Chapter 262 – First Blood
At 5 a.m., even the mountains and rivers had long since fallen asleep.
The streetlights and lamps that illuminated the streets were turned off, and everything was at rest. It was too early to sleep, yet the time that marked the difference between staying up all night or not had passed… Moreover, it had been Christmas the day before. A holiday that comes only once a year should have been celebrated with great splendor.
However, today.
At 5 a.m. on Monday, December 26 – not just a few, but many chicken shops and bars were bustling more than ever, and on the streets where the streetlights were off, people who had just woken up or had yet to sleep roamed around.
Billboards and holographic displays, which should have been turned off, were continuously spitting out advertisements, and inside the restaurants that opened around 4 a.m. and were preparing for business, noises and chatter could be heard.
It was all for one reason.
-[The Final Championship Soloing match begins now!]
“Wowaaah!”
“Look at people screaming from all directions. This is crazy. Are there really this many people awake at 5 a.m.?”
“How can you resist a live broadcast?”
The last week of December.
Office workers, who hadn’t used their annual leave, or had saved it just for this week, and their pocket money melted away like tissue paper in water. The remaining sentiment wasn’t regret or remorse but cheers.
People enjoying the cold outside watched the match through hologram projectors attached to restaurant tables, while those who preferred the warmth of their homes invited friends and acquaintances for a belated party.
Shops engulfed in darkness found either a very early or very late liveliness, and lights came on in the windows of apartment complexes.
Especially this year, Korea had achieved remarkable success in the Apex Predator games, and anyone even slightly interested in the Dark Zone knew about the user at the center of it, Snake Tail.
And today, she and her team were challenging the Final Championship.
Many were setting foot in New York for the first time, but no one in Korea watching this spectacle had any worries.
“How well do you think they’ll do?”
“Even at their worst, they’ll definitely make it to the top 5. The embargo on the scrim results for the Final Championship was lifted, right? They’ve never placed outside the top 5.”
“They’re truly formidable.”
It was a hard time to wake up at 5 a.m., but not an impossible one.
Korea was bustling during the last week of December. Besides the live broadcast host’s voice from the holograms, streamers doing real-time second broadcasts and communicating with viewers were also talking about this.
Heavy gamers and streamers, who delved into every detail, formed their own logic, while casual viewers followed – but the countless arrows they drew all pointed to one result.
The results Yoo Jin and her months of hard work would push all the participants to a higher level.
And that manifested into a practical question.
<BodyAchesAndPains donated 10,000 won!>
-What do you think of the Korean team’s strength this time? I’d like to hear your opinion, teacher.
“Thank you for the 10,000 won donation. The Korean team’s strength this time? With a bit of exaggeration, aren’t they similar to or just below the North American team? Considering how our squad team decimated the British guys last week….”
That was exactly right.
The result of the match last week was indeed shocking.
Although they had practiced under her to the point of exhaustion, the Korean squad and duo teams couldn’t be called direct disciples of Yoo Jin. But these teams literally crushed the British team, one of the strong contenders, in their first match.
Even though they lacked information and used traps to corner their opponents instead of direct confrontation, the sight in itself suggested many things – a simple trap had snowballed into a massive effect, and the result was so powerful that it could take down the enemy in just a few minutes.
Such an outcome could only be achieved through a deep understanding of skills, and it made the North American and European teams realize that their control over the Korean teams was slipping away.
After such surprises, a question began to creep into everyone’s minds.
“Wow, if the squad team is that good, just how strong are the ones directly trained by her?”
-Fact) None of the five went outside the top 20 in this scrim.
-Really, Yoo Jin, you crazy bastard. Are you even human? LOL
-She’s not human, right? She’s a snake, isn’t she?
-Something like a perfect mix of human and snake results in an awesome Snake Noona coming outwwwwwww
-Add me too!!!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!! I’m willing to go shirtless on stream and show everything under my armpits!!!!
Chaos, chaos, and more chaos.
But at this point, no one could provide a proper answer – even professional gamers who didn’t board the plane to New York couldn’t, let alone ordinary people who had never faced Yoo Jin.
