Nice to Meet You
Nice to meet you.
One hour until the main event.
The stadium stands were already ninety percent full, and the remaining ten percent was steadily trickling in. On the four massive screens positioned at the center of the venue, pre-recorded footage of the finalists was playing on a loop.
Since this was a virtual reality game, watching from inside DeoEn was arguably more convenient and far more immersive than viewing it in the real world. But the DCK had adopted the format of old computer esports tournaments. The players climbed into connection pods at the center of the arena to compete, and their in-game footage was broadcast live to the screens.
Of course, DeoEn had its own stadium as well, so spectators could watch from either side. The advantage of the offline stadium, however, was that you could see the players themselves in the flesh.
The players gave interviews in the real world before the match began, stepped onto the stage for one more brief round of questions, and after the match ended, they emerged back into reality to lift the championship trophy.
Angel and demon. A trophy masterfully wrought in black and white, as though the two races had been forged into a single clash against each other.
"The finals are finally here."
Choi Ha-na — captain of Team CO, better known as Chotachoka Chuka Chip — nodded at the words of Kim Haneul, the team's ranged dealer.
The finals, at last. She had already lifted the championship trophy twice before, and yet the nerves never went away. Choi Ha-na was strong, but pro matches were team fights, and no one could win on their own performance alone.
"We have to win. No matter what."
But even so — they were going to win. They would win, crush that insufferable Baekseol, and climb even higher.
Chuka Chip — Choco — currently sat at Rank 4. Geomsin, Leo, and Michael held the spots above her with an iron grip, leaving her stalled in place, but now that Geomsin had taken a nosedive, a path upward had finally opened.
'Lily and Leo, fine, I'll give them those. But the other two? I can sweep them aside.'
Michael was strong, but his strength lay in guild influence rather than raw skill, and Geomsin had lost his weapon, dropped levels, and gone into hiding. Once the DCK wrapped up, there would be breathing room — time to upgrade her specs and set her sights on the summit. If she just climbed steadily like that, she might eventually reach her goal.
'The goal named Lily.'
The door creaked open.
'...Though of course.'
"Oh my. Here you are."
'She's the one I need to trample first.'
A woman whose hair was dyed snow-white, just like her in-game character, despite this being the real world. With her hair tied back, she wore a uniform in the team color of red, and emblazoned on her chest was a logo — a pure white bird cradling a sphere of red and blue magic.
Her opponent — and a ranker who had shot into the top ten after a sudden surge in the two months leading up to the finals. The ace of Team WoW.
Rank 9, the Frost Sorceress Baekseol, looked at Choco and smiled sweetly.
"Our little Hana. You must be so excited for today, hm?"
"Your little Hana, my ass. Go manage your own team. Why are you even here?"
Choi Ha-na glared at Baekseol, her face twisting into a scowl. This was Team CO's waiting room. It wasn't a sealed, secret chamber — since it doubled as a staging area for the stage, staff were allowed in and out. Just moments ago, a stylist had popped in and left. Someone had deliberately cleared the room, and now the two of them were alone.
Baekseol chuckled and closed the distance.
"Aw, come on. We're classmates, aren't we?"
"Who's your classmate? I've never been on a team with you in my life."
"Pro debut classmates, I mean. I actually felt a real bond with you, you know. I'm disappointed..."
To Choi Ha-na's barbed hostility, Baekseol slipped past like a serpent, smooth and unbothered.
Baekseol — her character also named Baekseol — and Choco did not get along. And it wasn't simply a matter of clashing personalities or opposing teams. Choco was actually on friendly terms with Vlack, and maintained perfectly decent relationships with teammates like Yena. Someone with genuinely poor people skills couldn't survive a pro career in the first place.
And yet the reason she burned to devour Baekseol alive was...
"Don't tell me... it's because you lost your very first debut match to me?"
"...Why are you bringing up ancient history."
Choi Ha-na was an original-generation member, having turned pro one year after DeoEn launched. The moment pro leagues were introduced, she dove straight into the professional circuit, and with her exceptional skill and gorgeous character customization, she shot to popularity. People expected great things from her.
'...Huh?'
'She won?'
And then, in her debut match — a Team Brawl — Choco was utterly crushed. In a mode that placed limits on strength and technique, mages held an overwhelming advantage, and Choco was swept up in Baekseol's Frost Formation and ran straight through the heart.
She'd lost the brawl, though CO won the other matches and took the overall victory — but for Choco, it was a wound to her pride all the same.
Choi Ha-na's teeth ground together.
"And ever since then, I've won every single time. Or don't you remember?"
"You were being so terrifying about it, you see. Honestly, losing one game and then acting like you wanted to eat me alive..."
"......"
"And then whining and begging for a one-on-one against a mage, of all things. It was hilarious, really..."
Baekseol shrugged and took a small step back. Before Choi Ha-na could ball her fist and launch herself forward, Haneul — who had been watching from the sidelines the entire time — stepped between them.
