I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 435

"…I can’t believe my body’s this sluggish."

My entire body felt heavy.

It was like I had an invisible lump of lead wrapped around me. Everything involving my physical movements, except for reaction speed, was moving like a machine that hadn’t been serviced for about five years. I could barely breathe.

A dagger was spinning on my hand. It had a unique paint job—one of the various close-combat weapon sets I had won after the Apex Predator-Final Championship, and it was usable here as well. Normally, I would have used a tactical tomahawk, but because of the nerf to my physical specs, it had become quite heavy.

So, I picked the weapon that suited me best and was the most familiar.

Of course, I didn’t just bring one.

"In the end, even in CQC, the longer the reach, the easier it is..."

Longsword, flail, poleaxe, gladius, Dane axe, trident, bardiche, flamberge...

Of course, these weren’t the only weapons in Glory and Honor. There were so many different weapons in the game, and I had to consider that more than two-thirds of them were longer than a person’s thigh. The good thing was that my depth perception hadn’t really deteriorated compared to before.

Well, I hadn’t fully settled on my style yet, so it was a bit early to make any conclusions.

• [Notification: The 'style' is not recommended for beginners.]

It’s not like I didn’t know that.

Anyway, the avatar I had created before, after playing about three rounds, was still there. However, the difference was that the tactical tomahawk I had used before was gone, and now I was holding two daggers, each about 40cm long.

As soon as I selected the character, a grand BGM played, and a private area appeared against the backdrop of thick stone walls. A bunch of UI elements popped up in front of me, and various instructions followed.

It wasn’t much different from before.

PVE and PVP for general and ranked games, customizing, personal practice, settings, and game exit.

Since I hadn’t been here in a while, it seemed I’d need to get a bit familiar before starting the stream.

"Hmm."

So the first thing I chose was a practice match.

A fight with AI, not a human. As soon as I pressed the button, a customization window popped up where I could adjust the various equipment I was wearing. I made a few adjustments—since there might be situations where I needed to grab the blade, I equipped a gauntlet.

The tail wasn’t visible in-game, and it was set so I couldn’t hit it, so there was no need to worry about it. As long as I protected the part connecting my arm and shoulder, the rest... well, I’d figure it out somehow.

After all, I planned to adjust it during actual combat.

Anyway, with that aside...

"This system seems more detailed than before."

For example, I could now see how adding or removing different gear would change my stamina consumption, which I hadn’t been able to do before.

Since I was holding two daggers, mobility was key, and adding armor would likely make me a sitting duck. So, I kept it light.

It wasn’t a perfect setup, but after testing it out in real battles, I figured it would work.

I heard that in Glory and Honor, if a user customizes their class well enough, it could officially be added to the game, beyond the standard classes the game provided…

Well, it was doubtful that mine would ever be added.

Even if it was, no one would copy it.

• [Notification: AI summoned - 1 unit.]
• [Notification: Difficulty - Master / Weapon - Longsword / Type - Knight]
• [Notification: Good luck.]

"Whoa."

Clink!

The moment I said that, as mentioned earlier, a knight wielding a sword as large as a human appeared. A stamina gauge appeared above his head. I’m sure the AI saw the stamina gauge above mine too.

And that was the signal. The surroundings started to change completely.

It looked like a giant shrine hidden in the mountains... Cherry blossoms fluttered in the courtyard as two gazes met. While I had shot people with guns before, I’d never fought someone with such a long sword in close combat.

Though my entire body was covered in armor, I wasn’t sure where to strike to gain an advantage. Fortunately, I realized that at least there were gaps through the eye holes of the helmet, and in the space between the armpit and arm, attacks weren’t entirely impossible.

"So, I guess this is the test run..."

I watched the knight slowly approach while spinning the dagger in my right hand.

The knight, clearly exuding an air of intimidation, approached directly, aiming the sword straight at me. The English word above the knight’s head indicated it was called Ochs. The knight’s posture was such that it looked like it was about to charge toward me any moment.

I needed to check how much stamina I was losing with each individual action.

The moment I thought that, the silver greatsword cut through the air with a chilling swish.

Whoooosh!

"Faster than I expected..."

