I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 644

"Who reserved this time slot? Step up. I have to say, I'm impressed."

"Never thought I'd see something like this... wait, hold on. Now that I think about it, aren't we supposed to go in there next?"

"...Huh."

Meanwhile, in the VIP viewing lounge.

From the huge mock battle room built underground at the Songdo Expo, the 12 people who were supposed to use the facility at this time were observing the actions of the five EM-level individuals. The 12 spent about 1.2 million won for 40 minutes of facility use. As the time ticked away, none of their faces showed signs of anger or disappointment.

The 1.2 million won was fully refunded, and although their use time was shortened, they were now given the chance to join the augmented reality combat with some of the world's most famous people.

If this isn’t a benefit, then what can be considered a benefit?

But those thoughts slowly began to fade, as Eugene and Olivia's movements in the mock battle area took center stage.

"…Is this right?"

"Are we supposed to fight these guys?"

"Looking at it, even if we throw all twelve of us, including Dice and Harmonie, at them, we probably won’t win."

"Really? You think we can’t win?"

"Didn’t you see Olivia drop down from the sky earlier?"

Despite Olivia dropping from the sky and landing on Dice, neither of them got injured, not even a scratch. The soundless landing and the slight wings that popped out right before landing—amazing. On the outside, they appeared like the famous designers Michele, Demna Bazzalia, or Matthew Williams, but in reality, they were ex-special forces members. It almost seemed too scripted, like a scene from a movie.

But this was real, and it was one of many results they would face soon.

And after some time...

• [The session is ending.]
• [The next session starts in 00:05:00. Participants, please prepare.]
• [All waiting participants should head to Dice's team.]

"...Huh."

"I'm scared. Is it normal to be scared this early?"

"If you're not scared, you're not human."

The twelve people who were already equipped with their gear immediately headed down to the spectator seats, towards the right respawn point that Dice's team was heading to.

Simultaneously, a hologram appeared. A few modified rules were displayed on it—first, Dice, Harmonie, and Iris, along with the rest, had unlimited respawns.

Second, Eugene and Olivia were only allowed to use pistols and knives—though they weren’t actually using real knives.

It might seem like too much of a leniency, but the now 15-member team of Dice took it seriously. Given the recent events, that alone might not be enough.

So, before the actual game began, there was a light exchange of friendly banter.

"Ah, nice to meet you. I’ve been watching your streams, Dice. Don’t you think it’s about time you started streaming too?"

"Hehe, if I wanted to, I would've done it by now. I think it's better if I just keep doing cameos. Anyway, it looks like everyone’s here, so let's split into three groups of five. The key players should be the ones, including me, who have manifested powers."

"But… I’m not that great at the Dark Zone..."

"...Right, now that you mention it."

Iris complained.

But despite that, she had to reluctantly accept the position of squad leader, along with Harmonie and Dice.

And after some time...

• [The team deathmatch starts now.]
• [Current map is Quarry. Internal assets are being adjusted in real-time.]
• [Map size check… 300m X 300m. Real-time implementation confirmed.]
• [Eliminate the enemy.]

The gates of hell opened.

Fifteen individuals moved in unison as planned, following Dice, Harmonie, and Iris's lead. The surrounding area was eerily silent. It was unusually calm.

The five members formed a scout formation, surveying the area with an intensity rarely seen in team deathmatches. Three squads split into three separate paths to conduct their reconnaissance, which was unconventional. But it had to be done.

• "Grenade—!"

Bang!

The explosion echoed from the other side.

But that wasn’t the end. As the deafening sound rang out, everyone’s attention shifted to the source of the chaos for 0.5 seconds, and that was when Eugene ambushed Dice’s squad.

With a terrifying bang, one person immediately collapsed on the spot, then rushed back to the main base to respawn. A headshot was declared in one swift motion.

The kill log popped up on the UI—Triple Action Thunder.

Eugene was attacking with a madman’s pistol, firing a .50 caliber bullet with a single shot.

"I can't block that! I'll buy some time!"

Dice, holding a heavy shield that could block even a .50 caliber bullet, rushed to chase Eugene, entering the building. The rest of the squad hurriedly followed.

Dice's sudden mobility was beyond the reach of normal people, even with a shield in hand. Unfortunately...

