“Fufu, you two look like you’re having fun.”
While babysitting Suupaa(who had already woken up but fell asleep again after her stomach was full), Touka watched Nana and Rinne’s stream.
Both Nana, who seemed to be enjoying herself, and Rinne, who rarely showed her defenselessness, smiled at Touka.
Ever since that unfortunate day, …Touka had always dreamed of two people she cherished smiling happily like this.
(The first day will soon be over. Have I done my part?)
For the past day, Touka has watched over the three of them from a step back. She did her best within her ability without stepping out of line or overstepping their boundaries.
Nana, Rinne, and Suupaa are all geniuses with weapons that no one else can imitate.
Touka was acting as a lubricant for all three of them, and she was never expected to be good at games. She understood this after she did a one-on-one spar with Suupaa.
Until she learned of Suupaa’s strength, Touka had always wondered why she had been invited to join HEROES.
Rinne asked her to join the VR division of HEROES because they lack personnel. Rinne needed one more person besides Suupaa and Nana to clear the four-person team limit.
But it didn’t have to be Touka.
She knows that better than anyone else.
Since Rinne was a well-known figure in the world of FPS, it would be best to get free players from the top-ranked Zero Wars VR.
At least it was better than placing someone unfamiliar with the game just for the sake of filling the vacant spot in the team, and even then not considering the time and effort they needed to train her just to get a mediocre level skill.
Or they could have brought in members from other HEROES teams. In short, there are still so many numbers of other alternatives.
And yet, Rinne chose Touka.
She had been wondering about this for quite some time, but now it became clear. She finally understood.
The reason is very simple.
In terms of strength to win the WGCS, Suupaa alone was sufficient.
One could say, even Nana and Rinne were not needed.
There is such a huge difference in ability between Suupaa and the other players. That it could be compared as if an armed military man were pinned against a group of children to fight.
The gap was as wide as the difference in physical ability between ordinary people and Nana. The girl called Suupaa already stands in a realm that can never be reached by normal means.
There are not many players in this country who can properly face her. The number was so small that they could be counted in one hand. And those few players are not in BATTLER because they have already secured their ticket to WGCS.
Considering this factor, Rinne’s decision to add Touka to fill the gap was fine.
But that is only true if HEROES only want to win the BATTLER.
(Should the team [Tenchi Shinmei] be participating in BATTLER, things might be different, but as it is now, the other teams have no way to stop Suupaa. Rin-nee-chan does terrible things, doesn’t she? She pulls out Suupaa-san of all people.)
No one expected Suupaa’s participation.
Faced with such adversity, it made it easy for Touka to imagine that the other team was scratching their heads right now.
It had only been about two weeks since Touka had started playing Zero Wars VR. Although she has learned enough skills not to be a hindrance, she is still far behind Suupaa and Nana.
Therefore, she compensates for her lack of ability with knowledge. She has done a lot of research on Zero Wars VR.
And after being armed with that level of knowledge, she can assure you. With the entry of Suupaa, BATTLER is no longer a competition between teams.
This tournament has turned into a survival game of [Can you kill Suupaa?].
Suupaa, The absolute champion, the one who has been holding the top one ranking for 12 consecutive months.
The top rankers of this game have experienced the unrealistic strength of Suupaa too much.
Many have tried to research Suupaa, only to find that she is not present on any social networking service. Her profile and character are just defaulted setting. She is also not a member of any team, and she does not post or stream videos.
A custom match becomes impossible with how she is, and the only way to fight her is to hope you are lucky enough to run into her in a random match.
To clarify the statement above, in fact, more players are praying not to meet Suupaa, but that’s beside the point.
Even if you try to prepare a countermeasure against her, what people know about her is too limited, and people can barely analyze her play from the perspective of an enemy.
Because of these reasons, the top players of Zero Wars VR, or the so-called “rankers,” the top 1000 players in the world ranking, concluded this:
[It’s useless to make countermeasure against Suupaa].
Zero Wars VR is the game with the world’s most active players in the [VR shooting game] genre, and there are several officially held large-scale tournaments, not just BATTLER.
That’s why, in the world of esports competition, they will direct more focus on official tournaments than on ranked matches where players show off their individual skills.
And Suupaa never appears in competitions.
Twelve consecutive months of ranked match domination.
Suupaa was feared as a monster that was said to be the incarnation of a stampede, and people mistook her for an AI prepared by management.
Still, the fact remains that she has never participated in any competitions of any scale until now.
There may be those who tried to imitate her name, but they cannot imitate her ability. And because Suupaa’s presence was so insignificant in competition, the statement before was born out of respect than a mockery.
Since she wasn’t going to participate in the competition anyway, it was a waste of time to try to devise a countermeasure against Suupaa.
If we somehow met her in a ranked match, then we will just do our best.
That was an unspoken agreement in the Zero Wars VR community.
But.
At last.
Suupaa took part in the last official tournament.
(Really, she’s so mean, isn’t she?)
Laughing to herself, Touka saw Rinne smiling broadly at her.
Zero Wars VR, for better or worse, is a game that has already passed the height of its golden age.
The [All-Stars] of the WGCS, which is the goal of HEROES and others, is an exhibition match held for the five most popular games in the world, plus an extra one.
And the way they determined the title for the ‘extra one was to look for a game that was [very popular and well-known, but not one of the top five in the world].
