I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 173- Training Start

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[Chief Editor 1: Oh, our sponsor is going crazy again]

[Chief Editor 2: ??????]

[Chief Editor 3: What situation would require breaking a lock with an axe, I really don’t know ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[Thumbnail Creator 1: ]

[Thumbnail Creator 1: It’s great that Yoo Jin doesn’t need to worry about thumbnails ㅋㅋ]

“Puh-hat.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Truly.

I burst out laughing as soon as I saw the thumbnail uploaded in the group chat on the Engram channel run by Yoo Jin’s Yourspace channel editors and thumbnail creators. It was only natural.

How should I describe it? Doodles? A color rough sketch? Anyway, it was at that stage, but it was easy to guess what kind of finished product it would be. The thumbnail creator’s skills were outstanding, making the focal points stand out properly.

I clicked to enlarge it.

In the lower right corner of the picture was a gigantic box – the very item sent by ICARUS to commemorate the completion of the Dark Zone main mission in hardcore mode, which looked terrified and was caught by the tail while trying to run away.

And behind it, Yoo Jin, wrapped in all sorts of items from the unboxing, such as earrings, bracelets, and a chubby padding jacket, was holding a sinisterly glowing axe, ready to strike the lock.

Anthropomorphism… It might not be, but anyway, the giant box that had come to life was desperately shouting.

‘Unboxing! It’s supposed to be an unboxing!!!!’

I burst into laughter.

Naturally, I moved my fingers and added.

[Chief Editor 1: This is Yoo Jin-style unboxing ㅋㅋ]

[Thumbnail Creator 2: Wow, the thumbnail is really innovative ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ How do they come up with this???]

[Thumbnail Creator 1: It’s the masterpiece of my life]

[Chief Editor 2: Fully agree]

With such a presentation, how could one not touch it?

From now on, it was the editor’s domain.

[Chief Editor 3: The unboxing segment is longer than expected. Wouldn’t it be better to split it into two parts?]

[Chief Editor 2: We’re almost done with the main mission editing, so it should be manageable. If no one else wants to, I can handle the general unboxing]

[Chief Editor 3: I’ll handle the ICARUS box unboxing]

[Chief Editor 1: I’ll keep working on the main mission as usual]

[Thumbnail Creator 1: These people are real workaholics ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

But there’s a reason for that.

The sure thing was that even those who had previously worked as editors or thumbnail creators for other streamers would exclaim ‘Wow…’ on payday because of the generous pay. It wasn’t a joke that one paycheck could cover college tuition.

Considering the amount of money Yoo Jin had been making recently, it wasn’t surprising. Moreover, for some reason, there was a massive influx of foreign viewers, so every video had at least 700,000 views on the first day.

[Chief Editor 1: But uploading videos doubles the money!!!!]

[Chief Editor 3: ㅋㅋㄹㅇ]

Anyway, the current goal was to upload one video each tomorrow and the day after. Of course, this was separate from the goal Yoo Jin had set. That goal had been achieved long ago, and any videos uploaded after that were incentives.

The milestone Yoo Jin had set was ‘First, upload all the edited main mission videos,’ so at least one of the three editors had to constantly work on it – meaning two could handle other tasks.

Moreover, it was unboxing. It was an activity that reminded viewers that Yoo Jin, who had been ambiguous between a streamer and a pro gamer lately, was still a streamer. And the result was an astonishing peak viewership of 70,000.

And it wasn’t just a simple unboxing. The tactical tomahawk, boldly pulled out from the start, went beyond cutting tape and eventually broke a thick lock. The axe did get chipped, but it still looked fine.

The product was advertised in the best way possible, emphasizing durability over sharpness.

In fact, orders for the tomahawk surged after that crazy unboxing.

‘…Though I can’t understand why they sent them to us too.’

No matter how you look at it, a streamer sending an axe as a gift to their editors is scary. Even if we did nothing wrong, we felt like we had to apologize.

