I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 459

"…Simulation complete. Eugene wins."

"Should we increase the numbers?"

"At least double them, otherwise it won't mean much."

Beep.

The hologram powered off with a dry sound. The battle simulation, where one person fought against 300 in forests, villages, cities, and castles, ended with the former as the victor. The holographic text coldly displayed this shocking fact.

The simulation had lasted about 30 minutes. Inside the room, around ten people, including historians, war analysts, engineers responsible for the simulation, and observers, stared at the screen with disappointed expressions.

One person with a solemn appearance spoke up.

"As I mentioned, numbers aren’t what matter. In the end, what determines the outcome is how quickly you can launch simultaneous attacks. The countless battle records from the past Awakened confirm this."

"How about adding about five Armstrong cannons?"

"Sounds good."

Before them lay several sheets of A4 paper, filled with lines of notes.

After several rounds of simulations, everyone in the room had more or less come to the same conclusion: to defeat an Awakened, all conventional wisdom had to be thrown out. Even the battle records of past Awakened were of no use here.

No matter what, the attacks had to be done in waves, not one by one, and they had to be simultaneous. That was the basic premise for taking the advantage away from Eugene. There was even a precedent for using cannons to shake the Awakened’s domain.

"Settings reloaded. Let’s remove 10 infantry and add 5 cannons as variables."

"Simulation in progress… please confirm the variables."

There wasn’t much to look over.

Out of the 300 soldiers, about 20 were cavalry, 50 crossbowmen, and 10 cannon operators, with the rest being various infantry. The artillery’s firing angles and predicted impact points were now marked on the simulator, with a reload time set to 35 seconds.

After a minute of discussion, the troop placements began, almost like a group of people playing chess simultaneously.

The variables for the single person positioned in the opposite corner of the battlefield were listed: weight, 240kg; max speed, 90 km/h; tail, as a third impact zone; and so on… it was a quantity so large that it was questionable whether one person could even hold all that data.

But, strictly speaking, it still wasn’t enough.

The battle simulator couldn’t capture Eugene’s full combat abilities.

"…Battlefield is the plains. The simulation begins now. Guest members, please prepare to command the troops."

Everyone picked up their translucent tablet PCs.

The simulation began.

Immediately, five cannons fired. The cannonballs flew across the gaps between the troops and followed a parabolic trajectory before accurately hitting the simulation model of Eugene.

However, Eugene had already moved out of the cannon’s firing range. She was moving at a speed of 20 meters per second – not even her top speed – and, at the same time, she noticed a crossbow bolt flying directly at her and about 14 cavalry approaching from the side.

Within seconds, dozens of arrows hit the ground, forming a deadly area of impact, but Eugene managed to knock away every arrow coming at her and began charging forward.

In front of her, 49 spearmen were organized in formation, and 6 cavalry units were positioned as reserves.

"If we can block some of the initial movements with the Armstrong cannons, we might be okay."

"The Awakened is approaching the formation."

"As soon as the first line breaks, friendly fire from the cannons. Then, send the cavalry. The reserves will wait near the formation."

At that moment, the simulation character based on Eugene crashed into the formation.

What unfolded was something that could never be imagined by human imagination.

Eugene moved between the long spears with a speed so fast that no one could react in time, and in the split second that one of the front-liners exhaled, their neck and head were separated. That wasn’t the end. The tactical tomahawk, which was invisible, swung into action.

About three soldiers were killed per second, and the neatly dismantled formation gradually closed around Eugene, leaving a circular perimeter where Eugene remained in the center, with at least 20 dead.

Of course, Eugene didn’t let the perimeter function as it was supposed to.

Ka-KaK!

"…It’s breaking through!"

"Armstrong cannons, fire! Fire!"

"Fire allowed. Archers as well. Cavalry, follow the planned route and sweep the area where the target is."

The tablet screens were filled with commands coming in fast.

In an instant, five Armstrong cannons finished reloading and fired again. The five shells and 50 arrows swept through Eugene and the first defense line. People flew through the air, most of them becoming pincushions, but Eugene was not one of them.

The simulation character, anticipating where the arrows would land, quickly grabbed a shield and blocked the incoming projectiles, throwing the shield at the charging cavalry. The sound of the shield hitting the horse’s head caused it to fall, and the cavalry became disordered.

The distance was about 50 meters. The cavalry were already galloping at full speed. One horse suddenly collapsed, its head slamming into the ground, which caused the line to quickly falter.

In the meantime, Eugene increased her speed and jumped forward, launching herself—

Thud!

She jumped a good 2.3 meters into the air, splitting the head and body of a cavalryman in mid-air.

Of course, that wasn’t the end. She leapt between horses, sending every enemy she encountered into the ground. She grabbed one horse, riding it, and charged it into the second defense line.

By that time, she had leapt from the horse’s back and landed around 5 meters above the ground, with one unlucky soldier being crushed underneath.

Naturally, even without a weapon, she was extremely dangerous, just as she was when she was without an axe.

With a single punch, she crushed the shield, and with another blow, she shattered the upper body, including the ribs of an unfortunate victim.

