The time for the players flows at a different pace from that of the spectators.

From the moment they are ejected into the lobby, they become late viewers, usually watching the player who killed them. They can best assess their own shortcomings through the eyes of others: where they made poor judgments, whether their tactical maneuvers were late, or what went wrong that led to their deaths…

This was true for the Korean team as well. After the first player was eliminated, people began to gather as if they had been waiting. Their death points all began from the moment the remaining number of players fell below twenty.

The first to die varied each time, but within five minutes of waking up, two or three players would find their way to the debriefing room. Naturally, conversation flourished afterward.

The main topic was the content of the match.

"I thought I’d make it into the top ten this time, but…"

"What happened to you?"

"I died because my skill cooldown hadn’t reset. But at least I took them down with me."

"I told you to practice stack-type skills. Those charge themselves if you set them to autonomous mode after installation."

"I’ll do that in the next round."

Naturally, the focus of the players and the spectators differed. The latter primarily engaged in discussions like whose match was impressive or who made a bad judgment. In contrast, the former leaned more toward self-reflection and deeper conversations.

But what if such reflections and debriefings led to an undesirable outcome?

"But why is Ink just lying there?"

"Hey, what are you doing? Aren’t you going to debrief?"

"There’s a reason he’s lying down. Let’s see what happened to him."

The situation unfolded as expected.

Someone picked up the remote and projected the screen onto the wall. Clicking on the name INK from the list of 100 users revealed that he had ranked 12th, which wasn’t a bad result. Then playback began. The footage displayed both Ink’s first-person and third-person perspectives in a split-screen format.

In just a few seconds, they could tell what had happened to Ink.

"Uh…"

Familiar black hair and a snake tail wriggling from his backside.

There was a reason the person seemed to have lost all will to live, sprawled out on the bed. But there was an even bigger backstory behind this, and those except Ink began to watch without much thought.

Ink had taken a recoilless rifle, considering the risk of being discovered to ensure he could kill the enemy, and after hiding it appropriately, he began scouting the area. He successfully drew the enemy in and lifted the pre-loaded recoilless rifle. Thus, the enemy should have taken a direct hit as soon as they opened the door.

However, the opponent smashed through the door at least five seconds faster than he had anticipated.

Just as he shouldered the weapon, Yujin began to sprint. Ink's pupils trembled at the speed he never imagined, but contrary to that, his body was already in the firing position. He placed his finger on the trigger, carefully aligning his aim, and pulled.

At that moment, Yujin literally soared into the air.

"No way, what the…"

A rapid acceleration from two consecutive jumps that were almost invisible. She leaped about 120 cm over the cover and then jumped again from there. With a pressure strong enough to shatter the wooden board, Yujin flew through the air. And beneath her feet, a projectile passed by.

As it accelerated at 225 m/s and struck the cover Yujin had jumped from, a deafening sound and shockwave erupted, propelling Yujin far away. However, as her feet touched the ground, she executed a clean forward roll that could have been demonstrated in a manual, rolling smoothly and reducing her speed.

At that moment, Ink threw down the recoilless rifle, but Yujin, having landed safely, was faster in drawing her pistol. Then, a series of devastating shots rang out, blocking Ink's escape route. Consequently, he was ejected into the lobby. It was a familiar, effective, and utterly brutal method.

If the victory could have been swayed by one or two variables, it would have been even more so.

But it was not that Ink’s choice was wrong; rather, it was that Yujin had painstakingly pieced together the slender conditions necessary for victory.

There was no need to console the party involved.

A single incredulous remark would suffice.

"Our coach is truly insane, I swear."

The collective reaction from everyone was unspoken.

And how long had it been? Dice walked into the room with an odd groan. Since she usually appeared alongside Yujin, everyone was puzzled, but upon closer inspection, they realized Dice had finished this match in 5th place. As Yujin would take a few more minutes to awaken, it seemed she simply arrived early.

Applause erupted. Although it was a rather familiar situation, there was no reason not to clap. The honor of being in the TOP 5 was significant.

Of course, it went without saying that she had a gaze similar to Ink’s.

"Wow, came in 5th place. 5th."

"Who did you get killed by this time?"

"The polar bear."

