"Still, 15 kills might be too much, right?"
"Looking at how the game flows, even 15 kills is really tough."
"They'll all kill each other before you even get a chance, bro."
"Seriously, lol. That's a safe bet."
The viewers seemed to think I would obviously fail the mission. Of course, getting 15 kills wasn't easy. Maybe that's why Beastman added the condition of 'even if it's just one round' instead of expecting me to do it in this match.
Today, I planned to focus only on placement, and there were just four rounds left until placement.
'Fifteen kills in four rounds…'
If I wanted to finish placement safely, I could give up on the mission early, land somewhere safe, avoid combat as much as possible, and secure placement. Or, I could go to a high-conflict area to rack up kills, even if it meant risking placement. The latter, though, meant my chances of dying were considerably higher.
"Hmm… since Beastman challenged me, I'll escort him to the VIP section."
I said that and immediately pinned Beastman's personal chat to one side of the stream screen. As if he had been waiting for it, he began typing right away.
"Hmm, so this is the VIP section."
"The air is different—humid, humid."
"Haha, commoners, jealous? Then place your own mission."
"Lololololololol."
He actually seemed even more excited than Kimchi Dumpling, and it wasn't just my imagination. Usually, when a viewer's chat appears like this, they either feel pressured and act cautiously, or just chat normally. Kimchi Dumpling had been watching my stream for a long time, understood the flow, and deliberately chatted to go along with it.
Beastman, however, was different. He was a new viewer who came through the capsule broadcast, not someone who had watched my streams long-term. There was only one conclusion I could draw.
'He's a true attention seeker.'
I never imagined that I would have a real attention seeker among my viewers. Apparently, the other viewers thought the same.
"What's he doing?"
"He went to the VIP section, and now he's different."
"He wasn't like that with Kimchi Dumpling."
"A perfect example of how the seat changes the person."
"And it seems genuine, so it's even funnier."
"Lolololololololol."
Everyone seemed amused by Beastman's antics, not entirely negative.
Finally, the wait time ended and the plane took off. As soon as I boarded, I decided on a strategy for the mission.
'Let's head toward a low-conflict area first.'
Placement was determined by the total score across five rounds. If I handled the first four rounds properly, I could afford to play one round focusing on kills.
I chose to delay my drop rather than jumping immediately like before. As I descended last, I saw about five other players who had made the same choice.
Thud!
Using my parachute, I landed and immediately entered a nearby house. One of the five others I saw earlier had also entered the house.
We both quickly picked up weapons lying on the floor. The weapon I grabbed was none other than a spatula.
"First strike wins!"
Pistols and assault rifles have a delay due to reloading, but my spatula had no delay.
Whack! Whack! Whack!
I immediately hit the opponent's head with the spatula. After about four hits, they finished reloading and aimed a pistol at me. At this range, dodging the bullets completely was impossible, but I could try to minimize the damage.
Bang!
The gun fired. I twisted my body as much as I could to graze the bullets. Luckily, they hit non-critical areas, causing only minor bleeding.
The opponent tried to shoot again, but this time I was faster.
Whack!
I swung the spatula, hitting their head again, and they collapsed. The kill log popped up.
['YujaChaIsRealTea' has died.]
I immediately grabbed the pistol from their body and left the house. The items in the living room were gone, so the small house offered nothing more. I moved cautiously to another house. Since I didn't hear gunfire, four of the five who landed with me might still be alive or hiding nearby.
I secured a nearby house and checked the chat while catching my breath.
"Hmm, that opponent was just Beastman's first minion."
"And you killed them like that?"
"That spatula is OP."
Beastman had set his character in the chat initially, but eventually abandoned the concept to just chat normally. I couldn't tell what kind of character he was, and it gave me a headache. Meanwhile, viewers were paying more attention to Beastman's chat than my gameplay.
"What the heck is that?"
"I thought he was just a viewer, but he's a hardcore roleplayer? No, just a normal viewer."
"No clue what he's thinking."
"Holy crap, this is hilarious."
"Lolololololol."
I felt a bit like the viewers had been stolen from me, but since they were enjoying it, I didn't mind too much.
I refocused on the game and started looting. The small house didn't have great loot, but there were at least some healing items, so it wasn't a total failure.
Rat-a-tat!
"Huh?"
