chapter_0011

11 – A Villain Can’t Be This Cute (2)

11 – A Villain Can’t Be This Cute (2)

[Wow. I can’t believe you’re accepting this. As a token of my gratitude, I’ll carry this round.]

Kim, who didn’t know much about the community or the notorious Signal Flare, scoffed to himself.

‘… With two Double Barrels?’

The Double Barrel is loved as a close-range weapon, but it’s rare to see someone carrying two of them.

Even if Crazy Shot is a hero with shotgun damage bonuses.

Moreover, the total ammunition was only 40 rounds.

The rest of the inventory was filled to the brim with throwing weapons, excluding Molotov cocktails.

Though his skills weren’t that great, Kim had played the game long enough to roughly picture what the opponent wanted to do.

A strategy focused on close-quarters combat, closing the distance with a smokescreen when it opened up.

However, since it wasn’t typical play, there was a high chance of getting caught up in unnecessary trouble while moving together.

At this point, Kim had to make a choice.

Trust the random teammate who declared they would carry, or fend for himself.

The remaining teammate was Chinese and silent, but specialized in causing chaos in enemy territory as a Thief class.

They probably wouldn’t help Kim much even if a fight broke out.

Yet, ironically, Kim’s class was Supporter.

It was a class that needed allies around to maximize its effectiveness.

If skilled, a Supporter character could easily handle solo matches, but Kim didn’t want to engage in such a tiring game at this late hour.

And despite the strange appearance, the cute voice had a soothing power that gently healed Kim’s frustration from continuously missing victories.

“I’ll see if you really carry while backing me up.”

[Oh, then that would be great.]

Trusting FinalEducationChickenSchoolMoMo.

Choice made.

About 15 minutes later.

Kim realized that his choice had been the best.

[Don’t come over here. I’ll clear it. Watch the other side.]

“Sure, Chicken School.”

The voice was adorably childlike, but the gameplay was as bold as if a real man were playing.

When an enemy appeared, they would first lay down a smokescreen, then drop the ultimate ability of Crazy Shot, the Acceleration Zone, and rush in, bang, bang!

Though there were moments when both shields broke simultaneously and the timing for reloading overlapped—since the Double Barrel shotgun in the Battle Colosseum had the longest reload time among main weapons—they overcame the crisis with absurdly accurate sticky grenades.

Even when their own shields were completely broken, the two would definitely take down their opponents, ensuring Kim’s squad wouldn’t lose.

The last battle was particularly impressive.

Chicken School showcased an unbelievable clutch play, wiping out the entire enemy team while still alive.

All that with just the Double Barrel, smokescreen, and sticky grenades.

— !! Victory !! —

Thus, Kim’s squad successfully claimed victory more easily than expected.

Even Chicken School had good manners.

[Wow. KimCookingMaster, your care was great. Are you perhaps on a secondary account?]

“No, this is my main account.”

[You were lucky. Thanks to you, we won. Good job.]

In truth, it was Kim who was lucky.

Before meeting Chicken School, he had played over twenty matches with consistently terrible teammates and was starting to wonder if he should go to bed.

“… It’s chaotic, but they’re fun.”

* * *

Cheon Do-hee loves the Battle Colosseum.

It’s not just empty words; she loves it so much that she must play it at least one day a week during her broadcasts.

Though she isn’t particularly skilled and often struggles in ranked games, she endures with sheer tenacity, managing to hit at least gold by the end of the season.

So, when looking for news related to the Battle Colosseum, she frequently visits the Battle Colosseum gallery, and while having breakfast, she noticed an incredible speed of post generation from the morning.

… ─ Battle Colosseum Gallery ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

[Hotan Hotan Ah…]

(little one.ntube)

This was recorded while playing yesterday, and isn’t that the one?

The one who used the username FirecrackerKim before.

It really feels like a Signal Flare, doesn’t it?

Last night, while queuing, I met them as a random teammate, and they were going around getting kills with a Double Barrel like a Signal Flare.

