"Hey, they say Mecha Yujin is showing up in EU mode. You wanna join?"

"Mecha Yujin, what’s that? Wait, hold on. Yujin... is that the one with the snake tail, the top-ranked game character?"

"Who else could it be?"

It had been ten days since Yujin entered the EU mode. Unlike the calm, leisurely mid-May weather, the Dark Zone community was buzzing with activity.

The arrival of the top streamer in Tricky, who had an average viewership of 1 million, sparked a massive influx of players into EU mode. And with the crowd mentality of the internet, once a few people show interest, even those who weren’t interested before suddenly became intrigued, bringing tens of thousands into EU.

The chaos had begun.

First, the server screamed in agony.

Even the Dark Zone, known for having the most servers and handling them in real time, experienced a significant server lag. With so many user sessions being created, the server became a graveyard for newbies who either didn’t read the entry notices or skimmed through the descriptions of EU mode.

And, as expected, the next thing to happen was predictable.

"Hey hey, everyone. Welcome to today’s EU guide stream... Whoa, why are there so many people here?!"

Numerous general users flooded the streams of those who had already made EU mode their main content.

The viewership numbers doubled at least, and most of the viewers bombarded the chat or donations with countless questions. Streamers who had been doing EU mode for a long time, along with smaller streamers known as "Hako," were all swarmed by the flood of new viewers.

The overwhelming number of viewers had created a ripple effect, leading to an unexpected boost in the EU streaming market.

While it wasn’t without its drawbacks, the situation was still far better than when most online games were based on computers and keyboards.

"Ah, sorry! I made a mistake!"

"Oh, it’s okay. It’s alright. Newbies can make mistakes."

In the virtual reality, communication wasn’t just typing in chat or voice conversations between characters—it was direct communication between avatars, with eye contact and face-to-face conversations. So, even though there were players who would joke around or be blunt with each other, there was never anything too harsh.

Thus, many existing streamers and staff members quickly stepped in to help guide the influx of players, and Icarus International hastily responded by expanding server allocations and improving the UI and various systems.

Numerous bugs that even the old users didn’t know about were fixed, and inconvenient aspects of the system were rapidly addressed.

Although, this didn’t completely lower the entry barriers.

"Wow, EU is so addictive."

"If I had done it alone, I’d have lost my mind."

Unlike other typical PVP modes, the only hardcore MMOFPS, Escape from the Unknown mode, didn’t show mercy to newbies—it ruthlessly eliminated them. Beginners who tried to make quick profits with custom weapons were wiped out without a second thought.

Even so, despite the overwhelming number of deaths, 9 out of 10 players being eliminated, the remaining players numbered in the hundreds of thousands. The EU mode managed to secure two to three times the normal player base in a short time.

This was the result of the 10 days since Yujin entered EU.

"Thank you so much, Teacher!"

"Eh, why are you suddenly acting like this? What’s going on?"

-????? : I’m really sorry, I owe you a lot!!!!!!!!!!!
-Lmao, seriously? haha
-Looking at this, they’re not quite right in the head either
-(Probably thinking this will avoid being knocked out in the same session later)
-Living proof that survival is more important than pride lol

As soon as Yujin met Cartographer, he immediately bowed down.

The collaboration started with a big bow.

"I didn’t expect you to invite me like this, but thank you so much."

"I didn’t expect you to suddenly bow down like that either."

"Ah."

-Lmao, seriously? haha
-Must’ve been shocked haha
-Note… to surprise Yujin, just start by bowing down…
-You’d be shocked if someone suddenly bowed like that lol
-True professional haha

In mid-May, as the Escape from the Unknown mode was gaining popularity, I suddenly started a collaboration with Cartographer, one of the old users I had connected with long ago.

I didn’t expect him to bow like that when he saw me.

The reason we started collaborating was a bit random—just a couple of days ago, Cartographer suddenly reached out to me through Engram, and naturally, it was him. Interestingly, back then, we hadn’t talked about collaborating, but he had sent me a gift.