The VR shooting genre is one that has been gaining momentum over the past few years, but even Zero Wars VR, which is the most popular one, did not make it into the top five.
Its popularity has begun its decline. It can even be said that this is the beginning of its downfall.
And this WGCS All-Stars qualifying tournament will probably be the final spark it can give.
There have been three WGCS Japan qualifying tournaments that use Zero Wars VR, including BATTLER.
The first tournament was secured by [Tenchi Shinmei], the strongest professional team in Japan.
The second tournament was won by a team named [#Sumomo wa Zettai Momo Janai]{plum is not peach}, a team consisting of four amateurs, but each member is the strongest player in the top ranking.
And lastly, two teams from this year’s BATTLER will get a ticket to the WGCS.
This is the last chance they to grab their ticket to WGCS. That’s why everyone has spared no effort in this.
But still, Rinne brought Suupaa, even though she knew all those facts.
She brings out a monster that can be called the last boss for all Zero Wars VR players. It was a terrible move for the sake of decorating the last large-scale tournament with a screaming festival.
(That’s why it’s strange. Of course, it was not Suupaa’s fault. She is just stronger than anyone else. But Suupaa’s strength is surely going to destroy everything, just like Rin-nee-chan on that day).
Touka recalls the moment that transpired nearly three years ago, the moment when pro-gamer Rinne steadfastly held the WGCS winning for herself.
The day when Rinne Takajou seriously fought to the death for the only time in her life. A legendary fight that has granted Rinne a ridiculous nickname [Evil Beast], which also had forever turned the whole world upside down.
It was also the day when Touka understood for the first time the fundamental reason why Nana is so fond of Rinne.
(The current situation is similar to that day. It is a battle to defeat a monster with absolute strength. That day Rinne won after a fierce battle, but this time…)
The legendary moment won’t repeat itself now…
Before, it was the day when the behemoth clashed.
On that fateful day, there was someone who forced Rinne to use all her abilities, and someone like that didn’t exist in this tournament.
It’s true there exist two monsters in this tournament. But both of them are on the same team.
The Rinne she knew was someone who would rather be a challenger than be challenged. It was her virtue. She likes to get her audience get excited with that kind of situation.
(All I feel is discomfort. Why take Nana, who already enjoying WLO, all the way to the WGCS? Why would Rin-nee-chan herself, who had stayed away from esports in past years, go for the WGCS? And why did you choose to bring out Suupaa right now?)
Touka only joined HEROES because Rinne asked her to.
She already expected that she would serve as something like a lubricant, and that was because she did play her role well.
But the more Touka thinks about it, the more she wonders if that is the only reason.
(At first, I thought she recruited the famous Suupaa to make sure they would win BATTLER. But maybe that’s not true. Maybe she needs Nana and Suupaa’s help for the WGCS, not the BATTLER itself. Suupaa’s talents are not exclusively for Zero Wars VR, and it was proven by the anti-military simulations… Rin-nee-chan may not be aiming to win BATTLER from the beginning.)
Little by little, Touka began to understand Rinne’s intentions.
There are some things that only Touka could understand because she would look at Rinne from the standpoint of a cousin.
Nana’s trust in everything as long as [Rin-chan said so] is noble, but that was not the case for Touka. She won’t instantly trust everything Rinne says.
She does not cheat, but she does hide things. Touka knows that Rinne is that type of person and that she loves surprises.
“haah… anyway, I still have to concentrate on BATTLER.”
She decided to dismiss her endless doubts and wait for Rinne and Nana to finish their stream and return.
(Rin-nee-chan wouldn’t tell me why when I asked anyway. She would probably just say, [It’s not the
time yet].)
(Whether we win or lose, I would find out her reason by the time BATTLER was over, so at least I will be able to see what Rin-nee-chan is up to.)
“Hahhh… this really spoiled my mood.”
Touka looked ahead, not to tomorrow’s BATTLER, but to the future, and Touka muttered with a faraway look in her eyes.
“If my role is to fill the number, it’s fine. And my role as a lubricant too, I’ll be more than happy to play it.”
But then it occurred to her.
There’s one situation where Touka Takajou can be used effectively. And she doesn’t mean her role as a lubricant for this team.
It was a role as a sacrificial pawn when they were stuck in a corner.
Because Touka could definitely pull that role perfectly, and Rinne knows that.
What Touka hates more than anything is not to be used as a pawn but to have Nana see her used as one.
(I don’t mind if it’s for Nana-sama’s sake, though.)
The gloomy expression changes, and a smile appears on her face.
It’s foolish to be negative about the future, even if it’s just an imagination.
It doesn’t matter, and if I don’t wake up Suupaa before they come back, it will be a problem for the meeting later on.
“Suupaa, it’s already nighttime.”
“Ummm ………… is it …… night?”
“It’s night.”
“…………zzz.”
“That’s no good.”
“Uee..”
After a bit forcefully waking up the sleepy Suupaa, Touka prepared a snack for Rinne, who had missed dinner because she needed to do some preparation for Nana’s stream.
===*
The Zero Wars VR community was on fire with the unexpected appearance of Suupaa. Resulting in an emergency anti-Suupaa strategy being constructed at this very moment.
By the way, there’s also a rumor of a superhuman sniper there who will surely hit you from anywhere in today’s BATTLER.
Tl note:
Touka-mama~
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