[Wow. I can''t believe you accepted this. As a token of gratitude, I''ll carry this match.]

    Kim scoffed at the random teammate’s message. They clearly didn’t know much about the community or the infamous Signal Flare.

    ‘...With two double-barrels?’

    The double-barrel shotgun was a beloved close-range weapon, but carrying two at once? That was rare.

    Even if Crazy Shot had a shotgun damage bonus, this was still pushing it.

    To make things worse, they only had 40 rounds of ammo. The rest of their inventory was stuffed entirely with throwables—excluding Molotovs.

    Kim had been playing long enough to recognize what kind of strategy this player was aiming for.

    Urban combat focus, eliminating distance gaps with smoke grenades when needed.

    Not a conventional playstyle. There was a high chance of getting dragged into some reckless firefight just by sticking around.

    Kim had a decision to make.

    Trust the random teammate who just declared they’d carry or go solo.

    The last remaining squadmate was a silent Chinese player, playing as Thief, a class specialized in disruption and annoyance tactics. Not the kind of person who’d back Kim up in a fight.

    Unfortunately, Kim’s class was Support—a role that relied on teammates to maximize effectiveness.

    With enough skill, a support-class player could go solo just fine.

    But Kim had no desire to sweat through a high-intensity game this late at night.

    Besides, while their playstyle was bizarre, that cute voice was oddly soothing. It took the edge off Kim’s growing frustration after a long streak of frustrating losses.

    “I’ll back you up. Let’s see if you can really carry.”

    [Oh, then I appreciate it.]

    Kim locked in the decision.

    Trust Final Academic Achievement: Chicken School Momo.

    About fifteen minutes later, Kim realized they had made the right choice.

    [Don’t come this way. I’ll clear this area. Cover Big Bro.]

    “Understood, Chicken School.”@@@@

    Despite the voice being as adorable as a little girl’s, the gameplay was straight-up macho.

    As soon as an enemy was spotted, smoke went up. Crazy Shot’s ultimate—a speed-boosting pad—was dropped, and then—

    Boom. Boom.

    Even when they ended up in a reload standoff—since the double-barrel had the longest reload time of any primary weapon—Chicken School always pulled off a ridiculous save with their absurdly accurate sticky grenades.

    Even if their own shield broke in the process, they always took at least two enemies down with them. Kim’s squad had no way of losing.

    The final fight, in particular, left a lasting impression.

    Chicken School singlehandedly annihilated the last surviving enemy squad with nothing but two double-barrels, smoke grenades, and sticky grenades.

    — !! VICTORY !! —

    KimGukgiMaster / Final Academic Achievement: Chicken School Momo / 糖糖葫芦葫芦

    In the end, Kim’s squad won far more easily than expected.

    And Chicken School? Not only were they cracked, but they had good manners too.

    [Wow. Great support play, KimGukgiMaster. Are you on an alt account?]

    “No, this is my main.”

    [Lucky game, then. Thanks for the carry. Good work, everyone.]

    Honestly, Kim was the lucky one.

    They had played over twenty matches before meeting Chicken School, dealing with garbage teammates the whole time. They had been debating whether to just call it a night.

    “...Chaotic, but fun.”

    ***

    Cheon Do-hee loved Battle Colosseum.

    Not in a casual way. She loved it so much that she dedicated at least one stream a week to the game.

    She wasn’t particularly skilled—her ranked games were brutal—but through sheer persistence, she always clawed her way to at least Gold by the end of each season.

    She had confirmed a slightly twisted truth—a cute troll could get away with nearly anything.

    [Magia: By the way, I can mess around a bit, right? Like when I snipe your streams?]

    But the more she fooled around, the more persistent people would become.

    [Me: You don’t want to appear on stream too often, right?]

    [Magia: No.]

    [Me: Then keep it in check.]

    [Magia: UwU.]

    ...UwU my ass.

    ...I’ll let it slide. Because she’s cute.

    [Me: You’ve got me and Rain, remember?]

    [Me: Just don’t cross the line.]

    ? Crackle

    [ AOYAGI RAIN / AOYAGI RAIN ]

    @aoyagirain_parallel_vtuber | 166,000 Followers

    Parallel First-Gen | Falling from the sky, it’s Aoyagi Rain ?

