Fenrir Translations
[Prepare for high-altitude drop.]
[One hundred operators will be deployed into a virtual training environment covering over 7 square kilometers. Only the best will claim victory. Use all the assets you acquire to survive.]
[Test your survival instincts, familiarize yourself with weapons you've never used before, and fight enemies in extreme environments that will occasionally challenge you.]
[Every experience you gain here will become the foundation of your future success.]
[Deploy, deploy, deploy!]
"It's not like we're dropping on a precise spot, this is such a slapdash way of…."
Thud.
Landing carefully on the ground, I quickly tidied up the parachute scattered around me. Though my tone was half-grumbling, it came out that way because I genuinely found the situation absurd.
Dropping people like leaflets scattered in all directions is common in battle royale games, but actually jumping out of an aircraft... well, that’s another story.
A chilly wind blew past.
After scanning the surroundings, I concluded that this place also looked like a dead city. Unlike New York with its scattered skyscrapers, this place seemed to have developed around a harbor.
It felt a bit rough and artificial, if I had to describe it.
I entered a nearby building to survey the layout. It wasn’t a place I planned to stay long. This was my first match, and I was just trying to get a general feel for the game.
But before I could fully settle into that mindset, gunshots echoed around me.
At the top of the UI, the number representing the remaining players had already started to decrease.
───Clatter.
As if begging to be opened, golden-glowing crates scattered around the building revealed ammunition, fully assembled firearms, bulletproof vests, and more when I opened them.
Even after a short walk, I stumbled upon all sorts of attachments for the guns at my feet, and there were even various tactical gears.
In less than a minute, I was fully equipped. It seemed like this game was indeed designed for combat, by combat, and for the sake of combat.
Leaving the building, I entered the loading dock of a nearby large supermarket and checked the map.
As expected for a battle royale game, something circular was closing in from the edge of the map toward the center. I had a rough idea of what it was.
"...."
Footsteps.
They weren’t light. Instead, they were heavy, with the sound of gear rattling and clashing.
The first engagement is the most crucial. The reason is simple: it reveals what kind of gameplay the developers intended.
If you die after just a few hits, this mode is more about psychological warfare and survival rather than direct confrontation.
But if you can take some hits without dying, the developers intended for bloody battles.
The vibrations sensed throughout my body roughly indicated the enemy's position.
I thought they were moving too carelessly as I aimed my holographic sight at the door that suddenly swung open.
The weapon was a shotgun. The ammunition was slug rounds. Even if it hit a helmet, the kinetic energy alone would be enough to break the neck.
As the heavy slug hit the target's chest,
───Bang!
"Ugh!"
They flew backward, as if defying the laws of physics.
It didn't seem like they'd die in one shot, so I gave them two or three more, and they disappeared on the spot, dropping items like in some porcupine game.
The number at the top of the UI decreased by one, and my kill count went up.
As I rummaged through the items, looking for a better gun, I spoke.
"It's pretty realistic. Or maybe it's because I'm using slug rounds."
Normally, I didn’t just use any gun I picked up. Not just me, but the people I used to run operations with always used their own customized weapons.
I preferred Western firearms over Eastern ones and liked carbines with suppressors, which could handle most situations with one gun.
Unfortunately, the person I just killed… only had an M1A worth using.
It’s better than a shotgun.
After removing the high-powered scope from the Picatinny rail and swapping it for an EOTech, I adjusted the sights and added:
"Since it’s the first match, I won’t worry too much about safety."
If there’s an enemy nearby, I’ll confront them.
It was a meta that even I thought would be incredibly annoying for my opponents.
And with that, I left the shopping mall.
The mouse that made aiming easy, the WASD keys that controlled the character’s movements, and the numerous shortcut keys that enabled various tactical actions.
Even though Dark Zone had undergone numerous player-friendly patches, making it simpler, it could never fully replace the convenience of those using keyboards and mice, known as "kima users."
Thus, VR games, whether large or small, naturally began to reflect real-world physical abilities, significantly reducing the frequency of so-called "super plays."
Of course, over time, this made the in-game player base more experienced, and Dark Zone was no exception.
The fact that there was no going back after the keyboard and mouse purge was evident, but on the flip side, it meant that exceptional gameplay still occasionally emerged.
However,
───Ping!
"Whoa."
There are always exceptions to the rule.
