“This is either rain or snow… What is this…”

St. Petersburg.

Once the capital of the Russian Empire, now the second most famous city in Russia after Moscow, and a city where countless imperial legacies still stand proudly, making it a top tourist destination. It is also the city where the 4th Dark Zone Apex Predator Asia Qualifiers are taking place.

Normally, this place attracted a massive influx of people just because it was a tourist destination, but this year, there were even more. People had traveled to see the Asia Qualifiers, paying tens of millions of won in airfare, accommodation, meals, and other expenses.

Especially during this off-season, with the half-melted snow falling from the sky, it would be a welcome sight for the city. I heard they had launched a major advertising campaign to attract tourists to St. Petersburg.

Anyway, back to the story.

I was now walking through a city with the light drizzle of rain and snow.

‘Maybe I should have just stayed at the Lachta Center…?’

The weather really made me think about the past.

The simple reason I ventured outside in such dreadful weather was because Mina and Yerin had recommended a café near Kazan Cathedral, so I had driven several kilometers, parked the car at the Icarus Residence parking lot in the city center, and then walked around the area.

I was also wandering around to kill time – and there was another separate reason as well.

The city reminded me of Paris without the Eiffel Tower. Apparently, they don’t allow construction of buildings taller than a certain height, except for the Lachta Center. I heard the tallest building here is some cathedral tower.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t in my favor, so I wouldn’t be able to see it.

So, what was my main task?

“Wow, no way! Eugene?!”

“I heard you were in St. Petersburg, but this is real! I’m a huge fan!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you. I hope you enjoy the game tonight at 7 PM.”

Managing public opinion.

Actually, half of it was unintentional, but well, now that my face was known beyond Korea, it couldn’t be helped. I had hidden my tail inside the padding and covered my head with a hood to disguise myself, but it seemed I couldn’t fool them completely.

If I really wanted to hide, I would have activated the stealth function of the Icarus Gear, so I was partly responsible for being spotted. With this weather, it wasn’t as easy to just wander around for sightseeing, and staying at the Lachta Center would only lead to me nagging the national team players again.

Thus, from my jacket pocket, I pulled out my special Byam-stamp. It was a hassle to sign every fan’s item individually, so I just stamped them all.

‘Signatures or blessings leave a trace… I’d better be careful with that in a world where finding people is so easy using just handwriting.’

In a world where a single piece of handwriting makes it so easy to find someone, it’s important to always be cautious about leaving any kind of trace.

As I gave a few words of encouragement to the fans receiving their Byam stamps, their expressions brightened a little. After that, I had another brief fan meeting and continued moving on—this was the kind of work I had to do on a day like this.

St. Petersburg was a city packed with places to visit, and it didn’t take long for me to reach the café I had been aiming for.

As I climbed to the second floor of the building with a view of Kazan Cathedral, the warmth of people’s presence hit me.

The moment the door opened, I was met with a rush of people amidst the dry air. Ignoring the crowd, I turned right, pushed aside a curtain, and entered a section marked with "reserved" tables, with a few empty spots on the balcony.

Heading toward a balcony protected from the snowstorm, I naturally sat down.

How much time had passed?

“Apple tart, tiramisu, and chocolate latte. Let me know if you need anything else.”

A staff member, wearing a pin that read ‘Zenya’ in Cyrillic, approached with a steaming tray.

She removed the "reserved" sign from the table and placed several desserts and drinks, more than enough for one person. Yet, she seemed to not mind, placing it down without a second thought, and I watched her retreat as I spoke up.

“Seems like the Gray Fox is taking it easy these days?”

At that moment, she froze.

The staff member subtly pushed the tray cart, and with a quiet click, she fastened a button on the curtain separating the reserved area from the general seating – the one I had passed through earlier.

Turning back toward her original position, Zenya extended her hand, offering a handshake before sitting down.

“We no longer go by Gray Fox. Now I go by Nix.”

“Oh dear. Olivia will probably get confused.”

