[First Collab] The Game Begins

Thanks to Effie-san’s sudden suggestion, we had ended up playing 『OFA』, and this game actually offered a fair amount of freedom.

First of all, unusually for an FPS, players developed avatars they had created themselves.

That said, it wasn’t like your stats increased or you learned skills. It would probably be easier to say that you earned points based on your score in PvP matches and used those points to raise the ranks of two things: your 『Class』 and your 『Superpower』.

There were five types of 『Class』 that determined your combat style.

First was 『Shield』, a tank-type class capable of using a weapon called a shield pistol, which combined a shield with a low-rate-of-fire pistol.

Compared to the other classes, this one had higher durability and was harder to kill.

It paired well with 『Superpowers』 that involved charging with the shield or creating barrier zones, and those types of 『Superpowers』 received buffs to their range, power, endurance, and duration.

Next was 『Assault』, an aggressive class that used assault rifles and quickly pushed into enemy lines.

This one had higher base movement speed and also carried an extra magazine when equipped with an assault rifle.

It apparently paired well with movement-based 『Superpowers』, though I didn’t know much about the class since I wasn’t going to play it. Apparently, quite a few players also combined it with all sorts of 『Superpowers』 to create unusual, off-meta fighting styles.

Next came 『Heavy Weapon』, which used things like rocket launchers and Gatling guns. People also simply called this the heavy-weapons class.

It could carry extra ammunition, and when using a Gatling gun, it could also reduce heat buildup.

It was a class capable of dramatically affecting the course of a battle, but in exchange, its movement speed left something to be desired. Some players compensated by taking movement-based 『Superpowers』, while others doubled down on damage and became complete firepower maniacs.

Next was the 『Medic』 class, which carried healing kits.

In general, it resembled Assault, but it suffered penalties unless it used lighter weapons than Assault, and its HP was set somewhat lower.

However, having a 『Medic』 made it easier for the frontline members to charge in without hesitation and fight while accepting some damage, so apparently the current standard was to include one per team while compensating for its weaknesses with 『Superpowers』, such as taking a barrier ability to reinforce its defenses.

And finally, there was 『Sniper』.

Unlike the 『Medic』, it supported the team from the rear in a different way, reducing things like weapon sway when using sniper rifles, and it could also set traps.

Depending on the player, it could provide pure support and suppression using scouting abilities, or even fight at point-blank range despite being a sniper in order to disrupt the enemy. Its methods of supporting the team varied widely.

I didn’t know every type of Superpower either, but apparently once their rank increased, you could customize them slightly—reducing the number of uses to strengthen each activation, or shortening their duration to increase the number of uses, for example.

There were videos where players had abilities that weren’t quite the same despite being the same general type, or where someone let their guard down because of the opponent’s 『Class』 only to get outplayed by their 『Superpower』 and have the battle reversed.

It was surprisingly deep.

Apparently, trying to counter everything with one repetitive meta strategy simply didn’t work.

Effie-san had said so on stream.

《Vel-chan, once you’ve logged in, can you post a screenshot of your ID in 『Connect』?》

“Mm, understood.”

I glanced over at the comments and saw plenty of viewers who had apparently realized that this really was our first time playing together and that the whole thing was completely spontaneous.

Yep, that’s right, viewers.

Originally, today’s plan had only been introductions and talking.

Actually, to be even more precise, we hadn’t been planning to collab at all today.

So why were we in this situation…?

Entirely because Effie-san had gone off the rails.

Well, Yuzu-neesan had said something like, “Wouldn’t it be better to chat a little before suddenly playing a game together?”

But then Effie-san came up with the absurdly forceful logic of, “We talked a little before playing, so whether we play today or another day makes no difference,” and once the comments got excited and Rio-san and Suu-san became enthusiastic too, there was no way Yuzu-neesan could stop it.

As a result, even now, Yuzu-neesan’s complaints and apologies were flowing through the 『Connect』 room, eventually ending with a single line—『We’ll talk later, Effie』—followed by silence.

…Effie-san. Yuzu-neesan is actually seriously pissed.

When she doesn’t even bother threatening you, that’s the real thing.

…Not my problem.

“Sent it.”

《Okay. Let’s see, N-JP-05—》

《Effie!? You’re reading it out loud!?》

《Rio, that’s just Effi-nee’s usual joke.》

《Ahahaha, obviously I’m joking! How many years do you think I’ve been a Vtuber?》

《W-wasn’t that unavoidable!? It was only on-screen for a few seconds, but way too many people joined! Because of that, we had to remake the room, regroup, and everything! It was a huge pain, you know!?》

Ahh, I’d watched last week’s incident too.

They had been trying to play a racing game where you could enter a room number and make it viewer-participation style, but when Effie-san tried to set it up, she accidentally displayed the room number directly on the stream, and viewers immediately typed it in and joined.

They ultimately had to remake the room and resend all the invitations, delaying the start of the game by around ten minutes.

…And that had been a collab with another Vtuber from Gem, too.

What a tragic accident that had been.

“Fear not, Rio, Suu. My ID is different from the one Effie just said aloud.”

《Oh, good.》

《Effi-nee would actually do something like that. I trust her in that specific way.》

“Indeed. I watched last week’s collab as well, so I found myself double-checking.”

《Heyyyy! Don’t all three of you bond over my PON stories!》

The comments were saying whatever they pleased, but Effie-san kept snapping back at them and playfully sparring while still properly sending me a 『Clan Invitation』.

A clan was basically an organization separate from the four-person teams used in matches. Members could chat and see each other’s login status even when they weren’t on the same team, so it was like a guild in an MMO.

…『Gem Pro Gathering』. Was I really allowed to join this…?

《All right, all right, welcome! Welcome, Vel-chan! We welcome you among us!》

《Welcome!》

《Mm, welcome.》

“…Mm. I am but a beginner, but I look forward to fighting alongside you.”

For now, I decided not to say the clan name aloud.

Apparently it could show above our names during matches anyway, but I didn’t know whether I was allowed to reveal it myself.

《All right, let’s jump straight in and try it!》

《Yeah!》

《Yeah.》

“Mm!”

A match-ready notification came from Effie-san, and I clicked the ready button.

At the start of a match, the team entered a waiting area called the lobby—or sometimes the staging room—and once the timer ran out, everyone was randomly transported onto the battlefield, where they had to procure weapons and fight.

However, random deployment came in two formats: one where the entire team was transported together from the start, and another where even teammates were scattered independently at random. In official professional tournaments, the format where each team deployed together was generally used more often.

Apparently the upcoming 『OFA VtuberCUP』 would also use the format where teams were transported together.

If someone died before even regrouping with their teammates, it wouldn’t make for very good stream footage either.

In any case, at long last, we were matched into a game and transported to the battlefield.