A ballistic knife fired from close range. I narrowly dodged it with my reflexes, causing the sliced-off strands of hair to fall to the ground.
It was the final desperate attempt by someone who had jumped in after my last shot, but it was blocked in such a ridiculously easy way that the player’s expression twisted in disbelief.
With a loud bang and a flash of white light, the enemy, now with a hole in their head, collapsed on the spot.
[Current kills: 16]
[High-value target tracked / Target retention time: 13 minutes 26 seconds]
After a quick breath, I checked for any remaining enemies.
The sound of gunfire echoed continuously in the background.
I was inside a small house. Specifically, I had pushed into a building where someone else had already taken position.
This was the realm of CQB (close-quarters battle), and Yujin was well-versed in clearing out buildings.
"It's not like this is a fortified area, so there are plenty of ways to push in once you roughly know the enemy’s position. I wouldn’t recommend staying in one spot for too long."
<Ammony has donated 1,000 KRW.>
…Is that so?
I glanced at the chat with a feeling of disbelief, but it was hard to find anyone disagreeing with that donation. If that’s the standard for regular people, then so be it.
Thirteen players left, and the circle had significantly shrunk. The boundary that had been outside the map when I first landed was now small enough to encompass just one or two small villages.
Soon it would shrink even more, eventually covering the entire map with the damage field.
The engagement range had shortened considerably.
The M1A slung over my back… was better off being discarded. Though it had served me well so far, I could now engage effectively with the MP7A1 I’d recently acquired.
[Notice: Enemy drone detected.]
[Notice: Damage field shrinking. Move to the safe zone.]
"It’s time to move."
I hadn’t planned to stay in the building for long anyway.
Before stepping outside, I checked my route and avoided the angles where enemies might be watching from windows. That was basic procedure. I quickly began to move as planned.
There were plenty of cover spots, so moving wasn’t difficult. The background sound of gunfire helped me roughly determine the enemies' positions.
With a lighter weapon, my mobility was faster than I expected.
However, the terrain ahead wasn’t ideal.
Almost simultaneously with those chat reactions, a barrage of lead rained down from above. It was almost prophetic.
The familiar sound of whips cracked around my ears as flames flashed from the second-floor window of the house directly in front of me.
There’s nothing more troublesome than an enemy who takes position and fires first.
I wished I had a rocket launcher or a grenade, but things you need are never available when you need them.
The number of remaining players had dropped to seven. Based on the size and shape of the circle, there might be at most one other player taking a similar route.
I kept myself ready to aim at any moment as I approached the house, anticipating a possible engagement.
As I carefully opened the door and entered, footsteps echoed from the other side almost simultaneously.
"...."
I held my breath and hid behind a wall, analyzing the situation based solely on the sound of footsteps.
Judging by what I could hear, the enemy who entered the house knew for sure that there was another player on the second floor. After all, they had been firing wildly, so it was impossible not to know.
It would be ideal if they went straight to the second floor...
Unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned.
I considered using a tomahawk but decided against it. I had pinpointed the enemy’s location through vibration detection, so I just waited for them to get close enough.
I spotted a silhouette passing by.
What came next was simple.
───!
"Urgh, ugh…!"
With a swift step forward, I grabbed the enemy from behind, covering their mouth while using my tail to pull their legs upward, lifting them slightly off the ground.
In that position, a quick twist of the neck ended them silently.
Leaving the now-limp body behind, it was time to fulfill the dream they couldn't achieve.
I quickly climbed the stairs and tossed a flashbang into the room where rustling noises were coming from.
The first bang was the flashbang, and the second was the relentless firing of the blinded enemy’s machine gun.
The burst didn’t last long.
The metallic clunk signaling an empty magazine became the enemy’s final words.
"Wahh, argh, ugh!"
Flailing on the bed, the enemy’s struggles ended with a single bullet through the forehead, piercing their gray matter.
That made 18 kills. It wasn’t particularly thrilling.
After reloading a round into the chamber, I checked for useful items, but aside from replenishing the flashbang I used earlier, there wasn’t much to do.
There were now only three players left.
<LiveStrongInNature has donated 1,000 KRW.>
"Curiosity can be dangerous."
There wasn’t much else to say.
And about two minutes later, I finished the first match with 20 kills.
The start wasn’t bad.
nice