NoveLight ™
[72:00:00]
[71:59:59]
[71:59:58]
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─── Beep beep!
"…Wow, what time is it?"
"Are you awake? It’s time for dinner."
"Ugh."
It was seven o’clock, but in the afternoon, not the morning.
When Dice, who had fallen into a deep sleep like the dead on the bed, finally woke up, he saw complete darkness outside the window and thick snowflakes softly falling. His head felt foggy, and his mind was dizzy. It took a long time for his rationality, which was struggling to distinguish between reality and virtuality, to become clear.
Hell Week. A nonstop training session from Thursday afternoon 12 PM to Friday afternoon 12 PM without a break. Of course, this was based on real-world time, and the location of the curriculum was in virtual reality—therefore, everyone except Harmony had to engage in countless battles without sleeping for three days straight.
The result was just that.
Implemented under Yujin's successful command, Hell Week had drained the physical and mental states of all participants to the point of collapse, and as soon as it hit Friday at 12 PM, those released barely had a snack before crashing into a deep sleep.
And now, we return to the present.
"Cold water? Or warm cocoa? Either way, it will wake you up."
"…Please give me cold water first."
The feeling of the cold plastic bottle touching my fingertips was foreign. The half of the 500ml bottle poured into Dice's throat, and only then did his dry breath become somewhat moist.
Seeing that, Yujin added quietly.
"You must still be tired, so if you eat dinner and sleep again, you should be able to return to a normal biological rhythm by tomorrow."
"…I really thought I was going to die."
"This is a passage that more than half of the users participating in this Final Championship have already gone through."
Yujin stated this without any ups and downs, and Dice nodded in agreement. It was true. Most foreign professional gamers had at least some experience in the military, which meant they must have gone through this kind of extreme training.
Of course, the process that the participants experienced was completely different from the Hell Week usually encountered in special forces or selection weeks, but the nature of it was ultimately similar.
They tested whether the players or special forces could maintain rational and correct judgment even when pushed to extreme situations and whether they could navigate through such circumstances.
In other words, this suggested many things.
"Yujin, you have no intention of letting us go."
"I’ve said it countless times, but I’m not the kind of heartless person who would abandon students who still have a long way to go."
As she said.
Yujin had no intention of stopping the curriculum until she functioned fully as an operator.
Instead of the previously used method of alternating sufficient rest with intensive and condensed instruction to efficiently inject data into the students, she was placing them in extreme situations and observing their responses. This was quite a gamble for Yujin as well.
Nevertheless, the reason for implementing such a curriculum was simple. Although she didn’t know when, Yujin planned to step down from that position someday, and those participating in this curriculum had to fill that role.
But instead of dwelling on that fact repeatedly, Dice chuckled softly and added,
"Anyway, you’ll keep being active as a streamer."
"By then, I probably won’t teach with this much responsibility anymore."
"With a career built up to this point, won’t everyone come begging to you with cash-filled envelopes?"
"…Now that you mention it, that might be true."
Then Dice realized he had scored a point against Yujin.
It was indeed an absurd reason.
In any case, although his mind felt heavy, it wasn’t overwhelmingly so.
Even if Yujin were to completely quit her coaching job in the future, she wouldn’t completely disengage from the Dark Zone, and she had already established a personal friendship to the point of having slept at the home of the subject several times. In other words, her quitting wasn’t something to worry about too much.
The only problem was that if this Final Championship ended successfully, Yujin would likely begin to step away from Apex Predator—adapting the continuously emerging newcomers to the significantly raised skill standards would become the most troublesome task.
But before finishing such random thoughts, his body suddenly stirred.
Yujin had wrapped her tail around Se-Yeon and lifted her.
"Eh, eh, eh! What are you doing?!"
"Go wash up. Should I take you to the bathroom?"
"…I’ll walk myself."
The sensation of walking in slippers felt unfamiliar. Just recently, she had been sprinting on the map in combat boots, making it all the more so.
Perhaps due to lying down for a long time, a sudden change in blood flow made his head dizzy. As his consciousness gradually returned, the hunger that arose was a bonus—but Yujin seemed to have anticipated it and added.
"Room service is expected to arrive within an hour. Take your time washing up. I’m paying for everything myself, so don’t worry about the price."
"Wow."
Although this training had been intense, the thought of room service for dinner in the already expensive New York market, along with tips, exchange rates, and taxes, was astonishing. The food list for room service that Dice had seen not long ago naturally crossed his mind.
The only memory was that they all boasted terrifying prices in the three-digit dollar range.
However, in her nonchalant tone, Yujin added,
"I’ve ordered for the room next door too, so you don’t have to worry too much."
"The next room is where Mikael is…?"
"Everyone who participated in this Hell Week training."
Well, that made sense.
Dice finally let out a comment he had been holding back.
"I think Yujin is a really strange person."
"Huh?"
"A bit rich but with unique tastes… a quirky millionaire?"
"Ugh."
Yujin.
She had received two serious blows from Dice and ultimately sank. It was not exactly an incorrect statement.
But unfortunately for her, Se-Yeon, the professional gamer, had already surpassed the culprit’s intuition. By the time she had recovered from the aftermath, Dice had already made his way into the bathroom.
As the sound of water running from the shower echoed, silence followed.
How long had it been?
The door opened, and Dice emerged from the cloud of steam.
"By the way, where’s Minah?"
"She went to a group meeting with the Dark Zone partner streamers. I think we’ll meet at Madison Square Garden tomorrow…."
