Chapter 111

Late at night.

There was a restless stirring, unable to find proper sleep.

The person frowning and tossing and turning while everyone else was asleep was Kato Mikane.

Three months had already passed since the Olympics terror incident, but she still hadn’t completely moved on from it.

It was an incident that had caused a huge uproar in the United States, even entangling various government officials.

At the time, Kato hadn’t been a target of the terrorists, but she was feeling psychological pressure from the subsequent media coverage.

American broadcasting stations had promoted Kato as a hero who saved the national team, making her known to the entire world. As a result, there were rumors that Kato had become a person of interest to the remaining terrorist groups targeting Virtual Reality.

So she was in a situation where she could get swept up in such an incident again at any moment.

This was the reason Kato had been suffering from sleep-related stress recently.

If only that man were here at a time like this.

It would have been a little better then.

Thinking of the ghost who had now abruptly left for another team, Kato took a deep breath and let her mind float.

Kato’s mind, her body lying on the bed, slipped out of her body.

Being able to do this was a very recent development.

Thanks to the incredibly uncomfortable time she had spent sharing a single body with another person, Kato was able to learn a new skill she had never considered before.

Having performed an Out-of-Body Experience just as Han Youngin had, Kato’s Soul wandered the hotel.

She surveyed not only the hallways and the Lobby but also the streets near the hotel.

The area around the hotel was very quiet.

There were men in black suits in a car, monitoring the streets, but they were allies, so Kato paid them no mind.

-You’re a worldwide celebrity now, aren’t you? I’ll assign some people to you, just in case something happens.

The men who lingered near Team Kamui every day were overseas personnel assigned by the Ministry of Justice.

And so far, nothing had happened.

Like this, Kato would only go to sleep after confirming every day that there were no threats directed at her nearby.

‘As soon as the tournament is over, I have to go straight back to Japan.’

Her teammates seemed to be hoping for a trip around Europe after a victory, but Kato had no such intention.

They say you suffer when you leave home, but who knew the overseas stay itself would be this stressful.

Just as she was thinking that being too famous was also a problem, Kato’s gaze sharpened.

While surveying the hotel’s interior, she had discovered something that bothered her.

It was the Practice Room in the basement.

There was a very suspicious movement in the place frequented most by the players.

‘Not security… and not a staff member from another national team either…’

It was already past 3 a.m., so no one from any of the teams staying at the hotel was in the basement Practice Room.

The very act of wandering a dark hallway with a small flashlight was extremely suspicious, so Kato immediately returned to her body and looked for her phone.

-What can I do for you?

In local time, it was nearly 4 a.m.

Nevertheless, the men who answered the phone immediately asked for her business.

“I think there’s a suspicious man wandering around the basement of the Team House. Could you check it out?”

-In the basement, you say?

The men, sounding a little surprised, replied that they would and immediately set out.

At first, she had thought the agents’ 24-hour protection was a bit of a nuisance, but now that something like this was actually happening, it was very reassuring.

Afterward, Kato quietly went down to the basement without telling anyone.

She figured the agents would have sorted out the situation by now.

The hallway was bright.

It seemed they had turned the lights back on.

When Kato arrived at the Practice Room, she could see a man, his hands and feet tied, who had been subdued.

“I didn’t expect you to handle it so quickly. Thank you.”

“Not at all. This is what we do.”

The man, subdued by the public security agents, didn’t seem to be a professional at this sort of thing. When asked what his purpose for being here was, he confessed everything without hiding a thing.

“I-I’m a janitor. My employee ID is in my cabinet…!”

“A hotel janitor?”

“Yes!”

“Not a terrorist?”

“A te…rrorist? Absolutely not!”

The agents, pressuring the man, confirmed his identity and the full story.

“They said all I had to do was plug this in and bring it back!”

The agents checked the device the man mentioned.

It was clearly an external connection device used to manage VR Access Devices.

And Kato, who had been quietly watching this conversation from the side, grasped the whole story.

Someone had undoubtedly tried to secretly steal the players’ data.

“It doesn’t seem to be terrorism.”

“We’ll find out who ordered it.”

The person who bribed a hotel janitor to steal data.

Not long after the agents said they would find out who it was, the mastermind was revealed.

