I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 645

<"Plemansacks donated 10,000 won! Thank you so much!">

• So, Kato really picked a fight with that kind of person? Such a greedy, stomach-filled Koichi, haha!

"I never picked a fight-!"

"Oi oi, Kato-kun. Hold yourself back. If Kato-kun awakens, not everyone will survive… Ah, but Eugene-san will probably subdue him."

"Ugh..."

• hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
• That Biyam guy really kills the fun, haha
• What kind of image do they have of Eugene in their heads, haha
• He's definitely Voldemort-level, I think
• Isn't it Eugene who flattened Voldemort's nose?

The desk was covered with a mixture of beverage droplets and saliva.

Thanks to coughing multiple times, my throat was sore, and I felt my lungs shrink due to the lack of air – I wasn’t actually listening to Eugene's stream, but it was because the viewers had passed along statements made during the stream.

To summarize, it was something like, "Whenever you get time, come to the Expo and try participating in the mock battle in building D." But when the news of what had actually happened there reached them, their faces weren’t exactly cheerful.

It wasn’t hard to hear how Eugene and Olivia had completely wrecked their opponents, and Kato, Limit, Hodok, and others – if they went there, they had no idea what would happen to them.

But,

"...So, who really doesn't want to go?"

"I was planning to go eventually anyway. We've gotten a lot of help... Well, I'd want to go even without that reason. And if I ask them to go easy on me, won't they let me off?"

"That's just teabagging."

"So if I go all out and get beaten, that’s fair and square?"

• hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
• Hyun-ah really hits the facts, haha
• I really hate how guys can't stand being shown mercy, haha
• Hodok, Limit, and Kato are all women, where are the guys?
• Fact) All of them
• Don't naturally count them as women, hahaahahaha

In the chat, unsettling messages started rising, but fortunately or unfortunately, they didn't have time to care. It wasn’t like Kim Stone was wrong about what he said.

But they didn’t have time or reason to argue about it. It was something for later – but they couldn’t put off deciding on a schedule either.

And so, the conversation naturally turned toward that.

"...So when are we going? Does everyone have no schedule conflicts? Anyone who can’t make it due to a scheduled collab or advertising?"

"I have a few, but they're scattered, so it's fine. Let’s pick a date. If not, just let me know."

"Got it. If we're going, we should decide soon. Otherwise, next week’s completely booked. You guys saw the notice from the Expo, right?"

"Oh, that..."

"Yeah, that. The thing about not being able to use building D next week... The naval training thing, right?"

• Ah, that, haha
• Wait, how did they even manage to rent the building during the Expo? Did the seal-freaks just push it through without permission?
• Who's even making the insane assumption that a company making twice the national defense budget in a year is using Expo buildings for military training without permission? Haha
• Obviously, they must have a deal worked out, idiots, just stop haha
• Icarus Dynamics is using it for humanoid advertisements, though?

The chat heated up extremely fast.

Without saying anything, Kato and Hodok told the manager handling the chat, "Just ban the people crossing the line," and that was that. Nothing more came of it. They had intentionally left the flames to simmer.

The reason was simple. They too had a few questions about that point.

"...Like the chat says, Icarus must have cooperated, right? But how does the military do their training? Do they usually just use humanoids for mock survival and stuff?"

"Hey, there we just… set up tents and sleep on cold days. We do something like that, but not exactly… like, setting up combat facilities. We just put on laser sensors and make them fight in the mountains."

"Oh, you fight in the mountains? Well, I guess you’ve said our military has nothing but mountains nearby… Anyway, from what you’re saying, it sounds like this kind of thing hardly ever happens. It’s pretty amazing."

"Right. Anyway, well, it sounds like there’s some thing we don’t know."

As Limit checked the official Expo website, he found the notice for next week’s training.

The content was a bit long, but in short, it was simple – access to building C and D would be restricted from 12 PM, and from 1 to 3 PM, a hostage rescue operation would take place in building D.

