NoveLight ™
"The heat is unreal. Even just standing still, it’s getting so warm..."
"With thousands of people, there’s no sound to escape outside, and it’s a tightly packed space."
Madison Square Garden, 7:30 PM.
The opening ceremony was over, the player introductions were complete, and the games had begun. Cheers and shouts erupted every ten seconds at the shortest, and every several dozen seconds or even a minute at the longest. The atmosphere started to heat up in earnest—and this energy was contagious to us as well.
The good news was that every seat here had a hologram projector, allowing us to choose the scenes and commentary we wanted to see. There were soundproof barriers present, but they weren't entirely absent.
Nonetheless, the sheer number of people created an undeniable burden. The fact that we were here, having fought through fierce competition akin to the Super Bowl, created a stage where those gathered at Madison Square Garden could let loose.
Anyway, excuses aside.
Since this was my first time watching a match as an audience member rather than a player, I was a bit mentally scattered, but I was trying my best to concentrate. If others didn’t make an effort to resist being swept up in this vibrant atmosphere, they would soon get carried away, so I was doing my utmost to stay focused.
"Whether the observing squad overlaps or not doesn’t matter. Ignore the unnecessary parts and pay close attention to how they use their skills. Save clips of impressive or awkward moments and make notes on how to improve or adapt."
"In essence, it’s real-time debriefing."
"Exactly."
That was all there was to it.
Before long, my gaze was fixed on the dozens of teams darting across the field. Among them, the Korean squad was under my jurisdiction. After all, my title included not only "Soloing" for the Korean representative but also "Special Coach for the Representative Team."
The first map was Aurora Power Plant. The four visible players entered the building with their guard fully up. The control building, which regulated much of the liquefied natural gas facilities, was the largest on the map.
The building wasn’t old, but it also wasn’t well-maintained. The Korean squad ventured inside without hesitation.
The reason for this was simple.
'...In the end, it’s about repetitive mastery.'
While the map was vast, there were only eight locations in total.
Though there were many buildings, they could ultimately be counted with limited numbers.
And human memory is often better than people assess it to be; based on the data I had investigated, I had ruthlessly trained the squad to gain combat experience in every building prior to their arrival on American soil.
Of course, this had been the case since before the Korean squad stepped foot on U.S. territory.
The premise was simple.
I grouped Dice, Ink, Mikael, and Gambit, excluding myself, into one team and had them constantly ambush the Korean squad representative team. The stage was set on random maps within random buildings. At first, it was merely individual skill without my orders; as the squad representative team started to adapt or falter, I would gradually issue commands.
It required a considerable amount of time, but the time acceleration feature in VR was truly revolutionary, and the squad representatives were pushed to their limits by me until they were utterly exhausted.
Thus, the basic foundation had been somewhat established.
At that moment, the announcer added every word with emphasis.
"Ah, at this very moment! Korea’s Talon is facing off against the UK’s Laser! A tremendous clash is anticipated!"
Talon was the call sign assigned to the Korean team for the first match, while Laser was the British side.
It seemed rather unfortunate to encounter such tough opponents right from the start, but in this world, nearly 99% of things tend to occur contrary to one’s desires. What mattered was how the Korean representatives managed this engagement.
And as expected, fierce combat began to unfold.
In the chat room next to the broadcast, countless comments began to scroll rapidly.
But this was the reaction from the Korean comments, while the automatically translated British comments were different.
As the comments poured in, both sides began expending ammunition at a similar pace.
The battleground was inside the building, particularly in a large materials storage area. Due to the containers and various materials, as well as the scaffolding meant for storage, it was a place known for serious, chaotic battles.
The stacked materials, columns reaching up to the ceiling, pipes, and containers; the lights that were half-destroyed and dangling from the ceiling. All of these hindered the smooth operation of drones and rendered the presence of turrets nearly meaningless.
I recalled something I had told the Korean squad representatives long ago.
And thus, the real battle began.
In an instant, a flash of light created a crackling effect that engulfed the storage area.
"Talon is activating the EMP first. From this moment, for the next five minutes, no skills can be activated in the storage area. Both sides are rebooting their systems and entering a situation where only basic combat support functions are available."
At that moment, two circles appeared on the mini-map. Of course, they would be invisible to the Korean and British teams engaged in real-time combat.
So, what this indicated was a limit line that maintained the combat support functions. It was regulated through the squad leader’s Icarus gear, and the approximate size was about a 15-meter radius. The moment they crossed this line, all UI and optical equipment would shut down. This meant that only basic functions could be retained.
With dozens of transparent cams shining on the storage area, the Korean squad began their actions in earnest.
A smile began to spread across my lips.
"Talon team is initiating a certain action. They’re moving remarkably swiftly… Ah, what are they doing? They’re dismantling the turrets and seem to be attempting something with the chemical canisters."
What on earth are they doing, many were reacting, but their actions were incredibly swift, as if they had practiced it many times before.
What they did was quite simple. They opened the chemical canisters and propped them up at an angle under the turret’s posture control device. After installing a trap on about five metal supports, they slyly covered it with junk lying around.
