NoveLight ™
“...Is this something we can actually break?”
Time over.
Words filled my vision. The eight letters embroidered on a warning design alternating between red and black were a stark reminder that all the effort put in over the last four hours in real-time and twelve hours in virtual reality had gone to waste. It was a moment where the patch of a scruffy-looking pit bull on the user’s shoulder shone through as they slumped in despair.
The chat, which I had ignored while concentrating, opened up with a deep sigh. The thirty thousand viewers watching all expressed their overwhelming disappointment at once. Of course, it went without saying that the Korean-based Cerberus team, one of the world's leading strategy teams, shared the same sentiments.
“Alright, let’s see what the problem was this time.”
“This is too difficult. I think we could break it if we sent about twenty people in.”
“Twenty people? I don’t know if we could really break it with that many either.”
Operation Bluefield.
Or simply called the Blue Operation, it was an incursion mission. Alternatively, it was the mission that had become the most formidable barrier for players around the world in the current Dark Zone PVE content…
The mission’s objective was simple. It involved eliminating a certain number of enemies that had invaded Maine. The more enemies we killed, the percentage displayed on the UI, which started at 100%, would decrease, and we had to get it down to at least 30% for the mission to be considered somewhat cleared—of course, one had to consider that the size of Maine was nearly 80% that of South Korea.
In reality, only about four or five areas could be considered cities, or perhaps a few more, and they were all tightly clustered along the coast. Therefore, it was possible to travel around the cities of Maine within six hours by car. Furthermore, since the time taken to reach the destination was automatically omitted, there was no need to actually drive for that long in VR.
If we set the combat time to 1:1, the actual time spent would be six hours. The timeout for the Blue Operation was set at 18 hours in VR, so the time was quite generous.
Naturally, it didn’t end there.
“How are we supposed to take down four aircraft carriers, really?”
The biggest mountain.
The wall blocking all users. It wasn’t just about taking down the aircraft carriers. Even though they were smaller in scale, we had to penetrate the escort fleet consisting of several cruisers, frigates, and destroyers as well. Naturally, SLBMs from Columbia-class nuclear submarines were out of the question, and tactical nuclear weapons were even less so. The moment you used them, the mission rank would plummet to D.
Of course, the moment the missiles were launched, the escort fleet on standby would start combing the northeastern waters of the U.S. for the submarine, and the moment the submarine sank, the mission would end in failure.
Thus, there was no separate support from the submarines. Due to the jamming signals, it was impossible to launch missiles like Tomahawks from a distance. Therefore, destroying the aircraft carriers was nothing short of a suicide mission. All strategies from every team assumed that they would first sweep through the cities of Maine and wipe out all the enemies, ensuring that by the time they reached Portland, the entire city would be on maximum alert.
Naturally, trying to destroy the aircraft carriers first was literally a death wish since the identification systems spread across the map would meticulously scan the surroundings.
“So, what do you think went wrong this time?”
“Lack of time, not enough people, and the approach doesn’t seem right… it’s just terrible.”
“Still, I feel like we have some direction. If we use drones to mark the coordinates and fire Tomahawks, we might achieve decent results. These days, it seems like all the strategy teams are using unmanned drones. If we bring DDP-52 as support, we might have a chance.”
“In that case, let’s try that a few times tomorrow.”
My head was spinning.
It wasn’t just one person feeling this way; everyone present was thinking the same. It had been two hours since we had lunch, and we had started the Blue Operation. Since we had already tried a few times before, the actual VR connection time had exceeded 24 hours. So when they finally logged out, the time was already 8 PM.
Having far exceeded dinner time, all members of the Cerberus team got up from their beds and walked toward the cafeteria. These users were also professional gamers who received corporate sponsorship to play the game, leading to this result.
Ten users, who ordered their desired food in turn through the kiosk, sat down and began to discuss. Even as the food was being delivered sequentially by an unmanned cart, the conversation continued, and they kept talking while eating.
However, soon silence fell.
[Streamer 'Eugene' // ON AIR]
[Operation Bluefield trying with Friends]
“...Will we break it?”
“I’ll bet 50,000 won that we’ll clear it on the first try.”
“I’ll bet 100,000 won that we can’t break it.”
