"Today, you look quite... tired, Eugene."
"...I didn’t sleep well. But after a little nap just now, I feel much better. They said we’ll arrive in about one or two hours, so I should probably be thankful for that."
The grogginess in my mind slowly faded, and the scenery around began to co into focus.
I moistened my dry lips with a drink and slowly started to sit up, greeted by the small airplane window. We were flying into Greater Rochester Airport in northern New York, crossing a distance of around 10,000 kiloters non-stop.
Thanks to this, the land visible through the small window wasn’t in the United States, but rather belonged to Canada. By now, we were probably passing over the Ontario area. When I was lost in sleep earlier, we might have been crossing over the Arctic Ocean or the Bering Sea.
It was certainly a place known for its rough climate, but when I checked the aircraft through the Icarus Gear before boarding, I saw that it was made very... sturdily. Naturally, by my standards, "sturdy" ant capable of withstanding the aftershocks of a nuclear explosion.
As the sweetness of the drink lingered on my tongue, I slowly started to wake up.
I fully sat up and leaned back in my seat, and the events from a dozen hours ago gradually began to surface. In the end, I had been caught by the cha Monnani and ended up staying up all night, but after safely returning, I took a shower and headed for Incheon Airport.
This ti, the aircraft Icarus sent was a modified Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with its fuel system completely removed and replaced with a nuclear fusion generator. Of course, very few people knew about this.
Anyway, aside from that, while I was quite tired, unlike , the five participants of the Final Championship, including Mina and Yerin, as well as the schedule manager, coordinators, and about thirty other necessary personnel, seed to enjoy their ti before departure.
Since we weren’t returning, I rember that the others, except for who had been napping on the couch, managed to grab sothing at the airport even if it was for a short while.
"...Well, the stuff sold at duty-free shops is all more or less the sa."
Alcohol, perfu, jewelry, watches, costics, all that sort of thing.
Of course, Diez had recently moved next door to my house, so his finances were sowhat strained. Because of that, he had a pretty gloomy look on his face, complaining about how expensive everything was. Still, I was relieved that I rembered most of it.
Anyway, once everyone was reasonably satisfied, we took off, and when the plane stabilized at cruising altitude, I had a quick al and then promptly passed out again. I woke up during al ti, ate appropriately, and then lay back down and slept.
After going through the cycle of eating and sleeping a few tis, we had about an hour left before we arrived.
"Damn, more money’s going to fly out of my wallet."
"...What did you do this ti?"
"I made a bet on how many bowls of ran Eugene would eat during the flight. I bet sowhere between 10 and 20, but... I don’t know if I should feel disappointed or what..."
"Diez, if I was sitting in a separate first-class cabin instead of a shared seat, I would have pinched your cheek by now."
"Yikes."
...People bet on things like that.
Anyway, hearing about the ran made realize that I regretted not eating it, but now it seed pointless to do so. I shook my head, trying to shake off the regret, and checked how much ti was left before landing. About an hour.
It was the perfect amount of ti to get my tasks in order.
I was grateful for that, as this year, I didn’t have to participate in any AP events unless there was so special match. I didn’t even attend the Asian qualifiers to begin with. I wasn’t even participating as a coach. Of course, I planned to give so general combat tips.
To sum up, it ant I’d be spending three weeks without doing anything like interviews or the usual annoying tasks, and that was a relief.
Knowing that, I added a comnt.
"I’m glad there won’t be any little annoyances like interviews this year, like last ti. Well, others will have to do them, but... so of the people here have been through this already, so they’re probably pretty used to it by now."
"Looks like you're on vacation, Eugene."
"Considering how hard the last month has been, I definitely need so rest."
"Though it seems like you have a lot of schedules for a vacation..."
"Ugh."
I couldn’t deny it, and it was frustrating.
Fortunately, this ti, unlike what I expected, Henry was coming over, so it seed unlikely that I would be running around too much. If sothing does co up, well, I don’t really know what that would be. At least, if I could handle the main schedule, the rest didn’t seem like much of a big deal.
Anyway, as I was thinking that, the plane started descending, and the cloudy sky ca into view. I could even see snow in so areas. It looked like a huge painting, really. Each ti I saw the ground covered in white, I felt strangely sentintal.
I wondered when I would stop thinking like this while looking at snow, but... I don’t know. Just thinking about it only confird that I would never forget this mory.
After putting those thoughts behind , I checked my position. Looking out the right window, I could see the Georgian Bay, so it seed we were about to enter the United States soon.
Though I couldn’t enjoy the journey as much as last year due to certain circumstances, according to the information Icarus had sent beforehand, the area near the stadium had been set up like a mini Las Vegas, so it didn’t seem like it would be a boring ti.
The Third Final Championship, which took place last year, felt like it was just yesterday. I wondered when they had started building the stadium and surrounding buildings. Thinking about it like this, I really felt that the overall technological developnt in this world had progressed a lot compared to the world I originally ca from.
Anyway, maybe it was a bit of a complaint, but I thought it was about ti to stop overthinking.
"…I thought there’d be fewer people in this remote part of New York, but there are way more than I expected."
"Well, in the U.S., they want to start promoting Dark Zone matches worldwide. The goal is for them to beco as recognizable as the Super Bowl offline."
"Ah, I see. Well, they’d better pull it off. It seems like in less than five years, they might achieve that."
