I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 631

-[Former Artemis Biological Research Institute, currently assessing the situation in the Contaminated Quarantine Zone... Out of 8 sectors, <7> have been successfully quarantined.]

-[Noteworthy... the deep temperature in Sector Alpha continues to rise.]

-[Additional note: The biological ecosystem within the research facility has surpassed the previously anticipated mutation threshold. The expected growth suppression effect using liquid nitrogen input has not matched the actual results, which were not consistent since <36> hours ago.]

-[Based on the footage from the drone deployment protocol #005 and the predicted reproduction rate of unidentified organisms, along with ongoing anomalous physical phenomena, it is deemed essential to deploy further physical measures for purification.]

-[Proposal: Icarus operators with unlocked Lambda-level energy restrictions, along with 4 modified remote-controlled drones capable of handling the output.]

-[Summary: Observational value of Sector Alpha lost. Request issued for the activation of the extermination protocol.]

-[Notification: Extermination protocol approved by the President of the United States, the commander-in-chief.]

-[Notification: Purification process initiated.]

"Yay, it's been a while, everyone. As announced beforehand, today we're going to play GTFO with Iris—Going in, Tracking it, Finding it, and Out."

"This game, like the others, was made by Icarus, which purchased a project from an external developer. The world setting and technology share some similarities with the Dark Zone, but it's not officially integrated into that universe."

"If you’ve seen the log after the game started, you’d know, it’s Artemis again. It’s like they’ve gotten really comfortable using it."

"Hello everyone. And to all the believers, may the blessings of Ouroboros be with you..."

• Biyam collaboration stream has started wwww
• ?Repent?
• Iris is funny for sticking to the concept again lol
• Is that... still the concept?
• She’s fully changed her body, what concept are we talking about? lol

A few days later, in virtual reality.

With a natural rise in tension, four individuals—though one of them had physically emerged into reality—stood in front of a military base, beginning their opening.

Large trucks carrying military supplies passed by the outside, and people who looked like a mix of soldiers and researchers continued moving around, chatting.

Only the four of them appeared out of place, but no one paid attention to it. After all, the game was designed this way, and the four present had...

"These are the Icarus operators who will participate in the Extermination Protocol. I assume you're all familiar with the mission and related systems. We will now move to the drop pod control room for deployment. Any questions?"

"No."

"Nope."

"None of us are newcomers, right?"

With those words, they checked on each other. Of course, no one was unaware of what kind of game this was.

Some gamers might think playing without knowing any information is the fun part, but that’s a dangerous mindset. Especially for famous streamers like them.

Without prior research, it’s like wielding a double-edged sword—risking being cut themselves—but these streamers didn't have to worry about such risks.

And besides, there was no harm in learning the system a little bit beforehand.

"Here’s the blueprint for the facility. You can check it after deployment, but I strongly recommend you review it beforehand. It may be too late to review it once combat escalates. I’ll leave now, so let me know when you’re ready for deployment."

"Understood."

"Seems like every time we deploy, the facility structure changes slightly. No matter how many practice runs we do, in the end, we always have to rely on quick thinking..."

"Five sub-sectors, huh? You picked the hardest one, didn’t you? Someone didn’t pick the hardest difficulty, right?"

"No way, we didn’t."

• Fact: This is the first mission.
• This is why there’s no new player base, lol
• Scary and chaotic game? Who would even play this? wwwww
• We support the Stella Universe 3rd generation and Iris's ad! Let’s make it a hit!!!
• Artemis again???

• Every time they deployed, the sub-sector structures slightly changed.

The four of them lay in the four pods available and, in the next moment, they started checking their many UI elements.

They could select basic firearms, special weapons, gadgets, and melee weapons. Each of them selected their preferred weapons, considering their balance within the team and the map’s structure.

One of the Icarus operators' skills included artillery turrets, reconnaissance drones, pulses, and plasma hammers...

Naturally, at the mention of the plasma hammer, everyone’s minds went half blank.

The culprit was Iris.

"...Iris, what’s that?"

"It’s a plasma hammer."

"I know what that is, but that’s not what I meant…"

"Oh, you meant it that way? Don’t worry, guys, I didn’t choose it because I wanted to. It was recommended by the Ouroboros god when we practiced for a previous collaboration!"

"Ah, then I’ll allow it."

