Once hailed as the ultimate game, Envision was strangely going downhill, despite its earlier glory.
In stark contrast to Abyss, which had transformed from a flop to a gem.
But now, Envision was throwing down the gauntlet, collaborating with the mega American corporation Higher Games to release what they hoped would be a masterpiece.
With every ounce of remaining energy poured into this game, the success of ‘Island’ was crucial. It was not an exaggeration to say Envision’s future, as well as its employees’, hung in the balance.
In fact, the executives behind the project had reportedly bet their heads (not literally, thankfully). Envision was in a tight spot.
This was why most employees were gathered in the monitoring room, glued to the ad.
The atmosphere inside the room was thick with tension. Not because of any specific problem, but just the vibe of the situation.
With the fate of the company resting on this one game, nobody could help but feel a bit anxious.
Among them, however, was one female employee who seemed entirely unbothered. With a lighter expression than her colleagues, she turned to the man beside her and asked, “Team Leader, is this right?”
“…What do you mean?”
She was a new employee who’d joined just two months ago.
Like most new hires her age, she was young and trendy, largely oblivious to the surrounding ambiance.
If the company were to implode, she’d probably just shrug, think, “Ah, looks like Envision’s toast—guess I’ll find a job elsewhere,” and move on without a hitch, the Team Leader mused.
She was indeed young and capable, making it easy for her to land another gig if Envision crumbled.
“But I’m not like that.”
However, the Team Leader was different. He didn’t have the best qualifications and was getting on in years.
Experience? Well, his resume would be just Envision atrocities if this project tanked… It might count for something, but he wouldn’t be pampered like he was now.
Regardless, he viewed Envision as his first job and wanted to stick around for a while. The passion and vigor of his youth had long since faded.
“Seriously, why is someone my age acting like this, every single day?”
“Ten years isn’t much of a difference, is it?”
“You’re only thirty-six; that’s still young enough in today’s world, right?”
It was on the tip of his tongue to say, “Wait until you reach my age,” but the Team Leader bit his tongue. He knew that sounded really old-school.
No need to sound like a young grump. Instead, he shifted to a different question, one that wasn’t what he originally wanted to ask.
“Wait, what do you mean ‘is this right’?”
“Er, well, that guy over there is just racking up kills all by himself. Our ad is tanking, isn’t it—?”
“Hey, hey, keep your voice down…”
“Hey hey, lower your voice….”
The team leader dragged the oblivious new employee into a corner. Thankfully, there were no people around; if the voice was any louder, they would definitely receive some piercing glares.
“The ad’s a flop….”
She vaguely understood why she was saying that. The advertising broadcast was definitely taking a bizarre turn.
One player was hogging the spotlight. The streamer known as ‘Kayak’ was systematically eliminating all other broadcasters in a massacre. Naturally, the spotlight was solely on her.
This was a scenario that Envision completely did not anticipate.
In a survival game, it’s incredibly difficult for one gamer to pull ahead.
Given that this was a new game, there shouldn’t have been anyone skilled enough to dominate from the get-go.
Moreover, the returns were minimal for the risks involved. Players received some sort of reward for taking out opponents, but it was far too meager to justify the danger.
On the flip side, there were opportunities for spontaneous party systems, alliance systems, and a generous survival limit of just 10 players.
Envision had envisioned players forming alliances, breaking apart, and backstabbing each other.
“That all went to hell from the start…”
It was no wonder the new employee raised such a question.
However, the team leader’s opinion, having watched the ad since the beginning, was a bit different.
“What flop? It’s going great.”
“Huh? It’s completely different from what we thought. That person isn’t joining parties, hardly uses voice, and kills everyone she meets….”
“That’s not important.”
The team leader was receiving real-time statistics from the analysis team.
The rising search volume for ‘Island’ through the ads, and the growing interest from those watching the broadcast—it was significant enough to not be ignored.
Whether Kayak was hogging the limelight or not, the advertising effect was nothing to sneeze at. In fact, the viewers of Kayak’s broadcast were starting to show curiosity about the game ‘Island.’
Already, 20,000 people had accessed the game site through the links in Kayak’s broadcast. That meant nearly half of the viewers were interested in the game.
Even if the direction and image Envision aimed for differed, the outcome was as they had anticipated. No, it was not an outcome worse than they expected.
So, in conclusion:
“Anyway, it’s out of our hands now; just watch without overthinking.”
“That’s true….”
There was nothing the monitoring employees could do. They could only watch.
Still, deep down, the team leader hoped Kayak would pull off something spectacular and successfully wrap up this advertising broadcast.
“Whoa! Shit.”
Projectiles, either bullets or stones, flew in every direction.
The Taker, who had peeked out from behind cover to assess the situation, quickly ducked.
[Look at that fierce suppression, lol]
[Everyone has long-range weapons, but we’ve got nothing here, lol]
[Can’t farm, can’t fight, sigh…]
[Just a running away expert, lol]
[How the hell is this guy still alive?]
