I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 174 ­ Hard Work

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“I don’t know if it will be alright.”

“I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I’m talking about Yoo Jin’s curriculum.”

“Wasn’t that already discussed?”

It was snowing outside.

Naturally, it wasn’t something to talk about in late September. Snow was something you could only find if you intentionally sought out the polar regions or climbed high, towering mountain ranges.

It was an unrealistic sight.

In other words, it wasn’t reality. This meant they were in a virtual world. In the midst of a nameless snow-covered mountain ridge stood a single villa. Inside, two people were having a conversation.

These two were members of a task force, specially assembled from the renowned coaching staff and directors of each team. To be precise, one was a core director, and the other was a member of the coaching staff.

Silence lingered until the director finally hit the nail on the head.

“You seem uneasy.”

“I suppose so.”

A straightforward admission.

Instead of trying to logically refute the statement, the coaching staff member just nodded. No matter how much one tried to excuse it, the direction of the heart was aligned with what the director pointed out.

Uneasy. That was a fact. It couldn’t be helped. It was something that had never been attempted before. But the problem was that there wasn’t a better alternative. Task force. The term sounded grand, but even this couldn’t be declared a special method.

Both of them knew this. It was obvious. The professional gaming world and its tournaments had only been around for three years. The 3rd KSM, the 3rd Asia Preliminary Round, the 3rd Final Championship…nothing was standardized.

It was like being given a heap of materials and told to build a boat to cross the sea and reach the finish line. What shape of boat would be advantageous, what the weather would be like on the way, whether there would be a typhoon or not…

What should be done?

The answer came slowly.

“At first, I thought it was an efficiency issue. Analyzing the speed at which the opponent reveals their cards, their preferred choices, the game rules…and then responding accordingly. It felt like analyzing a rock-paper-scissors game down to the nanosecond.”

There was no reaction to this.

But the conversation continued.

“Have you ever seen Yoo Jin’s training?”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t. Have you?”

“Once.”

There were no further words after that.

However, just that one sentence was enough for the coaching staff to immediately grasp how significant it was. It meant he had only seen her actual training once. But that single instance changed everything.

He smiled and added,

“If we have a lot of cards, if we help them get many, then there’s no need to prepare an effective tactic to counter the opponent’s strategy. We just need to act accordingly.”

“You think Yoo Jin can make others like that.”

“There is a premise.”

A brief silence.

The director didn’t bother to recite the impressive curriculum and the path she had walked. He just took a moment to gather his thoughts and added,

“Which promising coach or director could put Dice on top within a month?”

“…”

“Dice isn’t second place. It’s first. Many people overlook this. Similarly, Yoo Jin…we can’t say she’s number one. She’s someone who doesn’t even need the Asian preliminaries.”

The conversation continued.

“Recently, I reviewed her curriculum and personal training.”

“What was it like?”

“It wasn’t the quality of a gamer.”

A rather unexpected remark.

But its meaning was clear.

“…It felt like what an actual operator would do. It didn’t feel like she was nurturing a pro gamer.”

“Should I take it that you didn’t say anything?”

“Well, I haven’t said anything since earlier.”

A sensitive point.

All their conversations fell into darkness.

A voice that seemed devoid of emotion followed.

“If it helps, I’ll gladly accept it.”

“What will you do if Yoo Jin leaves later?”

“I just hope the players absorb a lot of knowledge until then.”

At the same time, he continued,

“And if a strategy devised by numerous scholars is inferior to one created by a single mind, then it would be better to be eliminated, don’t you think?”

“…Haha. Quite the joke.”

“I wish it weren’t a joke.”

Haha.

Hahaha.

Only dry laughter echoed intermittently.

───Thudududu!

“Ouch!”

“Wow, how did you get in there despite the bad position?”

“The accuracy of suppressive fire is insane. How is this even suppressive fire?”

There was only one enemy, but multiple causes of death.

Multiple wills.

The moment a gap appeared, the geographical and positional advantage was quickly overturned. If the same mistake was made again, the next time, a bone-chilling attack would pour into the soft side. Even in a small-scale scrim, Dice’s moves were as unrestrained as playing a normal game.

For other users, who increasingly avoided engagements as they ascended, it was indeed shocking. Moreover, it wasn’t Yoo Jin but Dice’s actions. If they didn’t respond timely, they’d be torn apart in an instant.

­Even if it seems simple and straightforward, Dice’s movements are much more precise and intentional than you think. But if you respond with a little caution, it would be simpler than you expect. Keep trying.

The moment you die, you’re redeployed. That was the same for Dice. The first goal today was to get used to escaping the pressure of engagements.

The battlefield situation changed rapidly, faster than seconds could measure. Initially, everyone was confused and stumbled in response, but as time passed, they made more composed judgments.

As the scrim progressed, encountering the enemy became routine, giving everyone opportunities to try various strategies in diverse terrains and situations that they had never considered or attempted before.

Of course, the situation changed dramatically once Yoo Jin officially stepped in.

“Wow, insane!”

If you kill an enemy, it’s suppressive fire.

Following this crazy motto, battles broke out repeatedly. While others desperately racked their brains to find ways to deal with it, Yoo Jin’s database accumulated points one by one.

