My Favorite Has Started A Live Broadcast!

“…Do you… have time next week?”

Chocoa’s sudden question made me immediately rack my brain, trying to recall next week’s schedule.

“…Sorry… I have plans on the weekend, but if it’s on Sunday or another day, I can make some time! Saturday might be difficult…”

Next Saturday would be quite an important day. It was Min-young’s birthday, and I anticipated a busy day. As a high school sophomore, they’d just be finishing exams, and with boundless energy, I’d definitely end up being pulled around by them all day.

“Um… do you have something planned for Saturday?”

“It’s my sister’s birthday, so I think I’ll need to entertain her all day… Her midterms are coming up, so we haven’t been able to hang out.”

Of course, it’s not that I dislike spending time with her, but it’s hard to let go of both this and the invitation with Chocoa.

“…I also have exams this week, so I can only be free on the weekend…”

“Then… how about Sunday?”

“…How about we all hang out on Saturday? There might be an event we can all go to.”

Chocoa explained the Lesik event to me, and as I listened, I started researching whether it was a place Min-young would also enjoy. I didn’t mind going anywhere with Chocoa, but if my sister was coming along, things would be a little different.

From Chocoa’s words and my own research, I gathered that it was a fairly simple event.

The event would be held for three days, from Friday to Sunday, in Busan. Although it’d take some time to get there, it didn’t seem like a bad idea to go with my Min-young, who’d never been on a trip before.

“And on the first day… it looks like there’s a pro match or something, but it doesn’t seem necessary… On the second day, there’ll be booths to browse around. They have food, merchandise, game booths, all sorts of things… Oh, and there’s even a booth for YouTubers! Would you consider signing up?”

“Uh… no, I think it’s too late anyway. I’d rather just look around.”

The thought of sitting in a booth all day with barely any visitors coming didn’t seem appealing. Even I didn’t have the motivation to do something so tedious voluntarily.

“Um… The third day seems more open… It looks like they’ll have small tournaments or autograph sessions with famous people. Couldn’t you join in, Su-yeon?”

“That… doesn’t sound like my thing… If we do go, should we go on Saturday and stay for the night?”

“Just going for the day would work too, but if you want to get the most out of it, it’s best to go on Saturday, stay overnight, and come back Sunday evening. Friday won’t work because your sister has school, and you’ll have your part-time job… I’ll finish a bit late that day too.”

“Alright… I’ll ask her about it and get back to you. Would that time work for you, Chocoa? And if we go, would you come along?”

“I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t want to. And Su-yeon, when we’re off-stream, you can just call me by my name. I think I mentioned this before… maybe when we were drinking?”

“…Yes… then… Ga-young unnie.”

“…Alright, then I’ll start the stream.”

I received a notification that Chocoa had started the stream, and I began matchmaking.

“I’m about to hit level 30 now. I thought I’d play just a bit, but I ended up playing so much.”

Chocoa chuckled a little as if she found it funny.

I casually bantered, picked the map, and started banning operators as ideas came to mind.

Today, Chocoa was unusually chatty. Typically, she doesn’t talk much during her broadcasts. Even though her viewer count has grown, back when only regulars like me were watching, she only responded when chat came in and rarely initiated conversation unless there was a specific topic. But today was different. She reached out to me first and even made plans for next week.

“……”

It felt nice to get to know this off-camera side of Choi Ga-young.

The map was Theme Park. It has a lot of cover and narrow spaces, so opinions on it vary, but I personally liked it. Unfortunately, my main character, Caveira, was banned by the opposing team, but I had a perfect weapon and operator for this map.

My operator was Doc. Just like his name, he could heal allies and even provide an overheal if the healing exceeded max health. Although Doc’s weapon options were typically an MP5 SMG or a P90, I chose the SG-CQB shotgun. People often called it the Pathfinder shotgun, though it did have an official name.

—Hey Doc, wt gun

Even during the prep phase, teammates were voicing complaints. Doc is often considered a support role in ranked, a backline operator expected to heal allies rather than engage directly. But my idea of Doc was different.

The site was on the first floor.

I roamed the second floor, breaking approaching drones and reinforcing trapdoors. With around 10 seconds left, I moved toward the café area, breaking a barricade. Due to the game mechanics, attackers couldn’t exit the starting area before the round officially began, so I pressed close to the broken barricade, spinning the cylinder of my revolver as I waited.

Thunk—

A soft sound signaled the start of the game, and I counted quietly to myself.

“One… two… three.”

“They all spawned at the main entrance.”

“Okay.”

I dashed out of the broken barricade, sprinting quickly to the café terrace and aiming my revolver at the unsuspecting enemies.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The opposing team, rushing forward mindlessly, was startled by the unexpected spawn kill. As they turned to aim at me, their movement slowed due to aiming.

Three shots were fired toward the enemy.

“Wow… three down.”

Naturally, they fired back, and I quickly retreated inside the café, though my health was over 20. Despite taking more than four shots, the overheal I had given myself right before the spawn kill allowed me to survive. I returned to the site after using my last remaining heal.

“…Have you ever considered going pro?”

We won the round, unsurprisingly. Thanks to the initial spawn kill, it felt like we would’ve held them off well even if I hadn’t been there.

Round 2, with the same setup, operator, and site.

“Die, you punks!”

I was currently sitting behind Chocoa, cheering on the demise of the enemy team. She hadn’t chosen a shield operator for the attack phase, but she had chosen ★ Lord Tachanka ★.

Lord Tachanka, the Lord of All ★, was, of course, just a lord. Possessing the finest special ability (from behind) in Lesik, Lord Tachanka ★ could deploy an LMG. Mounted on a tripod, his robust DP-27, with a bulletproof shield attached to the front, blocked all incoming shots.

When using his special ability, his vision and movement were restricted, and the shield protected him only from the front. But beyond its damage output, ★ Lord Tachanka ★ had little utility. I stayed behind him to guard his back.

Perhaps due to the previous round, the enemy team didn’t come through the front but tried to enter from the back. Chocoa quickly repositioned, blocking their entry completely. Despite the enemy’s efforts to break through by throwing grenades and shooting, our team’s Jager and Lord Tachanka’s bulletproof shield blocked them. The occasional damage they took was quickly patched up with my healing and covering shotgun shots.

Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—

During Chocoa’s reload, our team had already been preparing to flank them from the upper floor, so I joined the ambush. Just as Chocoa emptied her rounds and started reloading, the enemy team, thinking they’d found an opening, was surprised as I took that chance.

Thunk—

I leaped over the shield mounted by the LMG, raised my gun, and pulled the trigger, shooting the enemies who had been sneakily aiming at Chocoa.

Boom! Boom!

The satisfying recoil of a pump-action shotgun, different from the sleek SAS shotgun, buzzed through my mouse.

Ratatatatat!

When the enemy immediately retaliated, I ducked behind cover, taking another heal after losing more than half my health. With Chocoa reloading and our team’s ambush closing in, I took a low stance, gripping my knife as I charged forward.

***
Choi Ga-young POV

“……”

I had chosen the operator at viewers’ recommendation and had just been clicking the left mouse button as Baraa instructed, and we’d won the game.

Chocoa, disappointed at having done little but take cover in the game she’d suggested, felt unfulfilled.

—Wow hahaha

—Baraa noona is on fire today

—L! M! G! Mounted!! And reloading!!!

“…I want to do something cool too…”

Switching to attack, Chocoa chose Glaz for the next round.