“I thought you’d bring that up.”

As she spoke, a slip of paper emerged from beneath her tea cup.

Veritas Omnia Vincula Vincit – "Truth conquers all chains" – the motto of the Information Support Unit (ISA).

To explain this, I had to briefly mention the letter Henry had indirectly sent me yesterday. The paper contained several faintly engraved secret codes.

In summary, the message was asking me to meet someone who wanted to see me, with brief details about the person’s location and affiliation.

So, I came here, and now I was meeting this person.

“Do you remember me?”

“Jennifer Lawrenson. Assistant team leader of Task Force Needle. A bystander in the big incident, a firecracker, an infiltrator…”

“An old name. As you said, I’m still doing the same thing.”

Task Force Needle.

After the outbreak of war, they were sent to Russia to carry out espionage, hacking, and other operations. They had the authority to guide nuclear missiles to Russian soil if things went wrong for the U.S., and after the war, they were tasked with preparing for WW4 by surveying Russian territory.

During the time when the U.S. became a living hell, these outcasts wreaked havoc on the enemy’s soil. One of them now worked for the Russian branch of the Information Support Unit.

Of course, since she was originally Slavic, it wasn’t apparent she worked here.

“St. Petersburg is a pretty good town. It’s optimal for gathering information.”

“Because of the tourists?”

“Of course.”

As I picked up a slice of apple tart, shaped like a pizza slice, the gel-like top layer wobbled enticingly.

The taste was as good as its rating – a solid 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Anyway, cities with many tourists are perfect for data collection. People with the luxury to travel abroad are excellent samples, and they always carry at least one electronic device. Plus, they don't pay much attention to security.

This café was broadcasting Wi-Fi within several hundred meters, and people happily connecting to the free Wi-Fi were probably unknowingly having their data easily read, like through a microscope.

Of course, only certain keywords were being tracked, and messages not matching those keywords were automatically discarded.

“Anyway, I’d like to hear why you called me today. I’m assuming you didn’t come just to talk about some boring issue like leaking unnecessary information.”

“Well, if it were under normal circumstances, that might be the case, but thanks to you, there’s a high chance that Korea will officially join the Five Eyes next year. Let’s call it a precaution against resolving the military intelligence gap.”

“Haha.”

“You’ve called me today for nothing special. I’ll just briefly tell you what’s coming up next. If you’re not interested, you can just listen.”

As I slowly devoured my dessert, her slow speech followed.

It felt like I had come for one thing but was getting more than expected, but there was no harm in listening.

“Henry plans to use the energy sector you gave him as a weapon to gradually weaken influence in the Middle East and South Asia. Additionally, he’s planning to take care of the annoying neighbors to your north and launch them into space.”

“…Where did you learn that word?”

“Where else? Haha.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle.

While savoring the sweet aftertaste of my dessert, I could hear the blizzard outside growing fiercer. Just a while ago, the snow and rain mixed together, but now it was clearly snowing, and it seemed like the way back would be quite difficult.

She didn’t seem concerned by it and continued speaking.

“Anyway, personally, I’m very grateful to you. Information analysts tend to have a hard time mentally. You’ve helped relieve some of that, so I won’t charge you for your snacks this time.”

“Well, I came for a snack, but it looks like I’m just hearing uncomfortable things…”

“Well, think of it as the noise you have to endure on the way to permanent world peace.”

Clink.

Before I knew it, the plate was empty, and she took it away while adding:

“World peace, huh. I thought it was something out of a novel, but I see that’s not exactly true.”

“…”

She placed the reservation sign back on the spot I had been sitting at and vanished as if she had never been there.

World peace. Right now, the sweetness of the dessert in my mouth felt far more real than that.

The feeling was strange.

St. Petersburg was still covered in the falling snow.

“The top ranks are showing off the Taegukgi in all its glory. There are also foreign competitors impressively holding their ground, but…”

“Korean players can be considered great because Byam has trained them well, but the other countries are still impressive. This year, Russia is quite strong. Japan has completely collapsed.”

