I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 625

[General] Seriously, if you’re getting TS (gender-swapped) thoughts, upvote! Hahaha

<Image of Iris as a maid, hanging out with Byam>

<Image of Iris throwing a heart with her hand>

I want to... I want to become Byam and entertain Eugene...

[All Comments][By Date]

• "It’s not that I want to become TS, but I’ve caught a disease where I like someone who is TS, what do I do about that?"

  • "Try loving yourself from the mirror after you transform."
  • "Wow, that was really helpful!"
  • "What are you saying, LOL!"

• "I don’t really feel jealous, but watching the stream, I felt like I might go crazy, first time feeling that way, LOL."

• "Honestly, I’m not sure who to envy, LOL!"

• "But being able to legally flirt with Byam as a TS nun with white hair, that’s kind of enviable."

  • "Is that something we should envy? LOL!"
  • "Logically, you should be jealous of Eugene who’s getting all that attention, LOL."
  • "Wait… is this yuri??"
  • "Yuri nowadays is carnivorous, LOL."

• "But why is this actually real???"

• "Personal opinion) If Kato had turned out like that, it would have been more fun."

  • "Ah, LOL!"
  • "Fact) True."
  • "He should have been eaten like a dog after awkwardly acting out because he turned into Byam, LOL."
  • "Yikes."

• "Editor, is it true that he was a man before? Even Byam looks like they’re in distress while receiving attention, LOL."

  • "Some people like to see others be embarrassed while not caring about their own shame."
  • "But Iris looks embarrassed as hell, LOL."
  • "It’s because, when sober, she can't act like ‘become delicious!’ LOL."

• "Seriously, the hand heart image is legendary... Does that mean she practiced it when she was a man?????"

  • "Thinking about it like that makes it kind of gross... but not really."
  • "In the past, that kind of grossness was content, LOL."

• "From now on... TS is <biological evolution>..."

  • "Now that I think about it, it really does seem like it, LOL."

• "I don’t really feel anything now that she’s a woman, but thinking about it like she's a superior species, I feel weird, LOL."

  • "Alpha Byam, wow."
  • "Isn’t this like a martial arts novel plotline?"
  • "Getting the good fortune and then throwing a heart at your employer, wwww."
  • "With so many stories about fallen female demons, what’s the big deal about a heart emoji?"

• "So Iris, is she really a virgin in a spiritual fusion sense?"

  • "Surprisingly, yes."
  • "Fact) She has no knowledge about female anatomy, has never touched a woman’s body or loved a man, so according to the theory of spiritual fusion, she is a true virgin."
  • "I should have TS-ed you guys who are posting this crap to contribute to society’s development... But you’re already making money hand over fist, LOL."
  • "You’re just spitting nonsense, LOL."

• "Fact) These guys who are overflowing here would just get fat and sit in their rooms if they were TS-ed."

  • "Why are you suddenly hitting me, LOL?"
  • "Even if you make them a woman and give them a mic, they won’t be able to say anything, they’d just cry, wwww."
  • "True, LOL."

"Always a thought I have, but it seems I was right about judging a person in the past. How did our little one, who used to cry at night, grow up like this? Is this how it feels when a son or daughter grows up?"

"...I didn’t cry that much, you know?!"

"Of course, of course. After sharing a room with me, you didn’t cry much."

"Ugh..."

Seoul, Samsung-dong, Icarus Residence Korea. 77th floor lounge bar.

We’re having a blast inside a personal bar where even top-tier members with yearly subscriptions can’t easily get in. It’s almost like this person is digging into my past at will.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the bartenders and chefs here were all replaced by machines, unlike the usual lounge bars. I guess people who like shaking up cocktails and fire shows would prefer the other side.

In other words, even if we talk loudly, no one can hear us.

The small talk continues...

"So, what’s it like for the families of the seniors in this world? Their past must have been altered here and there..."

"Not really anything special. Aside from the fact that all my personal info and photos are now of me as a woman, nothing else has changed. Thanks to that, the list of acquaintances I know is pretty much the same."

