I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 441

[General] Warning: Do not run ranked games right now, warning issued.

"Don't do it, damn it!"

[All Comments][In order of posting]

Fact: There are a lot of noobs who don't know anything and are running ranked games right now, so if you do it now, high ranks will easily park here.

Exactly, this is it! Hahahaha
[Author] Hahaha, try it once then.
Rank is nothing, what's going on?

Is this bastard seriously coming back after having a knife stuck in his head?

[Author] Hahaha, damn.
Ah, hahahahahaha
I wondered why he was so agitated, turns out he was the victim.
Is that really the case?

I saw it, a Viking, a Goblin, and a big shield, and after two knife stabs, he just liked it and died.
He liked it and died (died).
No way, two dagger stabs and he dies? How???
Fact: The first attack is usually for mobility lock, so in reality, it's a one-hit kill.
Are you talking about Bi-yam???

[Author] Not him, who else is there, hahahaha.
Damn, hahahahaha.
I'm watching the stream right now, but this crazy bitch’s every attack is a finishing motion, damn it.

If you can't pierce the armor with a dagger = then you just hit the unprotected areas = if you stab the neck, the person dies.

Perfect.
If you just bring the theory, no one can't reach the rank, you crazy bastards. Hahahahaha.
It’s really a problem when those idiots actually play.
So… does that crazy person do this kind of stuff in real life too?

Fact: That’s a reverse correction movement.
In reality, why would you use a dagger? Just wield a tomahawk, and swing it, armor and bones all broken.
Ah, right. Hahahahahaha.
[General] Is that person really using reverse correction?

<GIF of Eugene dodging attacks by a few centimeters>

Or is the opponent deliberately going easy on him? I'm a new player who just started, so my eyes are not great. To me, it just looks like he's dodging the attacks casually and then quickly getting in and stabbing the opponent.

[All Comments][In order of posting]

We call that 'adjusting the distance,' you bastard.

Ah, hahahahahahahaha.
The game is all about checking the reach of cold weapons, getting in close, landing valid hits, breaking guards, and comboing. But this idiot with two tiny daggers charging in, that's just crazy.

Fact: From the opponent's perspective, this must be incredibly frustrating.

Seriously.
How do you counter that? You can’t keep swinging your weapon.
You have to manage your stamina and keep up the pressure. What else can you do?
It’s a game of reading each other and psychological warfare, but he’s diving in without even giving the opponent time to cancel cooldowns.

From his line of sight, it looks like he's dodging everything, doesn't it?

Visual acuity… visual acuity… gulp...
If you have overwhelming visual acuity and guts, you don’t even need psychological warfare.
Living point: The reason for the gauntlets on both hands is to grab the opponent’s weapon and block it while charging in.

Now he grabs weapons too, this crazy bastard. Hahahahahahaha.
Earlier, he saw half-swording with his eyes, grabbed the weapon, and countered. He’s just lost his mind.
Fact: Already with that weapon, platinum rank.

????????????????
Platinum? Hahaha, after his Silver promotion match, he's on a 6-win streak in the placement matches.
But doesn’t that dual dagger build get crushed when it faces a large shield?

If you're up against someone who can jump over shields like a trampoline, then that sneaky move means nothing.
Haha, that's good, I’ll practice jumping over shields with just dual daggers and leather armor.
Wow, really? I’ll give you some items and a bit of gold, just give me your nickname, I’m not trying to block you from ranked or anything. Hehe.
Damn, Bi-yam, this crazy bastard. If dual dagger users increase because of you, it's all your fault!

"…Phew."

Boom.

A heavy sound comes with a pressure from a kick directed at me.

A red letter 'B' flickers above me. The ownership of the area was long taken away about 1 minute and 15 seconds ago, meaning that all my teammates except for me were wiped out at point B about 75 seconds ago.

But my daggers never fell from my hands. I avoid the incoming weapons with minimal movement, and with brief, precise actions, I accumulate wounds on my enemies. Even though the area is occupied by the enemy, since I’m standing here, the HP recovery function doesn't trigger.

I didn't consider when my dead allies would respawn.

"Surround! Three directions!"

"Don’t attack! Slowly grind them down!"

To catch one person holding only two daggers, four players gathered.

