Chapter 26: はいよろこんで (Yes, I’m glad)

A tense standoff with one enemy remaining.  

The moment I checked the kill score, I couldn’t help but laugh.  

In the forums, some weirdos keep trying to downplay the flare gun.  

But no chance, right?  

Flare gun is the ultimate all-rounder, isn’t it?  

At least in casual games, it can even go toe-to-toe with former pros, right?  

No offense to MooGun, but honestly, before I picked up the double-barrel shotgun to crack open the skulls of trolling teammates, my go-to weapon was a sniper rifle.  

My elimination combo was breaking shields at mid-range with a low-magnification sniper rifle, then rushing in while the weakened enemy tried to heal, using my secondary weapon to knock them down and secure the kill.  

Still, I have to admit MooGun is an excellent sniper.  

I remember when I was taking cover from someone shooting at me from a hill.  

I thought I had dodged in the same way, taken cover, and aimed almost simultaneously.  

But MooGun was definitely faster.  

If we had been aiming at each other instead of a mutual enemy, my head would have popped first, no question.  

Even when he tried to steal my kills, it was the same.  

I’d pretend to shoot and bait him, but he’d watch through the scope to see if my bullets hit or not.  

You really have to respect guys who’ve made a living off gaming. They’re that good, which is why they earn the big bucks.  

Still, in the very end, who was the victor?  

King, God, the one and only, flare gun.  

[“You were lucky. I lost.”]  

MooGun claims I was lucky, but no way.  

The flare gun’s identity is clear: the double-barrel and smoke grenades.  

My specialty is rushing at enemies using the speed boost from the Crazy Shot skill, throwing smoke grenades to obscure vision, and picking off opponents who think they’re safe within the smoke.  

It doesn’t matter what gun I use inside the smoke—I can take down anyone.  

Doing this for five years means not being able to pull it off would be weirder.  

So when MooGun showed signs of wanting to test me,  

[“…Then could I watch you play? I’d like to invite you to an in-house match.”]  

I felt a mix of “How dare you?” anger and a spark of a brilliant idea.  

It started as casual banter, but didn’t we have a collab scheduled in a few days?  

And it was for none other than a promotional event entrusted to me by the boss.  

I had to make it a big hit, so my mouth moved on its own.  

[“Unnecessary. You will see.”]  

“? What do you mean by that?”  

[“Reason. It will be shown in 60 hours.”]  

– ??  

– Not 60 seconds, but 60 hours?  

– What’s happening in 60 hours? LOL  

– Ahhhhh  

– Speak clearly!!  

Thanks to winning the match, I’m getting quite a bit of attention now.  

The chat reactions and MooGun’s invitation to the in-house match make that obvious.  

And conveniently, MooGun’s crew’s in-house match starts in two days and 12 hours.  

Wouldn’t the people who just heard about the “60 hours” be curious?  

They’ll wonder:  

“Is MoogunNoFamousTeamSniper the same person as SignalFlare, who participated under the alias ‘1stAnnivSongReleasingNov05’?”  

Sure, it’d be a little sad if no one cared.  

But if the in-house match stream gets a lot of viewers, those questions will definitely come up.  

“Hey, didn’t you snipe MooGun the other day?”  

I’ll play dumb until the stream ends.  

The mystery will only grow, fueling speculation. And in the process, my alias, “1st Anniv Song Releasing Nov 5,” will keep popping up.  

Without me even saying “Our anniversary is coming up! Please check it out!” the news will naturally spread far and wide through fans.  

Isn’t this a pretty solid strategy?  

This is wisdom I’ve gleaned from six years of making soup stock and three years of learning under the boss.  

Wouldn’t the boss be stunned, asking, “How did you come up with this?”  

Hehe.  

*      *     *

··· — MooGun (Internet Broadcaster) Gallery — — — — — ···  

[Damn, who is this mysterious sniper?]  

I’m going crazy from curiosity, hahahahahaha!!!  

[Comments]  

– MooGun831: This is actually insane;  

– MooGun701: This guy’s totally nuts lol  

– MooGun732: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA  

– MooGun923: Damn it, I’m so curious HHHHHHH  

– MooGun124: Did everyone watching the stream just collectively fall into a quiz show or what lol  

··· — — — — — — — — — — ···  

··· — MooGun (Internet Broadcaster) Gallery — — — — — ···  

[Could it be hacks, actually?]  

Honestly, unless it’s hacks, it doesn’t make sense for someone to know exactly where enemies are inside the smoke.  

Probably an aimbot or wallhack.  

[Comments]  

– MooGun334: Yeah, the weird phrasing was suspicious too.  

– MooGun892: Is it you again, Mainland?  

– MooGun984: But MooGun didn’t say it was hacks, did he?  

  ㄴMooGun734: I mean, MooGun’s not exactly a hack detector lol  

  ㄴMooGun325: Dude, your brain’s totally MooGun-washed.  

