With the end of the Final Championship, the year’s conclusion approaches.

However, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that among all the players gathered at Madison Square Garden, very few could genuinely rejoice in that fact. It was perhaps inevitable—those who could express pure happiness were limited to the Korean team, while the majority had no choice but to feel anxious.

And no one was unaware of the reason.

“Instead of properly executing the plan, you’re just thinking of copying what the Korean team is doing? Are you out of your mind?”

“Whether it’s the players or the coaches, both have completely ruined their careers. What are we going to do now?”

Thursday’s match was a complete disaster, concluding in record time. It was a shocking embarrassment for the viewers cheering for their home country, leaving them in disbelief at the utter failure.

But aside from those spectators, there was already a pervasive atmosphere at Madison Square Garden.

The Korean representative team, including Yujin, had extended a poisoned chalice to everyone. Or perhaps they had forced others to swallow it. Either way, Korea had the power to pry open their opponent's mouths and pour the contents of the chalice, named skills, into them, and it had indeed happened.

And the nation that swallowed it the hardest was none other than Japan.

“Please reconsider. The current roster cannot handle this curriculum. Moreover, changing the course of action mid-game is highly likely to lead to a complete decline in overall performance.”

“So you couldn’t even respond properly to the Korean team and got swept away? If you had just trusted and followed the coaches’ words earlier, we wouldn’t have ended up in this foolish mess! Just do as you're told, for crying out loud…!”

Clang!

As the clear high-pitched sound rang out, shards of shattered glass scattered across the floor. Casey calmly observed the situation without showing any particular concern. Although insults were hurled at him far worse than just moments ago, when summarized, the content amounted to nothing more than nonsense.

Not just the Japanese representatives, but almost everyone was swept away equally. This was because the Korean team had honed their blades sharper than anywhere else; it wasn’t that Japan couldn’t compete—they had merely managed to reach this point despite their outdated skills and ideologies, which was nothing short of a miracle.

And all of this would remain as evidence.

When those who had endured the nonsense finally emerged outside, their expressions were not so bad.

“There are already so many pieces of evidence piling up, and now they’re just adding more one by one. They must be quite anxious.”

“They’re in a position where their careers are on the line, so it’s no wonder they’re losing their sense of judgment.”

The public opinion in the archipelago was already ablaze.

And their ultimate goal was to hurl the collected evidence at various media outlets before the higher-ups could start spouting nonsense and completely incinerate the pile of firewood that was the Japanese representative team, which had been built on incorrect methods all this time.

This bold action emerged from the soaring evaluations of former soldiers since the appearance of the Dark Zone; in simpler terms, even if they were playing with fire, the current Japanese representative team, including Casey, had many places to go.

Moreover, they hadn’t exposed the core strategies of the Japanese team; they were, quite literally, whistleblowers.

There was no particular reason for them not to be welcomed.

“I suppose I should send Yujin a New Year’s gift.”

While they had done their best to beat Japan as much as possible, it had only been a vague situation until the match began, but as she wielded her skills and moved across the map, all worries were resolved.

Especially the seemingly simple operational methods. But the tricks contained within them were close to impossible to master with just a day or two of practice; it was a kind of miraculous magic.

The moment that vast gap struck at the back of the neck of the Japanese Coaches’ Association, which had been the embodiment of corruption, the reaction was indeed immediate.

Of course, this didn’t mean that the Japanese representative team had completely let go of the Final Championship. They had been the top in Asia last year, after all. One could even imagine the effort put in to only drop to around 20th place after drinking such a potent poison.

In any case, to summarize Thursday in one word: it was a display of polarization.

Those who couldn’t climb the ranks at all or couldn’t break away from mid-tier positions fell dramatically, while those users who had not been swept away by the wave of skills suddenly gained benefits far beyond their rank.

Furthermore, one diluted public opinion pointed directly to Yujin's physical issues. To summarize that sentiment simply, it questioned whether individuals like Yujin or Logan should even be participating in the game. However, those voices quickly fizzled out as the parties involved executed skill-centric gameplay.

It was not a formally accepted term, but the so-called “brain skill” was the only way to explain Yujin's gameplay.

Thus, on December 30th.

The last day of the Final Championship begins.

And observing the situation, one person opened their mouth in disbelief.

“How many play styles does Yujin have?”

“Should I take that to mean you want to see them today?”

