Chapter 51 : The world’s first

V-BAT has a very unique map.

It’s the only battlefield with a single tank, and funnily enough, the opposing team on that map doesn’t get any anti-tank weapons. No rockets, nothing.

Honestly, I was pretty bewildered back then, but one of the veteran players laughed and explained it to me.

They said this map is famous for this very reason.

Surprisingly, the map is a festival of wacky ideas, a place where veterans compete to see who can destroy the lone tank with the most creative and bizarre methods.

‘I thought it was ridiculous back then.’

Turns out it’s useful now.

Back then, the most famous and standard method was to blow the hatch open with a few grenades and detonate the inside.

Perhaps this map in Black Ops is an homage to that.

[????????]
[What the f*ck? How did you do that?]
[No cheating, you AI!]
[LOL]
[No way, that’s absurd LOL]
[LOL]

The chat exploded in an instant.

Well, it was a pretty big deal.

‘Did they say no one’s ever done this before?’

I think I know why.

‘Few people have talent comparable to mine, and even fewer of them play V-BAT.’

You need a good body to be good at VR games.

Regardless of your actual physical condition, you need to be exceptionally good at controlling your body. It’s not like the ‘click’ of the PC gaming era; you’re directly controlling your body, so in a way, the talent gap is even wider.

Furthermore, you also need to recognize this as a ‘game’.

For example, there’s a reason why few of the named Black Ops shooters are ex-military special forces. To them, this doesn’t seem like a game.

No matter how much it’s dressed up as a near-future battlefield, the background of this game is still a pew-pew battlefield, isn’t it?

PTSD, or the cautiousness, vigilance, and humility ingrained in them for survival during their service—these are all unnecessary in a ‘game’.

You don’t actually die when you get shot in a game.

I scratched my cheek and muttered.

“So, am I the first in the world right now?”

[Yes]
[What is this LOL]
[Using bugs in the game LOL]
[Putting a grenade in there and blowing the hatch open LOL]
[This crazy b*tch… truly crazy]
[Commie robot b*tch]
[Wow, but this is really amazing, it’ll spread overseas]
[Real]

In a way, Black Ops is even more popular worldwide than SoulFrame.

Although the tournaments aren’t considered very exciting, many people enjoy the game itself. In a way, this could be a more valuable record than being ranked 1st in SoulFrame.

‘I like it.’

I smiled.

Then I asked my Thumbs-Up Gang.

“So, what should I do next?”

[Why are you asking us LOL]
[You’re the first in the world]
[‘Now you’re on your own’]
[LOL]
[Who in the world would know what to do next LOL]

“Ah, that’s true.”

I looked around with an embarrassed expression.

It didn’t seem like there was a ‘Mission Complete! Game Over!’ message like in SoulFrame. In that case, should I retrieve the data package, the initial objective?

I flew a reconnaissance drone into the building where the data package was located. It was a building riddled with cannon fire, but the concrete debris that should have been scattered or piled up on the floor was gone.

It seemed that all obstacles were removed for tutorial completion the moment the player destroyed the tank.

I searched the slightly messy interior of the building. Soon, I found a small, cigarette-pack-sized device blatantly plugged in somewhere that looked like a server room.

This is for convenience. They wouldn’t place something important in such a visible location.

“I think this is the data package.”

[Yes]
[If you retrieve that, HQ will send a helicopter]
[They’ll mark the location, you just have to go there]
[Usually, but I don’t know about this time]
[LOL]

As soon as I retrieved it, I heard the sound of propellers outside. Oh, did it come right away?

I went outside and saw a helicopter belonging to HQ landing on the battlefield. A mercenary bot was staring blankly at the destroyed armored vehicle, then saw me and chuckled.

“Hey, wasn’t this a data package retrieval mission?”

I shrugged.

The bot grinned.

“Silent type, huh. Keeping your mouth shut is a mercenary’s virtue.”

I didn’t answer, assuming it wasn’t a bot with proper AI, but it seemed like I was wrong.

Well, they wouldn’t throw a dumb, single-answer bot at someone who achieved this feat for the first time and ruin the mood.

In that case, I’ll play along.

I need to think about the YouTube presentation, too.

“Here you go.”

“Hmm, the data package. Confirmed.”

Watching the mercenary bot carefully place the data package into the helicopter’s safe, I joked.

“I’ll have to request additional compensation from HQ. I wasn’t told about an armored vehicle when I first came here.”

“They might give you hazard pay, but I doubt they’ll give you extra. The mission wasn’t to destroy the vehicle.”

Huh? What, why is this bot so smart?

I flinched, and the mercenary bot shrugged.

“Still, you can look forward to the next salary negotiation.”

“Sounds good.”

“Then let’s go. It’ll be troublesome if they hear the commotion and come swarming.”