• ????????
• Weapon description: It’s effective, but super heavy, so it’s used sparingly.
• Iris is EM-class, right? lol
• It’s heavy (but not really).
• So basically, it’s a weapon with no downsides and only strengths, huh? lol

Just as the audience was amused by Iris’s antics, Sonia and the others, aware that Iris’s behavior was a recommendation from Ouroboros, had long since abandoned any doubt in their minds.

The plasma discharge, generator, hammerhead, and handle, all together, weighed a terrifying 50kg. It required extreme effort to raise and swing, but once used, it consumed half of your stamina.

It was an insane item, but Iris didn’t care one bit about stamina loss, playing the game in hardcore mode.

Probably.

As soon as they gave the "ready for deployment" signal, the lights around them flickered, and their consciousness transferred into humanoid avatars, matching their in-game abilities.

Multiple system windows popped up in front of them.

• [Sector A1 deployment initiated // Sub-sectors Alpha 1 through Alpha 5 recognized.]
• [Real-time purification progress: 0%.]
• [Target depth: 377m]
• [Mission objective: Locate and scan the broken liquid nitrogen pipes / Retrieve sub-sector scan data from the control room.]
• [May the blessings of the gods be with us.]

The four pods descended into the heart of the facility with a loud crash. The surroundings were dark, and only the dim orange warning lights greeted them.

The space was filled with concrete dust, and the eerie silence, along with the sound of a hammer swinging, greeted them.

Wait.

Hammer swinging?

–––Whoooom!

"Whoa, that was close!"

"Wasn’t that 55kg? How did you swing that like a twig?"

"Hehehe, this weapon is perfect for purging heretics and monsters... Doesn’t matter what comes at us. Let’s get moving."

"Iris-chan, were you a heretic inquisitor rather than a nun...?"

• Fact: Yes.
• ???: Didn’t I say I wasn’t an inquisitor? Don’t you see the hammer I’m holding?
• Fine, do whatever you want, lol
• Why does it seem like just adding one more nun makes the contaminated monsters not even fazed? lol
• Living Point: Considering that Iris was recommended the weapon by Eugene, the contaminated will now face a full 4-Biyam team.

...What kind of battles had these contaminated creatures gone through?

Sonia’s team briefly wondered about that, but it was a thought they couldn’t voice aloud.

The first mission had started.

–––Screech!

"...Huh?"

"There was a giant, but it’s gone."

"...Is this for real?"

"Hehe, once a nun, Iris will purify heretics in no time."

• What the hell did I just see???
• Not even fully charged, just a head swing and a one-shot kill???
• Living Point: No steroids or full charge, and the hammer’s special function wasn’t even activated.
• This crazy girl just crushed a giant, lol
• Considering that humanoid abilities match their avatars, it feels like something like that could happen even in reality, lol

A horrifying sound erupted.

A faint blue hammer traced a clean arc through the air, and when it fell like a guillotine, a disgusting squelching sound filled the air.

Unable to contain their curiosity, Sonia and the others activated the special analysis functions of their humanoid avatars, including night vision. What they saw was a massive, crumpled contaminated creature, nearly crushed.

Iris stood next to it, holding the plasma hammer, looking like a demon or executioner, covered in blood and some unknown liquid.

Her appearance was chilling, as her humanoid form followed her avatar design—unnervingly unsettling.

"Yeah, this is definitely convenient... Long live Iris-chan."

"Come to think of it, didn’t Iris train with Eugene? It feels like if we just charge forward with melee weapons, we can break through no matter what the map looks like."

"...Ah, yeah. That’s true. What should I say, if we’re explorers, she’s more like a bulldozer."

"Yup."

• The day we bring up 'bulldozer' in GTFO, lol
• With 4 Manifestors charging with plasma, it’s obvious they’ll crush everything, even without guns, lol
• Honest opinion: If they’re Biyam, they’d probably smash even the undead with hammers.
• Seriously... if a person with that much force hits something that’s barely bigger than a person, it’s not even a contest, lol
• Well... the U.S. president did order the purification, but don’t the enemies deserve some sympathy?

The four Manifestors, deployed to "purify" the contaminated facility, seemed to fulfill the game's purpose the best. It was a thought that crossed everyone’s mind, except for Iris.

