“We’re doomed. It’s all over. What are we gonna do now...?”

Thud!

A chilling sound echoed as a bullet hit the cover I was hiding behind. The impact was absorbed, shaking the concrete wall and sending debris flying in all directions. My nanomachine barrier was down to less than 30%. From the main control tower, about 100 meters away, the countdown for the base's self-destruction warned me I had only about three minutes left. Meanwhile, the enemy’s movements, echoing like the footsteps of death, filled the air.

Hornet, a pro-gamer from Legio Invicta, was now locked in combat with me, Yujin.

‘Damn, this is terrifying...!’

Hornet.

At first glance, his nickname might seem like a cool phrase he picked up online, but it held a deeper meaning from his past. Over a decade ago, as a child, he disturbed a wasp’s nest and suffered greatly, a memory that stuck with him ever since. Ever since then, he had lived cautiously, careful not to repeat past mistakes. Yet, here he was, feeling as if he had just poked a cyber wasp’s nest and was now facing divine retribution.

Before the match began, he had hoped he wouldn’t run into her, even seeking advice from fellow pro-gamers. But now, here they were, face to face in this nightmare scenario. It was the unluckiest of unlucky breaks.

What’s worse, the weight of this battle was far heavier than he had anticipated.

Just two minutes ago, it had been a three-way battle without me. But as I nonchalantly walked out from the destroyed control room and swiftly took out two players with a few clean shots to their exposed backs, it was now a one-on-one duel between us.

As I said, all of this happened in just two minutes.

Crack!

Bullets whizzed through the air, grenades flew in arcs, and Hornet’s eyes never left my position for even a second. He was well aware of the importance of tracking his opponent’s every move. After all, to defeat your enemy, you needed to dissect their tactics, even if knowing yourself didn’t always guarantee victory.

There wasn’t a pro-gamer out there who didn’t know I was a dark horse. Everyone had studied my gameplay extensively, trying to find weaknesses, replicate my strengths, and fix any flaws in their own strategy by learning from mine.

But even with all that preparation, the pressure of this fight far exceeded their expectations.

Huff!

Hornet tried to clear his mind of all the useless thoughts swirling inside. He knew that in this massive artificial cave, he was going to die—whether it was from being crushed by massive boulders, blown up, shot, or blasted by a grenade, death was inevitable.

But in KSM, the rankings weren’t determined solely by kill points and placement. He didn’t know all the specific criteria, but landing a solid hit on Yujin might come in handy later... And if he got lucky enough to take her down with him, at least he’d have a story to tell over drinks later.

Click.

An empty magazine dropped to the ground, but he made sure it didn’t make any noise. Quickly switching to a fresh magazine, he peeked out to fire. A faint blur rushed past.

“How can she move that fast?” He didn’t have time to admire it. Realizing he hadn’t landed many hits, he bolted, knowing that the closer the combat, the higher the chance of getting killed and the faster the time-to-kill (TTK) would escalate.

This was less of a fight and more of a game of tag. But his evasive maneuvers, honed through experience, were quickly being countered. Each tactical option he tried was getting shut down, one by one.

The nanomachine barrier was about to break, and there was no time to recover. The relentless pressure was pushing him to the limit.

Hah...

Hornet had always known there was someone better. Last year’s elimination from the Asia qualifiers had taught him that. But he couldn’t afford to falter here. It was just the first match.

-[Warning: 1 minute and 20 seconds until base self-destruction.]

He had wanted to drag this out a little longer, but it seemed like Yujin was in a rush. In her matches with Corvus and others, she even had time to chat, but now... well, he would take solace in knowing that stalling had served its purpose.

As Yujin’s figure shrank in the distance, Hornet caught a glimpse of her distinct, snake-like tail swaying behind her. Muttering to himself, barely loud enough for anyone to hear, he whispered,

“... After all that, she’s not going to survive this, right?”

If she did survive, he’d probably collapse and bawl his eyes out. And he’d do it in the grandest, most dramatic fashion possible.

With a deep sense of foreboding, Hornet quietly closed his eyes, awaiting the inevitable.

-[Warning: 1 minute until base self-destruction.]

Boom!

The unmistakable sound of a grenade launcher echoed. The 40mm round didn’t arc through the air like it should have; instead, it slammed straight into the rusted tiltrotor’s cockpit overhead, delivering a brutal blow.

With a deafening crash, the massive metal frame began to fall, screaming as it plummeted. The cockpit shattered first, followed by the body, which fell into the pull of gravity, crashing downwards in a chaotic heap of debris. In less than a minute, the once-mighty Osprey would be buried beneath a mountain of rubble.

Before the dust could settle, Icarus Gear guided Yujin to what used to be the storage compartment of the downed aircraft. Digging through the wreckage, she uncovered a slightly scratched but intact box.

A gun cabinet-sized box, emblazoned with the Icarus logo.

The zipline launcher.

This was what she had been searching for.

-[Notification: Authentication complete.]

Though a bit dented, it still worked.

40 seconds left.

She opened the cabinet and pulled out the necessary components: the launcher itself, two 100-meter steel cables neatly coiled, two wall anchors, two charges for firing them up to 150 meters, and finally, an ascender.

