The Grand Epic of Victory (2)

Even setting aside the opponents Yeon-woo had already taken out, three more players had been eliminated.

If the contestants from the other lodge really did start banding together with ropes wrapped around their arms, then counting the one I took out early, that makes five of them.

Which meant there were only eight survivors left, including Yeon-woo himself.

The two who shared my lodge are probably still operating solo. The remaining five are moving as a pack.

Having started so close to one of the opposing lodge's players and eliminating him before he could join the others had been a significant advantage. Even amateurs became far harder to handle in greater numbers—and conversely, even one missing member left gaps in their formation.

A sniper rifle would be nice right about now. Kim Su-hyeok would have thrived in a situation like this.

But all he had were a low-powered survival rifle and a pistol that fired plastic pellets. Their effective range was embarrassingly short compared to real firearms, which meant that no matter how ghostlike his guerrilla tactics, he still had to fight at relatively close quarters—an absolute disadvantage.

I can't risk engaging them head-on without proper preparation. First I need to figure out their route.

The fact that they were roaming as a group meant they had agreed in advance on a rendezvous point. That required a location every one of them already knew. Since each contestant's first-day route had been different, there were only two places they could all reasonably share.

Their own lodge—or the pier.

The previous evening, while eating dinner, Yeon-woo had carefully watched for any noise or light near his own lodge and confirmed there was nothing close by. On an uninhabited island free of artificial light pollution, if the other lodge had held a similar barbecue, the glow would have been visible for at least five hundred meters.

Dividing the island into cardinal directions, Yeon-woo's lodge sat on the eastern side. The pier was to the south. And right now, he was in the north.

When we arrived yesterday, they mentioned that the staff and managers' quarters and the control room were near the pier.

That made the western side of the island—the complete opposite of his own lodge—the most likely location for the other team's base.

Assume they assembled in the west. The people from our lodge who already got eliminated were probably concentrated toward the center of the island.

When Yeon-woo had reached the lodge the night before, everyone else had already finished showering—meaning their starting points hadn't been far from the lodge itself. West and south were therefore impossible. North was where he currently stood. And given the timing of the eliminations, the east would have been too far for the allied team to reach so quickly.

With every cardinal direction ruled out, the only logical conclusion was that the assembled players had pushed toward the center of the island, slaughtering anyone they met along the way.

Yeon-woo looked up at the mountain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠rising from the island's heart and began moving toward it.

Meanwhile, in the control room, a company representative for one of the eliminated contestants was protesting to the PD in a distinctly heated voice.

"Come on, isn't that against the rules? Shouldn't production step in and stop them?!"

He had watched through the cameras as a group of contestants swarmed around, indiscriminately opening fire on the celebrity he managed—literally hunting him. Of course he was furious.

But the PD simply shook his head.

"We don't intervene unless the behavior is dangerous. The moment the red light on a contestant's protective gear lit up, they stopped shooting. It's hard to call that a dangerous act."

"What kind of logic is that? This is supposed to be an individual survival game—how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠can they just form a clique and pull something like that?!"

A manager who had been sitting quietly watching finally spoke up.

"You're Director Choi from Line Entertainment, correct? Even so—'clique' and 'pull something like that'? Please watch your language."

Director Choi whipped his head around to glare at the man who had spoken.

"…Ha. Watch my language? Who the hell are you managing, kid? Still wet behind the ears. One of those cowards running around in a pack, I bet?"

"What? Cowards? Pack? This old man is out of line."

The manager stood, eyes blazing. As a fight threatened to erupt inside the control room, staff members rushed in to separate them.

"Both of you, please stop. You can't cause a scene here. And we're still filming."

"Ha, shit. What a goddamn mess…"

Director Choi muttered under his breath, still seething, then yanked open the control room door and stormed out. Even though his charge Seo Ju-hyeon had been eliminated, the man had put in a solid performance on the first day—so there was only so far Choi could push the protest. How that footage would ultimately be edited rested entirely with the PD.

Yoon Chang-joon PD watched the man leave, then shook his head and thought to himself,

Tsk. No need to feel so wronged. The way this is shaping up, Seo Ju-hyeon might actually be better off eliminated.

It looked like some very entertaining footage was about to come out of this.

"Let's start the special mission now."

"Yes, sir. Drone operators, get ready."

At Yoon PD's word, the staff sprang into motion.

Bzzzt—.

As Yeon-woo headed south toward the center of the island to track the enemy's movement, his smartwatch chimed.

The instant he finished reading the message, Yeon-woo scrambled up the thickest-branched tree nearby. From a relatively high vantage point he looked south toward the pier and saw drones rising into the air and scattering. One of them streaked past the center of the island where he stood and shot northward at full speed.

