The plane was flying through the sky. I was preparing to drop along with the others. At a glance, it looked like more than ten people were headed to the same destination as me. The moment we hit the ground, a chaotic brawl would start. And to get 15 or more kills, I had to survive. Just surviving was already difficult, and having to secure kills on top of that made it far harder.
"Ha… I guess I just have to try…"
Honestly, the situation itself was overwhelming. But unlike me, the viewers were excited.
"Wow, how many people is that?"
"Lol you're gonna get instantly wiped."
"There's definitely someone stream-sniping."
"You're gonna die without doing anything, aren't you?"
The sheer number of people had the viewers hyped, and our VIP was no exception.
"Lololololololol."
"I win."
"How are you gonna survive with this many people?"
"You're the one who said you'd go factory."
"Lolololololol."
I had no idea how many times he spammed the letter K, but he was clearly having the time of his life. And he wasn't wrong. At this point, backing out of the factory wasn't an option. I had already told the viewers I was going there. And if I didn't drop at the factory, the mission would basically be a failure anyway.
"Let's go."
When we reached the airspace above the factory, everyone jumped. At the same time, I checked my surroundings. There were clearly more people than I had first noticed. It seemed quite a few had pretended not to go there and followed from behind.
"Feels like half the queue is gathering at the factory."
That wasn't good news for me. My chances of dying went up, and if most people died in the chaos, it would be harder to reach 15 kills.
"Let's do what we can."
As soon as I landed, I grabbed a nearby gun and loaded it. Then I fired at the head of an opponent who had landed next to me and was doing the exact same thing.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Three clean headshots.
['NaneunUjuin' has died.]
The kill log popped up, but I didn't have time to dwell on it. I immediately started running to kill as many people as possible. A pistol was too risky, so I swapped it for a nearby assault rifle.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
['NanDon-i-Joa' has died.]
"Two kills."
Without stopping, I went looking for the next target. I heard gunfire from a building and jumped through a window inside. Two people were shooting at each other, carefully checking one another. I thought the timing was perfect and did nothing. The firefight continued for another two or three minutes, and I slowly put my finger on the trigger.
"They should both be low by now…"
Both were completely focused on the fight and hadn't used any healing items. I aimed at the one farther away. The plan was to kill the distant one first, then deal with the closer one. I waited for the moment they peeked their head, and shortly after, they did.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Gunfire overlapped with the shots from the closer opponent. The closer one was focused on the distant enemy and didn't notice me. The distant one's eyes widened the moment they saw me.
"This isn't teaming…!"
They tried to accuse us of teaming, but were cut down by my gunfire. The closer opponent moved casually, thinking they had secured the kill.
There were two types of kill logs: the general one that appeared in the upper right, and the one that appeared at the bottom of your screen when you personally got a kill. The closer opponent hadn't seen the latter, yet didn't question it. They assumed there were only two people in the building and naturally believed they got the kill themselves.
As they moved to loot, I fired at the back of their head.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Neglecting their surroundings, they were shot from behind and died instantly.
['RedBox' has died.]
['RockDrop' has died.]
"That makes four kills."
"The last guy was kinda dumb."
"How did he think he got the kill when no log popped up?"
"Wasn't the MMR high? How does this even happen?"
"Maybe it happened because the MMR was high. He was confident he got the kill."
People threw out theories, but I didn't react much. I had made mistakes like that myself, so it didn't feel distant. Staying silent, I went to find the next target.
I found one sooner than expected. I spotted the back of someone moving to loot the next building. I loaded my gun and pulled the trigger.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
['NunNunNana' has died.]
They were shot in the head and died while looting. A very easy kill, almost too free. I moved to another area, and another fight came into view, and it was clearly one-sided. The one being shot had a pistol, while the attacker had an assault rifle. They had probably used all their healing items and couldn't recover health. On top of that, the terrain left no escape route, trapping them with no way to flee or heal.
And my angle was perfect. Neither of them could see me.
"Much obliged."
"Holy crap."
"Run!"
"Don't give him the kill!"
"What are you doing?"
"Run away!"
Beastman, our VIP, typed so frantically that typos and keyboard smashing filled the chat. Smiling broadly, I pulled the trigger.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat!
There were a few obstructions, so I committed heavily and dumped bullets. The result was extremely satisfying.
['BigSna' has died.]
"Five kills."
I immediately aimed at the opponent with the pistol and fired mercilessly.
Rat-a-tat!
With the short burst, another kill log appeared.
['BinSuryeGa' has died.]
"Six kills."
I had expected a chaotic free-for-all, but everyone was picking each other off neatly. With no proper standoffs, the viewers grew increasingly dissatisfied.
"Why are the opponents so dumb?"
