I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 580

"...I have chills for some reason..."

"It might be because Ouroboros is plotting something sinister against Kato-san." 
"I'll tell Eugene-san."
"No, hey. Wait a minute. Just look at me once." 
The cloudless blue sky seen outside the bus window. 
The four people riding in the large black bus with the Icarus logo on it, Kato and his group, are looking at their surroundings passing by quickly and chatting about this and that. The distance between them had clearly narrowed compared to a day ago, and it was noticeable even in the conversations they had exchanged. 

... "Then why didn't you tackle me back then?" 

"Because I didn't know you guys were making stuff like that back then!" 
Of course, the question 'Icarus can make stuff like this?' was naturally destroyed by the reason that Kim Stone mentioned himself. Since they already had a track record, why couldn't they make it? 
And there was another reason. 
"In the first place, that kind of thing is made into a draft by randomly selecting from the suggestions from 1st to 10th place based on the results of a regularly held survey. However, in the case of Nana Limit, the branch office hosted the survey, but in the case of Kato-san, the head office directly handled the survey." 
"So the dakimakura was chosen?"
"Oh, please. Hyun-ah, do acupressure massage? Did you get the advertisement? Treat your PT to a full course of Thai massage?" 

"I'm sorry, I was wrong." 

It was truly horrible to her, but Hotteok was an elite athlete who had piled up all the qualifications that a trainer should have, including a physical therapist license. After all, after she met Hotteok, her posture had been corrected and her body was getting better. 

It was incredibly scary that he was using that process as a threat, not a threat. 

Anyway, Kim Stone-Kim Hyun-ah nodded as if to say, 'There was a reason for that,' and continued.

“…I guess it’s okay since I chose it myself. Anyway, is Kato-san satisfied with that? Even if the limit is like that, Hotteok-chan…is he pretty proud of his avatar, so maybe that’s why he likes to become famous. I wonder if Kato-san has something like that.”

“…Well. It’s true that I worked hard to customize my avatar before starting the game, but I didn’t know it would get this big. Right now, I’m just at a loss. I don’t know what to do in the future. What do other people do?”
“Ugh, I guess I should tell you again. I’ve been watching all kinds of virtual internet broadcasters in case something like this happens again.” 
“…Leave out the part about ‘just in case’. I’ve just been watching them all the time.”
... Of course, losing their sense of humor was a completely separate issue, so they chuckled as soon as they heard Hotteok's serious nonsense. Nevertheless, it didn't seem like it was completely useless, so instead of tackling him further, they waited for him to add more. 
At the same time, the words continued. 
"Well, actually, it's nothing special. In the first place, there are a lot of friends who watch that who are good at immersing themselves in characters and settings... I guess the small talk was a bit long. Are you interested in idols, Kato?" 
"It's something that used to be popular... You talk like a producer who raises idols."
"Actually, since you asked a question with a similar feel, let's say it's roughly right. After all, virtual streamers aim for that. They just dance and sing... Except that it's not real, but in a virtual reality, it's not much different from idols or girl groups. They even sell glow sticks for cheering." 

"She's a real idol... But I don't think she'll sing and dance on stage."
"I did limit it, though." 
"I broke the 0.01% and got caught in the penalty roulette, so I had no choice but to do it!" 
Everyone couldn't help but giggle while watching Limit screaming, while Kato, who had a hard time stopping his laughter, thought about... his avatar singing and dancing on stage. 
They're not just lending out avatars. Even though it's VR, they actually practice singing and dancing and go on stage? No matter how much I think about it, it was crazy. Even though it was a punishment, I respect Limit for actually doing it. 

... Everyone looked like they had been slapped on the back and avoided HyunA’s gaze, and a brief silence lingered in the bus before suddenly changing the subject. They were currently at the Rainbow International Bridge, which meant that they could see Niagara Falls from the bridge. 
Of course, it was a great topic changer. 
“Wow, hey! Look at that! It’s Niagara Falls!”
“Where, where!?”
“Wow… This is why you come abroad. If I had known this would happen, I should have followed you to Hawaii…!” 
“You’re really good at talking nonsense….”
... A huge white spray of water that was overwhelmingly larger than the buildings nearby, and a huge waterfall falling like a curtain. He unconsciously moved his fingers diagonally to zoom in on the bus window. 