“Please spare me…”

To which Yujin merely smiled slightly.

Play styles. Yujin was simulating a thought she had never truly considered. To be precise, the gameplay she had demonstrated in the Final Championship didn’t come from the category of ‘specialization.’

It was a somewhat embarrassing thought for her to have, but simply put, it meant that all the skill plays she had shown were not her full power.

In the first place, true power was only exerted in life-or-death situations.

Anyway, they were the Korean representative team, and to put it differently, they were among the few who remained unscathed in the whirlwind that swept through the Final Championship.

As long as there were no humiliating defeats in the remaining three matches on Friday, none of the players would drop below 15th place. Dice could aim for as high as 3rd place if they performed well today.

The final night of the Final Championship was approaching.

All the cliché admonitions to do well until the end and not to let their guard down had already been addressed before arriving at the venue.

Thus, instead of adding any stale words, Yujin spoke again.

“What are you planning to wear to the party tomorrow on December 31st?”

“Oh right. Yujin, you’ll wear that semi-formal outfit you received as a gift last time, right? I already know.”

“Isn’t it a bit awkward to wear the outfit gifted by the one hosting the year-end party?”

“...That’s true, but you can’t wear anything that doesn’t have a hole in the back.”

In truth, it was more like a large zipper on the back of the jeans rather than an actual hole, but Dice chimed in as if recalling it.

“Now that I think about it, your way of dressing is really unique.”

“I can’t help it.”

“Still, a snake tail should be worth it, right?”

“...Don’t say strange things.”

“Is that so? I suppose the words of someone who actually wears it would be more accurate, huh?”

She, who had subtly sunk into the chair, added while gazing out the window.

“Around this time last year, with the New Year just a few days away, I felt quite strange… my rank was ambiguous, and the results were a bit shabby for coming all the way to New York. But this year…”

“…”

“I was actually going to say this after all the matches, but…”

Dice smiled softly as he spoke.

“Thanks to you, I could come this far. Thank you, Yujin.”

Of course, Yujin had something to say to him too.

“It’s thanks to you for following along. You’ve worked hard all this time.”

At the same time, the two of them carefully lay down on the bed.

They activated the choker around their necks and entered the virtual space, ready to conclude the 3rd Final Championship.

───Whoooosh!

“Is this the map…?”

Formerly known as Laura, now named Logan.

And the first map of Friday was none other than the Aurora Power Plant. If it weren’t for the fact that Aurora was the power plant built in the Arctic Sea, where the blizzard howled violently, there wouldn’t have been a single aspect of this map that he liked.

Unlike other common maps, the Aurora Power Plant didn’t determine the landing point in mid-air but rather decided the quadrant of the spawn point, allowing characters to appear randomly within it. Therefore, when he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a warehouse where the blizzard was seeping in.

The warehouse wasn’t particularly large. The location of the warehouse and the geography of the surrounding area quickly came to his mind, automatically considering the possibility of someone attacking within five minutes.

The possibility was not very high.

“So, what should I do from here…?”

It wouldn’t be easy to say he appeared very motivated. However, it was understandable. Today was the last day of the Final Championship.

It was one thing to face the youngest in a life-and-death struggle for a day or two, but facing similar situations around nine times over four days could indeed become a bit tiresome. It wasn’t that it was impossible, but it was quite a bit.

Nonetheless, regardless of that, his body moved automatically. Opening a common box revealed an abundance of items. But as he simply watched it, he had to contemplate how to engage in combat in this match.

‘…Should I carry at least one skill?’

It was a choice he wouldn’t typically make.

Having grown so accustomed to the skills due to the Task Force Dagger activities, he had casually wandered around, securing 1st or 2nd place several times, but still.

He was quite concerned about allowing Dice a kill in the recent high-value research facility.

“Although it was a match, and I borrowed the power of the Governant…”

A special forces operative would reduce such 'although' to the very limits, created anew to respond to any situation.

In that regard, Dice’s victory was rather a fortunate turn of events.

There was no longer any reason to hold back in obliterating the enemy.

He quickly donned his gear and decided on a destination. Unless he encountered the enemy by sheer bad luck at the start, there was little chance of meeting them until the direction of the kill zone was confirmed.

And as it turned out, five minutes after the first match on Friday began, approximately 15 eliminations occurred, and not a single person had fallen for another three minutes.

