I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 486

"Welcome to Eugene's School! From now on, you are stepping into the furnace for the training of elite soldiers, and you will be undergoing a special course to become an Anaconda!"

"...Yesterday, we were definitely in Hawaii, but why does it feel like we're suddenly at a reserve training center today?"

"From the moment you step into this place, you are rookies, but when you leave here, you will be weapons of war, craving battle, and become the Reaper... kwek!"

"Stop saying weird stuff."

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Haha, it’s Harmony, the hidden daughter of Sergeant Hartman hahahahahahahahahaha
They’re both Hah’s! Hahahaha
Why are they shooting Full Metal Jacket in Hawaii? Hahaha
I knew they were gonna get hit hahahaha
Bang. A crisp sound rang through the air, and stars popped in front of Harmony’s eyes.

Dice, who was watching the scene with her hat pulled low, gritted her teeth and tried to suppress her laughter. I knew it was gonna be like this. If she was holding a gun, it’d be one thing, but we hadn’t even started the safety training yet, so there was room for some leniency. Still, why was I the one being called out?

In any case, we were back at the indoor shooting range, which had become remarkably quieter compared to a few days ago. The Firearms International staff hadn’t come, so there were far fewer people than before. It didn’t matter much though, since we had already finished almost all the setup on the first day.

The walls were neatly lined with gun cabinets, thousands of rounds of newly replenished ammunition, refrigerators filled with drinks and various foods, and numerous large tables set up to store ammunition and firearms.

It was exactly the same as it had been when we visited a few days ago.

"Who’s this? Where am I...?"

"That's odd... The reserve training is already over..."

"Why am I here? I don’t even do reserve training."

Only three more friends had joined in the dissonance of confusion.

Anyway, even though three new friends had joined, I didn’t need to train them. It was fine for Dice, but Harmony... she must’ve been really happy at the thought that she could legally "toughen up" the others. As soon as I threw her the bait last night, she eagerly took the bite.

And that’s how that... awful hybrid showed up. Let’s just call her "Instructor Harmony" for now. She looked a bit like Sergeant Hartman. Maybe it’s because they both have the Hah surname, but it was quite a resemblance.

In any case, as she said, Harmony was literally flying around. Dice had no room to jump in, and we didn’t even need to fill in the gaps. The green-haired kid, who had quietly brought over the whiteboard, had flawlessly completed the safety training.

The only thing that stood out was that the warnings were very much Harmony-esque.

"If you mess around, I’ll smack you right across the back. What you’re holding is a gun, got it? A gun! If you even joke around with it, your punishment will be to put a target on a piece of paper at 1500m away. There’s no car. You have to run there and back."

"Um, of course. Of course. Who would mess around with such a terrifying weapon?"

"I should’ve desperately warned Minah when she went under Eugene’s command. I never imagined this snowball would roll into something like this."

Listening quietly, I took a slow breath.

Harmony, hearing that, exchanged a glance with me and then took a step back. She must've noticed I had something to say.

"That’s all for the safety rules. Welcome to the shooting range. You’ve probably never seen so many firearms in real life, and some of you might be wondering why you’re here... but after observing you for a while, it doesn’t seem like any of you are too averse to it."

Naturally.

Harmony, Dice, and all of Hotteok’s group had agreed to come here, so we could be at the shooting range. Moreover, if there had been anyone who really didn’t want to come, they probably shouldn’t have gotten on the flight to Hawaii in the first place.

Along with me, Lorentina, and my first disciples, we gathered in a group, and just a few days ago, we broadcasted the scene of these two, who were covered in the smell of gunpowder from shooting bullets everywhere, on a live stream.

Even though I sent round-trip tickets, the fact that these three had made it here despite having seen such a scene was indirect proof that they weren’t uninterested.

And as expected, the three sitting in chairs, though they grumbled a little, had expressions that clearly showed curiosity and excitement, a combination of emotions.

Watching this, Minah slowly came over and added:

"It’s really fortunate that the Dark Zone made it so there’s less aversion to firearms. If it weren’t for that, we’d have had endless things to teach."

"That’s right."

The structure and operation of firearms.

