"One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four. Hello, everyone. It's Limit back in the Dark Zone! Liha!"

-Liha!
-Liha Liha~~~~~~~~
-Limit, you're looking as radiant as ever today.
-As always, you’re so feminine and pretty, lol.
-Lol the contrast is killing me.

"...Thanks for the compliments on my avatar, sigh..."

Bright yellow, transparent eyes.

A delicate and youthful face, exuding an innocence that made her appear both pure and slightly mature. Her green hair, not overly bright, cascaded down from behind the cat-ear-shaped headset, stopping just at her waist.

Though she appeared a bit pouty, the avatar still had a cute charm that was hard to ignore.

As the expression on the avatar’s face crumpled upon reading the chat, it was clear that, despite her dissatisfaction, she couldn’t fully express it, leading to a look like someone who just bit into a lemon.

<CallimitCocoPalm has donated 1,000 won! Thank you so much!>
-"LOL, you're so pretty as always, lolololol."

"CallimitCocoPalm... thank you... Hey! You guys are the reason my avatar turned out like this by throwing money at it! I wanted to make a badass guy avatar!"

-Oh, of course, we knew you'd say that. ^^
-Fact: It was this person who picked a female avatar first.
-Note to self... Money can bend Limit’s will...
-Well, I just found another reason to earn more money~~
-'Big Sis'

It was a familiar story.

Limit, a streamer with the MCN group Mallet Brothers. He originally aimed to create a hyper-masculine avatar akin to a GigaChad, but overwhelming financial pressure from his viewers had shattered that dream, turning him into yet another streamer whose masculinity was compromised.

He had been playing Dark Zone for over six months now, and was a fully-fledged max-level player. However, they say you never forget your roots, and the endless bickering with his viewers, stemming from his initial days, had become a hallmark of his streams.

Of course,

"I told you not to call me 'Big Sis'! You all want to end up with dental implants!?"

-Lining up
-Oh, let me join the line~~
-Look at this chat, smh. I may be third, but know that I'm different from the rest of you.
-Lololololol
-As always, thanks for the entertainment, lol.

"These... jerks...."

Sigh.

A breath escaped her thin lips.

The weather was still cold. One month in reality equaled three months in Dark Zone. The sweltering heat of August in reality meant September through December in Dark Zone. In other words, September was akin to January through March. It wouldn’t be until the end of September in-game that the weather would start to warm up.

In a way, that was a relief. The avatar naturally became bulkier to reflect the need for warmth, which meant fewer comments about her appearance.

As she inspected her M1A rifle and moved forward, she noticed a few avatars ahead. The green markers above two avatars indicated they were part of the same squad.

By now, these faces were quite familiar.

On the left was Dol, a streamer who looked like a Russian princess decked out in full gear as if she were heading to the battlefield.

On the right was Hotteok, a streamer whose appearance resembled a humanoid white tiger with long black and white hair and tiger ears perked up on her head.

These were fellow streamers from the Mallet Brothers, gathered today to give a newbie, Harmony, a taste of the game’s tougher content—or to entertain their viewers with an unexpected collaboration.

Of course,

"...Sigh, you’re looking beautiful as ever today, Princess Limit."

"Look, it’s the elf."

"You jerks."

-Haha, that was weird.
-He always speaks his mind, that’s why we love him!
-Lololololol
-Hotteok and KimStone are killing me with laughter, lolololol.
-My sides are hurting, lololololol.

Just as expected.

Unable to hold back any longer, Limit let out a string of expletives that seemed completely out of place for her avatar, causing the other two to clutch their sides and collapse on the ground, laughing uncontrollably. Limit, with a face full of irritation, glared at them as they lay on the floor.

After a short while, the opening segment began. The three streamers gathered in one spot, engaging in banter like they were on a TV show, creating scenes that could be used for an intro video.

Normally, dozens of fans would be lurking around trying to join the session or just to spectate, but today, thankfully, it was a new session, so there wasn’t much of that.

Finally, the discussion that everyone was curious about started.

"...Anyway, the reason we’ve gathered today is to discuss what kind of Dark Zone content to play with Harmony. We’ll take suggestions from viewers, and if one gets chosen, we’ll send that person a chicken gift voucher."

"We’ve got a few ideas, but honestly, you guys probably know more about this stuff than we do. So, please share your thoughts with us."

"Just keep in mind that Harmony hasn’t completed the main missions yet, so something within that context would be great."

-But do these people know how skilled Harmony is lately?
-Shhh, keep quiet, lol.
-If she's not max level with the right gear, she can't do raids or high-difficulty modes, so PVP or defense modes might be the only options.
-Domination mode could be good.

