Chapter 282 – Floating Building
───Drdrdrduk!
───Tudududu!
“Aaaah!”
It was difficult to take a step forward. The ceiling and walls of the building split, creating massive cracks, causing fist-sized debris to fall. However, the entire building did not collapse. The final kill zone of the day, in other words, the last area surrounded by the sea of lava, was precisely this building.
Through the collapsed outer wall, I could see outside. The flow of lava was quite peculiar. Not only volcanic activity but also earthquakes had caused the ground to split, allowing lava to flow in or get pushed through the cracks. The water level on the ground floor likely temporarily lowered, reducing the load on the first floor of this building.
In short, as I mentioned earlier, even if the building shook a bit, it would never lead to a collapse.
It was the perfect timing to execute a tactical maneuver.
If I moved amidst the vibrations and noise of the building, it would become nearly impossible for the enemy to pinpoint my location, allowing me to ambush them at the most opportune moment. While an ambush usually occurs when the opponent is off-guard, even if they were alert, they wouldn’t be able to respond.
Users without ADS couldn’t react to incoming flashbangs.
And so, I returned to the beginning.
Gunfire could still be heard around. There was no need for a full perimeter check. Just a subtle grasp of the door handle with my tail and carefully closing the door sufficed. I began looting. If I wasn’t using a gun that took the same ammo, there was no need to touch the magazines or guns. I just needed to stuff the expended throwables back into my multipurpose pouch.
This building, not only tall but also wide, looked like an enormous Menger sponge, with an aerial garden in the middle. Of course, the beautiful garden, where water should have been trickling down, had already lost its function, and the partially grown grass was mercilessly shredded by bullets crossing the air.
Still, it was a suitable place to house about fifteen users for the final showdown.
I killed one, so there were fourteen left.
───Kwaaang!
Amidst all this, with a terrifying noise, tons of rocks fell into the center of the aerial garden. The building had weakened due to the earthquake, causing the collapsible parts to collapse first. Given the damage these falling rocks caused to the building, it was only a matter of time before it was completely destroyed.
However, from a tactical perspective, it meant that a dozen or so cover spots had emerged in the open aerial garden.
And then.
-[Alert: Fire detected.]
It was time to move out of the building.
Opening the door, I stepped out into the black smoke-filled area and cautiously entered the aerial garden, where cover had just formed. Although there was cover, I didn’t intend to stay here. The floor would collapse as soon as a few minutes of intense combat took place. Naturally, beneath it lay a pool of deadly red liquid.
Of course, that fact could be utilized. Moving around the cover in the aerial garden, I switched two adhesive bombs and three nanite canisters to autonomous mode and discreetly planted them. Since the falling rocks had not been long ago, no one had come yet, making it possible.
If there had been a secondary ceiling collapse, I would have been crushed to death.
I crossed the aerial garden and moved to the opposite area. Here, there was a huge library. In other words, it was filled with flammable materials that, due to their weight alone, could cause the building to collapse simultaneously.
Apparently, someone had already thought of that.
“Did someone already set it on fire?”
As expected.
Thousands of books and bookshelves were burning fiercely, crackling and snapping. The bookshelves, which were spaced just wide enough for a person to pass through, had become compact fireballs, producing intense radiant heat. Given the excessive spread of the fire, someone must have deliberately used incendiary rounds or grenades to start the fire.
The fire was undoubtedly set intentionally, either to block a passage or to create a favorable environment. So, the moment I broke through this area, I would likely see the enemy’s vulnerable side. Furthermore, conducting a precise reconnaissance in such a fire scene was utterly impossible.
The shield’s remaining energy was still substantial.
There was no reason not to break through.
-[Warning: Massive heat source detected. Distance excessively close.]
With quick steps, I traversed the burning library.
The area was densely packed with bookshelves, so there was no need for meticulous reconnaissance. This place could hide anything if intended. Rather than inspecting each one, it was better to quickly leave this area.
But how far had I gone?
───Tang! Tang! Tang!
A lighter sound than a rifle came from the right. The shield didn’t take much damage, indicating handgun rounds. But the mere fact that a handgun was fired at this point was nonsensical. It couldn’t cause significant damage.
Thus, the gunfire served as a signal. It indicated an automated system reacting when someone passed through a designated patrol zone, likely for tracking the enemy’s location.
In other words, the moment I heard the gunfire, I had to leave this area as quickly as possible.
But it was already too late.
“Damn.”
Ssssh!
A sinister sound echoed from the floor. The nanite canisters melted the floor instantly, causing the surrounding bookshelves and the floor to collapse. I quickly dodged to avoid being buried by four collapsing bookshelves, causing a giant crack in the ground. Without a moment to think, I jumped to the sturdiest-looking spot.
And at that moment, the floor collapsed entirely.
───Kkwajijik!
“Ugh…!”
I jumped hurriedly, leaving no time to calculate the landing spot, and my head hit harder than expected due to the extensive floor collapse. I almost fell. But the sight of the gaping hole and the bright red flames below urged me to move on.
As expected.
-Tudududududu!
Bullets started flying from the side.
It was no ordinary accuracy. The instant realization of this fact led to an immediate retreat and swift tactical maneuvering. Coupled with the skill and audacity to set traps, I identified the enemy.
Although not an avatar I remembered, the fact itself became a clue. Only the top 20% were consistently seen in the upper and top ranks of the Final Championship. If I didn’t remember someone from that group, it was unlikely to be a sudden surge.
In other words, it was a Korean user, likely Dice.
Realizing that, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Indeed, I would have died if I had been a bit slower.”
