NoveLight ™
<No one knows, MegaBurger has donated 5,000 won.>
"Thanks for the donation. Sometimes, even in a battlefield smelling of gunpowder, a little rest is necessary, don't you think?"
Inside Carnegie Hall, the broadcast room.
After disconnecting from the sound system, I slouched in my chair. If this were reality, I might have squished myself, but since it was a game, I wasn’t in any danger of breaking. I remember the chair in the EU mode hideout broke, but thankfully it didn’t here.
Anyway, the rare peace I was enjoying felt truly pleasant. I had covered the entire path to the broadcast room with traps, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone showing up. I also wanted to help Mina and Yerin realize the simple fact that "sometimes, the goal isn’t always to annihilate the enemy."
Unfortunately, what I saw through the CCTV wasn’t exactly what I expected. It was going in a different direction.
“…Of course, what I just said was a joke. Olivia asked me to be here. She said she wanted to regain her touch. I’m concerned I’m being too harsh on my disciples, but right now…”
Exciting battle, battle, and more battle.
No matter how advantageous the interior combat is for the defenders, I still don’t know what happened for 13 people to quickly become 9. Honestly, due to the limited positions of the CCTV, I couldn’t figure out the details.
Still, fortunately or unfortunately, Olivia wasn’t suddenly popping up here and there like Hong Gil-dong, so it seemed like she wasn’t using some trick to beat up my disciples. In short, I should say she was pressuring them purely with combat skills.
Watching her pull that off with just a single gun, even though the others were using pulse mines, drones, and turrets... it was pretty impressive. But I couldn’t help it. Olivia was literally a master of speed and stealth.
Besides, Carnegie Hall itself was quite cramped and tricky to navigate, so the advantage of numbers wouldn’t be very useful.
‘…If I were Mina or Yerin, I would have cleaned up with a directional pulse or seeker mines, then slowly ground them down with drones and EMPs…’
But still, physics is in full effect. How would anyone use teleportation with the laws of physics intact?
If I say it this way, I might seem like I’m offering my disciples as sacrifices for Olivia’s awakening, but that’s really not the case. My personal opinion is that, either way, it’s a good experience for them.
But unlike me, Olivia was out there fighting solo… so she probably had more at stake. Unlike those who decided to ask me for help after knowing I was in the Aesthetic Zone, she probably felt more urgency.
Since the Aesthetic Zone hadn’t been cleared yet, if she died, she’d have to return to Brooklyn.
Anyway, aside from what I just said, I couldn’t stay here too long.
If Harmonie and Dice’s goal was to wipe us off the map, my goal was to lead Olivia to Central Park HQ safely.
It was fine for her to step outside to stretch her legs, but there was no need for me to take unnecessary risks by watching her.
After setting up a hologram trap in the broadcast room to keep the sounds of movement coming, I cautiously left.
Outside, gunfire continued to echo, and as I carefully avoided the traps scattered around, I managed to slip out from the vicinity of the broadcast room. Just as I expected, I received a sudden support request from Olivia.
Wondering what was going on, I checked it out, and sure enough—enemy squad members were falling one by one, but Dice and Harmonie were using that to make bigger moves. They had become cold-blooded and started using our own people as literal bullets.
Naturally, those who were being used as bullets understood this perfectly. They clung to Olivia until the very end, and some even managed to land a few solid hits before going down. By the time Dice, Harmonie, and about six others remained, Olivia sent me a message saying she was struggling.
“Reducing 13 to 6 is no small feat…”
She had no skills, and she was still wearing the gear given at the start of character creation.
At least it was Hardcore Mode, so the gear was relatively sturdy, but even so, she couldn’t compare to those who were clearing missions and raiding.
But still, for someone who was supposed to leave for the national team in a few weeks to crush their heads like that... it was clear that a tiger locked in a cage would never become a cat.
I digress.
It was about time for the three-way standoff.
“It looks like you’ve had quite a hard time. I’m going to inject you with a nanomachine for first aid, so stay still.”
“Who are those people? They’re not scared even after taking down a few of them, and their tactics are evolving in real time? What exactly did you teach them?”
“I taught them a lot. I don’t know, but Olivia shouldn’t die here, so pull yourself together. You’ve almost run out of ammo, right? Use this. I’ve adjusted the sights, so it’ll hit most of the time.”
“…Heh, it’s nice to have backup.”
The nanomachine worked quickly, and within 20 seconds, Olivia’s condition was rapidly recovering, as shown on the UI.
