A hologram was oveying the air.


    It wasn’t just confusing the vision and senses of the twobatants. The projectors scattered across the ceiling started to operate, drawing new images over reality. Thus, the two handles someone was holding turned into daggers, and the person holding a thin board and stick became a Viking.


    The neck connector transmitted countless signals to the body. At that moment, the thin exoskeleton worn on the gloves, forearms, waist, thighs, and legs of the pro gamer assisted and augmented their movements. And so, a Viking from a thousand years ago tore through reality and appeared.


    On the other side stood a figure d in leather armor. It was a strange harmony that seemed fitting yet not, like an assassin from the Victorian era. However, the unmistakable movement of the snake’s tail shattered any illusion, breaking the misconception in the minds of those present.


    They each took a step forward, closing the distance.


    The Viking sword, immensely heavierpared to the daggers, shed through the air horizontally.


    ───Whoooosh!


    The Viking sword was surprisingly lighter than one would expect.


    As the wrist, arms, stride, and shoulders moved, a continuous series of attacks followed. But the only being who could legally step into that deadly zone was the one who danced around them lightly, almost as if defying thews of physics—unbelievably feather-light movement despite the ongoing counterbnce.


    A battle of countless strategies unfolded, too quick to catch. Yet surprisingly, the one ying as the ss—Conqueror—was Halo, the pro gamer, and he held 100% of the space control. This meant Eugene hadn’t attacked even once up until now.


    Clearly, the offense and defense were clearly diverging.


    However, the pro gamers, coaches, and the 2 million viewers watching were no longer fooled by such a scene.


    “…Am I the only one getting chills?”


    “This doesn’t feel like a game at all.”


    There’s an old board game called "Crocodile Teeth."


    Simrly, there''s a pirate roulette. One by one, yers press the crocodile’s teeth or stick a knife in a barrel, waiting for the unlucky victim who’ll be bitten by the crocodile or face a pirate springing out of the barrel.


    At this moment, only Halo was ying, and Eugene was both the crocodile waiting to close its mouth and the pirate about to spring out. But one thing was certain: as soon as Halo made a wrong choice, what awaited him would be the deep fangs of a venomous snake.


    And at that moment, Eugene’s y began to shift slightly.


    “Hah…!”


    “Ugh…”


    He didn’t attack.


    He didn’t counterattack.


    But he dodged Halo’s strikes more boldly, at closer range.


    The Viking sword, though seemingly close enough to touch, couldn’t even cut the edge of the leather armor. It merely shimmered like a mirage. But that wasn’t just avoiding attacks—it was more like nting seeds of doubt and anxiety in the enemy’s mind.


    Yet the yer attacking Eugene also showed patience, waiting for the perfect moment tond a proper blow. The battle was so intense that even the timing of breaths was crucial.


    And that was what decided the oue.


    With a wrist snap so fast it couldn’t be seen, Eugene’s dagger flew into the air.


    “Eh?”


    “No, wait, what’s going on?”


    Everyone, except for Eugene, was caught off guard.


    The sparkling dagger spun multiple times, rising three meters above the ground. The eyes of everyone, including Halo, fixed on the weapon. In that moment, Eugene leaned back. Almost instinctively, a wide-area attack swept above Halo’s head, and Eugene embedded his dagger into Halo’s thigh.


    A red warning appeared.


    [Warning: Left thigh damage detected. Cutting of adductor muscle and femoral artery.]


    [Warning: Mobility decreased and blood loss debuff applied.]


    An intricate damage umtion and debuff system, thought to be nonexistent, was triggered. However, with the fact that this was hardcore mode, a hidden feature was revealed. Halo quickly realized that he was cornered.


    And so it was.


    About 15 secondster, Halo received a vertical pration from chin to brain, and he dropped his shield and stick where he stood.


    The sound of apuse erupted.


    Halo, who had been silently watching the scene, added,


    “I didn’t understand what it meant to kill with just two strikes, but it’s an honor to experience it firsthand.”


    “Haha. It sounds like you want to try it again.”


    “Well, that’s not it. I’d like to pass this honor on to the other guys.”


    Hahaha


    You should share the good things


    I can’t be the only one suffering, haha


    What? I want to try too, AHHH x1000


    Seriously though, that was so cool hahaha


    The highly refined killing technique was an art form in itself.


    The viewers, 2 million strong, were witnessing apletely different kind of battle than the one they had seen in Glory and Honor. The sh of raw power, the heavy sounds of strikes, and the endless back-and-forth strategies were all gone, reced by a fluid, almost elegantbat style. Eugene’s precise and rapid strikes, especially with daggers, werepletely different from the usual brutal attacks seen in closebat.


