Volume 1 - CH 5

“Itsuki-san, this is probably a beta fake.”

“Understood. Let’s pass through the center and head towards alpha.”

“At least two entered the cave with smoke and search.”

“OK. I’ve ignited smoke in front of alpha and on the bridge side-”

“I see them, took one out.”

“Huh? Na-Nice…”

Unrated games are mainly for beginners and the level is low because there are many players.

The team’s composition is rough, their information gathering is lax, and there are many players who are eager to make kill moves. If there are no covers or crosses, the consciousness of pre-aiming is almost non-existent.

But this opponent seemed to be a full party using VC voice chat, and their movement showed obvious signs of being around the Platinum rank. Honestly, I thought we’d lose, but-

(Gissy’s reflexes are faster than I thought)

No, to be precise, Gissy has become more active by being the IGL.

(At halfway point, already having 23 kills – the opponent must be tearing their hair out)

Sorry, but my timing to use skills is, to put it mildly, not good…

But in a pure shootout, there’s no doubt she could reach the highest rank of Braver.

(And that’s not all)

“There’s no one in the center, they’re sneaking out from the back to alpha.”

“Deep… there’s a sniper in the left window where I pinned.”

“This is beta. I’m using a wall to stop them, and the wire on the other side reacted, so there are more than three.”

Misaku’s information gathering and reporting are really solid.

In a staple, information is as important as a shootout.

No matter how good you are at a shootout, if you are inferior to the opponent in terms of information, you will lose often, so the more information you have, the better.

(And at this level, they can even Lurk properly)

Honestly, there’s not much point in Lurking at the Platinum level.

That’s because it often leads to self-centered play, in which case it’s much better to move with your teammates and cover each other.

But she collects information diligently, reports it without fail, and uses her skills accurately.

And if she also has a high survival rate, it would be a waste not to use her.

But.

“Ah! I’m sorry, I lost… there’s one behind the fountain.”

My sister is not physically strong, so she tends to wait.

If her aim stabilizes to the point where she can flank, I think she’ll reach Braver soon…

(In any case, it’s easy to work with them, it’s hard to believe it’s our first time teaming up-)

“Wha?! Ah, damn, I was ambushed.”

“! I’ll avenge you, brother- Nyaa!”

“Misakuuu!!”

“… Well, if only this wasn’t there.”

I don’t know if they’re serious or just fooling around, but these siblings have a habit of making strange pranks or, to put it another way, bizarre troll spasms. I’ve noticed this when I watched their streams.

It’s not fatal considering the rating of these two, but…

But it’s hard for me to say anything strong because I find these two amusing.

“I got one, two…”

“Three, four… five! Nice ace, brother, you took out all five!”

“And GG, 15-7, you two are really good.”

“It’s not us, it’s because your IGL was perfect, Itsuki-san.”

“Eh? It’s not like I did anything special-”

“No doubt about it, because your instructions were accurate, I never felt like we were going to lose.”

“That’s… thank you.”

“I didn’t realize how much of a difference it makes to have an IGL, I appreciate it.”

“Thank you, Itsuki-san.”

I was a bit taken aback by all the gratitude. Just a while ago, I was told not to be so preachy…

“……….”

“By the way, you seem quite mature, Itsuki-san, how old are you?”

“Eh, ah, well, I just turned-”

“Brother! What are you asking?!”

“? It’s not rude to ask someone’s age, right?”

“Sigh… This is why you are…”

“Eh? … Ah, I see what you mean.”

“…Ah”

I wondered why his sister was so angry, but as soon as I heard her exasperated voice, I understood what she meant and immediately tightened my relaxed mood.

That was close… When I’m not streaming, I tend to let my guard down.

“That’s right. Itsuki-san is provisionally 18 years old.”

“Provisionally? It should be eternal.”

“Eternal provisionally, which means eternal.”

“I see, that’s deep… No, it’s not deep at all.”

“Hm… By the way, aren’t you both forgetting that you’re pretending not to know who I am?”

“Ah… I-I’m sorry…”

“Well, I mean — it’s pretty obvious.”

“It’s okay, I knew you were being considerate.”

In fact, they had been treating me just like any other listener.

So I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

“But you invited me for your sister’s sake, didn’t you?”

“Well… yeah, without that reason we wouldn’t have gone this far.”

“Wow… But when you put it like that, it’s so straightforward I’ll forgive you.”

“However, it’s a bit sad to not want to play a game without a specific reason.”

“–That is”

“If you could play a relaxing game with people like us who have no strings attached, wouldn’t that be more comfortable? That’s all we thought.”

…Indeed, I hadn’t been playing games even behind the scenes with my colleagues at the agency.

Everyone was concerned and invited me, but…

[We are fully responsible for all the controversy.]

[We will definitely make amends for the sin of forcing you against your will.]

[However… only a limited number of people knew about this.]

[Even if we were suspected, we should have been able to hide it — but that man…]

[There is a possibility that the leak came from within — one of the members.]

“……….”

“Itsuki-san…? You’re not feeling sick because my brother’s words were too cheesy–”

“Hey, don’t make such a sad assumption.”

“Eh? Oh, yeah! I’m happy, really happy.”

“Big brother… please save that cheesiness for me only.”

“Don’t say you’re happy with cheesiness, it gets confusing.”

“But I really — enjoyed it.”

Honestly, I was a little scared to touch Star Platinum again.

I thought I might remember those days when I was striving for the Emperor with pain and start to dislike Star Platinum again.

But…

The ease of playing as if I had been playing all along and the naturalness of the siblings brought me back to Star Platinum.

“I think it was good to play together, even with doubts.”

“–! Well, I’ve always been a fan of Itsuki-san.”

“…Thanks. But, doesn’t that sound a bit too close?”

“Eh, ah, ye-yes, indeed… then, um…”

“Right. Then to close the distance, let’s fight it out in Deathmatch next time.”

“Brother! What are you saying?!”

“Hmm…? I don’t mind at all, but if you feel stronger after the last match, you’re in for a shock.”

“Oh, then let’s make the loser do whatever the winner says.”

“You said it, don’t forget those words.”

“Ah, ah… then I’ll also win and make Itsuki-san do whatever I say!”

“Eh? Why is it 2 against 1?”

And so…

Before we knew it, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, the siblings and I played Star Platinum until dawn.