Chapter 53: The Everyday Life of Longsheng and Bruce

Sakya could almost imagine the everyday life of the two boys; in a way, she even felt a bit envious of them. Reflecting on it, she realized that aside from shopping and cooking, she didn’t really have any leisure activities that she could lose herself in. If things continued like this, the pressure would become unbearable.

"Um... what game are you guys playing? It looks really interesting. Could you teach me?" she asked.

"Oh? Seriously?" Bruce said, resting his chin on his hand with a curious smile, exchanging a glance with Longsheng.

"Our great hero Sakya wants us to teach her how to play games?" Bruce teased.

"I-Is there anything strange about that?" Sakya replied awkwardly.

"Besides, I can’t really live up to being called a great hero..." she added.

"Come on, at least we know your other identity beyond being a student, and didn’t you save us as well?" Bruce, ever the smooth talker, said, while Longsheng just watched dumbfounded from the side.

"Alright, alright, are you going to teach me or not? Seeing you two so absorbed in playing, can’t I be a little curious? Being a great hero must be quite stressful," Sakya said, hands on her hips, a bit impatient.

"Come on, let’s have a round before dinner," Longsheng said without hesitation, sitting down and opening the game interface.

He could tell that Sakya didn’t have many entertainment outlets. When she was at school, she often left early after class, probably for tactical training. It would be good for her to have a way to unwind.

"This is a shooting game..." Bruce handed his computer over to Sakya and began guiding her from behind.

"Oh, I remember this game... I've seen streamers play it online," Sakya said as she joined Longsheng’s team, following their instructions.

It was a tactical shooting survival game that seemed to be very popular on the internet lately.

"Isn’t this that... something like ‘Battle Royale’?" Sakya asked, not much into video games despite occasionally playing.

"PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds," Longsheng supplied.

"Yeah, that’s the one," she nodded. She had heard that the game's rules were adapted from some military training methods, though she wasn’t sure if that was true.

Together, they appeared on the game’s map, scavenging nearby weapons and gear. Although unfamiliar with the map, Sakya seemed to have no trouble with the controls.

She followed Longsheng’s movements and kept asking which equipment suited her best.

Being veteran players, Longsheng and Bruce quickly offered advice.

"Not bad. For a female player, you’re picking up fast," Bruce said, a bit surprised since she hadn’t played this game before.

She was nothing like the cutesy, clueless girls they usually saw on those ‘playing with girls’ streaming shows.

“I was actually using a bot before, and controlling a bot is much more complicated than keyboard and mouse,” Longsheng, always blunt, said.

"This... is pretty interesting," Sakya remarked, fully focused on the screen, headphones on, moving her mouse to shift perspectives and scanning the surroundings.

Whenever she passed low walls where enemies might lurk, she crouched, skillfully avoiding many well-armed players and steering clear of pointless firefights.

"Wow, that awareness... no wonder you’ve actually been on the battlefield," Bruce said, clearly impressed from behind.

Playing this game really felt like facing potential threats from all directions in a real combat zone.

Some aspects reminded Sakya of the tactical training Swag had given her, making her feel quite at home.

Compared to Sakya’s caution, Longsheng had a bad habit of being reckless in this game.

"Longsheng, there’s a lot of stuff over there!" Bruce warned.

"Really! There’s a level-three helmet!" Longsheng excitedly ran to a terrace where a top-tier helmet, called a ‘level-three helmet’ by players, lay in plain sight.

Besides the helmet, there were also various ammunition and a Kar98k sniper rifle.

"Huh? Armor here?" Sakya, playing on Bruce’s account and positioned behind Longsheng, found it odd that such high-level gear was placed so conspicuously in such a dangerous battlefield.

Just as she pondered this, Longsheng, who had been crouching by the supplies deciding what to take, was suddenly headshot.

"Whoa, holy crap!" Longsheng yelled, his whole body trembling, clearly startled by the sudden headshot.

"Damn! There’s a sniper on the other side!" Bruce chuckled wickedly, though who knew if he had already suspected an ambush there.

"I knew it! I’m coming to save you!" Sakya immediately wanted to rush upstairs, but she only had a submachine gun and no idea where the enemy was.

Under these circumstances, she dared not expose herself rashly.

"Bruce, Longsheng, what do we do!?" After a player is killed, teammates have one chance to revive them; Longsheng’s character was still down on the ground, not officially out yet.

"Damn, the enemy’s baiting us. Don’t come out yet," Bruce analyzed the situation expertly.

"Hey, Sakya... or rather, Qin Yun, uh, Sakya! Do you have smoke grenades?" Longsheng hadn’t yet gotten used to calling Qin Yun by her real name.

"Yeah, yeah, I just picked up two!" Thankfully, smoke grenades could come in handy now!

With the cover of the smoke, Sakya finally revived Longsheng. They used the staircase as cover, quickly healed a bit, and escaped the building.

"That was close. Good thing you were cautious," Longsheng said.

They found a vehicle and were now racing the shrinking play zone—a thrilling and fast-paced aspect of the game.

Sakya wasn’t naturally cautious; these were all lessons from Swag’s special agent training.

"Wow, not bad, you two. You’re already heading into the final circle. Sakya, it’s impressive for your first time playing to get this far," Bruce said, opening a can of soda and placing two others on the table.

This game wasn’t just simple entertainment; it was a good tactical training simulator.

Sakya smiled slightly. It looked like she was about to show Longsheng and Bruce just how powerful a player with tactical skills could be.

This game was fun!

Sakya planned to register an account herself.

It seemed she was about to have a new pastime.

The so-called "final circle" was the last shrinking zone on the map, forcing surviving players into a small area for the ultimate showdown. The last team standing would be the champion, commonly called "winner winner chicken dinner."

Ahead of Longsheng and Sakya’s team, two other squads were already exchanging fire in the final circle.

From a distance, Sakya could hear the gunshots.

"Get out of the car and crawl through the grass over there," Longsheng suggested.

"No need, watch me charge right through!" Sakya calculated the distance, kept a maximum speed toward the four players exchanging fire ahead, and dashed straight in!

"That reckless?!"