I took the bot’s outstretched hand and boarded the helicopter.

At that moment, the space shifted.

Back to the original office.

I glanced at the hologram device and saw ‘Tutorial 1’ marked as complete. At the same time, a rifle was added to my equipment list.

But.

“What’s this?”

In the equipment list…

There was something else?

* * *

▣ What the f*ck is this

[Sno.1 Broadcast Clip]

SeongWon, this crazy b*tch LOL
How did she clear this extermination route?

─Seriously, I bet she’s got something going on with the CEO of World War LOL
└If you didn’t watch the broadcast, refrain from making baseless accusations;
└What the f*ck LOL just watching that clip proves it’s insane, and you’re still saying she slept her way there? You idiot LOL
─No LOL crazy LOL was that thing supposed to have a detachable hatch? Then why did qwerty1234 dig a hole and put a grenade under it? LOL
└Lost the top spot because he’s stupid LOL
└Does that look easy? She dodged the armored vehicle’s cannon fire and coaxial machine gun, got close, opened the hatch, and threw a homemade cluster grenade inside LOL
└And she used a rifle to open the hatch because she didn’t have a crowbar LOL
─She’s a real monster LOL

▣ Is she really the first in the world?

[Dancing Pepe the Frog image]

Isn’t it obvious? SeongWon is the number one donator, gaming genius, universe’s strongest, prettiest, goddess. You should have known the moment you saw her face. It’s unbelievable that you wouldn’t have expected this. Everyone, kneel and worship her.

─Why the hell isn’t anyone commenting on my post, you bastards?

▣ When is this going up on YouTube?

[Sno.1 Broadcast screenshot, a high-quality image of SeongWon chuckling while looking at the mercenary]

I’m so curious about the overseas reaction

─It’ll be out soon, right? She uploads quickly.
└The editing is awesome, it’s so stylish, like a movie LOL
└Doesn’t it take at least a week for the translators to get the original footage and translate it?
└LOL, you guys only watch reuploads and not Sno.1’s official channel? Her YouTube has subtitles for almost every country now LOL
└??
└SeongWon might not be well-known overseas, but her agency translates all the lines and stuff for every YouTube video. Soon, they’ll be hiring voice actors, not just translators.
└LOL
└She was a prepared talent.

▣ What is this?

[Sno.1 Broadcast screenshot]

What? This item existed?

─What is that?
└I’ve never seen it before.
└Isn’t it like a record-breaking reward?
─I’ve never seen that before.
└So this is also a world first.
└SeongWon is a true prodigy LOL
└Where can I watch the broadcast?
└Can you try finding it yourself?; Are you helpless?

* * *

The item in my equipment slot was, funnily enough, a letter.

A letter titled:

[To our dearest ‘SeongWon’, from the World War development team.]

[?????????]
[What? What is this? What is this? What is this?]
[Wow, a letter from HQ]
[How hard did they think it was LOL]
[Wow, a hidden item]
[Did this even exist?]
[There was no mention of World War]
[OMG]

Seeing the chat’s reaction, I realized this was the first item in Black Ops, Korean and international servers alike, that mentioned the developers.

‘This confirms that I was the first to clear this.’

If someone had already cleared Tutorial 1’s armored vehicle section, I wouldn’t have received this. It wouldn’t be an item given to everyone who cleared that part. If it were, this element would have been discovered by now.

So.

‘This is good content for the stream.’

I immediately put the letter in my inventory without reading it.

[Hey, read it]
[Why aren’t you looking at it?]
[Read it now!!!!!!!!!!]
[Ah LOL she’s building hype for YouTube]
[You can read it now and just upload it to YouTube!!!]
[That’s true]
[This isn’t even donation time, what is she doing?]
[The commie robot malfunctioned again]

Then, I turned my head and addressed the Thumbs-Up Gang.

“Today’s Black Ops stream will end here.”

[?]
[????]
[Huh?]
[What do you mean?]

“I’ll now begin part 2 of the stream, SoulFrame score wall building. Please subscribe to Sno.1, like, and turn on notifications. I’ll be back in 3 minutes.”

Then I turned off the screen.

[Excuse me, miss]
[Ending the stream LOL]
[No, you crazy b*tch!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
[Read it!!!!!!]
[Commie robot b*tch!!!!!!!!!!!!]

With the screen off, I whispered quietly.

“I’ll read the letter in 3 days. See you then.”

Then I ended the voice chat too.

The viewers’ complaints skyrocketed, but I ignored them.

‘Come on, it’s common sense not to read this now, right?’

Just leaving it like this will keep the hype going for days.

[Where did the streamer go?]
[Open the door!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]
[Crazy b*tch… crazy AI… viral marketing b*tch]
[She’s pulling an ‘180 seconds until reveal’]