"Wow, this is amazing."

Someone's muttered words spread among the 60,000 spectators packed in the stadium.

What was it that caused this reaction? Was it the trap Dice had set up in advance on the buggy, the white toxic smoke that filled the high ground, or perhaps the appearance of the person who emerged from that smoke? But one thing was certain—this match and Dice's performance would not be forgotten for years to come.

Unlike Yujin, who calculated everything and incorporated all variables into her plans to create favorable situations, Dice occasionally pulled inspiration out of unexpected circumstances, as if possessed, and had the ability and action to manifest it into reality.

The sudden outpouring of white acidic clouds from the high ground was a direct result of that.

Of course, that was not the end.

—Buuuuung!

A drone flying low in the air fell into the acid smoke as a four-wheeled motorcycle crossed the road and entered an unpaved area. With truly skillful maneuvers, Dice rode the vehicle towards the elevated village, donning her protective gear just before cutting through the white clouds.

She quickly spotted a buggy parked in a way that anyone could see was unnatural, and immediately pulled out fishing line and two grenades from her multipurpose pouch. Without needing to take long, she connected the fishing line to the safety handles, tied it to the wheel, and pulled out the safety pins.

In essence, the structure was such that when the engine started and the wheels turned, the safety handles of the grenades would detach.

The wait didn’t take long. Within about five minutes from the point where white smoke started spewing from all directions, the acidic gas had infiltrated the fourth floor of the abandoned villa where the enemy was located, and he hastily came down wearing a gas mask to board the buggy. With a roar, the engine started, and the wheels spun. It was a sound reminiscent of a reaper’s breath.

What happened next needed no explanation.

An explosion and flash erupted simultaneously.

—Cough!

—Kwahng!

The vehicle shook violently before transforming into a fireball. Just before gaining speed, a user was half-ejected from the burning vehicle, skidding on the ground, and Dice casually walked forward as the explosion echoed, taking one last look at the enemy.

What he couldn’t hear was a murmur that went something like this:

—See you next year.

And Dice pulled the trigger.

Under normal circumstances, he would have suffocated to finish the Final Championship without any intervention. However, Dice had come to deeply realize, after facing Logan several times, that the best confirmation of a kill was witnessing the corpse vanish, leaving behind only a pile of items.

With a dull thud, a bullet pierced his forehead. A new kill was added to the UI, showing the deceased and the survivors. The remaining users decreased from 60 to 50.

There wasn’t much oxygen left, and seawater and lava continued to flood in, constantly expelling toxic smoke in this area. As evidence, the entrance that originally led to the underground control room was spewing smoke violently, reminiscent of toothpaste being squeezed out with force.

There was no reason to linger here any longer.

Dice turned around and expertly rode the four-wheeled bike she had parked earlier down the steep slope, entering the heart of Atakaia Volcano Island against the backdrop of the small village, which was gradually submerging.

—Huh.

Leaving the steering to the Icarus gear, she took off her protective gear and gas mask, breathing in refreshingly.

Of course, the sky visible beyond the gentle hills forming the high ground was black and red, and most of all, the volcano Hoku Mau Loa, belching forth dark clouds as if the end of the world had come, was an immense pressure in itself. But there was no time to waste.

As Dice entered a scene that looked like it could be on an album cover or a movie poster, everyone gasped in admiration.

—Dying for romance and living for romance, hahaha! —Romance (totally practical) —Is this Yasuga? This is Yaszi, lol. —Why are they playing a different game from me? I’m doing AP too, but they seem to be having a blast among themselves! I want to participate in a romance-filled competition, not this frustrating rank filled with pure camping!!! —If you want it, you should also become a player!~

Naturally, each player was attached to at least four to five cameras. As time passed, that number had reached about 50, meaning there were over 200 screens in existence.

Among those, the play footage of the Korean national team was by far the most popular, and naturally, the chat below was beyond bustling, reaching a state of population overflow. With around twenty separated, it was impossible to read the chat, which was swamped with slow chat messages, making further explanation unnecessary.

However, despite all the circumstances, the Korean national team, including Dice, was building their legends by defeating their enemies in their own unique ways. Thus, the number of users dwindled from 50 to 40, and then to 30.

The end was approaching.

As Dice, who had faced numerous adversities, entered a burning city that looked as if it had just been dragged from hell, Harmony cautiously stood up from her spot. It was time to prepare for the partner streamer battle that ended on the same day as the Final Championship.

Though it would be a bit difficult to go congratulate the victorious Yujin, it would have to be done when she returned to the hotel. It was truly regrettable, but Harmony took a small breath and wrote a text to Yujin in advance.

—[Harmony: Congratulations on first place, Yujin!]

It wasn’t a false promise that could be called unnecessary hype.

If, after all this, one of Yujin's acquaintances won, it would be incredibly embarrassing. Harmony murmured that and giggled as she exited the arena.