"Acquaintances... like that football thing?"

"Ha, you still remember that. That’s right. I occasionally stay in touch with the guys I used to play football with back in high school and college."

"That’s probably because you became close with them by paying their hospital bills."

"Hahaha!"

Of course, it couldn’t be helped.

Lorentina laughed heartily. There was some nostalgia in her eyes, but... well, due to the retroactive application of the otherworldly changes, the past I didn’t experience had become a different case for me.

"I feel kind of bad for those friends now. Imagine a 220kg person running at 70km/h and just plowing through them."

"...Wouldn’t that kill someone? Even the bigger guys are only around 120kg, maybe 150kg at most."

"I was too excited back then. We settled on paying for four months’ worth of hospital bills, plus some extra for them. Of course, that’s based on the crazy American medical costs. Thankfully, I had earned a lot by then."

"Wow."

Well, she was a manifestor, after all.

As we continued chatting, the topic shifted in a different direction. Lorentina had lifted up a few internet posts in mid-air.

How should I say it? The contents of those posts and comments were… the perfect example of what would happen if you expressed human instincts very directly.

"Hahaha! Look at these people, they’re envious of everything."

"Well, most people only see what they want to see. No one knows how hard the editor struggled in the early days after the body changed. No one even knows how hard I struggled."

She had undergone a body mutation around the time the virus pandemic was escalating, but that mutated body helped her survive hundreds of times over.

The changes allowed bullets that would have hit her shoulders or sides to miss, the speed was much faster, and the amount of portable ammo increased dramatically.

With just regular meals and calories met, she could stay up for 24 hours, detecting and eliminating any threats in her vicinity, capable of sensing blood or human smells to deal with them.

As a soldier, she could be considered a complete package.

"The day after my body changed, my teammates comforted me. A week later, I comforted them. A month later, they asked how they could change their bodies like mine… Ha ha ha, that was so fun."

"Is that really fun?"

"To be honest, my original tendencies are quite dangerous. You know that, right?"

"...That’s true."

It was true.

"Anyway, with the way things are going, I don’t think you came here with a sense of ‘there’s an urgent mission we must do.’ It seems like you came to check on the current state of the manifestors in Korea before the official tactical exchange, right?"

"Even if that’s not the reason, there are many other reasons to visit. But, judging by the circumstances, that’s probably the main one. You already know that without the cooperation of the little one, there’s not much we can do, right?"

"I’m sure you didn’t even consider the possibility that I wouldn’t cooperate."

"Heh, it’s nice to see you’re quick to catch on."

That’s right.

"Anyway, if you came to check on the manifestors, it’s probably best to have them meet face-to-face. What do you think about participating under the guise of helping our new little ones adapt to the hardcore mode before Dark Zone 2.0 opens?"

"I don’t care what banner you wave, but that suggestion sounds pretty interesting. As I mentioned earlier, it should start tomorrow or the day after, right?"

"That’s right."

"It’s going to be an exciting wait, hehe…"

The glint in Shark’s eyes was dangerously red.

I had arranged for Shark to stay in a suitable room at the hotel and planned to head back home. Tomorrow was definitely something to look forward to.

As I thought about it, I first wrote up the notice and nodded at Lorentina without giving any detailed explanation. Lorentina, however, smiled as if that was all she needed to understand.

One minute later, the three Byam members, having read my notice, frantically called me.

"Yeah, I had a feeling things would go quiet and nice for a while... but no. Peace was a luxury for us. Shark was just waiting in the dark for us to let our guard down…"

"Well, it's not your fault. The long-term tactical exchange mission for Korea became official around the same time, and Japan was already tightly secured, so Task Force Blue came to Korea."

"So Lorentina… oh, I won’t tell anyone about this."

"You’d better not."

At 10 PM, leaving Shark in the hotel room, I casually walked home. Harmony and Dice, faces as pale as could be, grabbed me and started shaking me with excitement. It couldn’t be helped. I’d figured out that they weren’t quiet because things were calm—they were gathering their strength for something.