So I did apologize.

[Yoo Jin: ?????]

Of course, Yoo Jin responded with a bunch of question marks as if they were an elder receiving an unexpected New Year’s bow.

Anyway, since I contacted them, I briefly explained the situation. Naturally, the OK sign came within 3 seconds. So, I started going back and forth between two chat windows to get various permissions and finally uploaded the thumbnail.

And Yoo Jin’s reaction.

[Yoo Jin: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

It was fantastic.

The thumbnail creator had mixed all their skills, passion, and uranium to create it, so I thought they would like it, but their enthusiastic reaction made me feel good too.

[Chief Editor 1: Then I’ll upload it as is ㅎㅎ Shorts will go up on the same day as usual]

[Yoo Jin: You always work hard. Do you still have a lot of monsters left? If not, I’ll send more. I also received some beef as a gift]

[Chief Editor 1: Wow, beef!!!!!!!!!]

[Chief Editor 1: But there are quite a few of us ㅎㅎㅎ….]

[Yoo Jin: Don’t worry about that]

[Yoo Jin: I can provide enough to fill everyone up]

[Chief Editor 1: (a very moved emoticon)]

[Chief Editor 1: I’ll bury my bones here, sniff sniff]

[Chief Editor 1: Yoo Jin is a god!!!!]

[Yoo Jin: Oh, come on]

With permission granted, I left my greeting as always and went back to working from home.

It was time to rely on the energy drinks Yoo Jin frequently sent in boxes. I opened the editing tool and started working. The end of the main mission video was in sight.

It was hard, but ironically, the main mission edited video series had the highest views. They always exceeded 1 million views.

The reason wasn’t anything special; it was because they all cleared with Omega rank.

The hidden achievement condition of the Washington Recovery Mission was revealed to be a chain play leading from clearing all missions with Omega rank, and this boosted the views further.

When else would we get such a response?

“Let’s get to work….”

Today’s video to edit was that very part.

The Washington Recovery Mission. The return of 9-Line.

So there was no need to worry about the upcoming videos. With that in mind, a day, then two, passed. The unboxing videos started to go up one by one.

And.

[Yoo Jin] Unboxing! It’s supposed to be unboxing!!!!! [Ad and Unboxing Review]

[Views: 1,137,987 // 1 day ago]

[Chief Editor 2: Hey, what is this???????????????]

Both of Yoo Jin’s unboxing videos were ranked first in trending videos.

They became legendary in many ways.

How should I put it?

It seemed like the world was becoming too eager to meme every action people took. Or maybe it was because I prioritized being a streamer over a pro gamer.

Anyway, the reason for talking about this was simple,

“Wow! A master at unlocking without tools!”

“They say highly developed strength is indistinguishable from skill, indeed…ahhh!”

“You can’t stop talking before today’s training, huh.”

Drdrdrdrd!

One guy, who was running his mouth unnecessarily, was called to the platform and subjected to ground techniques. It was a truly pitiful scream. But as I said earlier, it was training time now, and in that sense, this was a form of CQB. Also CQC.

Since the timing was right, I shamelessly diverted the topic.

“When the enemy appears, you can neutralize them like this.”

“Wow, the pace is too fast.”

“This is quite excessive close combat, instructor.”

As expected of national representatives, they were quick-witted.

Anyway, it seemed time to explain where I was. To put it very briefly – it was time to prepare in earnest for the Asian qualifiers. The second week’s schedule was coming to an end.

The twenty national representatives divided into five teams performed similar schedules at different times. For example, while I was doing an interview with Dice, Michael, and Gambit on Monday, others were shooting commercials.

This could apply in reverse as well, and thus everyone alternated between reality and virtual reality. Multiple trajectories crossing advertisements and broadcasting had finally stopped.

Nineteen people sat in chairs, all focused on my words on the platform.

Fortunately, or not, the so-called task force mentioned in the previous briefing had remarkably kept their word – reflecting my opinions significantly in the curriculum and training aspects.

