I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 480

"Ugh, the smell of gunpowder. I didn’t notice it while shooting, but now my clothes smell terrible. I really need to take a quick shower."
"Our little one, come by the balcony pool later. We’ll do a debriefing. Do you want to join us, any of you new little ones?"
"Uh... I'll come. I’m curious."
"Me too."
"Then, everyone, go shower and come back."

Night had fallen on the small island in the middle of the Pacific, but Hawaii’s lights never dimmed. Even though it wasn’t peak season, the temperature was pleasant when it was cool, and when it got hot, it reached up to about 30°C. The heart of Hawaii was still bustling with people. A vehicle crossed through the middle of it all and arrived safely in the parking lot of Icarus Residence. Four people returned to the penthouse suite.

The moment the door opened, there was a refreshing scent in the air, contrasting with the strong gunpowder smell coming from our clothes. It made sense, though. We’d fired at least 1,500 rounds between the four of us today. And the caliber of the bullets kept increasing... We really needed to wash off that smell.

The drone cam had been turned off with a note saying it would be restarted after some maintenance, so we’d have to wait until everyone finished showering to turn it back on.

Meanwhile, a conversation continued.

"This room’s shower facilities are overflowing, aren’t they? I’m not sure if I should consider this lucky."
"Should we share the shower like old times?"
"Heh, are you asking for that?"
"Definitely not."

Ugh.

Of course, even if there were two people per shower, it wouldn’t have bothered me much. After all, I’d showered hundreds of times with this person and Logan, and given the past—those huge Arctic bears and shark-mid combinations pushing my head down—my brain had naturally drifted in that direction.

Anyway, since the smell of gunpowder was bothering me, I entered the room and started undressing. One by one, my clothes fell into the laundry basket. While doing so, my reflection caught my eye in the mirror. I didn’t care much about my body anymore, considering how often I’d seen it.

"…Hmm."

Nothing had changed since before.

Even if I gained a little weight, a tough workout would burn it off quickly, so it didn’t really matter. Anyway, that was the extent of my thoughts.

After wrapping a large towel around my body, I quietly entered the shower. Just as I was about to turn on the water, I received a voice chat from Harmony and Dice. I pressed the accept button while filling the bathtub with water.

A familiar voice came through.

"Ah, Yujin."
"What’s up?"
"It’s nothing serious… but, are you going to turn the stream on for the debriefing later at the balcony pool?"
"Of course. If you don’t want to appear, I can just have Loren Tina and me show up. If you prefer, we can just do audio-only for the broadcast."
"It’s not really necessary, but..."

The water poured into the tub with a deep sound.

I pressed the button on the wall, and water began to spray from the ceiling and walls.

While I was waiting for their answer, I heard a strange voice... It wasn’t exactly a compliment, but it felt somewhat ambiguous. The question had come from Dice, but the response was from Harmony.

"…You two don’t seem to care much about exposing your bodies?"
"I’m not going to wear some rag with a strap and go on air. Wearing a rash guard isn’t a big deal. Besides, what’s there to see? I don’t think I have much of a body to show off."
"…Huh?"
"Teacher, that’s a trap..."
"Yikes."

It was my mistake.

Most of the physical contact I’d had so far had been with Logan and Loren Tina, and considering those massive Arctic Bear-mid and Shark-mid memories, my brain naturally gravitated that way.

So, it was decided that only Loren Tina and I would appear in the stream at the pool today. Of course, Harmony and Dice wouldn’t just stay quiet, but Harmony and Dice would use the right mini-pool, while Loren Tina and I would use the left mini-pool. The drone cam would stay fixed on our side to show only the left mini-pool.

I adjusted the settings to automatically apply a hard blur to the two of them if they appeared on the camera, and after confirming Loren Tina’s appearance, I began my shower.

"Ah..."

It was a feeling I hadn’t experienced in a while.

Back when I was in New York, after practical shooting or combat situations, when everything ended, the tension drained from my eyes, and I’d step into the shower with the smell of gunpowder washing away as the water poured from the ceiling. The feeling of relief was always distinct, though this time, there wasn’t the same fatigue gnawing at me.

