I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 587

"After a year, I’m back in this damned town."

Around a hundred people fall out of the transport plane crossing the harbor city of Tanhoyzer.

Against the blue sky, various colorful parachutes are scattered like cookies. Logan and the youngest, who had spent time together, learned that in this game, even the parachutes' designs, logos, and other details could be customized. The result was what you see before you.

She hadn’t entirely avoided doing similar things back in New York, though. To keep from blending in with the crowd, she had once lightly lacquered her parachute exterior. But these various shapes and colors... even though she’d seen something similar last year, it still felt hard to adjust.

The ground drew nearer, and Logan, upon landing, did a quick roll and surveyed the area. It was a game, so there was no risk of breaking an ankle from a bad landing, and as soon as he touched the ground, the parachute dissolved into the air.

What happened next was simple.

"Eh? Eh!? Eeeeeek!"
"Where do you think you’re running off to, you little bastard!"

The engine of the runaway train was ignited once again.

The map of the harbor city of Tanhoyzer wasn’t particularly large—at least, for the event match it wasn’t—but instead, it had a rather complicated structure. That meant it was possible to be shot out to the lobby right at the start if you weren’t careful, but sadly, for others, Logan was the one executing that task.

As a result, players who landed near Logan desperately resisted—though, surprisingly, she wasn’t able to easily overpower them and ended up in a deadlock. The reason for this was simple: for the event match, all players’ physical abilities had been enhanced, except for the Manifestation Users and Mecha Eugene.

Moreover, with the arrival of all kinds of futuristic weapons that could never appear in the AP, it wasn’t surprising that Logan couldn’t gain the upper hand so easily.

Of course,

???Kiiing!

"Ugh...!"
"...Phew, barely dodged that. I shouldn’t be carrying such dangerous things around."

Logan barely avoided the plasma gun that melted all obstacles in her crosshairs as it was fired—she didn’t dodge it by sight, but by evading based on the crosshair. At that moment, she landed a solid hit to the opponent’s abdomen, who wasn’t wearing any armor.

What followed was a scene that might be seen when a jackhammer is used on a human’s body. In an instant, the person’s back lifted sharply and then returned to its original position.

The outcome, expected from the massive amount of kinetic energy that hit the body—much like a high-speed car crash—was clear: the opponent turned into a polygon before being shot out to the lobby, and Logan casually examined the plasma rifle that had fallen to the floor.

Her mind began calculating.

‘With this much power, if the battery size is only this big... I’m sure it would be fun just to explode the battery itself.’

As memories of helping Eugene create explosive traps out of various things flooded back, Logan grinned and slipped it into her multipurpose pouch.

It seemed similar to last year, but just the addition of something new had changed the situation. The Omega virus situation, being directly adapted from the game, wasn’t something she liked, but they sure knew how to make a good game.

With that thought, Logan checked the battery more closely.

A translucent plasma battery. Blue energy waves rippled inside it, and its surface was cold—though Logan didn’t care much, and instead, she took out duct tape.

"This is pretty fun..."

With a hissing sound, the duct tape was torn, and Logan wrapped the plasma battery and grenade together with it. Of course, she made sure to position the grenade’s round body at the front when putting it in her pouch, to avoid triggering the battery in case it got shot.

Although, if she was unlucky enough to fall over, it could very well explode, but if she died that way, maybe it was just her fate. With that thought, Logan stuffed the plasma battery into her pouch.

The surroundings began to grow noisy. As I mentioned before, the map was relatively small, so there was more frequent combat, and Logan, with her sharp instincts, sensed enemies approaching near her position.

Logan threw a plasma battery about the size of a coin into the air and caught it a few times before, at some point, she threw it quickly, and as it reached the area near the corridor leading to Logan’s storage room, she drew her pistol.

With a loud noise, the bullet shot out from the muzzle and pierced the plasma battery dead-on.

???Fwooosh!

"Argh—!"

"Performance is ridiculous."

When the blue flame-like explosion erupted into the air, everything it touched turned red, or began to melt and drip away. Among those caught in the plasma explosion, someone took considerable damage.

By that time, Logan had already raised a shotgun that had been rolling on the ground nearby, and at that moment, 12 iron pellets cut through the air and ruthlessly shredded the last remaining shields.

What Harmony and Dice could only achieve with all their power was replicated by Logan with just a few simple actions. By then, Logan’s kill count reached 2.

