"The dynamics of this match are drastically different from the previous ones. Particularly, the competition between Russia and Japan is incredibly intense. What are your thoughts on this?"

"It seems Russia’s overall strategy has shifted compared to earlier matches. After the survival looting phase, their immediate focus on securing optimal positions has proven highly effective. For those facing them, it’s clear that there’s little they can do to counter this strategy, which must feel extremely burdensome."

At the Yongsan esports arena, where the fifth match of the Asian qualifiers was in full swing, numerous LED screens displayed rapidly shifting flags. Russia was climbing up the ranks while Japan was sliding down. Fortunately, South Korea maintained its consistent hold on first place.

In the third kill zone, 67 players remained. As expected in the Asian qualifiers, the "play-it-safe" strategy dominated. While each player’s movements appeared random, in the end, they all converged toward a single point.

All the users scattered across the map were being funneled into the final kill zone, passing by or being forced through major terrain features. In other words, players' paths were beginning to overlap.

"And now, we’re seeing another firefight. Zvezda from Russia is unleashing pinpoint shots through a turret mounted on a window, targeting enemies trying to exit the canyon. He hasn’t even started shooting personally, but the area is already under an airtight lockdown."

"The player caught in the crossfire is Clarity from the Japanese Republic. He looks pretty flustered, but that’s not all—another player is approaching from behind. Michael from South Korea is closing in. A quick decision will be critical here."

The exact situation Russia had planned was unfolding in real time.

The only difference? Japan, under Russia’s hammer, was about to be crushed by the anvil known as South Korea, approaching from behind.

Each player’s unique avatar design made it easy for others to immediately recognize who they were up against. In other words, Clarity knew who was creeping up on him from behind.

"Oh! Clarity makes a break for it! He uses suppressive fire to partially block the turret’s attacks and rushes toward the building Zvezda was waiting in—no, he doesn’t enter! He quickly ducks inside the site instead!"

"Russia is executing a very refined strategy. Once they’ve secured a position, whether the opponent tries to avoid or charge them, they can inflict significant damage or apply immense pressure. This shows how crucial timing is, even with seemingly simple tactics. Japan has been caught off guard several times in this match."

"But now the main event remains. The key question is how Michael will navigate this situation."

Simultaneously, a screen showcasing Michael’s gameplay unfolded before millions of South Korean viewers. His avatar was surprisingly small and resembled a brown sugar glider, yet it carried a massive folding shield. The tiny figure pushed forward relentlessly through the NBV desert base’s signature sandstorm, the towering buildings visible through the bulletproof glass.

As he approached, a long, fiery whip lashed out from the window of a half-collapsed building, striking the ground with violent force—Michael included. The high RPM of the machine gun made the barrage look like an unbroken beam of light.

As the commentators had noted, whether a player dodged or not, encountering this kind of situation inflicted immense damage or stress. Even Michael couldn’t fully avoid it.

"The two players have entered combat. The shield’s cooldown is quite long. If the shield is excessively damaged here, it could prove a severe disadvantage in the upper-tier battles later on."

"Just as I’m saying that, Michael quickly hides behind a rock. But with Zvezda now ready, it’s hard to say he’s safe. If given even a little more time, the turret in the window could be converted into a grenade launcher."

"Haha, it seems like Zvezda was listening to us! The modification is already underway. Can Michael overcome this predicament?"

The screen zoomed in, shifted, and split, showing multiple camera angles at once. It was hard to focus on any one of them, given the overwhelming variety. Among them, Michael was shown calmly working on something, as though he had already figured out the solution.

Peeking from behind the rock a few times, he baited the turret’s automatic response. As the turret whirred and fired a few rounds, Zvezda, who had been adjusting it, assumed Michael was about to make his move and rushed to a more advantageous position.

Zvezda didn’t know it was all part of Michael’s plan.

‘So far, so good.’

What Michael was doing was modifying a sticky bomb.

The structure of the bomb wasn’t overly complicated: a thermite-and-C4 blend for the main charge, magnesium, and an ignition fuse. Michael was separating the explosive component. He was executing one of the many "bunker-busting methods" Eugene had taught him.

He analyzed the situation in his head. He didn’t have any flashbangs. Even if he did, throwing one would be pointless—the building’s window was nearly 100 meters away, too far to breach the turret’s line of sight. If the grenade launcher was fully activated, it would be impossible to breach the fort.

So, he had to exploit the window of opportunity before it was complete.

Eugene’s voice echoed in his mind.

-…In situations like this, the operator will most likely suppress the moving target with heavy fire. If you stay behind cover, the turret’s grenade rounds will get you. This method is your best option in such cases.

The adjustments were complete.

All that remained in the sticky bomb was magnesium, the primary material for a flashbang. When ignited, it would create an impossibly bright flash. And when fired from a sticky bomb launcher… it essentially became a long-range flashbang.

Furthermore, the distance was around 120 meters. Standard sticky bombs, due to their weight, lost accuracy and speed after 100 meters. He compensated for this by lightening the load.

Had the distance been shorter, he could’ve simply launched the sticky bomb without any modifications…

Eugene, you crazy bastard. How do you even come up with these ridiculous ideas? The thought briefly crossed Michael’s mind, but there was nothing more useful at this moment.

