NoveLight ™
[General] I was about to dig into some chicken pizza while watching the match, but ended up just watching it. Should I throw some upvotes at the guys?
<Picture of untouched food and beer>
“First, let me do it, hahahahaha!”
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[General] Hey, Jesus! Why hasn’t the meeting started yet?
<Image of gods gathered together>
Yujin hasn’t arrived yet.
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“First place! First place! First place! First place! First place!”
“Wow, Ghost Snake in the Final Championship too. I believed in you, Yujin!”
“If you want me to sign off as ‘burned to death’ in the next match, I can’t help that.”
“Ugh…”
The first match had ended.
As Logan crumbled into polygon dust and scattered, the flames engulfing him were extinguished, and the surroundings transformed into literal darkness—when I opened my eyes again, I found myself in Madison Square Garden, regaining consciousness on the personal bed made just for me.
So, when I stepped outside and headed to the Korean team’s lounge, numerous people were applauding me. After a round of applause that was painfully loud, I finally found a suitable seat.
Of course, the congratulatory remarks were just beginning. Among them were a few, like Ink, who made jokes without fear of aftereffects, but after playfully responding to their not-so-funny remarks, I habitually checked the current time.
Thirty minutes left.
The time until the next match was approaching.
“I don’t think I’m in a position to say this as someone participating in the Final Championship for the first time, but how did everyone feel? Did you achieve the results you wanted?”
“We definitely ranked higher than we imagined. After all, none of us are below 20th place.”
“That’s surely the result everyone hoped for.”
Before flying to New York, I had earnestly warned everyone, and there was a result they all aimed for—absolutely do not fall below 20th place. As I mentioned, this was the code of conduct and goal for this Final Championship.
The reason was simple. The top 20 consisted of users from Europe and America, and it was a tall mountain that had never been climbed before.
Although it’s true that, over time, the skills of various special forces from different countries have been rising and standardizing, the origin and mainstream were still centered around Europe and America—the gap was slight, but even so, there were still missing fragments to fill it.
And this applied directly to Apex Predator, meaning that until last year, only a very small number of Asian users could enter the top 20.
‘Last year.’
This year would be different.
Everyone knew this fact, and Dice and the other three players discussed it with bright expressions.
“Everyone had such shocked looks; it was only natural. It was the moment when the fortress built by Europe and America crumbled.”
“It was tough as we climbed higher, but even so, I could respond in a situation where last year, I would have been helpless…”
As she said.
The atmosphere heated up in an instant. It was inevitable. The excellent start was enough to slightly dull the rationality of the users gathered here. It was a revenge match that had been awaited for an entire year—this was the extent to which I could understand the limit.
Now, my role would begin.
“Then, let’s begin discussing what was lacking or what was regrettable from now on.”
“While our situational responses have improved, it’s still quite difficult to skillfully handle the opponent’s actions to ensure they can execute a specific behavior before entering full combat.”
“In terms of combat and tactics, we have the upper hand, but when it comes to the strategic view of the battle, it’s clear the enemy is superior. Oh, of course, I’m talking about users in the TOP 20.”
Conversations began to emerge one by one. It was an issue I had somewhat predicted, and it was also a weakness I had pointed out up until the day before the matches began.
The reason these words were coming out was obvious. The players from America and Europe were individuals who had spent their days simply eating, or even skipping meals, while studying strategies and tactics, which meant they were adept at troop deployment and inducing behaviors.
Unfortunately, it was impossible to fill such experiences in just a few months. It was clear that this was more of a type that was honed through numerous practical experiences, and that it couldn’t be improved through a battle royale that had no reason to exist in reality, like Apex Predator.
But it couldn’t be called a decisive issue.
Unless the enemy forcibly pushed our Korean representatives into a building packed with traps they had set up beforehand— and given the nature of battle royale, that would be hard to come by.
And there was something even more serious.
“…That being said, how on earth do we deal with Logan?”
The moment I turned my head, two pairs of blue eyes met.