··· — — — — — — — — — — ···  

··· — MooGun (Internet Broadcaster) Gallery — — — — — ···  

[So, WHAT THE HELL~]  

What’s being revealed in 60 hours, lololol?  

I mean, how do you just drop that and leave without explaining, come on!  

[Comments]  

– MooGun020: What if there’s actually nothing and it was just bait?  

  ㄴMooGun393: Bruh, that’d be even lamer lol  

– MooGun890: Honestly, it could just be bluffing lol  

  ㄴMooGun890: I mean, the psychology of snipers is pretty obvious, right?  

··· — — — — — — — — — — ···  

··· — MooGun (Internet Broadcaster) Gallery — — — — — ···  

[I’ve done some theorizing]  

Disclaimer: All of this is just my imagination.  

If you disagree, you’re probably right.  

So, this guy mentioned 60 hours.  

Out of curiosity, I checked MooGun’s streaming schedule.  

He said that at 5 a.m., which means exactly 60 hours later would be 5 p.m. two days later, right?  

And there’s a stream scheduled for that time.  

MooGun’s crew in-house match. 👀  

Could this mysterious sniper be someone participating there?  

Sure, there are other streams starting around that time, but it doesn’t make sense for him to take a shot just to reference some random unrelated stream.  

That’s why I’m saying this.  

[Comments]  

– MooGun734: But what’s the point? What does he even get out of this?  

  ㄴMooGun242 (Original Poster): Uh? Dunno?  

– MooGun842: The logic kind of tracks, but I have no clue what this guy’s actually thinking lol  

  ㄴMooGun242 (Original Poster): Well, if he doesn’t say anything, we might never know…  

··· — — — — — — — — — — ···  

··· — Momo (VTuber) Gallery — — — — — ···  

[Anyone here know SignalFlare well?]  

I’m curious about something.  

Does SignalFlare really like smoke-based combat?  

Not just preferring smoke grenades, but actively enjoying fighting inside the smoke they throw?  

[Comments]  

– Momo849: 00  

– Momo375: 00 loves it  

– Momo484: Yeah, for sure lol. SignalFlare’s signature move is tossing a smoke grenade and popping heads inside it.  

  ㄴMomo843 (OP): Ohhh.  

  ㄴMomo484: But why do you ask?  

  ㄴMomo843 (OP): Found an account that might be their alt.  

  ㄴMomo484: Ohhh, want me to show you some clips?  

  ㄴMomo843 (OP): Yes, make it stylish and spicy, thanks!  

··· — — — — — — — — — — ···  

*     *     *

The next afternoon.  

Cheon Do-hee, who had been busy communicating with the label about the first-generation trainees’ songs, received a call.  

“You’re calling quite often these days.”  

The caller was MooGun. After spending the entire day yesterday agonizing, browsing community posts, and mulling over clues, he finally found something plausible and had come to Do-hee with it.  

[Is that employee Di or Signal Flare? You used to play a lot of games with them, right?]  

“I did, up until three years ago. Why?”  

[Are they good at fighting in the smoke? Like, pinpointing someone’s location just by sound and shooting accurately?]  

Do-hee responded nonchalantly, assuming it was just for balancing teams in an internal match.  

“Well, I don’t know if they’re that accurate, but they do love fighting in smoke. Their dual shotguns are terrible for long-range, right? So they throw out smoke, get in close, and create chaos in there. It’s their specialty.”  

MooGun groaned audibly over the phone and then asked,  

[That Signal Flare person—were they ever a professional trainee or something? Or maybe an actual pro?]  

“No, they weren’t.”  

[Then how are they that good?]  

The sudden stream of compliments left Dohee flustered.  

Why does this feel like when you sneak a game with Jiya, only to come back saying, “I played with someone amazing yesterday,” and keep praising them? Do-hee felt an unexplainable irritation creeping in.  

As she mulled over it, MooGun continued,  

[Anyway, whether it’s Employee Di or Signal Flare, do you think you could ask them to free up more time in two days? They said they’re busy, so I only asked for two games, but I guess even that’s pushing it?]  

“They’re busy. Super busy.”  

[What’s their boss doing? Can’t they just hire more staff to help out?]  

“What do you know about it? Are you going to pay their salary?”  

[Fine, fine. Two games as promised, okay.]  

MooGun’s attitude had clearly changed.  

Last week, he’d seemed mildly intrigued, but now he acted as if he’d missed out on half his life.  

Everyone knew MooGun was notorious for sending friend requests to any skilled gamer he encountered and dragging them into squads whenever he was bored. But even for him, this level of regret was unprecedented.  

“If you’re that disappointed, want me to fill in instead?”  

[With your skills…? No, sorry. Forget I said that.]  

“Wow, you canceled that so fast. Amazing. My feelings are totally fine. Really.”  

[Sorry. My bad. Uh… Anyway, hey, that reaction was a bit harsh, no?]  

“Ugh.”  

MooGun dismissing Do-hee’s skills wasn’t new. Since he was objectively the better gamer, she just sighed and let it slide.  