However, that would soon become a thing of the past as the skill activation zone made its grand appearance.

───Tudududu!

───Aaaah!

It was chaos.

Although he was a bit late, he didn’t care much. Unless skills were generating at his feet, regardless of whether he was a little late or early, the area would have turned into a battlefield.

Moreover, the number of people eyeing skills had surged dramatically since Thursday, so there was no need to dash toward the destination like a dog with its tail on fire just because the activation zone appeared.

And as expected, bullets were already flying around him.

“…”

200 meters from the skill activation zone.

The area was intertwined with warehouses and buildings, favoring defenders significantly over attackers. But with the presence of heart beat sensors, breaking through wouldn’t be much of a problem.

In any case, what mattered was the sure incapacitation of the enemy.

Passed on through Logan to Yujin, and from Yujin to the Korean representative team, the CQB in the large city, the most important thing among them was—not the skills or marksmanship, but grenades.

And in this area, there were many corpses that had died while carrying grenades.

In one hand, he held an MP7A2, and slung an MK47 on his back, while Logan continuously scanned the surroundings and checked the terrain. The heart beat sensor on his wrist blinked repeatedly, providing a rough estimate of the enemy’s location.

The distance was about 30 meters ahead, on the control room above the large logistics center. He climbed the stairs, prepared to shoot at any moment with one hand, and cautiously opened the closed door—

‘…A doorknob trap?’

The weight and resistance he felt with his hand were unusual. To think simply, it was likely something tied up like a string.

He had no idea where he’d seen something like that, but he could’ve used a somewhat more sophisticated method. Numerous thoughts passed through his mind, but ultimately, a few choices emerged in his head.

If he truly wanted to cut off the enemy, he could activate the trap and swiftly bypass the enemy when the explosion was heard. If he wanted to play more safely, he could intentionally trigger the explosion and chase the enemy once they left the location.

However, he didn’t know where a third enemy could be hiding…

“I’ll just have to catch them first.”

He slammed down on the doorknob.

In that state, he had quietly hidden below the staircase for a few seconds.

───Kwahh!

With a tremendous noise, the door and wall exploded. If he had been standing above, he would’ve likely suffered considerable splash damage—but taking advantage of the explosion, he had long since removed the pin from the grenade and released the safety handle.

The grenade flew into the broken gap and landed on the ground. However, there were no signs of life inside.

And then the grenade exploded in succession.

Wait a moment.

A succession?

“…A double trap?”

This method of exploding the first grenade and then delaying the explosion of a second grenade located a bit further away due to the tremor was uncommon but quite effective.

Whoever it was had quite a good head on their shoulders.

In that case, there was no time to linger in this spot. Taking advantage of the fading sound of the explosions, he quickly climbed the ladder and moved through a detour connected to the passage behind the control room.

And as expected, when the explosions rang out and he didn’t charge in, he found himself face-to-face with an enemy who had opted for a hammer.

—Tudududu!

A fierce exchange ensued. The enemy moved quite trained, quickly catching on to the fact that he had little cover due to hastily turning the corner and tossed a grenade.

Of course—

“Were you quite hasty?”

The grenade, rolled forcefully to the floor, fell at his feet in less than a second, meaning there was still enough time to swiftly pick it up and toss it back.

Thud. The grenade, still warm and barely cooled, the weight of the metal felt in his hand… indeed, it was time to toss it back.

After a few seconds, the grenade, thrown with an unparalleled speed compared to before, fell back at its owner's feet shortly after it was thrown.

Naturally, there was no time to toss it back this time.

───Kwahh!

In an instant, there was a flash, a roar, and hundreds of fragments.

However, he had already approached as he tossed the grenade, a demonstration of his will to finish off the enemy, even if it meant sustaining some damage to his shield.

And indeed, that was exactly how it turned out.

“Aaaah!”

As he pushed through the slight smoke created by the explosion, he aligned his dot sight with his eyes, aiming at the enemy and moving his slender index finger.

A dozen flashes lit up from the muzzle.

After that, nothing remained.

Quickly checking the surroundings, while replenishing only grenades, the gunfire still echoed in his ears.

Not PTSD or anything like that, but literally. The battles near the skill activation zone had only just begun.

“Then, how many more do I need to wipe out before it gets easier?”

The battlefield still craved more blood.