"It seems that the friends over there are getting quite into their activities in this world."

"Well, they've set a precedent. But of course, they didn’t just accept it without thinking. The reason I gathered the three of you here today is to ask about that part..."

"You're looking too comfortable for someone who's here to ask questions, aren't you?"

"Looks like you’ve really dug in. Really dug in."

...Is that so?

Anyway, the reason the three of them are talking like that isn’t without a reason. Right now, my body was taking quite a... bizarre form. Not by choice, mind you. The three Mecha-Biyams were clinging to my limbs like human hand warmers.

Originally, I was planning to discuss how the third Biyam raid would proceed with these three, but unfortunately, it seemed they were more concerned with how to keep me around for as long as possible.

The result? This... twisted mess, which my friends were now calling a "coil."

That said, it wasn't entirely out of the ordinary. I should’ve made do with whatever was at hand, but lately, it hadn’t been that simple. The participation of my friends in the battle had become very important.

Of course, even without me, the operation could still proceed somewhat smoothly. A prime example would be the last mission with the Cato-graphers. I trained them well enough that even when I couldn’t follow through to the end, they managed to destroy the Shield Generator.

But despite that fact, as I mentioned earlier, the presence of my friends had a huge impact on the mission—especially in situations like the third Biyam raid, where we couldn’t just twist the mission structure as we wished.

And they knew this well enough to listen to my proposal without rejecting it.

"It’s not just one or two people. The fact that you gathered all three of us means that Logan and Olivia must also be showing some interest, right? That’s the most unexpected part."

"…I’m not sure what the me over there was thinking, but it’s not entirely impossible to understand. I briefly visited Disney World last time, didn’t I? You all know how… dull that place can be, right?"

"That’s too much, Logan. The main body, along with the second and third, went around explaining things, and I didn’t expect it to be boring."

"I didn’t mean it like that, you bastards."

Logan seemed flustered, and it was quite a sight.

Everyone except the Mecha-Biyams and the Polar Bear laughed, but I knew exactly what they were getting at. The reason I showed my face to my New York-friends was precisely because I thought they'd be bored.

In contrast to here, where nearly everything was in place, Savannah over there had shadows doing almost all of the cleanup, making it a tough time for operators who had gotten addicted to the dopamine and adrenaline rush of combat. Even with the Icarus gear assisting mentally, it wasn’t easy.

"The fact that you’re asking us like this means there’s something more to it than just ethical considerations. If we reject it, you’re confident they’ll accept it without issue, right?"

"…That’s right. Even if they said otherwise, in the end, the initiative is in your hands. If there’s no mutual agreement, they won’t push it forward."

"Hmm."

They all sank into their chairs, deep in thought.

It didn’t take long for the conversation to turn again.

"I didn’t think it would turn out like this when I first regained my memory. Perhaps, rather than diving back into the unit, I should have chosen to act more leisurely like you, Junior."

"Well, that’s hard to say. Isn’t the pie you’re holding too tempting to ignore? You’re not just confused about that, are you?"

"…That might be true."

Logan, who had collapsed back onto the bed, added:

"Forget it. I can’t keep changing my mind. I’ve made my decision. This time, I’ll leave it to them. I’ll watch the video of what happens next weekend."

"Hmm."

"And, at the end of this year, I might go visit Junior in person, so I’m content with that."

"…Well, it’s not too different for me. December is coming up, and there are a lot of things I need to finish here. After about two weeks of night shifts, I’ll have time to visit Junior at the end of the year… This matter is out of the question for me."

"Olivia too?"

A brief silence.

And then laughter.

"I have some things to do in Paris in January. I plan to focus on that this year. Of course, I’ll stop by to see you before that, but it’s the same thing. This time, I’ll let them have their chance. I’ll buy them something nice. Let them see the world a little."

"…You can buy them something nice, but outings are tricky."

"Haha, that’s not something I have to worry about. You all have the Icarus gear. Do what you need to with it."

This bastard really...

If that mischievous owl was next to me, I would’ve ruthlessly jabbed that giant midriff. Unfortunately, I couldn’t do that, and Olivia knew this, so she laughed quietly, supporting her chest with one arm.