Technically, I hadn’t exactly sold these two (or three) out. I had always said that if they didn’t want to participate, they didn’t have to. It was just a simple tantrum, really.

And to add, I hadn’t even said a word about what was to come next.

I looked at the two tantrum-throwers with a neutral expression (I hadn’t mentioned Iris because she was still clueless). Gradually, their sense of reason returned.

"Well, it’s not that we really dislike it. Honestly, it’s kind of nice for people like us. We’re getting good stuff for free… Anyway, can we at least hear what we’re going to do first?"

"Let me ask you instead. What do you think we’re going to do?"

"Umm… honestly, now that I think about it, I don’t really expect to learn anything revolutionary. But with Eugene and Lorentina, uh, I’m not sure what to call her... Let’s say senior manifestors, maybe they’ll give us tips on moving our bodies or something?"

"That’s not completely off, but you’d better think a little more specifically."

At the same time, the next words came:

"If you’ve been partially adjusting your stats until now, it’s time to go more seriously. You wouldn’t be clueless about what that means, would you? You get it, right?"

"…Wait. Does that mean we’ll be at the same level as Eugene…?"

"Strictly speaking, it means the starting conditions will be the same from now on. But, yeah, pretty much."

In short:

Starting from tomorrow’s broadcast, Dice, Harmony, and Iris will experience 'hardcore mode' for real. Until now, they had only been adjusting their behavior stats and such, so this will be a massive leap forward.

And actually, there was a reason these three needed to experience hardcore mode.

"Also, now that you’re starting to realize how much your bodies differ from normal people, to bridge the gap, you’ll need to input new muscle memory."

"Aha."

"And don’t you guys also want to throw grenades with your tails and catch falling magazines in-game?"

"...Ah."

At the same time, I exchanged glances with Harmony.

Considering how our first skirmish went, it felt like some kind of homage, or maybe a self-parody. In any case, it was a remark that brought back memories of the past.

With a mischievous laugh, I added:

"From now on, you’ll have to catch the falling magazines yourself."

"...Thinking about it that way, it feels a little bittersweet. It really feels like a lot of time has passed since then."

"Yeah, a lot of time has passed. And…"

At the same time, I subtly turned my gaze to the side.

There, Iris, completely confused and clueless about what was going on, stared at me with a blank expression.

Well, unlike those two, Iris had been swept up in this all of a sudden, so I understood. But still, our editor had become a manifestor.

To join the Byam Cartel, she had to bear that weight.

"I’ll teach you well and kindly, so don’t feel too burdened, okay?"

"I still don’t understand what any of this is about…"

"Iris, you’re a priestess who serves Eugene, right? You have to stick with him and get stronger. Don’t you think?"

"But that’s just a setting!"

But if I said, "You just broke out of your setting," I wasn’t sure if our editor, feeling emotional, would ask, "Teacher, are you a T-***?" so I just chose to stay quiet.

At this point, what was important wasn’t to bring reality into focus… what’s it called again? Nadena-de? Anyway, I thought it would be necessary, so I forced Iris onto the bed and started massaging her while saying:

"The more you practice in virtual reality, the better you’ll get at handling your tail. Think of it as practice."

"...Well, at least I’m glad I have motivation with that perspective."

Then, I guess it was good.

I wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed like I had successfully planted some reasonable expectations in them... and I slowly saw off Harmony and Dice as they headed back to the next house.

By now, it was almost midnight. With Iris heading back to her room, I sat on the living room sofa and stared at the ceiling, thinking.

‘...Of course, that doesn’t mean only good things will happen. The probability is zero.’

Considering how much painful training I went through in that other world, I was sure tomorrow’s broadcast wouldn’t go smoothly.

And then...

Boom!

"Ahhh-!"

"Teacher! Dice down, Dice down!"

"Well, that’s not a down, that’s a self-destruct."

"Wow, this is harder than I thought…!"

Self-destruct.

Exhaustion.

And I, along with Lorentina, watched the scene with satisfaction.

The broadcast the next day was a complete disaster.