There was no opening. With a combination of steps forward and backward, the knight wielded the longsword continuously, using centrifugal force to slash. It was some sort of harassing move, I thought. The attack range was much wider than I had expected, so I had to step around, staying just outside the reach of the attack, carefully observing the knight from a safe distance.

But I didn’t just stay still. I began to look for a weakness. Every time the knight swung the sword, I saw gaps near the armpits, wrist joints, the neck, and areas protected by relatively weak chainmail, which seemed like prime targets for my dagger.

Meanwhile, the knight seemed to have figured me out, stopping the harass and, with a subtle step, switched to an overhead stance—Navenfut—and started closing the distance.

"Hah!"

Boom!

The heavy blade swung from below to above, and as if preparing for the next stance, the point of the sword reached my waist. The left hand had already grabbed the sword shaft. I could see the words floating above the knight’s head, and I caught the trajectory of the longsword as well.

The tip of the sword sliced through the air, aiming to pierce through my soft leather armor and hit my chest, but I leaned forward just enough, threw the dagger in my left hand into the air, grabbed the blade with my left gauntlet, and pushed it forward.

This blocked the potential for the blade to hit my neck while I pushed inward.

Using my right hand, I spun the dagger around in a hammer grip, stabbing it into the gap between the knight’s armor and armpit, twisting it.

The dagger pierced through the chainmail, and golden blood erupted from the wound. A painful scream echoed above, but by then, I had already hammered the back of the dagger’s handle with my right hand.

"Ugh...!"

It felt like the dagger had sunk deeply into the armpit, like a wedge struck by a hammer.

With that, my left hand was effectively sealed. Of course, that wasn’t the end of it, as the struggle continued for about a second. Eventually, it ended with me kicking him in the abdomen, and the knight staggered backward, still holding the sword in his right hand.

The dagger I had thrown into the air earlier finally fell to the ground. I caught it with my right hand and prepared for battle.

A knight missing one arm wasn’t all that powerful.

"The reaction when I hit the vital point is a good feedback, I suppose."

I was relieved that the dagger skills I had learned were proving to be quite effective.

Despite the pain, the knight couldn’t pull out my dagger, which was lodged in his left armpit. It made sense. Once the tendons in that area were severed due to the injury, it would be nearly impossible to move the arm properly. That’s why it was one of the vital points.

With that, the real assault began. I moved more freely than before and started measuring the gaps I could exploit. The AI, still swinging the longsword with difficulty, wasn’t using it as a two-handed weapon, and after a few feints that drained its stamina, I lunged again.

Grabbing the crossguard of the longsword with my left hand, I raised my right hand, holding the dagger, and thrust it forward.

The blade’s target was the eye hole of the helmet.

"AAHH—!"

Thud.

It was a very realistic scream.

Of course, this time I struck the back of the dagger’s handle with my right hand, hammering it deep into his head, and only then did he lose all strength and collapse to the floor.

The body shattered into golden polygons within seconds, and I was finally able to retrieve both daggers without much trouble. Naturally, there was no need to worry about durability, since it was just a game.

"It wouldn't be a big deal unless they’re fully armored."

If it were a large-scale battle, I could probably pick up weapons from the ground and use them, so it could still be dealt with.

It seemed like it was finally time to really dive into the game.

Just like last time, I’d play a few rounds as a warm-up, build up some skill, and then schedule a stream.

With that, I opened the message window and quickly sent a note to the editors.

• [I plan to do a Glory and Honor homework stream in about 3 days. Please make sure to study hard in the meantime.]

Of course, after that, the hooks filled up in the Engram group chat, but well, that’s the editor’s job, right? If it became too difficult, I was considering bringing in an editor who knew the game well for assistance.

Having sent the necessary message—

• [Notification: Domination Mode - 6v6 / Matching Complete]
• [Notification: You are about to enter the battlefield.]

Let’s give it a go.

"…I’m not sure if we can win this round."

"Why? Is it because of that person?"

"Yeah. There’s been a lot more people playing lately, which is good, but why do people who came from other fantasy games insist on using daggers like this? I don’t get it."

"Oh, I get it now."

The horn signaling the start of the battle blared.

The heavy drumbeats of the BGM that boosted morale echoed, as dozens of minions rushed forward, followed by six players. The Japanese-style castle, with its intricate layout, welcomed them.

