“Prepare for extraction. We’re landing now!”

“…Finally, the helicopter has arrived.”

<‘MyNameIsKimSemi’ donated 100,000 won!>

• “I really love you, Teacher Yujin… Today was a day that could have been absolutely terrible, but this… I cheered so loudly at home that my family looked at me strangely… I’m so grateful.”

-Wooooaaaaahhhhh -I’m not even lying, when you decapitated the sniper with the tomahawk, I literally cried out of joy. -I’m so happy that I can’t even put it into words. Yujin, who are you?!?! -From now on, I’ll call light ‘Yujin.’ Thank you so much, Teacher. -So this is why people watch hero movies, LOL -Teacher, you didn’t just clear my head, you practically obliterated it, LOL

Cheers.

A pure 100% cheer continued.

Harmony, leaning against the wall with a faint smile, shared a glance with her many viewers. Beyond them, Yujin was seen pulling out the tomahawk embedded in the enemy player’s neck and retrieving it.

A moment of silence. The severed head rolled to the side, and the body disintegrated into dust as if it were never there. A fitting end for a villain.

With her usual slightly indifferent expression, Yujin secured the tomahawk to the clip on her back and approached Harmony.

Dawn was breaking. The morning sunlight gently caressed the walls of New York’s buildings.

The sound of footsteps on the crunching snow, as Yujin’s hand reached out to Harmony, who was leaning heavily against the wall, completely drained of energy. Although her wounds were healing, she still lacked strength.

She cautiously raised her hand, but soon it began to drop as her strength waned.

“Hold on. Let’s get out of here.”

But Yujin couldn’t allow her hand to fall to the ground.

They clasped hands. The cold air meant there was no warmth felt through the gloves, but the energy in Yujin’s hand was more than enough.

With a small grunt, Yujin applied strength to her legs and slowly rose to her feet. However, she found it difficult to muster strength in her legs. A short cry of pain escaped Harmony’s lips.

But despite her expectations, she didn’t fall.

“Be careful.”

“Oh, uh…”

At some point, Yujin had wrapped her tail securely around Harmony’s waist, supporting her. With one arm over Yujin’s shoulder, Harmony moved slowly at her pace, leaving trails in the snow.

The helicopter that had been hovering above began to descend slowly onto the helipad. A strong wind whipped around them, scattering the unfrozen snow in all directions.

As they carefully stepped down from the high ledge, the helicopter’s four-person seating compartment opened, and the pilot’s voice crackled over the radio, reaching their ears.

“20 seconds until departure. I’ll get you out safely.”

“Ahaha…”

“Let me help you up. Please, take a seat.”

Gently holding her by the waist, Yujin helped Harmony into the open door. A small, cute yelp came from Harmony, but Yujin only responded with a slight smile.

With a brief groan, Harmony settled into the seat at the front of the helicopter, quickly shutting the doors. The cold air that had seeped in was rapidly warming up.

“10 seconds to departure!”

“…There are so many strange people in this world.”

Leaning back in the surprisingly comfortable seat, Harmony murmured to herself.

Yujin, who had taken off her gloves to massage her hands, added:

“There have always been such people. There are many now, and there will be many in the future. But why does it seem like there are more now?”

“I’m not sure…?”

“It’s simple. In the past, those who openly behaved like that all ended up dead.”

Exhaling softly, Yujin gazed at the sunrise through the window and spoke quietly:

“In today’s society, where physical retribution isn’t possible even when insulted, it feels like there are more people who speak without thinking. Those who aren’t sanctioned won’t stop their actions.”

“Ah, so you’re saying that since there’s no harm to themselves, they keep doing it, right?”

“Exactly.”

Yujin carefully wiped the blade of the tomahawk she had secured on her back.

The helicopter was now flying over the city, with buildings beneath them.

“Sometimes, for people like that, extreme measures are necessary.”

-Teacher, I thought you only shot guns. Why are you giving a philosophy lecture too? -Summary: If you mess around, I’ll literally smash your head, so watch yourself. -The content is sophisticated, but the actions are brutal, LOL -It’s hilarious that the person actually doing it is the one saying this, LOL -Thank you so much for rescuing our poor Harmony!

Harmony let out a small laugh, shaking her head slightly as if she couldn’t believe it. It was a very Yujin-like thing to say.

Words should be persuasive, and while many people bolster their arguments with logic, being the right person to say them is another method.

And the person in front of Harmony was definitely suited for that.

The sun was rising outside the helicopter window.

Bathed in a dazzling orange light, the two finally returned to the base after a fierce battle.

It was Harmony’s third day in the Dark Zone.

“…Anyway, today was incredibly tough. I didn’t expect to go through something like this, but I’m glad it all ended well.”

In the personal space provided for everyone in the virtual reality, where she could chat with viewers,

A green, cat-like avatar, who looked like she might taste minty if licked, lounged in her chair with a weary expression.

It had been nine hours since the broadcast began, three hours in real-world time. Normally, there wouldn’t be much of an issue with broadcasting for hours in virtual reality, but today was different.

Though she was holding up better than expected, it didn’t mean Harmony was in her usual psychological state.

In short, she was now starting to feel the aftereffects of earlier.

<‘Meumeum’ donated 1,000 won!>

• “Even thinking about it now, it was so terrifying. The broadcast could have been completely ruined today.”

