I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 488

"...So that’s what you’ve been doing, picking up the shell casings one by one since earlier. I was wondering what you were up to... Playing with random junk like that? Did you teach Green Cat that too, rookie?"

"Of course."

"I thought so."

Even the seniors are amazed by that crazy trick, hahahahaha
The vibe of real combat is different, hahahaha
This is insane, hahahahaha
Do you only think about tactical studies and playing tricks after meals??????
Forget the tactics, the combat sense is off the charts, damn.
Lorentina chuckled.

It seemed like the usual kind of laugh, but it was one of the responses that only came out when she was genuinely impressed. Even while laughing joyfully, her gaze didn’t leave the screen, which was proof of that.

That aside, the way the Shark spoke to me when he added that comment was quite noteworthy. How should I put it? It was like when parents open an old photo album, flipping through pages of past memories, describing them with a certain fondness.

Right around that moment, a déjà vu hit me again, and memories from the past resurfaced.

Lorentina had subtly referenced a battle that had taken place in New York long ago.

"So, when will those guys’ tails grow back? Will I be able to see them before we return to the homeland?"

"Stop saying nonsense."

"Heh, what a pity."

Laughing, the Shark resumed his focus.

But I couldn’t. Lorentina had triggered those past memories, and I couldn’t focus on Harmony’s battle anymore. I had sent Minah to that building just to give her feedback, but if I couldn’t give proper advice, wasn’t that just a disaster waiting to happen?

Nevertheless, before I knew it, I had already drifted back to New York in my memories.

Brooms, discarded drink cans, shell casings, grenades, and countless other pieces of junk scattered all over the city that had turned into a massive graveyard. All of them became the ingredients for traps.

About a year after the Dark Winter incident, the second winter that hit the once famous Big Apple was even more brutal than the first. The citizens who had turned into rioters, the escaped prisoners, and the terrorists learned how to endure the snowstorms in New York, where heating was unavailable.

The blades forged by a season humans couldn’t endure were now aimed straight at Icarus, and many task forces, including Team Dagger, had to survive combat ratios of 5:1 or even 10:1. As a result, many operators’ lives were lost amidst the dreadful snowstorm.

And some of those combat methods I had learned during that time were passed down to Harmony.

"...How does it look from your perspective? Do you think there’s anything to criticize?"

"Which would you like to hear first? The positives? Or the negatives?"

"Let’s go with the negatives first, if there are any."

A sound of breath being taken.

Meanwhile, Hotteok’s group’s tactics were rapidly improving. Specifically, considering that they could respawn, they shifted their tactic to ensure that even if two of them died, at least one would survive to wait for reinforcements.

Because of this, Harmony’s kill count had climbed to seven by now.

"Unfortunately, there’s not much to criticize. Your crisis management is good, and what I like most is that there’s no wasted movement. You’re very aware of your stamina, aren’t you?"

"What else?"

"Oh, Eugene. What more can you expect? Feedback isn’t just about finding flaws and smoothing them out with sandpaper. It’s also about finding strengths and maximizing them."

‘A real expert’
Does she see all of that? I was just admiring it, hahahaha
The way she conserves stamina is amazing, hahahahahaha
This makes me want to dive into Dark Zone, I’m going to log in
Let me shoot too!!!!!!
I nodded slightly at those words.

The intense battle lasted for several more minutes, and the first to drop out was... Hyun-ah. Not Minah. The lack of stamina finally caught up with her. There were several close calls where she almost got injured without the proper knee pads, elbow pads, wrist guards, and combat gloves.

As a result, Kim Stone was the first to call it quits. With that, the 1:3 battle became 1:2, and about 5 minutes later, Harmony had carefully whittled down Hotteok and Limit’s HP, and after they both reached a critical state, she began the final battle. Before either of them could respawn, she successfully picked them off one by one.

After about 10 minutes of the mock battle, the goddess of victory raised her hand for Harmony.

Sweating profusely, everyone exited the building.

"Whoa…!"

"Good job, everyone. Grab a towel and a drink."

"Thanks..."

If they’d gone on much longer, they’d have looked like they were about to steam out of their bodies.

Combat consumes a terrifying amount of calories. During intense engagements, up to 6,000 calories can be burned in a day, so hydration and calorie intake need to be monitored carefully. As expected, Harmony collapsed onto a chair, drenched in sweat, and emptied a whole bottle of sports drink.

Sitting next to her, Minah handed over a sweet chocolate bar and, with her tail, made a makeshift armrest so she could lean forward. Minah herself collapsed forward immediately.