Anyway, I had received permission from the three of them, and that meant I would soon have to take my New York-friends to my house. Of course, I was also planning to bring the Mecha-Biyams. After spending so much time with these Mecha-kids, I knew they would definitely sulk if I didn’t take them along.

The three of them, knowing this, left one last remark before signing off from the video call:

"Don’t destroy your house before the third raid."

"What? Destroying it might actually be fun."

"If anything breaks, let me know. I have a friend who’s an interior designer."

"Are you going to keep cursing us as you leave?"

These bastards...

I promised I’d get back at them the next time I met them in the U.S. and, with my rising anger directed elsewhere, I checked the structure of the raid map that had been publicly released.

It wasn’t clear whether I should call it a relief or not, but, frankly speaking, the structure itself wasn’t much different from what I had mentioned last time—Operation Ouroboros. Destroying the power towers from 1 to 4, and then capturing the weakened third target.

The only difference being that, unlike the linear structure of the Ouroboros operation, this one wasn’t quite as straightforward. We could decide where to deploy forces before the operation began.

'The best choice here would be for me, Logan, Lorentina, and Olivia to each lead a squad.'

Five per squad, twenty total.

Considering that the time for the third raid wasn’t particularly abundant, we had to destroy all the towers quickly and smash the Mav’s skull with a hammer.

Mav, who had been squirming on my stomach, seemed uneasy, but I ignored it and quickly sent messages to the three who would be joining the raid. These three hadn’t commanded players to destroy towers in Operation Ouroboros... but they’d get plenty of practice soon.

Unlike the high difficulty of Operation Ouroboros, with the infinite retries possible in this raid, most of the content would likely be uncovered within a day or two. However, we’d still have to consider the stamina of the players, unlike the avatars.

Well, we could always replace the players as needed.

A while later, an unwelcome guest arrived.

"Waaah!"

"Junior! What are you doing here! Take us over to the other side now!"

"You’re just here, messing around with the Mecha-Junior! We’ve been thinking for hours about what gift to bring to this party."

"By the looks of it, it seems like you’re okay with us dragging you along. Get up now!"

"Ugh, no violence!"

Of course, none of it worked.

The scariest thing isn’t more avatars, it’s more avatars who are even more scary.

"…Am I just imagining it, or are the three of you scarier than usual today, Eugene?"

"…I don’t know."

"Why are you avoiding my eyes?!"

Three of my students, sensing something with their sixth sense, were making a ruckus. I tried my best to ignore them and thought to myself.

This is exactly why I hate friends with good instincts.

"This time, the annihilation difficulty is available to all users, right?"

"They didn’t say it would be easy, though. From the looks of it, we’ve already been severely beaten. Definitely not something to take lightly."

"When has Eugene ever taken something lightly?"

- Definitely never took it lightly, it’s harder than expected lol

- Living Point: During the previous Operation Ouroboros, it was nearly a disaster for everyone.

- Even the Avengers team with Jin and Rain nearly got destroyed, why are the half-beasts even touching the annihilation difficulty lol

- But... 'Because it’s fun'

- We’re gonna clear the annihilation difficulty and max out Mecha-Biyam affection levels!!

...We haven’t even started, and everyone’s already lost half their minds.

Fortunately, thanks to that, the slightly odd vibe from Logan, Lorentina, and Olivia was buried. Although I had some anxiety because Cato, Dice, Harmony, Blooming, Limit, Kimstone, and Hotteok had arrived... it was a relief that there was nothing to worry about.

At this point, including myself, 11 of us were at the forward base in front of the gate leading into Savannah. The area was crowded with users, and people shouting into loudspeakers for raid group recruitment.

"Before we fill the last nine spots, let’s quickly assign the teams. The team names will be simple... Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta, and I’m sure you can guess the squad leaders."

"Then... do we just move as we please?"

"Limit, Stone, and Hotteok, except for you three, everyone else, please move out."

- ?? : Got it? Let’s do what we always do.

- Cato is immediately running over to Mecha-Biyam lol

- Dice is going to the Polar Bear, and Harmony is obviously going under the Shark lol

- How long have they been together for it to be so natural lol

- Only Blooming and Olivia are awkward lol

Yeah, that’s it.

"I guess that’s it for today."