What mattered more now was why MooGun was suddenly hyping up Majiya out of nowhere.  

The only plausible explanation was that Majiya might have sniped him with a secondary account as a prank.  

It did seem like they’d played together, but that was the only possible reason.  

After all, Majiya was a diehard fan of Do-hee, almost to an over-the-top degree.  

Could it be that, like a mythical unicorn, they harbored some strange grudge against MooGun and pulled a wild prank? That was the only reason Do-hee asked,  

“Did they cause any problems or disrupt your stream?”  

[Not at all. If anything, the stream was fun. The viewers woke right up laughing. But it’s just speculation—I’m not certain. Why?]  

“Just making sure… It’s a relief if nothing happened.”  

Still, no matter how quietly Majiya had fun, this was crossing a line.  

Their workplace, Parallel Entertainment, was already public knowledge, and now sniping?  

Stuff like this should’ve been mentioned beforehand, Majiya!

*     *     *

“Majiya.”  

As usual, I prepared my morning coffee and headed to the boss’s office, only to be greeted by two eyebrows slanted toward the middle.  

If those people who call it “a bonus” every time the boss gets mad saw this face in person, they’d stop saying that nonsense.  

The character named Momo seems to have eyes that are considerably softer than the original.  

If fans saw this, they’d probably say it’s a horror story.  

But seriously, why is the boss so angry?  

Grateful for being alive, I answered,  

“Yes.”  

“‘Yes’? Don’t ‘yes’ me. Explain this.”  

“What’s the matter?”  

The boss held out her phone, playing a replay of MooGun’s stream.  

There, in clear detail, was me, sniping MooGun during his stream early the previous morning.  

How did she know?  

I took extra care to make sure I wouldn’t be caught.  

Of course, shamelessness is my specialty, so my words flowed smoothly as I replied,  

“I can’t believe I got caught right away. Your keen eyes never fail, boss.”  

“At least use a different nickname if you’re going to say that… So, why did you go sniping without telling me?”  

“Ah, it was just a preliminary survey. I figured experiencing his skills firsthand would help us promote more effectively on the actual day.”  

“Promote more… effectively?”  

“Yes! Imagine people’s reaction when I take down MooGun during the internal match. It’d be a huge buzz, right? I even changed my nickname to get the most out of it.”  

The boss paused, deep in thought, before asking,  

“So, you sniped him because I told you to handle the promotions yourself?”  

“Yes. It’s my first time handling this kind of thing, so I thought it was best to prepare thoroughly.”  

“…Thorough preparation, indeed. But who on earth uses sniping as a form of reconnaissance?”  

Her intense gaze probed me for honesty, so I smiled brightly, confirming that everything I said was true.  

Her fierce expression softened. Lately, I’ve been thinking that cuteness is invincible, and her reactions keep proving it. I’m enjoying the variety of expressions I’ve been able to see on her face recently.  

“Fine. Considering the attention it’s drawn, your approach wasn’t entirely wrong. But next time, discuss these things with me first, okay? It’s not good for my heart…”  

I muttered under my breath with a pout.  

“But I don’t like the idea of you owing MooGun anything.”  

“Your sniping is what puts us in his debt!”  

“No, if anything, MooGun owes us. Thanks to me, his early-morning stream turned into pure entertainment. I was very careful and didn’t cause any trouble!”  

“That rotten mindset of yours…”  

Her hand shot up, and I flinched, thinking she’d flick my forehead again. But to my relief, she patted my head instead. Whew…  

“…………Argh!”  

Wait, it was a pat, right? When did it turn into a punch?  

“Once you start promoting MooGun’s broadcast, you’ll practically become the face of Parallel. You know that, right? That means you need to be extra cautious.”  

“Really?”  

“Of course. Normally, I’d consult with the marketing team to handle stuff like this.”  

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry. I just thought it was my responsibility because you entrusted it to me.”  

“There’s nothing to apologize for. Just be more careful in the future. I know you’re good at staying within boundaries, but there are a lot of sensitive people out there these days. Successful promotions are great, but I can’t stand the idea of you being criticized. So always check with me first, okay?”  

“If people are uncomfortable, they should just sit up straighter…”  

The boss squinted at me, half-lidded eyes exuding exhaustion, and muttered,  

“Anyway, if any controversy arises, I’ll handle the explanation stream myself.”  

But that’s something I can’t accept.  

The idea of her doing a broadcast to clean up my mess? No way.  

“No. I’d rather bow in apology myself.”  

The boss chuckled softly and asked,  

“What, are you planning to stream by yourself?”  

It’s nice to be loved after becoming more adorable, but I guess my credibility has taken a slight hit.  

It’s not easy to appear professional with a face like this, is it?  

Still, I’m the boss’s reliable and trustworthy go-to person.  

If she’s worried, I’ll keep reassuring her until she stops.  

Honestly, as a loyal underling, I just wish she’d use her time worrying about me to stream for 30 more minutes instead.  

“I mean, if I have to, I will. It’s no big deal.”