Lee Ji-han liked forests.
Of course, he did like forests in real life too, but especially in the second map, Zero Ground.
Balance beams, rings, horizontal bars, and more—
The obstacles that filled the map didn't even look like obstacles to him. Instead, they felt like a stage where he could run wild.
"Floor exercise was my main event, but the other athletes looked so cool that I tried copying them."
As that little sentiment from the past overlapped with the present, he felt his vision gradually expand.
And with that broadened vision came the thoughts of how to move, what routes to take.
All of it began to completely fill Lee Ji-han's head.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ji-han, just let yourself get caughtㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[He ran into the forest? Stalling on purpose? Just waitㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I'll come report it right awayㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Ugh, those damn trolls. They're making tag boring.]
[Mods, ban everyone doing that crap under fan nicknames.]
[Modsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Manager-nimㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ please manage water qualityㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
The noisy chat window didn't enter his eyes.
Thirteen.
That number alone was his focus—beating every single one of them down and once again tasting the thrill of being the last survivor standing.
[But those newbie trolls are hilariousㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ they don't know how good our newbie is in the forestㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[That's literally his home turf, don't you know?]
[Lee Ji-han is a famous apeㅋㅋㅋㅋ For realㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
Those who had watched Lee Ji-han's very first play already knew—
That in the forest, Lee Ji-han displayed inhuman traits.
Fwoosh!
At that very moment, Lee Ji-han leapt.
He grabbed a tree and climbed cleanly without even using momentum.
The viewers burst into incredulous laughter at that monstrous physical ability.
Lee Ji-han was a beast. A predator.
Fiercer than anyone, he hurled himself at the first target that had stepped into the forest.
"Where the hell is Lee Ji-han in this for— Aaaaaaaagh!?"
A shrill scream rang out.
The one screaming was acid, one of ZEG's pro players.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ A pro screamed like that?]
[You'd scream tooㅋㅋㅋㅋ If something unfamiliar pops out in a game you thought you knew, it's only naturalㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Turns out Zero Ground is actually a horror gameㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
It was literally a special event match—or rather, not even a real match, just a mini-game.
Acid, who had joined the mini-game just to boost traffic for his own stream, had simply underestimated Lee Ji-han.
Becoming the first sacrifice in the forest was inevitable.
"Wh-what the hell!? Why are you popping out from the Z-axis!?"
Crash!
An ambush from above.
Well, strictly speaking, from the treetops—but the sudden appearance was no less shocking.
Clang!
A frying pan smacked against his helmet.
But wearing level 3 headgear, Acid judged that kind of attack to be nothing more than a tickle.
"I can't fire my gun. That'll give away my location. Then other players will come swarming. …The gift card and the new viewers are mine to take!"
Even now, the number of survivors kept dropping.
Human beings were never the cooperative type to begin with.
If they'd entered this lobby each for their own reasons, then the only direction left was to do everything they could to achieve their goals.
"This time will be different! I won't let my guard down again!"
Acid pulled out a hatchet from his belt.
A multi-purpose tactical hand axe—sleek design, but also with decent real destructive power.
Whoosh!
Crack!
Acid swung the axe.
Lee Ji-han dodged.
The tree behind him shattered into pieces, and Acid hurriedly pulled the axe back in shock.
But Lee Ji-han did not waste that opening.
His senses sharpened to the extreme, as if even time itself slowed down—he fully exploited the moment.
Smack!
Between the helmet and the body armor.
Straight into the exposed neck went the frying pan.
"Ghhk!"
Like the precise thrust of a kendo fighter.
Except in kendo, thrusting is counted as a foul—so really, the sight was more like…
[A skilled swordsman can kill with a frying pan tooㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[A swordsman who can't wield a frying pan isn't a true swordsmanㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Ah, Ji-han! After this match, please play Samurai Chanbara! Yeah?]
[Chanbara?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Stop with the foreign trash. Play our homegrown Sword of the King!]
[Gladius would be good too—or better yet, how about you conquer a Souls-like?]
