NoveLight ™
Not all editors work on the same level.
This meant that some were unable to catch Eugene’s live broadcasts on time due to other video tasks, so while some stayed in the stream to note down editing points and record footage for the first edit, others took over the final touches.
And at that moment, the 1:15 victory announcement suddenly appeared in the chat—meaning Eugene had wiped out an entire session.
Of course, these were the famous Eugene faction members, and by now, they had gotten used to Eugene’s wild antics and super plays, which destroyed everything in its path.
Every time was new.
Every time it was watched, it felt new.
It wasn’t like a second trip abroad would ever feel the same as the first, just like how Eugene kept smashing her enemies’ heads in fresh, creative ways—it was no longer just awe, it was elegant to the point of beauty.
Every time Eugene streamed, it was filled with so much madness that the chatroom almost never stopped scrolling, but today was even more extreme. All nine of them had been watching the recorded footage of the battle at the high-value research facility since morning, as recorded by Editor 4.
The video itself wasn’t even that long. That was Eugene’s battle style. Under the belief that time equals life, she had wiped out all the enemies crawling around the session in no more than 15 minutes, sending them straight to the afterlife or the lobby.
And of course, even though it wasn’t long, that didn’t mean the content was lacking in substance.
The most leisurely part of the entire battle was right after she spawned in the basement and ascended the stairs, only to immediately start her rampage. After popping the heads of the enemies who had just started descending the stairs on the second floor, she followed up with a series of grenades that incapacitated everyone fighting in the vicinity. Then, she entered the black room, wiped out everyone in sight, grabbed a few grenades, and stripped the shoes from two enemies, hanging them on the ceiling.
After calculating the movement of the remaining players, she carefully retrieved a claymore from her bag and placed it in key spots.
Then, after shooting one person in the manager’s room and snapping the neck of another coming up the stairs, she sent them to the afterlife. A final enemy was also taken out with a claymore before Eugene initiated a 1:3 combat.
Exactly three minutes later, the session became eerily quiet.
Of course, that didn’t mean the radar’s heads weren’t full of holes.
Unable to keep watching, someone finally opened the voice chat, and that’s when the flood of comments began.
“Sir, please, for the love of God, can you calm down…?”
“But how did this even happen? I think that person’s a fairly well-known streamer, so how did they end up like this? There’s no way they prearranged this.”
“Just… bad luck, I guess. They stepped on a landmine. But it was an anti-tank mine.”
“Wow, I totally get it now.”
As it was said.
It’s often said that reality is more dramatic than drama, and sometimes, the combination of fate and probability can make nearly impossible events happen.
However, no one had predicted that one of the 16 participants required to fill the session would accidentally drop out, and that Eugene would take their place. It was a cruel twist of fate for the victims.
But as the information slowly trickled out, their expressions changed in real time.
The reason was simple.
“Wow, these guys really… they’re true EU mode lifers. Other than when cheering for the final championship, all their videos are EU mode, huh?”
“Totally… it’s like a natural disaster hitting a peaceful rural town.”
“Geez.”
They might not have known it, but those who watched, while not having met the victim in-game, could almost feel their experiences. If they ever met, they’d probably offer a warm drink and some kind words, considering how much emotional turmoil they must have gone through.
That said, there was still some hesitation. While it could be excused that Eugene had killed them purely by coincidence and uploaded the footage to YouSpace, if the victim objected, uploading might be more difficult.
And then came the next comment.
“Well, I’ll ask Eugene about it later, so let’s put this video work on hold for now.”
“Okay.”
With that, their conversation ended, but their sharp insights about the situation were spot-on.
As expected, whenever there’s a winner, there’s also a loser—just like how a natural disaster would strike an otherwise peaceful area, the residents of that area would be left in shock and fear.
As proof of that, in the personal session of the cartographer who had suddenly started streaming in the morning, two of yesterday’s victims were sprawled out.
“Ugh…”
“I can’t… mew….”
“I came to check out the ding-dong sound from the session, and why are these guys acting like this…?”
The Cartographer.
A former Apex Predator and a streamer known for escaping unidentified zones. Until Eugene had barged in, EU mode had been a niche, with only a core fan base. The streamers involved in this mode were also limited in number.
In short, Carto, and the four streamers who had gotten beaten senseless yesterday, were not strangers to each other. But let’s be real. They were just using the shock of what happened yesterday as an excuse to lounge around in Carto’s session.
Of course, Cartographer, who had faced Eugene’s blade head-on, found their complaints laughable.
“If someone sees you with a hook in your body, your head blown open, a knife in your eye, and your body and head split by an axe, they'll think you’ve been through hell.”
“…Did you live through that?”
“Considering everything that guy did to me, my corpse wouldn’t even leave dust. So stop whining and get back to your session before I kick you in the ass.”
Of course, the actual kick was just the icing on the cake.
But they didn’t leave easily, and after a sigh, Carto began getting dressed again. When he donned his tactical vest, tactical gear, and modified rifle, everything changed.
Within seconds, Carto locked eyes with his fellow streamer, who looked unsure, and asked,
“…Where are you going?”
Carto grinned and added,
“I’m going to train with the reaper who just killed you.”
With that, Cartographer disappeared into the session where Eugene awaited.
The world was Eugene’s now.
“Such a questline exists, huh? You’re still keeping your distance from normality.”
“I’m just walking a different path. Along the way, I pick up some good sprouts too.”
