Chapter 141 - Expressor
Chapter 141 – Expressor
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“How many points do I have left?”
One, two, three, four.
Dice, who was counting on her fingers, soon gave up and pulled out a piece of paper and a calculator. The synchronized game records were converted into a series of information and the requirements to reach a safe zone were automatically displayed.
In the first game, I had 4 kills and came in 3rd place; in the second game, I had 11 kills and came in 2nd place. That meant 9 points and 17 points, respectively. Up to this point, things were good. That was 26 points in total. However, the third game did not yield any meaningful results. 2 kills. I did not make it into the top 10. That was a total of 28 points.
In the fourth game, thanks to another crazy stunt similar to the Tannhäuser incident, I fortunately had a significant result: 4th place with 9 kills. Adding another 13 points, the total score came to 41 points. Compared to last year, it was a significantly better outcome.
Moreover, in the next cycle—starting from the 5th game on Saturday to the 8th game and all games on Sunday—Yoo Jin would be absent. Having learned all sorts of insane techniques during that time, I would likely secure a priority selection spot by Saturday.
“Where does she learn all that stuff?”
Even Dice, who had been sticking close to Yoo Jin and learning all sorts of techniques, found it unbelievable.
Just being able to direct the variables in a player-versus-player battle was enough to call her curriculum revolutionary. How many people had struggled with that until now?
While the teachings I had received so far focused on overcoming situations through physical prowess, Yoo Jin’s method emphasized inducing the opponent’s actions by projecting a specific purpose into the engagement and exploiting gaps.
Of course, to meet the objectives, constant thought and judgment were required before, during, and after the engagement.
‘Do places like the U.S. design curriculums like this too?’
No wonder people said that the U.S. would eternally hold the throne of the Dark Zone. With people gaining real combat experience in strange places like Afghanistan and Iraq, what could go wrong when they joined the Dark Zone?
It wasn’t that other countries, including Korea, were weak. The U.S. was just overly balanced. It was like they picked only the human weapons among human weapons to form special forces, much like the top tiers of the Dark Zone.
Thinking about it that way, I recalled the scrim I participated in during last year’s finals. At that time, I didn’t know much and was often confused….
‘Now I get it.’
To defeat your enemies, you have to become like them, or something like that.
In that sense, Yoo Jin’s methodology was more advanced than anywhere else. In other words, it resembled the U.S.’s method so much—no, it was even more than that. To put it simply…how should I say it?
It felt like she was instilling an optimal mindset for eliminating the opposing operator directly into my brain.
It was as if she condensed countless experiences into a refined essence….
How on earth did she learn such a method?
“Oh, right.”
She must still be gaming, right?
The average competition rate for what is commonly called a match participation event exceeds 200 to 1. Of course, viewing methods were prepared for those who couldn’t participate. For those who wanted to feel something firsthand, sensory sharing was also possible.
Perhaps there were tens of thousands of sensory sharers trying to touch Yoo Jin’s tail, making it seem a bit perverted—fortunately, Yoo Jin was broad-minded.
…But is that really a tail?
Recently, I watched a video on Yourspace about a mechanical-aluminum third-arm technology connected by multiple joints, so I started to think about that.
Anyway, what is she up to now?
I entered the official ICARUS channel, which was streaming live, out of curiosity. The total number of viewers was over 3.5 million. A significantly higher number than last year. Seeing the number of viewers increase every year was a bit scary.
Clicking in, various categories appeared in detail. At the top of the screen was a search bar with a logical engine applied. Typing in a rough search term would automatically bring up related streaming windows.
I wiggled my fingers. The keyword was Yoo Jin. Then, over 300 windows popped up. As expected, her name was at the top of the most popular list. She had tens of thousands of viewers.
Below that, I scrolled through and entered a moderately popular viewer channel.
───Boom!
“Ack!”
…What?
What I saw right after entering was a viewer floating in the air. And below them was Yoo Jin holding a rocket launcher. I had a rough idea of what it was. It was the very thing those armored guys carried around.
But why was Yoo Jin holding that…? Well, it wasn’t surprising. This wasn’t the first of her antics.
“She’s really a legend….”
Meanwhile, the engagement continued.
For some reason, a bizarre standoff was formed between those trying to get close to Yoo Jin and Yoo Jin herself.
Most of them fell in vain, but a few managed to get close. One user barely managed to touch her foot, but she effortlessly rolled them down below.
Countless users fell.
But in the midst of it all,
“Hehe.”
With a viewer who had approached from behind and grabbed her tail in sync, Dice smiled satisfactorily.
After all, getting hit by a toy hammer and flying away wasn’t her problem.
“Hello, I’m Hotteok! It’s another lively day today!”
─Lively Day (past 9 PM)
─He’s lively by himself lolololol
─Don’t be fooled, this is Hotteok’s trap to find complainers and snap their spines
─Didn’t he just work out and get lively?
─Thud!
His hair flowed down messily. The pattern resembled a white tiger.
The avatar, abundant in many ways, greeted the viewers while sitting in a chair. As the viewer count hit 3,000 next to the On Air sign, the real interaction began.
Hotteok, a streamer belonging to the Bonk Hammer Brotherhood, who until yesterday was roaming the battlefield named Dark Zone with Harmony—and had handed over the title of skilled player to her with her sudden return and crazy physicality.
Fortunately, the fields of expertise of those who had recently co-streamed with her didn’t overlap much. For example, Harmony originally specialized in bad games, Kim Stone and Limit were comprehensive game streamers with different directions.
And Hotteok was a famous fitness trainer in real life.
