— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
[Reflection Letter]
(Visible only to admins)
[Author: NotPino (pin0_live2d)]
The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived. The meerkat was deceived.
— — — — — — — — — — — — — —
The reflection letter Pin0 posted on the detention center board was more like the desperate cry of someone panicking and screaming senselessly.
It was just a repeated sentence, but it felt as if a dark aura was slowly creeping out of it.
“At this point, it’s like being hit by a 20-ton truck rather than an 8-ton one.”
Curious, I decided to carefully review the file saved on my phone.
Maybe it’s because Dora put so much effort into it, but the overall result was flawless and beautiful.
The concept of a little witch when draped in a robe and hat, contrasted with a petite office worker when those are removed, was fun.
Wasn’t it my sensor that immediately picked up on its charm in the first place?
Though later, my mental barrier of “This can’t be me” came down with a decisive clunk, other people could easily have been struck by that speeding truck instead.
Still, it doesn’t seem like it’s my fault.
I just showed up consistently to work, as I said I would.
I joined the internal battle because Mugeon invited me, so I did my best (though I admit there was some petty revenge involved).
Afterward, I worked hard on promotions and left, didn’t I?
The ones stubbornly plugging their ears and denying it are others.
Honestly, I find this situation a bit amusing.
Because, you see, this Pin0 guy would take on assignments but constantly delay them for other reasons, making us wait until the very last moment before finally, finally delivering results.
When we asked him to rig Komari, our boss had such a tough time.
He was responsive, but sporadically so.
Even when told what to do, he’d forget it by the next day.
Deadlines? They meant nothing to him.
It dragged on for almost three months before he finally started working on it.
What’s shocking is that after all that delay, the actual work took less than a week to complete.
Considering he typically averaged two weeks per project, even the planning team was amazed.
And the results we received, worrying he might have rushed it?
They became the Komari we know now.
A reserved, sincere, yet occasionally expressive and endearing elf, brought to life by Pin0’s hands.
Even our boss, who had cursed him for three straight months, let it slide after seeing the flawless quality of the work.
Of course, the same pattern repeated for Komari’s new outfit, leaving the boss exhausted and considering finding someone else for the next update.
Anyway, having someone like him willingly turn himself in feels like a blessing to me.
I’ll call him through the cafe messaging system and give him a little scolding.
I get that life is tough, but that’s his problem, not ours.
[Admin: Hello.]
[NotPino: Ah.]
[NotPino: Admin!]
[NotPino: Please spare me!]
[NotPino: I beg you, please spare me!]
[NotPino: If I end up losing my employee privileges!!!]
[NotPino: That day, the world will collapse completely!]
Once banned from Komari’s room, observing employee activities also becomes impossible.
In Parallel, being banned from one stream automatically leads to a ban from all others.
[Admin: Since you’re not an ordinary case, I think I’ll need to discuss the consequences with the boss.]
[NotPino: Does that mean… my sentence could be extended…?]
[Admin: It’s possible. We might add contempt charges.]
[Admin: To think someone we trusted with work would be doing this behind our backs…]
[NotPino: Kyaaahhhhhhh!]
[NotPino: Dameeeeeeee! (Nooooo!)]
After letting the conversation hang for a moment, the other side began to panic dramatically.
[NotPino: From now on, I swear to diligently prioritize all Parallel outsourcing work. I’ll never miss a deadline again. Even if I have to set everything else aside, I’ll put Parallel first. So please, just this once, let me off. Please don’t extend my sentence. Please don’t extend it—!]
However, I am a cold-hearted judge.
The original sentence was one year, reduced to a week only because it was a sting operation.
Let’s stick to the rules.
[Admin: Wait for the boss’s decision.]
* * *
The CEO and I met in front of the PC café, and I began by explaining Fino’s situation.
“When did you even write that post on the forum…?”
Starting by scolding me—classic CEO.
“Because doing it that way makes it easier to catch the bad actors without too much effort.”
“Of all people, it just had to be Fino…”
“Anyway, I got their promise. They said they’d meet deadlines properly from now on.”
The CEO chuckled softly and muttered,
“If they were the type to keep promises, they would’ve done it ages ago. Judging by how far gone this person is, it’d be more effective for you to just appear on their streams regularly. Just keep the 7-day ban in place.”