In other words, despite countless questions and debates, no one in Korea could answer them.
However, in the meantime, there was someone caught in a somewhat awkward position.
There were many Dark Zone partner streamers, but there was one who had been invited by Yoo Jin to cross over to New York and sink comfortably into a warm seat at Madison Square Garden.
This person was currently running the largest secondary broadcast in Korea, capable of delivering the live heat of the arena more intensely than anyone else.
The first to fully invest in the Yoo Jin coin.
Nocknyangdan, otherwise known as Harmony, had proudly taken that position.
-[Harmony // ON AIR // (Not a communication room, just a broadcast room)]
-[Current viewers: 3,169,478]
“Wow, oh my. How many viewers are there?”
-Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony!
-Wow, she didn’t go to America for nothing. LOL
-Who suggested sending Harmony to America! Massive praise!
-Correspondent in America (can interview Yoo Jin anytime) LOL
-Nocknyangdan’s broadcast is blowing up. LOL
Since it was a live drone cam broadcast, Harmony’s voice couldn’t be heard. The viewers were grateful that the screen wasn’t shaking, and neither the streamer nor the viewers minded it.
The heat transmitted through the screen and the surroundings drove everyone half crazy.
There were no donations or anything, but Harmony didn’t mind. This broadcast was the least she could do as a streamer, and as indicated by the title, there was no interaction with viewers from the start.
Meanwhile, separate from that.
As the opening ceremony began, Henry appeared on stage. Familiar and unfamiliar faces mixed, starting all sorts of discussions, but those watching the official broadcast didn’t need to engage.
A Democratic presidential candidate. That alone explained everything, and as he shook hands and exchanged hugs with representatives from each continent, the chat window predictably exploded.
-[Map selection begins now!]
Map selection.
Even last year, it was the most nerve-wracking moment. The memory of hoping not to draw a weak map due to poor preparation a year ago lingered, and when the same phrase from last year’s Final Championship was uttered, heads turned instinctively.
However, the moment Yoo Jin’s calm face filled the screen, everyone relaxed.
There would be no repeat of last year.
With a voice that was either cold or lively, the first map was chosen.
“…NBV Desert Base? That’s a map no one expected.”
-Oh, shit. LOL
-Let’s go, sandstorm fighters!
-This map has brutal safe zone fights. Damn.
-I don’t care, I’m sticking with Yoo Jin’s tail!
-Degejae degejae degejae degejae degejae degejae degejae degejae degejae degejae degejae~~~~
The map was selected.
The die was cast.
It was the moment for everyone to hit the accelerator.
“…Now that we’ve come this far, I don’t have much advice to give you. Just one request.”
“What is it?”
“Even if you ignore me, you should avoid Logan at all costs. No, you must avoid him. Unless you want to be thrown back to the lobby pointlessly.”
A request Yoo Jin had never made before.
The four gathered there vowed to avoid Logan no matter what.
A bridgehead laid upon land untraveled by humans.
However, it was originally a desert base that should have functioned as a network hub. Built by humans, it quickly declined due to human-caused problems, and the desert reclaimed its original tranquility.
It should have.
“…Hoo.”
Nearly a hundred people jumped from a transport plane crossing the sky above the base. Until they landed on the ground, all avatars remained anonymous, so it was impossible to know who landed where. The flight route of the transport plane was also kept secret to prevent anyone from landing in the same place beforehand.
Users had to gauge their location solely through the landmarks visible upon jumping, naturally developing the skill to land where they wanted.
And the moment all hundred touched the ground, a sandstorm began to approach from the horizon.
“For a first match, the welcome is harsh….”
That wasn’t limited to just the revolution present in each map.
Upon landing, they opened boxes. The map was vast, and early skirmishes depended on whether enemies landed nearby. Unfortunately, this time, they did. The box contained a handgun with some accessories, several magazines, and a tactical vest suitable for light armament.
Quickly loading the gun-
───Bang! Bang! Bang!