    ???? (Live) A MASSIVE ONE JUST DROPPED ???? 15,227 viewers

    #BattleColosseum #Momo #Parallel

    One week later—on the day of the Battle Colosseum collab.

    Rain’s streams usually averaged around 4,000 viewers, but today, over 15,000 people had tuned in.

    The hype around Employee D-Rain had already been high.

    And to top it off, the other first-gen members had all conveniently taken the day off to “watch the collab.”

    It was a choice that could’ve cost them some of their personal audience.

    But in reality, it was a tactic that CEO Do-hee had once taught them.

    [Momo: Fans who watch one of you are highly likely to watch another.]

    [Momo: You’re a group. Whenever something big happens, you’ll naturally be involved in each other’s content.]

    [Momo: Even breaks can be used strategically.]

    [Momo: Let’s say a huge collab happens, but you’re not in it. And let’s say you haven’t taken a break at all this month.]

    [Momo: If you time your break for that exact day, a bunch of your audience will show up to the collab instead.]

    [Momo: More visible viewers = bigger numbers = more new fans.

    [Momo: Basically, it’s trickle-down viewership.]

    And so, the first-gen members had all scheduled their appointments, errands, and personal commitments for this exact day.

    A clear sign that even they saw D-Rain as the biggest buzz in Parallel right now.

    [Oh, hell yeah! Droppin’ from the sky, comin’ to soak the dry land—it’s Aoyagi Rain!]

    A full week’s worth of anticipation.

    A hype train powered by every first-gen member.

    And Momo’s strategically engineered viewership boost.

    The sheer speed of chat messages made it clear just how many people were here.

    — OH HELL YEAH

    — ???

    — Leha

    — Lehaaaaaaa

    — ???!

    — D-RAIN! D-RAIN! D-RAIN! D-RAIN! D-RAIN!

    — Leha

    — ???

    — ???!

    [A whole week. It’s been a long wait, huh?]

    — LOOOOOOOONG WAIT

    — I almost DIED holding my breath

    — The puddles are bone dry

    [Ahaha! Yeah, you’re on the verge of drying up, huh? Well then, let me introduce two guests who’ll bring the moisture back! First up, our CEO!]

    The Battle Colosseum lobby. In the three-player waiting room, an empty slot was suddenly filled by the ID "momopeach."

    "Hello, Puddles. It’s been a while."

    — Moha

    — Mh

    — Boss Momo, hi

    — She’s here~

    — Has it been a month?

    [Next! The guy you Puddles wouldn’t shut up about. He split his schedule to be here today. Employee, D, Lupin~!]

    And at that moment—after a week of speculation—Magia finally made her reappearance.

    [Hello, everyone. I’m Employee D from Parallel’s operations team. I played D-Rain in last week’s Find Rain event. Thanks for having me.]

    — ????

    — Employee D Lupin LMAO

    — GOMU GOMU NO~~

    — HELL YEAH

    — ZEHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

    — DAMN, MOMO. WHERE DO YOU FIND THESE EMPLOYEES? THIS ONE’S AMAZING!

    — SO CUTE

    — THE GRAND EMPLOYEE, THE GOD EMPLOYEE, THE KING EMPLOYEE

    At that moment, the chat was filled with nothing but warm welcomes for Magia.

    But today’s stream had attracted a ton of MongMongs—Momo’s fans, who primarily followed Battle Colosseum.

    The phrase Signal Flare started popping up a few times in chat.

    And just as Do-hee had planned, it wasn’t long before a donation message rolled in.

    :: An anonymous donor has contributed 10,000 Clouds! ::

    :: Wait... Employee D’s username...? ::

    That was when everyone’s gaze shifted.

    For the first time, they noticed the ID occupying the third player slot.

     3p: Human Signal Flare Kim Fireworks

    One of the most infamous names in Battle Colosseum.

    The notorious troll known for terrorizing Momo’s games.

    And now, everyone could see it.

    — ?

    — ??

    — Huh?

    — Wait, what? My brain just short-circuited.

    — ???

    — SIGNAL FLARE...?

    — BRO, WHY ARE YOU HERE?!