─Why does it feel like I can smell sweat in this cyber-broadcast?
“Thank you for the donation, AristoteeAngeles! Of course, I just finished my evening workout. Originally, you should go to the gym three times a day.”
─No wonder you don’t gain weight lololol
─Fact) This guy is an E2-grade manifested person who recently hit 1,200 on the big three lifts
─If only his gender changed, it would be great
─A crazy gym rat ㄷㄷ
─Like brewing tiger broth after boiling fish broth lol
Indeed.
Though he was fooling around with a pretty and abundant avatar, ironically, Hotteok was using an avatar that most resembled reality among his fellow streamers.
As he continued to talk, slyly dropping all sorts of weird stories, he had enough physical power to snap mischievous fans in half, so his fans rarely crossed the line.
After going through various useless topics, they naturally landed on the Korea Selection Match.
─A man who doesn’t watch KSM because of working out… This is the true gym rat
“Of course, I watched it in between. How could I not? Even the members would shout ‘Wow!’ while working out and watching the screen, getting warnings. I do play Dark Zone, so yes, I watched it. It was really fun.”
Then naturally, the conversation shifted to the priority selection.
The main topic was, of course, related to Yoo Jin. Until recently, she was just a hot potato, but now her prominence had risen so high that no one could argue against it.
However, today, and at least here, there was no talk of Yoo Jin’s popularity and skill—it was due to the particularity of Hotteok’s broadcast.
─By the way, do manifested people get any advantage in games? There seems to be talk about that person’s tail and all
“Uh…well. It’s hard for me to speak with certainty. Just as you can’t fully understand my perspective, I can’t exactly feel what your senses are like.”
An honest answer—but one that also made him vulnerable to attack from trolls.
In the real world, manifested individuals were barred from participating in events that recorded scores using only their physical bodies, but virtual reality was ambiguous in this regard. There were numerous tricky issues about how to handle it specifically.
If regulations were applied, figuring out what and how to regulate was problematic, and it had ample potential to lead to reverse discrimination. The issue of manifested individuals was an Achilles’ heel.
Hotteok had roughly figured it out at that point.
‘Is Yoo Jin’s tail real? Or, regardless of whether her tail is real, if she gains a relative advantage by using such a system, can that be considered a proper outcome?’
It was a cautious topic to bring up.
Fortunately, Hotteok believed that Yoo Jin could adequately defend herself on that point.
But
before that, he decided to lay some groundwork.
“…First of all, I understand where you’re coming from. Typically, E2-grade manifested individuals like me have significantly superior physical development potential compared to ordinary people. This applies to some sensory aspects as well.”
He didn’t specifically mention how many times superior.
The important part was what came next.
“…But. Aren’t you also receiving similar ‘adjustments’ while playing Dark Zone?”
Aim adjustment.
Recoil adjustment.
Health adjustment.
Movement adjustment.
Damage adjustment.
Numerous adjustments that make ordinary people akin to special forces. Depending on how these are tuned, the physical differences between manifested individuals and regular users become almost meaningless.
Even if there are differences, what significance do they have in the face of bullets?
“I’m not denying that this could be controversial…so, everyone. Let’s be honest. Do you think that player won’t be able to get 1st place if they play without the tail?”
─Oh
─That’s true lololol
─It would just be a bit annoying for her lol
─He’s twisting it like this ㅅㅂㅋㅋ
─Honestly, she’s shown too much already lol
Exactly.
Unless Yoo Jin’s tail was involved in every kill she made, how many of her pure kills could be attributed to the tail? In most cases, the enemies in front of her either exploded or died with holes in their bodies or heads.
Moreover, given her personality, if she had to replay due to a disadvantage caused by the tail, she would gladly accept it and turn the remaining games into another mess or demolition.
Taking it a step further—though it somehow ended up defending Yoo Jin—he decided to use his identity as a manifested person to broach a difficult topic.
“And besides, some might say ‘Oh, we need to nerf the physical abilities of manifested individuals~’ if Yoo Jin is suspected of being manifested. But let’s be blunt…this won’t be effective. So, let’s assume you all became Yoo Jin overnight.”
A few clicks.
He rummaged through several folders and pulled out a co-streaming video with Harmony. It had just started editing. The video would be filled with scenes of Harmony sweeping the battlefield and defeating nearby enemies.
Tapping on it, the white tiger female character asked in a cold voice.
“You know what’s in here. It’s full of scenes of Harmony flying around. So…let’s go back to the earlier discussion. Suppose you wake up one day as Yoo Jin. And you meet Harmony in that state.”
And then the main point.
“You guys, and those asking for nerfs…can you raise Harmony, who couldn’t even load a magazine 45 days ago, to that level with your own efforts?”
Ahem.
Hotteok cleared his throat and added.
“Then why am I not a pro if I’m an E2-grade manifested person? As far as I know, there isn’t a single manifested individual among the current pro gamers. Am I deliberately not moving up?”
Turning it around, the implication was simple.
It was something only Yoo Jin could achieve, and it was the path she had forged.
To put a nerf on that was utter nonsense. Apex Predator was a world where skill took precedence over everything, and Yoo Jin had claimed the top solely with her skill.
There would be people who agreed and those who didn’t, but that didn’t matter. Ultimately, Yoo Jin wouldn’t be tripped up by such trivial issues.
In the meantime, a donation came in.
─So to summarize, Yoo Jin’s tail is amazing, right?
“…Yes. I’m glad you didn’t use the word ‘aroused,’ you perverts.”
Hotteok sighed and waved his hand dismissively.
I knew it would come to this, these perverts.
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