PUBG

The team moved cautiously through the narrow paths between the houses, the sounds of distant gunfire and occasional explosions keeping them on edge. Sera led the group, her SCAR-L raised and her senses heightened.

Suddenly, she froze.

"Wait," she whispered, holding up a hand to stop the others. "I hear footsteps."

The faint sound of boots crunching on gravel came from a nearby house. The team huddled behind a broken wall, their breaths shallow as they listened.

"Could it be another team?" Maya asked nervously.

"Definitely," Ron muttered, gripping his weapon tightly.

David peeked around the corner. "I see movement—there's at least two of them, maybe more."

Sera's chat exploded with comments:

"Sera, stay low!" "First fight incoming! Let's go!" "This is so intense—I feel like I'm there!"

Sera whispered to her team, "Alright, here's the plan. Ron, circle left and take cover behind that shed. Maya, stay here and cover me. David, watch our backs. I'll move up and draw their attention."

Ron nodded nervously. "Got it."

The team split up, each player moving to their assigned position. Sera crept forward, her heart pounding as she approached the house. She spotted one of the enemies—a man crouching near a window, his back turned to her.

Sera raised her weapon and fired.

The SCAR-L roared in her hands, the unexpected recoil causing her shots to go wide. Her aim was shaky, and only a few bullets hit the target. The enemy scrambled to cover, yelling to his teammates.

"What the hell is with this recoil?!" Sera exclaimed, adjusting her grip.

Her chat erupted with reactions:

"LOL, the recoil is crazy!" "That's what you get for not aiming properly!" "The realism is insane—it's like handling a real gun!"

The sound of gunfire drew the attention of the other enemies. Two more players emerged from the house, guns blazing. Bullets whizzed past Sera, one of them grazing her shoulder. She winced as a red bar appeared in her vision, a chunk of it missing.

"My health is going down!" Sera yelled, ducking behind a wall.

David fired from his position, his shots hitting one of the enemies in the leg. "I got one!" he shouted, but his excitement was short-lived. Another enemy returned fire, and David's health bar dropped dangerously low.

"Guys, I'm hit!" David yelled, panic in his voice.

Maya crouched behind cover, her hands trembling as she fired her weapon. "How do we heal? Does anyone know?!"

"Wait, I picked up some bandages earlier," Ron said, fumbling through his inventory. He applied one to himself, watching as his health bar began to slowly recover. "Guys, use bandages! They heal you!"

Sera quickly accessed her inventory, selecting the bandages she had looted earlier. She wrapped one around her injured shoulder, sighing in relief as her health bar filled back up.

Her viewers flooded the chat with reactions:

"So bandages restore health? That's a cool mechanic!" "Sera's a quick learner—she's gonna dominate this game!" "Ron coming in clutch with the bandage advice!"

Regrouping, the team launched a counterattack. Ron flanked the enemy team, surprising them with a burst of gunfire that downed one of their players. Maya and David provided covering fire, suppressing the remaining enemies.

Sera took a deep breath, her SCAR-L steady in her hands this time. She lined up her shot and fired a controlled burst, taking out the last enemy.

"Team eliminated!" a notification flashed across their screens.

The team let out a collective sigh of relief, their hearts still racing.

Sera grinned, wiping imaginary sweat from her brow. "Well, that was intense."

Her chat exploded with praise and excitement:

"First fight, first win! Sera's team is unstoppable!" "The mechanics of this game are insane—recoil, health bars, everything!" "I'm downloading this game right now!"

Ron laughed nervously. "Okay, that was way more stressful than I thought it'd be."

"Yeah," Maya said, her hands still shaking. 

Sera checked the map, her expression serious. "Alright, team. This is just the beginning. Let's gear up and get ready for the next battle."

With that, they looted the defeated enemies, replenishing their ammo and gathering supplies. 

Max leaned back in his chair, watching the data streams on his second monitor. The system displayed the incoming flow of mana from the players currently engaged in his game. In this world, game developers thrived not just through the popularity of their games but also by harnessing the mana generated by players' emotions, interactions, and engagement. This mana could be used in a variety of ways: to rank up their developer status, expand the game, or even materialize the game's technology and powers into the real world.