The squad that followed Eugene into the building was greeted with an eerie sight.

"Wait, is he really climbing walls?!"

"Fire, fire!"

"The speed of escape is way too fast!"

He kicked off the wall.

Thanks to the recoil, Eugene shot up into the air, grabbed a pipe on the ceiling, and swung like a pendulum before scaling a metal platform that couldn’t be climbed without a ladder. He disappeared into another building.

But that wasn’t the end. While escaping, Eugene dropped a grenade with her tail.

Dice, noticing it, quickly shielded the grenade, and the explosion was effectively blocked with a bit of smoke, and lasers scattered in all directions.

After the brief lull, one person, who had been focusing on the direction Eugene disappeared, spoke up.

"...Can’t Dice do that?"

"Yeah. Why can’t I do that… though I did manage to hit a few shots with my submachine gun. The respawn limit is set, so let’s keep chipping away at them."

"Right."

The group’s goal was to scout Eugene’s probable location while waiting for the teammate who had died earlier to respawn. The four moved in the direction Eugene had disappeared.

After about a minute, someone spoke up.

"...They’re not coming, are they?"

"We have a mini-map, so they shouldn't be lost... wait. Didn't Eugene just disappear somewhere similar to where we came from?"

"That’s true… oh."

A brief silence.

And then Dice spoke again.

"He's trying to spawn kill us so we can't join!"

"Run, run!"

"Oh, I’m gonna be out of breath doing cardio like this!"

"I’m gonna lose my mind!"

And then came the sound of gunfire.

The terrifying noise of a sniper rifle mixed with the rapid-fire sounds of an assault rifle. Dice’s squad could easily deduce what was happening on the other side.

The 2:15 match descended into chaos.

"Ugh, hehe..."

"...Why are you so happy?"

"Mom, I'm being held captive by Eugene, teacher—!"

• "Burlap bags!!!"
• "Haha, you’re captured by a Biyam! Hahahaha"
• "The tail wrapping around the waist is the absolute best part, hahahahaha!"
• "Fact: They got their full facility usage fee refunded in exchange for letting the Biyams borrow time!"
• "Seriously, I'm so jealous!!! Why don't we have a Biyam?!?!"

And just seconds later...

Dice's team was met by Eugene, who was using one of their own teammates as a human shield right after respawning.

The Biyam leader was ruthless.

"Everything’s chaotic. The middle is chaotic… should we go back now?"

"If you’re asking us that..."

"I’m only Tier 2 in ranked games, you know!? This is too much for me!"

• "Hahaha, hahaha, hahahahaha!"
• "Wait, aren't all Biyams good at games?"
• "This one just got randomly TS'd hahahaha"
• "How is it that only Harmonie and Dice got ambushed first? Hahahaha"
• "They’re not even getting attacked, and they’re already panicking!"

There were explosions and gunfire everywhere.

And another explosion, more gunfire.

Iris, on the other hand, was cruising smoothly – by "cruising smoothly," it meant she hadn’t yet met Eugene or Olivia.

So, Iris, with a chic yet slightly confused expression, was watching the surroundings, her eyes wide open, trying to assess the situation. It was obvious she was scanning the area for any clues.

Though the others weren’t at a higher tier than Iris, she wasn’t exactly leading them with ease either.

It was only natural that opinions were conflicting.

"...Well, we didn’t exactly say 'don’t join.' Should we head back?"

"Which way should we return? The same path?"

"Since we’re completely on the opposite side now, maybe we should just run."

"How about we take the high ground and provide cover fire?"

Chaos.

Iris sighed. Thanks to her TS (Transformation Skill), she had been forced to get up to speed in the real world, but up until now, she had mostly been watching Eugene’s movements, analyzing, and making notes.

The issue wasn’t her brainpower; it was her decisiveness. Iris, recalling she was still in command, took a deep breath and stepped forward, taking the lead with her ballistic shield.

Finally, her squad silently followed her in formation, and their speed was impressive. This was partly due to the fact that Eugene and Olivia’s positions had been roughly pinpointed by now.

After a minute or so, Iris’s squad arrived at the engagement area.

Well, not exactly at the engagement area, but rather what seemed closer to a refugee camp.

"...It’s completely fallen apart."