As countless suggestions were made and discarded, donation messages, whether long or short, popped up like bubbles and then disappeared. A few good ideas were noted down along with the nicknames and IDs of those who suggested them.

With three streamers combined, the total number of viewers was close to 17,000. Even if each viewer suggested only one idea, there were 17,000 suggestions to consider. With such a volume, it was inevitable that some good ideas would emerge.

The most promising suggestions were:

"...Okay. For PVE content, we’ve got Emergency Missions or Infrastructure Missions, and Defense Mode. For PVP, we’ve confirmed Domination and Conquest modes. Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions. Those who contributed ideas will receive a gift voucher, so please check your messages."

"Now that we’ve narrowed it down, let’s decide what to do first. Is there anything from the list that none of us have tried?"

No one raised their hand.

These were max-level players who had already explored all the Dark Zone content, at least on a superficial level, whether due to personal preference or just trying everything out.

So, the first choice was Domination Mode.

It’s a game mode where you attack and defend control points labeled A, B, and C. The real-time adjustment of nanomachine levels to prevent one-sided matches was one of the reasons this mode was so popular.

The only downside was that the game was played on a squad basis. But gathering players was one of the easiest tasks for these streamers. They just needed to fill Harmony’s spot with a viewer under the guise of a fan play session.

Once the objective was clear, everything else fell into place. While Hotteok gathered participants for the session, Limit began the matchmaking process. As soon as players joined, the room would be set. Since it was a fairly large game with 32 participants, many viewers were also trying to join, either to be on the same team or to oppose them.

While they waited idly for the room to fill up, a video donation appeared on the screen.

<MaximusKaiser has donated 4,000 won worth of protein! Thank you!>
-Lol, Harmony is cracking me up.

At that moment, the stadium filled the screen.

As a sea of people cheered for one name, a familiar green cat was screaming enthusiastically in the crowd.

It was Harmony.

There was no doubt about the name she was shouting.

-Yujin-sensei───! We’re here!

"...Oh boy. She really adores her teacher."

I knew there had been a lot going on, but when did she become such an avid fan?

It was only five days before they would learn the meaning of "you are who you surround yourself with."

"This map always puts me in a bad mood..."

Though I’ve never actually been to Russia, I wonder if it would feel like this if I did.

The sky was gloomy. Actually, it was worse than that. Describing it as ash-colored would be an understatement, and if novelists saw the dirty, dark green mixed in, they’d probably write an even more dismal description.

Radioactive black rain was falling.

I knew there was a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant nearby, but could it really make things this bad? I wasn’t sure how it worked, but it wasn’t something to worry about in AP. After all, the game’s setting was about taking 100 operators into virtual reality for battles.

The setting of this map was like a more modern version of Pripyat. A battle in a ghost town. The atmosphere was dark and dreary, with nothing much to catch the eye like in other maps.

Because of this, I always felt a bit more detached, almost business-like, when playing on this map.

I opened the box and armed myself. Already, I could hear the crackling sounds of gunfire around me. As the numbers dwindled one by one, the Geiger counter unique to this map began to click more frequently.

It meant the radioactive storm was approaching.

-Clatter!

A machete popped out of the box I was opening. I hesitated for a moment but decided to leave it this time. I had just learned a few hours ago that I’d earned the bizarre nickname "Axe Goddess," and right now, it seemed better to just shoot without thinking too much.

Stepping outside, I felt the wind pick up again. It was damp. The dead city smelled of old concrete and wet earth. The grass sprouting through the cracked asphalt was already yellow and withered.

But there wasn’t much time to dwell on the atmosphere.

────Tat-tat-tat-tat!

A dozen or so bullets whizzed past my ear. Four or five hit their mark. Nanomachine reserves: 32%. The bullets had passed through a suppressor, making it difficult to pinpoint the shooter’s location by sound.

However, the direction and angle of the heavy impact on my body were crucial clues to locating the enemy.

Turning my head in that direction, I saw a user quickly retreating into an apartment building. Though there was no particular connection to snakes, my sharp vision instantly captured the fleeting image of the user’s face, etching it into my memory like a photograph.

He had a look of "I really messed with the wrong person."

"...Is this karma?"

Maybe it was.

But regardless of karma, obstacles were meant to be removed. Just as there’s no reason to leave a turret that’s shooting at you from behind, it wasn’t a good idea to ignore this guy and head straight to the center of the map.

The apartment’s interior was relatively simple. There was no need to render everything in detail, and if they had, it would have made searching for hiding enemies a tedious process, dragging out the game. Most of the doors were closed.