In the outskirts of Rochester, a small town in New York State, which usually only saw cars, wildlife, and farming tractors, the area was buzzing with noise. It was almost like a small part of Las Vegas had been transplanted here, with dozens of high-rise buildings going up, more than half of them with the Icarus logo on them.
Only a year had passed. But in this world, where construction technology had dramatically improved, it had only taken this short ti to successfully recreate part of Nevada's gambling and pleasure city.
The crowds were a result of a massive construction project costing billions of dollars. So people watching this were worried it might just be a seasonal business, but Icarus didn’t seem to care about that one bit.
The reason was simple.
"You said all Dark Zone matches will be held here, right?"
"Team Six in March, Survival in June, Fallen in September, and Apex Predator in December. Even though the other matches have slightly less recognition than AP, one of those four will never have fewer than 100 million average viewers... It’s basically an announcent that they’re turning this place into a tourist city."
"As you said earlier, it’s going to grow significantly in a few years. By that ti, different states might be competing for hosting rights for next year, or the year after, or maybe even in three or four years..."
"Could be."
Next year, the year after, and beyond.
Of course, there was a reason I was thinking like this. While it was true that the place was crowded, there were still parts of the facilities that weren’t fully developed, and so quieter spots with fewer people around.
But in this world, famous places beca even more famous, and if they weren’t popular, they’d make sure to go viral until they were. In that regard, Icarus International... had far more confidence in advertising than any IT company in the world.
It was simple. Just... advertise Dark Zone, Terra, and Glory & Honor, and everyone would click on it out of curiosity. The combined average concurrent viewers for those three gas would exceed 100 million, and even if only one in a thousand checked it out, that’s still 100,000 people.
I wondered how many people would show up next year. Just then, the conversation continued.
"Well, it looked like an already popular ga, but the real montum probably started when you participated as part of the Korean national team."
"...What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"Don’t be coy. You and I both know that the viewer count exploded to more than double what it was last year when we participated, right?"
"How do you know that, Logan...?!"
"I told you not to call ‘sister’!"
Ack.
Her grip around my neck was impeccable. Still, I was secretly hoping for a bit of femininity from Logan. Of course, I didn’t say it out loud. If I had, I was pretty sure this ferocious polar bear would have pulverized .
Anyway, after being rcilessly beaten by Logan, I finally collapsed onto the bed. anwhile, my acquaintances were reading the pamphlets they had been given beforehand, thinking about how to make the most of their ti here, and I suggested a few things to entertain them.
"By the way, last ti... during the Sniper Competition, I rember Diez making so pretty bold statents to all of you. You should get him back for that."
"Co to think of it, that’s right. He’ll be thrilled and freak out if we tell him that."
"Take it easy on him. He’s a softie in real life."
"I’ll just tease him a bit and stop. Don’t worry."
Will it really end just like that?
Well, in the end, it was Diez’s fault... so, whatever. It’ll be fine.
Anyway, aside from that, I had a request related to an email I had checked before coming here. I’m sure everyone has a rough idea of what it was about, but it was related to a military survival program that had co up recently.
Naturally, for these three, who only seed to have two interests—professionalism and thrill-seeking—it was like handing a shiny new toy to kids, and they were pretty excited about it.
And with that, the conversation continued.
"We should put the cost aside for now and first discuss what kind of missions we want. If it’s a TV program, the intensity or complexity set by the operators wouldn’t make sense as a standard."
"Well, it doesn’t matter. After all, only the reserves will be out there. If we require the sa standards as active-duty operators... I’m sure they’d all be out of the ga by episode one."
"Heh, I get the gist. Then let’s go easy on them. We’ll definitely need live ammo or at least simulated rounds to make it aningful, so that should be fine, right?"
"Uh..."
I’d have to double-check the contract request form to be sure.
Anyway, after responding with that tone, Shark let out a small laugh. It wasn’t exactly a friendly laugh.
"If that’s impossible... there’s no point in investing ti in sothing like that."
"I agree. I’ll check properly later, but I don’t think there’ll be any issues."
"If that’s the case, let know later. My job is to co up with these silly missions after lunch. If we focus from the start, it might take less ti than you think."
I nodded at that, glancing outside and seeing the light snow falling.
It seed like it was ti to et Diez, so I was about to speak, but Olivia suddenly opened a thick pamphlet and showed a corner of the page.
The content was about enjoying the first-ever hologram humanoid remote tours, first launched in Disney World, now available in Rochester. In short... you could enjoy cosplay with humanoids.
It was clear what this ant.
"...No way."
"Yeah, that’s exactly what it sounds like."
At the sa ti, Olivia smirked and added.
"Let’s call those guys back. We’ve got plenty of ti."
There was no answer, but that in itself was the answer.
It was ti to call the cha Monnani.
"Ugh, I can’t believe it..."
"Yeah, I think you’re right, I’m really not into this sort of thing."
At that mont, Olivia smirked again and added:
"Well, we have plenty of ti. Let's bring them back."
There was no imdiate response, but that in itself was an answer. It was ti to call the cha Monnani.
"Yujin, we're here! It feels like we've been here for ages, but it looks like we're the only ones who haven't been out and about... Huh?"
"Huh? What? Eh!? What’s going on?"
"...Well, it seems like the unavoidable mont has arrived. They’re holograms, so don’t touch them, okay?"
The cha Bi-am trio and the Awakened Quartet.
A truly luxurious line-up, and Harmony and Diez were both half-dazed by it all.
Just another normal day.
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