"Woohoo!"
"End of the sester! Never again, end of the sester!"
"It’s been fun, but let’s never see each other again, damn campus!"
Week three of December.
In other words, it was the ti when countless college students, who had been suppressed for so long, flooded out into society under the pretext of the end of the sester. It was the mont when their goals, which seed to revolve solely around assignnts, graduation, practical work, exams, and studying, transford into how to thoroughly laze about.
The na "end of the sester" spread across the nation. Those in need of money looked for part-ti jobs, those who had made prior plans embarked on travels both dostic and international, while those whose situations were unfavorable or who simply didn’t want to move found their activities drastically reduced on the first day of break.
Of course, there are always exceptions.
Especially this year.
"Wow, there are so many college students in New York. Where are you from?"
"California!"
"Pennsylvania!"
"I flew in from Miami right after the sester ended."
Every interviewee had a different hotown.
Those who were financially capable or had the ans rented a hotel in New York, while those who were slightly less well-off but still action-oriented road around New York in campers. The rest were satisfied with just a few days of sightseeing.
However, regardless of the reason, their objective was singular.
To watch the gas live.
"Starting now, the final championship duo and squad match week begins!"
"Woooooo—!"
An overwhelming wave of enthusiasm.
Madison Square Garden, built on the expensive real estate of New York, was further magnified by even more impressive financial backing, resulting in the gigantic arena rging with the high-rise buildings next to it — the massive construction that lasted for two long years led to the creation of a super-sized complex in the heart of New York.
Of course, the Dark Zone Final Championship, which gained a fa almost on par with the Super Bowl in less than two years, had swiftly recouped the costs involved in construction within just a few years — this was indirectly proven by the hundreds of thousands of people gathered near Madison Square Garden.
Almost all of the unused spaces in the high-rise buildings connected to Madison Square Garden were opened up as temporary accommodations and campsites, countless traffic officers were deployed to manage the traffic issues, and food trucks squeezed into as much empty space as they could find.
It was a special spectacle unfolding in the world’s richest city.
anwhile, as the events officially comnced, nurous broadcasting stations from around the world, or even Icarus's own broadcasting network, began transmitting the situation in all directions — this spread across both TV and streaming sites.
Even just counting those gathered to watch the gas, there were 630,000 people, and the number of individuals around the world watching the opening of the Final Championship online reached nearly 200 million.
The combination of the special nature of the sester break, the unprecedented large-scale international competition, and the dazzling attractions fitting for it created an unprecedented scene — even so officials from New York who ca to witness this situation urged Icarus, saying, "Make sure to get approval for the host selection from next year onwards."
However, unlike last year, South Korea, located about 13,000 km away from New York, was able to enjoy all of this without a care in the world.
"Wow, it feels like watching the World Cup finals."
"Exactly. Harmony is there, right?"
"This is insane..."
A bizarre yet common scene of broadcasting and comntary.
Tricky-affiliated strears competed to livestream the area near the stadium, and various companies with pre-approved drone flight permissions fild the surroundings, further enlivening the situation.
It was a delightful chaos.
And about 400 ters away from that scene, six individuals were walking toward Madison Square Garden.
Of course, their expressions were not particularly pleasant.
"…Oh my god. Were there always this many people?"
"Uh, it seems like there are one or two tis more than last year..."
The uproar increased, causing more commotion. Just their re presence drew attention. And the number of people gathered to watch the Dark Zone Final Championship, which began today, was enough to catch even those who typically have no interest in gas to turn their heads, or even take a step toward it.
The result of that was right in front of Yujin and her group. New York, which usually had little space to stand, was bustling more than ever as they got closer to Madison Square Garden.
It was like a dense concentric circle made up of people and machines. Food trucks, broadcasting vehicles, traffic police, and countless crowds all ford part of it. But it wasn’t so crowded that they couldn’t pass; several makeshift pedestrian bridges, seemingly prepared in advance, facilitated the flow of vehicles and people.
Of course, since it was a temporary setup, the holograms floating above the bridges checked the number of users in real-ti, and the traffic police occasionally verified this, sotis temporarily restricting traffic.
"Is this Cyberpunk?"
"At least in terms of how dizzying it feels right from the get-go, they’re quite similar."
It was dizzying to think that this was happening in New York, a city already known for its huge population, especially at Madison Square Garden.