It happened before Team Kamui even had breakfast.

-They say it’s Nebula GC. Apparently, there’s a high probability that Rachel Dust ordered it.

“Hmph. Rachel Dust…”

-Should we go public with it?

“Just a moment.”

Kato pondered.

Nebula GC had tried to illegally acquire data by bribing a hotel employee.

Moreover, this crime wasn’t just targeting Kamui; it was the same for the other world-class teams staying at the hotel.

In other words, Nebula GC had tried to get their hands on the data of the Upper Bracket teams they might face in the future to create countermeasures for their matches.

‘Those talentless hacks, only resorting to cheap tricks.’

Kato recalled last year’s match against Nebula GC.

It had been an unremarkable match, not particularly memorable.

If she went public with this, Nebula GC would be finished.

It was evidence gathered directly by Japanese public security, of all things.

The culprit was caught at the scene and there was evidence, so if an article hit the media, Nebula GC would inevitably face disciplinary action.

Automatic disqualification from the tournament was a given.

‘But then it wouldn’t be fun, would it?’

Besides, now that she thought about it, Nebula GC was in Group D this time, which meant they were also involved with Super Sylph.

After some thought, Kato asked them to hold off on the announcement for a while.

-Will it be all right to leave it like this?

“Yes. But that janitor. Please just make sure he keeps his mouth shut for the time being so they don’t notice.”

-Understood. That won’t be very difficult.

The agents accepted Kato’s request to prevent Nebula GC from noticing that things had gone awry, and so the situation was calmed.

After handling the matter, Kato thought for a moment before making a call.

The line rang a few times, and a moment later, a voice was heard.

-Yes. I’ve answered the call.

The voice was a little low, perhaps because it was early in the morning, or for some other reason.

The person Kato had called was none other than Seo Dami.

Seo Dami’s number was still in her phone because Han Youngin had contacted her during the Olympics.

Even Kato herself hadn’t known she would be using it again now.

“It’s Kato.”

-I know. Why did you call?

“Is… he next to you?”

-Next to me? What is?

Is she pretending not to know?

Kato thought Seo Dami was deliberately changing the subject.

“Han Youngin.”

-No. He’s not here. Oppa is sleeping, so if you need to talk to him, I can conne… no! Why are you suddenly coming out…!”

“……?”

The person on the other end was suddenly rambling. Wondering what was going on, Kato frowned, and then she heard a voice again.

-Yes. I’ve answered the call.

“Is that you?”

-Yes. You were looking for me. But what’s this about…?

“What the. Why did she lie to me…?”

-Dami? We-well, I guess she’s still half-asleep. It’s the crack of dawn.

It was a strange feeling.

Han Youngin’s voice coming from Seo Dami.

But quickly shaking off the distracting thought, Kato got straight to the point.

Nebula GC was illegally stealing data from each team.

She said Super Sylph might be among the targets, so it would be best to be careful.

-What kind of team does that? Thanks for letting me know. We almost walked right into it!

Han Youngin, upon hearing the story, sounded very pleased and thanked her.

The corners of Kato’s mouth crept up unknowingly at his reaction, but she soon hardened her expression and said.

“You know what happens if you get eliminated in the group stage, right? If you’re automatically knocked out before you meet us, that’s your last chance.”

-I know.

“I read your letter. Go on and give it your best shot. I’m also looking forward to seeing just how outstanding your talent is that you’d write such a letter.”

-No, that’s…

“That’s all for now.”

Kato, deliberately setting a heavy tone, ended the call. Then, finding something amusing, she mumbled her lips, pounded the blankets, and giggled.

‘See you soon, then.’

Teasing the ghost who wandered from one pro team to another.

For Kato, it was undoubtedly a rare bit of fun these days.

<What is all this about?>

“You’re telling me.”

After the call, we discussed the information we’d heard.

It seemed clear that the European champion, Nebula GC, had used dirty tactics.

Since Team Kamui had found out and prevented it in the early morning, it was possible that Super Sylph’s data had already been stolen.

<Then what do we do?>

“It’s not the worst-case scenario.”

Yunseuli had practiced her position in Europe, but the practice for the second secret weapon, Coach Park Chaerin, had not yet been unveiled.