At the same time, there would be combat at the huge mock combat facility in the underground of building D, and after the training, an overall overhaul would make mock battles in building D impossible until next Monday – that was about it.

The reason they were talking about next week or the week after wasn’t a big deal.

"...But can we take photos or videos of this stuff?"

"Actually, they said some of the combat would be streamed live. They need to advertise the humanoids somehow."

"Right, this is an expo for selling robots..."

• Fact) True
• Yeah, haha
• If you look at YouSpace, you see people constantly posting CQB videos, so I guess it’s not impossible to show this?
• But wait, are the robots already at a level where they can fight humans?
• So, what about the Mecha Biyams, haha
• Hmm... thinking about it, I can't really argue with that logic

The second question: Are the robots powerful enough to take on special forces? And that thought turned into, 'Maybe it's possible?' thanks to the existence of Mecha Biyams.

That said, whether the in-game Mecha Biyams and the real-world robots would have the same combat skills was another unknown. But that wasn’t really something they needed to worry about.

People were already speculating, based on the limited information available, about how next week's UDT training would unfold. Some were discussing the best spots to view the scenes in building D.

It was a laughable situation, but it was likely intended that way.

"The way they’ve handled public attention is insane. Even if I’ve never done a Dark Zone mission, they’re making me want to go just out of curiosity."

"If you talk to Eugene-san, he might just give you a good spot to watch... almost said it."

"Wouldn’t it be like that lounge last time?"

"...I think I hear the sound of viewers crying their eyes out somewhere."

• Why are you all having fun???????????
• Eugene guilt-free
• If you want to complain, you should have bought Eugene coins early, haha
• Someone here didn’t even buy coins but shoved his own coins in a Biyam's pocket, haha
• It always comes back to Kato’s courage, haha
• Take us too!!!!!!!

Out of nowhere, the chat started attacking, and while Kato was looking around cautiously, the group quickly began to think about what would happen next.

That said, there wasn’t much time left this week, so it was clear the visit to the Expo would have to be after next week’s training.

As soon as that decision was made, all three pairs of eyes focused on Kato.

And then—

"...Why is this only being left to me?!"

"But it’ll be fun that way, right?"

"Hey, hey, I can tell your real thoughts, stop."

"..."

• hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
• How did it end up like this for them, haha
• Oh no, haha
• The expression of existential crisis, haha
• It’s just like 'nothing matters anymore' at this point, haha

But oddly enough, none of the things the viewers were saying were actually right.

The external image that had built up over time had given the viewers enjoyment, but in reality, he had long since adapted to the fact that he was in the grasp of a Biyam.

Of course, whether it was just resignation and escapism, or if he had reached a state of enlightenment, would remain to be seen.

So how much time had passed? Kato quickly typed a message to Eugene.

'He doesn’t check emails much, but when I text him, he reads it right away...'

Thinking this, he sent the text, and not long after.

• [Eugene: It’s probably better to come the week after next. I have someone visiting from today for a few days.]

"...He said that?"

"Ah."

"...Well, if he said it directly, we can’t help it. We were already thinking of the week after next anyway, so it works out."

"Then that’s settled."

They nodded and, with that, the short Expo discussion came to an end.

And then—

"...Well, it seems we’ve reached an inevitable point."

"Heh, nice to meet you. I’m the suspicious shark again today."

"Eh, oh, eh."

• When did this person come to Korea, haha
• What? Did they take time off to follow Olivia?
• He was streaming from the U.S. to match the time zone, and now he’s just come to Korea, haha
• At this point, it's true love...
• Fact) Came to recruit for the military

Meanwhile, at the Expo.

Lorentina and her team arrived under the pretext of reconnaissance before the training.

"...So, you came today for actual measurements, huh? Then your team and the UDT guys must already be inside the Expo."

"Well, you guessed it. No matter how much we simulate in virtual reality, we won’t know unless we visit in person. The realism these days is good enough that we don’t absolutely need to, but still..."