I heard footsteps. One of the opponents from earlier seemed to be approaching. I quietly positioned myself out of sight as they entered, holding only my hands and gun toward the door, waiting.
"One, two, three…"
As I finished counting, the door opened and I fired my pistol.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four bullets in succession, but they didn't kill the opponent.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
Bullets rained toward me. I quickly pulled back and escaped through a window I had scouted. Since I hadn't killed them with the pistol initially, this fight was unwinnable.
'Head toward the center of the zone.'
Staying in this small village wouldn't help. While they sprayed bullets, moving out was the best option. About 30 players remained. If I survived a little longer, I'd be in the top half. Luckily, there was a car nearby, so I hopped in and started it.
Click! Click!
I released the parking brake, pressed the accelerator, and drove. In the distance, I saw someone running.
Vroom!
I accelerated and hit the person running behind me.
Crash!
['IllllILIlili' died in a traffic accident.]
I quickly looted the body. Luckily, they had an assault rifle. Not as good as an M4, but still decent. I got back in the car and headed to the center of the zone. Along the way, more players died, and I killed about three more.
As I neared the center, a system message appeared.
[The zone is shrinking for the first phase.]
From afar, I could see the zone slowly closing. Ten players remained. If I survived, I could make it into the top five.
Suddenly, three bullets hit my car.
"Tch."
I clicked my tongue and zigzagged the car, but the bullets kept hitting. Surprisingly, one bullet struck my head, and a message appeared.
[Too bad. Try harder next time!]
[7#]
[Placement in progress.]
[Three rounds remaining until placement.]
Final rank: 7th. Disappointing, but being in the top tier would still influence placement significantly. Unlike me, our VIP was ecstatic.
"7th place, lololol."
"Lucky seven, lolol."
"Only 1 kill, lolololol."
"See, I won, right? You lost?"
"Did 15 kills look that easy?"
Beastman seemed to be having the time of his life in chat. Since I hadn't aimed for kills initially, it didn't bother me. He typed away energetically, oblivious.
"Okay, let's move on to the next round."
The playtime was under 30 minutes, so it felt too short. Having tasted first place earlier, I craved more exciting moments.
"Getting wrecked in the car is so lame."
"The movement made me dizzy."
"Why not drop where there are more people and fight?"
"There's a mission, but they're playing safe on the side."
"Our VIP will be sad!"
The chat, like me, wanted excitement. But I couldn't risk placement, so I just smiled lightly.
I queued up and quickly dropped into a small village to loot. This time, no one else was around.
After safely looting, I headed straight for the zone center but died in the process. It was frustrating; a few headshots struck me while running, killing me instantly. At least I ranked 24th.
'As long as I make it into the top half, placement is fine.'
I was grateful that this didn't negatively affect placement. Two placement rounds remained, but considering one would be used for the mission, effectively only one round was left.
'I need to get at least fifth place.'
That way, even if I sacrificed a round for the mission, I could still get a high tier. In the next round, I waited a bit before jumping. Having landed in similar spots before, it was time to try somewhere new.
"Finally going somewhere else."
"Is there even a small village in that direction?"
"The map is narrow; there probably isn't one."
"Why that way?"
"Don't get it."
Players who had played a few rounds in speed mode knew there were no buildings in my direction, so they were puzzled. There weren't any proper structures here, but a very rare spot could appear. I wasn't sure if it would show up this round, but it seemed the best option.
Thud!
I landed with my parachute, checked the area, and moved toward a familiar spot. There, an M4 lay waiting.
"Tch. A dud."
I had worked hard for that M4 in the first round, but considering why I came here, it was disappointing. I grabbed it and ran toward the distant center of the zone, ignoring nearby houses. Trying to loot halfway would risk dying to the zone.
I decided to give up on looting and move directly to the center. On the way, I killed a few more people, and the remaining players dropped to around ten. I played cautiously and finished in 4th place. I had achieved my goal of ranking high and was satisfied.
"One round left until placement."
"Hehe."
"I win!"
"You lose!"
"I'll be the first viewer to beat the streamer!"
Ignoring the VIP, trapped in his roleplay, I continued the stream.
"Since the VIP challenged me, I'll drop in a location of your choice for the final round."
"Oh?"
"The factory?"
"An apartment would be good too."
"Factory, factory, factory, factory, factory!"
The viewers called out their preferred spots. I picked the location with the most votes, excluding duplicates.
"This round, we'll drop at the factory."