However, contrary to such sentints, the crowds made up of nurous people were lively just by being there. Perhaps due to the sharp rise in population density, it felt like the temperature was gradually rising too.
Vehicles passed beneath the temporary pedestrian bridges. Despite the surrounding chaos, the fact that not a single related accident had occurred was a testant to the NYPD's capabilities.
"I wonder if we’ll be able to get in later."
"If we hide behind you, Yujin, we might be okay..."
As they exchanged such jokes, they barely made it past West 34th Street. The sounds of car horns, the whistles of the NYPD, and the flashing lights of police vehicles combined to create an atmosphere like that of a club. At least there were no outdoor performances, so that was fortunate.
It was only 10:30 AM, and seeing how congested it was made her dizzy already thinking about what kind of chaos would unfold when the actual gas started at 7 PM.
Perhaps because of that, our distinguished state senator from New York, Mr. Brayton, had also been sending texts since this morning.
[H.M.B: Sorry to bother you while you're so busy. If possible, could you lend a hand with the traffic control via Icarus gear? I can't even imagine how sorry I would feel if casualties or minor incidents occurred.]
Of course, from his standpoint — successfully hosting this Final Championship and presiding over the solo ga opening ceremony, then concluding it smoothly would be an excellent stepping stone for his political career.
Conversely, if there were any casualties, it would likely bring a sudden halt to his path toward the presidency. The headlines would be pretty easy to imagine — a tragedy caused by a hastily organized ga-event, and the Republicans would surely puml our Mr. Henry.
Such political reasoning wasn’t particularly appealing to her, but still… she also wanted this trip and visit to Arica to end with good mories.
After scanning the surroundings, she released a pulse at maximum output.
[Notification: 4,731,741 electronic devices identified.]
At the sa ti, she gained access to all electronic devices, rerouting so of their GPU usage to establish a network hub that would assist the NYPD, fire departnt, and everyone else struggling to manage the crowd within a 3 km radius.
The insufficient computational support was requested from the Icarus International headquarters located in Two Bridges, specifically from the secret area deep within — simply put, she asked the two individuals who had helped her, believing this would be a significant help.
Filtering out the unnecessary traffic generated by the hundreds of thousands gathered here would relieve the burden on the broadcasting stations while providing crucial information to those in dire need, aiding their situational assessnts.
How much ti passed?
"It’s a bit quieter around here than before. Just a mont ago, it was chaos everywhere."
A comnt from Dice.
That was indeed true. Compared to just before, the traffic congestion and population density had likely improved by at least 17%, and in a few more minutes, it would probably double. If that still wasn’t enough, they would have to resort to different thods.
As they entered the area near Madison Square Garden, a delightful aroma wafted through the air. Of course, the area near the food trucks was literally packed. But they were selling amazing nus. One thing was certain: if they ate there, Dice or Harmony would probably gain about a kilogram the next day.
But at this point, what she overlooked while assisting the NYPD was—
"Yujin."
"Yes?"
"I think we’re in big trouble."
Before she could even open her mouth to agree with that statent—
"Hey, hey! Isn’t that Yujin over there?"
"It’s the Korean soloing representative team!"
"I’m a fan! I flew in from Korea to see you all—!"
"Let’s communicate!"
"Oh man..."
That annoying “let’s communicate.”
She had wondered when they would recognize her, but as expected, the world didn’t seem willing to let them go easily.
The Korean representative team’s first visit to Madison Square Garden began amid a cold wave and a massive crowd.
"…What’s this, Sensei?"
"This is the amount of explosives and chemicals needed to implent the destructible areas on each map and the specific forms of destruction."
Destruction is the art of precision.
To summarize the science of demolition in one phrase, it discusses where, at what angle, and how much explosives should be packed to achieve a specific goal.
Protecting allies, blocking escape routes, and forging new paths. However, as the battleground shifts from desolate land, where it was difficult to find even a single building, to a tropolitan area, the goals of this science have intensified manifold.
Yet, one unchanging tenet of this discipline remains: its fundantal ground task is to create situations advantageous to one’s allies. It’s different from simply throwing grenades and firing rockets or requesting Close Air Support.
And all these discussions had already been drilled into the ears of those in front of her to the point of annoyance before coming to Arica.
"Skills can create paths by breaking down walls and obstruct the enemy’s view or launch attacks with falling debris from demolished ceilings. Sotis, by capturing drones and making them fall, we can reduce fall damage. You all need to realize how much these combat auxiliary tools have expanded the horizons of battles."
