I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 71 ­ Game Suggestion

* * *

“Wow….”

In the living room, on the sofa, lay a petite homeowner.

Broadcasting under the name Harmony, she had a somewhat excited look in her eyes as she placed her phone on her stomach and stared at the ceiling.

Countless emotions surged within her.

Specifically, it was as if all the memories she had built up with Yoo Jin were being completely transformed, creating a sort of byproduct. How should I describe it? Wonder? It was a feeling more awe-inspiring than that.

It was certainly not betrayal. Yoo Jin hadn’t lied to her, after all. She just wished she had been informed earlier, but given the nature of the situation, it couldn’t be helped.

An Emerger.

Such people were rare in the world, and even if they did exist, they were usually well-protected by the government. Information about their whereabouts was passed on in whispers and secrecy, making intentional meetings virtually impossible.

But who could have imagined this identity?

She had only thought that he was either a very athletic fitness trainer or a robust man who had served in South Korea’s special forces. The world always provided dynamics beyond imagination.

However, that was only for a moment.

Harmony soon began to recall the memories of the past three to four weeks, which had felt both short and long.

The emotions she felt when she first started Dark Zone. It was as if the VRMMORPGs she had played, with their dreams and hopes, were starkly denied by the bleak, snow-covered dead city.

During the seven or so hours she spent traversing that place, she felt as if almost everything in this world was hostile towards her—a struggle of everyone against everyone.

In the midst of that, she had met Yoo Jin for the first time.

Naturally, that first intense meeting didn’t end with just one encounter. It naturally led to a second, then a third, and well… many things happened in between.

Anyway, she quickly rose to the ranks of a top streamer, choosing content like Apex Predator to showcase her skills wildly.

From this perspective, it seemed like… oh, someone she knew had become incredibly successful. But. If it turned out that the well-crafted avatar was actually herself, then the story changes quite a bit.

The appearances in the Unauthorized Zone.

The appearances at the shooting range.

The appearances in the missions.

The appearances in survival.

And more, and more….

Wait a minute.

So, does that mean the avatar she showed was actually herself all along?

Only then did Harmony realize the gravity of the situation and hastily picked up her phone.

– [Harmony: This is a complete scam on the public, teacher!!!!!!!!]
– [Yoo Jin: ??????]

Well, but.

If her identity were to be revealed later—even if not directly from Yoo Jin’s mouth—let’s be honest, it would be like saying, ‘Ta-da! You guys have been watching the real Yoo Jin all this time, not just an avatar!’

Frankly, there wouldn’t be much to say even if the chat was flooded with hooks for at least 30 minutes, right?

Revealing her identity later would be easy. To the viewers asking when she would show her face, she could just say, ‘You’ve been watching me all along,’ and that would be the end of it.

…If this isn’t deception, then what is?

It seemed that someone who had served in the special forces was different in how they deceived others.

– [Harmony: Seriously, what do I do,,,]
– [Harmony: From now on, should I bury my face in my pillow and shout, ‘Yoo Jin teacher is a real anaconda’??]
– [Harmony: My mouth is itching even now,, (·o·)]
– [Yoo Jin: Oh dear]
– [Yoo Jin: Let’s meet at the police station then]
– [Harmony: So cruel,,,ㅠㅠㅠ!!!]

It was actually frightening because it could very well happen….

Anyway, aside from her itching to talk, it was true that she was genuinely looking forward to the future. In just a few months, who knows how much more famous that person could become? You never know. She might single-handedly dominate the Dark Zone community.

If she already knew everything when the bomb dropped and the world was burning all around, that could be fun in its own way.

Meanwhile, the messages continued, and the topic shifted to restaurants.

Whether it was a trait of all Emergers or just Yoo Jin, Harmony wasn’t sure, but Yoo Jin had mentioned she ate a lot. So without much thought, Harmony booked the most expensive buffet she knew of, making the reservation easily.

Nearly 300,000 won disappeared from her bank account in an instant, but with the money she was earning, it wasn’t much of an issue.

If there was a bigger problem, it was,

‘…I won’t be able to diet, and if we meet in real life, won’t she pressure me to go to the gym together…?’

Imagining herself struggling to lift the lightest barbell while Yoo Jin watched and counted reps without mercy, Harmony could see a future where she’d be broadcasting from her bed or sofa, her whole body aching from muscle pain.

Shaking her head vigorously, she felt the hazelnut-colored hair sway lightly.

It was summer.

Tactical Advisor.

Also known as a strategy consultant.

In today’s world… of course, this is limited to that particular field, but it’s not an uncommon job to come across. If you look at Yourspace, which is flooded with all kinds of videos, a quick search will yield numerous related videos.

The emergence of the game Dark Zone led to the influx of military personnel, previously considered risky and unrelated to ordinary people, into the eSports scene.

Simply put, the accessibility of this job has increased compared to before.

So, what does this job entail? It is, as the name suggests, an advisory role. It ranges from transforming a single person into a specialized combat force to devising strategies related to areas of armed conflict.

You can’t really say which is superior. The former involves nurturing practical combat personnel, akin to a non-commissioned officer, while the latter involves handling broader tactics and strategies, akin to an officer.

If asked which category I fall into, I would be the non-commissioned officer type. In short, I was a field agent.

