Atakaia Volcano Island.

A massive eruption beneath the sea had once birthed this new island, and over countless millennia, the volcano had repeatedly spewed lava, expanding the island's area and enriching the land with volcanic ash. Now, millions of years later, though thick concrete covered the land, and buildings and homes had been built, the island’s core remained unchanged—and once again, the towering volcano at its center spewed its fury across the earth.

The only difference this time was that this eruption carried traces of something else.

Flowers that had blossomed on the abandoned island were crushed beneath heavy boots. Tropical trees, planted for the sake of scenery, were torn apart by bullets and tungsten rounds, and the asphalt and concrete crumbled under the rumble of explosions. The red lava flowing through the cracks turned everything in its path to ash.

The once blue sky was now blanketed by thick, black clouds of volcanic ash, crackling with thunder and lightning. Ash fell like snow from the heavens, and beneath it, 99 individuals roamed the streets that should no longer have been inhabitable.

Crrrrrk!

A building gave way, collapsing into the river of lava below with a grotesque sound. As the first floor burned away and the structure weakened, the weight of the lava crushed the concrete, bending the steel beams and smashing everything in its path.

But larger buildings met a different fate. Much sturdier than their smaller counterparts, they crumbled more slowly, usually succumbing to the flames long before the structure gave way. Fire, after all, was an enemy of all living things, humans included. It was only natural that no living creature could be found in places consumed by fire.

But that wasn’t always the case.

"Ugh, it's hard to breathe in here!"

Bright red flames shot up all around.

What should have been a dark and powerless interior of a department store was instead filled with fire and smoke. No matter which direction she turned, the overwhelming heat and flames threatened to damage her vision if she stared for too long.

The remaining nanomachines were dropping slightly. The surrounding temperature had exceeded triple digits. Her oxygen tank, which was connected to her bag, was covered by a nanomachine barrier, and the radiant heat was immense.

Oxygen levels: 20 minutes remaining. The Icarus gear was designed with high-efficiency energy harvesting technology, allowing the nanomachines to regenerate using the heat. So, despite the extreme conditions, the barrier’s damage was minimal—or so the system claimed.

The real problem was…

Thud!

"Wow, that’s intense."

…that even in this extreme environment, there were still a few people out to kill her.

She could guess who it was. It was likely Mikhail, from the Reaper Infected group. Not many people could handle a ballistic shield that well. Wearing a gas mask that was oddly reminiscent of Yu-jin, he continued firing his pistol at her.

Normally, someone firing that much would run out of ammo or have to reload, creating an opening, but not him. He was the type to spend hours every day practicing one-handed reloads.

She thought back.

Mikhail was infamous in the pro gaming world. As mentioned, his ballistic shield was practically an extension of himself. His defense was so solid that even she had been advised not to engage in a 1:1 with him.

In a way, he was an extreme survivalist, always prioritizing survival over kills. If he sensed things were turning against him, he’d flee in an instant.

But that also meant when the odds were in his favor, he clung to his prey relentlessly. In other words, he embodied the phrase, "He plays like a pain in the ass." And she couldn’t disagree with that.

However, having spent so much time with someone who was the bane of every pro’s existence, she had learned how to deal with situations like this.

It was actually quite simple.

'Just lure them into a spot where they can’t escape and focus all your firepower on them.'

Of course, if that was all he had said, it might have come across as a humblebrag. But Yu-jin had naturally added more explanation.

'Using a shield means sacrificing firepower. Unless they’re like me, the most they can manage is an SMG. So, if you stop them from lowering the shield, you’ve got a decent chance in a frontal fight.'

'But aren’t ballistic shields ridiculously tough? It’d take hundreds of 5.56mm rounds to break through.'

'You don’t need to give them time to recover, or just use overwhelming firepower to break it. A shield starts regenerating the moment it’s lowered, so keep the pressure on. Of course, if they lower the shield, they’ll bring out regular weapons, so be cautious.'

In short, the advice boiled down to this:

When dealing with someone using a shield, just grab a high-caliber weapon and blast them until they crumble.

This was why Yu-jin always carried absurdly powerful weapons that even special forces were reluctant to use. If you could handle the recoil and carry enough ammo, you were unstoppable.

After all, no matter how good your body armor is, even if it stops the bullets, the kinetic energy alone is enough to break your ribs.

It was a brute-force approach, but one that made sense.

Dice’s primary weapon was the SIG MCX, but… she was ready to bring out the big guns now. Once she was done, the empty spaces in her armor would be filled with ASh-12.7 magazines.

Taking a deep breath, she began to move. There was no need to worry about the noise she made while moving; the roar of the flames and the crackling of expanding moisture drowned out any sound she might create.

It didn’t take long to spot Mikhail, despite his speed for someone with a shield.

He’d soon learn that such strategies didn’t work at higher levels.

Ratatatatatatat!

Bang bang bang!

Bullets sprayed sparks off the shield. As expected, it was holding up well, but it was only a matter of time before it broke. Dice didn’t even bother hiding as she continued her barrage.