In front of me, a player holding a large shield, and right behind them, a Viking warrior with a spear. Assuming the defense angle is 0, a player holding a naginata is at defense angle 100, and a user with Chinese twin blades is blocking at defense angle 230.

Among them, I just looked around with half an emotionless expression. No one dares to attack recklessly. If I’m attacked from all directions at once, I’ll be in danger, but I don’t think that will happen.

After all, cold weapons vary in size and reach, and unless all of them have spent a lot of time coordinating, when their killing zones overlap, it’ll disrupt their attacks or, at worst, harm their own teammates.

That hesitation kept me alive until now.

For that reason, there was no need for me to rush.

???Whooosh!

The first to act was the class with Chinese twin blades—a Great Swordsman.

If I remember correctly, that was an uppercut heavy attack. A big downward strike. As I dodged it, footsteps echoed from the other side, and the naginata wielder charged in while the shield user advanced. However, the former was a bit slow, still remembering the harsh lesson I gave them earlier.

The Great Swordsman’s attack was especially fast. It must have been a cancel after the heavy attack’s post-delay. As if nothing had happened, after the strong overhead strike ended, the posture immediately shifted, and a stab followed, then the sword was pulled back for a slash across.

They were trying their best to think of ways to stop me from getting in…

"...Ugh!"

Thud!

They must not have expected me to throw a dagger at their empty elbow.

The elegant green blade flew in, deeply embedding itself in the inner side of the elbow, only to exit as the speed overwhelmed it. The angle and position weren’t ideal, and it didn’t stay lodged, but there was no need to worry about that.

Golden blood dripped from the elbow. The arm holding the twin blades weakened noticeably—there was a valid hit, and with enemies closing in from the sides, it was time to take a risk.

I barely avoided a horizontal slash with my left arm and instantly got behind the enemy.

Before the Great Swordsman could turn their body, I grabbed their shoulder with my left hand and pressed close, like a "Friend Shield."

"Ugh, damn it..."

"Moving won’t be very fun, will it?"

That cold warning echoed from behind the Great Swordsman.

When I turned around, the left arm I was grabbing with was already immobilized by my right hand, and I had cut through the armpit connecting their right arm and back several times with my dagger. This made their grip on the twin blades weak.

With the clattering sound of their weapon falling, the enemy was not dead yet.

But the shield still held its value.

At this point, there was only one way to use the human shield.

"Ugh, ahhh!"

The armor’s armpit gap.

The exposed collarbone.

My right dagger pierced through repeatedly. Although it was pre-recorded, the short screams and cutting sounds, as realistic as possible, echoed, and their HP rapidly fell. But they weren't fully dead yet. Watching the speed of the HP drop, I continued to suppress the enemy who couldn’t do anything.

In close combat, what mattered most was... what situation you presented to the opponent. The moment you psychologically overwhelm them, even with numerical superiority, the battle doesn’t immediately tip in your favor.

After inserting the dagger deep into their thigh and twisting the handle to widen the wound, I kicked the Great Swordsman into the naginata user.

"Ugh!"

"...Ugh..."

The moment their vision blurred, the naginata’s swordplay, closely tied to the martial arts, became almost useless.

After throwing the body aside, I began running. The distance between us was about 6 meters. No matter how much reverse correction was applied, I could close that gap in about a second. Still, judging by the high tier of the opponent, they prepared a counter as soon as they saw me running.

The distance was too close.

In other words, while they couldn't swing the naginata, it was an ideal distance for me to strike with my elbow.

??? Thunk!

"…!"

"Ahh!"

I got a clean hit.

Of course, it was on me.

My head swayed. HP drained—however, at that moment, the dagger in my right hand was no longer there. It was simple. I responded to the counter with my own, and the naginata wielder's right arm was already torn apart. A 27cm-long blade had cut through their arm and lodged deep into it.

The next step was simple.

I turned around, gripped their neck tightly, and twisted it.

"Ugh!"

Crack!

With a strange sensation in my arm, the Great Swordsman and the naginata user collapsed in unison, their bodies breaking apart into polygon fragments. They would likely return with the same weapons after about a minute.

It took around 15 seconds to take down both of them.

There were still two more left, but I didn't particularly care.

Several footsteps approached.

They were from my allies.

