"It’s a big match right from the start! We have Eugene and Dice, master and apprentice! And their opponents are famous streamers: Cartographer, Espia, and ChickenLateNightOneTrick!"

The entire space was scattered and then reassembled.

Just seconds ago, it was a studio capable of hosting hundreds of people, but now it transformed into a battlefield.

A relatively dark background filled with countless objects, placed deliberately. It was like the interior of a dismantled airplane, with parts scattered around a hangar. However, the center was completely empty, intentionally left devoid of items for now.

After a few words were exchanged, the representatives of the celebrities and announcers retreated. From this point on, it was the domain of the casters and commentators. A refreshing voice echoed through the space, as if cleaning the ears.

"Today, the highly anticipated first match! Five players, divided into two teams of two and three, will battle in an abandoned hangar, with the scent of gunpowder thick in the air!"

"At this moment, both teams are shaking hands. The streamers are discussing the handicaps they'll impose. Given that their opponents have claimed first and second place in KSM, deep discussions are definitely needed."

The rules for this event match were a bit complex.

Before the match started, the streamer team could suggest one handicap to the pro gamer team in addition to the numerical advantage. As long as the handicap wasn't excessively unfair, it had to be accepted.

If the handicap was within an acceptable range, the pro gamer duo would accept it and begin their tactical discussions.

Therefore, this game was significantly disadvantageous for the national representative team. The highlight of the event match was how the pros would perform under a handicap while being outnumbered.

They had one minute to discuss what penalty they would impose.

While Cartographer, Espia, and ChickenLateNightOneTrick went to discuss in the back, Dice and Eugene started their conversation.

“Ha, this is the most nerve-wracking moment. Last year, all sorts of weird things came up. I wonder what they'll come up with this year.”

“What kind of stuff came up?”

“Things like sealing off left-eye vision, fighting without the index finger of the right hand… Left-handed players had to use their right shoulder for aim, and vice versa for right-handed players. But since pro gamers practice switching hands for shooting, we won easily.”

Human imagination truly has no limits.

Though he muttered that roughly, Eugene quickly returned to his usual half-indifferent expression. Dice, knowing that this expression usually meant Eugene had something on his mind, slyly probed for more information.

“You know something, don’t you?”

“It’s hard to say for sure since there’s a wide variety of possibilities, but since Cartographer is on the other team… I suspect they’ll come up with a more serious handicap.”

“Cartographer? Do you know him?”

“… He’s a victim. Technically speaking.”

Of course.

It seemed that Eugene's influence had spread far and deep.

While Dice was thinking that, similar discussions were taking place on the other side, though the content was different. Unlike Eugene and Dice, who were taking things lightly, Cartographer was treating the event match very seriously.

Normally, he might have been told he was taking it too seriously, but among the three, only Cartographer had faced Eugene more than ten times in battle.

Ignoring him would have been a grave mistake.

“... Really, is it that bad? Banning throwing weapons is like losing one of your arms.”

“Banning traps? Why traps?”

“I got caught in a trap once….”

“Ah, that.”

How could they not know?

The incident where Cartographer walked into Eugene’s trap house had spread far and wide, thanks to one of Cartographer’s streamer friends. Even if this hadn’t happened to them personally, the flood of donations to Cartographer made it impossible to ignore.

Thanks to those donations spreading like wildfire, there was even a joke going around that Eugene was preventing newbies from entering the game.

Besides, it wasn’t as if Eugene was just hitting people with traps. At this point, many people knew that Eugene used traps to block sound or vision in various ways.

In short, the streamer team had one thing in mind.

“If they just shoot quietly, their chances of survival are higher.”

“Should we stop them from running too? That would mess with their tactical movements.”

“That probably wouldn’t be accepted.”

No running, no throwing weapons, only shooting. If all of this were accepted, it would undoubtedly rank among the top penalties in event match history.

But for some reason, even with all that, it felt like it would still be hard to win. Even if they couldn’t run or use grenades, they were still strong enough to be a threat with just shooting.

… Now that he thought about it, weren’t Juggernauts exactly like that?

The minute flew by in a flash.

In the end, they chose a documentary over entertainment, and nearly all of their feedback was accepted. Sprinting, of course, was prohibited. Only shooting was allowed. Meanwhile, the streamer team could use most of their skills, except for shield-related ones.

After the penalty was set, Eugene’s team had five minutes to discuss tactics. When the time was up, the MC announced the start of the game.

“The event match begins now!”

A final greeting.

Eugene exchanged a glance with Cartographer and added:

“It’s been a while. You’ve made a pretty clever choice.”

“…I thought you’d be good at shooting too. I’m not confident in a head-on fight.”

“Haha.”

At that moment, the view turned black.

The place where they had just been standing was now covered in various objects as the combat zone was fully set. The audience became viewers, and this included Gambit and Michael.

With the disappearance of the five participants in a flash of light, the first round of the event match officially began.

“We're going with the Juggernaut meta.”

“No way. You’re not serious, right?”

“Of course, I’m joking.”

With a sly grin, Eugene handed over the strategy plan along with a GRG.

The map was divided into several zones based on the different objects placed around it. However, there weren’t too many, about six in total. Since they had been working together for a while, Dice quickly realized what it meant.

“Shall we base the briefing on this?”