    And, of course, it wasn’t long before the viewers about to witness this firsthand were not looking too happy. The coach scanned the room and, sensing the mood, spoke up to break the tension.


    “Seeing it in person… it’s really impressive. There’s so much to learn here.”


    “That’s good to hear. I can’t teach you, but you can steal what you can see. Hope you learn as much as you can.”


    “I’m sure I will, haha.”


    At that moment, a video of the recent battle was shown.


    In the few minutes of the video, the most important moments were when Eugene shoved the dagger into the critical points. The coach of SSM closely examined the footage and casuallymented.


    “Clearly, there’s no defense system that can handle Eugene’s attacks at this point. Looking at it, this seems more like a data gap rather than an issue with the game system or the yers…”


    “That’s exactly right.”


    The cryptic riddle that raised a lot of questions in the minds of many.


    To summarize, it was simple—essentially, all the Glory and Honor yers gathered here, including the SSM pros,cked the necessary data on how Eugene strikes and creates attack opportunities.


    If you were to say, “He just attacks critical spots like the thighs, elbows, or neck,” it wouldn’t quite capture the issue. The real problem was that no one could answer the question of when and how Eugene would strike or create an opportunity.


    And that was the essence of the military-grade dagger techniques Eugene had arranged—something that wasn’t shared outside the realm of elite professionals.


    “Basically, not just me, but everyone here, all the pro gamers in this room, have muscle memory of over 50 different sses’ attack motions, movements, pre-attack actions, and responses stored. But when ites to Eugene’s attacks, there’s no data.”


    “It’s the same as facing a newly released ss, isn’t it?”


    “That’s not the same. Idiot.”


    But one thing was clear—unlike the official Glory and Honor sses, which are analyzed within five days of release, this person in front of me… well, let’s just say.


    Everyone was silently thankful that Eugene wasn’t a pro gamer.


    Of course, all the facts listed didn’t equate to saying there was nothing to learn from Eugene.


    “The real issuees down to adaptability in unexpected situations and individual skill. In a way, it’s theplete opposite of Dark Zone, haha.”


    In Dark Zone, yers are handed guns and enhanced physical abilities, and then set loose.


    In Glory and Honor, cold weapons are given, along with various attack motions.


    Unlike the unpredictable nature of Dark Zone, where it’s impossible to predict all variables, Glory and Honor’sbat, where limited attack motions collide, depends on individual skill and adaptability.


    And Eugene, who had been quietly listening, knew exactly what that meant.


    She spoke up.


    “Well, to summarize… it seems that at least everyone here needs to share in the responsibility of using swords with me.”


    “Of course. Otherwise, there would be no reason to bring you all the way out here today.”


    Eugene murmured to herself, “It wasn’t that far, though,” as the second yer, now looking defeated,pleted their equipment and approached her.


    She spoke.


    “I’ll try my best.”


    “You should aim for victory.”


    And so, the two daggers faced off against a single ymore.


    Today, Eugene’s daggers would harvest the blood of everyone present.


    As Eugene thought, the dark figures of the game reflected back into her mind, and the challenge of bncing her past, her abilities, and the world around her became clearer.


    "...This, I was just trying to sneak in and watch, but if I''m not careful, I might end up getting caught in the crossfire."


    "Do you think it’s okay to watch just once?"


    "You’ll probably end up getting caught by Eugene and forced into a CQC lesson. No need to even watch the video."


    Meanwhile, about 30 meters vertically below, in the same building, Dice, one of the 2 million viewers, added nonchntly.


    Of course, her prediction was, as always, spot on.


    "I didn’t know the game had counterbncing functions. You should have used it during Dark Zone."


    "Well, I think it’s better that I got strong enough to beat everyone without needing counterbnce, right?"


    "Ugh, seriously."


    Hahahahahaha


    That’s such a dumb solution hahaha


    Dice, didn’t you catch Logan once? Hahaha


    Look at the other people’s faces hahaha


    Don’t rx, you’ll be like them soon enough haha


    I walked on, having a pointless conversation with Dice.


    After spending around 4 hours enjoying time with the SSM Entertainment – Glory and Honor pro gamers, it was now 4:20 PM. Finally, the second schedule began.


    Currently, the two of us, including myself, were heading to the auditorium inside the building. I had mentioned this before, but today, not only the SSM team but also some users from other teams I hadn’t interacted with muchst year were expected to show up, so we needed arge venue.


    As we walked, Dice casually added:


    "So, what do you think about trying out counterbncing your physical abilities and entering this year’spetition?"


