I removed the virtual reality device with a light sigh. I faced reality after escaping the world of zeros and ones.
I wonder if it’s because it’s the preliminary rounds.
The inside of the simply constructed booth came into view.
“…Wow.”
A man who had also taken off his virtual reality device let out a hollow laugh.
The man, who was finally regaining his senses, stood up from his chair and awkwardly walked over.
“To be honest, I thought it was just hacks, but you guys really have the skills.”
Since the competition was in teams of two, it was no surprise that two people approached us.
“We lost cleanly.”
One of the men reached out for a handshake from Julia. I remember him as the one who endured her combo for about 0.5 seconds longer.
“It seems like you’ll definitely win, so I’ll be cheering for you.”
However, Julia didn’t seem to care about the handshake or anything else; she was only looking at me.
It was a blatant act of ignoring him.
In the end, the task of apologizing fell to me, someone with decent social skills.
“I’m sorry. My friend isn’t very used to conversations…”
The man smiled awkwardly at my words.
“No, actually, I was expecting that reaction.”
“Really?”
“I’ve met her a few times in ranked matches, and she never responded. I heard it wasn’t just me but also others.”
The handshake that was meant for Julia was now offered to me.
I hadn’t done much during the preliminary match, but I wasn’t the type to firmly refuse a handshake like Julia did.
“I didn’t get to see your match, but since you teamed up with ‘RabbitGangDude,’ you must have some skills, right?”
“…”
Actually, no.
I’m Silver, you know.
It seems Julia unintentionally gave off that impression since she secured an outright kill.
However, before I could say anything, the man made a brief greeting and moved outside the booth.
“Anyway, I’ll be cheering for you.”
…So what?
As long as the preliminary rounds were finished safely, that was enough.
I let out a short sigh.
There were more participants than I expected.
The scale was three times larger than I thought.
Just as the opposing man said, I hadn’t actually competed.
But even just putting on and taking off the virtual reality device was gradually accumulating fatigue.
Suddenly, I found myself worried and asked Julia.
“How’s your condition?”
“…I’m fine.”
The earlier display where she had lightly ignored the greetings was nowhere to be seen.
She nodded right away and replied to me.
With cautious gestures, she raised her thumbs with exaggerated flair using her prosthetic arms.
Was that Julia’s version of a joke?
I couldn’t tell.
Unlike usual, she was wearing a mask, which was the same reason why she didn’t have her usual ‘White Rabbit Doll’ with her.
Like I had heard before.
The rabbit doll she carried was a precious item that hacked signals to distort them, preventing nearby cameras from recognizing her.
It was obvious, but it was also something she couldn’t carry around in this tournament, which was being broadcast live.
By the way, the mask she was wearing was one I lent her temporarily—similar to the one I was using, capable of holding up even if tear gas exploded in the arena.
Feeling slightly stuffy in her mask, Julia subtly removed it from her face.
It was natural to feel constricted the first time you wore it.
The higher-end masks tend to be restrictive.
As I looked at Julia, I slightly raised my body to peek outside the booth.
I could see a few hurriedly moving people, but nobody in our booth seemed to be interested yet.
Now that I think about it…
Wasn’t our match the last of the preliminaries?
It felt like the main matches were about to start soon.
As if my expectation was right, a loud mic sound resonated throughout the arena.
I focused my gaze on the screen set up in the booth.
《Thank you for waiting!》
A man, presumably the main commentator, stood in front of a large desk on one side of the stage, continuing his explanation.
《It seems like the preliminary rounds have just concluded! That means we can finally proceed to the main matches that can be broadcast!》
Whoa—
The audience erupted in cheers.
《Before I introduce myself, let’s…》
Suddenly, the caster next to the commentator cut him off, grabbing the mic.
《Hey! Who wouldn’t know you? You’ve run over your scheduled time, so let’s get on with it!》
I don’t know who he is.
When I glanced sideways, Julia seemed to be clueless too.
The commentator shook his head.
A big sigh escaped through the mic.
《People from Neon City really have impatient personalities.》
Purposefully clearing his throat a few times, the commentator regained his voice.
《Well, it can’t be helped. Let’s start the first match of the main event right now!》
A burst of lights and smoke erupted on stage.
A hologram appeared, resembling the trailer Julia had shown me last time.
Slowly, two people walked up the stairs of the stage with assertive strides.
《And here comes our first team! A favorite to win the tournament. They achieved remarkable results in the last tournament as well! ‘Outer Raise’!》
Oh.
They were well-known players, even I knew them.
It’s not every day you get to witness a match like this live.
What a rare opportunity.
Who are they up against?
《Next up…. here come the next participants!》
From the opposite side where ‘Outer Raise’ had come from, another group appeared.
This time, they were female players.
In a cyberpunk world where cyberware and BioWare implants had made male and female abilities nearly equal, it wasn’t an unusual sight.
But somehow, they looked familiar─.
…What?
《Their team name is very unique. ‘MachineStrongest and HumanStrongest Team’!》
What’s that?
If my eye cyberware hasn’t been hacked,
the people who just walked up on stage were definitely ‘Eve’ and ‘Catherine.’
I must be really seeing things lately.
I rub my eyes and look ahead again.
“…….”
That’s strange.
Why are they just like that?
Eve was wearing her usual maid outfit. Sure, she had bought a new one, but I wish she’d change it up a bit by now.
Catherine seemed shy about her face being shown in a place like this, covering her eyes just like Nana and Julia with a mask.
The commentator’s surprised gaze turned toward Eve.
