Chapter 06…
Lee Ji-han liked the forest.
Of course, he really did like forests in real life too — but especially on his second map in Zero Ground.
Balance beams, rings, pull-up bars, and more.
The obstacles filling the map didn’t look like obstacles to him. Instead, they felt like a stage where he could run wild.
“Floor routines were my specialty, but other athletes always looked so cool… so I copied them too.”
That old trivial memory overlapped with the present, and suddenly his vision felt wider.
And with that wider vision came the question of how to move, where to go.
His mind was filled with nothing but routes and tactics.
[ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ji-han, just get caught already lolol]
[He ran into the forest? Stalling for time? Just wait, I’m spreading the word right now hahahaha]
[Ugh, those trolls are ruining tag.]
[Kick out anyone with fan nicknames doing that, mod.]
[Mod? lolol manager-nim, please clean this place up hahahaha]
The noisy chat didn’t register with him.
Thirteen.
He only cared about hunting down all thirteen players left, and savoring the thrill of being the final survivor again.
[These trolls are so funny though hahahaha]
[They don’t even know how scary our newbie is in the forest lolol]
[That’s his home turf, duh.]
[Lee Ji-han’s basically a famous ape LOL no seriously]
The viewers who had seen Ji-han’s very first play knew.
In the forest, he showed inhuman qualities.
Fwoosh!
At that moment, Ji-han leapt.
He grabbed a tree and climbed smoothly without any rebound, his body soaring upward.
The viewers could only let out helpless laughter at that monstrous physicality.
Lee Ji-han was a predator, a hunter.
With unmatched ferocity, he launched himself at the first target who had entered the forest.
“Where the hell is he—ugh, AAAAAH!?”
A shrill scream rang out.
The screamer was acid, a pro player from the Zeg team.
[LMAO did a pro just scream like that?]
[Try being in his shoes lol, seeing something that doesn’t belong in your familiar game — of course you’d scream]
[Plot twist: Zero Ground is actually a horror game hahahaha]
It was supposed to be just a silly event match. Not even a real match — just a mini-game to boost stream exposure.
But acid had underestimated Ji-han way too much.
Becoming the forest’s first victim was inevitable.
“Wh–what the hell!? Why’s he jumping from the Z-axis!?”
Crash!
An ambush from above.
Strictly speaking, from the trees — but sudden all the same.
Clang!
A frying pan slammed against his head.
But with a level-3 helmet equipped, acid judged it to be nothing more than a tickle.
“I can’t fire. If I shoot, they’ll know my position and swarm me. …The prize money and new viewers are mine!”
Meanwhile, survivors kept dwindling.
Humans were never truly cooperative creatures.
Everyone in the lobby had their own reasons — and that meant all that mattered was achieving their goal.
“This time it’ll be different! I won’t let my guard down!”
Acid pulled a hatchet from his belt — a tactical multipurpose axe, both stylish and powerful.
Wham! Crack!
He swung. Ji-han dodged. The tree behind him shattered.
Acid hurried to retrieve his weapon — but Ji-han didn’t miss the opening.
With heightened senses, everything felt slowed down. He seized the moment.
Smack!
The frying pan thrust between helmet and vest — into the unprotected neck.
“Gahk!”
A strike like a kendo thrust.
Though in kendo thrusts are banned — so it looked more like…
[A true swordsman can kill with a frying pan too hahahaha]
[If you can’t wield a frying pan, you don’t deserve to be called a swordsman lolol]
[Ji-han, please play a samurai sword game after this match!]
[Samurai? Nah, play our homegrown King’s Sword!]
[Or a Souls-like! Show them your skills there!]
The chat overflowed with game titles.
“Should I call it adaptability? Ji-han’s level is monstrous. If he really starts streaming, it won’t just be a storm — it’ll be a typhoon.”
Kim Su-ho quietly noted down all the games they mentioned — on Ji-han’s behalf.
And he smiled.
“Ji-han, let’s do this. Let’s be streamers. We can succeed. We really can.”
Where Ji-han lacked, Su-ho filled in naturally. And vice versa.
But while Su-ho reveled in the festival atmosphere, acid was suffering.
Even though VR games dampened damage to protect users, getting stabbed in the throat still delivered an unprecedentedly awful sensation.
“Cough—gahh!”
The unpleasantness clouded acid’s judgment.
Ratatatatata!
He swapped to a gun and fired wildly in rage.
But Ji-han had already reacted to the click of the gun swap — diving behind a tree.
Thudthudthud!
Cover secured.
“Arghhh!”
Ratatatatatatatata!
Acid, having lost all composure, created the perfect opening for his own death.
Ji-han’s eyes fixed on the fallen axe.
He dashed straight toward it.
Acid’s muzzle tracked him.
Slowly — so slowly it was like slow motion — Ji-han saw his finger pull the trigger.
Bullets sprayed at his torso.
Whoosh!
Instinct moved Ji-han’s body.
Ratatatatata!
He leapt, grabbed the tree—
Swish!
—spun gracefully, released—
Crash!
—and closed the distance faster than any sprint.
In the scuffle, acid dropped his gun. Ji-han, having rolled cleanly to absorb the impact, seized the axe.
Wham! Crack!
The blade buried itself in acid’s skull.
Survive, until the very end. (6/100)
The viewers who witnessed it all were left speechless.
No one even typed in chat. They just stared, stunned.