However, this was 2036, and zooming in wasn't impossible. The angle was so sharp that the huge horseshoe-shaped waterfall couldn't be seen at a glance, but just that was enough for the four of them to realize that they were overseas. 
And just like that, they had crossed the border from Canada to the United States. 
"Maybe we can come here once during this Final Championship?" 
"Maybe so. If everyone else is busy or something, let's just sneak a peek." 
"Mr. Kato, you're not saying anything. We should go together. You're not saying you won't go, are you?"
"Of course we should go. It's such an honor." 

If it's that short, then the short tour is over, and they have completely entered the US territory, New York State. 
And after a while, the cell phones of the four people on the bus all rang. Not calls, but messages. The screens of the cell phones lit up with a response that seemed to show a question mark floating above each person's head, and a few seconds later, they all looked at the contents of the messages. 
Bags and eco-bags, butterfly-shaped brooches and accessories, and many more. 
Before everyone could understand what the motif was, additional text messages were sent all at once. 
The sender was Eugene. 
-[Eugene: I happened to see these at the store. I bought one or two of them. Congratulations, Kato XD]

"…Should I like this or not…." 
"So now you're an official Dark Zone idol. Congratulations." 
"What kind of congratulations is that!?" 
But acting like a jerk wouldn't make a difference. 
Kato suddenly felt like the bus he was on was a hellgate to hell.
It was winter. 
"Mr. Eugene, you seem to be in a good mood…." 
"Aren't you excited about your hobby? Mr. Eugene, you like shooting guns." 
"No, it's more like… No. There must be something else." 
... While Eugene, wearing a headset over his earplugs and bulletproof goggles, lifted one of the TTI custom guns made for competitions, the others, except for Harmony and Dice, leisurely took a sip of their coffee. 
Well, it was normal for Biyam to do weird things. 
"Whoa, it's fun to shoot after a long time. I feel so refreshed. It's also pretty funny that a shark and a polar bear can't legally come into your commercial shoot and cause trouble." 

That's what I enjoy."

- Olivia Nuna enjoying other people's misfortunes ?????
- So this is an advertisement???
- Well, if you think about it, it's an advertisement ????????????????????
- Looking at the sudden surge in viewers, it seems like it's an advertisement?
- Wow, we suddenly have 4.5 million viewers ????????????????
- The foreigner chat window is on fire ??
The sharp smell of gunpowder that stimulated my nose for the first time in a while filled the shooting range.
The drone cam flying around in the air captured all the scenes happening at the shooting range while moving gracefully in the air far away from the trajectories of the bullets fired by me or Olivia, and we just continued shooting without thinking much about it.
Continuously refilling several magazines They exchange shots and continue shooting one after another, or they run around a CQB practice range that they built arbitrarily and shoot pistols, carbines, SMGs, assault rifles, machine guns, and other weapons provided by the firearms manufacturer that arranged this place today. 

After each shot, they check the chat window that is being managed separately. There were about a dozen people there who were checking today's advertisement that was being streamed in real time.
Who were they? They were high-ranking employees of the marketing department of the company involved in this advertisement. 
'I guess I can meet them directly like this because I didn't go through an advertising agency as an intermediary... .'
Since I've already explained it, let me briefly explain what they do.

To put it simply, they contact the headquarters to respond to unexpected situations, go through intermediate coordination, and give feedback and requests like 'This is a good way to shoot this time' for more certain promotion. 

However, their work was being added in real time,

"Can I try this too, Eugene?

"Please wait outside for now. I'll let you know later."

- My back! ! ! !

- You were leisurely drinking coffee just a few minutes ago ???????????????????????????

- Does it seem fun now? You wanted to shoot it once, right? You got caught right away, right?

