Chapter 31

Christmas was just around the corner.

Every year around this time, streaming platforms bustled with pros doing rank-climbing streams, and their viewers.

When someone shouted, “So-and-so is about to get promoted!” you could easily find viewers asking, “Really?” and hopping from one stream to another.

And so began today’s match.

The star of the show was Kim Seunga, a member of the Korean National Representative team.

On a normal day, she would have struggled to get even ten thousand viewers, but today was different.

Her stream had already gathered over 30,000 people.

-If she wins this one, is it a promotion?

-The safe bet is she’ll need one more after this.

-If her contribution is high this round, she might go up in one go.

For a female player to reach the Legendary Tier.

Among a sea of formidable users, this held an incredibly significant meaning.

Of course, not every player did a rank climb at the end of the year.

Plenty of players focused solely on scrim training, saying such things were utterly useless for improving their skills.

But even so, that didn’t tarnish the achievement of reaching Legendary.

Achieving the top rank on a server that integrated the three nations of Korea, China, and Japan was just that difficult.

-I hope she makes it in one go without slipping up.

-Just thinking about last year is making me dizzy.

-She was just really unlucky back then…

The fans who had consistently watched Kim Seunga’s streams recalled the nightmare of her slipping up at the threshold of promotion several times last year.

It wouldn’t have been so frustrating if she had lost because of her own mistakes.

But UA was a team game, and Rank Games, where you were matched with random users, were especially dependent on luck.

-It’ll be fine this time. Her momentum is good.

-Oh! I heard Seo Dami is on the other team?

-Seo Dami…?

-Isn’t that the one who said the National Representative’s game performance was shit?

-Yeah, she made that fucked-up remark, and people were flaming her, asking if a third-division nobody was looking down on the national team.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ They meet here.

-Seunga! They say Seo Dami is on the enemy team!

Han Youngin would have felt wronged if he had seen that.

He had blown up, asking if she was looking down on the national team, but he hadn’t used that level of profanity.

Besides, he had quickly uploaded an apology stream, ending the controversy before it could grow.

But in the memory of Kim Seunga’s fans, Seo Dami remained a third-division player who didn’t know her place.

Even though several months had passed, some fans were still vowing to teach her a lesson if they ever ran into her.

And of all days, it had to be today.

In a crucial situation that had garnered more attention than a League match, the two had run into each other.

-Let’s go teach her a lesson!

-The national team looked easy when you only saw them on TV, huh?

-FR, beat her so she can’t even breathe!

“Who did you say is on the enemy team?”

-Seo Dami! The one who bad-mouthed the national team!

“Ah, I know who that is.”

When Kim Seunga said she knew who it was, the chat’s reaction grew even more heated.

A flood of requests to give her a harsh lesson followed.

Show her the dignity of the national team.

Reading the chat’s sentiment, Kim Seunga smiled bitterly to herself.

She didn’t have such strong feelings toward Seo Dami.

During the national team season, were there only one or two people who bad-mouthed the national team?

She even agreed with some parts of the statement that the national team’s game performance was terrible.

So, for Kim Seunga, that incident was nothing more than a minor happening.

In reality, her perception of Seo Dami was, at best, a somewhat famous lower-league player, nothing more, nothing less.

In short, she hadn’t given her much thought.

‘Who cares who it is.’

Kim Seunga thought.

What was important now wasn’t whether some second-division player she had little interest in was on the enemy team, but only whether they won.

If she put up a good record, she could aim for a promotion with just this one game.

Just as Kim Seunga was cracking her knuckles and steeling her resolve…

Across the sea, the match was also drawing great interest.

-They say there’s a Korean National Representative on the enemy team.

-Which national player?

-They say it’s Kim Seunga?

-A Korean National Representative? The ones who got beaten up by Pakistan?

-This might be easier than I thought.

-Congrats on the promotion in advance!

Shanghai Cheonhwa’s Attacker, Chen Sui.

The chat in Chen Sui’s stream was a flood of countless messages, making it almost impossible to read.

1 million concurrent viewers.

It was nothing new for Chinese streaming platforms to inflate their viewer counts, but even so, if it showed 1 million, you could assume there were at least 200,000 to 300,000 real viewers.

A market where hundreds of thousands of people would tune in for a single stream.

Of course, not just anyone could enjoy this kind of attention.

Shanghai Cheonhwa was one of the top three most popular teams in China, and Chen Sui was reaping the full benefits.

Just streaming with the team logo was enough to draw in viewers.

“Who? Kim Seunga? Who’s that? I don’t really know anyone from Korea besides Lee Soi.”

Chen Sui bantered, making her fans laugh.

Of course, it wasn’t that she truly didn’t know.

Kim Seunga had been on the Korean national team for years, so she was a player whose name she had at least heard.

Though she was smiling, feigning nonchalance, Chen Sui was inwardly very wary of Kim Seunga.

‘I can’t lose. If I lose this time, I’ll lose a lot of points.’

With that thought, Chen Sui looked around at the players in the waiting room.

Three men, and two women including herself.

Just then, bits of information started popping up in the chat.

