Special forces soldiers are made, not born.

In other words, special forces soldiers are trained rather than selected. Of course, this doesn’t mean just anyone walking down the street is picked up and trained from scratch. The process starts with 'candidates' who have already proven themselves through ambition, vision, physical stamina, and mental toughness.

The foundation of these soldiers is precisely that—ambition, vision, and an overwhelming level of physical and mental endurance. This is also why women are almost nonexistent or extremely rare in these units.

The foundation is just that—a foundation. This means that no matter what happens, it must not waver or crack. There is no place in special forces for those who are completely exhausted after just a few hours of operation or who lose their composure during difficult tasks. Such individuals simply do not exist.

However, if the foundation can be filled in some way, it is entirely possible for a woman to become a special forces soldier.

This is one of the reasons why there are many female players in Dark Zone.

If the game compensates for the physical conditions that are almost impossible for women to achieve, then they can transform into excellent operators through the accumulation of practical experience.

-Swift and precise suppressive fire and maximized first-shot accuracy. The former is why live-fire training is conducted, and the latter is the goal that must be achieved through it.

"Swift and precise suppressive fire and maximized first-shot accuracy. The former is why live-fire training is conducted, and the latter is the goal that must be achieved through it."

Anthony Owens.

A Delta Force Master Sergeant, my operations team leader, and my training instructor. Even after four years, I remember his words perfectly, without a single error. He was that memorable of a person.

Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that the Dark Zone’s base correction system gives Harmony a tremendous advantage by completely eliminating any concerns about physical stamina.

This means that she can potentially transform into an excellent operator through literal "forging." And since she has already agreed to it, what better opportunity could there be?

I spoke as I watched her sit stiffly, swallowing nervously in the shooting range.

"I’ll give you a simple problem. It’s not that difficult, so don’t worry."

"Yes, ma’am."

"Why are you so tense? Just do it like you normally would."

And then I slowly opened my mouth.

"You’ve probably heard a lot about Delta Force... So, how many rounds does a Delta operator typically use in a day?"

"Uh... 1,200 rounds?"

"You’re surprisingly close. That’s correct. To add more detail, one squadron consumes at least 600,000 rounds per month."

I almost let slip the real name of the still-classified ‘The Unit.’ I must be out of my mind. Although the name might be different here.

So what I’m saying is that Tier 1 units are essentially monsters that consume a staggering amount of ammunition. And it’s not just rifle rounds—pistols, submachine guns, shotguns, sniper rifles, heavy weapons, and even rockets and missiles are all included.

The reason they shoot so much isn’t complicated.

If they don’t, they can’t meet the extreme standards demanded by Delta Force. If they fail to meet these standards—whether they’re a newcomer or a 20-year veteran—they’re out, with no second chances.

And by doing so, they become monsters capable of hitting any target they aim at.

"Do you understand why I’m telling you this?"

"...Yes. Six hours is actually a short time. And you’re starting to scare me, Yujin."

"Haha. So you weren’t scared before?"

"Oh, no, that’s not it."

I beckoned her over with my finger.

Although I couldn’t say I was teaching her with all my might, she was still my first student. So at the very least, I couldn’t make it seem like I was taking this lightly.

And if Harmony wanted to face more challenges alongside me, this might be an unavoidable encounter with destiny.

I looked her over from head to toe before speaking again.

"Is that setup the most comfortable for you?"

"I feel like I’m just using the weapons I’ve been given for now... I haven’t tried that many yet, so I’m not sure."

"That makes sense. Let’s talk about the HK416 you’re using now."

Charging handle.

Handguard.

Stock.

Pistol grip.

Vertical grip.

Tactical light and the laser sight on top.

Scope.

Muzzle attachment.

Does all of this suit your preferences? And if so, is it optimized to maximize your shooting accuracy? Of course, she probably wouldn’t know. She hasn’t tried out many other guns.

Back in my day, I had at least two pistols, three submachine guns, three rifles, two designated marksman rifles, one machine gun, two sniper rifles, a shotgun, and more... In total, I had at least 15 guns.

Of course, this was an unusual case, but the reason for this was to figure out which gun suited me best and what setup worked for me.

In my case, recoil control was never an issue, so this process didn’t take long. But for most, it was a grueling ordeal that could last over a week.

However, applying this directly would require an excessive amount of time, so I had to adjust my goal—to match the person to the gun.

When I asked for her firearm, Harmony performed a chamber check and handed it over without a word. I shouldered it and began to check various components. The tactical light attached to the side of the foregrip and the laser sight on top were equipped with extension buttons, allowing them to be operated effortlessly while gripping the gun.

I checked the chamber, switched the safety on, and handed the gun back to Harmony.

It was time to get started in earnest.

"Load the gun."

"Yes."

She skillfully inserted the magazine. Then came the familiar click. The sound of a round being chambered. The sound of planting the seeds of death.

I adjusted the holographic screen to set up a basic shooting range. My lips moved slightly but soon stopped. From this point on, Harmony needed to figure out how to overcome the situation in front of her on her own.

