There were countless games in the world, and although there was no need to categorize them this way, games could be divided into those where sniping was easy and those where it was not.

If a game only supported single-player mode, there was no reason to even discuss it. However, if it was an online game, especially one played by many people, sniping became a serious topic.

However, going a step further, the issue of simply being able to snipe and the act of ruining a streamer's game were entirely different matters.

For example, in popular AOS games, it was quite difficult to snipe. The challenge lay in being lucky enough to be assigned to the same team or the opposing team as the streamer out of the many players.

But once that was accomplished, snipers could easily ruin a game by employing various methods.

So, the question arises: What about the Dark Zone and survival mode?

"Barcode, have you taken everything you need? You don't need anything else, right?"

"Oh, I think I might need a large bag…."

The answer, contrary to what many might expect, was influenced by complex variables.

For instance, if Harmony were playing solo, the user could easily track down the newbie wandering alone and troll her in every way possible. That alone would be a success by sniper standards.

However, if they wanted to really make her feel miserable—say, by betraying her right before extraction—the difficulty would naturally increase.

Streamers were backed by their viewers, and if the sniper's actions became too toxic, they'd likely be kicked from the party and swarmed with reports before they even had a chance to betray.

Thus, despite himself, at this point, he had to pretend to be a good newbie.

'...Damn, I think I messed up somewhere….'

Naturally, snipers like him didn't really care about what kind of person someone like Harmony was before they started streaming. At least, that was the kind of person he was.

He had only vaguely heard about the name Yujin as it spread across the internet, and thus assumed Harmony was just another streamer who often played mediocre games.

But that wasn't the case.

"So, have we covered most of the terrain? Right?"

"Yeah, we've been wandering around for over an hour and a half, and we've captured about sixteen points. That should be enough."

"I thought it would be harder, but once I got used to it, it was pretty fun. It felt overwhelming at first, though."

"You adapt quickly."

"Hehe, another compliment."

Was it the nerves and perseverance trained by playing mediocre games?

Although he didn't want to know, information about the user named Yujin naturally filtered through, and even if she was always like that, how was Harmony keeping up with this crazy pace?

The two hours of base time to escape, plus the additional time extended by painkillers and antibiotics, gave them a little under three hours in total.

They had experienced dozens of battles in that time.

Even he couldn't keep track of how many he'd killed, so what about these two?

Something felt off.

"Here you go. Here's the bag."

"Oh, thank you."

But even while lost in these thoughts, the two continued to forge ahead on their own path.

He hurriedly grabbed the bag and stuffed the items he hadn't been able to pick up earlier into it. There were plenty of items lying around, after all. Many enemies had been reduced to mere resources.

As he roughly packed his belongings, the two who had already finished preparing asked,

"Alright, let's extract now. Everyone ready?"

"Yeah. I'm all set. What about you, Barcode?"

"Um… Yeah. I'm ready. I'll go ahead and wait outside."

Click.

He was the first to step outside the building.

Inside the hideout, the voices of the two echoed.

"Huh? What's this? You're not using the seeker mines as much this time?"

"Yeah. I need to save them for something."

"…Well, I'll trust you, Yujin. Whatever happens, we'll figure it out."

With that somewhat ominous statement, the two also stepped outside, leaving behind a place they would never return to.

The three of them, all distinct in appearance, crossed the snow-covered contaminated zone.

In survival mode, unlike the field, monsters didn't respawn continuously, and since they had scoured the area thoroughly up until the moment of extraction, the surroundings were eerily silent.

Only the sound of the wind brushing past their ears represented the final death throes of the desolate city.

The collapse of the city inevitably led to the repurposing of public facilities. With no more people to use them, and due to suitable locations or other reasons...

The helicopter landing point they were headed to was a public parking lot, once built to accommodate numerous vehicles.

Instead of cars, the rooftop now bore a large H-mark, spotlights, satellite antennas, guide lights, and containers labeled U.S. Army—remnants of the city's final death throes.