“Wow, it looks like the ten King Sejong’s are going to come into my wallet.”
There were many words, but the runaway train was beginning to move.
“It’s been a while, everyone. I’m back with an incursion mission play about a month after Operation Lost Archive. It seems like you’ve all been waiting a lot.”
“Whew, I’m happy to see you. You can call me Laurentina. It’s better for you not to ask about the presence of this menacing guy named Owens here; it’ll be better for your safety.”
“It’s Logan. I don’t have much to say, but you’ll want to listen to this shark lady.”
800,000 viewers.
That was the number of people right before us. It was indeed a large crowd. The moment we posted the joint broadcast notice, the number of comments exceeded 3,000 in just an hour, so I had expected this. Having first and second place from the Final Championship and fourth place in one place had undoubtedly created quite a buzz.
As soon as the broadcast started, we reached the number one spot in global viewers, pushing down a streamer who was broadcasting at that moment to second place by a significant margin. It wasn’t intentional, but it was nonetheless true. However, it didn’t end there; the total number of viewers finally surpassed seven digits before tapering off.
It seemed like viewers from all around the world had gathered.
Anyway, everyone had gathered. The total number of participants was six: the four initial members of Task Force, along with Harmony and Dais. This group could split into a small team, specifically Owen as the squad leader with me and Dais’s team—and Logan and Harmony leading the team with Laurentina.
“Did you push all the troublesome work onto Sirkins, and now you’re in the mood to do something today?”
“I should show our cute rookie the bitter taste of life.”
“Uh, uh, if I switch with Dais… Ugh!”
“Where do you think you’re running off to?”
Unfortunately, it seemed that Harmony had already secured a solid spot in Laurentina’s heart. The combination of a shark and a cat was incredibly novel.
Thus, Mina became Laurentina’s hugging pillow and entered the briefing room in that state. A tedious briefing began. Everyone except Harmony and Dais had heard this briefing enough times to memorize it. Perhaps it was surprising that the viewers were also quite familiar with it.
I heard that nearly a month had passed without anyone clearing it properly.
Anyway, since I had added that we were planning the operation route in the last joint broadcast, today we could proceed with the game without any particular explanation.
I chose options that might help the operation. There were quite a few. There was DDP-52, and a 30-minute satellite reconnaissance as well. However, what to choose had been agreed upon in advance. It was TPSP-12 Clover, a container-stored cruise missile platform. We would deploy about two of them along the border of Vermont and New Hampshire.
After designating the expected infiltration area as the small town of Belfast, I pressed the operation start button. A cutscene began, and the six of us boarded a Columbia-class nuclear submarine. Thus, the diving began, and 48 hours later, we landed in a city 160 km away from Portland on the northern coast of the United States.
The mission had begun.
“Starting drone reconnaissance. Please maintain vigilance.”
“Leave it to me.”
As everyone busily dispersed into the surroundings, a nearly silent drone, controlled by special blade adjustments, quickly soared into the sky. The drone ascended approximately 600 meters and began to scout the entire small town. However, it was safe to say that there were zero signs of life. Even though it wasn’t large, it was hard to call it small; it was odd nonetheless.
It was a moment that reminded me of the past. My hand instinctively maneuvered the drone to look south—toward Waldo County General Hospital and Belfast Airport. The two were only about 500 meters apart.
And sure enough.
“…Multiple life signs detected. About 20 armed individuals are irregularly scattered at the airport, and around 60 people have been confirmed at the hospital. Judging by the signs of runway usage, it seems they are receiving supplies through there.”
“According to the results of our radio eavesdropping, there seems to be no network flow being transmitted around. It seems like they receive messages as needed. They seem pretty loose since it’s a rear point.”
“We’ll ignore them and head for Augusta. If we capture them, we’ll only leave traces. From now on, we’ll head north to find a vehicle.”
“Confirmed.”
Of course, it wasn’t surprising that there were cars scattered all over the city. After brushing off the thick layer of dust on the windshield, I smashed the headlights and side windows. After all, if I had the Icarus Gear, I could drive with my eyes closed, and turning on the headlights would be a suicidal act that would invite detection.
