I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 208 – Harmony Uprising

“…Ugh.”

The birds were chirping, and the morning sunlight seemed to crawl slowly up the window, signaling a refreshing morning. Yet, my body felt heavy, and my throat was parched. It was 6 a.m., and I urgently needed to use the bathroom. Judging by the time, I had only slept for about four hours.

I grabbed my throbbing head and lifted myself up. However, I felt resistance from my tail, so I turned my head.

“…Let go, let go….”

“Mmm….”

Slap, slap.

Dice was there, hugging my tail tightly as if it were a body pillow. The bed was quite large, and I had turned on my side instead of sleeping on my back, which was the main cause of this situation.

In this state, I couldn’t go to the bathroom. True to the term ‘body pillow,’ she had also wrapped her legs around my tail, sleeping soundly.

I twisted and turned my tail, barely managing to free it from her grasp before heading straight to the bathroom.

After relieving myself, I opened a liter pack of chocolate milk I had bought the day before and gulped it down. According to the internet, it was good for hangovers, so I had been drinking it more often lately. It wasn’t entirely wrong, either.

Before I went back to sleep, I watched the dawn break through the balcony.

“…Yoo Jin, can I have a glass too…?”

“When did you wake up?”

“Just now….”

I hoped she didn’t wake up because the body pillow was gone.

Pushing such an ominous thought aside, I got a cup and poured her some milk. She quickly downed two glasses and then added, half-asleep and half-playfully.

“This time, you didn’t wrap me up with your tail.”

“…I was trying to stay conscious till the end, this time.”

“Hehe.”

Then she showed me her arm.

It was slightly indented. I didn’t need to be told what caused it; the uniform, distinct shape of the scales was obvious… Why does she always hug my tail when she sleeps? I put on a displeased expression, and she laughed and continued.

“No wonder I slept so well; I had a body pillow.”

“…Go back to sleep. You can sleep in the bed in the other room now.”

“Aww, why are you like that?”

Dice trailed after me and ended up sleeping next to me until the very end.

Four more hours passed, and the full autumn sunlight reached its peak around 10 a.m. Dice, who had made full use of our home’s amenities – showering, doing laundry, sleeping, and eating – woke up looking much lighter and energetically woke me up.

As November approached, the daily high temperature hovered around 20 degrees, and the lows frequently dropped into single digits. It seemed like we needed to turn on the heating. The cold made my body sluggish.

Anyway, she whined about wanting to cure her hangover, so I responded by lightly putting her in a cobra twist. Of course, I treated her to a proper breakfast afterward. I thought of it as payment for yesterday’s appearance.

Today’s first menu was Kalguksu.

After slurping up some noodles, Dice mumbled for a moment, cleared her mouth, and then spoke.

“There seem to be a lot of people going to the finals this time. There are already ten people confirmed, and if we include duos and squads… Well, it’s not something to worry about too much.”

“Does the schedule or lodging change depending on whether it’s solo, duo, or squad?”

“Yes, you got it. Since the latter two require close interaction between team members, they get the same lodging… Solo isn’t much to worry about. This year, they’ll probably pair me with you, then pair Ink with Michael, and Gambit as well, and put us in a hotel.”

“Is that how it works? Did you stay alone last year?”

“Yes. It was really boring, to be honest.”

As always, Dice was an endless fountain of stories about last year’s finals. Just listening to them was quite entertaining.

When I thought about it, even though I had been in New York for nearly five years, I hadn’t really seen much. At most, I spent time occasionally walking along the Hudson River. Central Park, where people would normally enjoy walks, had been entirely converted into HQ.

It was truly ironic.

Returning to the original topic that no one would remember, Dice’s expression had relaxed a lot. After the Asian preliminaries, she had been spending her time comfortably – in other words, idly – but now she seemed to have shed some of the lethargy that had been consuming her.

Ultimately, nothing beats new and enjoyable experiences for banishing boredom and lethargy. Although I wasn’t sure if her visit to my home today was that enjoyable.

After finishing the dishes, Dice lay on the sofa and playfully spoke.

“Ah, this place is more comfortable than I thought. Can I stay here?”

“If you pay rent, I’ll consider it.”

“Hey, I do have quite a bit of… Okay, I’ll leave. Maybe after the finals, I’ll move nearby with the prize money.”

“Sigh.”

Slap, slap.

In truth, it didn’t matter if Dice stayed longer, but meetings always have an end, and she would probably visit often in the future anyway.

A hand waved through the closing door. As if it was always meant to be, the house became quiet again once she left. The usual silence settled in.

There was a lot to do.

-[Notification: Scheduling program will pop up.]

A program linked with ICARUS. Only the necessary combat data for organizing the curriculum on the specified date was simply transferred.

After checking it, my job was to process it into a proper form and execute it. Dice, Ink, Gambit, and Michael had about 50 days left, while Harmony’s team had only 10 days.

The priority was the latter. We had about three days. I popped up the data stored in the ICARUS gear.

“Phew.”

It was time to return to my main job.

Time was melting away like snow.

“Haa.”