I didn’t care much. I was planning to give private lessons to Dice and a few others anyway, so I wouldn’t mind even if the task force insisted.

So, the current situation could be said to be the result of those circumstances.

“…Before we start, I’ll take questions if possible. Resolving your queries is also one of my curriculum goals.”

About ten people raised their hands.

I pointed at them one by one and listened to their questions.

“How will the training be conducted specifically? If it conflicts with the existing curriculum, how will you handle it?”

“We’ve been constantly discussing with the task force this week, exchanging feedback on their suggested manuals, and there were no major conflicts. However, the basic direction might differ.”

“In what way?”

“To put it simply

, passive combat versus active combat. But you don’t need to worry much about the latter. I won’t be pushing that aspect.”

Moreover, there was no one but me to carry out ‘active combat.’

Besides, this wasn’t just any stage, but the Asian qualifiers. The twenty best players from each of the five countries were participating. Unless someone had involuntarily gained four years and two months of practical experience like me, there was no need to bother.

Furthermore, the motif of this curriculum was pressure. The goal was to keep one’s mind clear in any situation, so it didn’t relate much to active combat.

Unlike me, they couldn’t lead the game themselves.

“…You will learn essential skirmish skills, such as reading engagement situations accurately, disrupting enemy offensives, and blocking enemy firepower at the right time, through this training.”

Everyone nodded.

But there was something they didn’t know – none of this would be as easy as it seemed.

“And… I’ll be participating in all simulated engagements where you can learn these.”

“Gasp.”

The room started to stir at that moment.

But within a few seconds, they regained their composure, and many raised their hands again to get answers to new questions.

“Does that mean the process will involve in-depth behavioral analysis like the one Dice user received?”

“Of course. You will undergo this process before the start of the fourth week. An algorithm-based analysis program will list the firearms and attachments best suited for each of you.”

At the same time, I called Dice.

She was the only one who had experienced my entire curriculum firsthand.

“Dice will be the assistant instructor. While most analyses will be done through the algorithm, Dice and I will alternate checking the human factors that might not be identified by it.”

“Is Dice skilled enough for that?”

“I trained her. Her rank in KSM proves the results.”

No matter what, that fact wouldn’t change.

Even if you exclude me, Dice became the first pre-selected candidate in the Second Cycle, which didn’t even come out last year. From that perspective, she had enough authority. Moreover, she had been continuously participating in the instructor training program since Monday….

Of course, it wasn’t that I was an instructor who could train other instructors. As I said before, I never received the instructor curriculum. I just extracted data from ICARUS and taught based on it.

That alone had enough effect.

Anyway, since the topic of attachments came up, the next question followed.

“By the way, Instructor Yoo Jin, you often use LPVO. Is there a reason for that? It’s great for mid to long-range engagements, but in close quarters, it seems impossible without a canted sight.”

“Normally, it’s just a preference… but since last week, there’s also an advertising reason.”

“Sorry?”

“I got a contact from a sight and scope manufacturing company.”

Finally, the questioner nodded, saying ah…

For me, LPVO was used to cover all ranges of engagements. If I wanted to maximize performance in engagements, I could use EOTech, red dot, and various other sights.

I had never experienced a level of engagement requiring such minute differences since I arrived here. Simply put, it’s like the difference between off-the-shelf and custom-made… I guess.

Moreover, LPVO is actually huge and heavy. There’s a reason others avoid it in games.

Anyway, with that, the question time roughly ended.

I clapped to refresh the atmosphere and added.

“Does everyone have time from now on?”

No one said they didn’t.

I took a deep breath and snapped my fingers. Instantly, the place that had been an auditorium transformed into a simulated engagement zone.

As everyone’s expressions turned into amazement, I beckoned to Dice. As she stood next to me, putting on a red hat, I spoke up.

“If so, we will now begin the trial version of the training course.”

It was time to put some tension back into these relaxed individuals.

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