And since we weren’t planning on revealing our hidden strategies during the Group Stage anyway, it didn’t really matter if they were discovered.

Even if they were anticipating Yunseuli’s Position Swap, Super Sylph had no intention of using it at all.

“Wouldn’t it be more confusing for the opponent?”

<That’s possible.>

However, the fact that they might have grasped the extent of our true skills was somewhat disappointing.

Because then, the opponent would never let their guard down against us.

Think about it.

Right now, Super Sylph was considered the weakest of the teams that had advanced to the World Championship Group Stage.

Although Dami’s outstanding skills had caused an upset in the qualifiers, the global consensus was that it wasn’t enough to break through the Group Stage.

Especially not Group D, the worst possible draw.

So a world-class team like Nebula GC could very well let their guard down against us.

“What? Super Sylph? A team like this is just a free win,” they’d say.

It might already be spilt milk, but I suggested we do what we could for any possibility that might remain.

“For now, let’s prepare just in case.”

<Prepare for what?>

“If we’re lucky, Nebula GC might not have touched our data yet. It just so happens our match is in Group D, which is last on the schedule. And Nebula GC wouldn’t have known which team they’d be matched with.”

Thus, I decided to plant a countermeasure against Nebula GC’s potential scheme.

It was a plan called “Operation Pass Off Fake Data.”

“First, I think we’ll need the Coach’s help.”

The World Championship Group Stage began.

A competition between the 16 top-tier teams from leagues around the world.

In Group A, which kicked off the schedule, Kamui was, of course, the sole leader.

Kamui, considered the overwhelming favorite to win, even had luck on their side with the group draw.

They were placed in the easiest group to break out of among the four.

Icarus Gaming, Parvati Gaming, and Shanghai Cheonryong.

Cheonryong put up a bit of a fight, but they were no match for Kamui.

With unwavering skill, Kamui secured a 2:0 Dominant Victory against every team in Group A, confirming their advancement to the Tournament early on.

And Rachel Dust, watching this, bit her thumbnail in disappointment.

“I absolutely had to get my hands on Kamui’s data…”

Even just watching the videos, one could feel their overwhelming skill. That was Kamui.

But she had failed to obtain Kamui’s practice data.

What’s more, the janitor she had hired was now unreachable.

She was worried they might have been found out, but seeing as there was no reaction from their side afterward, it seemed the matter wouldn’t be revealed.

Besides, even if a problem had arisen, she had commissioned the job through several intermediaries, so it would be extremely difficult for them to know she was the one behind it.

“Can’t be helped.”

Swallowing her disappointment, Rachel Dust examined the data of the remaining teams that had come into her possession.

The practice data of every team currently in Group D, including North America’s first Seed, Saturn V, was in Rachel’s hands.

Having obtained all the data for each team, Nebula GC planned to execute a perfect Counter strategy based on it.

“This is unusual.”

The word “unusual” escaped Rachel’s lips as she was reviewing Super Sylph’s practice videos.

“Double Sniper.”

She had thought they were a peculiar enough team just for having two Position Swaps, but a double Sniper.

Moreover, the target wasn’t a player, but the team’s Coach.

“Park Chaerin…? Twenty-nine years old?”

Does Korea not have any decent players that they have to drag in an old-timer like this?

With that thought, Rachel focused more on the video.

Watching the video, she could somewhat understand the reason for the strategy.

The Sniper position had the lowest Stamina burden to begin with, and it was less affected by age, so it made sense.

And the Coach’s skill wasn’t as bad as she had expected.

If she were younger, any team would have judged her to be an excellent Prospect and offered her a high Signing Bonus.

“But not now.”

Judging that Park Chaerin was not a player who could compete on the world stage, Rachel began to formulate a Counter Build against Super Sylph in her head.

The Simulation results.

An image of Super Sylph kneeling in complete defeat was easily drawn in her mind.

“This should be enough for the Group Stage.”

Crusaders, Goa GC, and Super Sylph.

Having completed the Builds for every team in Group D, Rachel Dust smiled whitely.

The goal was to win.

Picturing a future where a European team wins in Europe, Rachel Dust let her dark intentions show.