However, realizing they might have said too much, the CEO hesitated and cautiously shifted the topic.
“Of course, there’s no need to push yourself to appear on broadcasts just because of Fino. You never said you wanted to stream.”
“That’s true. Well, I think I’ll be popping up on others’ streams from time to time, though.”
“Why? Did you already promise to join one?”
“Komaeri asked me to co-stream with her.”
“Ah, Komaeri. That makes sense. There isn’t anyone else from the first generation willing to co-stream with her, so she’s probably been feeling let down.”
After taking our seats and ordering snacks, I double-clicked an icon I usually wouldn’t even touch.
[Knight of Legend]
The world’s number-one game in market share.
A TPS hero shooter MOBA.
But a game I’d never played—not even once—and hadn’t even watched a league match for.
If someone said I must’ve seen it during Komaeri’s streams, well, they’d have a point.
Given its status as a national game, her streams always attracted a flood of backseat gamers and trolls, so I spent most of the time moderating the chat and managing the ban list instead of actually focusing on the game.
The CEO, assuming I’d play Battle Coliseum, looked puzzled.
“Are you playing Knight of Legend today?”
“Yes, and I’m hoping you can teach me.”
“What?”
“You’ve never streamed it yourself, but surely you’ve played it a few times in private?”
The CEO blinked, looking as though they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.
“You’re asking me to teach you Knight of Legend?”
“Yes.”
Their disbelief was understandable, given our gaming history.
Not only did I outperform the CEO in Battle Coliseum, but in all the collaborative streams we’d done, I’d always managed to outplay them.
From FPS games, which the CEO favored, to quirky games like Teddy Bear League (where jelly-like dolls brawl) or legendary fighting games like Spirit Duel, I’d never hesitated to dive in and take them down when the opportunity arose.
To hear me ask for their help now must have been shocking.
“This is completely out of nowhere.”
“Well, I have some gaming pride. I don’t want Komaeri roasting me.”
“…And yet you’re telling me this so openly?”
“Because even if you know, you won’t give me a hard time about it.”
The CEO frowned slightly as if sulking, then hesitated as though wanting to say something but held back.
Though scary when angry, our CEO was always kind at heart.
“Well, Komaeri does tend to get… intense when playing Knight of Legend, but do you really think she’ll go that far with you?”
“When she’s frustrated in ranked games, Komaeri can be terrifying.”
One of the reasons Komaeri’s ranked Knight of Legend streams were so popular was her reactions to random teammates and snipers.
Usually quiet and focused, she would occasionally snap with over-the-top reactions to bizarre plays from allies or opponents.
She didn’t use foul language, but her sharp wit and sarcastic remarks were enough to leave listeners mentally reeling.
If I played alongside her, I could probably count on her protecting me as a newbie—for maybe five games at most. After that, I’d feel like a rookie thrown into the wild jungle, constantly on edge about when the lurking predator might pounce.
As I created an account, the CEO logged into Knight of Legend ahead of me and asked,
“Let’s start with the basics. What kind of champion do you prefer?”
“Champion… Is that like a Legend in Battle Coliseum?”
“Sort of. In Battle Coliseum, you’ve got Assault, Controller, and Support roles, right? In Knight of Legend, there are four classes.”
Siege, Tank, Dealer, and Support.
They seemed similar to Battle Coliseum, but the unique “Siege” class immediately caught my attention.
“What does Siege do?”
“You know Knight of Legend is about destroying the enemy base to win, right?”
“Yes.”
“Siege champions are specialists in base destruction. They’re designed to withstand tower attacks that would usually be lethal, break through enemy defenses, and clear the way for allied demolition units to attack the enemy base.”
“Ooh.”
What an intriguing class.
The other classes seemed similar to what I’d experienced in Battle Coliseum, but Siege? That was completely new.
“I’m not an expert or anything, but there are two main strategies with Siege champions. Either pick someone who can contribute to team fights while also demolishing structures when needed, or go full stealth mode and obliterate enemy bases while your team distracts the enemies.”
The gameplay sounded genuinely fun.
Even if I didn’t know much about Knight of Legend, it seemed like a class that could contribute to victory without requiring mastery of chaotic team fights. Perfect for someone like me, who often struggles to coordinate with teammates.