Gradually, everyone realized.

Engagements, CQB, and combat were insanely complex and difficult as you delved deeper into them.

Time, stained with madness and fatigue, flowed on.

Under numerous categories, various videos piled up. Hundreds of invisible transparent cams recorded every player’s play from different angles in real-time, saving the engagements under specific keywords.

For instance, if the keyword was ‘the speed at which a user draws a sidearm when out of ammo’, the cam following the player would record that scene and save it under the corresponding category.

The same went for other keywords. How the player preferred to engage in narrow, inconvenient places, what their weaknesses were, what weapons they preferred when switching, how they adjusted the positions of attachments…

These gathered data combined and formed a blueprint resembling a single user.

“Haa.”

Even Dice was sweating from the arduous labor. Naturally, data wasn’t gathered quickly.

Moreover, the precision of the blueprint Yoo Jin aimed to form was incomparable to before. It was natural to need that much information, and the only solution was time.

In other words, it was a method of grinding people.

Even with breaks every 30 minutes, the individual mental stamina of the twenty players was being consumed at an extremely rapid pace.

“Let’s take a 20-minute break from now.”

“Ugh, I’m gonna die…!”

“My fingers, I can’t put any strength in my index fingers, haha….”

Everyone was half out of their minds.

The only one who was fine among them, of course, was Yoo Jin. Even Dice lay sprawled on the ground, struggling to breathe, but she calmly checked the amount of gathered information without even disturbing her breath.

63%. Even this percentage could provide considerable insights for skill improvement. Furthermore, seeing their condition, it was clear that pushing them into the same engagements any further would likely cause adverse effects.

If they continued groaning even after the 20-minute break, she had to seriously consider temporarily suspending the orientation. Overtraining might sound good, but practically it was of no help.

‘What’s left to do now?’

Even if she said so, there wasn’t much to do until the orientation ended. Once the analysis was complete, they could finally start training proper.

She shouldn’t even give practical tips or advice that could help in engagements yet. At least, those who taught Yoo Jin did it that way.

She examined the collected data. Naturally, the data from those who had experienced various battlefields piled up first. In other words, those who led by example, throwing themselves into the flames of engagement and perishing.

These people, although it was OT, could receive meaningful advice.

“Hmm.”

She waited for about 15 minutes while looking around, but everyone was still motionless, half collapsed on the ground. They had stopped all thoughts to recover their mental strength.

It felt like the time when they chewed stimulants and defended HQ for 48 hours without sleep, securing external bridgeheads, and then going out for support without rest, and once the situation was settled, everyone fainted as soon as the tension was relieved.

…Although, I don’t really have the right to talk since I wet my pants after my first engagement.

Anyway, at this point, it seemed better to either take a long break or just end the OT.

She changed the surroundings. Unlike earlier, when they switched from the auditorium to the engagement area, this time it was the opposite. You could say it was a return to the origin.

She also changed the chairs to more comfortable ones. Instead of the normal chairs earlier, now they had massage chairs or those comfortable reclining ones you’d see in a movie theater. Briefly surprised by the sudden comfort, they opened their mouths.

“Don’t drift off to dreamland; just listen in that state. Today’s engagements, lasting over 6 hours, were meant to help you get used to the pressure of battle and

to collect data to properly operate the analysis engine.”

Murmuring.

But they only tried to share the information. In other words, they just made zombie-like noises without saying anything coherent. Constructing logical sentences also required mental effort.

So she added briefly.

“In other words, today and tomorrow will be a repetition of the same process. The total data collection rate is currently at 63%, so by tomorrow, the OT should conclude safely.”

“OT!?”

Of course, that wasn’t the point they were shocked at.

But the important part was separate.

“Doberman. Overall, all firearms’ MOA is fine, but your positioning and response to unexpected situations are a bit lacking. You could be considered a sharpshooter type. So, I recommend maps like NBV Desert Base and Atakaya Volcanic Island. Maps to avoid are High-Value Research Facility.”

“…Huh?”

“The method to compensate for your weaknesses is simpler than you think. You should experience close-quarter engagements within 30 meters as often as possible. Your MOA drops significantly during moving shots, so you need to fix that…but shooting isn’t the only solution. As you go higher, everyone will have those qualities.”

Regio Invicta’s player Doberman, who was lying in a chair, suddenly got up, but her words didn’t stop.

“Mikael of Reaper Infected. You handle general engagements well for someone whose main is the shield. But the gap between the two playstyles is extreme, so unless you can switch between the two methods at a speed 50% faster than now, it will be a persistent headache.”

One by one, like dismantling, she enumerated.

“I don’t intend to teach you how to win tournaments. But I can teach you how to get rid of every enemy trying to kill you right in front of you.”

I don’t teach how to pick locks.

Instead, I hand them a blunt instrument that can smash the lock, help them build strength to wield it, and teach the correct posture and method.

That’s what I had learned.

Suddenly, all nineteen people were making eye contact with me.

I exhaled lightly.

A smile hung on my lips.

“Some of you might not fit this curriculum. But seeing you all still here today, it seems I don’t need to worry about that.”

Before I knew it, everyone stood up.

Looking them in the eyes, I opened my mouth.

“Welcome to the training.”

Applause erupted.

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