"That’s understandable."

Indeed, that remark was accurate.

Moreover, starting today, Logan, appearing as if he would show no mercy to anyone, brought out a bulletproof shield and completely blocked all of Dice’s actions from beginning to end, leading to a predictable result. She couldn’t display any of the tricky plays she was usually confident in and was quickly overwhelmed and ejected.

Was this the gap? Dice added incredulously.

"This game is really hard…"

"Don’t worry about it; let’s just watch what Yujin is doing."

"That I have to see."

Even Ink, who had been lying there, scrambled to run over.

The audience gathered in full. Only then did the screen begin to play Yujin’s match, and sure enough, she was facing Logan head-on. In the blink of an eye, the roles of offense and defense swapped, and the initiative to attack was tossed around haphazardly. When one side closed the distance, the other pulled away.

While an intense struggle unfolded that ordinary people could hardly imagine, those watching the density of the battle from the front swallowed their breaths in anticipation.

At first glance, Yujin appeared to be at a disadvantage.

But,

"…Isn’t that the thing Ink had earlier?"

"No way…."

As Yujin landed a projectile squarely on Logan’s shield in a moment of desperation, everything changed. After a fierce struggle, she grasped the upper hand, and the confrontation between the giant anaconda and the polar bear ended in victory for the former.

As she laughed incredulously, Yujin burst through the door with a loud crash.

The sound of thunderous applause followed.

"1st place! 1st place! 1st place! 1st place! 1st place! 1st place!"

"As expected, the teacher is the best, for real. No lies."

"…Why is everyone suddenly like this?"

Of course, the one who had just engaged in an epic battle with Logan didn’t have the capacity to process that.

This was their usual everyday life.

"The young ones definitely have a great understanding of the map. They seem to know that the gimmicks and the map’s structure itself can serve as weapons… though it seems that bear doesn’t even plan to understand the map."

"It’s probably because today is their last day of competition… They’re likely not overly concerned with winning or losing."

"That would be the case. If the young one hadn’t been there, they probably wouldn’t have even participated."

Tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of spectators packed the main arena, and the VIP lounge, a completely separate place from the outdoor viewing area of Madison Square Park. Inside, the two of them comfortably leaned back in their chairs, watching the screen.

The second match had just begun. The map was the Poplar Ridge Correctional Facility. This artificial structure built in the middle of the ocean was massive enough to hold 5,000 prisoners simultaneously, but today, in that place, 100 users pointed their guns at each other to determine a single survivor.

There was essentially no reason to discuss the main competition anymore. Therefore, what intrigued them was none other than the map.

"This map is quite similar in nature to the high-value research facility."

"The fact that the facility itself moves is quite innovative."

Poplar Ridge Correctional Facility.

The map was divided into lower, middle, and upper levels. Ultimately, the goal was to escape from the facility by boarding the escape pod located on the upper level. The kill zone was quite unique; specifically, it was created by the seawater seeping in from the outside.

After a certain amount of time had passed, the unsinkable areas of the lower level would merge with the middle level, forcing everyone to ascend. This system was designed to prevent easy victories for users waiting on the stairs by not having separate passages between the layers.

The middle layer would then merge with the upper layer, and by that time, the surviving players would engage in their final battle near the gate where the escape pod was located, avoiding the collapsing upper platform.

Originally, the reinforced and pressure-resistant plastic, glass, polycarbonate, and other composite armors that served to remind prisoners that "escape is impossible" were already cracked in many places, and the 100 players awakening on the lower level began shooting at each other to escape the area flooding with water.

The gigantic lower platform, created by the combination of 16 platforms. Among them, the areas stained red were predicted to flood and were zones that needed to be evacuated.

And in the midst of this, dozens of players moved about.

"Isn’t it quite diabolical to funnel high-value items into the areas slated for flooding?"

"Definitely."

Among those were rare drops of large amounts of C4 to use or break the gimmicks for those who understood them. The map was covered in jamming devices to defend against the prisoners’ escape, making it quite difficult to use for killing people, but it was perfect for sticking to walls and detonating.

In other words, by sticking it to the polycarbonate walls and exploding it, it would be more than enough to induce flooding—though in reality, it shouldn’t exist, but the reason for having C4 in such a place was obvious. It was a game, after all.

