-[ISO: To all operators currently deployed in Los Angeles, this message is transmitted uniformly. All operations are to be suspended and return to base. From this moment, the phenomenon and its derivative entities will be referred to as 'Shadows.' All deployments in Los Angeles are suspended until the situation is accurately assessed. Repeat…]

From San Clemente to Dana Point, Laguna Hills, Mission Viejo, and Lake Forest. Santa Ana and Orange, Huntington Beach and Anaheim, and Long Beach.

The small area of the holographic map, which was little known in the lower satellite cities of Los Angeles, turned completely gray, dyed in red. The blue area, indicating the Icarus operators, shrank to nothing in seconds, covered by gray instead of red.

A UAV cutting through the sky was scouting the surroundings in real-time. On the gray background was a black question mark. Slowly but steadily, the shadows were encroaching on the lower parts of Los Angeles.

The number of shadows roaming within that area easily surpassed a thousand.

"…What the hell."

I had never seen anything like it before, and the sight was indeed bizarre.

All of them wore masks that obscured their faces, and it was as if their limbs were disintegrating like ash, disappearing and reappearing gradually, reminiscent of an army of necromancers raising dead bodies to move again.

However, they moved skillfully, shooting and using skills just like they were alive. It was almost natural for the cartels, Chinese troops, and Western Russian forces that filled Los Angeles to begin feeling fear toward this strange army.

Since the battles had begun in the surrounding satellite cities before fully entering the metropolis, wherever they set foot became integrated under the name of the United States. Thus, Lorentina, Logan, and I watched the situation in Los Angeles as transmitted by the UAV, saying nothing.

"…."

Of course, aside from what those two might think of the situation, I was quite satisfied with the appearance of this quasi-undead army.

The design was something decided in consultation with those two who sent me back before I crossed over to this place. The image of turning to dust and disappearing without a trace upon death, only to be regenerated later, was fitting for a mineral and inhuman form.

And there was another reason for the uniformity in design.

'…It’s strange how the Dark Zone has so many flashy avatars and accessories.'

If we just deployed them, there would be avatars with dog or cat ears on their heads or behinds, or female avatars meticulously sculpted with unnecessary detail participating in the operations.

Additionally, many of them had recently bought bundles released as a celebration for winning the final championship.

Moreover, that wasn’t the end. While I usually didn’t use things like gun skins, the Dark Zone operated on subscription and such weapon skin bundles, making it common to see a multitude of players with excessively colorful gun skins.

I could explain each one, but there was no need for that—put simply, the appearance of those deployed in Los Angeles had its reasons.

Suddenly, Lorentina and Logan turned their heads. Naturally, the direction was towards me.

Was it a look demanding an explanation? Well, it was somewhat similar. The two of them were staring at me, and it was definitely not in a bad way. Rather, a mixture of emotion was proving that my thoughts were not incorrect.

It was almost a given. Not only was I alive, but I was also alleviating the burdens of Icarus. Right now, it was more of a sense of unreality than joy, but perhaps soon enough, they would realize how joyous this was.

The ability to carry out operations without worrying about casualties was essentially a cheat. And they were intelligent enough to notice that fact within mere seconds.

Of course, I hadn’t expected that they would hug me again, squeezing me tightly.

"Ugh…!"

"Our youngest, really…."

Maybe I was just being foolish.

As the hugs ended, an unexpected contact followed. What it was turned out to be a real-time video call request from the Dagger Team in Los Angeles. I quietly observed, not knowing what was going on, and the conversation began without me.

"By now, both of you have probably heard the news from Los Angeles. As you can see, the operational area has completely collapsed. The Western Branch is still deliberating whether to return you two, so there’s nothing to see, but just rest there."

"If it were bustling New York, maybe, but what do you mean to rest in a neighborhood filled with these giant coffins?"

"If you can’t hear gunfire, that’s your rest."

Owens, and Chester visible beyond him. They weren’t strangers I hadn’t seen in a while, but they were certainly familiar faces I hadn’t seen for quite some time.

I thought about greeting them, but as it seemed that these two were not giving me any voice in the matter, I stayed quiet, and the conversation gradually shifted to another direction. Perhaps it was only natural, but it was a discussion about me.