"Where have you guys been...?"

"We were the only squad that hadn’t been ambushed, so we rushed back... ah..."

"...But, Eugene and I managed to catch them once. Me and Mina will go back to lead our squad members, so just keep an eye on this path for us."

"Got it."

• "Logging off now. Dropping supplies~~~"
• "Feels like a checkpoint’s been bypassed hahahahaha!"
• "It’s so wicked. The Biyam leader’s a wicked one!"
• "Harmonie got beaten by Olivia, and Dice got beaten by Eugene. Hahahaha!"
• "So they went to the 3rd Final Championship with those skills? Hahahaha!"

At this point, there were only a few left from Harmonie and Dice's squad, with only one or two surviving.

The ones who had been killed had respawned several times, sweating and working hard, but surprisingly, none of them had a particularly bad expression. In fact, it could almost be said that they were happy.

The reason was simple: during Eugene and Olivia’s CQC, physical contact inevitably occurred, but of course, no one would openly speak about that.

Harmonie and Dice quickly made their way back to the respawn point, and Iris’s squad started to guard the path leading out of the quarry.

They had strategically narrowed their personnel placement, anticipating a potential ambush, and there was enough time for the two squad leaders to return without any issues.

Iris sharpened her senses and—

Swoosh!

"<So, you’ve finally come?>"

"Enemy—!"

Bam!

From several meters up on a building in front of them, Olivia silently dropped down and landed in the middle of the squad with no sound, delivering a light greeting to Iris's ears.

Iris’s eyes widened, and through the magnified vision, she saw a falcon, aiming a Desert Eagle at one of her squad members’ heads without even looking in the other direction.

Bang! Bang! The augmented reality function in their goggles simulated the muzzle flashes with each shot, and squad members quickly fell one by one. By the time Iris collided with Olivia, three members of the squad had already been to the respawn point.

However, just as Iris thought she had caught her—

"<Nice try, our little white one. It’s a better choice than shooting. But if you can't fully trust your teammates... you shouldn't have tried it, right?>"

• "Finally looking this way, huh???"
• "How many people did she kill in one second? Hahahaha!"
• "This person shoots a Desert Eagle with one hand and no recoil. She's a superhuman hahahaha"
• "I’m losing my mind hahahahahaha"
• "Iris made a good call hahahaha"

Bang!

Despite being hit by Iris, Olivia managed to kill the last member of the squad.

During this, Iris was holding her right hand with the pistol and struggling to maintain control—Olivia, who wasn’t particularly strong compared to other EM-levels, was just about equal in strength to Iris, who had just recently become a Manifested.

But Olivia had overwhelming practical experience, and with the recoil generated from rapid fire, she managed to pull her arm free.

With the magazine emptied, Olivia didn’t hesitate to draw her pistol and, in one swift motion, took out a tactical knife in the shape of a rod, pressing it against Iris’s neck.

At that moment, Iris’s HP dropped to zero.

"...Ugh."

"<Good job, our little white friend. Go to the respawn point.>"

"...It was still meaningful."

"<...I see.>"

At the same time, Olivia’s neck as she made her way to the respawn point.

She smiled faintly and added,

"<Seems so.>"

Bang!

At that moment, Olivia’s HP also dropped to zero.

Iris had been there from the beginning to buy time, and Olivia had been completely tricked—or perhaps allowed herself to be tricked.

A death notification from a critical headshot appeared on the UI. It was Harmony’s kill confirmation from far off.

As Iris collapsed to the ground, Harmony helped her up, adding,

"Good job. You’re better than us."

"...If Mina hadn’t been here, we’d be completely wiped out by now. Wait, were we already wiped out?"

"To be honest, it was a steal to catch Olivia with just five people."

"She seemed like she let herself be caught though..."

• "What, she let herself be caught?"
• "They just rushed to the respawn spot causing a scene, and still pulled off the disadvantage hahahaha"
• "Living point) This person is a fashion designer"
• "Do designers now also design ways to kill people? Hahahahahaha"
• "Just... a long road ahead! Little Biyams!"

As stated earlier.

In the fierce battle that lasted 30 minutes, Eugene and Olivia lost 4 and 3 lives respectively, and together, they earned a combined kill count of 37.

Their journey was far from over.