"…Ugh, what’s this?"

10:47 AM. I woke up due to Dice clinging to my tail.

Through the blinds that had automatically rolled up at sunrise, I could see New York. A light snow was falling. The sky was filled with white clouds, and Central Park, slightly visible in the distance, was covered in a thin layer of snow. The last day of the year was this quiet. The room was warm, and the humidity was just right. A humidifier, sensing the dryness from the night, seemed to be maintaining the humidity adequately.

…Although it seemed that Dice drooling on my tail was contributing to that in some way.

I grabbed some wet wipes to clean my tail and pulled up the crumpled blanket again. Still slightly dazed, I hovered between sleep and wakefulness. Fragments of thoughts floated through my mind, but to summarize them simply: the Final Championship had finally ended. That was the thought that came to mind.

In reality, there would be an awards ceremony and results announcement at 6 PM today, but I only needed to attend. Engaging in life-and-death battles for five consecutive days consumed more mental energy than one might think.

Well, that aside…

'…In a few minutes, it’ll be the New Year in Korea, right?'

With a 13-hour time difference, the current time was 10:54 AM. In other words, only about six minutes were left until Korea welcomed the New Year. I shook my head to clear my mind, got up, and washed my face. I dampened my hair slightly and brushed it before checking my face in the mirror. Fortunately, my appearance seemed fine.

With the drone camera in my left hand, I opened the door and headed straight for the lobby, which smelled pleasantly of coffee. I ordered a sweet hot chocolate and, after receiving it, went to a window seat and turned on the camera. Naturally, viewers flocked in like crazy. When I opened the chat window, it was sheer chaos. Of course, it was even more so since I was showing a rather gloomy midday view of New York on December 31st.

"…Ah, everyone. Nice to meet you. It’s currently 10:56 AM in New York. I’m a bit disappointed that I can’t celebrate the New Year in Korea this year, but since I have U.S. citizenship, I suppose it doesn’t matter that much…."

• What nonsense is this right after arriving? Hahahaha!
• Are you sure what you're drinking isn’t hot chocolate but coffee with brandy or something?
• Hot chocolate (made with whiskey).
• A woman who celebrates New Year’s twice! Hahahaha!
• You look like you just woke up, but your face is glowing! Hahahaha!
• If you’re good at gaming and pretty, how are we losers supposed to live?!

 

I felt like I was going to lose my mind.

By the way, celebrating the New Year twice? That was something I hadn’t considered, but upon hearing it, it made a bit of sense. In fact, I thought it might be the viewers in Korea who were celebrating the New Year twice rather than me, but that wasn’t important.

In any case, while I could say this, it was impossible for me to truly experience the New Year in Korea at this moment. However, I could experience it indirectly. What did that mean?

"Now, I have some homework for all of you."

The chat filled with question marks as I confirmed that only three minutes remained until 11 AM.

"I want anyone watching this broadcast who can confidently say, 'I can celebrate the New Year most joyfully!' to turn on their stream. I’ll come to find you, and we’ll finish the New Year together. It’ll be easier to search if you tag your stream with 'With Yujin,' right?"

• Wait, what?
• Is this that content-creating economy thing? Hahahaha! This is crazy.
• How to turn on the stream while buying a cake for yourself, search online! Hahahaha!
• Seriously, you should have told us earlier!!!!!!!!
• I have a cake, but I can’t turn it on because it’s a family party—this is crazy! Hahahaha!

 

Of course, as I was speaking, a minute passed.

With just two minutes left on the clock, I had no reason to waste my words and quickly entered the Tricky main site to search for the keyword I had just mentioned. It didn’t immediately show up, but after refreshing it about 20 seconds later, countless streams appeared. There were so many that they easily exceeded a thousand.

Given that anyone could turn on a stream with just a phone at this point, it made sense, but it was more powerful than I had imagined. Wondering which one to enter, I saw that only a minute remained, so I clicked on a stream with a thumbnail showing a small table with a lit candle on it.

How many seconds had passed since I entered?

"Oh, what’s this! Wow! I’ve been chosen!"

