I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 67 – Clay Pigeon

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– Script playing.

“Hello, everyone. This is Unreal.

Although I wasn’t a professional gamer, I once worked in the Dark Zone esports industry, so today I’m responding to your requests through this video.

Fortunately, I still had the contact information from last time, and I received permission to create this video. So, for the RealDan viewers watching, there’s no need to worry.

Let’s get started.

Xi IMPRESSIVE. It’s one of the leading pro teams in our country. While they haven’t achieved a dramatic first-place finish out of nowhere during a slump, it’s hard to find a team that consistently ranks high in many tournaments held in the Dark Zone.

And as you all know, Xi is one of the few teams that meets these tough conditions. They’re jokingly called the ‘Runner-Up Line,’ but standing firm in a place where blood storms blow every season is not something to overlook.

Anyway, I’ve talked enough. Let’s look at the scrimmage results.

As many of you already know, not much is revealed through scrimmages. At most, the movement routes, match results, and if we’re lucky, a bit of video. This is all to prevent any tactic leaks.

That’s also why today’s video isn’t very long. There’s not much to talk about. It’s possible to compare with the previous season to see which players have improved, if there are any rising stars, or if any players are underperforming, but it’s difficult to do a detailed play analysis.

However, the analysts of each team will analyze it much more thoroughly than we do, so there’s no need to worry too much about that.

Let’s get started in earnest.

As you can see from the screen, the most peculiar part of yesterday’s scrimmage was the collection of first-place winners from the sessions. The nickname is a bit unique, but if you’ve played the Dark Zone even a little deeply, you’ll recognize this person immediately.

Yoo Jin.

The user who is currently heating up the internet endlessly. This is also the reason why I decided to make this video.

Of course, the Dark Zone is incredibly vast. It’s classified as a comprehensive FPS game, so those who mainly enjoy the main content of the game, like looter shooting or PVE, may not know them well.

Back to the point, sometimes during my broadcasts, some people ask about this. At the time, I had forgotten a lot about AP soloing and mumbled my answers, but after deciding to dig into it properly, this user was truly beyond imagination.

Most people’s questions were as follows:

‘How skilled is Yoo Jin? Could they compete at the pro level?’

Honestly, I couldn’t be sure when I heard this.

But after checking the scrimmage results…this question was utterly pointless. As you can see on the screen, can you believe it? A record of 15 first-place finishes out of 23 matches is something I’ve never seen in my life.

Assuming that 10-15% of the participants in each session were pros, with such a record, I think all the teams are watching this person with eyes sharper than blades.

As many of you already know, the higher you go in AP, the more exponentially skill is required. To become number one, numerous variables such as individual physical ability, map reading skills, aim shooting skills, and improvisation must converge at one point.

Given this situation, the fact that such a match result was proudly posted on Xi’s official website…suggests that there is some level of intent mixed in. I can’t precisely guess why, but it’s frustrating.

But one thing is certain, scrimmages will continue today. They will keep happening until the qualifying ranks open, and once the top 100 players are selected, they will proceed with them until the Asian qualifiers.

I don’t know what’s going on up there, but it surely isn’t a static situation.

Then, let’s start the analysis in earnest. The first match is….

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.

.

.

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“…Yoo Jin.”

“Yes?”

“Who exactly are you?”

“I wonder.”

Smoke rose eerily from the gun barrel.

The skyrocketing heartbeat was suppressed to a certain level through years of experience. At the end of the immense concentration that even felt the trigger’s texture on my fingertip, countless corpses were piled up like a mountain.

Running around wildly, deflecting incoming grenades with my tail to explode elsewhere, throwing Dice aside to dodge before grenades exploded nearby, snatching the shotgun from an assault soldier, killing them, and using their body as a shield.

Even unexpected enemies suddenly appearing in previously cleared areas were a difficulty that brought my survival instincts to the fullest after a long time.

I carefully suppressed my belatedly heavy breaths and emerged from the trance of concentration. Fortunately, Dice had also fought hard.

Of course, when the distance with the opponent closed to a few meters, and even the possibility of melee combat from centuries ago arose, there was a limit to coping. Wielding the buttstock like a person in combat and using close combat techniques, what could one do?

It certainly required a different level of improvisation compared to AP soloing.

Anyway, we survived.

I didn’t know what Dice learned from this battle, but ultimately, both of us were alive, so that was good enough.

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, I spoke.

“You need a lot more practice in close combat.”

“…I guess so.”

Hah.

A long sigh escaped from beside me.

By now, it seemed to have worn out.

UI at the top.

It had been an hour and a half since we started the mission, and due to the difficulty, we were just under halfway through. Originally, I hadn’t planned to clear it, but once you get this far, you tend to feel the sunk cost.

After tidying up the surroundings, I collected ammunition from the ammo box. While it didn’t replenish items like grenades, those could be found by looting corpses. However, Dice seemed quite surprised.

