I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 77 ­ Instructor

* * *

“Nice to meet you. My name is Yoo Jin, and I’ll be your temporary coach today.”

A sound of refreshing applause followed.

The me who had been walking the streets of Seoul just a few hours ago was no longer there. Surrounded by a metropolitan city intentionally simulated in virtual reality, dozens of people sat in front of me, attentively listening to the lecture.

Not all of them were doing AP soloing. Specifically, it was a mix of those from the 1st league who did AP soloing, duo, and squad, along with trainees from the 2nd and 3rd leagues.

The number was a little over 30.

For someone like me who had never completed an instructor curriculum, it was quite an overwhelming sight. Though I had done many briefings and debriefings, this was the first time I was passing on my skills.

Anyway, there was no need to drag it out, and I had always been a pragmatist.

I quickly delved into the explanation.

“I assume many of you have seen a lot of lectures. And through various combat experiences, you must have realized that urban warfare is never easy. I’ll explain under the assumption that you are aware of this.

Before diving in, to briefly discuss the development trend of modern urban warfare… simply put, the closer the combat area gets to the current form of cities, the more individual capabilities are expected to increase.

In short, you need to adapt to all kinds of battlefields. The numerous CQB combat rules commonly found in Yourspace are just a part of the many basic skills you must acquire.”

That is to say, regardless of whether someone was an aspiring pro gamer or an actual pro gamer, facing a combat situation would ultimately lead to inappropriate responses.

A bit more explanation was needed – it was impossible to categorize and store every single combat situation in detail and examples.

In other words, the notion of ‘If I face this situation again, I will use a better method’ was meaningless.

There was no ‘next time.’

Even if it was similar, there was no guarantee that applying the ‘better method’ would yield the expected results.

Therefore, they gave up on categorizing such situations one by one and chose to respond improvisationally. Consequently, the curriculum naturally progressed towards improving reaction speed and aiming skills to gain an advantage in combat.

That was a temporary measure.

Of course, I couldn’t definitively say that such a method was wrong, but having spent a hellish 4 years and 8 months, I could confidently say – every engagement had to be carried out step by step according to pre-established priorities.

No matter the combat situation, it encompassed actions rather than situations, and the engagement proceeded according to the priority of actions derived from it.

That was the core of the urban warfare manual built on countless corpses.

The first priority was this.

“The first thing you must do is identify the enemy, either voluntarily or involuntarily, and predict how much value the engagement with that user will create. Simply put, think about how beneficial it will be for you to fight.”

Up to this point, it was something everyone could reasonably think of.

I continued to speak.

“If you choose to engage, close the distance. Grab them by the ankle. Due to the nature of urban warfare, you can’t utilize the characteristics of bullets that can fly over a thousand meters. The engagement distance is between 100 to 200 meters at most.”

That was why carbines and CQB firearms were developed.

Even in narrow spaces where the length of the gun itself could be an issue, numerous paradigm shifts were required.

However, this slightly changed with the addition of ICARUS gear and nanomachines, which provided survivability by blocking a few bullets from any angle, independent of body armor.

So, when dealing with another ICARUS agent, certainty was crucial.

But we go one step further.

“What you need to do is not spray bullets and pray that someone gets hit, nor aim for lead shots from a distance.

If you choose to engage, close the distance, and then, using any method, create a situation where you can definitely eliminate the targeted user from the map.”

Further explanations followed.

It didn’t sound overly complicated. Whether by throwing grenades, making flanking maneuvers, or using various other methods to induce the enemy to expose themselves.

The sole purpose was to pinpoint the enemy’s location.

By identifying the enemy’s position, you close the distance to the point where the target cannot choose to flee instead of engaging.

So why is this important?

“For the shooting practice and positioning skills you’ve been doing to be effective, you must engage when you have the superior position or, at the very least, an equal stance with the enemy.

I’m not saying your previous training is bad. Accurate shooting, positioning skills, improvisation, ambidextrous shooting, reflex improvement… but these are means, not ends. It’s a matter of direction. Why you’re doing such training is important.

Accurately identifying the enemy’s location is the only way these means can be effective. Shooting practice only comes into play when facing each other; if the enemy starts shooting from behind, shooting skills become useless.”

With that, I corrected my statement from the first scrim.

“I mentioned that my operating principle was improvisation during a scrim hosted by another team. Although I didn’t say it then, this was the underlying meaning.”

It got quiet at some point.

Seeing everyone so focused, I felt relieved and prepared for the actual action.

“This might be your first time hearing such a lecture, so now, let’s have a 1:1 engagement with me, and we’ll take feedback based on that.”

As always, people blossom in real combat.

Meanwhile, just as Yoo Jin started her activity as a temporary coach at SSM, the slightly over 30 gamers from the affiliated team gathered there could be divided into two categories.

Those who met Yoo Jin during a scrim and those who hadn’t.

It was a rather naive classification, specifically referring to those who hadn’t even seen her face because they were killed by lead shots or ambushes, thus not knowing her true skills.

Conversely, it also meant that there were quite a few who had faced her directly, roughly about 30 percent of the total, fewer than ten people.

Dice, who was attentively listening in the front row, sensed the reactions around with her developed senses. It was just as she had expected. The form of the lecture, which they had never seen before, fundamentally piqued their interest…but that was all.

It made sense. Including herself, there were only a few who had directly faced Yoo Jin and been shattered. They focused on the lecture as if lasers were about to shoot out of their eyes, while the others were just indifferent.

