“Is this design okay?”

“Hmmm, rather than putting a tomahawk inside the Ouroboros, wouldn’t it feel better if the axe crossed through the Ouroboros like the last Stormseer bundle?”

“Sounds good, let’s give it a try.”

Meanwhile, while Eugene was enjoying a survival game with the Task Force Dagger team members, the Dark Zone shop was bustling tremendously.

The moment the rankings for the Final Championship were finalized, numerous designers partnered with Icarus International became endlessly busy. From gun camouflage and decorations to various other items... They reviewed the plays of the top 20 from the Final Championship, capturing the most impressive scenes and vectorizing them into illustrations.

Among these, the most important aspects were gun designs, decorations, emotes, and monuments that could be placed in personal lodgings. More than dozens, if not hundreds, of designers were not only brainstorming but also randomly selecting unrelated civilians to refer to their opinions, struggling to capture both characteristics and popularity.

And the result was this.

“Wow, the winner bundle from this Final Championship just came out. It’s prettier than last year’s… no, it’s even better than last year!”

“Last year? Oh, the Stormseer bundle? I thought that was the prettiest, so I only use that. What came out... oh.”

Eugene Bundle.

Not only could you immediately unlock the AAC Honey Badger, one of the guns opened at the mid-high level, but you could also use a gun camouflage that was the exact same color as Eugene's tail. And as previously mentioned, the decorations you could hang on the gun received remarkable praise.

A single tomahawk crossing through the Ouroboros. Considering that the decoration from last year's winning bundle, the Stormseer bundle, was an arrow crossing through a storm, the design could seem somewhat similar. However, the decoration itself moved and transformed into a snake wrapping around the tomahawk at regular intervals.

Of course, that wasn’t all; this year, there was one more unique function hidden away.

“Wow, hey! The emotional expression is insane! There’s a snake tail!”

“No way, this is just messed up. I spent all my bundle money buying late-night snacks while watching the broadcast. Damn it…”

The emotional expressions could be created only after getting direct permission from Eugene.

The motion of spinning a tomahawk that appeared from somewhere and then catching the weapon with its tail as it flicked into the air quickly spread, and it could be seen endlessly in the combat waiting room and community. It even spread widely enough for foreign YouSpace channel managers to rush to review it.

But that wasn’t the end of it. Naturally, the bundle included the tomahawk and new execution motions as well—covering all the basics that should be included and even bizarre extras. Yet, the price wasn’t too high. It was natural that many rushed to the store.

And perhaps unsurprisingly, there was also a Logan Bundle next to it.

“Wow, they’re bundling Eugene and Logan together. But it’s only 20,000 won? Why is it so cheap?”

“That’s like 1.5 chickens, right? Or is it just 1 chicken now?”

“That’s right. I should buy it.”

A heavily armed polar bear with a shield and MPX was emblazoned on the Logan Bundle. Perhaps to differentiate it from the Eugene Bundle, the item composition was focused more on PvE than PvP, allowing the early unlocking of gear suitable for point men who stood at the forefront and pushed forward while absorbing firepower.

Other than that, there wasn’t much of a difference in the item compositions compared to other bundles, but there was an Easter egg for those equipped with Logan and Eugene bundles to recreate the close combat that occurred during the final match of the Final Championship.

And finally,

“What’s this? There’s an addition to change the dot sight shape?”

“What? Into what?”

“What should I call it? A snake biting its own tail...? Isn’t this the Ouroboros?”

Even the dot sight changes were included.

Of course, out of the twenty bundles released for the New Year, five were designed with Korean users in mind, followed by Dais, Mikael, Gambit, and Ink. Naturally, bundles based on Eugene and Logan were overwhelmingly popular, while even Dais, in fourth place, still had a commendable internal composition.

Moreover, the Dais bundle could interact with those who purchased the Eugene bundle. Specifically, the Easter egg that floated around, coiled in a tail, was proof of that.

