I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 82 – Arctic Ocean Power Plant

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Apex Predator.

Simply translated to Korean, it means the pinnacle of predators. Literally, it was a brutal game where about a hundred people were driven into a vast area, leaving only one user as the winner.

It was a brawl and a survival drama. The simple yet extremely macho motto of “Trample others and climb to the top” allowed AP’s popularity to surpass other notable PVP modes and even surpass the famous Team Six.

Moreover, to understand the game, you needed to grasp the basic map structure, the usefulness of the gadgets operators could carry, and the fact that walls and floors could be destroyed to create entry points. This was different from Team Six, where you simply had to shoot visible enemies and move to the safe zone—a straightforward action guideline.

The lower barrier to entry was a significant advantage Apex Predator had over other PVPs.

However, the low barrier to entry wasn’t just limited to spectators.

The complex map structure, the walls that could be destroyed to create entry points, and the novel concept of reinforcing walls and setting traps made the Team Six mode challenging to watch and try.

Apex Predator was the opposite.

Even if there were buildings, the interior structure was relatively simple. Unlike Team Six, where skills were restricted by EMP, skills like Pulse, Seeker Mine, Sticky Bomb, and Healing Device, which were also used in PVE, were available.

So, you just had to shoot when you encountered an enemy, move to the safe zone when instructed, and take position. Users experienced victories or bitter defeats through these processes.

However, experiencing and learning these processes was quicker than other PVP modes, making it suitable for newbies to try.

AP had a fast turnover rate.

That wasn’t a baseless statement. The fast supply of players meant a proportionate increase in the chance of hidden gems emerging.

Thus, Apex Predator became a testament to the fact that while entry was easy, climbing the ranks was challenging. The path to the Asia preliminaries, starting with the preliminary rank, was a bloody, fiery, metallic, and muddy battlefield of dropouts.

And the last week of August, the cusp of September.

[Notification: This message is sent to all participants from this moment.

Apex Predator – Preliminary Rank has begun.

Good luck to all of you.]

The giant sieve of blood, sweat, tears, steel, lead, and gunpowder smoke began to operate, filtering people out.

“…Ha, damn. This map just had to come out.”

Not that it hadn’t happened before, but I too had preferences and dislikes.

As my body changed into this form, some additions were made to my existing preferences, and I became more seriously affected by them—but no. There’s no need to beat around the bush.

In short, there was a cold map among the maps of Apex Predator.

Not just ordinarily cold, but modeled after an abandoned large-scale power plant complex adjacent to the Arctic Ocean, making it feel like a survival mode.

There would be no reason to build such a structure in a place like this, but anyway, it was a place with mountains in the back and the sea to the north.

Interestingly, AP’s maps usually forced users to act through a ‘Kill Zone’ commonly referred to as the ‘Magnetic Field,’ but some maps were exceptions.

The Arctic Ocean Power Plant complex was one of them.

Specifically, there was a gimmick that the area was contaminated due to exposure to toxic substances while those who infiltrated it recklessly operated the facilities.

Also, the part of the mountain with perennial snow collapses, causing an avalanche that covers part of the section… Anyway, various methods were used to induce users to move to certain areas.

I thought it was somewhat unique.

[Warning: Vibration detected. This area will collapse in 13 minutes and 24 seconds.]

Unlike other places where you infiltrate through high-altitude drops, this map started with you waking up somewhere in the map after approaching to investigate the situation but losing communication for various reasons.

It truly felt like survival. Although there were many differences.

At least, here you were not bound by temperature as much as in survival. As time passed, that proportion gradually increased, but by that time, you would have acquired various items, so it wouldn’t be a big concern. Especially under the tournament rules.

The start was no different just because the map changed.

Still, the form of supply boxes often changed when the map changed. The abandoned port where I first set foot had boxes labeled as ship supplies, and the research complex had boxes labeled as emergency supplies—slightly advanced-looking boxes.

This place seemed to mix the two.

Inside the boxes were various firearms quietly lying down, waiting for someone to wear the armor, and other items such as grenades.

It was meant to create something to watch through fast and many skirmishes.

Today’s firearm was an S&W M500 out of nowhere. Maybe it was because I had visited the shooting range last time, but it was extremely out of the blue.

And as for today’s protagonist,

“…Ha.”

The Mk.18 Mod.1 Mjolnir. My old buddy suddenly appeared.

No wonder the box seemed a bit big.

Anyway, this gun was in the designated marksman rifle category, with a significantly long barrel for accuracy. At least 20 inches long.

But it used .338 caliber bullets with tremendous power. In the past, I used it as a secondary weapon to easily silence heavily armored enemies or drones.

It had much stronger penetration than a slug shotgun and dealt equally significant impact, making it a weapon with only advantages if you could handle the transport and recoil control well.

After quickly equipping my armor, I took out six or seven magazines from the box and quickly loaded them into the loading device attached to the bag part of the ICARUS gear.

