Chapter 6

Nymph Gaming, ranked 3rd in the League.

Universe Cat, ranked 10th.

Universe Arena was a game where the element of luck had little room to intervene, so the win rate was a direct reflection of skill.

The win rate between the 1st place team and the last place team in the League differed by severalfold.

Therefore, it was safe to say that almost no one expected Universe Cat to put up a good fight today.

The skill gap was so vast that even their most die-hard fans shook their heads.

But shattering all such predictions, a major upset was unfolding on the scene.

The cause was a single player.

A player no one had paid any attention to, whom no one expected to become the key player—Universe Cat’s Defender.

It all started when Seo Dami began to pull off a super play.

“Seo Dami is relentless with her Acceleration!”

The common Skill, Acceleration.

It was a Skill usable by all positions and one of the most important Skills in Universe Arena.

Its effect was to inject Mana to maximize physical abilities, allowing for explosive movements that an ordinary human could not perform.

As Seo Dami charged in with movements like a wild beast, the guns of the Nymph Gaming players spat fire.

However, Seo Dami’s position was Defender.

She was Tanking most of the gunfire with her Shield, and completely dodging powerful attacks like Grenade Rounds, making it incredibly troublesome for the opposing side.

Immediately, the movements of Nymph Gaming’s Attackers changed.

They initiated a Counter-Acceleration to respond.

But unfortunately, despite using the same Skill, they still couldn’t catch up to Seo Dami’s game speed.

‘Why isn’t it working!’

Nymph Gaming’s Attacker, Kim Yoonju, screamed as she fell.

Headshot Penetration.

It was a Chain Attack where she broke the Shield with a shield bash and then cleanly blew her head off with a submachine gun.

Nymph Gaming, not missing the opening as Kim Yoonju fell, poured their Firepower onto Seo Dami.

However, as if she had anticipated it, Seo Dami raised her Shield to block the attack and continued her assault as smoothly as flowing water.

That wasn’t all.

Seo Dami also showcased a stunning aerial evasion using the low gravity of the Attica Temple.

The gravity on the Attica Temple Battlefield was one-third of Earth’s.

Not just left and right, but up and down as well.

Seo Dami’s wide evasion range began to disorient the Nymph Gaming Dealers.

“Seo Dami is charging! Park Dahyun! She’s sent flying in one blow!”

A clear humiliation.

Park Dahyun, who was also a Defender, couldn’t withstand the moment her Shield clashed with Seo Dami’s and was knocked out of the Control Point.

‘This is ridiculous!’

Seo Dami was only eighteen years old.

She wasn’t even a player whose physical abilities had fully blossomed yet.

Yet, the fact that she had been overpowered in a Power Struggle made Park Dahyun’s face turn red.

If they lost like this, she would be relentlessly mocked on the forums for being a has-been.

‘Right. It’s because of Acceleration. She used her speed to add force and push me back.’

Acceleration was a great Skill, but it came at a price.

It was a Skill that consumed a considerable amount of Mana.

Seo Dami’s Mana would hit rock bottom soon, so they just had to hold on a little longer.

All the players of Nymph Gaming gritted their teeth with the same thought.

However, no matter how much time passed.

Seo Dami’s flow never died down.

No, if anything, it seemed to be catching even more fire.

‘What the hell!’

‘Why isn’t her Momentum dying down!’

‘Does she have infinite Mana or something?’

An iron Shield that continuously racked up kills while still defending the center of the Control Point.

As the Universe Cat players began to Support Seo Dami in this bizarre flow, the Point Gauge was soon racing towards full.

-What the hell is going on…?

-Are we seriously getting steamrolled by the likes of Universe Cat?

-Who the hell is Seo Dami!

-Shouldn’t she be tested?

-FR, this can’t be explained without drugs, can it?

Seo Dami, displaying a ridiculously high level of Performance.

The Nymph Gaming fans reacted with utter disbelief towards her.

-And why the hell isn’t her Mana decreasing?

-It’s a bug, you fucker!

The Spectators screamed in frustration.

However, there was nothing wrong with Seo Dami’s play.

It was just that there were very few people with the eyes to see why such a play was possible.

‘That on-and-off is uncanny!’

And here, in Universe Cat’s Waiting Room.

Director Hong Jaewoo, who had been observing Seo Dami’s play with wide eyes, slapped his knee hard.

It was truly a thrilling play.

Seo Dami’s movements, minimizing Mana consumption by turning the Skill on and off with pinpoint precision, were on par with a top-level pro player.

“This is absolutely unbelievable…”

To be capable of such a skillful on-and-off, one must know how to use Advanced Mode.

Advanced Mode referred to the method of utilizing a Skill’s detailed options.

Normally in UA, using a Skill involved shouting or thinking of its name, which would activate a set effect and pay the cost with Mana.