《Haha… this isn’t an event before the show, right? Quite a peculiar outfit you’re wearing. Maid outfit─.》
Suddenly, the commentator’s words halted.
《…….》
A heavy silence fell within the now-quiet dome as the audience’s cheers subsided.
However, the commentator, oblivious to the stifling atmosphere, murmured in a trembling voice.
《…Could it be that the participant’s name is.》
He started mumbling to himself as he searched for information.
《……Eve? Are you perhaps the ‘Streamer Eve’? Is it really you?!》
The sound of swallowing his saliva was amplified through the mic.
《I’m a fan─no, wait. You suddenly stopped streaming recently, and if it’s not too intrusive, may I ask why? No, let go. Right now, I’m speaking for all her fans here─.》
The caster next to him quickly covered the commentator’s mouth, intervening in the situation.
《Hehe, this guy really loves watching streaming broadcasts, apparently.》
What a crazy thing; I could barely hear the muttered voice.
In an unexpected broadcasting accident, the caster attempted to grab the commentator’s mic away.
《Eve, please turn your stream back on!! Turn it─.》
Before long, he was sadly dragged away by security.
Hmm.
What on earth is going on?
I hadn’t been able to watch Eve’s streaming for a while, being busy with Smile John and all.
It seemed like she had discontinued her broadcast while I wasn’t watching.
“…….”
Well, that makes sense.
The reason she started streaming was to buy ‘artificial bodies.’
Plus, she no longer needed to ask me for credits for living expenses.
The credits that Pete Mc transferred were already enough to stuff my account fat.
Unless there’s a tax investigation that comes in.
Unless they snatch away all my credits in the city, I shouldn’t need to worry about money anymore.
In the midst of this chaotic situation where the commentator had been pulled away,
Eve, the main cause of the ruckus, casually walked toward the booth where the virtual reality device was placed on stage.
Catherine, walking behind her awkwardly, didn’t fit the scene at all.
But wait, why are you guys even here?
However, since the person who could solve my questioning was already on stage, I had no choice but to keep my mouth shut and watch their match.
The caster wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.
《…There was a bit of commotion. My apologies.》
The caster tried to calm his darkened expression and regain his composure.
《……Let’s continue with the match!》
As the main matches began, while the two teams on stage were selecting their characters,
I felt a headache coming on.
They say headaches are a chronic condition in the cyberpunk world, and this pain doesn’t seem to be going away.
I assessed the situation coolly.
…
After thinking about it, it was bordering on unfair.
Of course, Julia and I didn’t participate with the goal of ‘winning.’
We were only here to dispel suspicions of hacking anyway; we didn’t necessarily need to win.
However,
it was also true that we needed concrete results.
Tentatively imagining a future where we didn’t win,
I stretched my imagination as much as I could.
— Rabbit did well, right? Seems not like a hack?
— lol, you’re just an ‘ordinary person’ who couldn’t even win!
— I watched it live, but they weren’t as good as online ㅇㅇ That’s a fact.
— The hack trash is just like that.
“Ugh.”
My head.
I grabbed my head, which had a reoccurring headache.
It clearly seemed like a crisis.
Julia looked at me with concern.
I waved my hand to signal I was fine, then first checked the tournament bracket uploaded on Net Data.
The team “Warriors are the Best” with me and Julia.
And the team ‘MachineStrongest and HumanStrongest’ with Eve and Catherine was, fortunately or unfortunately, seated at opposite ends.
…At least that’s better.
Even if we lost in the finals.
It would seem a bit less in the public eye since we lost to the winner.
— After all, you’re under Eve’s rabbit, right?
“Ugh.”
The gnat in my head wasn’t leaving.
《……Oh my! The match is over! Team ‘Outer Raise’ was unable to land a single hit against the MachineStrongest player and lost! Everyone is buzzing with the appearance of the new dark horse!》
I needed to find a way.
Noticing my worry,
Julia gently shook her head.
“…Don’t worry too much.”
“Do you have a different plan?”
At my question, Julia didn’t respond, simply tightening her fists.
It meant she believed only in her own skills.
…Must be the fighting game making me come up with odd metaphors.
Anyway, there was still plenty of time until the finals.
In the meantime, I resolved to find some clear way to deal with this.
At that moment, someone peeked into the booth we were in.
“Oh, is this it?”
A man with red-dyed hair roughly tossed his hair back.
“I was looking at the participant list, and I didn’t expect to find you here. Huh? Isn’t it weird for someone to believe this?”
Muttering to himself, he casually walked into the booth we were in.
Who the heck is this?
A shooting drone followed the man from behind.
It was something many streamers took with them when working outdoors.
Even though the atmosphere wasn’t welcoming at all, the man walked around the booth and headed in my direction.
With a confident action, he extended his hand for a handshake.
Why do fighting game players love handshakes so much?
For now, I ignored the handshake.
Frowning at the intruder, I asked.
“Who are you?”
“Oh, don’t you know? That’s understandable. Well, if you’re an ordinary person, you might not know. You guys keep quiet.”
Maybe because he’s a streamer, but he kept muttering to himself a lot.
Then he added more to introduce himself.
“Hi, I’m streamer Rococo.”
Oh.
He was that fighting game streamer who targeted her that Julia had shown me the materials on.
What exactly did he say about this person?
[Oh~, is that person? Not a hack. They don’t come to offline tournaments, respond frame by frame, and make no mistakes, but I don’t see why that can’t happen. I find out through ranked matches, where I’ve been ripped to shreds. By the way, that’s why I’m not playing that garbage game, so please don’t send me donations.]
…
First, I wanted to check if Julia was holding her folding katana behind her.
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