A man jumped up and down, expressing his joy with his whole body. I wondered if he was that happy, but it would be uncouth to break his joy, so I simply left a greeting. When I requested to activate the microphone via chat, I could soon project my voice in that room too.

What should I say first? I briefly pondered, but since I didn’t plan to stay long, I decided to keep it simple. Moreover, there were only 30 seconds left until the New Year in Korea.

"Nice to meet you. Your home seems a bit quiet. Are you spending this New Year alone?"

"Oh, yes. I’ve only been living alone for a few weeks…."

"Ah, I see."

Alone, huh? Then I had something to say.

"I hope your home becomes livelier in the New Year. I wish you find a girlfriend… and if you already have one, I hope your relationship lasts long. And, although it’s a cliché, I hope you reap as much as you’ve sown. And since it’s winter, stay warm and take care not to catch a cold."

"Ah, thank you so much… just hearing that means a lot."

• Wow, a reward! Hahahaha!
• Warmly (like a chubby snake).
• Seriously, I’m so envious! Hahahaha!
• I want to hear a greeting from Bi-yam-noona too!!!!!!!!!

 

Before I knew it, only 10 seconds remained until the New Year in Korea. Since I had decided to stay until the very end, I did just that, and with light applause, the sounds of the New Year bells celebrating the arrival of the New Year echoed through the TV.

The chat, of course, was flooded with messages wishing a happy New Year. Unfortunately, it didn’t feel very real here. I thought that perhaps in about 12 hours, as I gazed upon the bustling Times Square filled with people, the experience might feel different.

In any case, I also celebrated the New Year. I was glad to see that the other person seemed happy.

After exchanging that brief greeting, I exited the stream.

"I wish everyone a happy New Year… Of course, this broadcast won’t end here. There will likely be quite a few people who created rooms, so let’s roam around for about 30 minutes."

Of course, no one refused.

Thus, I burned an hour and a half through that stream, and only after being dragged by the excited Dice and Harmony to the hotel buffet could I finally conclude the broadcast.

The morning of the last day flowed by like that.

"Even though the competition is over, there are so many people here."

"Well, they’re also here to welcome the New Year on January 1st. But it’s definitely better than Times Square."

"That’s true. They say there’s no place to step on there for quite some time."

Plus, it was Saturday.

The holiday in one of the busiest cities in the world, New York, coinciding with both the last day of the year and the first day of the new year, created a massive uproar. Thanks to that, even though the Final Championship was nearly over, Henry had been singing for a few days to torture Icarus Gear just a little longer.

Of course, it made sense. If there was even a single casualty during the final event, it wouldn’t be a good situation for Henry’s political career. I figured the other political candidates would likely be watching closely for any slip-ups to capitalize on, but… well, it wasn’t my problem. After all, people’s lives were on the line.

Thus, without any significant issues, the request was approved, and I turned my gaze back—toward the Final Championship.

The debriefing room and rest areas that had existed for the players were now completely emptied of beds, and instead, chairs had been set up for resting. Since they probably wouldn’t be staying long, it seemed they had done it this way. The space that had felt so comfortable like my home just until yesterday had changed so much, which felt quite strange.

In any case, I didn’t need any help from the staff to find my way. Passing through the familiar path I had walked multiple times over the last few days, the debriefing room looked somewhat like this. There was also a simple snack prepared there. The five of us, including me, sat in chairs, and at that moment, a holographic projector that seemed to be set up in advance activated, depicting the packed arena filled with spectators.

The booming voice of the announcer echoed from the speakers. It was set at such a perfect volume that there was no need to adjust it.

• We will now begin the announcement of the Final Championship rankings and the award ceremony!

 

At that moment, the vibrations shook the entire building.

Naturally, the 60,000 people inside the arena weren’t the only ones making noise; it was highly likely that countless people staying in this complex had erupted in cheers at the same time.

In any case, what could I say? In truth, the award ceremony itself wasn’t that moving. To be precise, the Final Championship itself was like that. I had only quietly anticipated the opportunity to fly all the way to New York to uncover whatever secrets lay hidden in this game; even if I hadn’t participated in the finals, I would have come to New York on my own merit.