Becoming faster. Or enhancing a gun’s power, or Teleporting, and so on.

Users could utilize Skills simply and easily.

This was the reason why UA, a Virtual Reality PVP game, was able to achieve great success in a relatively short period.

The fact that anyone could easily have an amazing experience.

But not everyone was satisfied with this.

Using Skills was easy and convenient, which was nice.

But was there a way to research it further?

The first to have this thought were the top-tier players in the game.

What if they could increase the efficiency of a Skill?

What if they could produce the same effect with less Mana?

Being able to use a Skill just one more time in an Engagement would be a huge weapon.

Approaching it from this perspective, what they delved into was the method of utilizing a Skill’s advanced options.

Not just activating a Skill with a simple trigger word, but getting directly involved from the arrangement to draw out maximum efficiency.

Advanced Mode is completed by envisioning the runeword for the Skill’s completion and perfectly materializing it in one’s mind.

In terms of explanation, it was a short passage of only a few lines, but this was an incredibly difficult task.

A concept that existed only within the game.

The act of creating a runeword with Mana to produce a specific effect was truly like magic.

Humans have a hard time understanding what they don’t possess.

Even if one day wings or a tail suddenly sprouted from their body, it would not be easy for a person who had lived their entire life without them to move them naturally.

For Users, Advanced Mode was like that.

It was so unfamiliar and difficult that Users who encountered the mode complained, asking if this feature was even meant to be used.

But humans are animals of adaptation.

After years of research on the feature, people who could utilize it gradually began to appear.

And those who started to handle Advanced Mode proficiently all voiced the same opinion.

They said that this amazing sensation of constructing a Skill with Mana felt like something that could actually exist somewhere in the universe.

Ten out of ten people said the same thing, so a joke even circulated that there must be a wizard from another world among the UA developers.

And today.

The ability to utilize this Advanced Mode has become one of the most definitive criteria separating pro players from amateurs.

Operating a Skill to its limit to extract maximum efficiency.

A player’s value could be said to be determined by how well they could do this.

A Prospect who knows how to properly handle Advanced Mode is to be recruited even if you have to bet the deed to your house.

It was an old adage that circulated among the upper League Scouts.

But now.

Not a Second Division player, but Seo Dami, who hadn’t received any notable attention for over a year even in the Third Division, was putting on an incredible spectacle.

Director Hong Jaewoo followed Seo Dami’s movements, unaware that his mouth was hanging open.

“Nymph Gaming! They can’t hold on in the end!”

“Incredible. Universe Cat! They fill the gauge without ever giving up the Control Point to Nymph Gaming!”

-Woooah!

-We won? We won? We won?

-Seo Dami!!!

-I love you!!!

A landslide victory in the first Set.

The Universe Cat cheering section was in an absolute frenzy.

The players were just as bewildered.

However, the atmosphere was a little different.

The players who followed Seo Dami back to the Waiting Room, hesitating, couldn’t bring themselves to say a word due to the aura she exuded and kept their mouths tightly shut.

‘Is this really all Seo Dami’s doing?’

‘I should apologize to her after the match…’

‘It was Yujeong Unni or Seyeon Unni who led, I did nothing wrong!’

‘So annoying. Is she really on drugs?’

While the teammates were lost in their different thoughts, Seo Dami approached Director Hong Jaewoo, who was standing there with a dazed expression.

Then, she grinned and spoke confidently.

“See? I told you the Trade wouldn’t happen.”

“Ah!”

Of course not. Absolutely not.

What kind of fool in the world would just send such a talent to another team?

It was absolutely impossible.

Seo Dami, who had single-handedly carried the first Set against a powerhouse team with an overwhelming skill gap.

Now, in Director Hong’s eyes, Seo Dami looked like the golden rope that would save him.

The first Set was just a fluke.

A ridiculously unlucky game that just happened to occur.

The Nymph Gaming Director comforted his players, saying that such bad luck just happened to strike today.

But it was no use.

The players weren’t fools, and they all knew this wasn’t just a matter of bad luck.

The enemy’s Defender had suddenly turned into a monster.

With their Mental state refusing to recover, Nymph Gaming ended up suffering a major defeat in the second Set’s Deathmatch Battlefield as well, resulting in a 2:0 Total Defeat.

-Seo Dami!

-Seo Dami!

-Seo Dami!

-Why don’t they do interviews for the Third Division!!!

-They could make an exception for a day like today!

-Has the Broadcast Team lost its touch!!

-She could’ve at least waved…

The Third Division League originally has no victory interviews.

Compared to the First Division League, where matches always start on time, the Third Division’s schedule was erratic, running from 5 PM to late in the evening every day.

Unlike the First Division, where each team had its own home Arena and there were no issues with Spectators entering, all Third Division matches were held in a common Arena provided by the association.

Since several teams’ matches had to be played in one place in a single day, there was a need to shorten the game time as much as possible, and interviews were naturally omitted.