Recoil control.

Attaching firearm accessories.

Finding your own modding style.

As expected, there wasn’t a single person in Hotteok’s group who didn’t know about the things listed above. Even Kim Stone, a woman, or rather, Kim Hyun-ah, had once fought alongside Harmony in a streamer competition before the Asian qualifiers held in Korea.

In other words, beyond knowing the basics of firearms, they all knew how to set their own sights and understood which modding style suited them best.

However, just knowing that didn’t mean it was easy to shoot as if transferring game data directly to reality.

As I mentioned before, the Dark Zone was designed to prevent crimes through muscle memory, and the more calibration there was, the more it twisted the sensory feedback of the body. Furthermore, actions like reloading or aiming under high calibration didn’t require any effort.

To put it simply, with low calibration, you had to apply strength to your arms to shoulder the gun, but in the case of higher calibration... aiming and aligning the sights would be done automatically, just like clicking the right mouse button.

In the end, all three of them had to shoot bullets in all directions to get used to it.

"Let’s start with handguns. You can teach them well, right?"

"Hehe, of course."

"Dice, you also go out... The senior can take it easy."

"How could I miss such a fun opportunity?"

Why did you even make Harmony and Dice wear instructor hats if you were going to do this? Hahahahaha
One of the three is going to be trained by a user! Hahaha
Kim Stone got picked! wwwwww
Fake madness can’t beat real madness...
Always making a mess everywhere, and in the end, he paid the price! Hahahahaha
I knew it.

Harmony stuck with Hotteok, Dice went with Limit, and Lorentina and I went to Kim Stone, aka Kim Hyun-ah. Surprisingly, she was much shorter than Harmony, who was 160cm, standing at only 152cm, while I stood at 172cm, and Lorentina was over 180cm.

As I’ve explained before, unlike me, Logan and Lorentina’s height didn’t change that much, even though their bodies had transformed. So, this small friend had to deal with both of us, who were about 20-30cm taller than her.

When we approached her, Hyun-ah’s expression slowly turned into one of shock and horror.

Of course, at this point, we didn’t care, and we casually added:

"Nice to meet you, it’s been a while, right?"

"Ah, yes, that’s..."

"Don’t freeze up, just speak comfortably."

Thud.

This small friend and I had quite a history together. We first met through a streamer competition, and shortly after, I invited her to meet in person during the Asian qualifiers in Korea.

So, as a sign of friendship, I placed my hand on her shoulder and smiled a refreshing smile before speaking.

"Hyun-ah, I remember you used to really favor the TTI pistols, and this time you’ve bought quite a few with a substantial amount of money. It's not every day you get the chance to shoot ones that cost $5,000 each."

"Hehe, really…?"

"So, how does it feel? Doesn’t it spark some real interest?"

But I don’t know why she’s so scared.

Minah and Ye-rin laughed like children when I gave them a quick tip, but I’m not sure if this person likes that sort of thing.

If she gets too nervous before shooting, we’re in trouble.

"...Did I do something wrong to Eugene, or what?"

"I don’t think so... It’s just that you two have no idea how you look on camera right now."

This is straight-up threatening! Hahahahahaha
No joke, being kidnapped by the cartel and threatened with murder might be less scary than this! Hahahaha
?? : Hey, relax! Hahaha
I mean, aren’t these two like the apex predators sandwiched between animals? Hahaha
I think those two sometimes forget what kind of image they have…
Unlike Hotteok and Limit, the atmosphere near Kim Stone had suddenly shifted to something between noir and thriller, and Eugene and Lorentina, who were both grinning like apex predators, only added to it.

Watching that, Harmony smiled quietly and seemed to think, "It is what it is."

Anyway, manifesters never seemed to know how to handle things in a normal way.

"Put some real strength into your hands. Don’t use your whole hand unnecessarily, just make sure to keep the grip solid. Don’t keep adjusting the grip with every shot."

"Ugh, this is so hard…"

"You're putting unnecessary pressure on your right hand again. That’s why the shots are pulling to the right. And you’re trying to force your wrist down to compensate for the recoil, which is why you keep having those hotan shots."

