"Wow…."


    Harmony, the small-framed homeowner,y sprawled on the sofa in her living room, staring up at the ceiling with her phone resting on her belly. Her mind was awash with emotions, a whirlwind of thoughts and memories about Yujin that had suddenly taken on a new meaning. It wasn’t betrayal she felt—after all, Yujin hadn’t lied to her. But there was a sense of awe, a sort of marvel at the revtion that had just unfolded.


    An Awakened, of all things.


    Awakened individuals were rare, and those who existed were often under strict protection by the government. Stories of where they lived were passed around in whispers, but meeting one intentionally was nearly impossible.


    Yet here she was, with a friend whose identity was beyond anything she could have imagined. She had assumed Yujin was just an incredibly fit personal trainer or perhaps a tough, retired special forces soldier. But the world, it seemed, always had a way of surprising her with more than she bargained for.


    But that realization onlysted a moment.


    Harmony’s thoughts drifted back over the past three to four weeks, recalling her experiences with Yujin. The first time she entered Dark Zone, the feelings she had as she navigated that deste, snow-covered dead city—a stark contrast to the vibrant, hopeful VRMMORPGs she had yed before. The sense of istion and struggle, as if the whole world was against her.


    And then, amidst it all, she met Yujin.


    Their first meeting was too impactful to be forgotten, and naturally led to a second and third. In those times, many things happened between them. Before long, Harmony had skyrocketed to be a top-tier streamer, choosing to showcase her skills in Apex Predator content and growing her reputation rapidly.


    On the surface, it seemed like just a story of someone benefiting from a friendship, but when she considered that Yujin’s avatar—no, her true form—had been what she was seeing all along, everything changed.


    The image of Yujin in the restricted area, at the shooting range, during missions, and in survival scenarios… all those moments took on a new significance.


    Wait a minute.


    Did that mean the avatar she had seen was actually Yujin herself all along?


    Realizing the full weight of this revtion, Harmony quickly grabbed her phone.


    <em>[Harmony: This is a national-level deception, teacher!!!!]</em>


    <em>[Yujin: ??????]</em>


    But seriously, if Yujin’s identity were to be revealedter on—whether by her or through some other means—wouldn’t it be like, "Ta-da! You haven’t been watching an avatar all this time; you’ve been seeing the real Yujin!"?


    If that happened, how could anyone be med for the inevitable chaos in the chatroom? At least for the first 30 minutes, it would be a storm of questions and usations.


    Revealing her identityter would actually be easier. The next time viewers ask for a face reveal, she could just say, "You’ve been watching it all along!" and that would be the end of it.


    If this isn’t deception, what is?


    It seemed that being a former special forces soldier also meant being good at tricking people.


    <em>[Harmony: What am I supposed to do now,,,]</em>


    <em>[Harmony: Do I just have to bury my face in my pillow and shout, ''Yujin-sensei is a real anaconda'' every day??]</em>


    <em>[Harmony: My lips are itching to talk about this,,?(???o???)?]</em>


    <em>[Yujin: Oh dear]</em>


    <em>[Yujin: See you at the police station]</em>


    <em>[Harmony: That’s too much,,,???!!!]</em>


    It was a bit scary because that could actually happen….


    But aside from her urge to talk about it, Harmony was genuinely looking forward to what was toe. In just a few months, who knew how much more famous Yujin could be? It wasn’t out of the question that she could single-handedly dominate the Dark Zonemunity.


    If, during all that time, Harmony alone knew the truth while everything around her exploded, it might actually be kind of fun.


    Even as these thoughts raced through her mind, their conversation continued, shifting to the topic of where they might eat.


    Not sure if this was true for all Awakened individuals or just Yujin, but Harmony quickly decided to book the most expensive buffet she knew, considering Yujin had mentioned she ate a lot.


    Although nearly 300,000 won vanished from her ount in an instant, it wasn’t much of a concern given her ie.


    The bigger worry, though…


    <em>…Will I end up getting dragged to the gym with her if we meet in person?</em>


    She imagined herself struggling to lift the lightest weights while Yujin watched and counted every rep with unwavering precision.


    As she envisioned a future where her muscles ached and shey on her bed or sofa trying to stream, Harmony shook her head in resignation.


    Her hazel hair swayed gently as she did.


    It was summer.


    A Tactical Advisor.


    Or, as it’s moremonly known, a military consultant.


    In today’s world—at least within certain circles—this wasn’t an umon profession. A quick search on YourSpace would bring up countless videos rted to the field.


    The rise of the game Dark Zone brought military expertise, once considered far removed from the everyday lives of civilians, into the esports world.


    In short, this profession had be much more essible than it used to be.


    So, what does a Tactical Advisor do? As the name suggests, they provide expert guidance. This can range from training a single individual to be abat specialist to devising strategies forrge-scale conflicts.


    Neither role is inherently superior. The former is akin to a nonmissioned officer who directly trains field operatives, while thetter takes on the broader perspective of tactics and strategy, like an officer.


    If asked which role I fit into, I’d say the former. In other words, I was a field operative.


    Whether thetter role is even necessary in a game like Dark Zone is debatable.


    So, the job I’d be doing from now on was closer to agent training.


    Of course, I wasn’t going to apply real-world tactics in the game, but… it’s something I’ll figure out as I go. The people I’ll be instructing likely have some basic knowledge of urbanbat.


