I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 245 – DARPA

“…Ahm, euh….”

“Are you awake? Yoo Jin has already left. The breakfast time has also passed.”

Seo Ye-rin, 22 years old this year.

In just a few days of the first week, she perfectly adjusted to the American time zone and enjoyed sleeping in. Whether it was because she had visited once last year or not, she didn’t know, but she felt no fatigue at all.

Waking up with a disheveled look, she noticed that Yoo Jin’s bed was already neatly made. On top of it, a few words were written in her characteristic cute handwriting. She mentioned she’d be back around the day after tomorrow and planned to return cleanly before the start of the second week at the latest.

What should she say about this?

“Ugh, really. What’s wrong with spending some time together in the first week when there’s nothing much to do?”

“She’s very popular, you know. Nothing we can do about it. But I’m here, aren’t I?”

“Of course, of course. If it weren’t for Min Ah, I would have been so bored to death….”

It wasn’t just a joke but an actual fact.

If she had been alone, Dice might have spent the whole day in VR, living like a recluse. With Yoo Jin and Dice, and in the next room, Michael, Gambit, and Ink, if Harmony hadn’t come, she would have had to wander alone in this spacious room.

And not just for a day, but for several days.

Anyway, she didn’t feel like sleeping anymore. She kicked off the blanket and got up. Outside, the sky was clear as if the snowstorm from the previous day had been a lie. The sun was shining brilliantly in the cloudless, azure sky.

The current time was 10:26 AM. She roughly tidied her messy hair and put on the slippers lying on the floor.

“Did you have breakfast?”

“Sort of.”

“What did you do while I was sleeping? You must have been bored.”

“I streamed. If I start a stream in the morning, it’s evening in Korea, right?”

“Ah….”

Do streamers even consider the time difference when streaming?

A thought almost slipped out of her mouth without going through her brain, but she mixed her words appropriately, thinking it might be disrespectful to Min Ah’s profession, and opened her mouth again after a final filtering.

“Does streaming make it less boring? Although I can’t do it as skillfully as you, Min Ah….”

“Well, since streaming is my main job, I’m not sure how to explain it, but at least it’s not boring, right? After all, I get to communicate with tens of thousands of viewers.”

“Tens of thousands? Wow….”

To elaborate at this point, it wasn’t that she had never streamed before. She had occasionally shown her face even before meeting Yoo Jin and had done numerous interviews around this time last year, which could be categorized as streaming.

Besides, considering the unboxing video she appeared in last time, it wasn’t entirely unfamiliar, but… that was when Yoo Jin was there.

However,

“Are you quite interested?”

“Sort of… but tens of thousands. I’m curious about what it feels like to stand alone in front of such a crowd, even if we’re not talking face-to-face.”

“Well, shouldn’t you wash up first to show anything decent?”

“Ah, that’s true. I’ll go wash up-!”

Of course, less than five minutes into washing, she realized that Harmony had subtly piqued her curiosity to quickly get her to wash up.

As expected of the first disciple, a master of psychological warfare. Though she had been tricked, she washed up for about 30 minutes and came out to find Harmony ready to go out, waiting for her.

Wrapped in a bathrobe, she came out with a puzzled expression and asked,

“…What are you doing?”

“Let’s go for a walk. Have you been to Central Park last year?”

“I have, but I was busy practicing all day then.”

“Then this time, you can walk around outside. We can’t just stay in the hotel when we’ve come all the way to New York, right?”

… Anyway, she’s picked up some strange habits. Specifically, that peculiar execution ability and drive.

It didn’t seem like she would leave her in the hotel room today, so with a weary expression, she went into the separate cosmetic room in the guest room and got into the wind case – in simple terms, a device where you could dry your hair from all directions.

With a buzzing sound, the wind blew through her hair from all sides. After adjusting the settings here and there to add volume to her hair, she finished drying it, came out, and started a simple basic makeup.

Since it was winter, she had to be particularly careful to retain moisture.

“Ah, did you know your clothes have arrived? They’re already set up, so you can just open the wardrobe and choose what to wear. The manager who came this morning said so.”