“Thank you for the 1,000 won donation, Meumeum… Thank you for your concern. That’s exactly the problem. It would have been fine if it had ended with just me, but they wanted to mess with everyone watching the broadcast too. That’s not okay.”

Even after nearly six years of broadcasting, experiencing various mental stresses and incidents, there are still things one can’t easily get used to.

Especially something like this—receiving direct hostility from another person, even in virtual reality—was a type of experience that few had ever encountered.

Considering that, Harmony was handling the situation remarkably well.

“From now on, I’ll only recruit participants from the fan cafe. And when playing modes with sniping potential like today… Anyone who comes near me, no matter what sweet words they use, will be killed on sight. Got it?”

<‘MightTwilightLife’ donated 10,000 won!>

• “Do you see this, Teacher Yujin? In just three days, our dear Harmony has become a killing machine. You better take responsibility and take her to the grave with you.”

-I can hear Teacher Yujin clapping somewhere, LOL -What kind of game is the Dark Zone that it’s turned Harmony, who’s beaten so many trash games, into this, LOL -This is a textbook example of a dark transformation, 8/10 -Shooting strangers on sight is basic etiquette, and even ancient martial arts mentioned it. -Those people clinging for a chance to join the game even when it’s not open to others are the weird ones. This is how it should be.

“Thank you so much for the 10,000 won donation, MightTwilightLife. Ah, come on, what are you talking about? I’m still far from reaching Yujin’s level. I need to train harder.”

Of course, the chat window went wild at this point, but unlike the viewers who took it half as a joke, Harmony was more serious than they realized.

Thinking back, would those snipers have targeted her if she were as strong as Yujin? It was an extreme example, but not entirely wrong.

Even in a modern society built on law, the logic of strength still applied, and for that, one needed at least a basic foundation.

Having a majority of viewers on her side was one thing, but having the means to resolve situations independently was another.

But that didn’t mean she was in the mood to start up the Dark Zone again.

After wrapping up with a brief closing statement, Harmony added:

“Anyway, today… As I mentioned earlier, I’m pretty exhausted, so I’ll end the broadcast here. Don’t stress too much about what happened today, and let’s meet again tomorrow in good health. Goodbye, NyangGang!”

Swish.

As the broadcast ended, the screen went black, and the familiar ceiling came into view. It was the living room. After lying down for about three hours, her body felt stiff. As she carefully sat up, numerous messages popped up before her eyes.

- [You have 300+ messages from Rudite, KimStone, and others inquiring about your well-being. Would you like to check them?] - [You have 58 missed calls.]

“Ugh, why is there so much?”

People pretend not to care, but they really do worry a lot.

The content of these messages was likely similar to what she received when she barely made it through the tutorial last time. The tone might be more concerned, though.

A loud noise echoed. It was the phone ringing.

Since the broadcast had ended, Harmony decided to take the calls. The call she answered came from Rudite, her main editor.

“Hello? Hey, Editor, why did you call so much?”

- Well, wouldn’t you call? After what happened? That wasn’t just sniping; it was verbal abuse. We’re already collecting evidence and reporting it to the cyber investigation team.

“...Yeah, we need to handle this firmly given the nature of the incident.”

That user might have casually dismissed the idea of lawsuits and appeals, but could they maintain that stance when the actual legal consequences hit?

They claimed it was their first time facing such an incident publicly, so they likely didn’t know anything.

As the excitement subsided, the conversation turned more practical.

- So, what’s your plan? For this video…

“There will probably be many people who find it unpleasant, so I think we should hold off on editing for now. Please inform the others as well.”

- Got it. I’ll let them know. Anyway, I’m really glad. If it weren’t for Teacher Yujin at the end, it could have been disastrous.

“Ahaha.”

With an awkward laugh, Harmony added:

“I wasn’t aware of the sniping, but I knew about the betrayal from the beginning. I wasn’t told explicitly, but Yujin gave me a heads-up.”

- What? Seriously? You knew?

“Yes. And later, I found out that Yujin had secretly put a bomb in the bag we made for that player. Remember when I pressed the detonator? That was it.”

- Wow, seriously, no way…

The editor’s voice was almost a sigh, as if at a loss for words. For some reason, Harmony felt quite pleased, even though she wasn’t the one being praised.

Having worked with this editor for so long, she could now roughly guess what expression they might have. She expected them to switch topics soon.

- Anyway, I understand. There was one more reason I called… Ah, right. The other edited videos are almost done. The second and third ones will be uploaded today and tomorrow.

“Oh, really? Can I check the videos?”

- I’ve already sent them via engram, so check them out and let me know if anything seems off.

Even though she said that, there was likely nothing wrong. Rudite was one of the best editors Harmony had ever worked with.

Anyway, the broadcast was over. It was conveniently 10 PM, and she was incredibly hungry. She had barely eaten dinner earlier, so her stomach was growling.

Watching the videos the editor sent while having a late-night snack sounded like a plan… But she had resolved to get stronger, so she couldn’t think about snacks.

After ending the call, Harmony lifted her hoodie to reveal a soft, white belly like mochi.

Squish.

“…Ah, I really shouldn’t do this.”

…But, just for tonight, she’d allow herself a snack.

As she sent the freshly edited video to Yujin, Harmony found herself losing yet another battle with herself.

It was summer.