Breaking buildings while roaming solo? That’s totally my style.
“I think I’ll try playing Siege.”
“Siege… let’s see. What’s good for beginners? I’ve never actually played Siege myself, so let me take a look at the champion list…”
The CEO seemed to be struggling a bit, probably because they weren’t familiar with Siege champions either.
Not wanting to wait around, I entered the character selection screen and started looking through the Siege champions myself.
At the very end of the list, I found a character that caught my eye immediately.
Dual double-barrel shotguns in hand, glowing white angel wings on their back, and a shattered halo floating above their head. Occasionally, a sinister black silhouette with a grotesque expression flickered behind them, giving off a thrilling vibe.
And most importantly, the character was stunning.
“What’s with this double-barrel angel?”
“Oh, that’s Aepolla. She’s the second type I mentioned—the sneaky base-destroyer who demolishes everything while staying out of sight.”
“I want to play her.”
The CEO frowned, likely because the difficulty level next to Aepolla’s description read EXPERT.
“Uh… she’s kind of tough to use. Compared to other Siege champions, she’s incredibly squishy.”
Even after hearing the warning, I shook my head.
When I set my sights on a character, it didn’t matter if they were considered a “trash pick” or not meta—I had to play them.
“As long as I destroy the buildings, we win, right?”
On top of that, Aepolla even had a unique destruction animation: loading special shells into her shotgun and blasting towers to pieces.
How could I not play her?
“Who knows? I might win right from the start.”
{{ DEFEAT! }}
[Team] ActorWhoLearnsIsGeniusActor: “Aepolla players are the worst.”
[Team] ActorWhoLearnsIsGeniusActor: “You play like a complete bug.”
[Team] ActorWhoLearnsIsGeniusActor: “Just quit the game.”
[Team] DodoBirdHehe: “ᅩ”
Contrary to my confidence, I didn’t destroy a single enemy structure, instead watching helplessly as our base exploded.
Aepolla? Barely survived for more than a few seconds at a time.
Whenever I rushed to attack a tower, a sudden aerial bombardment would flatten me.
If I tried a different approach, two enemies would appear out of nowhere and gang up on me.
The sudden engagement felt familiar since I had some experience with Battle Coliseum, but without knowing the character or the abilities, it was far from easy.
On top of that, the opponent wasn’t firing straightforward bullets but slashing horizontally, vertically, throwing bombs, and launching area attacks. Dodging, as I would in Battle Coliseum, wasn’t going to cut it. If only I had something like a smoke screen to work with.
Still, I did come to a realization. Unlike in Battle Coliseum, where I could charge in as long as I saw the enemy, here I had to keep track of their position at all times. And if I encountered them, I needed to maintain a distance beyond the reach of their attacks to survive. This was the first real trial for me, someone who never even bothered with positioning before picking up a double-barrel shotgun in Battle Coliseum.
But there was no reason to give up. After all, it was only the first round, and I was still getting used to the game.
As I prepared for the next match, the manager cautiously suggested something.
“Maybe it’s better to do the tutorial first. I noticed you’re not using adaptive skills at all.”
“Adaptive skills?”
“…Just try turning on the tutorial. It should explain everything.”
Naore’s skills consisted of four categories: passive skills, combat skills, ultimates, and adaptive skills.
At first, I thought the setup was identical to Battle Coliseum, but I soon realized there was an additional feature. Adaptive skills functioned like real-time talent trees. At certain levels, you could choose one skill from several options to suit your needs.
In other words, while you could buy items with gold to boost your base stats, adaptive skills allowed you to spend levels instead of gold to acquire abilities that directly impacted combat.
Once you purchased an adaptive skill at level 6, you wouldn’t be able to swap it out until levels 12 or 18. But those limitations didn’t bother me at all.
Why? Because the third adaptive skill for Aephola caught my attention immediately.
[Adaptive Skill III – Cloud of the Fallen Angel]
[Generates a cloud that envelops the area for 30 seconds, obscuring vision for enemies within it. Aephola is unaffected.*Cloud of the Fallen Angel does not block enemy attacks.]
This was a smoke screen.
It felt like reuniting with a lost, precious pet.