I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 576



Chapter 576

"Today, you look quite... tired, Eugene."

"...I didn’t sleep well. But after a little nap just now, I feel much better. They said we’ll arrive in about one or two hours, so I should probably be thankful for that."

The grogginess in my mind slowly faded, and the scenery around me began to come into focus.

I moistened my dry lips with a drink and slowly started to sit up, greeted by the small airplane window. We were flying into Greater Rochester Airport in northern New York, crossing a distance of around 10,000 kilometers non-stop.

Thanks to this, the land visible through the small window wasn’t in the United States, but rather belonged to Canada. By now, we were probably passing over the Ontario area. When I was lost in sleep earlier, we might have been crossing over the Arctic Ocean or the Bering Sea.

It was certainly a place known for its rough climate, but when I checked the aircraft through the Icarus Gear before boarding, I saw that it was made very... sturdily. Naturally, by my standards, "sturdy" meant capable of withstanding the aftershocks of a nuclear explosion.

As the sweetness of the drink lingered on my tongue, I slowly started to wake up.

I fully sat up and leaned back in my seat, and the events from a dozen hours ago gradually began to surface. In the end, I had been caught by the Mecha Monnani and ended up staying up all night, but after safely returning, I took a shower and headed for Incheon Airport.

This time, the aircraft Icarus sent was a modified Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with its fuel system completely removed and replaced with a nuclear fusion generator. Of course, very few people knew about this.

Anyway, aside from that, while I was quite tired, unlike me, the five participants of the Final Championship, including Mina and Yerin, as well as the schedule manager, coordinators, and about thirty other necessary personnel, seemed to enjoy their time before departure.

Since we weren’t returning, I remember that the others, except for me who had been napping on the couch, managed to grab something at the airport even if it was for a short while.

"...Well, the stuff sold at duty-free shops is all more or less the same."

Alcohol, perfume, jewelry, watches, cosmetics, all that sort of thing.

Of course, Diez had recently moved next door to my house, so his finances were somewhat strained. Because of that, he had a pretty gloomy look on his face, complaining about how expensive everything was. Still, I was relieved that I remembered most of it.

Anyway, once everyone was reasonably satisfied, we took off, and when the plane stabilized at cruising altitude, I had a quick meal and then promptly passed out again. I woke up during meal time, ate appropriately, and then lay back down and slept.

After going through the cycle of eating and sleeping a few times, we had about an hour left before we arrived.

"Damn, more money’s going to fly out of my wallet."

"...What did you do this time?"

"I made a bet on how many bowls of ramen Eugene would eat during the flight. I bet somewhere between 10 and 20, but... I don’t know if I should feel disappointed or what..."

"Diez, if I was sitting in a separate first-class cabin instead of a shared seat, I would have pinched your cheek by now."

"Yikes."

...People bet on things like that.

Anyway, hearing about the ramen made me realize that I regretted not eating it, but now it seemed pointless to do so. I shook my head, trying to shake off the regret, and checked how much time was left before landing. About an hour.

It was the perfect amount of time to get my tasks in order.

I was grateful for that, as this year, I didn’t have to participate in any AP events unless there was some special match. I didn’t even attend the Asian qualifiers to begin with. I wasn’t even participating as a coach. Of course, I planned to give some general combat tips.

To sum up, it meant I’d be spending three weeks without doing anything like interviews or the usual annoying tasks, and that was a relief.

Knowing that, I added a comment.

"I’m glad there won’t be any little annoyances like interviews this year, like last time. Well, others will have to do them, but... some of the people here have been through this already, so they’re probably pretty used to it by now."

"Looks like you're on vacation, Eugene."

"Considering how hard the last month has been, I definitely need some rest."

"Though it seems like you have a lot of schedules for a vacation..."

"Ugh."

I couldn’t deny it, and it was frustrating.

Fortunately, this time, unlike what I expected, Henry was coming over, so it seemed unlikely that I would be running around too much. If something does come up, well, I don’t really know what that would be. At least, if I could handle the main schedule, the rest didn’t seem like much of a big deal.

Anyway, as I was thinking that, the plane started descending, and the cloudy sky came into view. I could even see snow in some areas. It looked like a huge painting, really. Each time I saw the ground covered in white, I felt strangely sentimental.

I wondered when I would stop thinking like this while looking at snow, but... I don’t know. Just thinking about it only confirmed that I would never forget this memory.

After putting those thoughts behind me, I checked my position. Looking out the right window, I could see the Georgian Bay, so it seemed we were about to enter the United States soon.

Though I couldn’t enjoy the journey as much as last year due to certain circumstances, according to the information Icarus had sent beforehand, the area near the stadium had been set up like a mini Las Vegas, so it didn’t seem like it would be a boring time.

The Third Final Championship, which took place last year, felt like it was just yesterday. I wondered when they had started building the stadium and surrounding buildings. Thinking about it like this, I really felt that the overall technological development in this world had progressed a lot compared to the world I originally came from.

Anyway, maybe it was a bit of a complaint, but I thought it was about time to stop overthinking.

"…I thought there’d be fewer people in this remote part of New York, but there are way more than I expected."

"Well, in the U.S., they want to start promoting Dark Zone matches worldwide. The goal is for them to become as recognizable as the Super Bowl offline."

"Ah, I see. Well, they’d better pull it off. It seems like in less than five years, they might achieve that."