In that sense, the operators using such things might be seen as janitors cleaning up the dead.

A small conversation ensued.

"Is this your first time playing survival mode?"

"Yes."

"For both of you?"

When the last person also nodded, he was dumbfounded.

It was almost surreal hearing such things from people who had bulldozed through everything in their path.

'...Damn it, I can't kill them now… I shouldn't snipe in this kind of mode next time.'

Whether they knew his thoughts or not, the two moved ahead, scanning their surroundings as if they were veterans.

One had exceptional skill, but compared to her, Harmony's movements were clumsy. But Yujin guided her by pointing out every little mistake.

In a way, this was even better for him. The more they focused on each other, the easier it was for him to carry out his plan unnoticed.

In his multi-purpose pouch, a flare gun kit was prepared.

The flare gun he had secretly prepared in advance was now a heavy weight in his pocket, pressing against his thigh.

All that was left was to time it right and distract them with some casual chat to disperse their attention. He didn't expect to take down Yujin.

The twisted pleasure he anticipated from ruining Harmony's and her viewers' experience was what kept him going.

[Alert: Pulse Scan Detected. No Enemies Nearby.]

A shimmering light burst forth, scanning the building and every tiny crevice before fading into the air.

The icon in the lower right corner, indicating that Harmony had used her pulse skill, turned gray, signaling it was on cooldown.

And just below that, in red letters:

"Leave Party."

It wasn't time to activate that button yet.

Whoosh!

After climbing several slopes, they finally emerged onto the rooftop.

It wasn't a particularly high spot. Abandoned equipment, military containers, and barricades lay scattered around, making it a rather unsuitable place for a helicopter landing.

Standing next to an unused Humvee, they observed the complex structure of the multi-level parking garage's rooftop.

The rooftop was divided into two levels. You could climb to the helipad on the upper level via gentle slopes on either side, and there were balcony-like areas around it for a good view of the surroundings.

The helipad was adjacent to the roof of another lower building, and that area was also intricately structured.

Harmony shook her head slightly and added,

"Wow. This place is like a maze. Are New York rooftops always this complicated?"

"They often are. Unlike Seoul, there are a lot of old buildings mixed in."

"Now that you mention it, that makes sense."

[Alert: Landing Lights and Spotlights Not Operating for Helicopter Guidance.]

[Suggestion: Install and Reactivate Relay Fuse.]

[Fuse Box Marked.]

As they climbed the gentle slope, their footsteps made crunching sounds in the snow, echoing cautiously into the air.

A large H, unmistakably indicating a landing zone, was painted on the rooftop floor. The harsh building winds and the scratched asphalt peeking through the piled snow suggested that landing here wouldn't be an easy task.

Nearby, a large fuse box, as big as a grown man's torso, was glowing bright yellow, signaling its presence.

Unfortunately, the relay was located on the opposite side—on the corner of the adjacent building connected to the parking garage rooftop. This meant someone would have to carry the massive box.

As everyone hesitated for a moment, Yujin spoke up.

"I'll go. I can handle most things alone, so don't worry about me. Please go up to a high place and keep watch in case any enemies follow."

"Okay."

"Then Harmony, come with me, and let's head up there."

But for some reason, Harmony didn't seem too pleased with the suggestion.

"I think it would be better if I go up to the balcony over there, where I can see the rooftop entrance. Barcode, you should support Yujin from the tower right next to the helipad."

"Does she really need support? She can handle things just fine on her own."

"If an enemy comes while she's carrying the relay and she dies, we might have to move that big box ourselves, right in the middle of the enemies. Or do you want to switch?"

"No…."

'Damn bitch….'

His plan was beginning to fall apart.

Originally, he intended to leave the party and shoot Harmony in the back, filling her with bullets and killing her before fleeing while Yujin was busy with the relay. But now, what kind of nonsense was this?

What was even more frustrating was that Harmony's reasoning wasn't wrong.

In the end, this party revolved around Yujin, and if she faced a situation she couldn't overcome, they would all be slaughtered.