That the other girl was also streaming in Korea right now and had a decent number of viewers.

-How many are watching?

-Over 30,000.

-Only 30,000?

-Hey. Korea is a small country, so 30,000 is a lot.

-True, they don’t have much of a population over there.

So at first, she thought she was a good player.

Since she had a lot of viewers.

But she wasn’t.

‘Second Division League?’

At the mention of the second division, Chen Sui’s face soured.

A Chinese second-division player would have been annoying enough, but a Korean second-division player?

She couldn’t help but doubt her skill.

It was only natural, considering Korea’s standing in UA.

On the UA global stage, Korea was the neighborhood punching bag, getting beaten up not just by China and Japan, but also by the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

“Ah, if I can’t carry this round, I’m going to get all the blame.”

Chen Sui’s mutter made her fans laugh once more.

And the game began.

The battlefield was the Nicaea Research Lab.

A battle to seize data from a research lab in a space station, with starlight twinkling outside the windows.

In the first game, Chen Sui’s team was on the attack.

The Nicaea Research Lab battlefield was a donut-shaped structure with a large spire piercing its center, connecting the donut and a cross-shaped passage.

Since it was a One-on-One rule, you had to capture the objective within a limited time to win, but the problem was that, unlike all other battlefields, the objective moved.

The end of each donut-shaped section.

A total of six points, including east, west, south, north, and the top and bottom of the spire.

In the Nicaea Research Lab, any of these could become the capture point.

“Let’s go with the standard. Head to the center for now.”

After contemplating the build-up, Chen Sui chose the standard start.

The research room where the defending team was currently waiting would change its location in 2 minutes and 30 seconds.

To be precise, it wasn’t the room that moved, but the data retrieval objective inside the room that would be transferred to another room.

But this space station was so large and wide that you couldn’t reach the objective unless you ran exceptionally fast.

To capture the research room before its first location change, that is, within 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the only available route was through the center.

You could reach it by taking the other routes that went left or right if you poured all your mana into acceleration.

The problem was that if you entered an engagement with all your mana depleted, your chances of beating the opponent were zero.

That’s why the early game build on this battlefield was mostly fixed.

The attacking team starts by heading to the center.

They don’t break through to the end of the central passage but wait around the middle of it.

The reason they don’t break through all the way is that even running through the central passage leaves you out of breath, making your aim shaky.

A narrow passage, and footsteps you can’t hide.

If you recklessly ran down a straight passage with not much cover, you’d be a perfect target for the waiting opponents.

So, you move about halfway and wait.

After 2 minutes and 30 seconds, the objective data would be transferred to another room, and the attacking team, having secured the center, would be able to reach the objective first.

So, what should the defending team do?

It was better for the defending team to also move toward the center, preparing for a possible empty-base rush.

If they just guarded their spot, they wouldn’t be able to keep up with the attacking team when the location changed.

[Terrorist attack on the space station! All defense personnel, swiftly deal with the intruders!]

As they ran toward the center, an emergency broadcast echoed throughout the station.

For reference, the intruders mentioned in the broadcast referred to a virtual force, including the attacking team.

A moment later, the station’s lights flickered, and red emergency lights began to spin.

“Hold position! Supporter, start searching!”

As they almost reached the center of the station, Chen Sui hid behind cover and gave the order.

“This little brat, talking down to me so casually…”

The Supporter grumbled.

But he followed the order.

Raising his voice and yelling “don’t be a dick” here would only amount to throwing the game.

Besides, wasn’t the opponent from the Shanghai Cheonhwa team?

He had the underlying thought that since she was a pro from a famous team, her orders would be at least decent.

Mana glowed from the Supporter’s hand, and a silver fox popped out.

The tracking fox slipped out from behind the cover and repeatedly looked around.

But it seemed there were no enemies nearby.

The fox returned with nothing to show for it, disappearing with a yip.

“Looks like they’re not planning an ambush.”

Chen Sui told her teammates to stay vigilant just in case.

There were occasional cases where enemies used a Stealth Skill or suddenly used Blink to get behind them and start a chaotic battle.

It was then.

With a rumbling sound, the station shook, and their bodies floated up.

[The intruders’ attacks are ongoing! Due to a malfunction in the gravity generator, unstable gravity is occurring throughout the station! All personnel, swiftly eliminate the intruders!]

This was one of the reasons why combat in the Nicaea Research Lab was difficult.

Gravity Shift.

This battlefield, where the normal gravity would change at any time without warning, had a knack for momentarily disorienting a person’s senses.

There were a total of three types.

The normal state of standing on the floor.

The zero-gravity state.

And the gravity-reversal state, where the ceiling becomes the floor.

Any of these situations could occur without warning.

As her body floated up, Chen Sui touched the cover, trying to keep her feet on the ground.

It was human instinct.

The feeling of anxiety when your feet leave the ground.

Everyone’s reaction was similar.

To avoid flailing, they grabbed onto nearby walls or structures and held on.

Except for one person.

Seo Dami, who was floating around as if enjoying the state of suspension.

“You! You want to get your head blown off? Get into cover properly!”

Chen Sui’s shout rang out.

