Chapter Sixty-Four: Si Is Truly Remarkable (Extra Chapter for the Rest of Life Alliance)

Aoki Si swore that even in his past life, he might not have studied college entrance exam questions with as much dedication as he was showing now.

He stared intently at the screen of his laptop, almost burying his head in it, watching a beginner’s guide to "The Last Survivor" on a video platform.

In the video, the content creator controlled a female character wielding an unfamiliar rifle, dominating the game while explaining, "This is a battle royale game meticulously crafted over three years by Jane Larkitz, the renowned mother of battle royale games."

"Every player controls a character who parachutes from a transport plane, scavenging supplies after landing and battling others. Only the last survivor claims victory."

"It’s best to land somewhere with lots of buildings to gather resources. Of course, if you want to survive longer, you can choose less populated..."

A bitter smile crept across Aoki’s lips.

Honestly, from the introduction, this game really did seem fun.

It reminded him a lot of the ‘winner winner chicken dinner’ game his friends used to talk about in his previous life.

But!

Aoki truly had no idea how to play!

Watching others explain made it look enjoyable enough.

But… this wasn’t just about whether the game was fun or not! As the download bar inched closer to completion, Aoki began to sweat.

What if he performed terribly in the game? What would Sora think of him? Maybe he should just admit he didn’t know how to play; it wouldn’t be the end of the world to have no common topics and take it slow. But now he’d already boasted, and if he let Sora down, what would happen to his image?

Aoki swallowed nervously. He definitely wasn’t going to use his skill slot to learn the game controls—not when he only had one skill slot available.

What should he do…? Aoki frowned, unable to come up with a solution.

"Si, is the game downloaded?" Sora’s voice called from nearby, making Aoki gulp again. "Ye… yes, it’s done!"

"Install it yourself. I’ll give you my alternate account so we can play together." Sora’s voice sounded impatient with excitement.

Aoki clicked install with a grimace, secretly wishing the installation would never finish.

But fate rarely cooperates. Perhaps because his laptop was so powerful, the installation finished in the blink of an eye.

"I… I’ve installed the game!" Aoki called out reluctantly.

From the next room came the sound of bare feet pattering across the floor. Sora opened the door, hurried over to Aoki’s side, took over the mouse and keyboard in a flash, logged in, and accepted a friend request from someone named ‘Weirdo.’

Two characters appeared on the screen: a bald man and a female avatar standing still.

"This guy is you, Si… I’ll go back to my room and teach you over voice." Sora quickly set up in-game voice chat and dashed back to her room, not giving Aoki a chance to make any excuses.

Aoki gripped the mouse with trembling hands, cold sweat trickling down his forehead.

His bald male character, labeled ‘Odriew’, stood barefoot in a tattered T-shirt and only the saddest pair of boxer shorts—his virtual plight no better than his real one.

Why did even his game character have to be bald!

"Hey, can you hear me?" Sora’s voice came through the headset.

Aoki cleared his throat. "Yes."

"Si… click the top left corner." Sora clicked to start the game.

Aoki hit the ready button, and the matchmaking began.

Soon after, the screen dimmed, and when it lit up again, Aoki’s character was aboard a shabby airplane.

"Press F to jump," Sora’s voice guided him. Aoki dumbly pressed F.

Sora’s voice sounded a little frantic, "I didn’t mean jump now—ah…"

Aoki moved his mouse, watching as countless parachutes blossomed like fireworks beneath him. Baffled, he asked, "Why are there so many parachutes below me? Why can’t I open my own?"

"…Those are all players. Point your mouse down and descend further—you’ll be able to open your parachute at the right altitude." Sora’s voice was serious as she guided her character straight down.

Aoki, in a panic, dragged his view lower, fingers fumbling across the keyboard. Suddenly, his perspective shifted to first-person. Watching the ground rush up, Aoki grew anxious. "Sora… why did I switch to first-person view?"

"Am I going to crash and die?!"

Next door, Sora’s lips twitched. She hadn’t expected Aoki to be this much of a mess in-game, so unlike his usual calm self—more like a flustered child.

Suddenly, Aoki’s screen froze for a moment as his character’s parachute automatically deployed, slowing his descent.

"Press B to switch back to third-person," Sora instructed.

Aoki pressed B and returned to third-person view, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Quick, find somewhere to hide, someone’s coming for you," Sora urged, a bit anxious.

Aoki stared blankly at the screen, seeing a burly man in a trench coat and mask leap from the second-floor window of a nearby house, a dark weapon in hand.

What did Sora just tell him to do?

Aoki blinked.

Run?

He pressed W, but his character only trudged away at a snail’s pace.

"Why is my character moving so slowly?" Before Sora could answer, a gunshot rang out behind him. His character dropped from upright to crawling on the ground.

"Eh? Why am I crawling? Can I stand up?" No sooner had he spoken than a stranger’s voice came through his headset: "Just take off the vest from your backpack and you’ll be able to stand. The clothes are too heavy for you."

It was the trench coat man, who approached with a shotgun, crouched, and shook his head at Aoki.

Aoki was bewildered. "How can you talk to me… How do I take off my clothes?"

"Press TAB, then drag the clothes off with the mouse," the man replied, his voice a little shaky.

Aoki did as instructed, but his eyes were drawn to Sora’s teammate icon getting closer and closer.

"Like this? Hang on," Aoki crawled left and right a bit, then dropped his belt.

"Eh, why did I drop my belt?" He feigned confusion, moving his mouse so his character fidgeted awkwardly. "Can I pick it back up?"

The trench coat man chuckled, "No problem, just press TAB to see items around you and pick them up. But you need to stand first—take off the vest slowly."

As Aoki watched Sora’s character approach, he feigned surprise, "Oops, did I just take off my underwear?"

The trench coat man froze, stunned, "What? No way—"

Before he could finish, Sora’s character opened fire with a burst from her rifle.

The trench coat man dropped instantly, lying face to face with Aoki’s character.

"WTF…" he started, but Sora’s shots rang out again, finishing him off for good.

Aoki snorted disdainfully, "Just because I can’t play doesn’t mean I’m brainless. If you could actually remove your underwear in this game, how would it ever pass content review, you idiot."

The trench coat man, disgruntled at his swift defeat, spat out, "My teammate will be here any second," then fell silent.

Sora’s voice sounded in his ear, tinged with admiration. "Si… you’re amazing. Pretending not to know anything to buy time. At first, I thought you really had no idea how to play!"

Aoki quietly resisted the urge to explain, and as his character stood up with Sora’s help, he pressed TAB and realized he could loot everything the trench coat man had dropped. He retrieved his belt, scooped up all the man’s gear—down to the clothes—then ambled toward the nearest building.

The trench coat swayed in the virtual breeze, its hood hiding his bald head, the black shotgun in his hand giving his character a sudden air of coolness.

"Si, why are you just walking?" Sora asked, puzzled.

Aoki replied nonchalantly, "Waiting for his teammate."

"Oh! I’ll go loot another house then," Sora’s admiration seemed to grow.

Aoki pressed W with one hand, inching forward, while his other hand quickly unlocked his phone and frantically typed in his browser: how do you run in this game?

———