Domination Mode—also known as Conquest. The goal was simple: capture more than half of the three divided areas (A, B, and C) to gain points, and once those points reached a certain number, you won the game. It was a very simple yet popular mode.

Thus, Eugene’s team, according to their prior discussion, began moving toward their respective bases—C was the closest, while B, the site of the upcoming bloody battle, was naturally the place where they would face the main confrontation.

"At least everyone’s got their setups right, so we won’t lose in a power struggle."

"But what if they rush C with a random build? I have a feeling we might get overwhelmed..."

"Well, then there’s not much we can do. We’re probably going to lose this one. It’s not ranked, it’s just a casual game."

The path to B wasn’t too far, and the area was already in chaos.

The sounds of shields clashing against shields, swords against shields, and swords against swords mixed with the screams of minions. The allied minions were orange, while the enemy minions were blue. It looked as if the map was being dotted with orange and blue all over.

However, as expected, minions were just minions. Their HP would quickly drop with a single well-aimed strike from the players, and they would collapse in no time.

But when the minion battles slowed down, everyone frowned at the sight of the enemy’s setup.

"Wow, a greatshield with ManoPlates? Are they crazy?"

"Look, there’s a Viking with a spear behind them. If they solidify their defense, we’re in big trouble. I guess this is why only three of them showed up at B."

"Seriously... Why are they bringing these kinds of setups to a casual game? Can we just have some fun, please?"

Of course, there was no response.

It was only natural. The point of the game was to enjoy it, and to enjoy it, you had to stomp on your opponents and rise above them. Though it was dressed up in words like "honor" and "glory," this game was ultimately a raw representation of human instinct in its purest form.

The battle began.

"Break the greatshield, break it! Don’t let them swap out units!"

"You won’t be able to do that, gentlemen."

Swords, axes, spears, hammers.

The raw violence of these weapons clashed fiercely against each other.

A Dane axe flew at the massive shield decorated with a dragon image, and as it hit head-on, a heavy thud echoed, and the shield cracked. Despite this, the player holding the greatshield kept holding his ground.

The shield may have cracked, but it didn’t fall.

At the front, there was a shieldbearer, and behind him, a Viking with a spear and a small shield held the line. Moreover, another enemy user with an arming sword and kite shield was squeezing from the side—though the pressure was there, they weren’t being pushed back.

The numbers were 4 on our side, 3 on theirs. The difference in numbers mattered.

"If we wait too long, it’ll be tough. Let’s ignore the kite shield guy and focus on the greatshield guy first."

"A full charge?"

"That’s the only option."

In simple terms, here’s the plan:

Three players—two shieldbearers and one supporter—were holding their ground at B, buying time, while the other three would capture A and then rush to C. It was a common early-game build.

If successful, they could capture all three bases early, but if they failed, they risked losing all ground starting from the closest respawn area. It was a method with pros and cons.

It was a bit like rock-paper-scissors.

But unfortunately, today Eugene’s team had picked paper, and the enemy had picked scissors.

CLANG!

With a terrible sound, the battle began.

In an attempt to quickly turn the situation around, the four players disregarded their lives and launched brutal attacks on the greatshield user and the Viking behind him. A number of tricks were exchanged, such as feigning attacks on the greatshield user while keeping the spear and kite shield user at bay.

Less than 30 seconds later, the first blood was drawn. One of our four players heading for B collapsed to the ground—but not long after, the greatshield user’s shield, now severely damaged, was broken, and he soon followed.

The enemy’s spear pierced the Viking’s abdomen, but a massive Dane axe sliced through the air with a terrifying sound, causing a double kill.

And so, after about three minutes of battle, the confrontation at B reached a 1v1 standoff.

"Huff..."

"Ugh..."

The flamberge was aimed.

The opponent stepped forward with his kite shield raised.

The final battle for control of B was about to begin when, suddenly, a message came through our team’s comms.

• "Ah, all the intruders at C have been sent straight to the respawn point. Anyone need help?"

At the same time, the player wielding the flamberge rolled his eyes and glanced at a corner of the UI.

A weapon, unlike any I had seen before, had already earned 3 kills, and next to it was a word made of six English letters.

"…Eugene?"

No one there knew that this marked a successful debut match for the weapon.