The familiar routine of showering brought back memories, even though there were new elements this time.

As the thick foam on my body and head dripped down into the drain, the remnants of the day’s fatigue were swept away.

After finishing my shower, I soaked in the water for a bit, then dried off and changed into my rash guard. Stepping out into the living room, the rare sight of a cloudless Hawaiian night sky greeted me.

Though the light pollution kept the stars from being too visible, I didn’t mind. The sound of the waves crashing outside and Loren Tina, who had quietly followed, along with the drone cam, all began to fit together like pieces of a puzzle.

The balcony pool, slightly warmed, was waiting. As I settled into it and gazed toward Waikiki Beach, Harmony and Dice carefully dipped their feet into the mini-pool next to ours. The broadcast began.

"Hello, everyone. We’re in Hawaii. It’s nothing special, but I wanted to briefly share some stories about today’s shooting, so I’ve turned on the broadcast a bit late. I’m surprised so many of you are joining us at this hour; I think it’s around 1 AM in Korea."

"Hey, everyone. You probably know who I am... Our new little ones will only be featured by voice due to privacy concerns, so please understand."
"It’s not really something that needs understanding..."

"Wait, what?????"
"Tactical pouches, hahaha!"
"If I leave it alone, I don’t even know what I’ll say, so I’ll take my hands off the keyboard first, hahaha."
"Wow… wow… wow… wow..."
"There are so many people losing their minds, hahaha!"
Since I wasn’t watching the broadcast, I didn’t know what was being shown. But seeing the viewers freaking out, it seemed like everything was going well. Anyone going too far would be automatically banned by the manager bot, so that was fine. Anyway, as mentioned earlier, I was about to drop a feedback bomb under the guise of a simple story.

While gazing at the darkening Waikiki Beach, I added:

"Although two of you are not actual operators, I’ll still consider that. However, it's inevitable that your physical strength needs a little improvement. I won’t say you should train for shooting, but a little cardio now and then wouldn't hurt. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a soft belly when you leave the country."

"Ugh..."
"I think we should put Green Cat on a treadmill. If you run from one end of Waikiki Beach to the other, it’s about 3 km. How about we run together tomorrow morning?"

"Ew, no!"

Naturally, both of them really got into the competition.

Still, the reaction was fairly good. All they needed was some body fat management. I didn’t think it would be taken seriously anyway… maybe if they gain this much weight later, they can be a bit more lenient.

After giving the simplest and most neutral feedback, we began discussing the areas that really needed work. The issue for both of them was that while their theory and techniques were built on knowledge and muscle memory, their physical endurance just wasn’t enough to back it up.

Anyway, for these two, it was enough to be good at shooting guns in virtual reality.

As we were discussing this, the next question came.

"By the way, are we going to the shooting range again tomorrow?"

"Yes, that's right. After the mock battle, we'll be handling things we couldn't shoot yesterday—machine guns, large-caliber sniper rifles, miniguns, and so on. We'll be using equipment modeled after the gear used in Miles training, so don't worry too much."

"Miles... I heard that Hotteok did some reserve training last week, and now we're going to try it out for real."

"It'll be a few times better than what they used there."

Hahaha, so true.
Harmony (Hawaiian Reserve)
???: Miles? Did you ever face Biyam when doing your Miles training?
Hotteok probably can’t say a word now, lol.
I thought people who don’t even go to reserve duty would be on vacation in Hawaii, but turns out they’ve been working ten times harder, lol.
Well, I guess that counts as suffering.

Naturally, just as the long-forgotten topic of Hotteok came up, a donation came through.

<Hotteok (Streamer) has donated 100,000 KRW. Thank you so much!>

Moniya, I told you! The reason we’re not jealous of you and Biyam going to Hawaii is because of this!
"Ah, Hotteok! Thanks for the donation. It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. I’ll send you a plane ticket if you want to come to Hawaii and hang out! There’s plenty of room, and we can always buy more ammo."

