Battlefield Awareness
Mako activated her skill, and the floating eye of the stream appeared in midair.
At the sight of it, Natsume and Kanon stepped in front of the camera just as they used to back when they were filming videos in Japan.
“Uh... welcome to the Gun Freak Girls channel. Natsume here. I'm the boss.”
Natsume delivered her usual half-assed greeting while Kanon waved cheerfully beside her.
“And I'm Na-chan's trusty partner and waifu, Kanon! As always, our shy little Mako-chan is behind the camera. And... those of you who watched yesterday probably already know her, but here's our guest, Shioji-chan! Well, I say ‘guest,’ but since we're all going to be surviving this isekai together, she's officially joining us as a new member. Okay, Shioji-chan! Say hi!”
Suddenly put on the spot—and with the bizarre floating eyeball staring straight at her—Shioji visibly panicked.
“Ah, um... hello. I'm Shioji. They've been taking care of me since yesterday. Nice to meet you...”
“Shioji-chan was with another group of campers, but they got scattered when monsters attacked. We found her and took her in. And it turns out her ‘cheat skill’ has some seriously crazy synergy with ours!”
Kanon, naturally taking charge of the show, clapped her hands together in delight.
“So, here's the deal,” Natsume said. “The streams we did back in Japan and what we're doing from here on out are gonna look a little different. Ain't some huge change in direction, though. This is still a guns-and-shooting channel.”
She gestured casually toward the floating eye.
“Difference is, instead of screwin' around with airsoft guns, we're mostly gonna be shooting the real thing. Paper targets get replaced with goblins, orcs, and whatever other monsters this world throws at us. Throw in a little hardcore isekai travel show on the side, and that's about it.”
Natsume pointed directly at the eye.
“And don't expect us to turn into one of those thirst-stream channels where you can't tell whether you're supposed to be watching the piano or the skimpy cosplay. Ain't happening. Though maybe, if y'all get lucky, Shioji'll put on some tiny bikini and shake her ass for you.”
“Like hell I will!”
“Right, right! Guns are still the main attraction!” Kanon said brightly. “Shioji-chan's just going to be our moving target!”
“What!? How can you say something that horrifying with such an adorable smile!? Are you some kind of psychopath?”
“Hey now, Kanon. Psycho's my character gimmick. Don't go stealing my material.”
Natsume smirked.
“Alright, that's enough screwin' around. We're continuing the search for somewhere we can actually live today, but first I've got a couple announcements for y'all.”
She raised one finger.
“First. The Super Chats y'all sent us yesterday already showed up as actual cash. Probably Mako's weird-ass skill at work. Same-day payout, same-day delivery. So around noon today, we're gonna livestream ourselves buying some new guns.”
Then she raised a second finger.
“And one more thing. I need Japanese yen to buy supplies in this world. Our newest member here, Shioji, has a skill called ‘Flea Market.’ Means she can put weird isekai shit up for sale on the Japanese market where y'all are.”
Her grin widened.
“So look forward to that.”
Then she turned toward Shioji.
“What's your account name, anyway? Better tell everybody now before some jackass starts impersonating you or trying to piggyback off this.”
“Eh...? My account is... this is embarrassing, but it's ‘siosio.’ It's just... my name, basically.”
“There you have it. Maybe somebody else out there got the same Flea Market skill, but that's the only account we recognize. Anything else claiming to sell ‘genuine products from another world’ ain't got shit to do with us. If you get scammed and buy some piece of garbage, that's on you.”
With that disclaimer out of the way, Natsume pulled a cigarillo from her breast pocket and lit up as usual, letting purple smoke curl into the air.
“Anything else we need to tell them, Na-chan?”
With Natsume apparently content to smoke at her own pace, Kanon hurried to make sure their host hadn't forgotten anything.
“Eh. Don't think so. And if I forgot it, probably wasn't important.”
Natsume took another drag.
“More importantly, we gotta keep moving. Ain't much of a plan, though. We're basically circling this big-ass lake and hoping somebody had the good sense to build a village near a major water source.”
She looked toward the eye.
“Ain't much cover around here, either, so don't expect great television. Deal with it.”
Then she motioned toward Mako and Shioji.
“You two keep an eye on chat. Read some comments, answer questions, whatever. Kanon and I'll handle security.”
The group resumed walking.
Mako and Shioji watched the translucent holographic screen floating in front of them, while Kanon followed behind, keeping an eye on both of them.
“What gun am I carrying? ...I don't have one yet. They said it's too dangerous until I've had time to train properly. I know absolutely nothing about guns, too.”
“H-how did we get sent to another world...? I-I don't know either. Coincidence? Maybe we were just... u-unlucky?”
“Am I worried about the people I came here with? ...Not at all. I already watched some of them die right in front of me. And my ex-boyfriend shoved me out of the way so he could escape. I nearly died because of him.”
As Shioji spat out the bitter memory, Natsume glanced back over her shoulder from the front of the formation.
“Huh. Sounds like a real piece of shit. We run into him again, want me to take care of him for you?”
“No, thanks. I hate him, but if he hadn't done that, I wouldn't have ended up with you guys.”
Shioji thought for a moment.
“If he ever shows up in front of me again, I'll just drink a Coke and eat a hamburger right in his face. Make sure he gets a good long look.”