"Heya, Haneul!"
"Baekseol. Just go, okay? Looks like things are about to start."
"There's still time, though? We haven't even finished our conversation..."
"Which is why you should leave. Save the chatting — or the fighting — for the match."
"Haneul, move. I need to hit this girl at least once."
"You can hit her later too. We're not Street Fighters here. We're DeoEn pros."
Haneul let out a long sigh as he planted himself squarely between the two of them. Compared to the fame of Baekseol and Choco, Haneul was a ranker barely inside the top thousand — hopelessly weak by their standards. In the real world, however, it was another story.
"Hmm... you're quite tall, Haneul."
Haneul was a tall man, and both Baekseol and Choi Ha-na stood a full head shorter than him.
"Want a piece of me too, Haneul?"
Though of course, he stood no chance against a woman trained in boxing.
"Whew... Yes, ma'am. The villain will retreat."
In the end, it was Baekseol who backed down from the standoff. She spun on her heel and glided toward the waiting room door.
"See you later, then? Just don't come crying after you lose and demand a rematch."
"We'll find out when it's over."
Haneul waved a hand lazily, and Choi Ha-na flipped her the bird.
Thud!
"Whew... I honestly thought we'd have an incident for a second there."
"Who are you calling a troublemaker?"
"If you punch someone here, we are in genuinely deep trouble, Hana."
Haneul slumped onto the sofa as if collapsing, and Choi Ha-na gave a small snort and shook her head.
"You know how much training I've had. Do you really think I'd leave marks? Obviously I'd hit her somewhere that doesn't bruise."
"The punching itself is the problem, you lunatic. What happens if you get disqualified over this?"
"That'd be bullshit. I didn't go looking for her — she came here and picked the fight."
Creak!
"It's obvious she's laying the groundwork in advance because she knows she's about to get wrecked in the relay battles. How am I supposed to just let that slide? Doesn't that piss you off?"
"...If it pisses you off, get your revenge in the match. Like I keep saying — we're not street fighters."
Haneul heaved a deep sigh. This is exactly when we need Rater-hyung around.
"And of all times, he had to step out to go sightseeing..."
"Well... hyung is a Lily fanatic. Gotta respect the man's taste."
"What's gotten into you? You'd normally find that guy insufferable."
"...Well, I mean."
It's just... someone like Lily, I guess I can acknowledge...
"...Never mind."
"?"
"Anyway. Did everyone go out sightseeing?"
"Asa's in DeoEn doing his warm-up drills, and Rater-hyung and Gunner-noona went out to look around. Seriously, the finals are less than fifty minutes away and they're out sightseeing..."
"The other three are on standby?"
"Yeah. They could get called in anytime, but since it's WoW, who knows how it'll shake out."
"Okay."
It felt a little too lax, admittedly — but they had already run through hundreds of practice matches and honed their skills together. Getting too tense would only breed mistakes that didn't need to happen, so letting everyone loosen up wasn't a bad call. In fact, one season they'd been out wandering right up until twenty minutes before the match — and still lifted the trophy.
"Then I'll go check if our guests arrived and come back."
"The ones you sent the spectator tickets to? Still, just in case — have them here thirty minutes before."
"Got it."
Choi Ha-na pushed open the waiting room door and stepped out. The moment the soundproofed door swung wide, the roar of the stadium drove a needle into her ears.
The sky had been washed in the color of dusk, and the stadium's countless seats were packed to the brim with people.
"...Whew."
Steady the nerves.
I win. I will win, no matter what. Whoever stands across from me — I win.
Hardening her resolve, she strode quickly toward the VIP seats.
The VIP section at the front of the stands was a place reserved for verified individuals — no special invitation, no entry. Typically only celebrities, the personal acquaintances of pros, and DCK officials could get in.
Choi Ha-na held five invitations in total. Two went to close acquaintances, one to Vlack. And she'd given the last two to Yena.
Vlack would be streaming, so it would've been a bit awkward for him to show up at this hour... As for Yena — she hadn't originally planned to give her two tickets, but since Raguel, her teammate from the Mock Siege Battle, had declined the offline invite, both ended up going to Yena. No idea who she'd bring along... probably a friend, most likely.
"Yena?"
"...And so the storyline of the finals is going to be absolutely incr— oh! Oh, today's main character has arrived, everybody!"
Yena rose warmly to her feet and extended a hand. She really was strong, no question about it. Honestly, given the same specs, she could probably flatten that arrogant Baekseol without breaking a sweat.
Because her face matched her DeoEn character exactly, Choi Ha-na felt a strange sense of familiarity as she turned her head. And the person beside her was... a cosplayer?
A woman whose face was hidden beneath a black cap and a black mask. The blue hair suggested someone cosplaying as 'Lily.'
Even with half her face covered, there was no hiding that beauty. It simply couldn't be concealed. The cosplayer rose carefully from her seat and held out a hand.
'But why does she look so much like...'
"Nice to meet you."
"...Huh?"
Lily?