I had explained this once before, but the reason those two flew from Los Angeles to New York was simple—they had discovered an echo I had left behind when the passage of the collapsed Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant was fully opened.

I heard that since then, they had found the second echo I left behind and the broken ballistic shield.

In short, they had flown thousands of kilometers to recover a possible corpse and verify the traces I had left behind.

And of course, it was impossible for them not to be curious about that.

"Seeing that the location is pinpointed at Central Park HQ, it seems the incident at the power plant has been wrapped up. Were there any significant findings?"

"…Yes, well. A few additional discoveries."

At the same time, the second echo was sent along with images of the broken shield and my bloodstains.

The atmosphere darkened in an instant. As I looked at it with a strange expression, after a brief silence, someone spoke up.

"…What about the youngest’s traces?"

"Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any further traces beyond that… not even a body."

But at that moment, the two who had lowered their heads raised them again. There were bright smiles on their faces.

The holographic cam turned to shine on me.

Lorentina added in a tone that conveyed she wasn’t lying.

"Because there was no body."

A moment of eye contact followed.

As I exchanged glances with the remaining seven members of the Dagger Team in Los Angeles, a fleeting silence passed—

"Oh, no—"

Thud.

Rapier, the only female member of the Dagger Team, clutched her head and fainted on the spot, while I added with a confused expression, unsure how to respond.

"Uh, um… Staff Sergeant Yujin from Task Force Dagger has returned from the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant."

What could I say?

I realized for the first time that it was possible for a face to show both joy at returning and a desire to genuinely smack myself on the head at the same time.

In any case, I was finally able to officially return to my second home.

It was indeed a cold New York, but today, it felt truly warm.

───Tatata!

"Ugh, how many Fallen are there! Why are they only targeting us?"

"If Mina quickly grabs Yujin and pulls her over…!"

"Do you think that’s even possible!?"

Of course, Harmony and Dice were struggling to push through the onslaught of sniper-like fire.

It was an ordinary day.

The Dark Zone’s America did not have the same size as real America.

The small and medium-sized cities facing the metropolises were called small cities, but they were essentially areas densely packed with detached houses, and such places practically didn’t need to exist in the game—naturally, they had been reduced and deleted, and their area shrank.

But conversely, this meant that the existing buildings existed for a reason—most of those places were usually occupied by enemies. This was natural since the Icarus operators, corresponding to our side, took on the role of attackers in Operation Sunrise.

As the Sunrise operation commenced, users eligible to participate felt just how intense and horrific the CQB in the metropolitan areas could be in terms of engagement efficiency.

Among those were Harmony and Dice.

-[Mission Objective: Reclaim the outlets in San Clemente.]

"This isn’t going to be easy…!"

There were valid reasons why decent buildings stood.

Most of them had become enemy outposts, and even if that wasn’t the case, viewers participating as traitor operators or general users would obstruct them by either infiltrating or barging in. Thus, the recovery was progressing more sluggishly than expected.

The percentage was increasing, but not at a fast pace. According to the mission data being updated in real-time through countless tries, high schools and common shopping complexes were abundant with high-risk and high-value targets.

Therefore, the basic stance established in just one day was as follows—carry out the simplest objectives and occupation missions to gain as many buffs as possible, and cooperate to reclaim the major target points to receive various support before moving on to the next area. That was the most efficient conclusion that almost everyone agreed upon.

Of course, those two had never been among the "almost everyone."

"Throw a thermite, thermite! It’ll buy us time!"

"Ugh, it’s overwhelming…!"

Crackle!

Flames surged from Harmony’s hand. The fire igniting from the end of the stick was closer to white than yellow. While Dice attracted the attention of the heavily armored enemy charging forward with a machine gun, Harmony stabbed the thermite rod into the back of the enemy with thousands of degrees of intense heat.

With a bizarre groan, the armor melted and burned. However, that was just for a moment; as the contact point disintegrated and melted away, the high-value target collapsed with its eyes rolling back.

But that wasn’t the end. As soon as they dealt with the machine-gun-wielding enemy, three heavily armored soldiers with shields appeared from the left, shooting their pistols. But Dice, not flustered at all, pulled the pins from two grenades and quickly calculated the cooking time in his head before throwing them to the ground.

