I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 176 – Bad Dream

* * *

“Wow, the facilities are great. Is this Korea? Let’s see, the name is… Incheon? Is this the Incheon Airport?”

“Stop showing off and come here, Viktor. I understand that you’re excited to see the airport, but we have a lot to do once we get to the accommodation. We also need to think about adjusting to the time difference.”

“Don’t act smart with the knowledge you read from Wiki five minutes before arriving, Yelena. As long as we have VR, we can quickly adapt to the time difference.”

“Hey, keep it down. Coach Michael will be back soon.”

The group, who had been bickering, fell silent.

There was no need for a lengthy guess; it was obvious that they were the national team representing Russia. Viktor, the one who had spoken, looked around and shook his head. It would have been nice if there had been a welcoming crowd, but of course, there wasn’t.

It wasn’t because they were unpopular, but because the twenty members of the team were arriving separately. Moving twenty people at once required considerable attention — although they were all scheduled to arrive within two days.

The reason for this approach was clear if one thought about it for a moment.

If all twenty of them came together, they would have difficulty moving around. How could a group of twenty people roam around a foreign country comfortably, not knowing the geography? It would be fortunate if they didn’t get lost.

In any case, the reason they fell silent wasn’t anything special.

Coach Michael. Rumored to be from the FSB’s Vympel Group, this man was one of the most feared coaches by the national team.

Although the past was buried by time and he was now closely associated with the latest trends and technologies like VR, his presence hadn’t faded easily — at least, Michael felt so subconsciously.

Meanwhile, like the Korean saying, “Speak of the tiger and it will appear,” Michael, with his characteristic sharp and stern Slavic features, approached them silently.

Since arriving in Korea, his expression seemed even more rigid. His appearance automatically made the Russian national team members think that this wasn’t going to be easy. It didn’t help that he looked like he was in a particularly bad mood.

Of course, it was half an illusion. Half of it was true, though.

His heavy voice echoed in the space.

“Let’s go. We’re not that late, so we should be able to reach the hotel within the scheduled time. I heard dinner is a hotel buffet, so exploring the area will only be possible after adjusting to the time difference. Keep that in mind.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I heard the weather is quite hot. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a couple of bottles of vodka in the hotel room’s fridge?”

“Ask the ICARUS staff.”

Of course, he still did his job as a coaching staff member.

Aside from devising strategies and tactics, there were quite a few things a coach had to do. If his former colleagues saw him, they’d probably mock him for running errands for kids with his bulky body, but Michael didn’t mind.

At least he believed in being diligent in everything, which had motivated him not only as a special forces member but also after finding a new job post-discharge. And he liked this calmness.

But there was one separate issue.

‘…Something feels very off.’

This was his third visit to Korea, but for some reason, this trip felt bad from the start. It wasn’t that he felt something big would happen; it was just a simple, personal feeling.

A heavy sense of unease that was hard to describe. It felt like sticking his face into the open jaws of a tiger. He was a professional who knew not to let personal feelings interfere with work, but humans couldn’t entirely ignore such feelings.

Sigh.

Under the clear sky of Korea, transitioning from September to October, he let out a small sigh that no one noticed even while seated in the limousine.

If asked when this started, he could say it began after seeing Yoo Jin. It wasn’t because he doubted those following his curriculum would do well. It was something more on a different level.

His chest and part of his head felt oddly tingly. He wasn’t sure if it was tension, but it wasn’t far off. It felt like his head was foggy.

It wasn’t to the extent of interfering with daily life. But to be precise, it was the kind of feeling that hovered between curiosity and annoyance without crossing the line.

While thinking about this, he eventually fell into a light sleep.

The dream he had was bizarre.

‘….’

Buildings of New York resembling the Dark Zone.

He was crossing the city with his teammates, engaged in a firefight with someone. Urgent communications going back and forth. Teammates falling one by one. And in the final moment, bullets piercing his chest multiple times.

The last thing he saw was a silhouette hard to make out. But somehow, it resembled Yoo Jin, who he had been observing recently. Unexpectedly, that silhouette pointed a gun at his head.