It was barely 15 minutes until the end of the Final Championship.

“The condition of the entrance road isn’t good….”

As I stared at the scene that looked like part of hell had been carved out and laid over reality, I unconsciously muttered.

The air in the city was filled with enough heat that I would have suffered burns in reality. Lava was approaching, burning and pushing aside everything in its path.

Of course, the reason I said this was simple.

“This road is really terrible.”

Despite being a safe zone, lava flowed majestically in front of me.

In short, while this map was structured similarly to other kill zones with lava encircling the area in a circular form, if lava overflows from underground before the kill zone closes in, another river of lava would emerge, penetrating the circular safe zone. Those who started from far away, like myself, would naturally be unaware of such situations.

The last safe zone was a construction area currently being developed. It was a place where concrete dust flew in all directions. Although today, the noisy sounds commonly heard in construction sites and the construction materials were nowhere to be found, only the sound of roasting beans echoed from all sides.

But that wasn’t the issue.

Blocking the presumed route of movement was a river of lava about ten meters wide.

‘…Can I step on it?’

Unlike in the movies, the density of lava was tremendously high. It was heavy and solid enough to walk on at high speed, meaning my foot wouldn’t sink in. However, in such a flowing state, it would surely cling to my foot after just a few steps. Then, I would fall into that inferno.

The other side was also a construction site. The metal columns and scaffolding embedded in the ground had long been bent like taffy or washed away by lava, and the cloth or windbreak used to conceal the construction site seemed to have burned long ago.

There was no choice but to abandon this path.

I would have to turn back the way I came.

“If I had known this would happen, I should have brought the car up here.”

This ridiculous thought first crossed my mind, as if my head had overheated from the heat.

Still, I thought that if I used the equipment around me well, I might be able to make a jump ramp to cross, so my priority was to check if the four-wheeled bike I had parked outside was still intact. Moreover, the route I just confirmed was in a completely unusable state, so I had to turn back anyway.

I ascended the stairs I had come down and scanned the surroundings. This was a large shopping mall where only about three floors had been constructed, meaning it had a relatively complex structure compared to other construction sites.

Of course, similar to other places, the balcony portion that would normally prevent falls with metal scaffolding and windbreaks had long been swept away by lava, allowing me to check the exterior from outside.

And when I looked outside, the four-wheeled bike I had ridden over was already a pile of ashes or a burning hunk of metal.

“…I thought so.”

Of course, there was no point in lamenting what had already passed.

I wondered if I should look for something akin to a rope and a weight. If necessary, I could throw it and hang it somewhere, then jump from one building to land on the construction site across. There were plenty of scraps lying around, so the rope would essentially be the largest element.

Using the fishing line in my pocket was off the table. Given the radiant heat, the moment it recoiled while falling, there was a high probability it would snap and I’d fall freely into the lava. If only I had a drone, I could operate it at maximum power and mitigate some of the falling damage while descending.

Of course, that too was too late.

After thoroughly examining the surroundings for any useful items,

—Tutututut!

“I knew it!”

At this point, the more numerous presence than useful items was, unsurprisingly, the enemy.

Three of the six shots hit my armor, legs, and thighs. Of course, they all ricocheted off my shield. For now, the damage was manageable, and I needed to confirm the enemy's position. I hurriedly descended the stairs I had climbed, activated the decoy, and switched to shooting mode.

From the holographic projector shaped like a circular dish, a rod extended, and a platform that could hold something popped up. As I pulled out my pistol and placed it on there, a support leg extended to the back, and soon, a hologram resembling me took the position of aiming a gun at the stairwell.

Hiding the holographic projector behind the materials and fixing the support leg to the wall to enable recoil control, I quickly climbed the stairs to observe the second floor. I soon spotted the enemy hiding behind cover. Immediately, I fired a nanite, melting it entirely while commencing fire.

The firefight had begun.

“Ugh!”

Chiiing!

With a sinister sound, a black mine rolled toward the floor at a terrifying speed. Instinctively, I switched the controls to full auto and pulled the trigger, one lucky bullet destroying the mine. A flash and debris erupted, leaving my ears ringing.

In the midst of that, did the enemy accurately count the bullets I expended? The moment my magazine was emptied, they unleashed a pulse of energy in an arc towards me. The shockwave hit me squarely, and I had no choice but to fall into chaos—however, since I tumbled down the stairs, luckily, I wasn’t hit by any bullets.

As the confusion gradually cleared, I heard the sound of the enemy quickly approaching. Hastily, I hid beside the stairwell, tore off a grenade from Molly, cooked it for two seconds, and threw it up the stairs. This should deter the enemy from coming down easily.

A suffocating silence filled the air.

But it didn’t last long.

“Again…!”

—Tzzzt!

The black mine's cooldown had ended.