"How am I supposed to shoot this thing... Whoa!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

At that moment, Harmony took a quick breath and in an instant, drew her pistol from the holster with the speed of a light beam, aiming directly ahead. In a crisp motion, five shots disappeared in an instant. Simultaneously, five clear "bang" sounds echoed.

The metal plate, located 20 meters away, shook one after the other. Surprisingly, the five shots formed a tight grouping that, even at 20 meters, could fit into a circle the size of the space between your thumb and index finger. Of course, this was considering the fact that it was rapid fire.

After removing the magazine and unloading the chambered round, Harmony placed the pistol on the divider stand.

And then, she spoke:

"Like this."

"...Do you think we can do that?"

Whoa, insane
How... How did she...? ????????????????
Just a moment ago, she was just a rookie, and now in just 2 seconds, she’s turned into an insane gun instructor! Hahahahaha
Why is rapid fire so sexy??? Is this real????
I think I like women who shoot guns...
Naturally, Hotteok was dumbfounded and clapped his hands involuntarily.

He had shot pistols in the game before. However, unlike Dice or Harmony, Hotteok and his group didn’t reduce or remove any calibration, and because of that, it was as easy as breathing to hit the target with a pistol shot.

At least in the Dark Zone, it was that easy.

But coming into the real world, countless variables and difficulties struck them. The pistol was lighter than expected, but that didn’t guarantee accuracy. Simply breathing caused the sights to drift, and aligning the sights was harder than expected.

That wasn’t all. The trigger was relatively light, but the recoil wasn’t. If he didn’t distribute enough force to control the recoil, his wrist would lift, and the sights would get misaligned. On the other hand, if he overcompensated, that caused its own set of problems.

Harmony, who had taken a brief breath, walked over.

For some reason, Hotteok thought she looked surprisingly huge.

"It’s not easy, but it’s not something you need to struggle with either. I’ll help you as much as I can. Let’s try again. There’s a mini dot sight on it, so after about 10 minutes of learning, you should be able to get a good grouping."

"...Okay. Got it."

"You don’t have to speak formally."

But what could he do? It came out automatically.

As she said, Minah began to watch Hotteok closely again as he started shooting. She adjusted his position using his hands and feet, teaching him where to apply pressure so that he could comfortably absorb the recoil.

One shot, two shots. And then, the magazine was emptied, and the holes in the target gradually started to shrink towards a single point.

As expected, Hotteok, as an E2-level manifestor, was incredibly confident in doing physical tasks, and he began to absorb the pistol shooting techniques like a sponge.

Bang!

"...I think I’m getting the hang of it."

"You’re shooting really well now. Pistol shooting isn’t that hard, is it?"

"Yeah."

He nodded.

Once he figured out the trick, all that was left was more shooting... a sort of refining process. The more he resisted compromises, the more precise the grouping became. Limit, who was glancing over from the other side, was going through a similar process, and there were holes slightly bigger than a coin in his target.

The groupings gathered at one point, and the paper began to tear.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t gauge how Kim Stone was shooting, but considering she was one of the weakest in terms of stamina and strength, having two E-class manifestors working with her wasn’t going to be much of a problem.

Just as I was wondering what Hotteok’s group might bet on for a pistol shooting contest, a sudden loud noise rang out.

Boom boom boom!

"What the hell is that sound?"

"Hey, that’s…"

Glancing over, Harmony, who had been looking toward the source of the thunderous noise, added with an expression that looked like all the humor had drained from her face:

"That’s Eugene firing the .500 S&W Magnum with one hand, in rapid fire."

Don’t look over there!!!!!!!!!!
They said he was bored hahaha
Don’t mind the stunts that someone with a wrist stronger than steel pulls~~
Oh no, he's doing it again, crazy stuff only he can do hahaha
Is this shooting or a strength show? Hahahahahahaha
Ah.

A strength show.

I could confidently say I was stronger than anyone in the world, and Hotteok might have thought that with a little practice, he could do it too, but whether I could casually do something like that was another story.

He suddenly felt like he was just an ordinary person.

His first trip to Hawaii had turned out to be far more dynamic than he could have imagined.