    Even if it’s something they learned through the game….


    If I had to predict, my role would likely involve correcting their mistakes and helping them refine their shooting and positioning skills.


    Urbanbat, or CQB, ultimatelyes down to who can shed their hesitation and attack first, but that requires a level of urgency that’s hard to replicate in a game.


    That’s why we focus on improving shooting skills and reaction times.


    Anyway, it starts tomorrow.


    I couldn’t just show up unprepared, so I spent a good amount of time warming up and revisiting some training manuals that had been gathering virtual dust in my Icarus Gear.


    I focused less on the rigid basics and more on practical skills that are easy to overlook—like how to quickly switch between left and right stances behind cover, how to efficiently throw grenades, and how to make quick single shots.


    It sounds like the kind of knowledge you’d expect to be passed down personally, but as always, soldiers are trained, not born.


    Everything can be tranted into knowledge, and that means even actions can be exined theoretically.


    A donation popped up on my screen:


    Embrier donated 1,000 won: "Not doing scrims today? That’s awesome, lol."


    "I’ve done everything I needed to for the past few days… Actually, I was told during scrims that there’s no need for me to participate anymore. Considering that, it seems a bit excessive to keep joining."


    <ul>


    <li>Summary: Too good, got kicked out</li>


    <li>This person is a realedian, lolololololol</li>


    <li>Teacher, you don’t need to beat around the bush, we all know what’s up.</li>


    <li>My greatest achievement in life: watching Yujin’s stream, lol</li>


    <li>You too?</li>


    </ul>


    …Looking back, it really does feel like I got kicked out.


    Though I’ll be participating in a different capacity starting tomorrow, the fact remains… Sometimes I wonder how I ended up in this situation.


    It’s fortunate that I can use all the skills I’ve acquired in a positive way, but still.


    Anyway, it’s about time I started preparing for tougher opponents.


    The basic mechanics of the game don’t change, but who knows what kind ofpetitors will show up in the Asia qualifiers—assuming I get through. Once I start preparing for the finals, how seriously will I need to take this?


    In a way, I might be retracing my steps. Not just revisiting memories, but perhaps returning to my roots.


    Somewhere in a foreignnd, kicking up dust, pulling the trigger for real, were people who now crossed over into Dark Zone, casually bringing their real-world experience with them.


    In that sense, maybe I’m facing the same enemy in a different space.


    After finishing my notes on the key points for tomorrow’s lecture, I saved them as a memo.


    The viewers didn’t know yet that I’d be working as a temporary coach for SSM, but there was no need to tell them. It wouldn’t do any good anyway.


    As I was wrapping up the stream, a sudden donation came through.


    Byeol Jigi donated 1,000 won: "Not doing Jump Master today? Let’s do the second DLC map."


    "…If I do that, I feel like I’ll end up in a really bad mood, so I’m putting it off."


    <ul>


    <li>Fact: This person started Jump Master a few days ago to shut up the question spammers.</li>


    <li>A grumpy anaconda… still possible</li>


    <li>What? Did Yujin say she’d tie you up? (hearing things)</li>


    <li>She yed the game herself and got internally wrecked, lololololol</li>


    <li>Is this that radioactive thing or whatever?</li>


    </ul>


    …Thinking back, all of Harmony’s rmendations have been solid. The problem is that now viewers see me as either ying Dark Zone or weird, crappy games—nothing in between.


    Since I’ve opened my personalmunity on Tricky, maybe I should take game rmendations there. After all, I’ve wrapped up most of the current ones.


    As I exited Dark Zone, I added:@@novelbin@@


    "So, I’ll start taking other game rmendations. With the qualifying ranksing up soon, I can’t promise I’ll y them right away, but if you suggest something, I’ll check it out. Post your ideas on the Trickymunity."


    It felt like I was finally putting themunity to proper use.


    After that, I spent about an hour chatting with the viewers. Since my main content was Dark Zone and I had a tournamenting up, the conversation naturally gravitated in that direction.


    Since my path as a streamer seemed fairly set now, it might be good to try new things asionally—like viewer participation content.


    Of course, I rejected a lot of ideas. They just didn’t seem that interesting.


    But thankfully, I haven’t seen any feedback saying the streams are boring. So far, it seems like I’m meeting viewers’ expectations well enough.


    After some time passed, I logged into the site, which still felt a bit unfamiliar, and clicked on the notification showing new posts.


    A lot of posts had gone up in the meantime. Apparently, there was a rmendation feature, and the most liked ones were at the top.


    I picked one at random.


    "Let’s see… KimPassMega rmended… ''Tentacle Can Be Loved?'' The title alone sounds pretty… unusual."


    I scrolled down.


    Hmm.


    Uh.


    Hmm….


    Um…


    In summary, here’s what it was about:


    "…Why do I have to date unfinished, feminized outer gods?"


    <ul>


    <li>Lololololololol</li>


    <li>You’re picky despite having a simr thing hanging from your tail</li>


    <li>Starting off strong with some truly bizarre game rmendations, I love it</li>


    <li>Fact: This so-called masterpiece has three parts and multiple endings.</li>


    <li>How the hell did this thing get three parts, lolololololol</li>


    </ul>


    It seemed that Harmony’s first suggestion might have been something I should have avoided altogether.