Ah, right.

[Cartographer: Thank you for showing interest in our game!!!!!!!!!!]
[Cartographer: <A gift card for premium beef>]

And it wasn’t just that. He sent a picture of the subscription count and trends on his YouSpace channel. Over the past week, 75,000 new subscribers had joined his channel, and his strategy videos, which he posted at the start of each season, were seeing a sharp increase in views.

I understood what was happening. So, I quickly returned the gesture with something equivalent to his gift. I had to return a gift with another gift, after all—well, that’s how it is.

After some reminiscing about the past, we started talking about the old competition days. I had been teamed up with Harmony, and Cartographer was on the opposite team, so we had become acquainted then.

Although, before the match began, new rules were added forbidding players from getting advice from pro gamers, so we had to stick to the basics—but still, we had gotten to know each other quite a bit at that time.

"Kim Manager’s team was quite a strong opponent."

"Yeah, if we hadn’t practiced hard back then, we probably would’ve lost. Thanks to Yujin’s disciple, we were able to win, though."

"...Looking back, I think we overtrained Moni."

"Ah, did you realize that now? Oh, I didn’t say anything!"

-Lmao, I bet it wasn’t a joke haha
-It wasn’t a joke, it seems haha
-Five times, you died by fishing lines, huh? haha
-Yujin was terrifying back then, seriously
-Fact: Yujin is still terrifying now

But anyway, after that, I went back to playing ranked and didn’t meet up with him again, which was probably for the best. He eagerly nodded in response, so I figured it was best not to argue.

Then, we casually reminisced about the old times, remembering things like the tournament ranks. At the time, I was teamed with Harmony, who was with Cartographer, so we knew each other indirectly.

Of course, after the rule about pro advice was introduced, we had to stick to our own skills, but I wanted to say I had gotten to know this person quite a lot.

"Kim Manager’s team was really tough."

"Yeah, if we hadn’t trained so hard, we would’ve probably lost. Thanks to Yujin’s disciple, we were able to get through it."

"Anyway, it's been quite a while since we last met. Time really flies, doesn't it? It's already been over 9 months since we first met."

"I still get startled when I think about that time, haha."

"Ugh."

"Just kidding, just kidding."

-Lmao, it doesn’t seem like a joke haha
-It’s not a joke, seems like it haha
-Five times, you died by fishing lines, huh? haha
-Yujin was terrifying back then, seriously
-Fact: Yujin is still terrifying now

But anyway, after that, I went back to playing ranked and didn’t meet up with him again, which was probably for the best. He eagerly nodded in response, so I figured it was best not to argue.

Then, we casually reminisced about the old times, remembering things like the tournament ranks. At the time, I was teamed with Harmony, who was with Cartographer, so we knew each other indirectly.

Of course, after the rule about pro advice was introduced, we had to stick to our own skills, but I wanted to say I had gotten to know this person quite a lot.

"Kim Manager’s team was really tough."

"Yeah, if we hadn’t trained so hard, we would’ve probably lost. Thanks to Yujin’s disciple, we were able to get through it."

"...Looking back, I think we overtrained Moni."

"Ah, did you realize that now? Oh, I didn’t say anything!"

-Lmao, I bet it wasn’t a joke haha
-It wasn’t a joke, it seems haha
-Five times, you died by fishing lines, huh? haha
-Yujin was terrifying back then, seriously
-Fact: Yujin is still terrifying now

But anyway, after that, I went back to playing ranked and didn’t meet up with him again, which was probably for the best. He eagerly nodded in response, so I figured it was best not to argue.

Then, we casually reminisced about the old times, remembering things like the tournament ranks. At the time, I was teamed with Harmony, who was with Cartographer, so we knew each other indirectly.

Of course, after the rule about pro advice was introduced, we had to stick to our own skills, but I wanted to say I had gotten to know this person quite a lot.