Thus, the plan was simple.

First, he would hide behind the rock for a long time, forcing the opponent to convert the standard turret into a grenade launcher that could bypass cover. Second, he would modify the sticky bomb into a flashbang and launch it at the enemy in the building. Since the turret had been modified, there was a far lower chance the bomb would be intercepted.

The enemy’s attacks were split between area fire from the grenade launcher and direct fire from the player’s machine gun. The flashbang would block the more dangerous latter, allowing Michael to dodge the turret’s indirect fire.

Of course, the key element was bluffing.

As the sand crunched beneath his feet, Michael gave the impression that he was about to leave cover.

───Ratatatatat!

"Ugh!"

Bullets rained down the moment he poked his head out.

The pressure behind the shield was immense, indicating that the opponent was using a high-caliber machine gun. The turret modification was likely complete. If Michael delayed any longer, the risk would increase.

But—

‘The position is locked in.’

Thanks to his years of experience with shields, Michael didn’t close his eyes, even as bullets sparked and ricocheted off in front of him. The brief moment he’d stepped out to look, he had already memorized the location of the muzzle flashes.

The battle would be decided in the next instant.

He emerged again, aligning the sticky bomb’s unique dot sight with his target. Over 100 meters away, on the balcony of the dilapidated base, the enemy player peeked out with their gun and head exposed.

The dot sight automatically calculated the bullet’s speed and trajectory. As soon as the green dot turned red over the enemy’s head, Michael pulled the trigger.

───Boom!

Barely a second passed.

A blinding flash lit up the distance.

The casters' voices rose in urgency.

"Oh! Michael! He has somehow neutralized Zvezda’s vision with an unknown technique! He’s now sprinting straight toward the abandoned building! I can’t even guess what kind of magic he pulled off!"

"The grenade launcher’s vision-tracking system has been disabled. Zvezda’s sight has been neutralized. With their accuracy drastically reduced, Michael is sprinting out of the danger zone without taking any damage. Impressive instincts!"

He ran.

With his shield tightly secured in his arms, explosions erupted around him, scattering debris and fire, but he pressed forward unwaveringly. After about 10 seconds, the flash dissipated, and Zvezda reappeared, only to find that Michael had already crossed nearly 50 meters.

It seemed far, but Michael’s destination was the base. Far from being an open field, it was filled with cover, and he managed to reach his target with only minimal damage.

With a bang, Michael stormed the building where Zvezda was stationed, shield at the ready.

The experience drilled into him by Eugene began working like a machine.

Unlike Clarity, he had no reason to flee.

After a fierce struggle, Michael finally defeated Zvezda head-on.

"South Korea’s Michael has defeated Zvezda in a direct confrontation after an intense fight! The number of remaining players has dropped below 50!"

The player who had been tormented by Eugene and Dice was now spreading his wings.

As a result, South Koreans were getting swept up in a wave of national pride, completely intoxicated by the overwhelming performance.

[General] But did today’s match even happen? It was so bright, I couldn’t see a thing.

<Screenshot of the broadcast with the screen completely white>

Watching the national team makes the screen so bright you can’t even see the results!

[All comments][By order]

• For real, lololololol

• JU!!!!!!!!!!!!!MO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ㄴ I only read the text, but it’s already so loud lololol ㄴ With that volume, all the dishes and cups would be broken lol ㄴ I was dying of laughter as soon as I saw it, this is insane, how excited must they be?

• No breaks, just constantly beating the crap out of everyone, lol. ㄴ The expressions on Russia, Japan, and China are priceless.

• This is insane, the atmosphere right now is wild, I can’t handle it.

• ?? : From now on, let’s call ‘light’ Eugene.

• Eugene is nuts, how has she never lost first place except when she kamikazed with Case? ㄴ Not human lol. ㄴ She’s the god of AP!!!!!

• I’m at Yongsan right now and the reaction of the tens of thousands of people here is hilarious, lol. ㄴ How’s it looking? ㄴ Everyone’s drunk on national pride and about to lose it. ㄴ Lololololololol.

South Korea was descending into a frenzy.

The Dark Zone forums and gaming communities were practically bursting at the seams. South Korean esports news sites were churning out articles by the minute.

Eugene, Dark Zone, AP, Asian qualifiers, Dice—the one player whose gender, and even identity, was largely unknown until recently had completely revolutionized the Korean gaming scene, which, of course, had only been around for three years.

Now, with the national team forcibly rebuilt under Eugene, they were crushing through the Asian qualifiers.

With every win, every victory, and every conquest, what was once a distant dream had become a reality. Naturally, all eyes were on the storm’s epicenter.

"We have to get this up now! Make sure the fact-checking is tight! If we post a wrong article and the backlash hits, the company could collapse!"

South Korean players were knocking every obstacle out of their way with pure skill.

Even if the players themselves didn’t think much of it, the audience was in a frenzy. Articles poured out about Eugene and Dark Zone, and everywhere, people were talking about AP. With eyes on Yongsan and heads turned to the action, South Korea had wrapped up another thrilling day, having completed the fifth match successfully.