After numerous studies, Dice had finally succeeded in deploying a trap that could send even Logan and me to our deaths in actual combat.
But that didn’t mean I had the upper hand. Quite the contrary. If we now refer to that user as Dice – she was doing something behind sturdy cover. The fact that she wasn’t firing increased my unease.
Simultaneously, what she took out was a chemical launcher. When she fired it into the air, it wasn’t a nanite canister. It was a literal grenade.
Indeed, she had an ace up her sleeve, even unknown to me.
The tension of possibly dying here and the realization that Dice had grown enough to potentially kill me stirred my primal instincts. I felt a distinct smile forming on my lips, which I couldn’t ignore.
A thrill never felt before during combat surged within me.
───Kwaaang!
At the same time, the grenade flew at an impossible speed for a human throw, exploding above my head. It hit the weakened ceiling, emitting ominous sounds.
Instinctively, I rolled away as massive chunks of stone fell again. It was indistinguishable whether this was the Final Championship or something else. But even at that moment, I didn’t hide my smile, moving while firing my gun.
The library was collapsing entirely. Dice, as if anticipating it, naturally moved elsewhere, and I pursued her. Flames, soot, bullets, and blood painted a giant canvas named a chase scene.
As the two great wheels named Dice and I moved closer and farther apart, those caught between us withered like sparks and were ejected to the lobby. Dice mainly attracted attention from all directions, and I sensed and dealt with the responding enemies.
A skillful escape and adept hate control, tossing another enemy to me as a bait to buy time. Dice was likely growing by the second here. If Dice were to name one of the most shining moments in her life, this would be it without a doubt.
And my role was to shatter that.
“Ugh!”
Ujik!
Dice, after precisely dispersing another user’s attention with accurate maneuvering, grenades, and hologram decoys, struck the enemy’s jaw with a stock and used them as a shield to counter my attack. Dragging the paralyzed body with her left hand and shooting a Honey Badger with her right.
I didn’t hesitate to plant a sticky bomb, and both Dice and another user were blasted away. Thanks to the other user absorbing almost all the explosion, she was fine. The user, however, was ejected to the lobby as ashes.
She had used every available means to stall me, and most of the results were precise and powerful enough to kill even me.
However, even the chase had to end.
Failing to kill me in one shot was Dice’s only mistake, if any. My shield was broken, HP more than halved, and I had used up a lot of bullets, so she had done her utmost.
Seo Ye-rin, shot in the leg, collapsed. I didn’t approach her immediately. She might have grenades in each hand for a final stand. I stayed behind cover for about 10 seconds before approaching.
“…Ha, I should have caught you at the start….”
As she spoke, two grenades, pins still intact, rolled out from her arms, and Dice smiled bitterly.
She had a gun slung over her shoulder, but both hands had been hit several times. It was practically like having her arms and legs half-severed, making it impossible to use them effectively.
Usually, she could recover with a nanomachine injection, but with me watching her like a hawk, it was impossible. Practically, it was clear to anyone that she was just waiting to be ejected to the lobby.
A conversation ensued.
“…Can you win, Teacher?”
“Of course.”
I nodded, and Dice struggled to lean her body against the cover.
I pulled the trigger. Dice turned into a heap of items, scattering into shimmering polygon fragments that dissolved into the air.
Watching that briefly, I picked up the AAC Honey Badger she had used, abandoning my gun and remaining magazines.
I wanted to grant the final victory of the Final Championship to the gun she had used.
-[Alert: 1 enemy remaining.]
With Dice’s death, only one person remained.
Through the rising dust, a figure emerged, carrying a shield. Covered in concrete debris, their hair was as white as if plucked from snow, and eerie sky-blue eyes stared directly at me.
Logan Blamis.
The mountain I had to surpass.
The wall I had to overcome.
The curtain of the Final Championship.
I firmly shouldered the Honey Badger she had used and carefully lifted it.
Aligning the sights, placing my finger on the trigger, aiming precisely at the head.
With a crackling sound, the bullet flew through the air, and Logan vanished.
The final showdown of the Final Championship had begun.
───Chulk!
“Here he comes, here he comes!”
“The 4th place in the Final Championship is here-!”
“Yoo Jin, Yoo Jin, you’re still in the game, right?”
“Oh, is that really urgent? Yoo Jin is still alive, so sit down quickly.”
Dice, who received her final score of 3rd place in the last match of the Final Championship, switched to AFK mode as soon as she was ejected to the lobby. She tore off the choker around her neck and rushed down the corridor, bursting through the door of the debriefing room. Inside, it was naturally filled with other Korean representatives who had been eliminated earlier, each congratulating her and guiding her to a reserved seat for Dice.
As she sat down and looked at the screen, what she saw was Yoo Jin in both first and third-person view, and a small minimap displayed on the right. But that wasn’t what caught Dice’s attention.
Yoo Jin had discarded the gun she used earlier, now wielding the AAC Honey Badger that Dice had used, engaged in a life-and-death battle with Logan.
Realizing this, Gambit added.
“Even if you don’t win, the gun you used will.”
“Ah, Yoo Jin, seriously….”
It was a scene watched by tens of millions, even billions.
Yoo Jin had discarded her gun without hesitation and used the one Dice had been using, likely to show respect or for a similar reason. Although some might not think so, what did it matter? It would be clarified later when asked directly.
How should one react to this? Dice, with a strange expression that looked like she was crying or laughing, stared at the screen without responding to anyone.
There was only one thing she could wish for.
‘…Please win.’
That was the most she could wish for.