The curiosity that arose the moment I stepped into the upper ranks of competitors faced against Logan was unavoidable. I suspected that not only Dice but also other opponents who had been crushed by Logan shared the same dilemma.
But even then, asking for a concrete answer was another matter. I had explicitly told Dice that if I faced Logan not at the point of competing in the upper ranks, it would be better for my mental health to just run away.
Realistically, it didn’t make sense to defeat someone like Logan, who was also a user and had been on the battlefield longer than I had—yet if we were to meet face to face, a solution had to be devised.
Even so, my mouth, which had been able to answer any question until now, found itself frozen in place.
“…”
As I hesitated, the silence morphed into unease. However, while I assembled and dismantled scenarios in my mind multiple times, there was no suitable solution.
Essentially, if I were to rephrase the question Dice was asking me, it would be this—what is the method to obtain victory against Logan? Of course, in the context, it could also be seen as asking how to escape or engage him adequately, but the subject of the question was none other than Dice.
In other words, it meant that someone who could be put in a position of having to face Logan directly might find themselves in such a situation.
“The most likely method, though it’s a bit of a stretch, is to invade when Logan is engaged in combat with someone else and take him out.”
“Is that the basic premise…?”
“Is it uncomfortable for you?”
“…”
“The desire for victory is a good attitude, but…”
I nearly voiced the fact that I was a user.
Thus, silence fell once more.
Carefully choosing my words, I added.
“…Everyone here must already know that I was once an operator in the US Department of Defense.”
“Wait, what did you say?”
“Even I can’t guarantee victory in front of that man. Those who saw the last battle know that I didn’t gain a clear upper hand in combat, did I?”
Everyone shook their heads.
An intense battle with not a single inch given. Whenever I took damage, so did Logan, and the reverse was true as well. The tactics used by both of us had been well known long before.
Words continued.
“To put it bluntly, most of your action principles will be read by Logan… so, try to anticipate that. Therefore, what you should focus on is not ‘how to kill that person’ but rather, ‘how to avoid what’s going to happen.’”
Not ‘what kind’ but rather ‘all kinds’ of methods would have to be employed.
And just as I spoke that, the atmosphere grew heavy, so after some thought, I added.
“Well, still, he is human. If we can just endure until the end, it’s possible Logan and I could be fighting each other first. So, give it your best shot.”
It might feel like some sort of teaming, but in the Final Championship, the avatars of players from different countries were randomly overlaid with the avatars of players who had already died, so it was impossible to distinguish between users from the same country. This was also similar to the format of the Asian qualifiers.
Of course, during the fight, you’d get a decent idea of who was who, but as long as it wasn’t teaming, it didn’t matter as long as one was allowed to observe the battles between others as much as they could—as the kill zones would naturally narrow anyway.
With the atmosphere slightly softened, we proceeded to start the feedback session.
The series of 14 matches to be held over 5 days.
Excluding the last two maps that wouldn’t be selected, all eight maps would go through a round, and tomorrow, NBV Desert Base could appear again.
Additionally, today’s maps were the desert base and the Atakaiya Volcano Island. I needed to finish the feedback on the desert base in at least 15 minutes, but preferably within 20, and begin the briefing on the volcano island.
It truly seemed like it would be a relentless day.
And—
—Kwahng!
“Cough!”
A knife pierced my abdomen.
An irrecoverable state of bleeding. Additionally, with all my limbs already in tatters, continuing the fight was impossible—amidst that, Logan, who was just slightly less injured than I was, staggered over.
Truly, yesterday's predictions were no mere coincidence.
“If I were to say that being able to fight in a situation where I couldn’t guarantee survival even if I were immediately transported….”
Raising my handgun, she smiled faintly.
“...was this what it meant?”
Even at the last moment, she remained completely alert.
At a distance of at least 10m, she aimed her weapon with perfect grip and focused on my forehead. Blood dripped from the gun and pooled on the ground.
As the trigger was pulled, a metallic sound echoed, and Logan added.
“Good work.”
Flames filled my vision.
The second match on Monday, and the last match, thus concluded.