrassment at Chocoa’s compliment, gulping down water to cool my flushed face as I prepared for the next match.

The knife fight score was 1:3.

“All the matches have now ended! With one team forfeiting, three teams remain.”

“The remaining teams are Love Sahyang, LesikCrusher, and Rat Hole. This means one team will advance by default! So let’s take a break, and we’ll draw the default winner among the remaining teams while showing you today’s highlights!”

The screen transitioned smoothly with this explanation.

The next scene was an in-game shot.

Unlike some teams fooling around with knives, they were holding guns and facing off.

The setting was a wooden kitchen, typical of the Mansion map. The site was on the first floor, with only one survivor on each team and around 20 seconds left.

It seemed like all the intense conditions had come together as we moved to the defender’s viewpoint. Several small holes had been made in the thin, white wall. About nine holes in a 3×3 pattern, each with a diameter of about 5 cm, spaced out at regular intervals. This wasn’t a rotation hole people could use to quickly pass through; it was a murder hole.

Nine murder holes in total, each one a potential angle the enemy had to watch out for.

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—

The attacking team was positioned on the stairs between the first and second floors. Seemingly aware of each other’s locations, the defender hid behind a table while the attacker, preparing to enter the site, kept an eye on the murder holes.

“The current highlight is a match between the Yun team and the Love Sahyang team in the first set. I’m not sure why, but I really like the team names. By the way, Rat Hole is the name of Geum Sahyang’s new fan club, right? I should join that immediately!”

“Um… Resin?”

“Ahem… my soul slipped out for a second there… Anyway, in this situation, both sides know each other’s positions and the attacker is at a disadvantage, right?”

With Resin’s question, the camera angle switched from first-person to third-person, showing the first floor of the Mansion. Both sides’ critical health statuses were revealed, along with the defuser left in the middle of the living room.

“The attacker has several disadvantages here. For one, there are too many angles to cover. Going back up to the second floor and finding another route would be an option, but there’s not enough time. So, the attacker has to break through the stairs…”

“They don’t have any smoke grenades, and they only have one grenade left. Plus, the wall is massive—quite the dizzying situation. Will they prove their pro status?”

Ratatatatatata—

They continued firing bullets, eventually breaking down the wall filled with numerous angles that had been watching them. With no bullets left, the attacker threw their empty gun toward the defender hiding behind the table.

Boom!

Bullets contain gunpowder. Although it’s a small amount, it’s still enough to kill someone, and the gunpowder ignites.

The viewpoint quickly shifted, showing the attacker tying a grenade to the rifle strap and throwing it toward the defender.

Ping—

As the rifle flew toward the table, the grenade’s pin detached, floating in the air.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The attacker, without pausing, drew a pistol and fired wildly to prevent the defender from escaping from the table.

Boom!!!!

-??????

-Is this really…Lesik..??

-Why aren’t they shooting their guns?

-They are shooting, lol.

-But how did they know the defender was at the table? Are they cheating?

-Wow, how do they think of that…I need to try this immediately.

“That was the first set! Let’s watch the next highlight!”

“Hmm…”

“With two teams gone, we’re down to three teams, so… we need to determine the team that’ll get a default win…”

“I don’t get why people would forfeit such a fun match! Unbelievable.”

“He said he didn’t show up because his parents were sick. How terrible…”

“…….”

“Oh.”

With tearful explanations, Yoon Gae almost made our ears bleed while offering a stream of apologies.

Since the highlight reel and Yoon Gae’s explanations filled up the break, it really felt like a rest period. I took off my headset and played with Strawberry, using some toys I’d bought but hadn’t used much.

-Look, I’ve told you over and over..!! N-no, not that I want to stop saying it!!

Even with the headset off, I could hear them so clearly that I took out some unused toys until the default winner was determined.

“What is this… fur ball… a collar?”

I could barely remember buying this stuff. I just bought whatever the enthusiastic staff recommended, though I might not need it all…

“Hmph…”

I couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. Putting a bell around a cat’s neck, of all things.

The center of the bright red collar had a small yellow bell. When I lightly tapped it with my hand, a small but clear ringing sounded.

“Meow?”

Strawberry resisted at first, but after a strategic head-scratch in the center, I managed to get the collar on with no fuss. The employee must have just guessed the size by eye, but it was loose enough to consider her growth.

Jingle, jingle.

Strawberry seemed curious about the bell, pawing at it a few times and creating a soft ringing sound. We might even be able to go for a walk someday.

-R…a..?

-Ba…ck…!

-Baraa?

“Yes!”

I’d been so focused on Strawberry that I’d missed some sounds, but once I heard Chocoa’s voice, I realized they were calling me and put the headset back on.

“Chocoa! Chocoa! Strawberry looks so cute!! I put on her collar, and it suits her so well~~~”

I rambled on about Strawberry for a few minutes. I finally understood why parents couldn’t stop bragging about their kids.

“Hm, can you send me a photo later?”

“Sure! I’ll take one now! …Oh, by the way, what’s our status?”

“At the very least, you’re guaranteed second place!!”

“Oh…so now all we need to do is win and claim that ace prize…”

I imagined receiving a very expensive, fancy computer as I prepared to take a picture of Strawberry.

“Huh…why is this taking the photo backward..? How do I flip the camera around?!”

“…….”

Baraa, still not quite accustomed to modern tech.

“Meow.”

Jingle.