NoveLight ™
"Uh, what? Yujin is live from the Korean representative team."
"Where? Soloing starts next week, right?"
"...She’s in the squad players' lounge?"
At this moment, one of the largest Tricky streaming rooms was buzzing.
Originally, it was a room where about tens of thousands of viewers were watching the broadcast. There was no interaction from streamers or anyone else, but the cam had at least been showing the lounge of the squad that would represent Korea in the Final Championship a few hours later.
Nothing particularly interesting was happening. Aside from trivial conversations among the players before the game started and some tactical discussions, the room wasn’t particularly lively, and therefore, the tens of thousands of viewers didn’t seem that significant compared to the grandeur of the Final Championship.
However, that was before a special guest suddenly appeared.
In an instant, the previously subdued atmosphere perked up. The moment six new people entered, the lounge, which had been overflowing, became bustling with energy, and those who were already acquainted exchanged greetings.
With six more individuals already waiting in the chat room, the rumors spread quickly. The audience of 120,000 swelled to more than double in less than five minutes.
However, across the chat, five minutes was more than enough time to share brief reunions before diving into serious discussions—
As expected, they began discussing strategies.
However, the feature that altered specific words and contexts through keyword input had been activated. It was intended to prevent any leaks regarding the Korean team's strategies, but in reality, there was no need to worry too much.
The discussions among Yujin and the Korean representative team revolved around tactics that would be difficult to counter even if they were known, rather than crucial strategies that shouldn’t be exposed.
And Yujin began to talk about the numerous tactical trial-and-error experiences and the traps that had emerged from them.
So many that it was hard to imagine.
[Install the flamethrower turret.]
[If installed alone, it can easily be neutralized by foam grenades. Please try to install one more regular turret if possible.]
Oh, I hadn’t thought of that, haha!
Turret 특) If hit by a foam grenade, it’s completely useless!
If a foam wall gets shot, it’ll have holes all over it, so I wasn’t using it, but it seems pretty useful for the flamethrower turret?
With the map being small, it’s perfect for blocking visibility, haha.
It seems trivial when you look at it like this, www.
What started simply gradually deepened.
However, these were aspects that would be useless even if exposed. The Korean team and foreign teams already knew this information, and even if they didn’t, it wouldn’t hold much significance.
Even in the same situation, there’s no telling what variables will come into play during an actual battle, so in terms of tactical aspects during real engagements, it wouldn’t matter much if they were informed.
For that reason, Yujin began discussing points that existing users hadn’t addressed much.
[The polyurethane wall emits hydrogen cyanide gas while burning, so if you don’t have a gas mask to block it, you need to be careful when using the flamethrower turret itself. If it’s a wooden building, you could easily burn to death...]
[The risks are considerable.]
[But it can have tremendous effects in certain positions.]
Wow, I didn’t think of that, haha!
Who thinks about such things, lol!
But it’s a fact, haha. Usually, you wouldn’t care about gas in a tunnel with openings on both sides, but in such a confined space, it could be disastrous.
Wood buildings特) If you don’t care, you’ll be burned to a crisp.
I can relate; I’ve had several close calls with fires, haha!
However, that was merely the starting point.
As the discussions gradually deepened, the reactions of the viewers changed in real-time.
Boom.
The hologram in front of her spat fire. Flames shot up ferociously from the third floor of a four-story building, engulfing the entire fourth floor in less than 30 seconds. Meanwhile, the squad on the fourth floor retreated in sequence using the elevator, catching the enemy off guard at the last moment.
However, that was just one method. Many other engagement methods surfaced. Pre-emptively predicting the enemy’s movement and attaching explosives to the walls they might be hiding behind, or bringing in various equipment to hide a door and drilling through another wall to ambush them from an unexpected location...
Countless tactics that could never be achieved through imagination alone. The moment it crossed the boundaries of psychological warfare and theory, something malicious emerged that surpassed the CQB tactics many users had used countless times.
But Yujin casually added on.
[...These are all very basic concepts. The enemy can also easily infer these areas.]
[Huh, why didn’t you come sooner?]
[Haha, I had places I needed to visit recently.]
Wait, is this person not a physical one-tool user? hahahahahahahaha
Pure malice... pure malice...
Damn, every tactic is terrifying, haha!
Brainpower is part of physical capability, but wow, this person is insane, hahahaha!
Oh, the soloing representatives next to us are looking grim, haha!
At that moment, a sudden silence fell.
At the same time, the camera’s focus widened, capturing the entire room. Yet even among that, it was clear that the expressions of some sitting next to Yujin were not particularly good.
Of course, it wasn’t hard to guess why.
[...So, next week we’ll have to deal with someone like this for an entire week?]
[Phew, I’m glad I’m not participating in the Final Championship. Right? I’ve believed that all along.]
[Oh, please keep your distance!]
As expected, Dice’s expression was the worst.
The most reliable ally becomes the most frightening enemy, especially considering that this person had actually tested every imaginable tactic as a special forces member — a fact that only Dice and Harmony knew.