In fact, it was more gratifying that I had faced Logan several times and achieved victory more than half the time. If I had cared about winning or placing first, I wouldn’t have been spreading word about not participating next year.

In any case, the rankings were calculated.

Out of a total of 14 matches in the Final Championship, I had won six, meaning there was no way I wouldn’t be first. So I didn’t worry about it much.

• The Apex Predator of this year, the pinnacle of the predator, is—Korea’s Yujin! Following closely is America’s Logan!

 

The roar of applause erupted. Following that, the list was gradually revealed, and the most important ranking—Dice’s rank—wasn’t something I needed to wait long for.

Dice placed fourth.

I wondered how she would take this rank and turned my head to look at Dice at that moment.

"Fourth, fourth… Fourth… I can’t believe this is actually possible…."

She had an incredibly emotional expression on her face.

Of course, the fourth rank was somewhat ambiguous. I briefly pondered whether she would truly be satisfied with that; however, considering the existence of Logan and me in this Final Championship, she should have really placed second if evaluated properly.

It meant that a player who hadn’t even made it into the top 20 just a year ago had risen to the second place in a few months of hard training—in an international competition. It was no wonder that Dice was delighted.

I lifted my tail and placed it on her knees, adding,

"You’ve worked hard all this time."

"…This is all thanks to Yujin."

"It’s thanks to someone who followed along well."

Of course, as I said that, Dice didn’t hesitate to rub my tail.

As the ranks continued to appear, Mikael was in 9th, Gambit in 13th, and Ink in 15th. Not a single person fell below the 20th rank. Those who had come expecting results similar to last year would surely consider it a disaster. It meant that out of the top 20 competitors, six didn’t even make it into the top 20.

As the rankings were announced, the expressions of everyone varied. However, the clear thing was that none of them could hide their excitement. I only hoped that the ranks they obtained wouldn’t be something beyond their share.

Thus, the announcement of the top 40 concluded. There was no need to mention the ranks below; it was simply stated that those would be notified individually.

And now it was time for the main event.

───Knock, knock!

A knocking sound.

At the same time, two staff members opened the door and entered.

"We will guide you for the award ceremony. As you walk, you will find platforms marked with numbers. Please stand in line according to your rank."

"Understood."

It was time to move.

Everyone stood up with excited expressions and began to follow the staff’s guidance. Soon, the hallway turned completely dark, and it was engulfed in total darkness. Before long, a shining golden number 1 appeared in front of me. According to the staff, I was supposed to stand there.

After standing at the spot marked with gold for a while, I felt a poke on my back, and—sure enough, it was the polar bear.

As she playfully added,

"Seeing the youngest standing here makes me want to stand in that spot next year."

"Dice might cry."

"I should at least make her cry once. My pride took quite a hit."

"Stop it…."

When she got serious, she became as scary as Lorentina—although sharks became complete lunatics when they entered battle, tearing everything apart.

And so, one by one, the people lined up. As the top 20 formed a line, the surroundings sparkled, revealing the path we needed to take. As we walked along that path, the top twenty stepped up. Dice’s heartbeat seemed to echo through my toes. Just a year ago, she had been in the mid-30s, so standing here must be her first time.

I had to call it a place reserved for those chosen; although that sounded grand, it was likely not far from the truth.

And then—

───Wowwwww!!!

In my lifetime, hearing such applause would be a rare occurrence unless one were chosen for something in various senses. From that perspective, it didn’t seem incorrect at all.

There were podiums for the top five. There was a staircase behind them, and holograms lined the floor, leading us forward. As the numbers appeared, only the word "GO" welcomed us, and I slowly moved my feet onto the podium.

As the spots for the top five filled, we stepped onto the flat stage. This meant it was time to go back.

"Let’s go, Yujin. Today isn’t over yet, right?"

I nodded, gripping the trophy as I retraced my steps.

Everything had come to an end.

It felt truly liberating.