As a result, countless users happily opened their wallets, but unfortunately, this year was slightly different—there were five bundles to buy. Including the Logan bundle, that made six. This was due to Eugene leading the entire team to a top 20 finish.

Consequently, the recent state of the internet was as follows:

[General] Is there really anyone among foreigners who hasn’t bought all five Korean bundles yet? Hahahahaha!

Hello, I am Dark-gallum. Please call me a dark-bungi.

[All Comments][Registration Order]

• So, have you bought the Logan Bundle? ㄴ[Author] Damn it… ㄴHow many times has my nationality changed? Hahahahaha! ㄴDamn it, this is too ridiculous! Hahahahaha!

 

The photo spread far and wide, soon reaching Eugene’s Tricky personal site, and she added while looking at it.

“…There’s no need to go overboard to buy it.”

Of course, it was an ironic statement coming from the person who had driven South Korea into a frenzy of national pride.

Korea’s New Year was overflowing with such strange fervor.

“Last time, I mentioned that the stories from Operation Bluefield wouldn’t apply to this mission, so please keep that in mind before the briefing.”

“What a strong start.”

“It couldn’t be any other way.”

Four days after the blue operation clear, in the virtual reality briefing room. The participants from the last mission, except for Logan, Laurentina, and Owens, gathered in one place.

I was contemplating diving right into the mission briefing when I added.

“Have you had the time to check the briefing files?”

“I did.”

“It’s hard to find anyone these days who hasn’t seen the tank operation briefing files.”

I nodded.

To briefly explain what that meant—upon clearing the Incursion mission, the briefing file for the next invasion operation opens. Simply put, you could think of it as a preview of how the operation would proceed. Of course, seeing it doesn’t mean it becomes easier.

In any case, during the four days I streamed, I had discussed this with viewers multiple times during Just Chatting, and the most certain thing was that there wouldn’t be another mission boasting as vast an operational area as this one in the future, and the probability of it ever happening again was very low.

And this was still an undisclosed fact, but probably there wouldn’t be a mission that kills as many enemies as this one. Back when I was actually deployed for Operation Chariot, I received a message filled with anxiety from HQ, asking if we were conducting a massacre because the kill count kept rising.

To be frank, I had turned off the kill count for half of the operation, so I don’t even know how many cartel members actually crossed over to the afterlife during this operation. Excluding that, Task Force’s kill count was 50,000 over four years, so if included… well, who knows.

It probably wouldn’t be a number anyone would want to count.

Of course, that fact was dryly well-organized in the endlessly ongoing estimated engagement data.

“Anyway, since you all said you saw it, let’s ask. What should be prioritized in this operation?”

“Um… managing stamina and focus?”

“It’s about bullet distribution.”

Everyone made strange expressions.

The reason for that was simple.

“To summarize the results of playing the mission simply over the past few days… it’s a typical infiltration mission. You can’t expect support from outside, nor can you borrow enemy firepower like last time. The reason is simple.”

“Because the enemies are cartels.”

“Correct.”

Surface-to-air missiles, homemade armored vehicles, weaponry equivalent to special forces, and countless firearms. Specifically, it was armed as if it were a developing country—but even that wouldn’t be enough to counter the Icarus operators. Unless they could conduct tactical bombings to turn a region into a wasteland, they wouldn’t stand a chance.

In other words, there was no room to try anything with Icarus gear. It meant that the operators had to dive in directly and stir things up. The only thing that could be of great help would be drone deployment platforms like the DDP-52.

Anyway, separate from that, it was about time to inform them of the mission’s reality.

“The combat routes for this mission are roughly like this.”

“...Uh, teacher? The scale on the bottom right is 100km, isn’t it?”

“From Houston to San Diego, and visiting several cities in between, the travel distance reaches 2,500km. We’ll be moving on MD500s or Black Hawks, and since movement will be auto-skipped, the actual feel-time won’t be long, but countless engagements will follow.”