    "I could skip thepetition until the Final Championship, but I don’t think I can go through the qualifiers, the KSM, and the Asia qualifiers all over again likest time…"


    "...So you’ll be entering next year, right?"


    "I’ll think about it."


    “AHHH!”


    Of course, Dice, who was throwing a tantrum, didn’t need to use her arms or legs—her tail alone easily subdued him. So, in no time at all, Dice was suspended in the air, her arms and legs tightly bound by her own tail. She entered the auditorium, creating an incredibly strange spectacle.


    Laughter erupted from all around. Someone, whose timing was off, spilled their drink upon seeing the scene and sprayed what seemed like vapor into the air. It almost looked like a water fountain.


    After turning Dice into theedy relief, I slowly started with my introduction.@@novelbin@@


    Then I said:


    "As I mentioned earlier, I won’t be participating as a yer in this year’s Final Championship. This year will be entirely a stage for all of you. The opportunity will be distributed fairly among everyone, except for Reaper Infected, Xi, SSM, and Clear Sky."


    Officially, that wasn’t something I should have said, but it couldn’t be helped.


    To put it nicely, it was karma. To put it bluntly,st year, I had drilled the pro gamers so hard that they had gotten stuck in a mess of their own. Dice, Gambit, Ink, and Mikael literally wrecked the Final Championship. Given that no one even made it outside the top 20st year, I imagined those four would be putting in bone-crushing efforts this time to break into the top 10. Meanwhile, the second-tier yers and trainees from the teams would also be learning from me, absorbing as much as they could.


    Well, I had rambled on a bit, but now it was time to focus on helping the neers.


    "As I think about it, Eugene, you seem like the hidden power behind the AP. You’re like the secret leader or something."


    "...So, that’s why I’m doing this now?"


    Karma, huh? Hahahaha


    The hidden power (not entirely wrong)


    The unstoppable force making everything impossible to catch up to hahaha


    What? Water rocket? This person is literally a rocket though????


    The water rocket theory) It means everyone except Eugene is a water rocket


    What can I say?


    It was a bit funny that my very presence was twisting the game’s oue. But… wasn’t Dark Zone a game based on my past? If I weren’t there, it wouldn’t have existed in the first ce. And if I made a bit of money from it, I should have epted the fact that the original creator gets to have some say in how it all goes… I almost said it out loud.


    But after shutting down that useless thought, I focused on the team lineup that appeared before me.


    GEARUP.


    Arcadia Games.


    Regio Invicta.


    TK1.


    nk Kickers.


    Veritas.


    ‘...So many people who didn’t get toe with mest year.’


    And these were the ones who would be joining Eugene School moving forward.


    Suddenly, I had the thought that Eugene School was now big enough that I could split it into several sses.


    ss 1 was Harmony and Dice. ss 2 was the people who went to the Final Championship with mest year. ss 3... Maybe it was Kato, Jin, Rain, and Blooming who joined a bitter? So, the people selected from these six teams above could be ss 4.


    I was worried that even the national team yers would end up being called Eugene School''s ss 2.


    In any case, I wasn’t here to talk about grand ns or anything.


    The top members of the six teams that didn’t make the cutst year had already been watching and learning from me for a while. Thepetition rank was less than five days away, so it wasn’t the right time to get too involved. We’d have to wait for the results of thepetition rank before anything.


    As I got to the main topic, I had to say something a bit regretful.


    “Anyway, as you all might expect, this year… since I’ve received some advertising contracts, I might be a bit distracted, but I don’t think that’s going to make you all stray from your path.”


    "Is that the famous honor and glory you got from the ad? Are you going to hit Challenger rank and return?"


    "That’s the n, but the busy reason is a bit different. How should I exin it? Well… I’m adding a new mode as a special event."


    I didn’t specifically say it, but I had already gotten permission for the embargo. So, it should be fine.


    As dozens of people in the auditorium perked up and focused their attention on me, I could see their eyes clearly asking, What’s that about?


    It didn’t take long for my mouth to open.


    “…Next month, there will be a 1:300 event raid match at the final Glory and Honor tournament. I’ll be participating in that.”


    Of course, I agreed to it willingly, and anyone could guess who would be the “1” in that 1:300.


    Leaving behind the shattered atmosphere, I awkwardly added:


    “…Well, that’s how it is.”


    1:300????????????? Are you insane??????????


    You crazy man hahaha


    You really seem like you’re out of your mind, hahahaha


    Well, if you were in your right mind, you wouldn’t say stuff like this haha


    Even if youbined Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhou Yun, they couldn’t even reach Eugene’s pinky hahaha


    Well, why not?


    It’s possible.


    My small excuse didn’t make it out of my mouth.


    It was summer.