In the outskirts of Rochester, a small town in New York State, which usually only saw cars, wildlife, and farming tractors, the area was buzzing with noise. It was almost like a small part of Las Vegas had been transplanted here, with dozens of high-rise buildings going up, more than half of them with the Icarus logo on them.

Only a year had passed. But in this world, where construction technology had dramatically improved, it had only taken this short time to successfully recreate part of Nevada's gambling and pleasure city.

The crowds were a result of a massive construction project costing billions of dollars. Some people watching this were worried it might just be a seasonal business, but Icarus didn’t seem to care about that one bit.

The reason was simple.

"You said all Dark Zone matches will be held here, right?"

"Team Six in March, Survival in June, Fallen in September, and Apex Predator in December. Even though the other matches have slightly less recognition than AP, one of those four will never have fewer than 100 million average viewers... It’s basically an announcement that they’re turning this place into a tourist city."

"As you said earlier, it’s going to grow significantly in a few years. By that time, different states might be competing for hosting rights for next year, or the year after, or maybe even in three or four years..."

"Could be."

Next year, the year after, and beyond.

Of course, there was a reason I was thinking like this. While it was true that the place was crowded, there were still parts of the facilities that weren’t fully developed, and some quieter spots with fewer people around.

But in this world, famous places became even more famous, and if they weren’t popular, they’d make sure to go viral until they were. In that regard, Icarus International... had far more confidence in advertising than any IT company in the world.

It was simple. Just... advertise Dark Zone, Terra, and Glory & Honor, and everyone would click on it out of curiosity. The combined average concurrent viewers for those three games would exceed 100 million, and even if only one in a thousand checked it out, that’s still 100,000 people.

I wondered how many people would show up next year. Just then, the conversation continued.

"Well, it looked like an already popular game, but the real momentum probably started when you participated as part of the Korean national team."

"...What are you talking about all of a sudden?"

"Don’t be coy. You and I both know that the viewer count exploded to more than double what it was last year when we participated, right?"

"How do you know that, Logan...?!"

"I told you not to call me ‘sister’!"

Ack.

Her grip around my neck was impeccable. Still, I was secretly hoping for a bit of femininity from Logan. Of course, I didn’t say it out loud. If I had, I was pretty sure this ferocious polar bear would have pulverized me.

Anyway, after being mercilessly beaten by Logan, I finally collapsed onto the bed. Meanwhile, my acquaintances were reading the pamphlets they had been given beforehand, thinking about how to make the most of their time here, and I suggested a few things to entertain them.

"By the way, last time... during the Sniper Competition, I remember Diez making some pretty bold statements to all of you. You should get him back for that."

"Come to think of it, that’s right. He’ll be thrilled and freak out if we tell him that."

"Take it easy on him. He’s a softie in real life."

"I’ll just tease him a bit and stop. Don’t worry."

Will it really end just like that?

Well, in the end, it was Diez’s fault... so, whatever. It’ll be fine.

Anyway, aside from that, I had a request related to an email I had checked before coming here. I’m sure everyone has a rough idea of what it was about, but it was related to a military survival program that had come up recently.

Naturally, for these three, who only seemed to have two interests—professionalism and thrill-seeking—it was like handing a shiny new toy to kids, and they were pretty excited about it.

And with that, the conversation continued.

"We should put the cost aside for now and first discuss what kind of missions we want. If it’s a TV program, the intensity or complexity set by the operators wouldn’t make sense as a standard."

"Well, it doesn’t matter. After all, only the reserves will be out there. If we require the same standards as active-duty operators... I’m sure they’d all be out of the game by episode one."

"Heh, I get the gist. Then let’s go easy on them. We’ll definitely need live ammo or at least simulated rounds to make it meaningful, so that should be fine, right?"

"Uh..."

I’d have to double-check the contract request form to be sure.

Anyway, after responding with that tone, Shark let out a small laugh. It wasn’t exactly a friendly laugh.

"If that’s impossible... there’s no point in investing time in something like that."

"I agree. I’ll check properly later, but I don’t think there’ll be any issues."

"If that’s the case, let me know later. My job is to come up with these silly missions after lunch. If we focus from the start, it might take less time than you think."

I nodded at that, glancing outside and seeing the light snow falling.

It seemed like it was time to meet Diez, so I was about to speak, but Olivia suddenly opened a thick pamphlet and showed me a corner of the page.

The content was about enjoying the first-ever hologram humanoid remote tours, first launched in Disney World, now available in Rochester. In short... you could enjoy cosplay with humanoids.

It was clear what this meant.

"...No way."

"Yeah, that’s exactly what it sounds like."

At the same time, Olivia smirked and added.

"Let’s call those guys back. We’ve got plenty of time."

There was no answer, but that in itself was the answer.

It was time to call the Mecha Monnani.

"Ugh, I can’t believe it..."

"Yeah, I think you’re right, I’m really not into this sort of thing."

At that moment, Olivia smirked again and added:

"Well, we have plenty of time. Let's bring them back."

There was no immediate response, but that in itself was an answer. It was time to call the Mecha Monnani.

"Yujin, we're here! It feels like we've been here for ages, but it looks like we're the only ones who haven't been out and about... Huh?"

"Huh? What? Eh!? What’s going on?"

"...Well, it seems like the unavoidable moment has arrived. They’re holograms, so don’t touch them, okay?"

The Mecha Bi-am trio and the Awakened Quartet.

A truly luxurious line-up, and Harmony and Diez were both half-dazed by it all.

Just another normal day.


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