With a bang, he woke up with a start.

“…Ugh.”

What a crazy dream.

It seemed he had gone mad from analyzing Yoo Jin’s gameplay too much. He definitely needed to ask the ICARUS staff if there were any foods good for his health once they reached the hotel.

The limousine sped towards Seoul, carrying the Russian national team and their coach.

───Rustle.

“…This isn’t right.”

Unpacking wasn’t over yet.

To be more precise, it wasn’t that the unboxing hadn’t ended, but that the advertising requests were unending. This wasn’t an ordinary issue. By the third week, all the ads should have been handled, but they just kept pouring in.

As much as I wanted to complain, there was something you needed to know first.

The sound of something clicking on.

“〔Yoo Jin〕 It’s unboxing! It’s unboxing!!!!! [Ad and unboxing review]”

“[Views: 5,992,731 // <10 days ago>]”

To be honest, the last unboxing video was an excessive hit.

Furthermore, not just the edited video, but even the full-length video, which took about three to four hours — in other words, the video that included ads and sponsored items that had to be omitted in the unboxing video — surpassed 800,000 views.

From the advertisers’ perspective, it was a jackpot. Particularly, the orders for the tactical axe and its sister product, the tactical spike hammer, which I used to break open the boxes and locks, went crazy.

In addition, accessories for avatars that unnecessarily suited me, wallets, and even a padded jacket, which was unexpectedly popular even though it wasn’t winter yet.

It was a complete mess.

As a result, numerous advertisers who enjoyed this overdose of advertising windfall now specifically requested so many ads and sponsorships that it was impossible to handle them all, even up to the Asian preliminaries, let alone the third week.

This was the result. The mountain of packages right in front of me. Moreover, SSM slyly presented a contract with all sorts of favorable conditions, offering to manage all the products and contracts being delivered to my house.

Even though scrims were starting tomorrow, what on earth was going on?

“Sigh.”

I carefully sat on the sofa, making sure my tail didn’t get caught.

Ironically, this was also something I received. I thought it would be quite useful, so I filmed an ad for it. Of course, it didn’t air on public broadcast; I used this sofa to do various broadcast contents like in the last unboxing.

Of course, the response was quite good. Whether it led to actual purchases, I wasn’t sure, but that wasn’t my concern.

Some might say it was irresponsible to take an ad and not care about it, but a sofa isn’t something people would immediately buy just because “Yoo Jin advertised it!” due to its price and size. So, I couldn’t advise on it.

That was the feeling.

Anyway, back to the scrim preparation.

The fourth week was approaching fast. Recently, due to my situation, Dice had been handling quite a lot of work. I oversaw the main aspects while Dice took care of the very detailed parts.

Though it might be less effective than if I managed everything directly, the 18 national team members, aside from Dice and me, had been given a general direction after about two weeks of training, so there wasn’t a big problem.

This was a typical example.

A message from Dice.

– [Dice: Yoo Jin, Yoo Jin, Yoo Jin]

– [Dice: It seems like they’re feeling a lot these days, hahaha]

– [Yoo Jin: ?]

– [Dice: They say the curriculum assigned by the task force is easier than last year, lol]

– [Dice: Thanks to Yoo Jin? ???]

A message sent by Seo Ye-rin a few days ago.

At first, I didn’t quite understand what this meant, but after looking into it, I realized that their combat execution ability had improved by about 14% compared to last year.

14 percent.

It might seem small, but considering that this result came after only about two weeks of hard training, it was a significant improvement. It was particularly encouraging that those who were already considered at the peak had found room for further improvement.

Considering that only two more could advance to the finals, given that Dice and I already had assigned spots, it felt a bit regretful.

Anyway, when I opened the message window, there was something else that caught my eye.

– [Dice: Since the scrims start in a few days, shouldn’t you also review the analysis results of each player, Yoo Jin?]

– [Dice: I’ll send the attachment, so read it whenever you have time!]

A PDF file in the attachment section below.

I had already read it a few times. I roughly understood the content. Of course, if someone asked, “Can you manage with rough understanding?” I wouldn’t have a proper answer. Honestly, I wasn’t familiar with it.