Anyway, they kept advancing towards the control room, as more and more contaminated creatures appeared, signaling they were getting closer to their objective.

It didn’t take too long.

They reached the gate leading to the control room.

As soon as the sensor for opening the barrier was activated, a message popped up on the UI.

• [Notification: Conducting security scan. Please prepare for identification.]
• [Notification: Scan initiated... 4 weaponized entities detected in front of the barrier. Average height 166cm, average weight 327kg. Humanoid. The entities were found to be made of an alloy not in the database.]
• [Notification: Facility access code recognized. Conditions met to open the barrier.]
• [Notification: Opening barrier.]

Boom!

The sirens whirred, and the heavy metallic sound filled the air as the door to the control room opened—revealing a massive internal space reminiscent of an aircraft carrier, though the view through the glass showed other immense, unknown facilities.

But that wasn’t the important part.

The enormous noise and vibrations from the door opening spread throughout the corridors, even before they could recover data from the control room.

Without hesitation, Iris, holding a turret and a military-grade USB, plugged it into a panel covered in blood and some unknown liquid, checking the remaining time.

4 minutes and 33 seconds. Considering they had to backtrack to escape...

"...This game doesn’t have variable difficulty, right?"

"Probably."

"...So, are we playing at a difficulty level similar to hard mode right now?"

"Yep, you know it. Mount a machine gun."

• Of course, lol
• It’s your fault, lol
• Iris <<< culprit, wwwww
• Double-edged sword, lol
• Honest opinion: I feel like they’ll all survive and make it back, though.
• That’s probably true, lol

Suddenly, ominous sounds echoed from the opposite end of the corridor.

The four of them prepared their weapons, setting up turrets, and waited until Iris’s USB downloaded the data safely—how much time had passed?

Countless contaminated began flooding toward the gate.

—–Rrrrrrrrr!

Flames and lead rained down, and fragmented bodies flew through the air.

Calm, precise shots. The ones with rifles focused on small targets while Iris, with a machine gun, quickly shredded the larger ones.

The incendiary grenades from the installed turrets lit up the ground beautifully, but their numbers just kept increasing.

Slowly, their defenses were thinning, but there was still determination in their eyes.

The reason was simple.

It was because of Iris.

"I’m heading out."

"Make sure to incinerate everything and come back!"

"Watch your shooting angle! If you hit Iris, we’re all dead!"

As the turret sprayed fire remotely, Iris stepped forward and maximized the output of her plasma hammer.

If left for just 1 more second, the plasma would scatter in all directions around the hammerhead, burning everything nearby, but the hammer in Iris’s hands didn’t need to self-destruct.

With a mighty leap, she propelled herself 3 meters into the air, and with the overwhelming strength of her body, she struck the approaching contaminated creature.

In an instant, sparks flew.

And it only took 0.1 seconds for it to explode into a massive, blue flame.

—–Kaaa-boom!

The directed plasma shockwave hit the front, creating a giant gap filled with flames and ashes.

Of course,

"Used special gear! I’m running!"

"Wow, that firepower is something else. 30% of the wave is gone."

"We’ve got 3 minutes left, we can just relax and have lunch."

"Cover me!"

• Yikes, lol
• This is insane, lol
• Plasma hammer... pure emotion...
• GTFO random matchmaking will be full of these crazy people now, lol
• Total destruction, wwwww

With the most powerful attack, Iris had used all her stamina and could only slowly make her way back to the control room.

Naturally, the contaminated creatures, now mostly wiped out by a single attack, were shredded by the overwhelming firepower, and by the end, they could crush any remaining enemies with just the turrets.

Once the USB had fully copied the data, Iris’s team had completely eliminated all the contaminated in the five sub-sectors.

"...Well, this is clean enough to whistle and head back."

"Very clean. This is purification."

"Of course, the purifying nun, Iris-chan."

"...Heh, heh, heh... Oh, stop it."

• Ah, lol
• Biyam-chan is embarrassed, lol
• Don’t say it if you’re going to get embarrassed by it, lol
• Seriously... too cute! The nun Biyam!!!
• Make me TS too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On their way back, they walked leisurely to the exit without a care.

The proper method for clearing the area was to forcibly close the barrier and, before the door broke, somehow activate the external incineration system to eliminate the contaminated creatures. They realized this just 5 minutes before.