"Why are they falling for this so obviously?"
"And this guy hasn't even properly faced anyone head-on except the first fight."
"Wasn't the MMR high?"
"Maybe the first guy was deep-sea diving."
"Does that even make sense?"
Complaints flew everywhere. But with placement and the mission on the line, I had no intention of charging in headfirst like an idiot. I still needed nine more kills. If I started forcing fights now, there would be no answer.
"If someone puts up 200,000 won or more for the mission, I'll fight head-on immediately."
I drew a clear line and continued securing kills in the same way, grabbing two more. Opportunistic kills, ambushes, finishing blows. I kept moving, and by the time my total reached eight kills, gunfire had stopped in the factory.
Kill logs were still appearing in real time, and the remaining players had already dropped into the thirties. People were killing each other elsewhere.
"Just seven more kills…"
Kill logs kept appearing. At this rate, getting seven more would be nearly impossible. As I was thinking about what to do, the zone appeared. The center was none other than the factory.
"Lucky."
With the factory designated as the center, people would start gathering here. Grinning, I immediately climbed to the highest point in the factory. While climbing, I switched from an assault rifle to a sniper rifle. My plan was to completely prevent anyone from entering the factory. I would allow angles, but block entry altogether.
"Hoo…"
Calming my breathing, I carefully checked all four directions of the factory.
"Didn't you say sniper rifles were bad in speed mode?"
"This guy is such a hypocrite. He trash-talked it and now he's using it."
"He admits it's trash, so what's there to complain about?"
"It might work. No one's in the factory, so it's advantageous for him."
While scanning, my first prey entered my scope. A pitiful lamb running hard toward the factory without even a vehicle. I aligned my aim with their path and fired.
Boom!
The sound was deafening up close, ringing my ears. Two seconds later, the kill log appeared at the bottom of my vision.
['TrashBelongsInTrashCan' has died.]
They had such a wholesome username. It felt oddly strange that I was the one who killed someone with such a good name. Still, it didn't affect my gameplay.
"That's nine kills."
I stayed alert, watching for more. People kept coming, some by car, some on foot. As I picked them off, my kill count climbed to fourteen.
Our VIP was screaming in delight.
"This is impossible!"
"What are my soldiers doing?"
"Take the enemy commander's head at once!"
"Why are they dying there?"
Beastman kept chatting while maintaining his bizarre concept, though it slipped at times. I just laughed.
Including me, there were now seven players left. As I waited, gunfire rang out from one direction.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Rat-a-tat-tat!
The shots came from inside the factory. I quickly turned my head, but it was already over. The two shooters had killed each other with simultaneous love shots.
"When did they get in…?"
They might have been inside the factory from the start, before I climbed up. I sighed lightly and moved my scope quickly, searching for the remaining four.
But until the zone reached the factory's edge, I couldn't spot a single one of them. That left only one possibility.
"They're already inside."
I hurried to reposition. If they were already inside, they knew where I was. My position was exposed, and I had a sniper rifle. That was practically a death sentence.
I frantically searched for an assault rifle. At that moment, gunfire erupted behind me.
Rat-a-tat!
The sound of an assault rifle. The bullets were aimed squarely at me. I relaxed my legs and collapsed forward. The instant my head hit the floor, I sprang up, turned a corner, and ran. The sound of footsteps chasing me clung to my ears.
I didn't slow down, using corners to move while scanning the ground. But somehow, there wasn't a single assault rifle in sight. I could move to another floor, but that would expose me to other angles.
Rat-a-tat!
During the chase, another fight broke out outside, and a kill log appeared. Including me, only three players remained.
"I'm really screwed."
"Lolololololol."
"Why did you throw away the assault rifle earlier?"
"Tsk tsk."
"Hehe, mission money secured."
"Goodbye, adios."
The viewers were convinced I would lose, and honestly, I wasn't much different. Our VIP was absolutely thrilled.
"Man, my heart was pounding."
"My victory."
"I almost freaked out thinking I'd lose money."
"Anyway, I won, so admit your defeat!"
I really wished he'd either fully commit to the concept or drop it entirely. Thinking that, I decided on my final move. Running away wouldn't solve anything now. Targeting the person outside was an option, but the one chasing me wouldn't allow it.
In the end, there was only one choice left. Kill the one chasing me.
"Hoo…"
I stopped, steadied my breathing, turned, and aimed my sniper rifle. Whether I killed them or not, whether I even got the shot off, that was my fate. All I could do now was calmly pull the trigger at the exact moment they appeared.
The footsteps drew closer. The opponent stuck their head out, and I pulled the trigger…
Rat-a-tat-tat!
"Damn it!"
[You did your best!]