In the past, I didn’t know exactly who my enemies were when I fought. I just took down anyone shooting at me and the Dagger team… but I did thoroughly understand the data on high-risk targets.

Maybe I was just being lazy. At least for now, I was trying to see how far my skills would carry without this “preparation” and how much my body remembered.

And perhaps getting used to these unnecessary procedures was one way to restore the social skills and humanity I had lost over four years.

It might all be an excuse.

“Sigh.”

Spending time alone at home, these trivial thoughts occasionally came to mind. Maybe that’s why I was so dedicated to working out.

This had happened many times in the past. Whether I could return home or settle here safely. Though accumulating skills and achievements and seeing new settlements sprout wherever ICARUS touched provided some comfort, missing home was missing home.

Moreover, after all this time, things had changed so much. My parents were assigned as branch managers of some corporation overseas, so I couldn’t even meet them… Whenever these
thoughts arose, I used to relieve them at the shooting range. But here, I couldn’t even make one.

Maybe I should get a home gym so I won’t have time for these kinds of thoughts.

While I was mulling over such thoughts, a call came in. This time, it wasn’t an avatar-mediated call; it was a real voice call. It was from Dice.

The familiar soft voice tickled my ears.

“Yoo Jin! You’re still up. What are you doing?”

“Unboxing today, unboxing tomorrow. It’s late today, so why don’t you come by my place tomorrow and take some of this stuff? I have a chair that’s good for your back.”

“Oh, carrying it is hard. If you send it by courier, I’d appreciate it….”

“The shipping cost is cash on delivery, and the contents are random. You might get a sad frog eye mask or a hat with a propeller. Or maybe a bean sprout growing kit.”

“You have a knack for picking things no one wants.”

“People should be versatile.”

Despite the fierce exchange of sharp remarks, Dice agreed to come over tomorrow or the day after to help with the unboxing.

When I subtly asked about appearing in the video, at first, Dice was reluctant, but then agreed, saying it would be quite fun with motion capture and avatar conversion equipment. This indicated that Dice probably hadn’t watched my stream.

When I asked, it turned out to be true. However, since Dice hadn’t missed any of the curriculum, I let it slide. After all, people don’t have to watch streams all the time.

The second topic followed.

“Last week, the first Russian team arrived. Zvezda, MKVS, Sputnik, and Strelka. The coaching staff includes Michael. They arrived in groups of twenty, a day apart. It’s not very important, but I thought you’d want to know.”

“…I wasn’t completely ignoring it. I read all the PDF files you sent.”

“Wow.”
What does this person think of me?

Meanwhile, keywords triggered automatic recollections. The file Dice sent contained details about the Russian users. They were brutal and wild in their approach. They didn’t discriminate between Eastern and Western firearms.

It wasn’t something I paid much attention to. Guns, after all, have slight individual differences, but their purpose is always to kill the enemy. The fact that their methods were brutal and wild seemed more like a Russian stereotype.

That tough, rugged image associated with Slavs. The gameplay of Russian Dark Zone pro gamers, especially with a strong scent of Spetsnaz, couldn’t be any other way.

But as it was before and probably is now…

‘There’s nothing major to prepare for.’

More than knowing how to kill the same operators, my specialty and that of all my team members was killing highly trained enemy soldiers who had infiltrated the homeland.

Among them, Russians, especially those from Spetsnaz, had often dyed the Hudson River red with their blood.

…Maybe I was thinking too deeply.

“Anyway, do you have any strategies? Any surefire ways to deal with the enemies or something like that?”

“Study the textbooks. Everything comes from what you’ve learned.”

“…Ugh. I thought so. Well, I’ll rely on you again this time. Okay?”

“You should rely on yourself, not on others.”

“Of course. By the way───”

The familiar voice erased the cluttered thoughts in my head.

As the bizarre logic circuits formed from useless assumptions and past experiences slowly cleared away, Dice continued chatting as always.

And so, the call with Dice, who contacted me to check our preparations against the Russian players, turned into a usual chat session.

A common occurrence.