“Ah…”
So, does a genius’s perspective truly differ? That was the feeling, but the additional words felt quite burdening. With that thought in mind, Carto leaned against the wall, exhaling deeply. Anyone watching would have thought it was the exhaustion of a long sigh, but of course, Eugene wasn’t concerned at all.
“A sprout, huh… a sprout…” Although Carto had heard many praises about his skill, being called a "sprout" for the first time was a peculiar feeling. He had done his best to pretend like it didn’t affect him, but deep down, he couldn’t help but feel that same strange sensation.
“I guess technically, I am a sprout…”
He was right. Technically, he was. But it was a different matter to accept that fact.
With that thought in mind, Carto sighed again and began to get ready. His EU mode bag, the one called the mushroom bag, was packed tight. It was clearly full of at least 5 million credits’ worth of items, though Eugene only glanced at it disdainfully.
“Do I really have to carry this?”
“Um… where should I put it?”
“Just let me carry it, Carto. You focus on the combat. There’s no point carrying a heavy load during a fight. It’ll only hinder you.”
“Got it…”
Rustle.
With a thud, the bag, filled with items, firearms, and ammunition, dropped to the ground, almost filling the last available space. Carto felt as if he were floating for a moment. After all, he had just been carrying more than double the weight he normally would.
Meanwhile, Eugene, who had been carrying a bag weighing around 40kg, tied it to Carto’s bag and casually lifted it with one hand, slinging it over her shoulder as if it were a schoolbag. Naturally, she didn’t even flinch at the weight.
With a calm expression, as if taking a casual stroll, Eugene spoke.
“Let’s go open the Hangar Gate. Seems like we’ve taken care of everything else, so hopefully, we’ll get access to a deeper zone today.”
“I hope it shows up too… Ah, but you know that I don’t want to leave you quickly, right?”
“Whether you’re making excuses or not, the task is already done, so feel free to say whatever you want.”
“Please send me home…”
Of course, the tactical pouch blocked any response that might have otherwise been spoken.
Both the radar and the users had been turned into corpses, and they walked toward the hangar platform without any sign of caution. Eugene pressed the button, and Carto waited for the hangar door to open.
The siren blared loudly as the door opened, and three radars appeared.
Eugene’s task began.
“Within 20 seconds, you need to identify the weapons of the three enemies and tell me what they are.”
“Ugh… alright… First, there’s an HK416!”
Thud-thud-thud!
As invisible supersonic rounds flew across the air, Carto desperately focused, trying to identify the enemies’ movements and the weapons they were holding.
This was, of course, a necessary task. Knowing what the enemy was holding meant understanding the total firepower they could bring, making it easier to prepare countermeasures.
Of course, Harmony and Dice had long gone through this training months ago.
“HK416 confirmed. What else?”
“Uh… MP5 and P90, I think!”
“If you can identify the attachments, I’ll give you bonus points.”
Carto scrambled, desperately trying to remember.
Though no one knew it, this was basic training Eugene had undergone when she was operating in New York. Simply identifying how many enemies there were or where they were positioned was something anyone could do.
But identifying the enemy’s weapons and preparing accordingly—whether for yourself or your team—was a skill that transcended normal expectations.
For this reason, the task Eugene gave Carto was a quick way to hone his combat skills. Quickly gathering data about the enemy and delivering it precisely to the team was an essential skill that would sharpen his perspective in combat.
Of course, it wasn’t necessary to analyze the entire battlefield only by sight.
— Pew!
“Ah, the one with the MP5 has a silencer on it! And a drum mag!”
“Excellent. I’ll buy you some time, so re-equip yourself.”
Sometimes, even gunfire served as valuable data.
After all, as expected, a human could only process a certain amount of data at once, and Eugene knew this limitation well. She had started providing fire support just before Carto could no longer focus.
Now, as if she had become one with the Mjolnir, the gunshot echoed across the hangar without a silencer, and the FMJ rounds didn’t hit the enemies directly—only grazing their helmets.
Naturally, she had guided Carto to finish off the job.
“The red container, moving towards the fuel tank truck. One is hiding behind the truck with no trailer, directly in front of the hangar. With the one moving toward Carto, that’s three. Open fire.”
“Phew…”
Thud!
Carto immediately stood and aimed before firing. It was still a little slow, but his movements were clean. After Eugene pointed out the next spot, Carto tossed a grenade, and as the second radar popped out, Carto secured another kill.
After discussing their next move as if they were playing real-time chess, Carto easily secured the last radar kill with surprising ease.
Finally, Carto smiled, lowered his head, and patted Carto on the shoulder.
“You did great.”
“Wow, that was so hard…!”
“Fighting is always this tough.”
She said that while rummaging through her things.
Eugene wasn’t expecting anything and, unsurprisingly, nothing showed up.
Though Carto’s battle training was progressing, it didn’t yield any further results. With a sigh, Eugene lifted Carto’s arm and added,
“Another bust.”
“…Huh?”
“What’s wrong… huh?”
Eugene’s Icarus downgrade watch, strapped to her wrist, began to glow when it was within 15cm of the radar’s Icarus watch. At the same time, several messages appeared before them. Though too many to list, one thing was clear—Eugene had finally found what she had been searching for.
And then, at that moment:
“…What is this?”
Looking at Carto, whose expression was filled with a sense of foreboding, Eugene smiled slightly and added,
“Looks like escaping is going to be a bit tougher.”
As expected, Carto couldn’t feel happy about it.
The path to the depths had opened.