Even the Asia preliminaries, which seemed like they would never end, finally concluded, and the week after passed as well. The weekend arrived, marking the end of October. Inside the Dark Zone, the heat was fierce, but outside, people were wearing long sleeves, hoodies, and coats.

Friday and Saturday passed, and it was now Sunday. I didn’t know what Limit, Stone, and Hotteok were doing, but I knew from the friend connection window in the UI that they were all online. This included Teacher Yoo Jin as well.

They were probably engaged in intense personal practice sessions with the teacher over the past few days. I might find out the details tomorrow, but I didn’t really care.

I had my own things to do.

-Swish.

Even though it was in virtual reality, I heard the sound of paper turning.

It was, of course, the tactical manual that Teacher Yoo Jin had personally written and handed to me. The content wasn’t long, but it was so densely packed that not a single sentence could be ignored.

“Although the structure of all terrains in Domination Mode can be mostly predicted, this does not guarantee ease of engagement…”

Corridors. Stairs. Hallways. Multiple curved hallways. Balconies. Complex terrains incorporating at least two or more elements… so many types of terrains that they couldn’t all be encompassed. And then there were the various skills that could negate this structural complexity.

Because of this, the squad leader must be able to instantly grasp not only the visible terrain features but also the connected ones—these were the kinds of instructions that went on endlessly.

The most crucial thing was securing a foothold. In Domination Mode, victory isn’t determined solely by territory control but also by kill points. It wasn’t about capturing a point unconditionally but establishing a base where continuous support could be received while minimizing friendly losses.

In simpler terms, we had to become a cancerous presence for the enemy—impossible to remove, and any attempt to do so would lead to losses.

“Wow, she even wrote down the order of cover.”

Mechanics.

The personnel capable of deploying the most ideal tactical tools for defending the stronghold.

The personnel capable of successfully handling the most threatening thrown weapons and skills, installing ADS systems, turrets, and portable cover were, naturally, the top priority for handling. And, of course, the countermeasures for that were written down as well.

Was this a game or studying?

But theory had to be coupled with practice, and the efforts over the past few days had returned results accordingly.

What I mean is,

-[Alert: The TIER 2 promotion match will start in 00:01:23.]

-[Alert: Squad leader selection is starting.]

The TIER 2 promotion match.

In other games, this was equivalent to a master promotion match. A few months ago, I thought I had no talent for FPS games and believed I would never be associated with such ranks, but now I had climbed to this position solo.

More surprisingly, even at this point, I felt I could climb even higher.

As soon as I took the initiative to be the squad leader and connected to the voice channel, the three users designated as squad members began greeting cheerfully.

Fortunately, in this mode’s ranked games, the contribution of the squad leader could be directly checked in-game. It displayed a percentage of how much the squad leader and the squad contributed to the victory.

And at this point, compared to users of the same rank, there was no one who could match me.

Of course, there was another advantage—

“…Harmony? Wait, Harmony? Are you really Noknyang!?”

“Wow, what! Are you streaming right now?”

“Ah, unfortunately, not right now. I’ll be streaming soon. I’m currently raising my rank personally. Preparing for the streamer tournament.”

“Oh, but how is your rank and record so impressive….”

“There’s a reason and story for everything.”

But that wasn’t what was important right now.

Although my position led to favorable responses even at this moment, this was a promotion match. The outcome of this game would determine whether I remained in SOF or moved up to TIER 2.

Raising the tier itself wasn’t the ultimate goal, but it would be shameful if I couldn’t go beyond this despite utilizing everything I learned from Teacher Yoo Jin.

Thus, I steeled myself and spoke.

“I’m going to move up. Please live up to the expectations.”

It was 5:59 PM.

I was ready to start the stream.

-[Alert: The promotion match begins!]

Buzzzz.

The sound of a helicopter rotor filled the world.

And—

───Thudududududu!

“We can’t maintain control of point B! The enemies have breached the second defensive line!”

“Just hold on for 30 more seconds. Respawn is in progress.”

“In those 30 seconds, the entire defensive line will be destroyed!”

Amidst the deafening noise and bullets tearing through the air, various avatars darted around. On one side of the UI, B was blinking ominously, signaling the imminent loss of control over the allied target.

Even though the enemy squad had entered Bravo, they didn’t immediately head to the terminal but spread their control like ink in a bathtub, moving to areas with less exposure.

The detachment sent to eliminate them had all been taken out, and the accumulated losses tipped the balance.

Promotion match.

To be pushed back so brutally at such a crucial moment, a self-deprecating thought slipped from my mouth.

“Wow, slipping here.”

Recovering control of B was long abandoned.

The fortified defensive line felt like facing a Spartan army with shields, gradually pressing in. Even the allies remaining on the high ground were vanishing like bubbles.

In the midst of this, one avatar stood out—one that anyone familiar with the Dark Zone and game streams couldn’t fail to recognize. With green hair and twitching cat ears above, the eyes beneath were razor-sharp.

The one who first breached B’s perimeter, established the strongest defense, and slaughtered the remaining allies.

When no one else was left, a final standoff ensued.

“…How did you improve so much? Just how far are you planning to go…?”

“Hehe.”

There was no response.

With a thud, my vision went black.

It was the moment control of B was completely lost.