As her ammo ran low, she swapped in a fresh magazine and resumed firing without hesitation. Mikhail’s pistol spat rounds in return, many of them hitting her.

After a brief pause, Mikhail, sensing something was wrong, began to back away with his shield still raised. That was exactly what she wanted. A slow-moving target like him was easy to hit.

-[Notification: 5.56mm rounds remaining: 90.]

Half her stock was gone, with half still left.

By the time she emptied her third magazine, Mikhail must have realized she was going to break his shield, and he hastily began retreating. But if he’d wanted to run, he should have done so from the start.

The area was a fiery wasteland, and AP was a game defined by combat. If you paid too much attention to environmental factors and walked into an obvious tactical trap, you’d lose. It was that simple.

The result was inevitable. Dice had no intention of letting Mikhail live—it was time to settle the score for his poor decisions.

Click!

It was her job to wake him from his futile dream.

She yanked on the wire connected to her grenade, pulling the pin tight and disengaging the safety. The moment the small metal ball turned into a bomb, Mikhail started to move.

But the grenade wasn’t meant for him. It bounced off the floor and rolled to a stop somewhere out of sight. A moment later, there was a loud boom.

The escalator had given way.

Already weakened by the fire, it had been waiting for just the right push. The explosion tipped it over the edge, and the ground groaned as the once-secure structure began to collapse in on itself.

With a loud crack, it crumbled, taking several tons of metal debris with it. A chain reaction followed as the rest of the escalators buckled, turning into an avalanche of collapsing platforms.

One of the few remaining escape routes had just been turned into a heap of twisted metal. Across the gaping hole in the center of the building, Dice locked eyes with Mikhail.

"Haha."

His expression was grim.

Instead of a warm greeting, she fed him another round of lead.

Of course, this was another lesson she had learned from Yu-jin—not the part about shooting as a greeting, but about cutting off all of your opponent’s options.

It was the only thing she had been taught since their first meeting.

Dice moved silently. Mikhail didn’t have many options left. He could either try to escape through the sky bridge to another building, or accept his fate and die here. Either way, Dice was guarding the bridge.

The situation settled into a tense stalemate. The ground beneath the building grew more unstable. Waiting near the corridor, she noticed there was no movement. What could Mikhail be planning?

If she had to guess, Mikhail was probably hoping for a disruption to break this deadlock. Now it was time to predict what that disruption might be.

Just then, a notification popped up.

-[Warning: Enemy has accessed the department store's central control system.]

At this point in time?

What could he possibly be tampering with? The firewall would already be down, and the sprinkler system was disabled. She had no idea what he was planning, so she waited quietly… until she heard a noise.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Where was that coming from?

The ground beneath the department store shook violently. This kind of explosion shouldn’t have been possible with regular explosives. Whatever Mikhail had done, it was beyond the norm.

But combined with the warning from earlier, only one possibility flashed through her mind. It seemed impossible, but her instincts told her it was true.

"No way… Did he open the gas lines?!"

The gas lines, which had been cut off due to the fire, must have been forced open. Gas would have leaked from the broken pipes in the ceiling. That was the source. Then the fire would have ignited it.

But that wasn’t the immediate issue. The entire building shook as if it were about to collapse. At that moment, Mikhail appeared, rushing toward her.

It was time for a head-on confrontation.

Tatatatata!

Dropping the MCX, she pulled out the ASh-12.7, which had been hidden behind her oxygen tank.

Massive armor-piercing rounds roared out of the barrel with a deafening blast, raining down like hail. The sheer power of the gun forced Mikhail to slow down. As soon as the magazine was emptied, she swapped in another. He was zigzagging toward her, but at this range, tracking his movements wasn’t difficult. The speed of the rounds was even faster.

It took four magazines, but Mikhail’s shield finally shattered. He staggered from the impact, leaving an opening, and a few well-placed rounds punched through the already-weakening barrier.

Mikhail turned to flee.

But that was his final mistake.

Bang!

One of the wild shots from the bucking barrel struck his oxygen tank.

He collapsed to the ground, struggling to breathe. Fire surrounded him on all sides, and there was no escape. Even if he broke through the glass and fell, lava awaited below.

Sighing, Dice approached Mikhail, her golden hair glinting in the firelight as she leveled her gun at him.

She spoke.

"Nice try."

"Nothing ever goes right when you’re involved with Yu-jin… or anyone connected to her."

Dice chuckled and answered with a smirk.

"Tell me about it."

Bang.

With an exasperated expression, Mikhail’s head snapped back, and his body was ejected from the game, sent back to the lobby.

Leaving his corpse behind, Dice crossed through the flames and headed to the building on the other side.

Her match wasn’t over yet.

-[Harmony: Lately, there are so many people trying to copy Yu-jin! LOL.]

"Sigh."

Watching the sixth match, Harmony added playfully.

It seemed that Dice’s reputation had reached the point of no return.