Moreover, if he moved to a different location to activate the relay and call for the helicopter, he couldn't reveal what would happen next. He came here pretending to be a newbie, and now he was going to act like he knew something?

It was a truly no-win situation.

But then he noticed the balcony Harmony was about to climb.

'There was definitely a rappel line there, one that could be used to sneak up behind….'

Once he remembered that, everything became clear.

The flare gun in his pocket seemed to gleam with anticipation.

With a suddenly brightened expression, he urged Harmony with a smile.

"Alright. Then please go up and wait."

"Okay, okay."

With a rustling sound, Yujin began to move, carrying the heavy-looking relay in one hand and, somehow, holding a machine gun in the other.

Harmony was struggling to climb the ledge that reached up to her neck with her small frame. Even that sight made him smile. Everything was falling into place like puzzle pieces.

As Yujin moved far enough away, he began to move cautiously as well.

But the difference was that he wasn't heading toward the control tower to support Yujin. Instead, he was making his way directly to the center of the helipad.

Click.

He took out the flare gun and loaded a flare into the chamber.

As soon as he cocked it, an interaction prompt appeared before him. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, the moment he could ruin everything.

With a sharp thrill running from his toes to his spine and head—a thrill that came from doing something he knew he shouldn't—he raised his arm.

The "Leave Party" button was pressed, and a five-second countdown began.

"Huh? What's going on, Barcode? What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?"

And then he pulled the trigger.

Boom!

"Figure it out with that stupid head of yours."

[Warning: A teammate has left the party.]

A small but brilliant red sun rose into the sky.

As the three-member team shown in the UI shrank to two, the former teammate standing in the middle of the helipad dashed in the opposite direction.

The blindingly bright light illuminated the heart of Manhattan, which had been shrouded in darkness, and the voice of the clueless helicopter pilot filled the comms.

And just as Yujin was inserting the fuse into the relay, she saw the spectacle.

An ominous electronic hum echoed through the cold wind.

[.̴̤͔̜̙̎̀̀́ Warning: .̴̤͔̜̙̎̀̀́ Heavily armed enemy presence nearby.]

[.̴̤͔̜̙̎̀̀́ Warning: .̴̤͔̜̙̎̀̀́ Jamming detected.]

Almost every word on the UI was shattered.

Three smoke grenades suddenly popped up at regular intervals in the air, and above them, the characteristic effect of an electromagnetic pulse rippled through the space.

Through the haze, three enemies emerged.

Hunters.

Adorned from head to toe with Icarus gear, which only operators could wear, they were draped in what seemed to be trophies. Their thick bulletproof vests and black tactical gear looked impervious to any bullets.

The mysterious enemies, with their faces fully covered by black ballistic masks, quickly took control of the helipad.

At that moment, the relay activated, and the entire rooftop lit up.

Ignoring the frantic voice of Harmony in the crackling comms, Yujin muttered quietly through the billowing steam of her breath.

"Damn, the trigger won't work."

She had expected that enemies—Hunters—would reveal themselves the moment they called for the helicopter, but she hadn't anticipated that they would emit an EMP upon arrival.

Even though she had predicted that a teammate might betray them, the electromagnetic pulse had rendered it impossible to take proper action once evidence of the betrayal emerged.

Harmony had one too, just in case....

Speaking into the now briefly clear comms, she added,

"Can you hear me?"

"Yes! Yujin, where are you? I had a bad feeling, but he really betrayed us, didn't he!?"

"This kind of thing happens all the time here. Anyway, the situation isn't good. My trigger isn't working. You still have your trigger, right?"

"Yes! Should I press it now?"

"It's a different proximity-detection type from mine, so it won't work right now. Press it as soon as that user gets close. I'll handle the enemies."

Rustle.

From what she remembered, these enemies tended to apply overall pressure while prioritizing the most dangerous target. The sound of metal scraping nearby confirmed it.

The most challenging foes she remembered had pushed through the past and reached the present.

The battle had begun.