Since Olivia’s two guns were almost out of ammo, I handed her one of mine and grabbed the other. At the same time, I sensed the slight vibration in the air and pulled a grenade from my pouch.
I carefully pulled the pin, and then—one, two, and three.
With a flick, I threw the grenade into the air, and the hundreds of fragments spread in all directions, shooting down a reconnaissance drone that was checking the area.
It was a bit troublesome that all I had left was a pump-action shotgun and dozens of slug rounds, but that was fine. I could always exchange it for another gun later by looting the bodies in Carnegie Hall.
Now, it was going to be a pure strength battle where tricks wouldn’t work.
“I think Eugene’s here too, so show your face. Everyone’s waiting.”
“Sorry, my face is a bit expensive. I guess... about six lives should be a fair trade.”
“Oh, that’s a bit…”
Dice’s voice came through.
It was close enough for near-field communication.
As soon as Olivia realized, she took half of my grenades and moved in a different direction, while I stayed in place. I was near the stairs to the backstage, and Dice and Harmonie’s team was still trying to find our locations by setting pulses.
Normally, I would have used the EMP generator, a special Hardcore feature, to finish things off quickly, but this wasn’t something I’d use to teach my national team friends.
So I waited for Olivia to move to the high ground, and in less than ten seconds, she reached the balcony seating in Isaac Stern Auditorium. It would be detected by pulses, but it was a spot that couldn’t easily be controlled.
Today, Olivia was going to show Dice and Harmonie's team what Divide and Rule really meant.
───Thud! Bang!
The grenade flew through the air, and shooting began.
At that moment, I revealed myself from backstage and started firing slugs. The chaos intensified as I shot from different directions, and the internal facilities of Carnegie Hall gave me more opportunities to have fun.
The fire shutters dropped everywhere, and if that wasn’t enough, I’d use a polyurethane foam launcher and steam napalm. In the blink of an eye, the six of us split into two groups of three, and I knew it was time to move.
Three people were trapped inside the auditorium. The main door was solidly blocked, so the remaining three would try to reach Olivia and find her weaknesses by climbing the stairs. That staircase was very close to me, and I still had three grenades left.
The footsteps grew louder, and just as they were about to be right in front of me, I threw the grenade into the hallway filled with heavy footsteps.
A deafening explosion followed.
“Ugh...!”
“Spread out, spread out!”
“Suppressive fire!”
They tried to preemptively fire as soon as they predicted my appearance—those well-trained friends really knew their stuff.
At the same time, they rolled out seeker mines and grenades, but unfortunately for them, I was able to take it with my body. This was only possible because it was a game.
With a blast and a sound, the grenade shrapnel exploded 15 meters behind me, eating into my back shield. A seeker mine launched into the air just as my ballistic shield was about to break and destroyed it completely—but I was still alive.
I stumbled and hid behind cover, using the butt of my rifle to strike the face of a downed enemy and used him as a human shield.
Harmonie’s eyes went wide.
“Wow, that’s too much, teacher!”
“Save your complaints for when we get back.”
Bang!
With my wrist, I controlled the recoil of the shotgun loaded with slug rounds. With my left hand, I used the now half-conscious—turns out it was Michael, I knew he’d last long—downed enemy as a human shield and continued firing. Since it was a pump-action, I loaded it with my tail.
Bang, bang, bang! Flames erupted from the muzzle, and the metal pieces the size of a thumbnail relentlessly hammered the bulletproof plates, delivering enough damage to the weak flesh beyond. The other player in the middle was hit by a slug and passed out.
Only Harmonie remained.
Before she could do anything, I cut her arms and legs off. It was easier than cutting a steak.
Harmonie, slumped and shaking her head, gave up and collapsed onto her back.
But I didn’t approach her. I had no idea what this reckless kid, who had been so enthusiastically learning how to make IEDs from me, might be planning.
After cracking Michael’s head with a slug round, I continued loading slugs into my tube and cautiously moved closer to Harmonie.
She spoke.
“…How was it, us? Eugene, you’re under 40% HP now…”
“Like you said. You all did well. Your reactions in unexpected situations, resource management, cohesion, orders—everything was great. I’m giving you 300 Byam points.”
“Lauren Tina also gave me that…”
“I’ve got about 58,300 points myself.”
Mina laughed and added.
“See you later.”
With those words, Harmonie, having given up on recovering, disappeared quietly, and by the time I realized it, the corridor was filled with weapons and golden bloodstains.
