"Alright, we're about to start... How much experience do you have with the hardest difficulty? Have you ever cleared it before?"

"I just found out that there's such a difficulty level."

"What!?"

…For some reason, a significant number of people—or rather, almost everyone—seem to be unaware that I haven’t experienced much of the PvE content in Dark Zone. Maybe it’s just my imagination.

To put it simply, whenever I say, "I haven’t even cleared all the main missions yet," everyone gets surprised. And they get even more astonished when I remind them that my playtime has already exceeded several hundred hours.

Typically, people estimate that completing all the main missions and reaching the maximum level in Dark Zone takes around 20 to 30 hours at the fastest, or 40 to 50 hours if you take your time.

From that perspective, I could honestly say that I have little interest in clearing the main missions. While it’s not a common approach, it’s not entirely unprecedented either.

Especially since most of the PvP content treats skills as fully unlocked within the session, some players who prefer fighting real people over virtual enemies or who have created secondary characters don’t care much about the main missions.

If I had to categorize myself, I might lean more towards the former. It’s not that I’m particularly interested in PvP, but I’ve set my goals in that direction.

Anyway, it’s not like I can’t understand why people are surprised.

Up until now, the only skill I’ve unlocked is Pulse, and it’s just the basic version.

Assuming this game traces my journey and the growth of the Icarus system linearly, skills provide immense convenience in all battles, and to reach that stage, certain prerequisites must be met.

To put it simply, this means I might only be able to shoot in this hardest difficulty mission.

In fact, considering the Westpoint battle I played with Harmony or in public games, it’s hard to say that this will devalue me, but… seeing that grand title of "Hardest Difficulty," who knows?

"…Well, should I equip some support skills, then?"

"It would defeat the purpose and effectiveness of the practice we talked about earlier, so there’s no need for that. It’s not like this is a mission you can only attempt once in a lifetime."

"That’s true, but…."

It didn’t take long to decide.

Dice skillfully changed his skill set and began selecting the type of ammunition and modules to use in the mission. In Dark Zone, you could choose these kinds of details before being deployed into a mission.

Considering that Dark Zone is primarily a VR looter-shooter FPS… does that mean I’ll have to farm all this stuff later?

Sounds like a hassle.

"Alright, let’s just dive in. This should be good for you, Yujin. Starting without knowing anything… there’s really nothing better for improving adaptability."

"It’s not exactly like that, but… okay, let’s go."

Fast travel.

The pixels that made up everything within the 360-degree radius turned white all at once, and then, after composing the location, it started synchronizing the position data.

In front of a city entirely covered in snow and seemingly frozen in time, an old power plant stood tall, holding onto its past architectural style.

I asked before starting the mission.

"How difficult is the hardest difficulty?"

"…It’s easier to think that all the enemy AI is based on real people. I heard the motion and combat data were collected through simulated operations by actual special forces…."

"That sounds serious. With that level of difficulty, I wonder if anyone has even cleared it."

"I heard there are professional teams dedicated to strategies like this. It’s not unimaginably hard if you play skillfully, but using conventional methods makes it really tough."

Apparently, that’s how it is.

The explanation continued for a bit, but there was nothing particularly important—things like how this is the only difficulty level where difficulty scaling doesn’t apply, that up to eight people can attempt it simultaneously, and that enemies don’t use skills, etc.

Even while listening to that, simulations were continuously running in my mind.

Based on my personal experience, if the AI is modeled after Tier 2 U.S. special forces, then ordinary people wouldn’t stand a chance of clearing it. Dark Zone probably balanced it by easing the psychological burden with nanomachines, skills, and virtual reality.

But if it were based on Tier 1 special forces, well….

It might be more realistic to clear it by rolling Seeker Mines from places the AI can’t see.

Anyway.

"…I hate to say it, but according to our analysis, Yujin, you seem to have a lot of external experience related to this… so you might actually do well."

"Just say it plainly, plainly."

"It means you seem like a former soldier."

Crunch.

With that exchange, we began walking forward.

-[Notification: Entering Pathway Power Plant Recapture Mission // Difficulty: Hardest]

-[Notification: Good luck.]

Heavy background music started playing, and as soon as we moved forward a bit, enemies began pouring out from the entrance to the power plant.

The mission had begun.

───Thududududu!

───Drdrdrdrd!

"No matter how many times I come here, I never get used to it…."

Dice’s voice echoed over the intercom.

I regularly exhaled while carefully monitoring the enemies’ movements. My mind was racing at full speed for the first time in a while, and with all my senses fully engaged, it felt as if I were retracing my steps into the past.