As Logan glanced at the opponent, who had now turned into a bundle of items rolling on the floor, she quickly checked her surroundings. Confirming that no one was approaching, she muttered to herself.

"It seems like now, persuasion might be more necessary than killing..."

To say this as the person who had preemptively attacked both was rather absurd, and viewers watching Logan laughed out loud, wondering what she was talking about, but Logan was more serious than anyone else nearby.

Of course, there was a reason for her sudden change of heart. The futuristic weapons she had been warned about beforehand had been appearing far more frequently than expected.

Simply saying it was to counter her or Eugene... felt off, and her gaze was fixed on something farther away. In other words, the reason so many futuristic weapons were appearing wasn’t just to catch Manifestation Users easily—it was...

"…Because the Mecha Youngsters are coming on strong."

Just a moment ago, the kill logs were soaring, but they stopped at some point, still steadily rising. And, despite that, Logan or Eugene’s names were hardly seen.

Jin, Rain, and Mav.

When looking at the entire map, three huge circles appeared—intersecting each other—sometimes a blue beam shot up into the sky, or even lasers. Probably, the former represented their activity zones.

Without a doubt, what was strengthening the Mecha Youngsters weren’t the catalog specs or anything; it was the vicious weapons attached to their tails. Just by having those, you could easily tell whether they were humanoids with high specs that mimicked humans, or if they were fully armored humanoid machines that could easily crush even a 4th-gen tank equipped with a chemical weapon.

And for her, this was truly bad news...

'…The combat noise is gradually disappearing from around me.'

She didn’t have a good feeling.

It wasn’t just a feeling—it was based on the combat frequency, map activity patterns, and a multitude of factors that made her feel uneasy.

And from years of combat experience, this wasn’t just an unfounded fear—

???Boom!

"I found you."

"…Ha."

This was the prelude to that kind of situation.

Someone, glowing blue all over, pierced the ceiling of the storage room where she had been wasting time, and the floor she was standing on shattered instantly from the weight.

The roar from outside and the figure falling from the sky—considering that, the Mecha Eugene... or rather, Rain, had flown through the air from the recoil generated by shooting the railgun on the ground, landing accurately, and then piercing through the ceiling.

Logan let out a chuckle and exhaled sharply. The fact that it wasn’t Jin or Mav gave her a slight advantage, but once the distance closed, even they couldn’t afford to let their guard down.

An EM-class Manifestation User was just that kind of existence.

"Looks like you’ve had some fun, but now it’s my turn?"

"I was planning to find the owner first, but I think Logan's fine too."

"...Sigh. How long do I have to keep hearing that damn ‘sister’ nonsense?"

Logan scratched her head, annoyed, and added.

"I’ll have to have a serious talk with the youngest when we get back."

"Don’t you think there’s something else you should do first?"

"Of course, there is."

At that moment, Logan shook off her hands, and the front of the gloves she was wearing suddenly began to glow.

The light gathered into lines, forming shallow spikes on the combat gloves—turning them into something resembling futuristic knuckles.

As the gloves adjusted perfectly to her hands, she reached into her pouch for the temporary plasma grenade and raised the AA-12 shotgun with explosive shells, adding.

"Shall we correct that nasty nickname the Mecha Youngster learned from the youngest?"

"It won’t be that easy, Logan."

"...We’ll see when we get back."

At that moment, a violent explosion lit up the storage room.

The fight of the non-humans had begun.

"Railgun, reinforced armor... This is absolutely insane."

"These kinds of things are the only way we’ll even have a chance, so please bear with it."

"Hah...!"

Boom!

With a horrifying sound, a massive rocket hammer swung, and everything caught in its trajectory was smashed into pieces, turning into thousands of fragments—while I nimbly dodged them. It felt strangely familiar, like a power suit I had seen somewhere before. Though, this one had a much more futuristic design.

The thick gloves, which would make bullets seem ineffective, were actually quite effective, and I threw my gun and magazines aside, retreating. The only thing that worked at close range were the grenades I set off, but the mighty hammer swinging around blocked most of my approaches.

Until just a moment ago, I had plasma rifles and railguns, but sadly, most of them had been rendered useless by the opponent’s attacks.

But escaping wasn’t easy either—

"Well, I didn’t expect that, as soon as I put on the reinforced armor, the alarms and exits would all get sealed off."

