NoveLight ™
“…Is it just me, or does it seem like Lorenatina’s equipment is getting more and more expensive?”
“Is that all?”
“Haha, it’s like the laws of physics. Just like iron shavings are attracted to a magnet.”
Yujin and Lorenatina.
Starting with a single gun, within seven hours, they gathered so many items that the Gear Box almost exploded.
These days, Harmony, who used to give lectures on how to deceive or kill users with mediocre gear to make money, now had no room to speak in front of these two, as always. Even though she had become one of the top 0.001% players in the Dark Zone, it was the same situation.
What’s more frightening was that these two, despite reaching such a level, were still studying tactics and working hard as geniuses, never resting on their laurels.
If you’re wondering what this means,
"Moni, come over here. Let’s discuss what preparations are needed to catch the Mecha Rookie."
"I dare say, just with Yujin and Lorenatina, it should be easy to handle."
"Such a naive answer, trying to run away like that, let’s give you a punishment of ‘cheek-pulling’."
This was exactly the type of interaction.
"These people don’t really see me as an operator, do they?" Harmony thought as her cheek puffed out, stretched like cheese. Meanwhile, her gaze turned to the table. There were several sheets of A4 paper scattered around, and now, there was quite a lot written on them.
Before long, she was fully engrossed in the contents. Strangely enough, these two were not only good at drawing but had drawn a highly detailed depiction of Mecha Yujin’s appearance, the various armaments, and the weapons she carried.
Basically, it had a plasma cannon on the tail, which could be used for physical enhancement by drawing power when necessary. And it was said that the firearms it used were random. Of course, that wasn’t all. They had also estimated the thickness of expected bulletproof gloves and the durability of the shield.
Leaving the sheets filled with technical jargon behind, the conversation began again.
“There’s a part where you noted the gloves might be thicker than expected. Why do you think that?”
“If it has the power to operate the plasma cannon, the weight of the UES (Universal Exosuit) wouldn’t be a major problem. By looking at the crack marks on the floor, you can roughly estimate the weight of this weapon…”
“Hmm. In that case, it’d be good to bring EMP grenades, wouldn’t it? By the way, don’t you always carry an EMP generator with you, one you got as a hardcore special?”
“We shouldn’t rely on things like that.”
“True, you’re right.”
And just as she said.
Despite having such equipment, Harmony was facing the strong will of these two, who insisted on taking the hardcore approach. She gave a cold, stiff smile at first but quickly nodded to rationalize her decision.
From her experience with these two over the past year, Harmony knew that once they made a decision, there was no changing it. Of course, before that decision was made, there were huge debates and endless revisions, but…
On the flip side, once a decision was made after such long discussions, it never changed.
“Well, I thought so. So what do I need to prepare?”
“Nothing special. The rookie will tank up front, I’ll handle the central coordination, and our new rookie will just focus on providing fire support from the back.”
“…New rookie?”
“Well, since you’ve learned from the youngest, you’re the new rookie.”
A sense of unnecessary pride swelled up.
Just as Harmony was about to smile broadly, Lorenatina placed a piece of paper in front of her. It was a full-body drawing of Mecha Yujin. However, there were parts marked with red crosshatches.
It seemed that these were the parts where Mecha Yujin’s armor was expected to be thinner.
“The upper body… these crosshatched areas have no protection at all, do they?”
“That’s right. The upper body probably houses the core responsible for energy supply, but that would also mean that area is heavily armored to protect it. So naturally, targeting the joints makes sense.”
“The knee has bulletproof plates, so it looks like the only place to target is the abdomen.”
“Since the abdomen has to be flexible to connect the upper and lower body for movement, we can’t add any armor there. The eye parts, functioning as cameras, are probably heavily armored as well.”
Just as she said.
When Mecha Yujin first fought against Mecha Biam, the area she aimed for was the abdomen, which was also the only spot where the bullet successfully pierced. The rest of the body was simply destroyed by shooting countless bullets until they shredded the armor.
And, naturally, all of these assumptions were based on using ammunition that could penetrate the highest tier of armor in the game. Harmony briefly considered the possibility of spending all her money on buying the right ammo, but the conclusion was inevitable.
Once they met, these two were likely to make a one-turn kill.
“…So what do I do?”
“Well, should I teach you how to handle Mjolnir, rookie? Or maybe we’ll practice targeting specific points to kill the enemy in real combat… Don’t worry, there’s plenty we can do.”
“Ugh…”
“There’s no one who handles their squad as efficiently as Lorenatina. Try your best.”
As expected.
Of course, Lorenatina was still active and kept business and personal matters strictly separate. In other words, she never even hinted at her affiliation, even to Harmony. Although, when it came to information that was supposed to be known, her usual behavior made it nearly impossible to hide.
Her habit of distributing Navy SEAL recruitment forms left little room for doubt about her being a member of the U.S. Navy Special Forces.
Anyway, after that, the two of them, with Harmony sandwiched between them, had a high-level discussion for quite some time before suddenly standing up.
Then came the next words.
“Before we go meet the Mecha Rookie, let’s sharpen our new rookie as much as we can.”