Moreover, the long hallway with few hiding spots made it an unappealing location for a fight, so battles naturally shifted to nearby facilities like the sports field or gym.

My boots crunched over the dust, grime, and other unspeakable substances that had accumulated on the floor over time. Footprints were visible on the ground.

Careful, quiet tracking. The barrel of my gun was lowered, ready to aim at any moment, with all my focus on sight and sound. The ratio was 70% visual, 30% auditory.

The reason for the 30% auditory focus was simple: if you concentrate too much on sound, a sudden gunshot could not only catch you off guard but make it impossible to respond effectively. In the worst case, you might faint or have a heart attack.

So,

-Rustle.

'...There’s more than one.'

There were two.

Unwanted guests.

Regret over not picking up the machete surfaced briefly, but in most cases, the rifle stock would do just fine. Breathing softly, I followed their trail.

The distance between us was closing. Considering the situation would likely lead to a firefight, it was close enough. After exiting the apartment, I entered the entrance to a communal facility in the complex.

The hallway was long, with only a few places to hide at the far ends. There was no cover as you moved through the corridor. So, I picked up the pace.

But then,

-CRASH!

"Whoaahhh!"

Something didn’t sound right.

Did they run into that other enemy I suspected earlier? But instead of gunfire, I heard something breaking.

Switching from my carbine to the more lethal S&W M500, I prepared for a quick kill. This massive revolver had a strange way of following me around. Not that its performance was bad—its short-range lethality was unmatched.

After confirming that five rounds were loaded, I approached the end of the hallway and peeked into the facility beyond. A faint blue light was seeping out of one of the rooms. That seemed to be the source of the sound.

-[Warning: Radiation levels spiking.]

'...All of a sudden?'

The nanomachine barrier was slowly depleting, but my curiosity needed to be satisfied.

Cautiously, I entered the facility and peeked through the open door---

"...What the..."

A bizarrely shaped sword emitting a bright blue light and a figure holding it. The figure was clad in a suit so strange it was almost grotesque, with the area where its eyes should be completely blacked out.

It wasn’t a player, that’s for sure. This map was known for its many Easter eggs, so maybe this was one of them?

Of course, even an Easter egg couldn’t survive having five magnum rounds pumped into its head at close range.

────Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!

"Guh, urgh, guhhh…!"

The wildly ticking Geiger counter fell silent as the creature’s head vanished without a trace, and the sword clattered to the ground.

It was a dull-looking piece of metal, more like a chunk of iron crudely shaped into a sword than an actual blade.

-[Notification: You have slain e͖͇͙͓͈͈͎͈͈͚͔͎͉͚͙͙͉͔͔͓͓͙͖͈͙͍͆͛̈́͒̓͐͋͊́̀͐͛͛͜͜͜͜͝͠ͅͅͅr͉͈͍͎͈͈͎͕͇͎͍͇͎͎͎͍͓̓͊͌͗͌͒̈́͋͌̀͛́͗̓͐͐͌͑͆͛͋̈́͒͆̈́͗͋̀͌̈́͊͌͋̀͆͗͑̓͐͐́͘͘͘͜͝͠ͅͅͅͅŗ͈͇͙͓͇͙͍͓͔͓͈͍͍͇͙͍͇͓͈͔͔͔͔͔͙͔͎͕͗̀͆͊͋͛͗͒̓͌͒͌͑͆̈́́͌́͒͊͋͊͆͋͛͋͒͋́͑͒͂͛͗̓̀͋͌͛̈́́̓̈́͌̈́͒͗͗͗͘͘͜͜͝͠͝͝͠͠͝͠͠ͅͅo͚͕͖͇͖͍̜͂͆̈́͐̈́͑͆͆́͑͌͂͋͌͒͋́͛͆͂͒͋͒̈́͋͗́͑͂͊͊̈́͒̓̈́̈́͗̈́̈́͆̈́͘͘͘͝͠͝͝͝͝͝͠͠͠͝͝͝r͍͔͙͙͉͕͔͕͔͓͎͓͓͓͚͕͔͉͈͙͙͓͇͇͎͈͔͚͚͇͊͊͗͆͆̈́͂̈́͑́͊͊͒͛͑̈́͐̈́͌͂̈́̀̀̈́͌͐̀́͋͗͐͑͂͐̓͒͑͒͋͗͋̀͛̓͛͒͐͌͑͆͑͐̓̓͂͒͐͘͘͘͘͘͜͜͝͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͝͠͠͝͝͝͝͝ͅͅ!]

-[Notification: You have obtained the Easter Egg weapon, Plutonium Blade!]

"...You’ve got to be kidding me."

I didn’t take it with me, of course.

It was an utterly insane concept.