"Ah, this feels so good… my tail feels so cool..."

"Let’s rest for about 30 minutes, and then it’s Dice’s turn. You three, come over here and sit when you’re ready. I’ll give feedback."

"Got it."

The three of them, who had been wiping their sweat enthusiastically, quickly walked over and sat down.

I debated where to start but decided to address the technical aspects first.

"One of the most important things in combat is foot positioning. Even if you can’t pay attention to everything, you need to at least keep track of where each foot is. By the way, is there anyone here who didn’t fall during the engagement, other than Harmony?"

"..."

"Looks like no one."

As I said, everyone had small and large scars from knee pads, elbow pads, gloves, and the like. They had scraped the floor while falling, and most of them had fallen at least two or three times. Even so, the fact that they hadn’t collided with each other or made friendly fire during the fight was an incredible achievement.

Friendly fire. It’s a mistake many overlook during CQB. If you don’t know the layout of the building and don’t have a clear understanding of who is responsible for which area and search zones, it can happen more often than you think.

Even special forces members conducting killbox exercises with simunition rounds sometimes made friendly fire mistakes when they forgot the layout.

"Just that alone makes it a solid engagement. I’m glad you still remember the training from a year ago."

"...It’s all thanks to you, teacher."

"Haha, even if you flatter me, nothing’s going to come out of it."

At that moment, Dice took a step forward.

She glanced over briefly and then asked Harmony.

"Minah."

"Yes?"

"How about joining the engagement as a substitute during Dice’s turn? Maybe just once or twice?"

"Wait, Eugene! You didn’t say that was part of the plan!!?"

"Isn’t it a bit much to only send three people against someone who made it to fourth place in the final championship last year? Since Harmony isn’t always going to participate, I thought it’d be fine... but if you don’t want to, we can reconsider."

Dice is freaked out, hahahahahaha
Harmony sneaking her in, hahahaha
That was so smooth, hahahaha
??? : You want me to fight Minah??????
Extreme balancing, hahahahaha
A few seconds of silence passed.

Then, Dice reluctantly spoke up.

"...I’ll give it a try."

And only then did I nod in satisfaction.

Of course.

About 20 minutes later, while everyone was recovering their stamina, the structure of the building changed.

The holographic projector was turned on, and the updated blueprint floated in the air.

"I’ll give you about 15 minutes. Feel free to memorize it and discuss it."

Dice, arms crossed, stared intently at the blueprint, while the other four gathered slowly.

It was a familiar pre-briefing scene.

The bowstring was drawn, and the arrow aimed at the target. Who would win wasn’t something I needed to worry about. What was certain was that everyone here would walk away with a wealth of knowledge and experience from today’s mock battle, and that was all I needed to focus on.

And so, time passed quickly...

"Whoo, haa...!"

"You really smashed those four to bits."

"I feel like I’m going to die…"

And after several minutes passed, the scoreboard flashed with various results.

Dice had killed Hotteok’s group and Harmony in succession, but Harmony managed to defeat Dice in the fourth encounter.

It seemed that the seeds I had sown had returned in the form of an extraordinary harvest.

"...Was there such a gun?"

"This should’ve been tested on the second day at the shooting range, but since we brought so many guns, we couldn’t really shoot it properly. Today, finally, we have the chance."

Clank.

A massive sniper rifle, over 2 meters in length, with a silencer attached, was now in my hands. It was placed on the soft case that had come from the outdoor shooting range earlier. Glancing sideways, I could see a few other rifles and sniper rifles arranged at even intervals.

It was seriously huge, and considering the dust that might get kicked up, I wasn’t sure whether it would be able to handle it. This big-caliber sniper rifle was easily the largest, even bigger than the Barrett, and was placed at the far left.

So, what exactly was this gun? It was a Snipex Alligator, a big-caliber sniper rifle. The caliber was 14.5x114mm. Of course, if you had a massive caliber machine gun like the KPV that fires 10 rounds per second, it would only make sense that there’s a sniper rifle to match.

But by the time I explained all of that, everyone’s reactions were somewhat awkward.

"...Right?"

"So, you brought the M2 machine gun, the Barrett, and the AX50 as well?"

"That’s all part of the grand plan."

"I don’t think so… Eugene, this is really a brilliant choice. I’ve always wanted to shoot something with 14.5mm rounds. Don’t you all agree?"