"A bit late, but now it’s balanced again."

What exactly is "balanced"? That’s the kind of expression on my face.

The two players, one holding a large shield and the other with a spear, watched me collect the two daggers that had fallen to the ground, with a blank expression on their faces. Behind them, the sound of the ground shaking grew louder as the four players who had respawned after losing in the earlier skirmish arrived.

"This time will be different from before."

I spoke with a tone that suggested I had never seen such a combat stance in Glory and Honor before. I looked at the two in front of me.

One thing was certain: a terrifying time was about to come.

"Good job."

"Thank you, teacher!"

"I’m really glad we’re on the same team!"

Hahahahahahahahaha
What kind of reaction is that? Hahahahaha
Ah, they’re probably not going to play ranked anymore today. Hahaha.
Making both the enemy and allies give up on ranked with just one match.
Eugene, the rank suppressor... damn, please stop playing so well.
After the game ended, countless messages of gratitude came in.

As expected, K/D ratios and the best plays were highlighted. I checked mine—during this match, I had killed 15 players, but I didn’t die even once, surviving until the end of the ranked match.

It was to be expected. The thought of dying was simply not something I entertained.

Of course, separate from that, the post I saw during the ranked match, “If you have good physicals, duo requests flood in,” strangely didn’t apply to me.

Rather, it felt like a new meme was emerging.

<Glory and Honor Great Sword Prosecutor donated 10,000 KRW.>

Living point: Eugene, the rank suppressor meme = means that players who end up on the same team as Eugene later avoid ranked because they don’t want to meet him in the enemy team, and the enemies give up ranked because their motivation is crushed.
"…Glory and Honor Great Sword Prosecutor, thank you for the donation. You didn’t have to mention that part."

Then when should we do it? Ah, hahahahahaha.
What martial arts can this person not do? Krav Maga, Kali, Arnis, Capoeira, Systema—he can do it all.
Ah, that’s Eugene.
Fact: He hasn’t even played 20 matches yet.
He needs to get to at least Grandmaster for the competitive matches to make sense. Hahahaha.
Not knowing whether or not they understood my troubled feelings, the next phrases that popped up told me that I had just been promoted to Platinum 2.

This marked the end of the sixth placement match. If I had won all ten matches, I would have reached Platinum 1, with four matches still left to go. It was unbelievable to be already at the maximum possible tier, but there was one additional factor to consider.

Kill count.

As expected, MMR rises simply by winning, but the system also considers how much you contributed to the game’s victory—this is true not only in this game but in most ranked systems.

As a result, my K/D ratio was hovering around 15.6.

'Since the denominator is zero, strictly speaking, it’s infinite, but writing that down would be ridiculous…'

Anyway, aside from that, the ally who had barely managed to catch their breath looked at me cautiously and asked.

"...Are you planning to start the next ranked match immediately?"

"Want to request a duo?"

"Ah, well… no, that’s not it. If we end up in the same team again, it might be a bit scary, so… It would be nice to meet again, but there's no guarantee..."

...I thought as much.

Back when I was playing Dark Zone and AP ranks, after each match ended, an endless amount of duo requests would flood in. But it seems that’s not the case here.

Anyway, apart from that, staying stuck at the lower tiers felt a bit off, so... I planned to climb as fast as possible while my stamina lasted. If my concentration dropped, I’d stop and maybe try out some weapons I hadn’t used yet.

Just as I thought that, a sudden realization hit me.

"...Is this really an advertisement stream?"

Advertisement (Meaning I’ll show the world how to kill enemies.)
Ah, teacher, that’s not an advertisement, that’s called execution!
It’s funny, but the viewers... hahahahaha.
If they join because of what he’s doing, they’re probably a bit weird, huh?
I don’t know if it’s an advertisement stream, but this streamer is threatening me with a knife???
...Anyway, you fools.

Anyway, they say as long as you get to Seoul, it doesn’t matter how you get there, so if this works as advertising, then that’s good enough for me.

Though it was a bit of strange self-justification, I headed back to the lobby and started the ranked match queue once again without much thought.

"Anyway, today, I’ll go as high as I can."

Until then, I wouldn’t stop daggering.

It was just 4 hours ago in-game, after I shattered the Diamond promotion match and hit Diamond 1.