<Hotteok>: Oh, I’ll just take your good intentions, thanks!
Let’s go shooting, Hotteok! Let’s go shooting!
What do you mean just your good intentions, lol? Are you being kidnapped?
<Hotteok>: Oh, I won’t go alone. I’ll bring Limit and Stone with me.
What the hell, lol. You crazy?
I don’t know if they’ll actually come, but if they do, maybe I can rent them the room next door.

So, we spent several hours on this topic, wondering if it would happen or not. Naturally, Harmony and Dice, not wanting to get too muscular, brought out the sunbeds and laid on them, while Loren and I spent about 3 hours floating in the mini-pool, chatting away.

Among the things we talked about was whether we could safely jump off the balcony into Waikiki beach below. Just a ridiculous thought.

By around 10 PM, I started to feel a bit more serious.

I quietly activated the drone cam’s mute function.

As soon as the sound cut off, the viewers flooded the chat with question marks, but I had no choice. What I was about to say wasn’t something I wanted to be public knowledge.

The others, sensing something, slowly sat up from their sunbeds and looked at me.

"Well, this is a bit sudden, but I have some news to share with you all."

"Oh no, you’re about to say something serious. Is it something we’re allowed to hear?"

"Of course."

And then, I spoke.

"I think within the next 6 months to a year, we’ll be able to meet Jin and Rein in real life."

At that moment.

The three of them stared at me with eyes wide open, more shocked than the moon in the sky.

It seemed expected.

"...What kind of monsters are out there in the other world?"

"Indeed."

Northern New York, Rochester. Icarus Dynamics research facility.

The research facility, where everyone was busy with their own tasks, had been echoing with dreadful sounds for days. This was happening while Eugene was throwing bombs and enjoying a luxurious vacation in Hawaii.

The simulation computers, which had already occupied a large part of the research center’s many lights, were now running with several times more data input than before, producing graphics that were so detailed they were almost unrecognizable. The noise from them was constant.

With current software, not only was it impossible to create Jin and Rein, it was also difficult to simulate the massive amount of parts data that came with them, and check if everything would fit together properly or if it would yield meaningful results.

It was beyond imagination—at least a 20-year technological gap, and just the ripple effect of that data alone was overwhelming.

"This... this level of technology has skipped generations. It’s almost reached the threshold of electronic lifeforms, beyond specialization and versatility. If we don't pay attention to information security, something terrible could happen..."

"Well, the information security department will handle it, but we're not really trying to replicate it exactly. If we can just implement 1% of the specs sent, having those two walking in the real world won’t be a huge issue."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

The unofficial predictions from Icarus Dynamics flashed through their minds.

Humanoid or remotely controlled bodies – Prototype.

A limited version of the technology, existing in society but far from replacing the tasks humans can still do.

Humanoid or remotely controlled bodies – Phase 1.

Machines with capabilities suitable for extreme environments like hazardous areas or battlefields, where the concept of casualties or accidents slowly starts to be replaced by the destruction of the machines themselves.

Humanoid or remotely controlled bodies – Phase 2.

These machines, now capable of replacing humans even in highly specialized jobs, with greatly extended lifespans and control ranges, begin to exhibit limited intelligence for specific objectives.

Humanoid or remotely controlled bodies – Phase 3.

Machines that are indistinguishable from humans, or regarded as having equal intelligence, capable of almost permanent movement through special energy sources.

"...This world has just entered Phase 1, but Jin and Rein are already in the middle of Phase 3..."

At that point, distinguishing and classifying beyond Phase 3 becomes irrelevant.

"So, what kind of specs did the headquarters request?"

"Surprisingly, they’re not that high. But we’ll have to fit everything into the sleek body of Mecha Eugene and still retain that human softness. Considering we’ll have to downgrade it, this is going to be a tough job."

"Right, and I don’t even know what alloy we should use for the parts. Then there’s the power source."

"It’s better to learn while starting from scratch than trying to figure it all out with no clues."

At 3:42 AM.

While Eugene’s group was watching the Hawaiian sky at 9:42 PM.

Despite the darkening night, the lights in the research facility never went out.

In fact, this was just the beginning.