[Just hold out for 5 more minutes, just 5 more!]
[That Kayak next door is beheading other streamers while the Taker does nothing!]
[Is zero kills for real? LOL Just camping like crazy.]
[Just hang in there, yeah.]
[If it weren’t for camping, you wouldn’t have made it this far.]
[Don’t give up, Gunhee! You didn’t come here to fight from the start, and going out to fight now would be foolish.]
[No matter how much the haters bash, the Taker will prove it with a win.]
[Even if you survive to the end, it’ll be kind of lame…]
“Yeah, I’m not going out. Do you think I’d risk going out after making it this far? I’ll just keep holding out and win. I don’t care how much you guys insult me.”
The Taker made a pesky face toward the screen as he glanced at the reactions in the chat.
The chat began to scroll quickly.
Words like ‘man’, ‘loser’, and ‘nerd’ flooded in, but the Taker seemed utterly unconcerned. In fact, he appeared to thrive on the hate and anger of his opponents, growing even more energized with every insult thrown his way.
[Villain’s used to it…]
[Honestly, I just want to punch that face, dammit, lol]
[For sure, he’s a real piece of work, getting angry but actually enjoying it.]
[A streamer needs a strong mentality.]
[Is this guy a freak? Why does he like being insulted?]
[The Taker wasn’t like this in his first year of streaming….]
“If I just stay still, Kayak will take care of everything. I trust my Kayak. Want to form an alliance with Kayak? Well… just stepping out seems like a death wish.”
Just then, while the Taker was hiding behind a large rock and chatting away…
Swish—
A massive spear lodged right next to where he was standing.
At that moment, flames began erupting in front of the Taker. It was a Molotov cocktail. Someone had realized there was a person here and threw it as a warning shot.
“I’m losing blood, losing blood. Ugh, I need to move again. Where to, where should I go?”
[Let’s hide under the raft.]
[Into the water, go go go!]
[Dig a tunnel.]
[Can we dive?]
[Just come up for air whenever you run low on oxygen.]
“Are you suggesting we hide under water? Oh….”
[The scummy Taker has received a donation of 10,000 won!]
– It’s pathetic and vile, but that’s the way it is, yeah….
Following the viewers’ advice, the Taker quickly dashed towards the nearby water’s edge.
Even as arrows, stones, and spears flew by during his run, he thankfully managed to avoid any critical wounds.
I flew in but thankfully dodged a fatal wound.
So I dove safely into the water.
Meanwhile, the number of survivors was steadily decreasing.
-Kayak // Akina 💀
-Salmon // Drake 💀
-Yoon.B // Frankco 💀
11 people, 10 people, 8 people, 7 people… With just 2 minutes left until the helicopter arrives to escape the island, the remaining survivors were dwindling endlessly.
“What, what? Why is everyone dying? What’s going on?”
[Just stay in the water, don’t go out]
[No no no no, don’t go out, Kayak is killing everyone]
[Is Kayak going to die too? Got hit by something weird and bleeding]
[0 kills, winning chance, damn lol is this real?]
[Taker, is he a god? Taker, is he an idiot? Taker, is he a god? Taker, is he an idiot?]
Except for popping up for air every now and then, Taker was hiding underwater the whole time.
His clothes were fortunately dark-colored, so nobody noticed him in the water, only the occasional bubbles rising to the surface hinted that he was still alive down there.
While Taker was swimming underwater based on viewer advice and his own judgment, he finally surfaced due to a sudden in-game notification along with the decreasing number of survivors.
-Escape helicopter has appeared!
-Helicopter will arrive in about 30 seconds.
-Current remaining survivors: 2 people
“What, what? The helicopter is coming. Helicopter. Shouldn’t we go to the landing area or something? Anyone know? Of course not, it’s a new game. But wait, it says only 2 left?”
Upon checking the notification, Taker sprang up from the water to reveal himself.
It was then that he locked eyes with the final survivor, Kayak, on the opposite side.
-Frankco // Kayak 💀
Suddenly, Kayak’s character flopped down. Along with the kill log that appeared in the top right corner. And simultaneously, the number of survivors decreased.
That number was 1. It indicated that there was only one survivor left on the island.
“Uh?”
That meant Taker was the sole survivor!
[Taker wins! Taker wins! Taker wins! Taker wins!]
[He actually wins lol what the hell]
[Life is like Taker… Life is like Taker… Life is like Taker…]
[In the end, Taker’s victory?]
[The cockroach of Taker survived!]
[Remember, the stubborn will succeed, the stubborn will succeed]
[2nd place Kayak 17 kills, 1st place Taker 0 kills, is this real? lol]
[Kingmaker Kayak lol]
-Final Survivor: Taker_01, congratulations.
-You have succeeded in escaping.
“…Is this me?”
Realizing the situation late, Taker raised his hand to the sky and struck a celebratory pose.
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