Starting the engine also required caution. After fully closing the garage door and starting the engine without making noise, the six users split into two vehicles. When we opened the garage door, both vehicles slipped into the pitch-darkness. Meanwhile, I continued to operate the drone and kept scouting the predicted route.
Time skip began, and the remaining 18 hours until mission completion became 16 hours and 45 minutes.
Having arrived right in front of Augusta, the drone finally detected significant data.
“…Military bases and ammunition depots are scattered around. I’ve marked them on the UI.”
“It seems they’ve established their command center around the shopping center directly in front. Judging by the heavy traffic detected inside, it seems worth trying to enter. From here, let’s split into two scenarios. If we’re not going to annihilate them, let’s just get what we need and leave.”
“Alright. I’ll leave the infiltration to the three of you. If we succeed, it’s code blue; if we fail, it’s code red. If we decide to wipe them out, we’ll declare code black.”
As Owens fiddled with the drone, he added for Harmony and Dais.
“I’ll tell you what you need to do. Harmony, Dais, go this way. Eugene, Logan, and Laurentina will move west along Capital Street and stop at Checkpoint Alpha. You two will control the two drones and upload the movements of all nearby enemies to the UI. You’re becoming the eyes of the squad.”
“Understood.”
“Yes, yes…”
There were no further words.
Everyone nodded, and with a soft whirring sound, the drones blended into the dark sky. As they hit the waypoint and moved about 200 meters west through the thicket, I could see a faint light emerging from the darkness. It turned out to be a guard at the Russian base that we hadn’t managed to catch. It meant we had reached Checkpoint Alpha.
Above the brightly lit view, the positions of enemies indicated by the drones began to appear one by one. At the top of the long rectangular department store, a machine gun was mounted on each side, and there were barbed wire and makeshift structures blocking the paths and infiltration routes.
However, there wasn’t much to worry about since…
“I’ve reached the sniper position.”
“Drone control and shooting preparation completed. I’ll only mark the machine gunners that don’t have angles from this side.”
“We’ll handle those.”
Logan, assigned as the designated sniper, pulled out a rifle… Mjolnir.
Our team was all crazy about firepower. As the tripod was set up, I got into a prone position to serve as a support, and everyone began to adjust their timing.
After glancing at the chaotic chat room, a subsonic round sliced through the air with a soft sound. At the same time, if you didn’t listen closely, you wouldn’t hear the small gunshots that echoed simultaneously, and the four machine gunners stationed on the rooftop fell with their heads blown off, instantly meeting their end.
Laurentina urged us to return to our positions through a squeeze signal. As we returned to our original spots, everyone murmured good kills into the voice channel, expressing their satisfaction.
Then came the follow-up remarks.
“There’s a car repair shop 100 meters ahead… it seems to have changed into a military vehicle repair shop. Let’s take the detour around the bushes in front and head toward the logistics warehouse behind the department store. I’ll mark the waypoint.”
“Confirmed.”
It was about time to get off the road.
Ignoring the Russian words echoing around, we entered deeper into the woods. Even though it was winter and there were no leaves, the trees were densely packed, and above all, it was a moonless night, making infiltration quite easy.
The entrance to the logistics warehouse directly in front. About four individuals seemed to be controlling the movement of vehicles from a small booth outside.
“I’ll take care of it.”
Simultaneously, Logan manipulated his wristwatch, and soon the gates started flashing red and green lights, swinging wildly. Two individuals, startled, entered inside to report, while the remaining two struggled to fix the machines.
Logan wore a grim smile and gestured for us to advance, and Dais and I quickly moved to the booth managing the gates.
And just as we were about to ambush the enemy who was about to pull out a radio from behind…
“Ugh…!”
Thud!
The body faced forward, but the person’s head twisted over 180 degrees to look behind. The enemy’s eyes lost focus in an instant. The neck was completely broken, and he died right there. We stuffed the body under the parked vehicle while I hid behind a nearby trash can, waiting for Logan.
With the polar bear rushing into the logistics warehouse as a cue, Owens set the assembly point at Augusta Airport and added:
“An-124 heading for Portland just started refueling. I’ll give you 30 minutes. Finish what you’re doing and gather at the assembly point.”
“Understood.”
The time elapsed was barely 1 hour and 40 minutes.
Perceptually, it felt like 30 minutes.
The mission had just begun.
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