“Even with the home-ground advantage, their growth speed is significant. Korean players who aren’t performing well are being devoured and sharpened like whetstones.”

One, two, three days.

As the samples pile up, trends emerge, and meaningful results are drawn.

Wherever you go in the stadium, the same twenty nicknames are visible. Dice, firmly holding first place, Harmony maintaining a stable pace between second and fourth… but that wasn’t as important. The tri-colored flags of the white, blue, and red were the ones everyone should focus on.

Japan’s flag was almost entirely torn, and Taiwan, which wasn’t exactly a strong nation, and China, which was doing decently, were seen in the lower ranks.

It wasn’t the middle-tier aiming for three spots, but Russia and Korea in the top ranks, competing fiercely for dominance, was quickly becoming the main spectacle of the 4th Asia Qualifiers.

And this fact was known by everyone, not just Eugene.

“Foreign players’ skill levels are rising quickly. I roughly expected it, but I didn’t think they’d engage with the lower-ranked Korean players and gather combat data. These aren’t players whose heads don’t work.”

“From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem like we can do much about it…”

“Exactly. It’s a kind of rising standard. Honestly, you can see it more clearly in international competitions, but it probably started a long time ago.”

Eugene’s bombshell left the briefing room in silence.

Blinking slowly, the Byam who was sitting beside me seemed deep in thought, but in reality, it wasn’t like that. As she had just mentioned, this was something that had been expected.

Taking a deep breath, Eugene’s consciousness sank below the surface of thought.

‘...I guess it’s because last year we completely smashed foreign players.’

I had taken advantage of too many fools.

Even the casino owner came to the scene and blatantly cleaned them out.

Though this type of e-sports changes its meta faster than other games, if the core fundamentals don’t change, we can’t advance any further — e-sports is a massive industry. In other words, it involves a lot of money.

However, last year, we crushed the players of other countries so hard that even the biggest sponsors jumped out of their seats. Those who were previously calculating costs and benefits now poured money into improving players' skills.

Once the reins were loosened, this led to a radical upward standardization, something that couldn’t be explained by words like change or innovation. Perhaps terms like “revolution” would even be used.

But that was the core of the situation. Eugene didn’t care if everyone in the room looked at her, and she added:

“Still, we’re maintaining the lead. Fortunately, we are now riding the edge of this... innovation.”

In the end, why did this situation happen?

Because Korea did well.

Even the richest businesses can go bankrupt, but in e-sports, the gap is not small enough to be closed overnight. Eugene stated it firmly, and everyone accepted it.

The one who created that gap was right there.

She calmly spoke up again.

“But we cannot allow our players to become stepping stones. Don’t you agree?”

“Absolutely.”

“The longer the fight goes on, the more data we provide the enemy. Right now, foreign countries seem to be avoiding direct battles with the top Korean players and instead are testing their strategies with players who are a little lower in rank.”

“A safe method. It looks like they’re struggling to find a clear defense.”

There was no answer, but that was the answer.

Eugene smiled faintly and snapped her fingers. The map appeared in the air—the maps we’d play on tomorrow, provided by Apex Predator.

After seeing it, Byam gestured, and all the buildings on the map started to glow red.

“If there’s an advantage everyone has, it’s knowing the structure of the map we’ll play tomorrow. No one here will have trouble visualizing the layout.”

“Yes, but…”

“The key is, if you shorten the TTK drastically, the enemy will have less information to recover, right?”

Swoosh.

Eugene clenched her fist, and the map compressed into a grenade shape.

She coldly added:

“Then let’s do that.”

And—

Boom!

“What the...!”

“I can’t believe it! Setting a trap like this after pretending to stall… This is crazy.”

Byam had spent an entire day teaching the twenty users how to use instant-death traps – or as they were known, bomb traps.

The horrifying explosion and the shattered remains of a player covered Thursday’s St. Petersburg.