"Prepare to fire."

"Yes!"

Click.

Safety set to semi-auto.

I popped up the holographic targets.

The shooting began.

───Bang! Bang! Bang!

As the gunfire filled the shooting range, I reviewed what I could do. I checked the area, enemy types, time of day, lighting adjustments, and various sudden situations that could arise.

Through this first Saturday shooting session, I would thoroughly assess what she lacked. I wish I’d had something like this when I was there, but unfortunately, I didn’t.

-[Alert: Lights OFF.]

"...!"

In an instant, the shooting range was plunged into darkness. It was as if everything in front of her eyes had suddenly disappeared.

In the pitch-black room, I could sense Harmony’s unease and surprise through the floor. Her body trembled slightly, the vibrations traveling up my boots to my body. The snake-like sensation of detecting vibrations and infrared.

I could see Harmony struggling in the darkness.

A moment passed.

-Click.

-Thump! Thump! Thump!

After a while.

A thick beam of light leaked out from around the barrel. She had quickly turned on her tactical light and resumed firing.

Had this been in an actual unit, the shooting would have been immediately stopped with someone asking, "What are you doing? Why so slow? Are you even paying attention?" But there was no need for that here. This wasn’t a real battlefield.

It was time to simulate the next situation.

I forced off the tactical light and spoke through the comms.

-[Short-range Communication: A hostage situation is occurring in the dark. Activate night vision and use the laser sight to mark the enemy.]

A moment of panic.

Various logs appeared on the holographic screen I was monitoring. Harmony activated the night vision, her fingers fumbling as she accidentally hit the tactical light button again. Of course, it didn’t work because I had disabled it.

It seemed she pressed the wrong button.

After another brief struggle, a green infrared laser cut through the darkness. The laser marked the head of the terrorist holding a hostage, triggering the pre-set sniper support.

How long did I test various scenarios?

With a wave of my hand, I cleared everything away, the lights came back on, and the targets disappeared as if they had melted away.

As she continued to scan her surroundings, even after the shooting had ended, I called out to her.

"How was it?"

"Sorry?"

"Did your body move the way you wanted?"

"...Uh..."

She ejected the magazine, cleared the chamber, and slung her weapon.

After adjusting her sling and inserting the magazine back into her pouch, Harmony walked over to a chair with a slightly dejected expression and plopped down.

She spoke up after a moment.

"...I thought I’d improved by following you around, but I guess I was wrong. I think I expected too much."

"A month is a long time, but it’s not nearly enough to master anything. Still, you’ve improved remarkably fast, Harmony."

"R-Really?"

She’s someone whose emotions tend to swing wildly.

But as always, there was still a long way to go before she could confidently say, "I can hold my own." There were many qualities she needed to develop and hone.

One of those was reflexes.

I quickly moved my fingers to set up another shooting scenario. Five enemies, two of whom were holding hostages as shields. She had five seconds to neutralize them. This was more of a current level assessment than a pass-or-fail test.

After tapping her on the shoulder, I spoke again.

"Get ready."

"Sorry?"

"Begin."

"Waaah…!"

At that moment, five enemies appeared, surrounding Harmony within a 120-degree arc.

It took her three seconds to load the magazine and get into position, and another five seconds to eliminate all six targets. Don’t ask why there were six instead of five—it was simply a case of hitting two with one shot.

This was the second time I heard her plop down in her chair.

-[Alert: Situation Ended.]

"Who does something like that without any warning?!"

"If I warned you, it wouldn’t be as effective. The point is to keep you on your toes."

"...I guess that makes sense."

"And don’t worry. If you ever want to, you can make me do this anytime."

I sent the live-fire training data I had just created to her.

As Harmony carefully examined it, her eyes lit up.

"Wow, I didn’t know something like this existed. There are so many interesting settings."

"You can practice with it even when I’m not around. Ah."

Click.

I wasn’t holding a rifle. So, I had only a pistol left. I instinctively drew my pistol and, using my left hand, grabbed the magazine, inserting it as smoothly as clapping my hands. I immediately chambered a round and scanned my surroundings.

There were seven enemies, three of whom were using hostages as shields. Spent casings flew as I took them down, left to right, in sequence. It took just under three seconds for seven shells to hit the ground.

All the hostages were unharmed, but every enemy had a bullet hole in their head.

As I sat back down, I spoke.

"When you try something out immediately, you can predict, oh…"

I hadn’t expected her to make me go again so soon.

Anyway, it was a similar situation. I quickly took out six enemies and plopped back down in my chair. Thankfully, I had a Glock with a higher magazine capacity.

As I caught my breath while sitting down, Harmony looked at me with sparkling eyes.

"Wow, that’s amazing. Isn’t it harder to aim with a pistol?"

"You just have to shoot until it doesn’t matter anymore."

"...What did you do before, Yujin?"

What could I say?

Unfortunately, it was a question I couldn’t answer.

"Who knows."

So, I just gave a vague response.

Only twenty minutes of the six-hour session had passed.