“Thank you. I would have wandered around for a while.”

Harmony handed her a catalog as she spoke. Fortunately, she could see all the clothes inside without having to rummage through the wardrobe, and there were a few decent design combinations suggested in advance.

This wasn’t much different from last year.

After finishing all the preparations, the time was 11:30 AM. She put on a thick padding jacket, a scarf, and even a hat, and a few holograms popped up in front of her eyes as if waiting.

“Food truck?”

“Yes. It’s been a while since we’ve had something like this, hasn’t it?”

“Harmony is placing the order, right? I don’t speak any English.”

“It’s quite confusing to hear someone who could stand at the domestic gate of an airport say they don’t speak English at all.”

Prejudice, prejudice. A misconception that has persisted from the past and will probably continue in the future… If I had known this, I would have just studied English intensively. Rather than being misunderstood, it might be better to turn the misunderstanding into the truth.

Anyway, the temperature projected outside the elevator before going out showed -6 degrees Celsius. It was twice as warm as the day before yesterday and yesterday, but still quite chilly.

After briefly informing the manager of today’s schedule, they left the lobby and started walking outside. Among the many New Yorkers dressed in various outfits, each heading somewhere with a purpose, Harmony subtly guided them to the place she had scouted.

“Buffalo Baby? What a unique name.”

“It’s a grilled cheese sandwich with buffalo chicken inside. They say it has all sorts of things.”

“At this rate, I might have to go exercise tonight.”

“Ugh….”

Delicious things always came with a price.

Unfortunately, it was awfully cold. If they had come about six months earlier, they could have enjoyed lunch sitting on a bench in Central Park, but now, the food would get cold after just a minute outside.

Luckily, the surroundings were filled with temporary tents for those who wanted to enjoy outdoor dining despite the cold. The food trucks also had windbreaks and heaters set up for the buyers.

Fortunately, the order went smoothly.

After sitting down with two sandwiches, the spicy taste that relieved both breakfast and lunch hunger at once stimulated her taste buds.

“Tasty, right?”

“Yes, it’s good.”

After exchanging brief evaluations, the trivial conversations continued.

“Do you know?”

“Know what?”

“Min Ah can now apply to be an SSM trainee.”

“Whoa-!”

Oh, my. That wasn’t the reaction I expected.

As she hurriedly patted Min Ah’s back and handed her a glass of water, she gulped it down and barely regained her composure. It might not have been something to be so surprised about, but perhaps I should have brought up something more mundane.

“…Phew. I suppose it’s not entirely impossible….”

“I haven’t played Domination mode much, so I’m not sure, but to put it in terms of other games, you’re Grandmaster tier, right? Considering you reached it in such a short time like Yoo Jin, your potential is even higher, and if we consider your fame, offers should have already come.”

“Ah, I’ve been checking my emails poorly lately. Coming here as a Dark Zone partner streamer, I received several years’ worth of work at once.”

“Haha, I know what you mean. The clothes we’re wearing now are because of that too….”

After a brief silence, she continued.

“You’re not seriously making an offer, are you?”

“Of course not. If I were to give a reason… what should I say, it would be fun if Min Ah played as a pro alongside Yoo Jin next year?”

“That sounds more appealing than the conditions offered by other teams or advertisers.”

Of course.

But it wasn’t a serious request either.

As they took a few more bites of their sandwiches, a thought suddenly came to mind. It wasn’t a very pleasant one.

“…If Yoo Jin plans to participate in competitions next year, I don’t know.”

“That’s….”

That’s true. Harmony probably didn’t intend to say that.

She was a person with many secrets. Even if it wasn’t a good topic to handle, it was something that might come up when Yoo Jin wasn’t around.

How long did the silence last?

“…But you never know. I only met Yoo Jin about

a month earlier than you, and I don’t have much more to boast about in terms of experience, but… judging by those points, Yoo Jin isn’t someone who would leave us behind.”

“Really?”

