I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 440

"Phew, this guy plays the game viciously."

One.

"...I think you all have an idea by now, but the battles in Glory and Honor are surprisingly unrealistic in many ways. But this guy..."

Two.

"So, this person is running ranked games? I don't think we should be playing right now."

Three, four, five…

It had been a while since Eugene’s stream was on. While it wasn’t as popular as Dark Zone, it had still received advertising for another virtual reality game that most people would recognize by name, which meant there were more viewers than usual — including streamers from small, medium, and large corporations.

Streamers who play Glory and Honor as their main content.

It might seem natural, but with the exception of a few rare cases where players used pathetic skill levels as content and turned their abyss-like performances into videos, most of the people here were the core players of the game, the true "oil" of Glory and Honor.

When you averaged the tiers, the skill level was formidable, ranging from at least Master to Grandmaster.

These players were watching Eugene’s dagger skills, commenting individually.

"...Did the opponent team maybe start with a pad trash talk or something before the match?"

"No way, hahaha."
"Pad trash talk, hahaha."
"Interpretation: So, even though they didn’t take the trash talk, this guy is still slaying people like this?"
"Nah... This is just their normal play."
"Normal play, you say? Stop lying, hahaha."
It wasn’t that, but it was still frightening to see how he played.

Furthermore, some viewers of Eugene’s stream, particularly those who had played Glory and Honor for a long time, had even gone so far as to get a swordsmanship certification, purchasing weapons and practicing them at home, or sometimes gathering people with similar hobbies to create a club.

And it wasn’t much different for the streamers who played Glory and Honor as their main game — in fact, it was even more pronounced.

In other words, a considerable number of streamers, in the real world, had at least some knowledge of handling cold weapons. Thanks to this, they could clearly feel just how insane Eugene’s gameplay was.

"Man… Is there really such a person?"

Daggers.

At this point, they were a weapon that few people used, and the reason was simple. The game didn’t support motion assist when using that weapon.

Naturally, no one really practiced dagger skills in real life just to force themselves to use them in-game, and even if they did practice, the quality, speed, and composition of the assist provided by the game made any personal practice pale in comparison.

But covering for that with pure personal skill? That made no sense.

<Platinum Is Unbreakable donated 5,000 won!>

"As a former Grandmaster, where do you think this person will climb to?"
"...I’ll keep quiet about that."

Why did the answer become evasive? Even the streamer who answered the donation couldn’t figure it out.

It wasn’t that it wasn’t something that could be expected, but it felt like something shouldn’t be said. As soon as I spoke, it felt like I might run into this person in ranked later.

If we were on the same team, it would have been fine, but if they were on the enemy team... one thing was certain — it would be quite scary.

Perhaps this was the survival instinct kicking in.

‘...Nah, there's no way it could be that serious.’

Though the process was slightly different, the result of self-justification was pretty much the same for everyone.

However, no one had anticipated that the wave would arrive sooner than they had expected.

[Notification: Calculating match results... No losses in 10 matches.]

[Notification: Calculating provisional tier.]

[Notification: The current tier for user 'Eugene' is 'Silver 1,' and ranking points will be adjusted based on the result of the placement matches.]

[Notification: 'Eugene' will gain additional ranking points with 10 wins in the next matches, with the maximum possible tier being 'Platinum 1.']

"...Well, I’m not sure if it’s a good thing, but let’s try to climb as fast as possible."

"Silver 1, hahaha."
"Fact: This is the last chance you’ll see Silver Eugene."
"No kidding, I think even with five people dodging, we could still win this."
"Living point: This person smacked Diamond 3 head-on in the 5th placement match."
"A meteor bombing in Silver, hahaha."
Of course, by now Eugene had already completed all 10 placement matches with perfect victories.

The climb began.

"It seems like most people here don’t really like dual daggers."

"If you bring dual daggers to the Gold promotion match, that’s the reaction you’ll get, hahaha."
"??: What? Not only are you mismatching the composition, but you’re using two daggers? Are you out of your mind?"
"I’m watching the stream with my dad, and he says if this was an old AOS game promotion match, people would have immediately started trash talking, hahaha."
"??: I’m really good at this. Believe me just once, I’ll carry hard. (0 kills, 15 deaths)."
"But since they have a track record, I’ll trust them, hahaha."
Gold promotion match.