It was a disappointing picture for both players and fans.

So, usually on a winning day, the departing players would at least wave to the Spectator Seats, but…

Today’s victorious protagonist, Seo Dami, rushed out of the Arena as if she were in a great hurry.

-Looks like our Dami has to poop.

-But we won. Let’s have a drink~.

-See you tomorrow!!!

Leaving the fans’ disappointment behind.

Han Youngin, who had hastily logged out and burst out, ran to his room and looked for his phone first.

“The match… the match…”

What he played was a live broadcast of a First Division League match.

It was Magnus’s match.

“Soocheol went in.”

Kim Soocheol.

He, who had been a trainee for the Magnus team, seemed to have been hastily called up due to the recent accident.

“Ah, Soocheol is a chicken, this won’t work…”

Han Youngin watched the match with great anxiety.

The opponent was Genesis Gaming, ranked 9th in the League.

Magnus had been on a roll, running 4th until last week, so it was a matchup they had a very high chance of winning if they were in their normal condition.

“Hey! You bastard! Go in!!! Fuck!”

As the match progressed, Han Youngin’s expression grew darker and darker.

A trainee had been suddenly put in due to a Starting Player’s accident.

Moreover, Han Youngin wasn’t just any Starter; he was the eldest Hyung whom the team members trusted and followed.

The inexperienced Kim Soocheol couldn’t properly fill his shoes and repeatedly made judgment errors in crucial situations, dragging the team into the swamp of defeat.

“Ah-aaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!”

A scream that rose from the depths of his chest.

His roar filled the room and spilled outside.

“That son of a bitch! I should just kill him!”

Flinch.

The man who was about to knock on the door froze for a moment.

Seo Dami had suddenly run off somewhere.

The one who came looking for her was Director Hong Jaewoo.

Right after the match ended.

Director Hong had said to Coach Kim Hakseong.

“Hakseong.”

“Yes.”

“Take the kids and wait on the first floor.”

“Yes?”

“We had a huge win today, man. When else are we going to have a team dinner if not on a day like this.”

“Woah!”

“Team dinner-!”

A weak team that was always getting beaten down.

There were even rumors that Universe Cat might be disbanded after this Season.

But today was different.

Hadn’t they crushed the powerhouse team Nymph Gaming by a score of 2:0?

On a day like this, they could have a team dinner with great joy.

What was a team dinner?

If every day was like today, he could even cut his own Annual Salary to give to Seo Dami.

“Let’s have some beef.”

“Understood!”

He couldn’t even remember the last time he had a proper team dinner since joining this team.

Director Hong, who had come looking for the protagonist thinking he would finally get some grease in his stomach after a long time.

Hearing a presence that reached the hallway, he had thought, ‘So she was in her room,’ but his face immediately hardened.

He didn’t know the reason, but it was because Seo Dami was screaming and letting out a fiery rage.

Saying she would kill someone, tear them apart.

Her voice was so bloodcurdling that anyone who knew Seo Dami’s usual self would never have imagined it.

“Just die!!!”

There was even the sound of something being hit.

Director Hong, who had bitten his finger without realizing it, cautiously backed away and went down to the first floor.

His face was nothing but grim.

Anyone could see it wasn’t the face of someone going to a team dinner, but the players, failing to read the mood, were singing, “Meat! Meat!”

“Coach! Are we really having beef?”

“We can eat as much as we want today, right?”

“No take-backs!”

However, as the Director’s silence dragged on, the players slowly began to sense that something was wrong.

“Coach…?”

“Are we not having meat?”

“You said we were having a team dinner!”

As Lee Seyeon, who had been excited at the thought of eating something delicious, shouted, the Director seemed to snap out of it and turned his gaze.

“Huh?”

“The team dinner! You said we were having meat!”

“Meat?”

“Yes! Meat! Beef!”

“Beef?”

As the Director’s eyes widened, Lee Seyeon flinched and stepped back.

“Beef my ass! Get the hell away from me!”

“Why, what’s wrong…”

“Do you guys have any sense? Seo Dami did everything in the game today, didn’t she! You were just waiting for the youngest to clean up your mess, and what? Beef? If you’re hungry, go eat some damn ramen! Tsk! Tsk tsk.”

Lee Seyeon shed a few tears at the Director’s unexpected outburst.

Of course, the team dinner was called off, and the players trudged into the cafeteria with slumped shoulders.

“Hakseong.”

“Yep.”

The Coach, worried that the Director’s anger might be directed at him for some unknown reason, answered very cautiously.

“Keep a close eye on Dami today.”

“…Did something happen upstairs?”

At the Coach’s question, the Director furrowed his brows and answered in a low, forceful voice.

And that answer was enough to make Coach Kim Hakseong’s body tremble.

“Stay sharp! Or else someone might actually end up dead!”