“The curriculum’s roughly planned, so if we follow this, it should be good enough.”
“…Yes.”
To catch the impossible, proper preparation was necessary.
With a half-dead look in her eyes, Harmony took the paper, nodded, and picked up her gun.
Yujin School and Shark School had no days off.
Several hours later.
───CLANG!
“Did you see it, rookie?”
“Yes. The tail shape is a bit different from what I expected…”
“No, what on earth are you looking at?”
Boom.
What awaited them was not Mecha Yujin with a plasma cannon on her tail but Yujin herself with a mini-gun attached.
The advantage of mass-produced models was the freedom of weapon swaps.
───BWOOM!
The deafening roar that could’ve split the world in half filled the shopping mall. Yujin laughed in disbelief, and Lorenatina did the same. However, Harmony, who had watched them for so long, could tell they were laughing for different reasons.
Yujin was laughing simply because two out of the three encounters with Mecha Biam had happened in the shopping mall. Of course, she understood. There was no better place for such complex engagements than a shopping mall.
Anyway, that aside, Lorenatina… was probably just enjoying herself. There was no real evidence, but Harmony instinctively knew that was the most likely explanation.
“Mini-gun, huh? You’ve brought something more interesting than I thought!”
“Seeing the ammo drum on her back and the ballistic shield on her left arm, it looks like she’s really prepared for this.”
“Well, when has the situation ever gone the way we wanted? Let’s try to respond as quickly as possible.”
But, of course, they weren’t losing their composure.
The two immediately discarded their previous plans and, with hawk-like eyes, began observing Mecha Biam. If the power of their gaze had physical force, the machine would’ve been disassembled by now.
Harmony also carefully stuck her head out and confirmed the approach of Mecha Yujin ver. Mini-gun. Her weaponized gaze glowed a bluish tint. The massive ballistic shield covering half her body and the enormous ammo drum behind it were truly impressive.
It couldn’t be broken from the front, but what was clear was that it couldn’t defend from all angles. The mobility probably wouldn’t be as high as expected.
Just as she thought that, the conversation through the comms began.
“New rookie, how should we deal with that thing?”
“Hmm… If someone distracts it, we can go around and shoot at the parts the shield can’t cover. With that huge ammo drum, if we can tear it up, the mini-gun will be sealed.”
“Not a bad suggestion. But let’s think about a few more things. What if Mecha Rookie turns out to be more mobile than expected?”
“Well… If things go well, I might get isolated.”
“Exactly.”
Harmony nodded.
In that case, the conclusion was clear: they needed to first determine how mobile the enemy was. It was obvious that they shouldn’t assume a heavy-looking opponent would be slow.
Meanwhile, Yujin, having figured it out, added a few more details.
“Seeing that the tail length matches the mini-gun’s, it seems like it’ll operate almost all-round… Let’s hope it runs out of ammo soon.”
“It’ll be deadly even if it just grazes you. You know that, right?”
“Of course.”
At that moment, Lorenatina signaled Harmony. Having practiced repeatedly, Harmony immediately understood what it meant—turn around and attack the enemy from a different direction.
The battlefield was the shopping mall’s first-floor pavilion, and as the main battle began, Harmony quickly ran down the back path of the EMERCOM and made her way to the main hall. As the sound of gunfire echoed, she spotted a silhouette moving through the concrete dust.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t the silhouette she had hoped for.
“…The shopping mall boss unexpectedly joined the fight. I think we need to deal with this one. What should we do?”
“At this point, it’s not even a variable. Clear it out quickly and join us.”
“Understood.”
Harmony succeeded in carrying out that plan.
She ran forward, throwing two grenades in succession at the boss’s position and then quickly raising her M1A. She shot the boss in the head with consecutive rounds. The muffled sound of the suppressed shot and the boss collapsing in a heap.
But Harmony didn’t spare a single thought for it. She moved on, crossing past the Viking and Mantis to head toward Brutal. She used an escalator as cover to get a clear line of sight, and it didn’t take long. The two who had been stalling provided accurate location updates.
After a few seconds, the ominous tail equipped with the mini-gun appeared, and the tall Mecha Yujin came into the LPVO’s crosshairs.
Remembering the sound she’d heard in her ear, she steadied her breath, slowed her heartbeat, and focused the sights.
Mecha Yujin, with its shield, meant she had to empty an entire magazine, but she pulled the trigger slowly, feeling for the line where it would break through.
How long did it take?
───TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
The rounds shot out faster than the semi-auto mode would suggest.
The speed of fire was perfectly suited to the word "rapid fire." Harmony fired as fast as possible, emptying the 20-round magazine in just 3 seconds.
She quickly pressed the mag-release button, checked that the new mag was in place, and noticed Mecha Yujin’s tail aiming at her previous position.
At the same time, Harmony rolled across the floor.
Hundreds of rounds flew past her head.
“Eek…!”
Why is my life this tough?
Thinking this, Harmony had already inserted a fresh magazine and continued to move. She heard a fire support request over the comms and quickly changed her position, starting to fire at Mecha Biam once more.
Thus began the real snake-hunting.