“…So, this Epcot place is built with the theme of the future, nature, and architecture from various cultures around the world, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Then what about that World Tree over there?”

“…Uh, well…”

The next day, on our way to Epcot.

A massive structure, resembling a gigantic World Tree over 100 meters tall, was visible from the parking lot. Logan looked at me in disbelief and added, and I was just as surprised. The recommended tour course sent by Disney didn’t properly inform us about what was in the VR theme park.

But now, I could see what was going on. I had heard that some sort of optical camouflage had been running 24/7 around the studio, showing things like this only to tourists who entered within a certain range. It seemed like they were trying to leave a positive first impression with this.

Thinking about it, though… it’s Disney. Dream and hope. No matter how popular Dark Zone was, easily surpassing the VR game rankings in second and third place, it would be hard to promote a grim virus apocalypse as the main theme. Image-wise, it would be difficult.

Of course, while it may have been hard, they didn’t exactly shy away from it.

“What worries me more than that is the shattered Statue of Liberty I see in the distance…”

“Oh, that. Task Force Razor, where were they again… Philadelphia?”

“Yeah, they were blowing away drug dealers and escaped convicts, and you guys were stopping a hijacked passenger plane, packed with bombs, from terrorizing, right?”

“I think the shattered Statue of Liberty inside the studio is a result of that operation.”

Operation... what was it called? Back then, there were so many missions, big and small, it was hard to remember them all.

But the details were clear. After wiping out terrorists along the Hudson River, the mission had been to intercept a passenger plane filled with ammonium nitrate heading straight for Central Park, all while being hijacked by criminals with SAMs. The result of about 3 tons of fertilizer exploding was utterly horrifying. It was a massive explosion in the sky over the Hudson River, comparable to the Beirut explosion, and the Statue of Liberty got caught in the blast, reduced to ruins.

That scene was directly implanted into Dark Zone, and I guessed that the destroyed statue in the studio was inspired by that.

Naturally, this couldn’t be used for public advertisement.

Disney World definitely couldn’t advertise with something like that.

“And aside from that… looks like the games have spent a fair bit of money building landmarks around here. Except for Dark Zone.”

“Well, they’re all games Icarus services anyway, so what’s the big deal?”

We parked the car and walked for about 10 minutes to get our tickets.

At least, ‘so far’ we hadn’t brought Jin, Rain, or Maverick with us. The ‘remote access’ service that Icarus provided was only available inside the VR studio, meaning we had to enter and connect to specific facilities to experience it.

Of course, today, I’d be pretending to do that. The three mech-kids would probably be waiting eagerly for us by now, so we’d better pick up the pace.

At 7:40 AM, despite the long lines, we entered Epcot, a park almost empty, with only staff members around. They were busy rehearsing and checking equipment, but when we passed by, they welcomed us with their usual character movements.

I waved back casually and headed toward the most remote part of the studio, toward a very discreet humanoid storage area. To maintain the park’s identity, they had excavated a massive area, nearly the size of a soccer field, to store the robots.

But today, we didn’t need to go inside.

I reached the door, grabbed the handle, and pulled it open.

In the next moment, turquoise, blue, and purple light burst out.

“Juiiiiin—!”

“Archetype!”

“Wow, it’s like a different world. It’s full of cute little buildings…”

How should I handle these three mech-kids?

But seeing their expressions, they genuinely seemed happy, so I figured that was good enough. Though, it would’ve been much better if these 500kg robots didn’t cling to me. They were just too heavy.

After successfully bringing them along, I added,

“If Jin pulls out a plasma gun, I’m sending him back immediately. And if Rain pulls out a railgun, same thing. As for Maverick… come to think of it, I don’t even know what weapon Maverick has attached to his tail.”

“Him? A deuterium ion cannon. I heard it can output megawatts, but since the test firing hasn’t been scheduled yet, I’m not sure. But, we all have 20-gigawatt arc reactors, so that power should be fine.”

“…The third one is definitely banned.”