It wasn’t just to track the enemy’s movements; I was also helping Dice with his practice, which required a detailed analysis of the current situation.

Based on what I learned in the past, potential enemies for Icarus could include the U.S. military. Specifically, renegade U.S. forces, but in any case, operators had to be prepared to face those who were comrades just yesterday as enemies today.

This applied not only psychologically but also tactically, and the very basic premise was this:

Disrupt the enemy’s coordination.

When engaged in urban combat, operators had to always keep this in mind, especially since large-scale maneuvers are almost impossible in major cities, which means enemy forces typically move in platoon or squad-sized units or even smaller. This increased the responsibility on each individual.

In other words, the importance of each person grew within the unit, and any losses meant facing greater risks than before.

That principle applied precisely in the current situation.

Thud.

Both Dice and I were players who primarily focused on AP soloing, so there wasn’t much communication between us. Our goal was to increase our survival rate in highly disadvantageous situations.

To put it simply, it was survival of the fittest. In solo play, if things got tough, I’d quietly help out whenever I could.

Fast, accurate aiming, quick breath control, and precise timing on the trigger silenced the machine gunner who had been laying down suppressive fire from a distance.

As I mentioned earlier, disrupting the enemy’s coordination. By removing the pressure from their firepower, I gained more visibility, which provided a better foothold to eliminate more enemies.

In modern urban warfare, where firepower is generally comparable on both sides, the key is how much you can force the unfavorable situation onto your opponent. While it’s the commander’s job to devise such strategies, the execution relies heavily on individual skill.

That’s why both physical ability and tactical understanding are essential in AP soloing.

Two assault troopers armed with devastating close-range firepower were charging towards us at breakneck speed, cutting through the crossfire.

I identified them as soon as they appeared, but Dice, who was in cover some distance away, didn’t notice until they were about 10 meters away. It must have been difficult with the area filled with loud noises and sharp tearing sounds.

Carefully adjusting my aim to prevent any unforeseen accidents, I noticed that the assault trooper had already closed the gap to about 6 meters and began blasting a shotgun.

As the 12-gauge steel pellets ricocheted off the nanomachine barrier, Dice unexpectedly exposed himself to fire back, leaving the enemy unable to walk again.

After buying some time, I fully neutralized the other assault trooper by spraying my MK47 in full auto as they approached from the side.

"Argh!"

-[Notification: Allied Operator Down.]

However, in the process, Dice exposed himself too much, and several shots from a rifleman waiting near the entrance struck him, causing him to collapse on the spot.

I took cover and threw a grenade to flush out the enemies who were attempting to close the distance under suppressive fire.

Jamming an emergency survival injector into his thigh, I carefully lifted him up by his arm.

"Your improvisation is impressive. Have you had training?"

"I’m not someone with military experience. I haven’t done this in a while, so my cover was sloppy… but it’s better when there’s someone around to revive you. At least there haven’t been any absurd situations today."

"Haha."

That’s because I preemptively took care of the enemies capable of creating those situations.

Enemies like machine gunners, grenadiers, and snipers who put you in a lose-lose scenario by either staying in place or moving are designed to test players’ mettle.

But when you’re facing such situations alone, it’s a different story—since I came to help with the practice, I planned to assist without cutting down too much of the enemy’s strength.

With Dice drawing all the attention up front, it was quite easy for me to pick off enemies from behind.

As the enemies holding the power plant’s entrance were gradually wiped out, I found myself with more time to observe Dice’s skill.

Having only participated in a scrim once, I still couldn’t definitively gauge the average skill level of Tier 2, Tier 1, Medal of Honor players, or professional gamers. But based on Dice alone, it was quite impressive.

His combat posture, adaptability, and meticulous actions all showed that he was prepared for any unexpected engagements. His reaction speed, aiming skill, and shooting accuracy were also quite remarkable.

To advance further, there were a few more things needed, but that wasn’t my job just yet.

"Up until a couple of months ago, I used to practice here in the front yard for three hours before every scrim, but it’s been a while since I’ve done it with someone else."

"How’s it going now?"

"I’m not sure if it’s because you’re here, Yujin, but there haven’t been many sudden deaths today. I practice here with that in mind anyway… Well, if that becomes necessary, I’ll let you know."

After skillfully checking her gear and weapons and verifying the remaining ammunition, she spoke.

"We still have plenty of time before the scrim, so let’s go as far as we can."

Dice would regret saying that.