Chapter Text
It's another weekend. Another class-less, schedule-less, and angry-Yuuka-less day.
For most Millennium students, however, this doesn't really change anything.
As much as anyone wants them to, projects and research aren't gonna do themselves.
Much like the happiness that comes after, progress and results need to be fought for.
To many, weekends only mean more time spent behind their screens and papers rather than textbooks.
Lights are still on throughout the midnight for reasons that don't like, and caffeinated products are still consumed by gallons.
"AAAAAARRRGHHHHGRHJIAGMHH---"
One club stands out as a glaring exception.
For the fifth time today, Momoi's defeated wail echoes across the Game Development Department's homey den.
"SCREW THIS GUY! SCREW THIS K-SAN PIECE OF SHIT AND HIS STUPID-ASS BLACK MECH!"
With a frustrated drop of her controller-shaped victim to her side, she recoils backward and drops on her back.
As if she's wrecked and defeated in real life as well.
"Ueeeee... My elo..." When anger and irritation recede, depression quickly fills in the blank. "Life is kuyashi..."
"Nee-chan," Her twin sister breaks the silence for the first time tonight. "Didn't I tell you to avoid queueing for now?"
Clipping her pen back on the drawing tablet on her lap, Midori spares the TV screen at a short distance a glance.
Seems like the new sequel to the iconic mech-piloting game that was published a while ago. The PVP mode of it, to be exact.
Not much can be discerned from here. Not much aside from the big red header that says DEFEAT.
"That hacker again?" Out of curiosity, she decides to take a closer look.
And much to her expectation, it's the same player ID that also stomped her in previous gaming sessions days ago.
"......" With a grumble, Midori picks up the controller and does the right thing: Report. This player is cheating. Send.
"Aw," At a good timing, Arisu gets off her couch, grabs her Switch 2, and joins the conversation.
"Low Morale debuff on a party member detected!" She hands the sulking Momoi the other, smaller controller. "Deploying countermeasures."
"Here, Momoi!" GDD's wellspring of cheerfulness is angelic as usual.
"Let's kill some horrors beyond comprehension and hunt down anomalous artifacts instead!" So she says with a brimming smile.
"Since when are you into that kind of game!?" Midori has to clench her jaw so it won't drop off her face.
Arisu shows off the screen of her Switch 2 with pride and joy. "Since Sensei introduced me into it!"
The display shows the main menu of C.H.A.S.E.R., a post-apocalyptic hardcore survival/horror game.
"Ueeee..." Still, Momoi takes the Joy-Con; distraction is what she needs, and she knows that. "Sure... Sounds like fun..."
Click!
"Did you say... hackers?" A voice emerges from one of the cabinets as its resident pops her head out.
A retro handheld console in her hands, a little personal project she has been tinkering with, both software and hardware-wise.
Instead of the usual meek and soft tone, she sounds... different. Clear and composed, reminding people of a certain adult. A professional.
Her gray-ish blue eyes are honed sharp, contrary to her impression upon countless others.
UZQueen is in the house tonight.
Somehow.
"Yeah..." Said Momoi deflatedly.
"What game?"
"AC..."
"Which AC? Do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it down??"
"The mech one. The latest." Midori adds.
"Hacker name?"
"Mmm..." Arisu scans the TV screen, which is still on the post-game lobby. "K-san!"
"......" UZQueen's gaze sharpens even more as her lips flatten.
Quietly, Yuzu swaps her little console for her laptop from her cabinet.
With experienced fluency, she opens the official public ranking website of the AC6.
The site not only keeps a rank updated by minutes, but also allows users to view each other's loadouts, gaming records, and more.
Momoi, Midori, and Arisu gather behind the leader of GDD, watching, wondering.
"Hackers are common in comp plays." Yuzu selects the filters, enters Momoi's account ID, and browses through the records.
Eventually, she zeroes in on the one that bears the name her club member mentions.
"This one?" Surely, enough, it's K-san.
"Yes! That bastard!" Just seeing that name makes Momoi's blood boil.
"Looks like it." The same anger is shared with Midori; she, too, has suffered losses at the hands of this hacker.
"Hmm... Over black with red accent color." Arisu comments with a frown. "Typical antagonist color scheme! This is definitely a baddie!"
"Dual heavy shotguns, a grenade cannon, lightweight reverse-joint biped build..." Yuzu ponders, sifting through K-san's loadout.
