Chapter 287 – Leaving New York
“It felt like we could live here forever, but three weeks passed by so quickly….”
“Dice will come back here next year, and Harmony… Harmony might be able to come back too. She could return as a partner streamer, or maybe as a professional gamer.”
“Being a professional gamer… that might be a bit overwhelming.”
“Ah, let’s finish packing and get going instead of deciding on Mo-ni’s career.”
January 1st.
Finally, it was time to board the plane back to Korea from the United States. A lot had happened over the past three weeks, but thanks to the comfort and sophistication of the hotel, it was a relatively smooth stay. Before leaving the room for the last time, I made sure to tidy up properly.
After saying goodbye to the long-term guests and lobby staff we had become close to, we stepped outside to find a limousine bus waiting for us, just like the one that had brought us here three weeks ago. Harmony was recording a vlog with a cam that had a mosaic function, filming everything around.
I wondered if I should be filming something like that too, but would anyone even care? Even if they did, I still found it too bothersome, so I carefully stepped into the open bus. As expected, it was a driverless bus, so there was no driver inside.
As soon as I sat down, a message came through.
-[Logan // Have a safe trip]
I smiled at that and made a call. After drawing the blinds for privacy, I activated the soundproof function through the ICARUS Gear to ensure no sound would leak out.
A voice answered as if they had been waiting.
“I knew you would call.”
“Should I understand that you’ll be waiting at the airport?”
“You’re asking for a lot.”
Of course, I didn’t deny it.
Everyone, including myself, was usually too busy to meet up, and since I had taken an unusually long break, I figured they would come to see me off.
In the meantime, everyone had boarded the bus. The doors closed, shutting out the Manhattan air. The sky, which had been gloomy yesterday, was clear today, though I couldn’t see it well because of the ceiling. However, before I could dwell on that, the wheels started moving smoothly, and we began to cross the city.
We had barely gone a few dozen meters before making a right turn. Through the window, I could see Central Park. There were no huge walls, no unmanned control towers or guard posts, and no machine gun nests. Only bare trees and busy New Yorkers walking somewhere greeted my eyes.
I hadn’t realized such a peaceful place existed.
That thought crossed my mind, but I no longer had to dwell on those painful memories. No bitter past could hold me back anymore because the star-shaped metal medal hidden under my thick clothes rewarded me for all that time.
The road turned into a bridge, and the bus crossed it, leaving Manhattan behind. It didn’t take long to reach JFK International Airport after passing through Queens. In fact, it only took about ten minutes.
As I got off the bus, I headed towards the airport entrance we had left from three weeks ago. It wasn’t too crowded, but the ceiling was a bit low. Compared to the unusually high ceilings of Incheon Airport, this felt normal.
With three hours left before departure, I wondered what to do,
“The security is lax.”
“That’s the first thing you say after coming all this way….”
“It feels strange. Once I return to Norfolk, it will be hard to see you often. Should I submit my resignation papers, or maybe I should be deployed to Korea for tactical exchange?”
“Don’t say strange things. I’ll visit often.”
Their expressions….
How should I put it? They looked like grandparents saying goodbye to their grandchildren. It wasn’t much different in reality. The Korean representatives seemed quite familiar with them by now and naturally spoke to them in broken English.
Since we wouldn’t see each other again once we passed through the gate, we chatted for about an hour before I told the schedule manager that I would return to the first-class check-in counter. The manager looked a bit resigned upon hearing that. I felt like I had been a considerable nuisance to him during these three weeks.
“Uh… if I’m really late, I’ll buy my own ticket back, so don’t worry?”
Of course, that backfired.
The schedule manager burst out laughing at my words, and Harmony and I, not being affiliated with any specific team, wouldn’t face significant problems if we missed the flight. We would just bear the inconvenience ourselves. Hearing that, Laurentina’s eyes sparkled as she jokingly suggested we buy a house in New York and stay.
Typical of her friendly shark-like nature.
So, I ended up going off on my own again. While Laurentina and Logan walked ahead, I found myself walking alongside Senior Officer Owens for the first time in a while. The height difference of over ten centimeters between us made for quite a sight.
As we walked absentmindedly, he spoke first.
“Your expression has improved a lot. When we first met about three weeks ago, you had a rather ambiguous look.”
“…Did I?”
“As I’ve said before, you’re not very good at hiding your emotions.”
…Is that so?
I had often heard that before. I was someone with clear likes and dislikes. Of course, in situations where I had to do something to survive, I gave my best effort, but wouldn’t anyone do the same?
Regardless of my preferences, I couldn’t help it back then. There were still many unresolved issues at that time. But now, things were different. If the unresolved issues were 100, I had solved about 95 of them.
As we walked, he reached out and patted my head. For some reason, people seemed to enjoy patting my head.
“Those two have been talking a lot about you lately.”
“Ha.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t pay more attention to you. But as a member of Team Dagger, you can handle many things on your own. I’ll also be checking what you’ve been through….”
He paused for a moment before continuing.
“…After that mission, we’ll continue the debriefing we couldn’t finish.”
We couldn’t finish it.
As he said, when I went missing at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, we couldn’t complete the debriefing. He looked somewhat regretful, but I no longer had to worry. I was standing here now.
I gave him a reassuring pat on the back and saw that we had somehow entered the dining area.
Wondering what was going on, I turned and met the Senior Officer’s eyes.
“Those idiots insisted on feeding you before you leave. They’re like grandmothers….”
“Oh dear.”
Finally, the Truth Revealed
They were guiding me to a pizza place.
By this time, I was unsure if I was the youngest member of the Dagger Team or a grandchild visiting my hometown.
The departure schedules were proceeding one by one.