Twenty minutes after Lorentina and her team arrived at the Expo.

There were no drone cams around, no baby Biyams either. They’d been set aside for "heart adaptation" purposes, kind of like how you prepare for a swim by wetting your body before jumping in.

Unfortunately, Lorentina… well, people who aren’t used to it couldn’t handle it head-on. She was like a natural disaster.

But anyway… that wasn’t the only reason. The conversation they were about to have couldn’t be filmed by drone cams.

And to prove that, Lorentina took out a holographic map and started marking it with Xs. When I glanced at it, it was over the ocean near the Expo.

The distance was roughly 250–300 meters, I think. I got the general sense.

"Are you trying to make the helicopter hover?"

"You guessed right. It was a category in the sniper competition, but here it’s live."

"Isn’t it supposed to be done with lasers?"

"We borrowed the physics engine used in the Dark Zone. It’s not laser-based; it calculates the damage in real time, so the speed of the bullets and their trajectories are calculated separately. The trajectory will be shown directly through augmented reality goggles."

"So, it’s much more realistic, huh?"

"That’s right."

Well, realistically, they couldn’t use real bullets.

In reality, they’d have to carry a bunch of real magazines and go out, but since this was training...

Anyway, aside from that, Lorentina had a lot of tasks she needed to do.

"Originally, the enemy in this hostage rescue operation was supposed to be lightly armed, but I opposed that, and we’ve set it up as an irregular warfare special forces scenario."

"I’m not sure about the seniors, but others will probably be bending over from exhaustion. It’ll be hard."

"It can’t be helped."

Seems like it’d be like those special forces from enemy nations infiltrating in fast boats along the Hudson River.

In that case, the armaments would likely be different. Assuming they’re special forces, they’d probably have at least the same firepower as our special forces. They wouldn’t be shooting recoilless rifles, but a 40mm grenade launcher would definitely be possible.

But the key to this operation was the tech capabilities of the think tank, and here, drones, turrets, and pulses would play key roles. Of course, the enemy would also prepare for that, using jammers and whatnot.

Suddenly, Lorentina turned toward me with a sharp motion.

It was so sudden it felt like I saw a ghost. What should I say? Maybe like an eight-legged ghost? But I think Lorentina would be the one to fight it.

Anyway, she then spoke.

"By now, your team should be inside building D, but... I guess it doesn’t really matter. I hear you can adjust the terrain in there?"

"It’s based on pre-entered data, but yes, it’s possible."

"I’m curious to see what will happen on the day of the operation, heh..."

A brief silence.

How much time had passed? Then, a chilling smile appeared on Lorentina’s lips.

"I think the new recruits would probably have a very fun expression if I took them there."

"Please stop torturing our kids, really. Are you going to chase them out?"

"Haha. Just joking, just joking. Anyway, I think they’re getting used to me being here, so shall we head back? I skipped lunch, so I’m quite hungry."

"Let’s have food ready in building C then."

With that, she finally showed a satisfied expression.

And so, we started heading back the way we came. Of course, there was quite a ruckus around because of the appearance of the shark at the Expo.

It was like a red carpet; people split apart wherever we went. Since we had just had that conversation in a lounge with no one around, it was possible, but now... as you can see.

As we walked by the cafe, I thought I should probably show the Mecha recruits too. Then, suddenly, my phone vibrated.

It was a secret communication. The shark who was with me sent it.

Without moving my lips, the voice module played through my in-ear, and I heard the message.

• Come to think of it, the young ones.

• Yeah?

• The shark network we set up here has been buzzing for about a week now.

• W-what?

...Wait a second.

Does that mean...?

• Could it be that the Dagger team from the other world is here playing?

• Huh?

The shark network from before and this one... are they different?

What exactly did they do that made the network aware of the Dagger team?

A lot of questions passed through my mind, but right now, that wasn’t important.

Anyway, I really dislike sharp sharks.