Max's gaze shifted to the glowing core of his game displayed on the main monitor. The core pulsed with a radiant yellow light, a sign that the mana was condensing efficiently. "Good," he muttered to himself, satisfied with the growth. "If this keeps up, I'll hit the next tier in no time."

He glanced at his cousin Sera's stream playing on his third monitor. Her voice rang out loud and clear as she cursed, her usual composed demeanor replaced by frustration. Curious, Max rewound the stream to see what had triggered her.

The playback revealed Sera and her team carefully moving through thick bushes, their footsteps quiet to avoid detection. "Alright, stay low and keep moving," Sera had whispered to her team, her SCAR-L ready in her hands. Her chat was buzzing with comments:

"Stealth queen Sera!" "This strategy is gold—nobody will see them coming." "Sera Army all the way!"

But then, out of nowhere, gunfire erupted. Sera and her teammates didn't even have time to react. They dropped one by one, their health bars depleting rapidly. The screen faded to black, signaling their defeat.

"What the hell was that?!" Sera yelled, slamming her hand on the table.

The death screen revealed their attackers—a group of players prone in the middle of an open grassy field, completely invisible thanks to the dense grass rendering.

"Are you kidding me?! They were just lying there like snakes!" Sera groaned, her chat exploding with mixed reactions:

"LMAO! The classic Camping strat!" "Sera, welcome to the world of campers!" "They didn't even move—that's so cheap!" 

Max chuckled, rubbing his temples. "Well, even this world has its snakes. Looks like players are already exploiting the mechanics. Great." He smirked, knowing full well this would frustrate many players, but also recognizing the engagement it would generate.

"Maybe I should tweak the grass rendering or add a counter mechanic," Max muttered to himself. But as he watched Sera rant and her chat explode with both frustration and entertainment, he thought better of it. "Nah. Let them rage. Snakes are part of the battlefield. They'll just have to adapt."

He turned back to the glowing core, watching as its yellow hue intensified. The mana flow spiked as more players joined the game, their emotions—whether excitement, frustration, or determination—fueling its growth.

After her team's sudden demise in the game, Sera sighed and leaned back, looking directly at the camera. "Guys, I have to say—this game is too good. I've never played anything like it, and honestly, I don't think I'll be able to stop playing." Her words carried an unfiltered excitement that instantly resonated with her viewers.

The chat exploded with comments:

"Queen Sera, there's no way this game is made by an F-rank dev!" "It's too realistic—this can't be his first game!" "Damn, I can't believe anyone could even think of such a concept!" "I just downloaded it. I'm playing right after this stream!"

Sera chuckled as she read the messages flooding in. "You know what, guys? Let's bring the creator himself to play the game. It's time we hear from him directly."

She opened her messaging app and called Max. After a few rings, he picked up, his voice casual but slightly amused. "Yeah, Sera. I've been watching your stream. Looks like you're having fun."

Sera grinned. "Fun? Max, I'm hooked! This game is incredible. Oh, by the way, my chat is going wild right now. You've got a hit on your hands."

Max chuckled. "Well, I sent you a friend request in the game. You'll see it glowing on your screen. Just accept it."

Sera quickly checked her game interface, and as Max mentioned, a glowing notification appeared. She tapped it to accept. "Alright, done. But, Max, I have to ask—how did you make such a game? It's so good! I mean, everything from handling guns to team tactics—it's exactly what we're taught in the academy. It's like you've taken our training sessions and turned them into a fully immersive experience."

Max leaned back in his chair, his tone modest yet proud. "I've been thinking about this concept for a long time, Sera. I wanted to create something that wasn't just a Training but also a way to teach practical skills in an engaging way and Fun. So, yeah, I poured everything into making it a reality. I just hope people like it."

"Like it?" Sera raised her eyebrows at the camera. "Max, they're loving it. Just look at the chat!" She tilted her screen to show him the messages pouring in:

"This dev is a genius!" "Max is the new legend in F rank" "Take my mana! This game is insane!

Max laughed. "Well, I'm glad people are enjoying it."

"Enjoying it is an understatement," Sera said with a smirk. "Alright, Max, join me in the game. Let's give my viewers a show."

"Sure thing," Max replied. "Let's squad up."

As the call ended, Sera's chat exploded again:

"Max and Sera team-up? Let's go!"

"This is going to be epic!"

"Sera Army, assemble!"