[Passengers, this flight will soon land at Incheon Airport. The current local time in Korea is 6:50 PM. There is no snowfall, but there are some strong winds…]
“Ugh, that was really exhausting…!”
“I’m worried about how to adjust to the time difference now. I feel like I’ll just pass out when I get home, but who knows for sure…”
“At this point, I must say that eating definitely feels worth it. I wasn’t bored at all because Yoo Jin was constantly making eating sounds.”
“If I could eat as much as her, I would have eaten all the in-flight meals. Such a waste.”
…Why did they start hitting me as soon as we entered Korean airspace?
Anyway, that statement was actually true.
Looking back for a moment, before departure, Logan, Laurentina, and I, fitting the image of grandchildren visiting their hometown, had been treated to a very filling pizza by them. After that, we passed through the scanners without any issues and entered the duty-free shop. The store was full of dazzling perfumes, scarves, watches, and wallets, perfect for gifts for friends, but well…
My friends were all here, not in Korea.
Rather than me, it was Ye-rin and Min-ah who were more excited. The donations they received from occasional broadcasts in New York and the incentives from their pro-gamer activities were so plentiful that they could buy five or six items for gifts and personal use.
After we finished shopping to the point where the shopping bags were quite heavy, we chatted in the lounge until it was time to depart, and then boarded the plane bound for Incheon Airport, crossing the Pacific. After that, there was nothing special. There wasn’t much to do, and looking outside got boring quickly.
All that was left was eating.
…The conclusion is a bit odd, but anyway, it was delicious, so it was fine.
“What do you want to eat first when we get back?”
“Um…I don’t know. But to be honest, I ate a lot of Korean food in New York too, so nothing really stands out. Maybe Korean-style chicken?”
“Saying ‘Korean-style chicken’ sounds really weird…”
Why were they coming to my seat to chat?
The seating arrangement had women next to women and men next to men, leading to this situation. Although it was supposed to be private, the structure allowed us to see each other if we opened the door, and we ended up chatting happily until it came to this point—of course, the ICARUS Gear’s soundproofing played a role in preventing us from disturbing others.
Anyway, back to the beginning. The plane entered the airspace over the East Sea, and soon it would land at Incheon Airport following the designated route. It was already dark outside as the sun had set. The weather was nice in both New York and Korea today.
As the time automatically adjusted, the date changed from January 1st to January 2nd.
“Come on, sit down quickly. We’re about to land.”
“Yikes!”
Dice, who was in the farthest seat, got pushed back to his seat with a light slap on his back, and Harmony lifted him up with her tail and placed him in his seat. It was time to get ready for landing.
The lenses I always wore downloaded GPS data automatically, displaying the current location and altitude in a hologram wherever my gaze stopped. The unnecessary details took away any remaining excitement, but well, this kind of fun exists too, doesn’t it?
However, contrary to these thoughts, the plane soon landed stably on the runway, finally settling us on Korean soil. As the reverse thrust began and the speed decreased noticeably, the gate connected to the airplane’s door to usher passengers into Incheon Airport.
As we stood up to leave, we saw two people in uniforms waiting for us among the flight attendants.
They were the captain and the co-pilot, of all people.
“I hope you had a pleasant journey.”
“Oh, thank you.”
“I’ve heard the news. Congratulations on winning first place in the Final Championship. Even though we couldn’t watch it live due to the flight operation, we watched the recorded videos during breaks. It’s an honor to host the Korean representative team.”
And then came the handshake. Not just with me, but also with Dice, Michael, Ink, Gambit, and even Harmony. It felt strange. It had spread so quickly.
Of course, despite that, we were busy finding our luggage as soon as we got off the plane.
But there was no major issue in finding our luggage, and now all that was left was to exit Incheon Airport.
“I wonder how many people are waiting for us.”
“What was it like last year?”
“Well, there were more people than expected, but less than I thought… I guess? Thinking about it, the tournament has only been around for three years, so even until last year, there weren’t too many people. But this year, it has suddenly surged in popularity, so…I think there will be a lot.”
So it’s been only three years, huh?
The fact that a game based on my past had gained this much popularity felt quite surreal. With this level of popularity, people might go crazy next year saying I should participate again.
Of course, that’s just speculation for now.
There wasn’t much distance left to the point of no return. The unopened door was waiting for us.
“I crossed that path last year, and I wonder what will happen this year.”
I didn’t answer. It was something I had to experience to know.
Step by step, I moved forward. As I got closer to the door, my curiosity soared. But it would soon be revealed—how many seconds had passed?
The door opened.
“Oh my God.”
───Click, click, click!
───Waaahhhh-!!!
The place was packed with people.
Left, right, up—everywhere was filled with waves of people. The crowd seemed to be in the hundreds, maybe even thousands, all holding up their smartphones and waiting for us. Amidst the countless flashes, I didn’t know what to do and simply waved my hand.
Of course, the security personnel and airport security, who had advanced ahead of us, stretched out their hands to guide us through the crowd, and the five of us awkwardly headed to the photo point.
In the meantime, Harmony added with a bewildered expression.
“I wonder if I should even be here.”
“You won first place in the Partner Streamer Showdown, so why not?”
“Then I’ll shamelessly stand next to Yoo Jin.”
She was indeed shameless.
Somehow, she was the first to get a microphone.
I didn’t know how I ended up with this interview opportunity, but it was somewhat enjoyable. After pulling out the solid gold dog tag, one of the prizes, from my neck, I picked up the solid gold trophy buried among the luggage with my tail.
The reaction was explosive.
At the peak of the cheers, I began to speak.
“Hello, everyone. I’m Lee Yoo Jin, a member of the Korean representative team and the one who brought home the championship trophy.”
And a thunderous roar shook Incheon Airport.