"Damn it, this is really awful…!"

Run. Run, and keep running.

The soles of Logan’s boots, already caked with mud and water from the wet ground, were completely filthy. Bits of crushed grass and decaying leaves stuck to her clothes as she ran. But Logan paid no attention to that, moving as fast as she could.

There was no road, and at times, the terrain was steep enough to make one frustrated. Her movement was more of a slide than a run. But slowing down was not an option. The number of enemy humanoids chasing her was far too great.

When the distance between them stretched to about 400 meters, Logan quickly caught her breath, leaning against a tree, and began picking off the heads of the enemies approaching from afar with precise shots.

The mobility of a polar bear had long surpassed that of a human, so in normal circumstances, there was no reason she should have been caught. However, there was a pressing reason she had to escape as fast as possible.

"Damn laser guns..."

The current situation, which was a training exercise and not real combat.

The robots chasing Logan weren’t carrying real guns – they used lasers. When a laser hit, HQ automatically calculated the damage from far away. In other words, running in an open area would be suicide. Lasers were far faster than bullets.

Moreover, her gear was heavy – about 100kg worth of military gear. She was still human, and after three days of constant movement and battle, her body was stiff and exhausted.

Despite all these conditions, Logan was still running.

"Hey, rookie, are you listening? I'm moving along the route from Point Alpha to Point 23, and I'm about two-thirds of the way there! I remember you’re carrying an M110A1 – can you provide support?"

"Impossible. I’m running out of ammo. There’s heavy combat to the north, and if I don’t focus on these guys, we’ll all be wiped out."

"Then try asking the designated shooters for more ammo, damn it! I’m carrying all this gear and running like hell!"

"Is it really that many?"

"Two companies are chasing me!"

Logan had all sorts of guns, but they were bolt-action, and with a suppressor, the barrels were unreasonably long. In other words, it was just more weight to carry.

With all that strapped on, Logan had no choice but to keep running. The one thing that was somewhat lucky was that she could at least drink from her canteen or use her Camelbak while running. There was still 1.5km left to the retreat point, and she had to push herself to the limit to get there.

10 seconds. 20 seconds. 30 seconds passed. Despite the rapid speed of the sniper rifle’s shots, amazingly, not a single bullet missed the target. The combat power was far beyond what was normal. But for every one she killed, five more replaced them, and the sheer brutality of the numbers was overwhelming.

Even after quite a while, there was no word from the rookie, and Logan gave up on the idea of getting support and pushed herself to run again.

"Damn it, when I get back, I’m making sure the rookie installs a proper autonomous mode for the sniper turrets…!"

Logan’s thoughts wandered to the battlefield in New York from the past.

When being chased, turrets – not just sniper turrets – were like another life, and they could effectively lock down the enemy’s movements. Another tool in development was the seeker mine, a collaboration between the military and DARPA.

The reason she thought about this was simple: right now, the sniper turrets Logan was carrying didn’t have such features.

Her mind was racing.

Just as she expected, communication came back from the rookie, but the response was about what she had anticipated. They had ammo, but the angles weren’t ideal. The rookie would do their best... The base was in a valley below, and Logan was running high up on the mountain, so support was difficult.

But difficulty didn’t mean impossible, and shooting wasn’t the only way to provide support.

"…Can you hear me, Logan? I’ve accessed the central system of the base and adjusted the enemy concentration. I've sent an emergency support request."

"Just get to the point!"

"I’ve redirected half the enemy forces chasing you towards the base. It’ll make things smoother. And when you reach Point 23, turn towards 26. You’ll probably see a watchtower."

"And then?"

"Once you’re near it, get the sniper team’s attention, whatever it takes. When I came down here, the friendly marker for that tower appeared on my UI."

There was no response.

Had the comms not filtered out the gunshots, Eugene would have heard the sharp sounds of bullets being spit out by the suppressor over and over again. Logan, who had already sent five more enemies to the afterlife, didn’t hesitate when she reached Point 23 and immediately ran towards Point 26.

The terrain was steep, with rock walls and sharp inclines. But Logan quickly found spots to grip, her movements light and nimble like a mountain goat. After traveling about 100 meters, she emerged from the mountain path and saw a relatively open, gentle uphill slope with the watchtower far in the distance. It was about 400 meters away, and without the gear, she could have covered it in no time, but not now.

The method Logan chose was simple.

"Ka-ka-ka!"

With a sound like turning a screw, Logan removed the suppressor from her pistol, loaded a fresh magazine, and immediately started running.

"Look here…!"

Bang, bang, bang!

As she sprinted, Logan fired her pistol wildly into the air, hitting the concrete walls of the watchtower several times.

How much time passed? The polar bear locked eyes with the two Asians who had peeked out from the watchtower. They were clearly confused, having no idea what was happening, but when they saw the humanoid robots emerging from the forest, they immediately understood the situation. Seconds later, a sharp noise erupted from the watchtower.