“…You really are hardcore.”

“I’ve never lied, you know.”

“It’s just that you’ve done so much, it’s hard to believe even seeing it with my own eyes.”

“Haha….”

Handing over a few unused grenades, we moved to the next location.

Basically, the mission was to wipe out the enemy special forces who were trying to play a nasty prank at the power plant. This included restoring overloaded facilities and taking down boss-level enemies.

Honestly, it was a pretty linear and straightforward mission. Perhaps that’s why it had the highest difficulty level.

There was still a significant amount of time before the scrimmage, and this mission served as both practice and a conversation opportunity.

Before entering the enemy-occupied area, the chatter continued.

“When I see Yoo Jin, I feel like the mindset is different. As if they truly believe they’ll die if they don’t catch those guys…does it hurt when you die in hardcore mode?”

“Of course not. I’ve been curious, but when you die, it’s just a normal death.”

“…Why don’t you know that?”

“I rarely die….”

…It wasn’t just my imagination that this person was looking at me with increasingly strange eyes.

Anyway, the battles continued several times. The process was an utter mess that could be compared to wringing oneself out, but Dice gradually adapted to it.

Should I say it’s because they’re a professional gamer? Or is it just their natural ability? It seemed better to think that they adapted quickly due to basic skills.

By the way,

“The next terrain looks quite impressive. Forcing users to break through such a balcony structure is pretty harsh.”

“…Well, how about we save here and continue next time?”

“Haha.”

The words carried an underlying feeling of “please, no more….”

But as always, the world doesn’t flow according to someone’s wishes. Especially in AP soloing, where wanting doesn’t prevent surrounding users from attacking.

I chuckled softly and opened my mouth.

“I believe you have an idea of what I’ll say next.”

Dice’s expression was worth seeing.

– [Notice: Power plant output rising.]

– [Current objective: Seize the area.]

– [Remaining time // 15:39:05]

“How are we supposed to do this in 15 minutes…are they crazy?”

“It seems it will be quite tough. Maximize your focus and be prepared for everything.”

“…More focus than now?”

“You’ve probably experienced tougher matches, you’ll be fine.”

No.

Not fine at all….

Before starting, I thought it would be a straightforward task of covering for each other’s shortcomings based on my experience, then exiting to the lobby after 30-40 minutes for debriefing.

Could that be madness?

Not the kind with blood and weird faces and loud screaming, but the kind that tenaciously accomplishes something that seems utterly impossible while maintaining some semblance of achievement…somehow.

However, contrary to those thoughts, my body moved based on the practices I’ve accumulated, seeking ways to survive this hell.

Even during scrimmages, I never handled such a massive amount of information, but now, I was straining my eyes to the point of drying out while searching for enemies and shooting.

Each shot was crucial.

If an enemy wasn’t neutralized effectively and immediately, suppressive fire would come in. In AP soloing, even if suppressive fire was used, situations where one was flanked were rare, allowing time to think, but….

Now, it was different. Enemies were closing in from all sides like a net, and fighting recklessly like before would soon get me down.

“There’s a medic behind the lower-left tube frame. Take them out first. Reloading. Cover me.”

“Ugh, an assault soldier…!”

Tudududu!

Flicking the selector switch with my thumb, setting it to automatic, I pumped numerous bullets into the assault soldier about to throw a

concussion grenade from the front.

As the round, hand-sized grenade hit the floor and exploded with a roar, Yoo Jin swiftly finished reloading and took down the last enemy.

Taking cover again, I shouted.

“Reloading!”

“Watch out for white phosphorus spread rounds.”

—Boom!

Along with a booming sound, thick screams echoed.

Finishing the reload and looking down across, white phosphorus shells were scattered like a bomb had exploded in midair, burning the assault soldiers trying to rush in below.

“What the heck is happening!?”

“I shot them down with my gun. It’s like clay shooting. Have you tried it before?”

“…How can you be so calm?”

Even so, I continued shooting without losing my focus. There wasn’t much time to wonder and argue about every little thing because the situation wasn’t in a favorable form.

It felt like squeezing every ounce of my capabilities as the sensation crawled up my limbs. Focusing all my nerves on one engagement made my head ache and my fingers tremble.

Had there been any situation where I was this serious other than in tournaments?

In the meantime, something appeared in front of my eyes.

– [New objective alert: Activate the safety valve <03=””>]

“I’ll turn the valve. Cover me.”

“…I’ll grit my teeth and do it.”

“That’s the spirit.”

With Yoo Jin swiftly traversing the complex terrain, I bit my lip and focused.

Reaching this far into the highest difficulty with only two people was rare, erasing all previous common sense and thoughts, concentrating bloodshot eyes on the unfolding events.

Failure here meant starting over from the beginning.

As a user, not a pro gamer, I didn’t want to see that.

Ironically, in a full circle, I was unexpectedly being comprehensively tested for all the capabilities a pro should possess.

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