The Titanium Box Seo Dami was hiding behind wasn’t that big, and if an enemy was aiming for a snipe, a moment of carelessness could get her head blown off.

Wanting to avoid a pointless gap in their forces, Chen Sui raised her eyebrows, and Seo Dami retorted.

“I didn’t go outside.”

“What?”

“I didn’t go out.”

The floating Seo Dami caught the edge of the box with the tip of her toe and came to a spectacular stop.

From the enemy team’s perspective, there was no angle to hit Seo Dami.

Because she wasn’t visible.

If she had gone just a little further, her chin or nose would have been visible as she lay there, but she had stopped at the perfect timing.

“Let’s not waste energy on useless orders. We’re not amateurs.”

“…What did you say!”

Chen Sui flared up at Seo Dami’s response.

Do you know how many people are watching my stream right now? Do you want to be humiliated in front of everyone? Just as she was about to say that, the broadcast rang out again.

[Due to the intruders’ attack, the data in Research Wing 1 has been severely damaged. Commencing backup of Research Wing 2 data now. All station personnel, swiftly eliminate the intruders! I repeat. The intruders…]

2 minutes and 30 seconds.

The objective had finally changed.

The east research wing.

Confirming the information, Chen Sui ordered them to run, with the Defender in the lead.

“Run!”

Since they had completely secured the center, the attacking team’s movement speed was fast.

The team members pushed off the walls, propelling their bodies forward.

The zero-gravity state was still in effect.

Just as they were about to reach the new objective, the station vibrated once more.

This time, in reverse.

While running smoothly, the users let out grunts and fell onto the ceiling with thuds.

Chen Sui, with her good sense of balance, managed to land successfully despite stumbling.

See? This is how good I am.

On a different level from you guys, right?

As Chen Sui was looking around with a smirk, revealing such thoughts, her expression suddenly hardened.

Thump-.

As if she had predicted the gravity would change, Seo Dami landed on the ceiling with movements as light as a feather.

“Beginning protocol release.”

The east research room.

Gathered in front of it, we began to disable the lock.

The time required to open a door with a protector on it was about 45 seconds.

And that was the time it took for one person to be fully dedicated to the door, using a release kit.

What did this mean?

It meant that four of us had to hold off the five members of the defending team who were rushing over.

Sure enough, we began to hear the footsteps of the defending team running through the passage we had just exited.

I could see Chen Sui checking the time.

1 minute and 30 seconds remaining.

Since we had started the release process early, we only needed to hold on for about 30 more seconds.

It was then.

Chen Sui made a new call.

“Stop the release and get up! We’re fighting 5v5!”

“What nonsense is that! The door will open if we just hold on for 25 more seconds!”

But the call was divided.

The Supporter who was on release duty had calculated that if four people just stalled for time, they could open the door, go in, and win. Chen Sui’s calculation was to engage in a full-on team fight and secure a definite victory.

“I said get up!”

“Go and fucking block them! Is it that hard to just stall for time!”

Division.

Watching that scene, I sensed that we were fucked.

The opponent was Kim Seunga.

When we were together during the preliminary selections for the national team, we had exchanged many opinions.

I learned things from her.

And she learned things from me, but if there was one thing Seunga gained the most back then, it was the winning formula for this research lab battlefield.

My win rate in the Nicaea Research Lab was over 70 percent.

This was a truly amazing achievement in the Pro Scene, and because of it, many friends wanted to learn the secret from me.

I wasn’t the type to hoard my secrets, so if someone asked for help, I would kindly teach them the method, but not many people could properly digest the teachings.

But Kim Seunga was pretty good.

She was someone who could properly grasp the gist of what I was saying.

“Thanks. I think I’ve really improved a lot thanks to you, Oppa.”

“If things go well, buy me a meal, okay?”

“I taught you a lot too!”

Well… after that, I didn’t make the main entry, and she did, so we couldn’t be together anymore, but looking back, it wasn’t a bad memory.

Except for the fact that we had to face each other in an important game like today.

‘I can’t lose today either.’

To achieve my grand plan with the new team, I absolutely needed to win this game.

Chen Sui was muttering nonstop to the Supporter in Chinese.

In the end, the four of us rushed out to buy time.

A 4v5 engagement.

The enemy Defender led with his Shield up, and the defending team followed behind him.

“Shield! Get your position right!”

“You get it right! You damn chink!”

In a passage engagement with no real cover, the Defender was the only cover for his allies.

As both teams stuck behind their Defenders and began to pour out attacks, another vibration shook the station.

Everyone was swept up by the faster-than-usual gravity shift.

The moment the ceiling that was the floor became the ceiling again, not only did the Supporter who was opening the door go rolling, but our balance was also completely shattered.

As everyone’s bodies got tangled and fell.

Only I.

Found a needle-hole-like line that appeared through the tangled people.

An illusion, as if time had slowed down.

I felt that in this moment, I could control everything, and I pulled the trigger with all my might.

I’m sure it was at this moment.

A rare big match where the gazes of hundreds of thousands of spectators from Korea and China were focused.

Everyone’s eyes began to turn to me.