And Dice was aiming for just that.

"That girl seems to be searching for gimmicks only."

"Or she might think that’s the only way to catch Logan."

"That might be more accurate."

Dice had survived after setting fire to the sleeping polar bear’s fur, and she even borrowed in-game gimmicks to keep the polar bear permanently asleep—thus, in her mind, there remained a single unwavering fact.

It was impossible to catch Logan head-on.

At least, unless she created a trap that couldn’t escape with the power of the gimmick, it would return as an unstoppable natural disaster beyond future repercussions.

Especially since Logan, after that incident, began wielding a shield, which was a direct declaration that he no longer intended to die for anyone—and naturally, the area near the skill activation zone was filled with the shells and bloodstains left behind by the disaster named Logan.

EMP Pulse and ballistic shields. A lineup filled with the single-minded intention to completely crush the opponent.

And watching that, the two of them exchanged strange looks and spoke.

"Will Logan meet that die, I wonder?"

"Hmm."

Rubbing his scruffy beard, Owens added.

"I don’t believe in coincidences, but it’s common for such situations to lead to meetings. And as time goes on, the probability of them meeting will only increase."

As he said, how long had it been? The lower and middle levels were completely crushed, and just minutes before the remaining area merged into the upper level—Logan finally confronted Dice.

In the wide-open common area, the two engaged in a chase. Of course, Dice was the one fleeing, and Logan was in pursuit. However, Dice wasn’t just wasting her experiences; she managed to retreat steadily without even looking back while stepping back.

Those who couldn’t remain calm tended to die first.

And Dice had already made several preparations long ago.

"Is that a habit of hers, or is it a trap specially devised to catch Logan?"

"It might be both."

A habit was a habit, but honing it to the extreme and showcasing it in practice could also be considered individual capability.

Measuring Logan’s steps and speed, she aimed to slow him down as much as possible. She had to completely eliminate the opponent in one fell swoop—Dice had long since placed the C4 in an unseen spot on the polycarbonate wall, and she carefully chose her opportunity.

As the wall was damaged and flooding began, the gate separating the areas would close. She needed a crucial distance to trap Logan in the area while escaping through the gate herself.

But Logan was already smiling.

Seeing that, Laurentina also smiled and added.

"It seems that today, that blonde girl will learn not to be too concerned about gimmicks."

There was no response.

And at that moment, Dice detonated the chunk of C4 attached to the wall.

───Kwaaaang!

-[Notification: Facility damage. Facility damage. Separation of areas and gate closure will occur within 30 seconds from this time. Personnel within the area should evacuate as quickly as possible.]

The wall separating the seawater from the facility crumbled in an instant, and a massive surge of seawater flooded in. Dice had already started running toward the gate without looking back.

But Logan laughed as if he had been waiting—and activated his skill.

The EMP Pulse covered the gate.

-[Notification: Gate malfunction. Gamma-level EMP pulse detected within the facility. Control authority of the gate is being transferred to the upper level from this time. An additional 15 seconds is expected for reboot….]

The door would not close.

Three barriers that needed to close sequentially would not shut for 15 seconds due to rebooting—and in other words, that meant the water would pour in through the gate uncontrollably.

The time it took for the area where Dice and Logan were engaged in battle to be flooded was merely 20 seconds, and naturally, the flow of water completely engulfed the gate that had yet to close.

And at that moment, Laurentina chuckled and added.

"Now that I think about it, the polar bear was quite a good swimmer."

Just as she said.

The icy-cold water swept through the gate, and Dice was swept away by that current.

But at that moment, the eyes of Logan and Dice met, approaching each other faster than any debris caught in the seawater. And that was the end of it. With a dull sound, the butt of the gun slammed into Dice’s forehead. In that instant, she exhaled the breath she had been holding.

As her vision faded to black, Logan moved freely in the water and seized Dice’s avatar as it floated.

Of course, that wasn’t an act of rescue.

───Puh!

Even if bullets slowed down in water, their power wouldn’t diminish even at extreme distances.

The bullet from the pistol penetrated her jaw and palate. That was Dice’s final sign.