Whether the latter role is necessary in the game Dark Zone is debatable.

Thus, the job I’m going to take on will be closer to nurturing agents.

Of course, I don’t intend to use methods that shouldn’t be practically applied… but it’s something I’ll only know once I get there. The people I will be teaching will have some basic knowledge of urban combat.

Though they probably learned it through the game in an informal way….

Anyway, if I were to predict my role, it would be to correct their misconceptions and just observe them a lot. Specifically, focusing on shooting, positioning, and such.

Urban combat and CQB (Close Quarters Battle) are ultimately about who can overcome hesitation and attack first, which requires a level of urgency that’s hard to simulate in a game.

Since fostering that urgency isn’t easy, it’s about improving their shooting skills and reaction times.

Anyway, it starts tomorrow.

Since I couldn’t go without any preparation, I decided to loosen up after a long time and simultaneously took out the manuals, which had been decaying as data trash inside the ICARUS gear, to start studying.

I focused on practical parts that are easy to overlook rather than the rigid stuff—specifically, techniques like quickly switching hands when fighting around various cover, swiftly pulling and throwing grenades, and fast single-shot firing.

It might sound like knowledge that needs to be personally imparted, but as always, soldiers are not born but made.

Everything could be converted into knowledge, which meant that actions could also be explained theoretically.

– Not scrimming today? So good, lolololol.

“We’ve done everything we needed to over the past few days… actually, I heard various things from there as well. They said I probably didn’t need to come. Hearing that, it seems unnecessary to keep participating in the scrims.”

– Summary: Got kicked out for doing too well.

– This person is seriously hilarious, lolololololololol.

– Teacher, you don’t need to beat around the bush, we all get it.

– My greatest achievement in life: watching Yoo Jin’s stream, lol.

– Hey, you too?

…Looking back now, it really seems like I got kicked out.

I’m going to participate in a different way starting tomorrow, so it doesn’t matter much, but that doesn’t change the fact… Sometimes, I get curious about how I ended up in this situation.

For now, I’m just glad I can use everything I’ve learned in a positive way, but still.

Anyway, from now on, it’s time to start considering the higher-level enemies.

The basic mechanics might not change much, but you never know who might show up in the Asia qualifiers—if we get through that. Once the main event preparations start, I wonder how seriously we’ll need to take it.

In that sense, it felt like I was going back to the past. Not just retracing memories, but perhaps returning to my roots.

Those who once pulled real triggers in the dusty foreign lands now casually traverse the Dark Zone, projecting their real-world combat experiences without reservation.

From that perspective, it seemed like I was facing the same enemies in a different space.

After noting down the important points and summarizing the key topics for tomorrow’s lecture, I saved the notes.

The viewers didn’t know yet that I was going to work as a temporary coach for SSM, but there was no need to tell them. There was nothing to gain from it.

As I was wrapping up the broadcast, a sudden donation came through.

– Not playing Jump Master today? Let’s do the second DLC map.

“…I’m holding off on that because I think it’ll make me really angry.”

– Fact: This person played Jump Master a few days ago to get rid of annoying questioners.

– Anaconda with a bad temper… yeah, that’s possible.

– What? Did Yoo Jin say she’s going to bash us? (hallucination)

– She got internal damage from the game she played, lololololol.

– Is this what they call radiation or something?

…Looking back now, Harmony’s recommendations were all pretty good. The problem was that the viewers’ perception of me had solidified into either Dark Zone or some weird trashy game.

Since I had already opened Tricky’s personal community, I might as well take game suggestions from there. After all, I had more or less wrapped up the current game.

As I ended Dark Zone, I added a comment.

“Alright, since we’re at it, I’d like to take some recommendations for other games as well. I can’t promise when I’ll play them since the qualifying rank matches are coming up soon, but I’ll make sure to check out your suggestions. Please post them on the Tricky community.”

It seemed like I was finally using it properly.

After that, I spent about an hour interacting with the viewers. Given that my main content was Dark Zone and I was preparing for the upcoming tournament, the discussion naturally flowed in that direction.

Now that my path as a streamer was somewhat fixed, it seemed good to occasionally try various things besides just showing Dark Zone. Mainly, I was looking into viewer participation content.

Of course, many suggestions were rejected. They just didn’t seem interesting.

Still, I hadn’t seen any comments saying the stream was boring, which was a relief. It seemed like the feedback alone was enough to satisfy the viewers’ desires so far.

After some time, I accessed the site that still felt a bit unfamiliar, and clicked on the spot where the red N indicator for new posts was flashing.

Quite a few posts had been uploaded in the meantime. There seemed to be a recommendation feature, and those with many recommendations were at the top.

I picked one at random.

“Let’s see. Recommended by KimPasMega… Tentacle Can Be Loved? The name itself seems pretty unusual….”

Then I scrolled down naturally.

Hmm.

Uh.

Hmm….

Uh….

To summarize the content:

“…Why do I have to romance incomplete outer space gods while undergoing partial feminization?”

– lololololololololololol

– You’re pretty picky for someone with a similar thing hanging off their tail.

– A bizarre game recommendation from the start, very good.

– Fact: It’s an amazing game with three parts and multiple endings.

– Why does this have three parts, lololololololol.

It seemed like the first button Harmony pointed out shouldn’t have been pressed.