The chat exploded with fantasy game titles, comparing Ji-han to a seasoned swordsman.
"Adaptability, that's what you'd call it. Ji-han's level is downright monstrous. If he really starts streaming, it won't just be a storm—it'll be a typhoon."
Kim Su-ho naturally began taking note of the games people wanted.
On behalf of Lee Ji-han.
And still, a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
"Ji-han, let's become streamers. We can do it. We can succeed, you and I. Yeah?"
The things Ji-han couldn't do, Su-ho naturally handled.
And the things Su-ho couldn't do, Ji-han effortlessly accomplished.
But unlike Kim Su-ho, who was enjoying the festive mood, Acid was in hell.
Though VR games dialed down pain implementation to protect users, he had still been stabbed in the throat.
He was forced to experience an unprecedented, horrifying discomfort.
"Ghhk, khhhk!"
The raw disgust and unease overwhelmed his instincts.
It was enough to cloud Acid's judgment—
Ratatatatata!
At some point, he had switched to his gun, spraying bullets in a rage.
But Lee Ji-han—
At the sound of the 'click-clack' weapon swap, he reacted instantly, diving behind a tree.
Thudthudthudthud!
Quick as lightning, he took cover behind the trunk.
"Aaaagh!"
Ratatatatata!
The perfect chance was created to kill an Acid who had lost his composure.
Ji-han dashed for one goal: the axe lying on the ground.
The moving gun barrel tracked him.
Slowly, ever so slowly—
Like in slow motion, Acid's finger tightened.
The muzzle was aimed at Ji-han's body.
Headshots were the most efficient in Zero Ground, but unloading into the torso wasn't a bad method either.
Of course, Lee Ji-han didn't know that.
Whoosh!
His body moved on instinct.
Ratatatatata!
Bullets streaked toward his torso.
Ji-han hurled himself upward, catching hold of a tree—
Vwoom!
And spun cleanly.
With one full rotation, his body whipped around.
The instant he released his grip—
Crash!
Faster than any sprint, he closed the distance to Acid.
They collided in an instant.
The shock made Acid drop his gun, while Ji-han absorbed the impact with a clean roll and snatched the axe from the ground.
Whoosh!
Crunch!
The axe buried itself in Acid's head.
—Survive, until the very end. (6/100)
The viewers who had witnessed all this could say nothing.
They couldn't even think to type in chat.
They just stared blankly at Ji-han's performance.
"…Holy shit."
Kim Su-ho's screen switch was enough to leave everyone speechless.
A personal cam was strictly first-person; it couldn't capture all of this effectively.
But applying an external third-person mode?
That made it possible to fully capture a battle as absurd as this one.
[?????]
[Host, was that you switching perspectives?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Insane]
[Wow, is that even humanly possible?]
[He really is an ape? They said cavemen clung to trees to escape predatorsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Host, where'd you find this maniacㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Love you smoochㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ please keep streaming, yeah?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Clipped it, spreading it to the forumsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[You made it, you made it, you made it, you made it, you made it]
[Mom, when I grow up I wanna be Lee Ji-han, mom, when I grow up I wanna be Lee Ji-han, mom…]
Frenzy.
The chat was pure frenzy.
What looked dizzying in first-person had become a godlike move when shown in third-person.
"Ji-haaaaaaan!!!"
The electrifying thrill pierced through Kim Su-ho's body.
All they were doing was chanting Lee Ji-han's name, and yet it felt like he himself was being flooded with dopamine.
It was a strange sensation—but Su-ho decided to simply enjoy it.
The fact that this was his broadcast didn't matter anymore.
Just capturing Ji-han's exploits was enough to melt away his biggest worries.
"Hoo, hoo…."
Meanwhile, oblivious to all the excitement, Lee Ji-han calmly caught his breath and moved on to hunt the next prey.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Did you bring back a caveman or what?]
[Those are the same skills he used to hunt mammothsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[No, no. He's our cult leader. He's the Heavenly Demon.]