The threshold from Silver 1 to Gold 4.

Honestly, I hadn’t really cared about tiers in any game, so I didn’t think this promotion match was very important. But considering how many donations poured in just because the word "promotion match" appeared, it was clear that people cared a lot more about it than I expected.

When the match ended, and the six of us were grouped together on the same team, they all seemed to panic when they saw my main weapon. After seeing it, they couldn’t hide their shocked expressions, and cautiously asked if I could switch weapons.

Luckily, this game allowed you to see the results and records of your recent matches, and once they saw I had carried all 10 placement matches, they finally sighed in relief.

There was still some lingering suspicion, though.

‘By the way, this map is really strange.’

"The exact name is Citadel Gate."

Unlike the Temple Garden or Cathedral maps that I played on earlier, A and C are closer to each team's respawn zones, with B located at the center of the map. The control points other than B are artificial structures that are roughly ten meters higher than the surrounding terrain, and there are stairs and ladders all around, making them quite accessible.

This time, the spawn area was close to C, but far from A. Naturally, the enemy’s situation would be the opposite.

Following the plan we discussed before the game, our team started moving.

Today's team distribution was 1:4:1. One player at A, which was bound to be captured by the enemy, four at B, and one player at C, which was the closest to the respawn zone.

And—

"Our team is clever. Sending me alone to A."

"For real, hahaha."
"Honest opinion: I think we can win at 1:3..."
"If they send 3 to A from the start, it’s going to be a disaster, hahaha."
"It’s going to be at most 2."
"Why is the teacher suddenly making no noise with his footsteps?"
Why? Obviously, I was trying to sneak in.

I had never really tried it on another map. But as always, the best strategies tend to come to mind when you least expect it, and then it’s simple. The next step is to ask myself whether it's feasible or not.

When the answer is "yes," my rational mind calculates the benefits I can gain from sneaking in and what preparations and actions are required to get those benefits.

Fortunately, the surrounding area could be summed up in one word: chaos. At B, dozens of minions were clashing while the 4v4 player battle had already started… Glancing toward the opposite side, I saw that no enemies were coming to C through the side path.

That meant the probability of two enemies being at A was high.

"...".

I slowed down drastically and checked the surrounding terrain.

I didn’t even need to stick my face out to see who was inside. The shadows formed between the fading daylight and the light from the furnace inside A showed me the enemy classes.

One was... an Oni. A massive warrior holding a golden chain spear. The other, whose shadow was overlapping, was hard to make out, but judging by the brief glimpse of the weapon's shadow, it was most likely a general wielding a Moonblade.

Both were heavily armored, so fighting them head-on was going to be tough. But swinging such huge weapons in this narrow space would be quite difficult, and since there were two of them, they would likely have to be careful of each other’s attacks.

There was a chance.

"...Let's go."

I waited for the perfect moment without stepping into A just yet.

The instant I stepped in, the capture would stop, and a message would appear on their screens saying the enemy had intruded. This would happen with a two-second delay, so it was essential to act before that warning went off. The goal was to either send at least one of them to the respawn screen or neutralize their combat power.

Ten seconds left until full capture of A.

Both enemies' gazes shifted as they moved away from the side path. As their eyes shifted to another direction, I threw a chunk of the broken wall to the other side, and the dull thud echoed, immediately drawing their attention.

'The speed’s slower than expected!'

Two seconds, one second.

The sound of the broken wall. Both of them turned toward the noise.

Fortunately, although the pace was slower than expected, it didn’t slow down enough to become problematic. The moment the A intrusion alert appeared before their eyes, the blade in my left hand pierced through the left leg of the Oni, cutting through the femoral artery.

But it wasn’t over. As I embedded the blade, I grabbed the armor around the Oni’s neck and pulled myself up. At that moment, I saw the shoulder muscles and neck exposed between the seams of the Oni's armor. I hoped they’d wear armor with narrower seams from now on.