Four crates… they'll almost certainly drop them at the four cardinal extremes of the island.

They had been briefed that non-combat missions would appear mid-survival. At first he had assumed any mission would be designed to funnel players into a single location and force a fight.

More players must have been eliminated than production expected. They've got a two-night, three-day shooting schedule—if this ends today, they'll be in trouble for broadcast runtime.

Yeon-woo dropped from the tree and changed course toward the east, where last night's lodge stood.

If they're at the four extremes, I'll secure the nearest eastern crate first, then head north. The north has a stream running through it and dense forest—anyone going there for the first time will have trouble even finding their bearings.

Having already mapped the entire island's terrain on day one, he moved without the slightest hesitation.

Meanwhile, the other contestants had received the same message.

Bzzzzt—.

At the chime, the players roaming with ropes tied around their arms all checked their wrists at once.

"Ah…"

"Hmm…"

"Looks like we'll have to search for these individually, right?"

"There are five of us, but only four crates even if we find them all. We can't rock-paper-scissors over who sits out… and if we stick together, the surviving players from the other lodge will just snatch them out from under us."

Player 1, Kang Hak-joon, spoke up.

"Then let's complete the mission, but split into pairs to raise our survival odds. Since Gyeong-jun still hasn't joined us, the number four who got eliminated by number seven in the kill log earlier has to be him."

"Agreed. Whoever number seven is, he's the real deal. Going solo could get you eliminated."

Everyone present nodded. From the previous day onward, number seven had been posting kill logs no one could even imagine—opening kill, double kill, surrender kill—and the entire group was wary of him.

Then one of the players scanning the group tilted his head.

"Uh, but there are five of us. Splitting into pairs leaves an odd number…"

Kang Hak-joon answered as if it were nothing.

"That's fine. I'll go alone."

He had been the first to propose teaming up the moment they reached the lodge the night before, and as a celebrity well-known for his special forces background, the others had already—without saying it aloud—treated him as the group's leader. When Kang Hak-joon volunteered to go solo, no one challenged him.

Among those players, the musical actor Bae Shin-woo rolled his eyes thoughtfully.

Haah. I've only got one life left… Without that hit count reset ticket, I've basically got zero shot at winning.

Bae Shin-woo looked over ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at the comedian Yang Ho-seong—the one who seemed weakest in the group and appeared to have no fandom whatsoever. If things went sideways, he could put a bullet in Yang Ho-seong's back and probably face the least fallout.

"Then I'll pair up with Ho-seong."

"Okay. That settles the pairs naturally. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Let's meet back at the lodge tonight—alive."

After a casual farewell, Kang Hak-joon strode off. Watching his retreating back, every one of them twitched their fingers. In their minds, Kang Hak-joon was a championship contender nearly as dangerous as player seven, and the unprotected back walking away from them right now was almost too tempting not to shoot.

But if I draw my gun and attack first, I'd be the one literally taking the bullet for everyone else.

If someone eliminated Kang Hak-joon here, the rest of them—who had all been hoping for exactly that—would put on their masks and play politics to pin the blame. How could you turn on him the second he turned his back? And in a survival game, what punishment was there besides elimination?

While they all hesitated, Kang Hak-joon vanished between the trees.

Once his back disappeared, Bae Shin-woo abandoned the temptation and turned to the comedian he had chosen.

"Ho-seong. Let's go. I need that hit count reset ticket. If we find a crate and it's not the reset ticket—if it's one of the other two you want—you take it. Otherwise, I take it. Deal?"

Yang Ho-seong had met no one on the first day, finishing with zero hits taken and zero kills scored, so Bae Shin-woo's proposal sounded appealing.

"Deal. If a suppressor or laser sight comes out, I'll take it."

With that, Bae Shin-woo and Yang Ho-seong set off, and the remaining two began moving together as well.

But none of them knew that player seven had already claimed half of the mission rewards they were after.

While the allied team split into three groups, Kim Min-su had stepped briefly outside the control room and was on a call with someone on his smartphone.

"Yes, Director."

"How is it? Actor Ryu isn't hurt or anything, is he? I thought he'd be coming back on the boat last night, but they're still filming today—did he just get lucky and survive?"

At Executive Director Yoon Mi-yeon's question, Kim Min-su's expression turned peculiar.

"That's… not it."

"Excuse me? Not it? What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm not sure how to put this, but if I'm reporting pure facts—Actor Ryu is just sweeping everyone."

"…What?"

Then a different voice came faintly through the receiver. It sounded like actor Jin Yu-han.

"See? I told you. You don't need to worry. Yeon-woo's a survival legend."