What should I even say?

No matter how I think about it, the technology from that world… If there were no viruses, I’m pretty sure by 2030, humans would have been traveling through the solar system in spaceships. How did their technology end up like this?

Of course, comparing the output of an ultra-small nuclear fusion reactor the size of a wristwatch to a reactor the size of a human heart is nonsense, and the output itself can be freely adjusted depending on how much reaction material the device consumes, so it wasn’t really a big deal.

Still, to use plasma guns and railguns, it made sense they’d need that level of power. Plus, the superconducting motors on their joints would need to be running full throttle.

Anyway, as I rejoined my group, I remarked,

“I hope all the tourists here today don’t end up swarming toward us.”

“Give up. If they wanted to stop us, they should’ve done it last night.”

“It's not that I don’t enjoy drawing attention, but I’m not sure it’s ideal to pull all eyes on us right now… And no hand-locking, first mech-kid!”

“Not fair. We also want to go out and have fun.”

I grinned and, ignoring the awkward look from my companions, began passing off one mech-Yujin after another.

Logan, Laurenatina, and Olivia were watching Jin proudly strut around like he’d just discovered the world, while I, along with Olivia, was planning to spend time with Rain—who I’d barely hung out with compared to Jin.

As thousands of tourists started to pour into the entrance of Epcot, I left Olivia behind and entered one of the souvenir shops. It didn’t take long before the shop attendant's eyes grew wide with surprise.

“Welcome! If you’re looking for something, head to the counter… Oh my god, no way…”

“Hi there. Could you just ring up two headbands for me?”

“Ah… Y-yes, of course.”

The attendant’s hand shook as she took my card.

With a beep, the payment went through, and the attendant, now calming down, glanced at Rain standing to my right, stammering as she spoke.

“T-This person, is this really…?”

“This is Rain. She’s a character from the EU mode, so some people might not know her, but I’m glad you do.”

“U-uh… How did a game character come to life?”

“I remember Icarus Dynamics made a brief announcement before heading to Hawaii. To summarize, they started a project to implement AI from games into reality. And that’s what she is.”

Of course, it was a lie, but the fact that Icarus was indeed doing this kind of project made it believable.

Technically, the hologram overlaying the humanoid inside the VR studio was part of the truth. After all, it wasn’t entirely a lie, and after placing a copyright monster-themed headband on Rain, who was beaming with joy, I handed it over.

I had heard that even the humanoids managed by the studio could wear headbands, with or without the holograms. So, there was no issue.

Meanwhile, outside the shop, the noise from the growing crowd started to get louder.

After a brief farewell to the staff, feeling a bit uneasy, I opened the door and looked back.

“…Oh no.”

“Ugh, the crowd’s a bit much, isn’t it?”

Just as she said.

It was a sea of people, and Olivia, who had been waiting outside, added,

“If they’re not planning on keeping people from seeing anything except the human wall they’ve built all day, you’d better figure out how to disperse this crowd, youngest.”

“…Guess so.”

What a headache.

"...I knew there was a Dark Zone area, but I never expected to leave a trace there."

"Well, we’re a bit late. The second-place winner, Stormseer, has already had their signature posted on the wall. It’s odd that Disney hasn’t reached out about it yet. Maybe it’s because we’re the Manifestors."

"At least we're leaving our mark now, right?"

Epcot - Dark Zone Area at Disney World.

This place, nestled somewhere between a theme park and a cosplay zone filled with airsoft-gear-wielding players, featured a Statue of Liberty—except, this one was shattered from the waist up. Inside its broken base were four signature spaces, along with two blank ones.

The spots with the signatures were presumably meant for the first and second-place winners of the Final Championship. After scanning the signatures, they’d be permanently etched onto the wall. I was only now figuring that out, and honestly, it was a bit surprising... but well, better late than never.

Fortunately, there was no need to have someone sign on paper and then submit it. All we had to do was sign on something like a tablet and send it to Disney.

Although the people around us seemed somewhat disappointed.