“Pfft—ha! Now that's funny.”
Natsume burst out laughing.
“Hell, when that day comes, we'll eat till we damn near burst. Fried chicken, burgers, whatever the hell we want. Get the whole damn feast delivered.”
She took another puff.
“Course, we'll be counting on y'all's Super Chats to pay for it.”
As if on cue, a stream of small Super Chats began appearing on the screen.
For the Coke.
Burger fund.
Mako and Shioji carefully thanked each donor one by one.
“Come to think of it, Mako got the most donations yesterday,” Natsume said. “But seeing as we got dumped here with whatever we happened to be carrying, we ain't exactly in a position to blow all of it spoiling Mako.”
She shrugged.
“Some of it's gotta feed my unpopular ass too, and the new gun's gonna be Kanon's rifle before we buy Mako anything. Mako can shoot, but she ain't got the same aggressive streak Kanon and I do.”
Chat
: It's not like we hate you, Natsume.
: Yeah. Natsume's hot too, as long as she keeps her mouth shut.
: The Natsume minority is here!
: Natsume fans are either masochists or hardcore gun nerds.
: I'm Team Papa Bob.
: If Bob and the others count, Natsume's ranking is gonna drop even further lol
: Imagine being a female streamer who loses the popularity contest to the guest's old man.
: Even her one redeeming feature—guns—gets completely outclassed by Bob.
: Also Natsume's flat as a board.
“Huh? Tits just get in the way when you're shooting. Besides, I do have A-cups. Damn near B-cups, if we're being generous.”
Chat
: Why'd you phrase that like Almost Transparent Blue?
: Flat-chest copium lol
“Yeah, well, I might not have tits, but I get to squeeze Mako's big ones and bury my face in 'em whenever I damn well please. That's a privilege none of you assholes got.”
Natsume grinned smugly.
“Hell, Kanon's tits belong to me too.”
Chat
Wonder what else she gets to squeeze and lick
: Disgusting. I'm jealous.
“Okay, okay, Na-chan. That's enough!” Kanon cut in. “You said we weren't selling sex, remember? And everybody in chat, behave! No getting gross!”
They continued forward—
and then Natsume abruptly stopped.
She dropped into a low crouch.
Kanon and Mako sank down almost simultaneously, as though pulled by the same invisible string.
Shioji reacted a beat too late.
The two women beside her grabbed her by the pants and arm and yanked her bodily to the ground.
Chat
: Damn, Mako-chan reacted fast. She dropped the instant Natsume did.
: No hand signal. Nobody said anything either.
: Yeah, Shioji can't keep up yet. That's a normal civilian reaction.
: Mako-chan was looking the same direction as Natsume. Maybe she saw whatever Natsume saw?
“Mm... right. I-I was looking ahead, so... I saw it too.”
“I noticed the instant Na-chan stopped,” Kanon said. “So I focused on her back and watched how she moved. That's all.”
“What the hell are you people!?”
Shioji stared at them.
“That's scary! Are you really civilians? You're not some kind of special forces unit or something?”
Chat
: There it is. The normal-girl reaction.
: You're seriously underestimating special forces, though. Natsume and the others are just freakishly talented range shooters. Active professionals are on another level.
: Forget special forces. Even regular active-duty troops have completely different baseline fitness. These girls are shooters, not soldiers.
: Well, at this rate they're gonna get real combat experience every damn day.
: Who cares about the comparison? What did they see?
Natsume narrowed her eyes.
“...Mako. What the hell is that? A kappa?”
“A f-fishman... maybe. In fantasy terms... a-a sahuagin?”
“You think that thing looks friendly?”
Natsume kept her voice low.
“Get the eye up higher. Let the audience see.”
Mako raised the floating eye.
The view opened onto the lakeshore.
A group of fishlike humanoids walked together along the water's edge, carrying wooden spears and weapons resembling harpoons.
Sahuagin.
Chat
: That thing looks 100% like a hostile mob.
: If they're carrying harpoons, they've got at least some intelligence.
: What if those ARE this world's human-equivalent species? Imagine if all their cities are underwater.
“Uh... hadn't thought of that.”
Natsume stared toward the creatures.
“If those bastards are this world's version of people, we're shit outta luck. Can't exactly walk into their village if the damn thing's underwater. We'd drown.”
She considered the problem for a moment.
“Alright. Let's try getting within ten yards.”
Chat
: Why yards lmao
: Natsume grew up in America and she's a shooter. Her brain runs on freedom units.
: How far is ten yards?
: Little over nine meters. That's damn close.
: Why do Americans measure temperature in Fahrenheit anyway...?
: Japan still uses tatami mats, tsubo, sun, and stuff like that. Even one gō is 180 milliliters.
“Truth be told, I think Fahrenheit's fuckin' stupid too,” Natsume said. “Yards and pounds are standard on the range, though.”
She watched the fishmen for another moment, then slowly rose just enough to move.
“Well, then. Let's go say hello to Fish-Face over there. Might be our first local villager.”
Her tone changed—not dramatically, but enough for Kanon and Mako to recognize it.
“Kanon. Mako. Be ready to draw.”
“Got it.”
“Y-yeah...”