With a clicking sound, seven fully loaded magazines poured out in about ten seconds. I inserted one into the gun’s magazine well, chambered a round, and put the other six into my pouch.

The gun accessory mounted on the upper rail wasn’t a scope, but a HAMR scope. This was better for me. There was no need for long-range engagements here.

But just then,

───Ratatat!

With the sudden pouring of bullets, I quickly grabbed my gun and hid behind a wall.

This was quite inconvenient in hardcore mode. Watching other players’ videos, they could immediately grab their guns and loaded magazines from the boxes, but I couldn’t do that at all.

Based on the direction of the incoming bullets, the sound volume, and the vibrations felt through the ground, I roughly sensed the enemy’s location. Holding the revolver in my right hand, I deliberately took out a grenade to make some noise.

Even then, no one came out.

Then, I hooked the grenade pin on my tail and pulled it out hard.

Sensing that I was exposed, the enemy tried to move while pre-firing, but I extended my left hand, threw the grenade, and simultaneously pulled the trigger repeatedly with my right index finger.

The recoil was considerable, but I neutralized it with just my grip strength.

­Boom!

Out of five shots, two hit.

It wasn’t a satisfactory result, but considering I fired consecutively with one hand and the bullet type was .500 S&W Magnum, the enemy must have taken significant damage.

I threw the revolver in my hand to the opposite side to create confusion, then quickly closed the distance. I heard the sound of the enemy reloading.

I quickly calculated the pros and cons in my head. Although a silencer was attached, the enemy’s weapon seemed stronger than a submachine gun. Probably an ordinary carbine. The firing rate was at least 700RPM.

Considering my weapon, the enemy’s weapon, and the equipment, I thought….

Anyway, the moment I hit, the enemy would be unable to aim properly due to the shock from the bullets.

In the next moment, the two firing angles intersected head-on.

The engagement was brief.

“Kuhak…!”

No one in the world would remain standing after being hit by three .338 Lapua Magnum rounds in a split second.

The enemy was instantly flung to the cold, hard concrete floor, flying away from the impact. Being in the early stage of the match, the ammunition wasn’t armor-piercing but regular rounds, which played a part.

The rounds didn’t penetrate but dented the armor plate, causing the massive physical force to push the body backward.

───Thud!

It sounded more like a giant stomping than a gunshot.

While the heavy shell casing ejected from the chamber made a relatively low-pitched sound as it hit the floor, the opponent quickly exited with a message indicating a critical head injury.

As always, it was like this.

It’s quite something for me to say this myself, but I could only wish for the souls of those who encountered me early on. I couldn’t afford to spare targeted enemies and couldn’t miss once chosen.

What he left behind would become my strength.

Instead of the discarded revolver, I picked up the Mk.18 CQBR he left behind. Fortunately, the nanomachine’s durability was intact. After dragging the body behind a container, I carefully inspected the belongings.

I stuffed six fully loaded magazines into the upper pouch. The sight was clearly a Vortex UH-1. Having handled it many times, zeroing it took only a few seconds.

I removed the NGAL, reattached it to the 12 o’clock position, and set it to converge with the aiming point. The standard was 50 yards. I slightly adjusted the length of the stock. The grip was oddly a Hera Arms CQR grip. I adjusted its position slightly.

It took less than a minute.

They were all things I had handled before, and I had done this for over a week under the motto that the longer it took, the lower the survival rate.

And since the setup was so perfect, I wouldn’t switch to another gun during the match. It

took too long.

[Warning: This area will collapse in 10 minutes. Eight minutes until the zone is sealed.]

“Three minutes have passed.”

More time had passed than I thought.

I opened the map and planned the expected route, considering the extremely low outdoor temperature, the contaminated areas due to collapse, and the expected range of avalanches.

The route was simple. I shouldn’t waste too much time. I had to roughly calculate how long to stay in each area. It was more about preparing for the worst-case scenario rather than making a tight plan.

There were 89 people left. After checking the route and familiarizing myself with the terrain, I started moving.

The next target was the skill activation area, where the struggle of everyone against everyone continued.

Meanwhile, as Yoo Jin moved without knowing anything,

─PyaPyaPyaPyaㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

─Clean engagement, wow

─The point isn’t that, how the hell did he fire the M500 with one hand????

─Haven’t you watched Yoo Jin before? I stopped caring about realism since he started rapid-firing Barrettㅋㅋ

─If a human can do it, it’s realistic, you idiots, why are you talking about realism?

Yoo Jin’s broadcast room, opened under her name, became a pandemonium as usual with her regular viewers flooding in,

─How does this person control recoil? Is it possible?

─What’s with the tail? How did he handle the grenade like that?

─So calm in the game, wow….

─Using Mjolnir? That gun is really hard to use because of the recoil

─It’s fascinating, but we’ll have to see how other players react

Even those seeing her for the first time in this broadcast room.

Once again, Yoo Jin was unknowingly broadcasted everywhere.