I let out a sigh and checked the UI. There were only 10 minutes left until the Aesthetic Zone closed.
“…How did I end up caught in the Aesthetic Zone?”
At any rate, nothing here was easy.
It was my everyday life.
"Dice, quite an interesting nickname. Anyway, nice to meet you. It's been a while, right? Your moves earlier were pretty impressive. Did you learn that from Eugene?"
"Eh, uh, ehh..."
"You don’t have to be so embarrassed. There’s no need to fight anymore."
"Olivia, it’s not that I’m embarrassed."
"Hm?"
Dice, a Korean with the look of a foreigner—someone who could make anyone he talks to freeze up—had just come back from abroad a few times and thought he was used to it. But when he was face-to-face with someone speaking only in English, he seemed to have a momentary brain freeze. Well, it was understandable; Logan and Loren Tina had both mastered Korean to the point of speaking like natives.
Anyway, it was time to save Dice from the clutches of that evil English.
"If you talk to him in English, he gets all flustered."
"Ah, did I pick the wrong language? Should I try French?"
"...I’ll just tell him to turn on the automatic translation."
Maybe German would’ve worked, who knows.
If this had been a comedy skit performed outside, it would have been chaotic, but luckily, we were in a private session at Central Park HQ. Hosting twenty people, including Olivia, Dice, and Harmonie, was already quite a challenge.
That said, the greetings finally began. Olivia had apparently memorized the faces of the twenty friends we’d fought against earlier—since she was an awakened owl and had great eyesight—and was shaking hands skillfully, quickly building rapport with them.
While she was handling the questions coming in one by one, I couldn’t help but admire her. As expected of someone who had been active as a public figure before me.
"I never imagined I’d have such a hobby that’s so far from my main job. If I told them this used to be one of the things I did, they’d be shocked."
"Well, they’ve probably already been shocked since two hours ago. Since I’ve revealed everything, how about combining military fashion with trends next?"
"I’ve been thinking about that too, of course."
Olivia responded to the military-related questions with the choice of method: ignoring them.
She didn’t leave any space for it. Honestly, it seemed like the right approach. If she had given even the slightest opening, they would have pried deeper, but by staying silent, it was more likely that people would just consider her an oddball who came to Korea on a whim.
Of course, this alone wouldn’t be enough, so she started talking openly, subtly satisfying the "national pride" needs of the people around her.
What I mean by this was…
"It’s scary how much they’ve grown since I retired. Those kids are among the sharpest and most tactically aware people I’ve met. I see why those two are interested in them."
"They learned a lot. I taught them well. No matter where they go, they won’t lose."
"...Does ‘won’t lose’ mean that they’ll turn the opponent into waffles?"
Ah, well. If the bonsai tree you’ve nurtured starts reaching for the sky, that’s a good thing, right? But if everyone’s shocked, then what do we do next?
Olivia, laughing to herself, leaned back in her chair and sighed. Then, without giving any instructions, she quietly switched on a secret channel and began speaking.
"Did I hear right? Is Rapier with the Blaze Company?"
"Should I go shoot a gun or something?"
"Just kidding. But… after holding this damn magic wand for three hours and putting holes in people’s heads, I get it. I should’ve stayed in the military like a shark or polar bear. What the hell am I doing cutting fabric in the middle of a studio? Honestly, I think I should quit this."
"Stop talking nonsense. Go play games in Korea. You know it’s just frustration talking, right?"
"...The youngest is surprisingly sharp, huh?"
It was best to shut down nonsense with nonsense.
It was inevitable for such words to come out. Unlike my two seniors who were still active in a tier-one special forces unit, Olivia’s starting point had been different. She had accumulated her own past without realizing it, and she couldn’t have shared it with anyone. Maybe that’s why she came to Korea.
Beneath Olivia’s surface, there was a terrible but equally brilliant nostalgia related to New York in another world. But she hadn’t quite figured out how to handle it yet.
I was wondering if I should introduce her to Logan and Loren Tina when—
"...!"
Suddenly, a thought passed through my mind.
It didn’t seem impossible, so I opened my mouth.
"Olivia."
"Hm?"
"How about joining me at Fort Benning in early November?"
Anyway, since we were uploading edited videos to YourSpace, and people like me were taking part as extras, it wouldn’t be that hard to bring along a few guests.
I could almost hear the heavy sound of a sniper rifle firing in early winter in Georgia, where the smell of gunpowder filled the air.