“Yoo Jin seems thorough in ending things, but she’s actually very affectionate. If she were going to leave someday, she wouldn’t have invited us home or asked to meet and have meals in real life.”

….

It seemed Harmony won this conversation.

Though the purpose of the conversation wasn’t to determine a winner, still… based on the behavior of the person I’ve seen and something beyond what logic could explain, that answer seemed correct.

“…I guess I’ll have to keep being a pro gamer next year.”

“Really? Then I’ll have to join the team Yoo Jin goes to next year.”

“What? Seriously?”

Such a dizzying idea.

It seemed Harmony didn’t reach the top tier with skills alone.

Anyway, the sandwiches were delicious, and they had enough energy to order and eat one more while continuing their conversation.

“Nice to meet you, Yoo Jin. The Secretary of Defense is waiting. We’ll take you in a limousine.”

“Ah, yes. Got it.”

Meanwhile, Yoo Jin was reaching the climax as soon as she arrived.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you in person. It’s been a day, hasn’t it?”

“Yes, Secretary of Defense.”

“Stand tall and proud. You’re a Medal of Honor recipient.”

That’s right. Seeing the Secretary of Defense salute first outside the airport before boarding the car made my brain freeze for a moment, but thankfully no one around seemed to notice, so I managed to get by.

Thus, for the first time, I boarded the Secretary of Defense’s unofficial protocol vehicle. It was a bit strange to call it a protocol vehicle while being unofficial, but bringing the official one for an unplanned matter like this would cause various troubles.

Anyway, this vehicle also had facilities as impressive as the one used by the President of the United States. It could withstand several rocket launcher hits and could run at 80 km/h even if all the tires were punctured, a monstrous vehicle.

Meanwhile, the conversation continued.

“I wanted to apply the shield technology used in ICARUS Gear, but unfortunately, this is a government vehicle and will be used by the next Secretary of Defense in two months.”

“It seems the next person doesn’t know about this matter.”

“Right. We’re still erasing traces even within DARPA. We’ve already established a corporation under the name ‘think tank,’ so we’ll gradually hand it over to reputable defense contractors in the U.S. These are too shocking to circulate in the current state. And….”

At the same time, an electronic signature floated in mid-air.

Even with my native-level speaking skills, the countless technical terms in hundreds of clauses and notices made my head spin, and Janet spoke first.

“Of course, the technology belongs to you. Therefore, you are the owner of the think tank. Since there’s no reason to go public, you will own 100% of the company’s shares, and I’ll help you with the operation through my connections. This electronic signature states that. I’ve already signed it, so you just need to sign.”

“Complicated. I never thought I’d be handling such business matters coming to America….”

“I heard you know a mid-sized law firm well? If there’s anything you don’t understand, throw this contract at them. If it’s too burdensome, I’ll introduce you to some trustworthy law firms. They consist only of lawyers who would prioritize jumping into the Hudson River over revealing secrets.”

At the same time, several business cards poured out of her pocket. A quick search with ICARUS Gear revealed top-tier law firms in New York specializing in corporate law and intellectual property.

While wondering what to do, Janet, who smoothly put the business cards into my pocket, continued explaining inside the vehicle heading to DARPA.

“The contract has already been finalized, but if you have any doubts, contact the numbers or emails on the business cards. Mention my name, and they’ll send me the invoice. Unless you want to pay the $7,000 hourly consultation fee yourself.”

“If they realize the true value of the technology, they should be paying me $7,000 an hour.”

“Haha! That’s the funniest joke I’ve heard recently. Yes, you’re right. Considering the project that poured billions of dollars over 20 years, even a rough calculation shows the law firm would need to work for 700 years.”

While sharing not-so-joking jokes, we arrived at DARPA, having driven just 5 to 6 km.

As the door opened, I saw many people waiting for the Secretary of Defense.

With polite greetings, they spoke.

“Nice to meet you, Yoo Jin. Secretary Janet. We will guide you to the internal research lab.”

It had only been three days since I arrived in America.

Facing the cold winter wind, I stepped into DARPA’s hidden core instead of VR.