"Hmm, I think I could probably leave some kind of signature if I poked it hard with my finger..."

"Don't break your finger, ugh."

"If the youngest shields his finger once, it should work fine… Just kidding. I’m kidding. Don’t look at me like that.”

“I can do it without the shield... I’ll keep quiet, Archetype.”

Why is everyone so intent on seeing how much damage they can leave on a concrete wall?

Considering the area was so large, there was still plenty to explore. I decided to keep moving, nudging the three mech-kids forward as I let them wander aimlessly. They finally laughed and moved their heavy bodies.

In any case, the Dark Zone Area was definitely different from Magic Kingdom and the other areas we had visited the day before. Specifically, there were no standard "Meet and Greet" sessions with iconic characters that you'd typically find in Disney World.

Just the day before, we had been surrounded by all sorts of characters from Disney animations performing and participating in parades. This was a definite contrast.

But just because it was different, it didn’t necessarily mean it was boring.

"…Isn’t that Artemis?"

"There’s even a cosplay of a special forces soldier. Not just escapees and rioters…"

Is this cosplay?

Anyway, the staff members here seemed to be dressed up like real-life special forces personnel, patrolling the area, as if mimicking the movements of a squad. It kind of felt like the staff dressed as stormtroopers roaming the nearby theme park.

They all wore firearms, but the barrels had colored parts attached to show they were mock guns, and they didn’t point them at people. Instead, they called over the tourists, pretended to check them, and after taking photos, they’d send them on their way.

It was a strange scene.

But what was even stranger was what happened next.

"This is Operation Team Bimpel, we’ve spotted an Icarus operator with an oddly-shaped appearance. We’ll detain them immediately."

"Ahhh—!"

There were several moments where a girl operator cosplayer with a hologram applied to her body was subdued by a Russian special forces staff member.

Naturally, this was part of the interactive experience between the tourists and staff. Like all VR games, Dark Zone also couldn’t escape the trend of having avatars in cute costumes. Of course, this had been happening for some time, so it wasn’t surprising anymore.

Additionally, there was still a parade, but unlike the Disney-themed ones, here it felt more like a military convoy. It was like watching armored vehicles drive around the park, like a combat operation, rather than something out of a fantasy.

My mind was a bit dazed.

"...To think they’d add something like this into Disney World, and actually make it happen. Impressive in many ways, really. No wonder they’ve hidden it with optical camouflage, so it’s not visible to the outside."

"They’ve divided the areas sharply, using optical camouflage, and only allowed movement between buildings. It’s to make sure no one knows what’s going on inside, even within the same theme park."

"I guess it’s their way of preventing the destruction of innocence... I heard the Terra area is frequented by children too."

That makes sense. For kids, how could they resist that massive World Tree—leaves made of holograms—at such a size?

Of course, we were planning to visit that area later.

As I thought about it, I turned my head and glanced at the three mech-Yujins, now engaged in their own adventure. Their eyes were wide, practically sparkling, as they tried to take in everything around them. It was like they were falling in love with the world. Their reactions were so strong that I wondered how things would have gone if we hadn’t brought them along today.

Logan, Laurenatina, and Olivia were all watching them fondly, as if looking at adorable children, while I couldn’t help but smile.

Suddenly, my Icarus gear vibrated, indicating a phone call. Seeing the country code starting with 812, I guessed it was an international call.

When the Icarus gear displayed the country, I couldn’t help but laugh.

812.  

St. Petersburg.

I answered the call with a big smile, and immediately the voice on the other side screamed through the line.

"Y-Yujin! I don’t mind the first and second mech, but where did the third one come from?! Is this the new Incursion ad after the Asia qualifiers!?"

"Ha, ha—!"

"I’m going deaf!"

How did they know? I hadn’t even turned on the stream—though later, I learned that rumors had quickly spread on the internet, and somehow, the word reached them.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I heard the panicked voices of the two mech-idiots on the other side.

The charm of the first, second, and third mechs.