"Ah."
Now that he thought about it, there was that.
The excessive fatigue and packed schedule sometimes made one forget the passage of time and the schedules they originally had to follow. But with the keyword given, the forgotten memory resurfaced.
Starting next week, the Final Championship—solo matches were scheduled, and this Saturday and Sunday, which would fall on Christmas Eve and Christmas, required all participants to attend an orientation of sorts.
In other words, it was tomorrow.
"I’m sure I’ve been to New York more than a few times, but how did I forget all of this?"
"What were you supposed to wear? They say just wearing something neat will suffice, but I don’t really have a feel for it."
"Even if you just wear a semi-formal outfit like last time, everyone will go crazy."
Then came the following remark.
"Sometimes, it seems like Yujin is a complete zombie when it comes to anything unrelated to combat."
"…It’s even sadder because that’s not an incorrect statement."
"Right?"
Saying this, Dice threw a glance across at Yujin.
Her expression was blank, but her tail slowly settled. After months of observing Yujin, Dice could somewhat guess her feelings, which were not easily revealed outwardly.
Of course, there was no need to explain. The tail reflected the feelings of the person to some degree, and Dice knew that the height of Yujin’s tail, which had been swaying behind her, had slightly lowered, indicating that she had become a little bit depressed.
What could he say? It was always like this; she was indeed an entertaining person to observe. Dice thought that and smiled softly.
"Yujin, can’t you just not retire?"
"Stop saying strange things."
"Hehe."
With a small tease, the night deepened.
Christmas Eve was approaching.
"I didn’t expect to be this tired."
The next day at 9 AM.
Yujin's first task was to carry Dice to the team vehicle in the underground parking lot.
The effects of Hell Week were brutal.
"Everyone seems pretty tired."
"Of course. Even if it’s in virtual reality, running for about three days without sleep will lead to significant mental fatigue. Just leave them to sleep for now. They’ll wake up within an hour."
"Understood. But Coach, you don’t seem that tired considering you’ve gone through the same schedule."
"Well, my stamina is limitless."
Rustle.
After writing on an A4 sheet that she had someone to meet, Yujin carefully placed the paper on Dice’s still-sleeping lap and gently closed the door.
The orientation itself was scheduled to start around 4 PM, but according to the preliminary explanation, it was recommended to arrive early to familiarize oneself with the various facilities, which Dice had told me yesterday.
That’s why she had set out to Madison Square Garden around 9:30 AM.
In fact, she had come by car.
"If anything comes up, I’ll contact you."
"Yes. I hope you have a good time."
Though it had been a while, the feeling of wearing a semi-formal suit that she hadn’t worn in almost a week still felt a bit unfamiliar. It was because she hadn’t had many opportunities to wear such formal attire.
The temperature in the underground parking lot was cool but not cold. The path leading to the elevator was clearly identifiable. There were eight elevators in total, but they seemed to be endlessly in motion, given the number of users.
Without hesitation, she opened the side door and entered. After walking along the staff-only back path for a while, she came across one elevator that no one was using.
As she placed her key card against the wall, a green light illuminated above the elevator.
With a clear sound, the door opened. The elevator had no buttons and ascended silently. After rising several dozen floors, it finally stopped, and the door opened again, revealing a stark white corridor.
But as she pushed open a couple of doors that required a push to open—
"Wow."
The modernly designed corridor revealed itself.
At the end, an artificial structure described light crossing, twisting, scattering, and reassembling through LED lights, curves, mirrors, and various other elements. As she walked closer, several holograms floated in mid-air.
All those screens pointed at her. Perhaps they had stealthily integrated a biometric recognition device into the modern art structure.
How many seconds had passed?
At the same time, a delta symbol rose from the floor. It indicated where she needed to go.
Although there was still plenty of time until the deadline, this seemed to suggest that she would be waiting here until then. Thinking this, she began to walk toward her destination, roughly a hundred meters away.
After rounding a few corners and passing through a gate that blocked those who had not been pre-verified, she headed toward the lounge accessible only to authorized personnel.
The delta symbol stopped in front of a door.
After taking a small breath, she knocked lightly and opened the door.
"Case?"
A person with messy hair tied back into a small ponytail stood against the backdrop of snowing New York.
As soon as he heard my voice, his head turned, and the ponytail vanished, revealing a sharp-looking individual who met my gaze. While he had a sharper impression than a special forces member, the gaze felt firm. If he were an ordinary person, they might feel overwhelmed.
However, that didn’t apply to me. Even if I frowned slightly, that gaze could simply be colored over with my presence.
Only then did he smile slightly and add,
"It’s my first time meeting you in person. I apologize for the intrusion. I’m Case, part of the Japanese national team."
"I’m Yujin, a player from the Korean national team. Nice to meet you."
He gestured simply to guide me to a seat, and as soon as I sat down, he cautiously took a seat across from me.
As a silent serving machine approached, placing two steaming cups of green tea and simple snacks on the table before disappearing, he opened his mouth first.
"I’m sorry to say, but I’d like to know the reason you wanted to meet me."
"Of course, I’ll tell you."
As the distinct bitter aroma of green tea filled the room, he took a sip and carefully swallowed it.
I didn’t mind the silence.
However, the moment that silence ended, he dropped a bomb.
"I wanted to meet you out of curiosity, knowing you’re guaranteed to win or come in second this year."
What could I say?
At that moment, I was truly grateful that I wasn’t holding a teacup.