NOVEL WEB Chapter 134 - Tannhäuser
Chapter 134 – Tannhäuser
* * *
“Huff.”
After watching the play once, he wrote something on a piece of paper.
After watching the play again, he wrote something else down.
The stadium was packed with people. Most of them were chanting Yoo Jin’s name. The roar of her name was deafening as they cheered in unison.
Of course, not everyone was doing so. Those who supported other pro-gamers, seeing them rise to the top, weren’t just watching silently.
However, whenever something happened, it was either Yoo Jin’s fault or, at the very least, related to her.
Even now, a large facility suddenly collapsed, and when the highlight camera turned to capture the scene, it showed Yoo Jin barely escaping the collapse zone by using a zipline, having run 600 meters in under a minute.
Someone once said that she captured all the cool moments in the Dark Zone.
The person who watched the plays with a cold eye while others screamed in support didn’t know this, but the performance was so impressive that his hand stopped, and his gaze was fixed forward.
“…What on earth is this?”
His identity was an analyzer from the Japanese Republic.
The paper he was writing on. It had countless words, red lines, and even some sections entirely crossed out in red ink—this was common by this point, whether publicly or privately.
The Korea Selection Match picked twenty out of a hundred, and from this, it was easy to infer that other countries would also select twenty.
As the Asian preliminaries approached, it was natural to gauge the skill levels of players from other countries.
Just as he had come here, analysts from Russia, the China Federation, and Taiwan were likely also present somewhere. Conversely, Korean team analysts were probably watching the selection matches of other countries.
Other than him, analysts from other countries were likely closely observing the KSM in the stadium.
Naturally, Yoo Jin was the talk of his country. Roughly a month and a half ago, she appeared suddenly, and with her skyrocketing MMR, she declared her entry into the preliminary rank.
It took her only about a month to go from complete obscurity to becoming so famous that she was actively discussed abroad. And just like in Korea, it was no different in foreign countries.
Analyzing strengths and weaknesses, identifying vulnerabilities, looking for openings.
However, just when it seemed possible to grasp, her plays were too random, and yet, calling them impromptu would be inconsistent. It was as if she was asking if they could analyze her, performing superplays and showing senses that even former special forces couldn’t replicate.
The content on his paper was similar.
‘…This is somewhat replicable, and this…’
He drew a line without hesitation.
Yoo Jin’s every play was analyzed in real-time according to the simple principle, ‘Are there plays that our users can replicate or analyze?’ However, using arrows as close-range weapons or running 600 meters in a minute…
He hadn’t been in this job for long, but even he had never seen so many marks on a paper indicating impossibility.
If he returned with this report, he’d hear something like, “What are you talking about?” It was predictable. He already had a scenario forming in his mind.
‘…Why did I cross this out? What was it about?’
‘The user acquired a zipline launcher with a minute left before self-destructing in the NBV2 rock base, ran 600 meters in about a minute while reloading the launcher, and escaped the collapsed base’s aftermath by freefalling off a cliff. That’s why it was crossed out.’
‘What?’
He wished it was a lie, rather.
If the higher-ups had any sense, they’d process this information to inform the players that ‘such plays are possible, so keep them in mind’. Surely, they wouldn’t be crazy enough to actually make them try this.
He was well-versed in the Dark Zone and AP systems and structures, given his analyst role. His skills were barely at the SOF and TIER 2 levels.
But as always, there were plays that only those at the top could perform, and at the highest tier, legendary plays emerged only once in a few years.
The problem was that someone capable of producing such plays effortlessly was right there.
‘…Looks like this year will be Korea’s rise to prominence.’
Even if it was considered dominating in the match rank, if such plays continued in the preliminary rank and the selection match, that would be genuine skill. If someone could perform like that without any tension, they would likely do the same in the Asian preliminaries.
People don’t change easily, and looking at the past reveals the present and future. The Asian preliminaries were just an extension of this—he barely dismissed the thought, which could get him pelted with tomatoes and eggs.
Several calculations were made on the paper. Twelve people remained. Yoo Jin’s kill points were 7. Though bonus points varied based on play content, he understood the KSM point system as follows:
1st place: 10 points.
2nd place: 6 points.
3rd place: 5 points.
4th place: 4 points.
5th-6th place: 3 points.
7th-8th place: 2 points.
9th-10th place: 1 point.
And 1 point per kill.
In other words, if Yoo Jin maintained 5 kills per match and took first place five times, she’d get 75 points. Practically, she’d easily exceed 80 points based on plays and kill counts.
Furthermore, she wouldn’t skip the remaining matches, and with her physical prowess, she’d surpass 100 points in no time. Even if she didn’t get first place, she’d still make it into the top ten.
Then…
‘Opportunities to see Yoo Jin’s play might be fewer than expected.’
Maintaining this pace, if she took first place in 5 out of 16 matches, she’d undoubtedly be the top in the KSM selection match. If she took first place at least 3 times, scoring around 50 points, she’d narrowly make it into the top five of the selection match.
But this assumed she’d withdraw from all other matches after securing specific first-place wins. Practically, she might only participate in event matches if ICARUS deemed her unnecessary for Sunday’s matches.