After the queue started, they kept saying hello 55 times, so I awkwardly greeted them back, and suddenly they said they would carry, smashed everything, and led us to victory;

[Comments]

— BattleColosseum291: Hello, is the madness insane? LOL

— BattleColosseum862: Their voice is so cute while they’re going crazy LOL

–
BattleColosseum361: It seems cute because they’re going crazy?

–
BattleColosseum721 (author): I have a younger sister, so listening to this is super annoying;

— BattleColosseum634: Bring more

–
BattleColosseum721 (author): What more, you crazy person

–
BattleColosseum634: I said bring more!!!!!!!!!!!!!

–
BattleColosseum721 (author): (Dazed)

… ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ ─ …

It was clear to anyone that it was Majiya.

Wondering what had happened to cause this chaos, it seemed that they had greeted everyone they met in the random queue with 100 hellos in the early morning.

It was a situation where it wouldn’t be strange if Majiya’s identity as Signal Flare was discovered at any moment, yet they were engaging in such malicious behavior—.

“Why… is everyone reacting positively?”

Worried that someone might be cursing, all the comments were overwhelmingly positive.

Upon checking the reason, it turned out that if they greeted someone, they would carry that match and exit in style.

There were over ten circulating clip videos, and even a full video containing communication with teammates throughout the game.

[No, this is just amazing support, right? It’s like meeting Helen Keller.]

[Sniper, do you have any shield batteries left? Just one, please.]

[This is a sniper, and this is a shot. Sniper, confiscate other guns. From now on, just shoot with the sniper.]

She didn’t have the luxury to listen to everything, so she quickly skipped through and heard a few, and they were diligently giving voice buffs to encourage their teammates.

“… They really do speak beautifully.”

This is why Majiya is a professional troublemaker.

They never say anything that could cause a problem.

Even when Momo was being a troublemaker, it was the same.

They only used pretty words to avoid bans, but with that, they managed to irritate people so well. Even Dohee’s anger was on the verge of overflowing, walking a dangerously thin line that drove people crazy.

So, Momo crashed into them.

Thinking that unless they met in person, they would suffer for life.

“Amidst all this, how has no one recognized that they’re our employee?”

Are they pretending not to know?

Or is it really impossible to recognize just by voice?

Since Dohee’s main content is Battle Colosseum, many of the regulars in the Momo gallery also participate in the Battle Colosseum gallery, yet it seemed no one had caught a decisive clue yet.

Could it be that Signal Flare is a girl? Even with such a cute voice?

… The shocking fact made everyone’s eyes widen, and perhaps the discussions about D-Rain, who had been stirring up the Parallel and first-generation gallery over the past couple of days, were buried.

But for now, it may be buried, but it will eventually be revealed.

If it’s going to be revealed, it’s better to do it all at once during this collaboration.

After all, scandals have a greater impact when they explode in multiple stages rather than all at once.

Even if it’s still just ‘Signal Flare = cute girl troublemaker.’

Once the puzzle of ‘Signal Flare = girl = troublemaker = D-Rain’ is pieced together, the ripple effect will be enormous.

If she mentions it during the upcoming collaboration, it can be managed on the day of the broadcast.

Otherwise, it’s clear that she’ll have to go through unnecessary struggles later.

Perhaps because of this concern, Dohee spent the entire morning pondering and finally sent a message to Jia around lunchtime.

[Me: Jia, what username will you use during the broadcast?]

[Majiya: My main account]

Surprisingly, they were on the same wavelength.

[Me: Why not use a secondary account?]

[Majiya: I don’t want to get caught using a secondary account and have people talking about it]

[Majiya: I haven’t done anything wrong, but]

[Majiya: I feel like if I show it this time, I can subtly get away with it]

[Majiya: But the boss needs to help a bit]

[Me: Oh…]

[Me: That’s strategic]

However, the reason Majiya said this was because she had gained a certain conviction after completing a social experiment.

That a cute troublemaker can be forgiven even when acting silly, a somewhat twisted conviction.

[Majiya: But can I act a bit silly like I do when I target the boss?]

However, if she acts too silly, she attracts persistent people.

[Me: You don’t want to appear on broadcasts often, right?]