The assembly process was simple. Attach the steel cables to the anchors, load the charge, and fire. It took less than five seconds. The auto-targeting system displayed the projected point of impact.

With a thud, the anchor shot through the air, securing itself to the ceiling. Yujin hooked the ascender onto the cable.

-[Warning: 30 seconds until base self-destruction.]

The makeshift buildings that had seemed so large up close shrank rapidly as she ascended. With all the gear and weapons she had strapped to her, she must have weighed nearly 300 kilograms, but the cable and ascender handled it with ease.

The dry, scorching wind was picking up, and a massive sandstorm was closing in, blanketing the area. As she reached the ceiling and stepped out into the open air, she could feel the heat on her skin.

It took about 10 seconds to reach the top. She unhooked the ascender and stashed the remaining cable and stakes in her utility pouch. She strapped the ascender to her armor.

It was time to say goodbye to the heavy grenade launcher.

After adjusting the sling of the launcher to prevent it from swaying, she took a deep breath and───

“Hah...!”

She started running.

Ironically, the developers had set up the zipline as an escape route, but nothing was ever that simple in this game. The zipline didn’t solve everything.

The ground beneath her was starting to crumble.

Boom!

The sound of collapse roared in her ears, growing louder with each passing second.

The ground beneath her feet was buckling. She still had about 500 meters to go. Gritting her teeth, she sprinted, trying to stay ahead of the collapse.

The terrain was disintegrating from the weakest points.

Her opponent had been stalling, knowing that the ground would eventually give way, burying her alive. She cursed her luck, knowing she could have ended the fight sooner. But there was no time to dwell on that now.

As she ran, she grabbed the launcher, her hands moving swiftly to prepare another zipline. She couldn’t afford to waste time reloading at the last moment, not with the ground splitting beneath her feet!

Click!

With her right hand, she opened the utility pouch and pulled out an anchor and steel cable.

The UI indicated she was moving at 33 kilometers per hour. Carrying all this equipment while running was burning a ridiculous amount of calories—if this were real life, she’d be exhausted within minutes.

Even in this chaotic situation, she expertly connected the anchor and cable. The more weight applied, the tighter the bond. With the process complete, she grabbed a charge and brought the launcher up with her left hand.

Crack!

“Argh!”

Her foot slipped on the crumbling ground, nearly sending her tumbling. Glancing back, she saw the entire cavern collapsing in on itself.

There was no time to be shocked. The distance remaining was now less than 100 meters. If she didn’t finish setting up the zipline soon, she’d have no choice but to leap into the abyss.

Opening the launcher, she loaded the anchor, stuffed the coiled cable inside, and jammed the charge into place. What would normally take 10 seconds took her over 40 due to the unstable terrain.

The ground was breaking apart at a terrifying pace. In less than 20 seconds, the massive boulder that had housed the base would be flattened.

Directly ahead of her stood a 100-meter-tall mushroom-shaped rock.

There was no time to stop and aim. The ground was crumbling behind her, and even the rock itself was unstable, with chunks falling off the edge. A running shot would have to do.

Shaky as her aim was, the target was massive. As long as she didn’t shoot wildly, she was bound to hit it.

Boom!

With a strange sound, the anchor shot forward.

It covered the 50 meters in an instant, and as it connected with the mushroom rock, the explosive bolts drilled deep into the surface, securing the anchor in place. The anchor was now firmly lodged 90 meters above the ground.

She was 60 meters up. There were only 10 meters of solid ground left before the cliff began, and the gap was about 35 meters wide.

Attaching the ascender to the steel cable, she threw the launcher into the abyss. The cable unraveled behind her as she leaped into the unknown.

“Waaaaah!”

The sound of the cable creaking echoed as gravity added nearly a ton of pressure to the ascender and the anchor.

But there was no other option. The rest was up to fate.

The rock face filled her vision.

Thunk!

“Ugh!”

She slammed into the side of the mushroom rock like a pendulum.

The nanomachine barrier barely cushioned the impact, leaving her gasping for breath. Despite being prepared for it, the sheer force knocked the wind out of her lungs.

With a deep inhale, she pressed the ascender’s up button with her right thumb, slowly pulling herself up the rough surface. Looking down, she saw debris raining from where she had just been. The launcher she had thrown was buried under a pile of rubble.

For about 20 seconds, the world was filled with explosions, dust, and flying debris. The remaining explosives detonated in a chain reaction, sending massive chunks of rock flying.

Another 30 seconds passed.

“Haa...”

The scene before her was a total disaster.

A massive boulder, over a kilometer in diameter, had been reduced to a flat pancake.

The three players who had fled earlier had likely escaped. There were no additional kills registered. With a sigh of relief, Yujin stared at the scene in awe.

Once again, she had survived.

...Surely she wasn’t the only one playing this game on such a hard mode?

Zrrrp!

She descended the cable. Part of the steel line was buried under millions of shards of rock, but it had done its job.

-[Notification: The base shield is shrinking.]

The remaining players were down to 32. Two stages of the shield remained before the final zone.

The game was far from over.

Life was hard.