Of course, this logic only applied if she didn’t secure first place, but given her plays, how could that be possible?
“Waaaaah─!”
“…?”
– At this moment! Yoo Jin! Yoo Jin takes first place in the first match of the Korea Selection Match! There were no surprises! Is this even possible! She takes twelve lives and emerges as the Apex Predator! No further embellishments are necessary!!!
Oh.
Apparently, there was an error in his calculations.
He scratched out the part about barely making it into the top five in the selection match and rewrote it as a definitive first place.
With a small note suggesting she might not be human.
“Oh, I’m dead.”
KSM, unlike the preliminary rank, had little interaction between players.
After introducing all one hundred players at the start, they were individually separated, prohibiting mental management and conversations between players until the end of the match.
And as said, no one was around. Given a bedroom the size of a rich person’s living room, most people lay on the bed in the middle without a care.
Among them was Dice.
As she rolled on the bed, memories of the previous match flooded her mind. Or… though it sounded funny, her first encounter with Yoo Jin, who had removed her limiter.
“No matter how you look at it, she’s not human. Why does that guy keep denying it…”
Dice was by no means an idiot.
Despite appearing careless while hanging out with Yoo Jin recently, she was a phenomenal physical and mental force, single-handedly leading the AP soloing category in SSM last year.
She already had a rough outline of how the KSM would unfold through the preliminary rank, which only became clearer with Yoo Jin’s presence. Moreover, she factored in things other pro-gamers wouldn’t consider out of pride.
She had assumed from the start that Yoo Jin would easily make it into the top ten in every match.
Naturally, and unfortunately, that assumption was not wrong.
– [Username: DICE]
– [Current Rank: 3]
Third place.
Unfortunately, due to poor positioning, Dice fought hard but was ultimately defeated by Yoo Jin. If another player had been closer to Yoo Jin, she might have taken second place. Still, it wasn’t a bad result. In fact, it was good.
However, the greater achievement was that the strategies Dice had envisioned and methods she had conceptualized were effective in practice—it wasn’t difficult. In simple terms, it was aggro ping-pong.
As it narrowed down to the top ten, movements and noises were minimized, and if necessary, all means were used to force combat onto other players. After all, anyone would be more concerned with the direction of the noise.
Each participant was given a ten-minute break for refreshment.
It could be considered a very short time, or quite long. For Dice, it was the former. There was too much to sort out before the next match. It would have been great if Yoo Jin had only been SSM’s coach, but she was also a competitor.
Could she achieve a meaningful victory against Yoo Jin even once? In reality, the chances of her achieving a record that would make further participation unnecessary were much higher.
That’s how it was for her last year.
‘If she keeps showing similar physical prowess, it’ll be settled within three matches at most.’
If they hyped it up with ads and the main course appeared early on, never to return, it would be quite a sight in many ways.
But if they didn’t select her quickly, even those who could rise higher wouldn
’t get the chance.
It was like how natural disasters didn’t discriminate. Players, who were supposed to be refined and sharpened through fierce battles to become finely honed blades, couldn’t yield proper results if thrown into the press untempered.
Thinking like this… what was Yoo Jin up to?
“I guess I’ll only see her in event matches later.”
Matches held once every four games.
They cooled down the overheated atmosphere among players and allowed spectators to participate in simple matches. They were obstacle games or close combat with pistols and toy hammers. It was akin to a sports day.
This was also part of her journey from a year ago. She was selected as a representative player mid-Sunday last year and, after four matches, no longer needed to participate but still attended event matches.
Would it be the same this time, or different?
Either way, how she performed this time didn’t matter much—the important thing was that it could become the biggest fan meeting in Yoo Jin’s history.
“Ha ha ha.”
She couldn’t help but laugh thinking about it.
– [Notice: The match will start soon.]
– [Notice: The next map is the port city of Tannhäuser.]
Was it time already?
Anyway, it was unfortunate for many viewers, but she had to get out of KSM as quickly as possible. Those who could rise higher should do so quickly. Only then could genuine competition happen.
Opening and closing her eyes with a lighter heart, she found herself in a transport plane with the other 99 participants—the port city of Tannhäuser, one of the few maps that started with a parachute drop.
Familiar faces exchanged words. Due to the engine noise and wind, they shouted.
“Hey! Take it easy! You’ll kill all the noobs!”
“Haha! Look, there’s third place, third place!”
“Let us sniff some of that preliminary air too!”
“Ah! Everyone, sit still! Argh!”
The pro-gamers’ true selves.
Though they were all competitors, and the end couldn’t be pretty, these moments of joy and camaraderie were undeniable—even in these moments before the drop, everyone enjoyed it.
Of course,
“Ha ha, see you all later.”
“…”
“Uh…”
“…”
“…Why does everyone react like this when I speak…”
Yoo Jin, who awkwardly spoke up and killed the mood.
But the next moment,
“Hey! Pounce!”
“It’s now or never!”
“Let’s touch that talkative snake’s tail!”
“Oh, wait. Why all of a sudden, guuhuek…!”
In a non-combat zone, Yoo Jin received her first intense welcome from the pro-gamers.
That’s how they lived.
It was an exceptionally clear day.