-If it weren't for streaming ads, it would've never happened ???

-Well, if you look at the topic, it definitely seems like it would get promoted ????

This is because situations like this often happen. 
It seemed like it would happen when Olivia sneaked in at first, but it ended up like this. Fortunately, our Mecca Byamz had firmly stated that they couldn't participate today, so there was a high chance that things wouldn't get any worse than this. 
Anyway, I glanced at the drone cam, sat down on my chair, and waited. It was quite a sight to see about seven or so executives each adding that they would contact the headquarters. 
Up until Olivia, the casting was pretty smooth. Unlike when we first met, this guy is now... They were big-time SNS influencers with about 12 million followers, and just participating here would have been enough to generate enough buzz, and above all, they had been able to afford the hiring costs until then. 

Of course, the reason I say this is… If Harmony and Dice come in, the landscape would be messed up. 
However, unlike thoroughgoing entrepreneurs, those two… were much closer to just wanting to try something because I was doing something fun. 
And so the words continued. 
“I don’t mind receiving a little less in advertising fees. Just take care of Dice.” 
“Ugh… I’m kind of broke these days, so if they say it’s hard to pay, there’s nothing I can do.”
"...Ugh. Come in later, I'll give you some for helping me out. Just check the electronic contract, check the deposit, and send it to SSM's legal team." 

"Wouldn't that be better?" 
-What is this ?????????????????????
-It'll definitely do some advertising ????
-Living Point)Harmony's Yourspace channel currently has 7.81 million subscribers
-If Dice is roughly as famous as Harmony or more, then it's no joke ????
-I can hear the advertisers getting flustered ??
That's true too. 
Maybe something like this... So, while live streaming an advertisement is not that uncommon, advertising a firearm in this way is at least the first time here, so there must be more than a few people who are confused about how to calculate the cost.

Of course, that wasn’t something I had to worry about, and my interest was a bit more… focused on something else. 
I got up with a groan and did a full stretch at the same time. I checked my body as much as possible to make it as flexible as possible, and if there were any sore spots, if my body was in perfect condition, and headed to the place I had been guided to in advance. 
Olivia, who had already guessed what was going to happen, and Harmony and Dice, who had followed me because of the ominous atmosphere. 
And just as she said, the biggest… climax of today’s advertisement was just around the corner. 
I raised my hand and gently took off the air-no, the optical camouflage cloth. A Gatling gun about 1.5m long with four barrels tied together, and a full-body bulletproof vest that can be worn all over the body as weights. 

Harmony's face hardened as she checked the size of the bullet belt. 
"Yu, Teacher Eugene. This is no way..."
"The GAU-19, D-type improved version that can spit out 2500 .50 caliber bullets per minute. I heard about it before, but I didn't know you'd really bring something like this." 
"...Umm." 
-???????????What are you saying??????????
-NTW-20 wasn't enough, lol
-Heavy armored soldier When you tease him with "heavy armored soldier," you're actually turning him into a heavy infantryman, lol
-Wow, look at the visuals lol????????????????
-Is this some kind of futuristic infantry combat system?????
Clank, clank! 
Full-body armor, or weights, that adjust little by little as you put it on. However, unfortunately, there was no power pack or anything. In fact, the reason this was prepared was to prevent it from flying away from the recoil... Anyway, as I thought that, I lifted the heavy machine gun. 
It's heavier than the M134 I held and shot in Hawaii last time. I put on the tactical gloves I had prepared in advance and grabbed the special handle with both hands, leaving behind the heaviness that was difficult to compare to the Browning heavy machine gun. The weight of the bulletproof plates covering my hands and arms was heavy.
After checking that Dice, Harmony, and Olivia were retreating behind him for the last time, he pulled the trigger with his index finger. 

... I suddenly had a thought that it would have to be at least a .50 caliber minigun to have a recoil that even an EM-class manifester would have difficulty handling. It felt like taming a wild horse that wouldn't listen. 

... This broke another barrier for me. 
I was satisfied.