The trap’s structure was so simple that all operations were completed in less than 20 seconds, and the Talon squad quickly vacated the area.
And how many seconds had passed?
"Talon’s traps are now in the 15-meter radius of the Laser team. Currently, it’s impossible to use any remote detonation devices due to the EMP—how will they activate this…"
The moment they crossed the 15-meter radius.
Some parts of the turret’s posture control module that had been separated began to operate. This wasn’t a main function like shooting, automatic loading, or scanning.
Then, in that moment, the chemical substances tilted and poured purple liquid onto the steel column, and the supports began to melt away faster than ice placed on a heated metal plate.
A foreboding noise erupted.
The pillar in the section of the storage area in front of the Laser team crumbled completely.
"Back, back! What the hell is going on?!"
Boom!
With a tremendous roar that resembled an avalanche, everything in front of them came crashing down.
There were various methods to knock down supports, including delayed grenades, but the reason I had taught this method to the Korean squad was simple. It was silent, delicate, and allowed for the direction of the collapse to be controlled.
But the biggest reason and advantage was that—through the activation of this skill, the enemy’s position could be pinpointed with great accuracy.
───Toodoodoodoo!
"Talon team is launching a fierce assault! It seems as if they had been waiting for this chance to strike hard at the Laser team!"
Amidst the rising dust, the flashes of gunfire were visible. Instantly, both sides began to lose HP, but the initiative in the engagement had already been gained by the Korean squad team. The British side found themselves in a significantly disadvantageous position, having been completely caught off guard.
Moreover, the collapse of the storage area completely blocked the exit they had initially anticipated, creating a massive disadvantage for the British team.
As a result, within less than three minutes, the outcome was determined.
"Unbelievable! An unimaginable result occurs right from the first match! Korea’s Talon team defeats the European powerhouse, the Laser squad, head-on!"
And at that moment, the heads of those sitting next to me began to slowly turn toward me.
"...What’s up?"
Without having done anything, I was met with expressions that seemed to say, 'Is it you again, Yujin?'
My image had already been quite damaged.
"Wowwwwww! This is insane! Awesome!"
"Wow, what just happened? Oh my goodness…."
5:30 AM.
The time difference between Korea and New York was 14 hours, and the real-time clock in New York read 7:30 PM—but on Tricky, numerous viewers were staying up late, or they might have already slept all day, watching the broadcast at a time when the sun hadn’t yet risen.
In the midst of that cheering, it erupted as if they had scored a goal in the World Cup, causing quite a commotion during the deep night when people should be asleep.
It could be said to be the first event in Korean history, and it became even more substantial due to the results stemming from an unimaginably simple tactical trap. The e-sports journalists who heard about this situation would likely trumpet this engagement like a herald as soon as they confirmed the match situation.
Or they might start writing articles from this moment on.
But how much time had passed?
Gradually, the cheers began to subside, replaced by a sense of calmness, from which several conclusions emerged.
"...Could it be this?"
"What do you mean, ‘could it be’? The play style has completely changed from last year. And they’re not even using such a novel strategy. Who would think to dismantle skills to create a trap?"
"That’s true."
A singularity.
Even if Yujin merely brushed past, common sense was twisted, and all the established curricula crumbled. The problem was that, regardless of the intermediate processes, it produced far better results than before.
But aside from that, there was another hidden essence.
And the soloing pro gamers sitting next to Yujin were vaguely beginning to grasp it.
Dice, who had been staring intently at the screen, finally spoke up.
"...This is what Yujin was talking about. Those who have grown accustomed to the existing paradigm are weak against variables created by skills..."
"The opposite is also true. They won’t be accustomed to generating variables themselves using their skills."
As I had explained at some point, the reason for this was simple.
In this world, there were no skills. Therefore, former special forces members and current pro gamers from North America or Europe would find it difficult to adapt to this gap, and they would continue to struggle.
After all, the manuals they had spent at least several years, or at most over a decade learning contained no information about skills that could change the paradigm of combat.
"Of course, that doesn’t guarantee an absolute advantage over the enemies. Rather, it’s the opposite. The Korean squad has only just reached an equal footing with the enemies."
Due to the uniqueness of the situation.
Due to the particularity of the battlefield.
Due to the various obstacles presented by the multitude of destructible elements.
The Talon team achieved their goal not just due to their many preparations but also because they exploited the vulnerabilities of the enemy stemming from the peculiarities of the battlefield.
In the meantime, the match had progressed past the mid-point and was nearing the final stages.
During that time, the Korean team had experienced multiple engagements, resulting in their numbers dropping by half, while the other squads faced a similar fate.
Yujin cautiously opened her mouth.
"There are still two matches left today. The ability the allied team needs to cultivate on this first day will likely be the insight to precisely differentiate between luck and skill."
Regrettably, that was a problem that could not be resolved by Yujin’s words.
So, she could only stare at the screen with cold eyes.
The Final Championship was just beginning.