[Majiya: No]

[Me: Then hold back]

[Majiya: Aww]

Aww, what a silly sound.

… She’s cute, so I’ll let it slide.

[Me: You know I’m with Rain]

[Me: Just don’t cross the line]

* * *

⚡Ppajijik

[Aoyagi Rein / AOYAGI RAIN]

@aoyagirain_parallel_vtuber | 166,000 followers

First generation of Parallel, falling rain from the sky, Aoyagi Rein☂

[ (🔴Live) A big one has come ] 👪15,227

#BattleColosseum #Momo #Parallel

A week later, on the day of the scheduled Battle Colosseum collaboration.

A staggering 15,000 viewers flocked to Rein’s broadcast, which usually maintained an average of about 4,000 viewers.

The interest in Employee D-Rain, already high,

And other members seemed to have declared a break to watch the collaboration.

In a way, it was a choice that could lead to losing her own fans, but it was also a trick that Boss Dohee had taught the first generation.

[Momo: Fans who watch one of you are very likely to watch the others]

[Momo: You are a group, and whenever you do something, you will naturally end up working with other members]

[Momo: Using breaks strategically can be good]

[Momo: For example, let’s say a large collaboration that you don’t participate in is scheduled for another member, but you haven’t had any breaks this month]

[Momo: If you take a break then, the people who would have come to see you will gather for the collaboration, significantly increasing the apparent viewer count]

[Momo: That number will lead to an influx of new viewers, and those gathered viewers will scatter to each of your broadcasts according to their preferences]

[Momo: It’s a kind of trickle-down effect, you see]

So, the other first-generation members completely cleared their schedules, including hospital visits, for that day.

To them, it was evident that the current hot topic in Parallel was ‘D-Rain.’

[Oh hell yeah! Falling from the sky to drench the dry land today!]

The entire first generation gathered their energy.

And the viewer count boost provided by Boss Momo was reflected in the speed of the chat.

— Oh hell yeah

— Oh

— Reha

— Rehaaaaa

— Oh!

— D-Rain! D-Rain! D-Rain! D-Rain! D-Rain! D-Rain! D-Rain!

— Reha

— Oh

— Oh!

[So, a week. Was it a long wait?]

— It was so long

— I almost died holding my breath

— I was about to dry up

[Haha! Right? About to dry up? Then let me introduce the two guests who will fill the moisture! First, our boss!]

In the lobby of the Battle Colosseum, the ID of Boss Momo, ‘momopeach,’ appeared in an empty spot in the three-person waiting room.

“Hello. It’s been a while, puddle folks.”

— Maho

— mh

— Boss Momo, hi

— You’ve come~

— Is it a month already?

[Next! Since the puddle folks who don’t listen are calling, even though I’m busy, I’ve split my schedule to come out~ Employee, D, Lupin~!]

Amidst everyone watching, Majiya made her reappearance after a week.

[Hello. I’m Employee D from the Parallel Operations Team, who played D-Rain in last week’s . Please take care of me today.

— Employee D, Lupin is here LOL

— Gumugumu no~~

— Hell yeah

— Jehahaahahahahaha

— Damn, what’s up with this employee, Momo!! They’re amazing!!

— Great Employee, God Employee, King Employee

Until that point, everyone was in a normal welcoming atmosphere for Majiya, who had brightened up the last content.

However, today’s broadcast was filled with Momo’s followers, who had come in droves.

After a few mentions of Signal Flare in the chat, a donation flew in as Cheon Do-hee had intended.

:: Anonymous benefactor donated 10,000 Clouds! ::

:: Wait, isn’t Employee D’s nickname… ::

Only then did everyone notice Majiya’s nickname in the third slot of the waiting screen.

One of the named players in the Battle Colosseum.

The notorious Signal Flare, famous for Momo’s troublemaking Simp, was there.

— ?

— ??

— Huh?

— Wait, what? My head isn’t working

— ???

— Signal Flare…?

— Why is he here…?

Author’s Note (Author’s Afterword)

Hahaha

Damn! I like you!!