The mine, which had been autonomously patrolling the first floor, approached me not in the direction I was standing but towards the holographic projector I had set up beforehand. This confirmed one fact—if the cooldown for the tracking mine had ended, it was likely that the stun pulse was in a similar state.

In other words, facing head-on had no chances of success. Therefore, I had to preserve the holographic projector as much as possible, forcing the enemy to waste their stun pulse on that.

I stepped forward, and at that moment, a mine patrolling autonomously approached me.

With a sizzling sound, it accelerated, closing in within about three meters in an instant. I aimed without dodging. To secure a winning position, I had to engrain in the enemy's mind that my position was similar to that of the holographic projector.

Then, in the next moment, a thud echoed as the mine was hit by a bullet and exploded.

Of course, I took all the damage from the blast, but this would allow the enemy to roughly pinpoint my location.

“…!”

After finally regaining my composure, I positioned myself next to the opposite stairwell.

And how many seconds passed since then?

—Paaang!

—Tang! Tang! Tang!

As the hologram fired its gun, a pulse akin to a shockwave slammed into the holographic projector. Naturally, both the pistol and decoy shattered, but in return, I could land a shot on the enemy’s back with around 30% shield energy left.

I pulled the trigger in rapid succession. The distance between the enemy’s back and my firearm was merely a few meters.

In that moment, I squeezed the trigger, and the enemy became something beyond a wreck. With the refreshing sound of the shield breaking, the heavy thud of bullets echoed. Of course, my Honey Badger magazine had a capacity of 45 rounds.

After about 30 rounds were fired, the enemy hastily sought refuge behind the cover that the holographic decoy had occupied and began firing back in panic, wasting their last bullet, while hiding next to the first-floor balcony adjacent to the lava.

But at this point, I held the upper hand. In essence, I could simply push forward and win even in a head-on confrontation—but I still wanted to save my HP and shields. Therefore, at this juncture, I found myself happily pondering how to dispose of the enemy.

And ultimately, I decided on one method.

—Thunk!

As a charged nanite projectile hit the wall, the concrete began to melt away like ice cream left out on a summer day. Not only did the cement wall shatter, revealing the internal steel framework, but soon, the enemy hiding behind the opposite wall was also revealed.

“Whoa!”

And that became the enemy’s final cry.

With a thud, within a few seconds, the enemy was turned into a corpse and a pile of items.

Of course, there was no time to leisurely farm. Something caught my eye while I was about to rummage through the loot—it wasn’t even necessary to see it. The ominous sound of something collapsing echoed from the other side.

As expected, lava began to invade the first floor from the other side, knocking down the building’s columns. This liquid was obviously molten rock, which meant it had a physical quantity beyond common sense and possessed heat. It was natural for buildings to crumble under the force of a natural disaster that could even destroy houses.

And lava began to rise where I was standing!

—[Alert: Hostile environment invasion. Building deformation threshold reached, imminent collapse.]

“This is bad.”

Could it really end like this? Would my Final Championship conclude with a building collapse? While staring at the melting walls, a sudden crazy thought hit me.

Collapse?

“Could it be…?”

At that moment, as if possessed, I pushed a nanite cylinder into the chemical projectile launcher.

I aimed at the top of the columns of the building I was in and the building across, both standing a dozen meters apart. My idea was simple: by collapsing both buildings, I would create a bridge over the river of lava. It was all or nothing, and I couldn’t just sit still and burn to death here.

Structural demolition was a complex science, but I didn’t have time to make precise calculations. I merely had to trust gravity and direct the buildings to collapse towards the lava river.

The cylinder flew through the air. The columns of the building across and the one I was standing in began to disappear one by one. There was no one nearby, and the nanite canisters would continue to charge until I died. If they ran out, I could simply melt the columns as they regenerated.

Then, about a minute later—

—Kugung!

“Huh…!”

The buildings began to collapse.

The three-story concrete structures were connected in an S-shape, and tons of debris and rocks fell onto the river of lava a dozen meters wide.

Since I had already moved to the side, I didn’t suffer any damage from the collapse. Therefore, I began moving while the dust hadn’t even settled. In an instant, fragments with height and thickness of meters created a path over the river of lava.

Even as I took steps over that path, I felt the lava that had begun to collect just a few meters away trying to push the fragments away.

Thus, what felt like an eternity of 20 seconds passed.

And—

“Huh…!”

—Dududud!

As I safely crossed, I saw the bridge made entirely of debris from the buildings being swept away by the lava, allowing me to exhale a sigh of relief.

I wanted to collapse right there, but I still had a long way to go. I couldn’t help but think how great it would have been if I had thought of this method earlier, but isn’t that how things are in the world? For now, let’s be grateful for being alive.

Of course,

“It really feels like I’m the only one going through all these hardships.”

That wouldn’t be a wrong statement. And just like that, I escaped yet again from the brink of death.

The Final Championship's last match had not yet ended.