The surrounding scenery quickly changed, and the terrain also shifted. The first engagement site was a research facility. It was designed to be deliberately annoying, filled with oddly elevated equipment.

In other words, this was a place that other coaches, not Yoo Jin, constantly emphasized as important.

Yoo Jin’s first engagement was with Pigeon Cheese Tangsoo, a user from SSM’s 2nd division. Dice didn’t recognize the name. She might have seen it during mock scrims with fewer than 100 participants, but there was no notable performance.

The perspective shifted, and all but two people became observers. Some elevated the camera to view the entire combat zone, while others followed the users directly.

Dice didn’t mind either way. As long as it was useful, that was all that mattered.

­[Notification: Starting mock engagement.]

1:1.

To be honest, it was difficult to guarantee a win even if they brought in someone from the 2nd division or even the 3rd division, not the same 1st division. It wasn’t just about psychological warfare but also skillfully using the terrain and shooting skills, making it hard to list everything.

So she was curious. How would Yoo Jin identify the enemy’s location and incapacitate the opponent here?

Each participant took time to set up their equipment.

But,

‘Why are they bringing so much random stuff…?’

One PDA, a few SureFire flashlights commonly found and remotely operable. Nothing particularly special. She expected them to use tripwires or something, but apparently not.

The two were assigned random locations. The combat area was about half the size of a soccer field, meaning it could be quickly crossed if one decided to run.

After spawning at opposite ends, the 1:1 match started without a separate timer.

Unlike the opponent who carefully took cover and scanned the surroundings, Yoo Jin quietly observed her surroundings from her initial position.

Surrounding objects and documents scattered messily on the floor. The theme of this combat zone was a research facility. It looked like people had hurriedly evacuated, leaving all sorts of stuff behind.

A scouting phase ensued. For some reason, Yoo Jin moved in a seemingly careless and random manner, placing a PDA and a SureFire light on a desk.

About a minute passed.

───Crash!

There was an engagement between Yoo Jin, who had been openly crossing the map, and the well-hidden user.

She hurriedly took cover behind a wall and quickly moved toward the enemy’s location. It was an incomprehensible behavior compared to her usual actions.

But whether they knew this or not, Yoo Jin made deliberate footstep noises, abruptly stopped, and simultaneously signaled, momentarily turning on and off the SureFire light hanging over the floor ahead.

With a click, a grenade was thrown toward that location.

­Boom!

As the aftershock settled and the noise faded, a PDA that had been precariously perched on a desk fell to the floor, vibrating to signal that three minutes had passed since the engagement began.

A clattering sound. The noise of a mobile device hitting the ground.

Pigeon Cheese Tangsoo, whom colleagues abbreviated as Pigeon,

was increasingly panicking in the chaotic situation. To sum up his thoughts:

‘…What the hell is going on?’

He could roughly guess Yoo Jin’s location.

But conversely, his location was also exposed. The research facility had dim lighting, so he threw a grenade toward the suddenly lit flashlight near a wall.

Though not certain, it was likely a tactical light attached to a gun.

Even if this assumption was wrong, it didn’t matter much. The important thing was that the distance between him and Yoo Jin hadn’t widened significantly.

But amid this, the constant vibration from the opposite side continued.

───Buzz!

That was a definite lure.

Roughly estimating, it was a vibration sound produced by some tool. Though not often seen, it was also a tactic. Some players used it occasionally in last year’s tournament.

But… what exactly is that temporary coach aiming for?

Taking a deep breath, he began to cautiously move his position from his cover. Soon, the cooldown for the Pulse and Seeker Mine would be over. Combat would be easier then.

However, unfortunately, Pulse had a short range despite detecting all nearby enemies.

So he prioritized safety, slowly moving closer to Yoo Jin’s presumed location using cover.

But,

­Ratatatat!

“Shit…!”

Bullets fired from an unexpectedly distant position relentlessly pounded his nanomachine barrier.

With the barrier’s durability quickly falling below 50%, the game tempo changed dramatically as he hurriedly took cover. Yoo Jin rapidly closed in like an intelligent storm, heading straight for Pigeon.

The difference this time was he had no means to block her approach.

Feeling desperate, he deployed two smoke grenades and retreated quickly.

However, the seemingly random actions Yoo Jin took aimed precisely to corner Pigeon in an inescapable corner of the map.

Pieces of the puzzle were coming together in her mind.

Through movements that were reckless but manageable, she lured the enemy into shooting first.

Then, using various methods to weaken the enemy’s focus, she moved to a position with better visibility, intentionally exposing a weak point to provoke an attack.

If the enemy broke cover and approached, she would shoot at the exposed part and, in the ensuing chaos, press forward aggressively.

If she killed the target in this process, it was over; if not, she would drive them into a position with no escape.

Pigeon was now in the final stage.

Barely escaping, he hid behind some equipment, with his skills’ cooldown reset.

The Pulse scanned the area, and the Seeker Mine flew through the air.

But.

­[Notification: Distance to enemy ­ 12m.]

­[Notification: Explosive detected.]

He was at a dead end, and it didn’t take long for three grenades to be thrown sequentially into his location.

The Seeker Mine, intercepted and exploded nearby, and the clattering sound of metal hitting the floor followed.

───Clatter!

“…What the hell is this…?”

He couldn’t understand what had happened until the end.

The next moment, he exploded amidst the roar, flash, and shrapnel.

* * *