"…That’s quite convenient, isn’t it?"

"Hah, I didn’t set this up. I just happened to get some help—ugh!"

Boom!

The hammer swung with a violent roar, and I barely dodged its trajectory, turning my body in the brief moment to—dropkick.

Considering the tight timing, it was impossible for a dropkick, but within that short window, I chose the strongest attack I could land. As expected, it landed perfectly.

With the sound of something being crushed, the opponent—who was heavier than even Mecha Biyam—literally flew through the air. At least several meters. I quickly reeled my leg in and checked the damage, seeing the shattered upper body armor covered in debris.

Considering the impact of a truck crashing into me at speeds of over 100 kilometers an hour, it made sense. As I glanced at the fragments, I noticed a violet canister rolling among them.

"Whoa—!"

Crackling!

As the hammer slammed into the ground, I narrowly avoided the explosive field that shot out in a fan shape. As fragments were crushed, the opponent, who had barely gotten up, added.

"This is why you can’t be careless, Eugene."

"Well, it would’ve been better if I could reflect on the cost of carelessness in the lobby, but I failed."

"Haha, don’t worry. There won’t be any more of this from now on."

At that moment, a chilling metallic sound filled the air.

I immediately moved away from my position, and in that instant, the cover I had been using exploded, releasing a terrible heat. As I looked at the now empty front, I realized what was happening. Something that looked like a grenade was hanging under the cuff of the reinforced armor, just below the arm.

Was it a mix of steam napalm and oxidizer? If that was the case, the canister that had spilled onto the floor was likely the oxidizer. If I could just make use of it—

Kiiing!

"Wait, now it’s flying?"

"No, it’s a leap and then a slam—"

Boom!

With a force that shook the earth, the hammer came down. I barely dodged, but the recoil sent my body flying, and the impact alone left me reeling. Luckily, the violet canisters that had fallen near me were right in front of me.

As I carefully grabbed them without being noticed, I watched the opponent, who was slowly approaching, spewing intense heat. The spot where I had cracked the upper body armor—sighing, I threw the grenade pin aside and prepared.

The opponent flinched, just briefly, but that short hesitation was enough to throw the first grenade at the cracked upper armor and shatter it.

With a terrible noise, the chest armor melted completely, and the opponent immediately deployed the shield to protect itself, trying to recover.

But—

"…I suppose this is all I can do."

Clang!

As the oxidizer canister in my hand shattered, the remaining shield was overwhelmed by the violet liquid, dripping down the arm. As the shield slowly disintegrated with a horrible sound, I launched myself, pushing off the ground to accelerate.

Speed exceeding 20 meters per second. With no accident-acceleration function attached to the armor, the user lifting the hammer didn’t even have time to think before I was almost in front of them.

Crack!

The oxidizer mixed with my right arm pierced through the shattered chest armor, and as the automatic defense system kicked in, the opponent swung at me with a punch.

It was me who got knocked back, but the light in the user’s eyes, still embedded in the armor, gradually faded. Amidst the debris, the opponent slowly kneeled and, with a loud noise, collapsed to the ground.

How long had it been? Covered in wounds, struggling through broken concrete, the opponent finally managed to stand.

"...Is this AP, or another game altogether?"

I hoped the next enemy would be affected by bullets.

With that thought, I rose, rummaging through the wreckage of items the opponent had dropped, and began to recover. As my shield and health slowly regenerated, I shook the dust off my body, lifting the hammer-sized weapon the opponent had been carrying.

It was a bit heavy to swing, but it definitely had its functions… though it wouldn’t be as useful as a gun.

Just as I was about to throw the hammer—

Kiiing!

"What the hell…!"

Something moved so fast I could barely see it, sweeping through the entire storage room. My body instinctively dove down, narrowly avoiding it.

An unpleasant grinding noise filled the room as the concrete walls were sliced diagonally.

None of Jin, Rain, or Mav had something like that—

"…Ah."

Then—Boom!

A teal Mecha Biyam with cat ears, looking strangely familiar, approached me with a bright smile, one that Jin, Rain, or Mav could never show.

It didn’t take long for her mouth to open.

"I won’t miss this time, Eugene-sensei."

"...You won’t listen if I ask you to, will you?"

"You’re good at jokes, heehee."

And with that, the moment Harmony, who had finally evolved into Mecha Biyam, appeared before me.