Although it was just a simulation, the character modeled after Eugene showed exactly why Awakened were called "Gods of War" in the past.

"…What the hell are you doing? Keep firing! Armstrong cannons!"

"To think that dynamic vision and instinct could make such a huge difference…"

The tension quickly dissipated.

After wiping out the entire cavalry and both defensive lines, there were very few options left, and whether it was sooner or later, the remaining soldiers would lose their lives.

About ten minutes into the simulation, the 300 soldiers had dwindled to fewer than 100. At this point, engineers had calculated Eugene's victory probability to be over 90%, and they decided to end the seventh simulation.

The post-simulation feedback session followed.

"...Is there no way to stop her from throwing things?"

"If we remove the shields in the formation... then she would throw the spears."

"Let’s spread the cavalry out more to prevent bottlenecks, and we should increase the numbers. We should add up to 50 more."

"...Is that really necessary?"

If the goal was victory, one option was to send all 300 troops as cavalry.

But did they really need to go that far? And, given Eugene was likely to become the 1:300 opponent, did they really need to create such a massive force to face her? If the distribution of power failed, it would be the people in the room who would face the backlash.

Two million, or maybe more.

The number of people watching Eugene's stream had long surpassed normal expectations, and no one in the room wanted to face the wrath of such a massive crowd.

"...Let’s adjust it a bit more."

There was still much left to do.

A few days before the domestic Glory and Honor tournament in Yongsan.

"Hmm."

"...What’s wrong?"

"No, just some personal contact."

Of course, that was a lie.

During her stay in Korea, Lorentina had requested permission to extend her time and unofficially agreed to participate in the 1:300 battle as a hidden guest.

"Seriously, if Eugene fights against 300 people with the reverse debuff lifted... wouldn’t Eugene win?"

"Ha, no way hahaha."
"300 people is basically a battalion level. Hahaha."
"If anyone else fought 300 people, it would just be a joke, but if it's Eugene, who knows? Haha."
"If it’s a flat battlefield, Eugene might lose, but if it’s a more complex environment, the number of people won’t matter, haha."
As discussions intensified, people couldn't stop talking about Eugene’s potential to win. The situation escalated quickly.

In addition to the Glory and Honor event, there was the surprise of Eugene’s battle against 300 soldiers, which was catching everyone's attention. The prize for winning the 1:300 match was a substantial incentive, and no one could resist discussing whether Eugene could actually win.

When the troop types were revealed, things became even more complicated.

"50 cavalry, 50 crossbowmen and artillery, the rest as Glory and Honor infantry... are they crazy?"

"Wait, weren’t we supposed to just have 300 regular soldiers?"

"Hey, no way, with 50 cavalry and artillery, how would Eugene fight this...?"

As the lineup was revealed and the addition of 50 cavalry began to sway public opinion, people were once again reminded of Eugene’s physical stats.

Deadlifts, bench presses, squats totaling 4.2 tons of physical ability. Running at a speed of 82 km/h with shoes that weren’t even fitted for her. Her estimated kick power was 2000 horsepower.

Most people didn’t know how strong that was, but...

"To those who don’t understand how strong that is, getting hit by Eugene's kick five times is like taking a direct hit from an Abrams tank’s main gun."

"Wait, what?????"
"Crazy... insane."
"I can’t believe this hahaha."
"So, basically, it’s like a bio-armored vehicle? Well, 300 people don’t stand a chance then, haha."
That was about the gist of it.

Eugene’s punches were as powerful as a rifle bullet, and her destructive power, when she used weapons, was even greater. She moved at the speed of a car, so she could truly be called a bio-armored vehicle.

As soon as people began to joke about Eugene being like a tank, the public opinion quickly turned, believing that Eugene was highly likely to win.

The debates raged on, but the conclusion was almost always the same.

"On an open field, it’s 50/50. Eugene might lose slightly more often, but in more complicated terrain, the numbers won't matter that much."

"Ha, didn’t you watch those old Chinese martial arts films? The villain always gets distracted fighting the henchmen, right?"

"Hey, didn’t Eugene play Glory and Honor before?"

"What?"

The expected win rate for Eugene continued to rise.

And then, it was solidified by a video from eight months ago, recorded at the start of the year, showing Eugene playing Glory and Honor. Despite it being a short clip, the content was nothing short of brutal.

With a tactical tomahawk in hand, Eugene swung it with a chilling expression, decapitating and splitting two people in an instant, turning them into golden polygons.

One attack, and the kill count went up.

Eugene had shattered people like twigs, and it was revealed that, aside from that video, she hadn’t played any casual games at all.

Naturally, Eugene was not one to deny her past.

When the video surfaced, she nodded and smiled, giving the perfect response.

"...Anyway, the event match is coming up soon. I don’t know how it will go, so I can’t say who will win, but I’ll do my best. I don’t intend to lose."

"Interpretation: I’ll crush them all."
"Hahaha!"
"Just wait until you face Eugene."
"Whoever bets on Eugene, hit the upvote! Haha."
"I’m dying, haha."
Naturally, Eugene was never one to take things lightly.

A terrible time was about to come.

"…We have a tournament."

"Forget it."