That way, the blade wouldn’t catch.

With a stumble and a swift motion, I changed the grip on the blade in my right hand and drove it through the Oni’s neck, cutting from left to right. As the carotid artery was severed, golden blood spurted from the incision like a fountain. The Oni’s eyes were probably starting to go blank by this point.

If I were to describe the attack in the simplest way, imagine cutting across someone’s neck with your thumb — though of course, my thumb had turned into a long dagger.

The massive body collapsed to the ground, and the first blood was spilled.

"One down."

"Holy crap, you killed that tanky character in 2 seconds..."
"What the hell, hahaha."
"Look at the general’s body, covered in blood, hahaha."
"What the hell, Eugene-sensei, this is Glory and Honor, where big, manly guys wield greatswords and fight honorably, not a CQC simulator! Please!"
"??: Honor? What honor is there when you’re dead?"
The body I stepped on burst into golden light, and the dagger that had been embedded in its left thigh fell to the ground.

I picked it up. Naturally, at that moment, I expected an attack to come. But the enemy in front of me wasted two precious seconds trying to figure out what happened, and instead of using their longer reach with the Moonblade to attack, they just pointed it at me.

Thanks to that, I was able to grab a dagger in each hand.

"...".

There was no conversation.

The Moonblade swung with a menacing sound. Because of the weapon’s weight, it wasn’t being swung freely, but rather, the centrifugal force generated by the body’s rotation would increase the speed, power, and range of the swing. I had to judge the distance carefully.

It was unlikely that I could block this with just two daggers. Blocking a downward strike with my current weapons would be suicidal, and the only feasible block would be against the horizontal slash that swept across the space. Even then, the rotating horizontal slash that followed would be impossible to block.

As I carefully measured the distance, the enemy moved first.

"Haaa!"

While charging, they rotated their body and launched a powerful vertical strike. Using the centrifugal force generated from the previous strike, they rotated once more, delivering an even stronger double slash.

In an instant, they had increased the distance by over 4 meters, but it was still too close.

But that wasn’t the end. With the farthest part of the blade in their left hand, they thrust it forward. The spear tip of the Moonblade’s tail narrowly missed my head. If it had hit, my face would have been completely shattered.

But I avoided it, and as the attack failed, the general’s right side was fully exposed.

Now it was my turn.

"Ugh!"

"...!"

With a loud whoosh, I dove in. The Moonblade’s left hand came off and threw a punch, which was a good decision, but unfortunately, it didn’t land. Instead, the blade pierced through the gap in their gauntlet.

I dropped down as low as I could to avoid the punch heading toward my head, then placed my dagger in its path. A strange sensation spread through my hand. I knew what it was — the feeling of flesh splitting and bone scraping as the blade cut through.

With that, the left hand was neutralized.

Of course, I still had one more dagger left, and I used it to shove into the opponent’s shoulder, knocking them down while I used the dagger effectively.

"Ugh, guh...!"

The blade pierced straight through their chin, cutting into the esophagus.

By now, the tip of the blade was probably slicing through their brainstem, though the game didn’t account for that. But I couldn’t help but think back to my anatomy studies, and the knowledge that came to mind felt eerily fitting.

The entire body shuddered for a moment, then collapsed. The blade had gone so deep that it couldn’t even be seen anymore. Golden liquid began to spurt from the contact point before it quickly evaporated, and the body completely disappeared.

"A clear-out at A."

I exhaled softly, checked the objective progress, and added:

"Two kills at A. Currently retaking the base."

I wondered if I should switch weapons.

It was a thought that briefly passed through my mind.

"What the hell?"

"What is that person doing over there?"

"What the hell! What the hell! What the hell!"
"I’m starting to feel sorry for the enemies."
"What the hell, teacher! If this is an advertisement stream, you’re supposed to make people want to play, not make a mad movie all by yourself!"
"We’re shocked watching this, how must the people who got attacked feel, hahaha?"
"What feelings? They probably feel like they got hit by lightning, hahaha."
Meanwhile, in the chat and with Eugene’s team — excluding Eugene — a dramatic consensus was forming.

It was, of course, the expected outcome.