"High mobility build with next to zero armor," Mirodi drawls flatly. "Because of course they do."
"What kind of hacks are they using, Momoi?" Yuzu tries to put the pieces together.
"T- They have infinite ammo, faster firing speed, and no reload needed! Oh, and infinite Terminal Armor!"
Heavy shotguns deal massive damage, especially up close, at the cost of slow firing rate, slow reloading speed, and low magazine capacity.
Grenade cannon is a similar story; a super high damage weapon, but it's single-shot only, and the reload time is long.
And Terminal Armor is a mech attachment that, when the player's HP drops to zero, they can preserve 1 HP and gain a huge boost of health.
Of course, it's a one-off. This is usually for one last stand and final saving grace as the health bleeds away fast.
So what happens if a player has infinite usage of Terminal Armor, while having a fast, nimble, and supposedly squishy character?
On top of having three weapons that do tons of damage, while negating all of their downsides?
Knock-knock!
"I've got it!" Arisu jumps off her spot behind Yuzu's laptop and makes a beeline for the club room's door.
Interestingly enough, the rest of the GDD member proceed with their little research as usual.
Momoi and Midori don't scramble to their post and pretend they've been working.
And Yuzu isn't hiding herself in the cabinet or something equally boxy and cramped cozy.
"Hey, I- Woah!" "-Sensei, emergency quest!"
Before the expected adult can even finish his greeting, Arisu leads her through the door by his vacant hand.
His other hand has a bag containing four cup bubble teas and some miscellaneous snacks he thought looked cool.
"What are you on about this time?" He asks as he drops his belongings at the small entryway of the club room and takes off his boots.
"We're gonna take down a hacker!" Momoi introduces Sensei to a spot next to her, again, behind Yuzu and her laptop.
"Hacker? On what game?" He prods, resting the late-night fuel for the girls down on the table nearby before joining them.
"AC6!"
"Which AC6? Do you have any idea how-"
"-The one with mechs!"
"Oh."
Meanwhile, Midori seizes her chance and scoots closer to Sensei from the other side.
Not much room left when there are four people (including a towering guy) sharing a laptop screen.
Four, because Arisu is distracted by the snacks. "Oooh, isotopic-cherry flavored!" She says, reading the label on a pack of gummies.
"So... what's the plan here?" Sensei's chin is barely touching Yuzu's (unshowered) dome as he tries to take a closer look.
"I, uhm..." Perhaps it's because of that, Yuzu sounds a couple of notes higher.
"I plan to jus- just take them head-on, and record the whole game. See what I can figure out from there..."
"There is footage from other players on SNS, but I want to feel for myself."
"Hm." Sensei doesn't say much; he's long over with competitive PVP games to give any constructive comments anyway.
Still, reading through the loadout of this... K-san? General gaming sense still applies.
What's the weakness of shotguns? Effective range and damage drop-off over distance.
What's the weakness of a high-AGL, low-DEF, assassin-like build? Burst damage and undodgeable attacks.
What's the winning condition of a 1v1, PVP arena mode?
"...Okay." Yuzu closes her laptop with a new-lit determination.
The path to victory is clear; now all she needs is execution.
And execution she seeks, as UZQueen situates herself before the TV and grabs the controller.
With Momoi's account, no less. She has been working on that little console, so she has no time for climbing in AC6.
Plus, now that K-san has scored multiple wins from Momoi, it's less likely for them to dodge compared to seeing UZQueen in the ID column.
As much as Yuzu doesn't want to, fame can transcend games and genres when it's big enough.
A certain MOBA pro player with six world titles and countless other regional ones under his name comes to mind.
Before hitting the queue button, Yuzu works her fingers and takes a deep breath.
The rest of GDD, along with Sensei, come into action to support their champion.
Midori is grabbing another laptop and setting up the screen recording.
Momoi is rummaging through her and her sister's drawers to look for connection cables.
Arisu is being Arisu. Which means supplying UZQueen with a stable flow of gummies and morale support.
Auburn locks the club room door and checks his Momotalk, making sure a certain treasurer will stay away from here for the time being.
No messages, no scheduled meetings, and of course, no delayed work that'll make her come storming.
Looks like being responsible has a merit, after all. He smirks.
Regardless, the stage is set.
Time for UZQueen to perform her magic.