The bullet, traveling at nearly Mach 3, missed Logan by a long shot, but it quickly found its mark as it obliterated the skulls of the uninvited guests that had begun to appear from behind.

"RUN!"

A voice rang out from the watchtower.

Naturally, the polar bear knew exactly what it meant.

Her throat was dry, her feet were burning, and her entire body was drenched in sweat. Her joints ached. But the humanoids could not match Logan’s superior physical abilities, and the distance between them slowly started to widen.

Logan had to rush up a gentle slope to reach the watchtower, and naturally, she became exposed. But her massive backpack blocked the laser shots that came at her.

After an arduous journey, Logan finally reached the watchtower, gasping for breath.

The counterattack began.

"Are you alive, Logan? You weren’t hit, right?"

"My backpack seems to have absorbed it... Damn, I can barely breathe. I’ll take care of the remaining enemies. Is everything finished on your end?"

"Almost. I’ve been out of the base for a while now."

"Alright, then. I’ll see you at the extraction point."

With the rookie’s voice coming through the comms, Logan climbed the stairs.

There was no need to meet up with the other sniper teams at the top of the watchtower. Instead, Logan crouched down and swept through the broken windows with her silenced rifle. Ignoring the sweat pouring from her body, she began indiscriminately taking out humanoids that were gradually approaching.

At that moment, familiar Korean voices came from the upper floors.

"What the hell are those guys?!"

"Uninvited guests!"

They were the participants she had met earlier, the ones from the rookie’s team.

Logan smiled quietly, and the two on the upper floor, hearing the polar bear’s voice, laughed as they started stacking the robot corpses like a mountain.

Even though they were split into two groups, there were still 80 enemies. Logan had already killed twenty, and after about two minutes of fighting, twenty more had been taken down.

Logan couldn’t stay there for too long and urged a retreat. The two UDT soldiers quickly used the fast ropes they had set up in advance and withdrew.

A brief exchange of words, then running.

With about 40 humanoids still left and knowing their hiding spots had been revealed, Logan and the others planned to shake off the pursuers in the forest. As the two watched the rear and fought, Logan pushed herself again, running with everything she had.

Reaching the boundary of the forest, Logan threw off her backpack and set up three sniper turrets. Within 15 seconds, the turrets were connected to the computing unit and battery and positioned on fallen logs.

One by one, the pursuers began peeking out near the watchtower, but Logan, while the turrets were powering up, took out her TAC-50 and aimed. A sharp, heavy noise rang out, and one enemy’s head disappeared.

"Smoke grenades!"

The UDT soldiers dropped a few smoke grenades, and as the smoke billowed, the two soldiers were able to reach the boundary of the forest without taking damage.

Seeing that the two had arrived safely, Logan fired a smoke grenade from her sniper rifle, sending it flying in the opposite direction, clearing the smoke and revealing the enemies’ positions.

"Is this how it’s going to end?"

"End? Of course."

The sounds of gunfire began again in bursts, and three humanoids fell to the ground almost simultaneously.

Once the turrets began firing, the robots had no chance to evade.

"I think it’s time to rest."

The grueling mission was coming to an end.

The helicopters for extraction were approaching, and the last of the 40 remaining pursuers turned into piles of scrap metal. The helicopter landed at the extraction point, just three minutes before they were to leave.

"You really went through a lot, Logan."

"That was one of the top 5 hardest moments of my military career. Damn, I’m about to pass out. Can you wake me up if I faint?"

"Of course."

After chatting, they drank together. As the alcohol took effect, the exhaustion began to seep in.

It was now nearing midnight, and after some time, Laurenatina stood up and stretched.

"Anyway, see you tomorrow. Great job in the competition. We’ll talk about all the behind-the-scenes stories on the bus ride."

"…"

"…Why is no one saying anything?"

Olivia, with a confused expression, looked on.

I met Logan’s gaze.

The polar bear nodded.

At that moment, I used my tail to hook Laurenatina, pulling her toward me, wrapped tightly in my tail, and yanked her into my arms.

Logan’s voice followed.

"You saw all the chaos during our missions, but to top it off, you came into our room with whiskey in hand when we were trying to sleep... I guess that means you’re ready to handle the rookie’s drinking habits all night, huh?"

"W-What... we weren’t even that drunk, what are you talking about, ugh...!"

"Laurenatina’s been tired after acting as the senior controller during the competition, so it’s up to the rookie to put her to bed, right?"

"Of course."

Of course, we weren’t that drunk, but when it came to this, you had to be bold.

I wrapped Laurenatina tightly in my tail and dove onto a specially designed high-elasticity mattress, making the shark my pillow for the night.

Olivia, watching us with a bewildered look, added.

"...Another quiet night, huh? See you tomorrow. I’ll turn off the lights and leave."

"Ugh…!"

"Take care, Olivia."

The lights went out.

The sound of crickets filled the air, and the moon shone brightly. It was November, with the shark caught by my tail, crying out in the quiet night.