Literally, dozens of engagements, or even approaching three digits.

Despite the presence of a field support base, you had to use bullets like water, getting used to stabbing the enemy’s ribs or carotid arteries under the cover of the cloudless night rather than during the day. In a way, it was like how special forces practiced regularly before the emergence of Icarus gear, implementing it in actual combat.

An operation that couldn’t be solved through shortcuts would be the most challenging for Icarus operators—and this wouldn’t be any different for Harmony and Dais.

“Operation Chariot will feature dense engagements occurring for long durations and frequently. That might be why, unlike other Incursion missions, the operation can be temporarily halted in the middle.”

“That’s a relief. Still, since we successfully completed the all-nighter mission in New York last time, it doesn’t seem like it will be too difficult… though judging by the expressions, it seems that alone won’t be enough. Don’t you think?”

“It seems you’ve already said everything I wanted to say.”

In truth, that was correct. That was merely the starting point or a checkpoint.

But conversely, the two before my eyes had crossed the starting line. In other words, it meant they had tickets to board the grand Incursion mission known as my past. Ultimately, people are forged in real combat, and this is proven through my existence.

Whether they sensed that to some extent, the two gazed at the mission with challenging eyes but showed no sign of reluctance.

“So what should we do when we get there?”

“Everything.”

“Everything, huh…?”

“This mission will have a lot of infiltrations planned. As the operation progresses into the middle, UAV support will also become difficult. That means everything must be resolved locally.”

“…This is somewhat reminiscent of Eugene’s trait course. At this rate, I might really have to submit an application to join the special forces if I only have stamina.”

“Hahaha. Should I call someone else?”

“Absolutely not.”

In the end, regardless of this or that, I had become inextricably linked with them.

The two said they would clear roughly two days of their schedules starting three days from now, but unfortunately, Dais seemed to show a somewhat awkward expression. Perhaps he was saying it might not be possible.

I wasn’t the type to be particularly bound by time, but since Owens and Laurentina had returned to their main jobs, there was a need to coordinate the schedule to some extent in advance. So, I postponed my decision, and ironically, it was Harmony who shook her head at the notion of Dais not coming.

“Until half a year ago, I hadn’t even tried Dark Zone once. If Dais also pulls out, I might just overwork myself.”

“Ah, that’s true… hang in there!”

“Hey, where do you think you’re running off to!”

While Harmony and Dais were bickering with each other, I asked, wanting to at least hear the reason.

“You seem quite busy these days?”

“Well, that’s true, but this time, so many innovative skill operation methods have come out… so the Fallen team under the same club called for help.”

“Fallen?”

“It’s the name of the match. I’m affiliated with Apex Predator, and we operate like a professional club, splitting into divisions like Team Six, Survival, and Fallen…”

Ah.

Thinking back, it was some time ago… after I teamed up with Harmony to clear survival and shoot off the sniper’s head, I pondered what to do next and chose Apex Predator from the PvP mode list. It felt like just a few months ago, and now she had made it to the finals in that match and even ranked first.

In any case, if that’s the case, I had no choice but to try and align schedules until everyone’s timings matched up.

Conveying that intention roughly, everyone’s responses were quite comical.

“The next Incursion mission is starting in three days, yet we’ll start later than that. The viewers will go wild.”

“But we can’t only play with those whose schedules match, can we?”

“In that sense, I suspect Eugene is indeed a villain… ugh.”

A light reprimand.

In any case, the conversation concluded like that, and as a result of the discussions in the Incursion strategy chatroom involving six people, including myself, it was decided that everyone’s schedules would align next weekend.

Naturally, the announcement went up—

“—Ugh, please! Someone call Eugene! Please—!”

“Icarus, you crazy bastards, how are we supposed to clear this!”

On the first day of the Operation Chariot open trial, the count of attempts reached a staggering 1,752,165.

All ended in failure.

It was the moment countless people became dependent on Eugene.