Everyone seed to understand what she was saying. They had battled in VR with her many tis before setting foot on New York, and they had clearly witnessed all the bizarre skill usages she had perford.
However, rely seeing wasn’t enough. Even if instant reflexes are impossible to imitate, skills can be built up through countless experiences. From that perspective, her goal was to expose them to as many different battle scenarios as possible before the soloing matches of the Final Championship began.
It could be considered a form of muscle mory formation.
"…Ugh."
"Is sothing wrong?"
"They really gave this to ..."
In the midst of it all, Harmony was joyfully throwing a tantrum.
Of course, she had long since prepared the carrot and stick approach.
"Harmony isn’t soone directly participating in the matches, so just see what you can."
"Ah, really? I knew it!"
For now, this little bit of leniency would probably make her happy.
But as soon as tomorrow, when Dice, Ink, Mikael, and Gambit started hamring her, the desire to see this reference material she had provided would surely bubble up.
She wasn’t wrong. She hadn’t forced anyone to sit down in a chair to make them watch, and if Mina suddenly had an overwhelming desire to study, how could she possibly stop that?
Anyway, that was all she had to say for today.
There were still countless things to do.
For instance—
"Uh, uh? Hey, wake up! Oh my god, the special coach is here!"
"Oh, how did you manage to get here with this much crowd? Did you walk all the way?"
"That’s right. Nice to et you all. Have you all been practicing well?"
Whether to call it IRL or a Vlog.
Despite being about 13,000 kiloters away, South Korea had a keen interest in the players' lives, and in a way, they even wanted to see their mundane daily lives and preparations before matches, even if it was just simple edited videos.
From that perspective, it was a natural occurrence that, while being a mber of the Korean representative team, she would also act as a traveling coach and et the representatives for the Final Championship, which was officially starting today.
Perhaps because of that, caras had been installed all over the lounge.
In any case, they didn’t have much ti left. In just a few hours, they would need to be deployed for the matches.
As the scattered Dice and the others gathered around her, a conversation began.
"How many operational plans do you have?"
"We categorize them into four based on the quadrant where the safe zones are located. The probability of the boundary of the quadrant coinciding with the safe zone is about 1 in 5000, so we’ve simply made so preparations."
"Sounds good. The red dots marked on each quadrant must be waypoints or hubs, right?"
Eight maps floated above in the hologram.
She selected one and initiated a simulation. It was a kind of mock battle. However, its precision was on a completely different level than a re virtual scenario that moves around a ga board.
"Install the flathrower turret."
"If installed alone, it can easily be neutralized by foam grenades and the like. Please install one more regular turret if possible."
In reality, a well-thrown foam grenade would quickly form a thick polyurethane wall, temporarily blocking the flathrower, during which ti half of the enemy squad entered the building.
And there was another point not to be overlooked here.
"The polyurethane wall emits hydrogen cyanide gas while burning, so if you don’t have a mask to block this, you need to be cautious when using the flathrower turret itself. If it’s a wooden building, you could easily burn to death..."
"The risk is considerable."
"But it can have trendous effects in specific locations."
At the sa ti, she made several suggestions.
"The entrance and stairs of that building are predictably located. After securing a position in advance, block the ergency exits in other areas, and then place the turret’s fuel along with explosives one floor below, and when the enemies co up..."
Boom.
The escape route is blocked by flas, and the enemy squad is left to burn.
The simulation reconstructed itself. The third floor of a four-story building exploded completely, and flas danced like tongues. The fire had the characteristic of moving upward rather than downward, and in no ti, it spread to the fourth floor and incinerated the infiltrating enemy squad.
"Of course, careful placent of explosives and securing a clear escape route are necessary. You’ll need preparations like elevators, ladders, and various other arrangents... but that part will depend on your capabilities."
Just one example. But there was no ti to be in awe; they nodded and began their analyses.
Then ca a murmured comnt.
"I wish you had co a day or two earlier."
"This is a trap on the squad level that you can all easily think of. The important thing is to prioritize securing escape routes in any situation... Now, let’s move on to the next topic."
Thus began countless IF scenarios and their counterasures.
However, there was one thing she had overlooked—
───.
The caras set up here weren’t just for recording; they were broadcasting in real-ti.
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