I fired immediately towards the direction of the noise. Without aiming, the dry sand scattered as I fired based on instinct. At the end of the trail stood a user wearing a prototype optical camouflage suit.
Through the dry air, the space shimmered, and the enemy disappeared. I actively pursued them. Even if they weren’t visible, footprints left in the sand were inevitable.
And an enemy who had come this far would undoubtedly know that.
“Ho.”
Ping!
A bullet fired by the enemy barely grazed past my body. Up to now, neither of us had hit a shot. But that wouldn’t be the case going forward. As the distance quickly closed and we came well within effective range, the suppressor on my gun spat flames.
Two bullets hit my body. Five hit the enemy. However, it seemed the enemy was already wearing a bulletproof vest, as breaking the shield didn’t deal significant damage.
Having used up about half of the 20-round magazine, my win rate was fifty-fifty, no, at least that or more. There was no reason not to close the distance further, but the enemy, quickly recognizing my identity, darted into a complex building.
I quickly reviewed the map in my head. Surrounded by high rocks, there were only a few specific routes for escape in this area.
If that user was really one of the unlucky ones like Dice, Michael, Gambit, or Ink…well, it was their fault for not practicing escape enough. I would just have to teach them how to escape better before the next match.
In any case, my cost-benefit analysis was already complete during this.
I ignored the enemy who had fled into the building.
I estimated that within three minutes at most, there would be another opportunity for a confrontation.
And sure enough, after about exactly three minutes.
───Padddeuk!
Suppressed SMG rounds flew through the air. The battle began with the complex base structure as the backdrop.
It was natural not to rush in. As the competition got bigger, the opponents’ combat skills became more adept, and this applied not only to aiming skills and instant reaction abilities but also to the skills of setting and hiding traps.
I had set up various traps inside the building I had looted, so the enemy likely did the same. Thus, neither of us could recklessly close the distance, and both of us avoided any hasty moves.
If things went seriously wrong, I could always retreat into the building.
However,
-Click!
I was skilled in person-to-person combat.
Of course, preparing a grenade at this point meant the enemy could also be preparing one. I quickly peeked from cover to check the surroundings, but the enemy was not visible.
We both knew each other’s positions well enough from several skirmishes. Assuming the enemy had meticulously analyzed my tactics so far, it was highly likely they would use a grenade around this time to distract me or inflict direct damage.
And that assumption became a reality.
As I carefully observed the sky, a black object flew in an arc towards me.
“Of course.”
With my right hand, I pulled the grenade pin, while my left hand gripped the pistol firmly, quickly aiming into the air.
The moment I pulled the trigger, the firing pin struck the primer. A single bullet flew through the air, and it should have soared hundreds of meters into the sky in an instant.
Of course, it didn’t.
With a sharp clang, the trajectory of the grenade was severely distorted.
I shot the grenade mid-air.
How much time had passed since then?
───BOOM!
The partially dented grenade floated in the air longer than expected and exploded before it hit the ground.
Though it wasn’t the intended outcome, it wasn’t unusable either. The grenade’s surface was hard and curved. If penetrated well, it could either explode or become inoperable, but in rare instances like this, it mostly just altered the grenade’s trajectory.
At that moment, I leapt out from behind cover.
No follow-up attack came. They hadn’t anticipated it.
Now it was my turn to strike back.
“Inhale…!”
Click.
A grenade, just starting to cook, was thrown with tremendous force. It flew in a straight line, not in a curve or an arc, landing near the enemy with a metallic clang, and bounced into the air less than a second later.
As it scattered a bit of smoke and a flash of fire, spraying hundreds of metal fragments in all directions, I had already closed the distance by more than 10 meters.
The enemy crouched as the grenade exploded, then emerged from cover to re-aim. But the time taken for this process was considerable.
Specifically—
───Whack!
Just enough time for me to smash the butt of my rifle into their head from close range.
“Ugh…!”
Their head caved in.
They would likely be overwhelmed by numerous status effects, unable to recover for minutes, and their HP would correspondingly drop.
Without hesitation, I raised my gun.
-Thunk!
Four minutes into the start.
It was an excellent beginning.