[What the hellㅋㅋㅋ What even is a Heavenly Demonㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Could be real. These days even martial arts masters stream, become VTubers, idols—total chaos.]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What the hell are you talking about, you nerdㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
And Ji-han's next move was nothing short of shocking.
The seeker in this game of tag had been reversed.
Now, Ji-han was hunting down the remaining survivors himself.
[Meanwhile, the last safe zone got set in the forestㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[You can come in, but you can't leaveㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[What horror movie is this? How is it fair for the killer to fly around like that?]
[What is this, Frying Pan Killer? Acid gave him wingsㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Wow, with just one axe the whole performance changedㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Your Acid did a great serviceㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ It's fineㅋㅋㅋㅋ You can win in the real tourneysㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[Wait, won't the ZEG pros come now?]
[Huh?]
[???]
[Newbie, don't leave usㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[I'm serious. Don't go pro. Streaming is your destiny.]
[What kind of streamer doesn't read chat or donations? Pro gamer is obviously the path. Is fresh blood about to enter the ZEG scene?]
[ZEG stans out! Please, out! Host, our newbie's gonna be a variety streamer, right? Yeah?]
[There are so many games they want you to play. You're not just gonna stick to ZEG, right?]
Every time Ji-han killed another survivor, a storm of chat erupted.
And the viewer count began to skyrocket insanely.
[Killcam's off, no official broadcast either]
[-> yep]
[Acid rage-quit his stream, so is this the main channel now?]
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Wow, viewers over 3000 already?]
[He sucked them all dry, damn.]
With the numbers surging, Kim Su-ho's eyes spun frantically.
At first he'd managed chat moderation, then muting donations—but now, with the flood of incoming viewers, it was impossible to control anymore.
'Sorry, Ji-han. Guess my abilities only go this far.'
Barely twenty people.
That tiny squad was all he'd managed for two years.
For the first time, Kim Su-ho felt the sting of despair.
Even though he wasn't even the one managing.
Meanwhile, Lee Ji-han, the one who had given Su-ho that despair, was entering the final stage.
—Survive, until the very end. (2/100)
"At last, I've found you. Hoo. Ji-han-nim. Why are you so good at games? To think this isn't even cheating—it's insane."
The opponent was none other than Kim Ppong-dda—the root cause of all this.
"You won't even answer? Don't glare at me so fiercely like that…!"
Kim Ppong-dda was a romantic sort of gamer.
If his opponent insisted on melee combat, he'd throw away his gun and pick up a blade too.
"Let's settle this! A duel, with collab rights on the line!"
Fwoosh!
His dagger sliced through the air.
Ji-han had been right in front of him, but—
Whoosh!
Smack!
"Ghhk!?"
Ji-han's arm shot out from below, from the blind spot cleverly hidden by his helmet.
"Damn it, this helmet's in the way."
Clatter.
In close combat, guns were meaningless.
It had devolved into something primal, stripped to the roots—the battlefield as it was in the beginning. A true Zero Ground.
Kim Ppong-dda reset his stance, dagger raised again.
"Hoo, hoo…."
Silence stretched taut, tense as an overdrawn bowstring.
A one-shot duel.
Neither had armor.
Their only weapons: an axe and a dagger.
In that extreme situation, Kim Ppong-dda was the first to move.
Dash!
His leg muscles exploded with power, pushing him at maximum speed.
This was surely his ultimate performance—but—
Bang!
[?]
[?????]
[???????????????]
[Wait what? Newbie, when did you pick up a pistol?]
[?????]
[Weren't you about to do a melee fight?]
[He just shot him right between the eyes??]
Like snapping a taut string with scissors—
Ji-han was holding a pistol, though no one knew when he'd picked it up.
—Survive, until the very end. (1/100)
—Today, I was the one who survived.
"Ah, so it really does hit the head?"
At Ji-han's words—
The viewers' hopes and expectations came crashing down, flooding the chat with chaos.
But Ji-han didn't respond to any of it.
He simply wiped the stream of blood dripping from his nose and calmly ended the game.
And so, the Zero Ground community erupted in flames over the utterly unbelievable events of that day.
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