In this situation, the probability of the other avatars being confused was high, considering they didn’t know my students that well. The New York-friends hadn’t had much interaction with them before, which made it all the more confusing when Lorentina, Logan, and Olivia saw Harmony naturally coming under Lorentina’s command, and Dice being easily placed under Logan’s.

It wasn’t that my New York-friends didn’t know my students. After all, they had watched my streams recently. But, as always, knowledge doesn’t always match up with emotion. Even if they knew intellectually, when it came down to action, they were caught off guard.

Perhaps it was because of that, but Olivia and Blooming, who didn’t know my students as well, became closer a lot faster.

Anyway, that aside, it was now time to assign the rest.

"Hotteok will go under me, Stone will go with Harmony, and Limit will join Dice. Now, what about the remaining nine?"

"Should we call in some of the others?"

"Since it’s the first try, it might be better to only call in the ones with the best skills among those we can bring."

"What are you hesitating about?"

Dice’s rather provocative remarks.

I was wondering what she was thinking when she suddenly swiped down her friends list with her finger and sent out a message. Then, the list was forwarded to me.

When I saw that lineup, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

"Mikael, Gambit, Ink, Summit, Corvus... I’ve seen these names before. Are you thinking of calling them in too?"

"That makes sixteen. I thought about calling a few more, but strangely, there aren’t that many I know well. So I just called these. They all replied quickly. They’ll be here soon."

- Wait, what???????

- Living Point: Apart from Summit, the others were all in the top 15 of last year’s Final Championship.

- What kind of dream team is this? lol

- Dice is out of her mind lol

Mikael, Gambit, Ink.

Other students of mine who, after my skull got shattered, ended up getting into the third Final Championship with me and achieved excellent results.

Summit and Corvus. Summit had a bad connection with Dice in the past, and Corvus... well, he was one of the users I had knocked around in California’s gas fields. He was the one who made the “Axe Goddess” nickname famous but ended up getting trolled for it.

It’s funny how, even after all this time, just hearing their names brought back such vivid memories.

As expected, after a while, people started joining the party, one by one.

"Ah, Eugene! Long time no see. I thought you had forgotten about me since you hadn’t called me in a while."

"Of course not, haha. We’re heading to the U.S. again this year."

"Hey! Dice! Do you only call us when you need us?"

"Well, if you don’t want to come, don’t. But there are probably hundreds of thousands of people waiting to join this party."

"Ah, I see. Thanks then."

- Haha, seriously lol

- Is this where pro gamers meet up?

- Stone, Limit, and Hotteok all look so serious lol

- Wait… am I allowed here???

- That lineup is crazy lol

Yeah, this could be considered a pro gamer meetup. Half the party consisted of top-tier players. Harmony also joined the lineup, and strictly speaking, I had won first place in last year’s Final Championship, while Logan, although not the one here, had placed second in this place's Polar Bear contest.

Just as I was about to greet Corvus warmly, a familiar voice suddenly came through my earpiece.

"Ah, Master? Can you hear me?"

"Who told you to communicate like that... Anyway, what’s up? You’re not both planning to join this, are you?"

"No way. I heard you’re having trouble recruiting people for this raid, so I was just going to give you a tip."

A tip?

But before I could even ask what was going on, I saw four humanoid figures walking toward us with uncanny familiarity... they had bodies that resembled mine.

"Originally, the shadows would have to request this directly from the forward base, but when the Dagger team heard about your team’s shortage of personnel, they started recruiting themselves."

"...What did you say?"

"Codenames are AW, ES, ML, MK. By now, the four remote controllers should have arrived nearby, so I hope everything goes well! Bye!"

- What???

- The Dagger team lol

- They just handed over the cheat codes lol

- This is too much, isn’t it?

- Starting the raid with hacks!!

The communication ended abruptly, and I was left staring at Logan, Lorentina, and Olivia, who were talking to the Dagger team.

Their conversation seemed... what should I say...?

"Haha. Nice to see you. I didn’t expect to meet you here again."

"Yeah, I didn’t either. I look forward to working with you."

"You’re volunteering for such a dangerous mission? Guess you must have been really bored staying at base."

"I’m just betting on the highest probability location. Haha."

The conversation on the surface seemed quite normal, but I knew it wasn’t.

And just as my mind started to fade away, I couldn’t help but think one thing.

“This is why comedy programs fail.”

The raid was off to a chaotic start.