However, even if they didn’t know, that didn’t exempt them. The expressions of Mikael, Ink, and Gambit were also far from pleasant.
But Harmony was an exception.
It was literally a situation where they clung to her.
Yujin, who had peeled herself away from that sticky situation, resumed speaking in her usual calm tone.
[...For reference, the strategies I’ve presented can also be used by the enemy. Especially in squad matches. As you know, losing one person in a 4-man team game doesn’t equate to a simple 25% loss of power. Right?]
[Right. The moment one person goes down, the tactical options will drastically decrease.]
[Therefore, you must choose options that destroy the opponent without aiming your guns at them. I’ve been emphasizing this since before coming to America, but achieving it is truly a difficult goal.]
Everyone already knew the answer.
But these tactical choices weren’t easy to carry out.
Yujin patted the shoulder of the squad representative and added.
The words she could offer were practically limited to that.
How could the squad members move more swiftly? How could they read the flow of battle instantly? She could give countless pieces of advice on that, but with the match just around the corner, the minimal feedback she could provide was all she could do at this point.
[I’m looking forward to today’s match. We should be able to receive feedback on the match results around 10 AM tomorrow.]
[Uh... Yes. Thank you as always. You’re already so busy as soon as you arrive.]
[Haha.]
She really is like a natural disaster, just sweeping through and disappearing, haha!
Just seeing Byamnoon makes my mind go blank...
Basically, isn’t this just taking the spirit of the Korean representative team with her? hahahahahahaha
She seems incredibly diligent, haha.
That girl is just the embodiment of my pace, wwwwwwwww.
Leaving only that brief laughter behind, Yujin vanished.
Was it merely a brief 30 minutes? But the tens of thousands of viewers in the lounge and that broadcasting room had already experienced a level of intensity that was incomparably more profound than before.
Only absurd reactions were left in its wake.
[Notification: Verifying access card...]
[Notification: Anthony Owens // Christopher Laurentina = Certified.]
"Sergeant Christopher! It’s been years! Are you on leave?"
"I came to see the junior. Is being a pro gamer still worthwhile, Swanson?"
"It’s lukewarm compared to when I was active, haha."
Her head swiveled.
The familiar voices of two individuals engaging in friendly conversation captured her attention, as the bear ears on Logan’s head perked up — one was Lorentina, her colleague and companion who visited the players’ lounge next to Madison Square Garden, and the other was Benji Swanson, one of the North American representatives for the Final Championship.
It was uniquely peculiar, but after going through several scrims, Logan had come to realize a few things — in summary, the relationships among the North American players, coaches, and others were quite intertwined.
"Do you know each other?"
"I’ve seen him a few times when I was in charge of the Blue Squadron’s training. I heard he came out due to some difficult family circumstances, but I didn’t expect to run into him here."
Swanson’s gaze flicked toward them. There was a hint of curiosity in his eyes, as if he were questioning whether Logan and Lorentina knew each other.
"Both of you were part of MWTR, right? Say hello. I thought you might have already met since you’re both North American representatives."
"Logan, you were part of MWTR? No way."
"I’ll be heading somewhere else next year, but anyway, nice to meet you. I didn’t expect you to be from DEVGRU."
"Haha, I can’t say that here."
Nodding, she turned her gaze in the opposite direction.
On the other side, Owens was warmly greeting several others — it seemed that anyone currently working as a pro gamer had to be a former SOF member, as they all appeared to have briefly crossed paths when they were part of the same unit.
Unfortunately, Logan had no prior acquaintance with these individuals. Unlike Lorentina, who was treated as a member of Delta Force and later a contract member, she herself had suddenly become a contract member of Delta Force and had previously been part of MWTR.
Though it remained unchanged that she already knew Yujin.
"Anyway, what brings you all here today? You must still be active, yet you came all the way to this freezing cold New York."
"I came to see my junior. She’s not in duo or squad matches, but she’s playing solo. Have you heard of Yujin?"
"Oh! Of course... But if you’re calling her a junior, then..."
In an instant, heads turned. It was the moment that resolved the small curiosity lingering in the minds of the North American representatives.
However, the logical reasoning of those gathered here was sharper than anyone else's, and as the new puzzle piece fit together with the existing memories, several new facts began to emerge.
As far as the North American representatives knew, Yujin was also an extraordinary physical talent. And at least Swanson had once interacted with Lorentina and was vaguely aware of her tremendous physical abilities and combat skills.
A naturally arising question. Yet it was also a certainty.
Having caught on to the general situation, they cautiously opened their mouths.
"Logan, everything you said was true."
"It might be more than that."
Logan smiled briefly, and everyone’s expressions stiffened.
While their faces were tense now, she could only imagine what expressions they would wear when they encountered Yujin head-on next week.
Lorentina chuckled.
"You all should brace yourselves. We can’t predict what methodology she might come up with."
It wouldn’t be long before the true meaning behind that laughter would be revealed.
Meanwhile,
"Everyone, take out your notebooks. Let’s get started."
Cheers and applause, an ear-splitting cheer.
Amid that, the five of them raised their pens.