Hahahahaha
Hotteok is quickly shifting gears, hahahaha
?? : You don’t agree with me? You have to agree!
Eugene Doctrine, hahahahaha
You’re going to express negative opinions to someone holding a gun? Hahahaha
As expected.

The moment I loaded a round into the chamber of the Snipex Alligator, everyone quickly began praising my choice.

Lorentina, watching the scene, chuckled softly. I slumped down into the seat and took the sitting position, preparing to fire. If there had been a tree behind me, I could’ve leaned on it, but sadly, there wasn’t.

The massive anti-flare barrel of the sniper rifle was now ready. On the rail, there was a large scope longer than a person’s head, and beyond the crosshairs of the scope was a target positioned 100 meters away for zeroing.

Since this was just a test shot, I took whatever posture I felt like.

And the moment I pulled the trigger, a tremendous recoil slammed into my shoulder.

KWAANG!

Dust erupted from the ground, and a massive fireball burst forth.

If Harmony or Dice had fired like that, they probably would’ve gotten bruises on their shoulders or something. They would’ve definitely been pushed back, like taking a shoulder bump.

At any rate, the shot fired without any issues. With that, the sniper rifle’s test shots were essentially over.

Of course, someone might ask about the NTW-20, but that was—

"...Ugh."

????????????????????
Wow... wow... this is insane...
Who even shoots with a 20mm sniper rifle, hahahaha
Truly... just awe-inspiring...
I didn’t do anything wrong, but I apologize... please stop the power demonstrations... I won’t challenge you...
KWAANG!

Before I could explain, Lorentina lifted the South African "big lady" sniper rifle, which weighed over dozens of kilograms, and mounted it on her shoulder. It looked almost like she was holding a small cannon. The moment she pulled the trigger, an even grander explosion sounded, shaking Hawaii.

Anyway, as you can see, Lorentina was also helping with the test shots today.

With a fierce smile on her lips, the Shark pulled the loading handle and ejected the massive brass shell casing, firing off the remaining two rounds. Meanwhile, I put the sniper rifle down and approached Hotteok, who was staring at it, still stunned.

"Want to give it a try?"

"...Can I?"

"You don’t have to use the sniper rifle."

With his eyes full of desire, it was impossible to ignore.

And I had already noticed exactly where his gaze was going.

"Mini-gun."

"Mini-gun?"

"Give it a try. With your physical ability, Hotteok, I think you can handle it comfortably."

"Ah."

From Hotteok to Hominator, hahahaha
Fact: Even Terminators slowed down their firing rate, hahahaha
In Hawaii’s reserve training, there’s a curriculum for shooting mini-guns, www
Hotteok’s expression, hahahaha
Just as expected.

Hotteok had been looking around intently, pacing by the rows of machine guns. Since he’d eventually shoot them all anyway, telling him to wait a little longer was probably not as fun.

So, I called him over.

The mini-gun, mounted on the tripod, was right in front of his eyes.

"Does it feel like you’re finally becoming the U.S. military from the movies?"

"Ah, haha..."

"I’ll detach it from the tripod, so please wait a moment."

It didn’t take long.

After loosening a few clamps, I lifted the mini-gun, and Hotteok moved the tripod aside. Since I had used it with Lorentina earlier, the handheld parts were still attached to the top of the mini-gun.

After that, it was simple. Attach the handle to the back of the mini-gun and just give the instructions on where to hold it.

I pointed to the multiple green lights on the side of the mini-gun and added:

"Power and ammo systems, all green. Handheld fire switch is good. Shooting angle is straight ahead. Don’t fire for more than 7 seconds... Are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Good."

I moved to the rear of Hotteok, who was now holding the mini-gun.

He took a big breath, and the others, eager to get a better look, started creeping toward my direction.

The stage was set, and the audience had gathered.

I spoke into the intercom.

"Shooting."

And the flames erupted from just a few meters ahead.

At first, the rounds shot erratically into the sky, but within a second, they stabilized, aiming straight ahead. Using his forearm and arm strength, Hotteok pushed the muzzle down, preventing it from rising into the air.

Countless shell casings fell to the right, smoke billowed, and the muzzle emitted flames like a flamethrower.

Five unforgettable seconds passed, and then Hotteok removed his finger from the trigger.

I moved toward him, then added:

"Impressive, right?"

The response came a bit slowly.

"Impressive."

"Of course."

At those words, both Lorentina and I couldn’t help but chuckle.

And thus, the third manifested shooter, who could control the recoil of a 7.62mm mini-gun with strength, was born.