The grenades, flowing through the gaps in the shields, didn’t take long to explode behind the enemies.

With a thunderous roar, the shockwave rattled everything around. The enemies fell to the ground, and Harmony swiftly grabbed the machine gun the heavily armored soldier had been holding and began firing at their heads.

───Tatata!

"Ugh…!"

As the three whose heads had turned to mush fell to the ground, Harmony and Dice skillfully exchanged magazines, preparing for the next engagement.

While sighing and complaining, they were getting ready for the next one. At this point, their motto was always that the enemies could bring at least two to three, or even four or more, in terms of firepower, and the missions were indeed proceeding that way.

Of course, it was because two people were pushing a mission that would normally require ten.

"Ugh, I feel like I’m losing my mind. Are you okay?"

"I’m fine. What about you, Dice?"

"I’m still good. It’s not even half done yet; I can’t just go back to the lobby!"

As he said.

The building was indeed unnecessarily huge. Furthermore, having fewer people in a party meant that one person had to take on many more tasks.

And that wasn’t the only issue.

-[Alert: Fallen operators detected.]

"I figured that would happen."

Their enemies weren’t just the Russian army, Chinese army, and the cartels.

This was a deadly disadvantage for a broadcaster. Normally, the Fallen insertion system, which served as a legitimate means to restrain those who excessively invested time to get ahead, could lead directly to sniping.

Of course, while the frequency of certified streamers being targeted for sniping had been drastically reduced, it wasn’t something that could be easily alleviated from the perspective of those who were on the receiving end. In the end, the only solution was to overcome it.

The expressions of the two changed in an instant.

Their eyes seemed to reflect a determination to engage in combat and risk everything for victory.

Kiiiing!

A pulse swept through the space.

There were four enemies. At a glance, it seemed that each one should be dealt with two, but in reality, that was the assumption of the viewers.

Harmony and Dice quickly exchanged glances, marking the user who seemed most troublesome or would be easier to deal with simultaneously. The moment one of the four Fallen operators glowed with a more distinct outline, the two retreated to avoid the incoming bullets and immediately devised a plan.

"What’s our approach?"

"First, let’s check their skill sets."

The skill sets between Fallen operators and general users differed. This was adjusted in real-time through a numerical comparison of both sides. In the current situation, Harmony and Dice’s party was clearly at a numerical disadvantage, so the Fallen operators had fewer skills available.

Fortunately, the three they had just killed had been wielding ballistic shields.

As Dice picked one up to form a front line and slowly retreated, Harmony fired sharp suppressive shots from behind, quickly identifying the enemy’s skills. They had sticky bombs, seeker mines, pulses, and foam grenades.

The moment she grasped that much, Harmony switched the marked user to the operator wielding the foam grenade. Dice, despite the incoming bullets, followed suit with that decision.

And how long had it been?

-Bang!

"Ugh!"

The moment the enemy held the foam grenade in hand, Harmony rapidly switched her controls to full-auto and focused fire. While the shield negated damage to HP, the shock was still effective, and the activated grenade detonated from their abdomen, encasing one Fallen operator in polyurethane foam.

There was no reason to let that opportunity slip. With a thud, Dice placed the shield on the ground and set his machine gun atop it, unloading a full-auto barrage as the polyurethane foam shattered into thousands of pieces. The fate of the trapped enemy went without saying.

Thus, four had been reduced to three. Only two seconds had passed, and they couldn’t even react.

Of course, the fates of the others would have been similar.

-Crack!

"I was trying not to bring this out…."

-???????????? -What the hell, haha. -I’m feeling dizzy, really, haha. -Huh? Why is the composition coming out of the bag, haha. -Harmony, are you really insane!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

At that moment, Harmony pulled out a stick of explosive from her tactical bag.

The Fallen operators instinctively sensed that their end wouldn’t be comfortable.

How long had it been?

The two of them, lying on the debris of the building without a trace, conversed in dying voices.

"…Hurry up and bring Yujin, I’m dying here…."

"I would have brought her already if I could…?"

The withdrawal symptoms of Yujin.

It was something that even those who were one step closer to Yujin couldn’t escape.

It was winter.