“Yes. Let’s stick to a standard play. When I draw attention, support me from behind with gunfire. The terrain isn’t ideal, so it’s better to use large-caliber firearms.”

“…You’re not suggesting this because I used a Barrett last time, are you?”

“Haha.”

And here was the trick.

One player gave up their primary weapon to choose two anti-materiel sniper rifles, and the other selected two primary weapons, handing one over.

“What weapon would you like?”

“SIG MCX Rattler. Since the engagement range is short, something ordinary will do. For sniper rifles, I’ll choose the M107CQ and the M6 Lynx. And you, Eugene?”

“MG338 should do just fine.”

“…What’s so ‘fine’ about a machine gun that fires Norma Magnum rounds at ten rounds per second?”

Though Dice grumbled, the two quickly selected their firearms and attachments.

Since they were in hardcore mode, Eugene had to create the magazines by hand using the feed mechanism in his Icarus bag, and Dice handled that. The clinking sound of metal echoed repeatedly as magazines were slotted into their vests.

Dice marked two spots on the map.

“These are the only places with decent firing angles. I’ll share the observation view, so check it out.”

“…Looks good. If we silence one of them on the first line, the numbers will even out, and they won’t be able to charge in recklessly. Let’s apply pressure when the time comes.”

“Sounds good.”

And then the final conversation before the match.

“Couldn’t you just grab a Barrett and destroy everything?”

“Barretts only appear outside high-value research facilities.”

“Ah.”

That made sense.

Using common drop weapons rather than rare ones available only on certain maps was the way to go. Moreover, if Eugene single-handedly wrecked everything, it would ruin the fun in another way.

After all, this event match was meant to showcase how two players could take on three. If Eugene took over and stole the spotlight, it wouldn’t be much fun.

The loud siren blared from the ceiling, signaling the start of the match.

───Woooooooong!

-[Notice: Kill zone activated. From now, this area is designated as an unlimited kill zone.]

“See you later!”

“Yeah.”

The moment the match started, Eugene dropped his SIG MCX and eight magazines to the ground.

There was no time to slot them into the pouches. The 10kg lump of steel in Eugene’s hand moved effortlessly, unleashing a 20-gram bullet at Mach 2.3 with a brilliant muzzle flash.

Dice gritted his teeth and ran. He was carrying 15kg in each hand, a SIG MCX on his body, and eight magazines in a multipurpose pouch, totaling nearly 60kg in weight.

And this wasn’t just flat terrain; the target location was a high ground with a firing angle. It could only be described as a grueling 30 seconds.

Upon reaching the designated spot, Dice set the Barrett down at a place with a good firing angle. After checking the situation, it seemed the enemies had noticed only Eugene remained and had decided to rush in all at once, approaching faster than expected.

In the distance, Dice spotted a serpent suppressing fire so fiercely that the gun barrel glowed red. It was almost comical how blatantly they were drawing attention.

Just as they had predicted from the start.

‘When we retreat, I’ll leave the Barrett behind….’

Click.

After loading the round, the weighty feeling from before returned to Dice’s fingertips.

The enemy was still not fully in sight. Dice placed the M6 anti-materiel rifle down to the side and finally inserted the magazines into his chest pouch.

They were ready.

At just the right moment, a voice came through the comms.

“One has flanked around towards the airplane wing. If I don’t stop them, I’ll be trapped.”

“Roger… Oh, I’ve spotted movement. Can you lay down suppressing fire in that direction?”

“It’s going to be tight. The enemy’s using a bombing drone.”

───BOOOM!

An explosion and a burst of flames lit up the distance.

But the green indicator still showed Eugene’s vitals were stable. There was no need to worry; Eugene was far beyond needing concern. What mattered now was what Dice had to deal with.

‘…They’re here.’

About 50 meters ahead, an enemy was sneaking around to flank Eugene.

They shared their vision. Usually, this would be a hindrance in a combat situation, but Dice trusted that Eugene would figure it out. Besides, according to the map, the enemy had to circle around to get a proper sightline.

If Eugene could suppress the fire at the right moment, they’d force the enemy into cover.

Moving his reticle carefully, Dice whispered at the perfect timing.

“Now. Suppressing fire on the corridor.”

Drdrdrdrdr!

The bullets tore through the corridor.

The precisely timed lead pierced through the air, catching the flanking enemy just as they turned the corner, holding them in place. Even knowing they had a clear line of fire, the enemy couldn’t advance and hugged the wall, waiting for the suppressing fire to end.

It was exactly the moment Dice had hoped for.

With the enemy dead center in his reticle, Dice took a deep breath, steadied his aim, and lightly pulled the trigger. The heavy trigger clicked back under his finger’s pressure, and the firing pin struck the massive round’s primer.

───BOOM!

“Ghaaa!”

Direct hit.

The sheer physical force shook the barrier violently. Unable to fully absorb the impact, the enemy's upper body was knocked over.

In that instant, their fate was sealed. Judging by the avatar’s appearance, it seemed to be ChickenLateNightOneTrick. At least that’s what Dice remembered. But after pulling the trigger a few more times, watching them disintegrate, Dice decided not to dwell on it.

The speaker on the ceiling announced that one player had been eliminated, but Dice confirmed it again.

“No position exposed. There won’t be any more flankers.”

“Good. Let’s check the situation now.”

Forty seconds had passed since the match began.

It was a fantastic start.