NoveLight ™
"…Laser? You’re saying it’s a laser?"
"Icarus, you crazy bastards! This is too much!"
"Wow, they're raising the difficulty to the heavens just because they think lives are on an infinite refill."
Some are sent back to the forward base by a laser that cuts through the vast night sky in a straight line, while others step back from the spectacle, indirectly experiencing the overwhelming violence of the ion cannon.
The immense amount of light was so overpowering that it seemed to push away the dark sky itself. The spot that was hit literally evaporated. The appearance and power didn’t correlate at all, and the fact that such power required a considerable amount of energy to unleash did little to prevent exaggerated rumors from spreading.
It was like a full-scale war, with systematic preparations to push Artemis back, something not seen in the North American or European sessions. Except for the Korean session, no other session had seen lasers burning through the darkness or experienced them.
Perhaps because of this, foreign sessions absorbed the laser rumors sparked in Korea like sponges, quickly reproducing a slew of subcontent.
In just six hours.
"Hey, bring in the vehicles! Let’s go get hit by the lasers too!"
"You crazy bastard, do you think a laser is like a single shot? You get hit by that, you evaporate! You evaporate!"
"Do you think we care about that? If not now, when will we get hit?!"
"Oh God, now I understand why humans only have one life…"
Of course, the Koreans weren’t going to stay silent.
Rumors spread that getting hit by the laser would boost your college entrance exam scores, make you stronger after dying and resurrecting, or that if you die and come back from the place Eugene got hit, you’ll grow a snake tail. With such bizarre rumors circulating, everyone who confidently tried to break through the frontlines with vehicles ended up cold in their graves.
Naturally, it wasn’t the laser that did them in. They simply dashed across the plains or roads, throwing away all battlefield observation data, and met their demise in a variety of ways.
The methods were incredibly diverse. Some were driving their cars when they hit an anti-tank mine buried by Artemis drones, causing a fireworks-like explosion. Others were detected by observation drones while speeding through fields and were hit by long-range artillery, only to be ejected back into the respawn window. Or they got caught in an ambush and became operators (used to be, that is).
It had only been six hours since the laser news broke, yet a video titled "How to Die Stupidly Ver. DARK ZONE New Incursion" appeared on Eugene’s channel. Three hours later, it hit one million views. This made it clear that the incident had created a huge stir.
And that video did nothing to calm the viewers or foreign and local players.
"Korea? These crazy badasses, I didn’t know they were this bold. We can’t lose either!"
"For the motherland, for Mother Russia! Ura!"
"How the hell did they modify those guns? That bastard mounted a Papasha and a rail, and then put a holographic sight and a laser pointer on top!"
This was the so-called "That’s a stupid idea, let’s do it" operation.
Now that Eugene had fully trapped Korea’s idiots and thrown them into YourSpace, there was no holding back. It didn’t take long for foreign players to go even wilder, and even channels that received clips from others began uploading similar videos.
No one could have expected it, but in a way, Byam had opened the era of idiots.
The next day, when Eugene turned on the stream, she had to humbly admit that something was going terribly wrong.
"…What the hell is going on?"
Now, simply turning on the broadcast, Byam’s viewership had reached a minimum of 1.9 million. While it had been a while since she’d received donations for videos, there was no avoiding the flood of posts or chat opinions on tricky personal sites.
Eugene quickly hid her surprise and opened YourSpace, where videos of people dying stupidly—ones not uploaded by her—flooded the algorithm-based video list.
It wasn’t just one, but several such videos. YourSpace’s real-time search terms were filled with related keywords, and more were still being created.
Naturally, seeing this, Eugene… did not open her mouth any longer.
The reason was simple. She realized there was no way to stop the giant and bizarre wave she had created, and that no matter what she said, the rebellious idiots wouldn’t listen to her. She had decided to convey the message "Do whatever you want" through silent treatment.
Moreover, she no longer needed to worry about it.
"…If nothing major happens today, we’ll proceed with the incursion. Anything we see, we’ll take down, so be careful not to cross into the combat range. It looks like allied fire might be allowed throughout this entire incursion, so keep that in mind."
As she said.
It wasn’t like she had no idea what would happen. Honestly, it wasn’t my concern if someone went off driving without taking a mission, thinking it would be fun—so Eugene thought and recalled how the forward base worked.
Although people were still confused, the way to determine whether someone was a combat-ready soldier at the base was simple: whether they received a mission. As soon as they chose to take a mission, the location they needed to be in and the objective to achieve were set, confirming them as a combat soldier.
On the other hand, the base didn’t care much about troops acting separately without accepting a mission. If they submitted recorded combat footage through media, they could get reimbursed, but the base generally excluded them from orders.
Having said this, Eugene continued.
"I don’t have much of a way to stop people who wander around without taking a mission, but if someone gets themselves killed after taking one, either by our team or the enemy, well... I won’t care, but I’m not sure if my viewers will feel the same."
It’s fine to play around, but causing harm to others and getting scolded because of it was a personal responsibility.
With a finger, Eugene slid through the friends list and started mass-inviting people.
The forward base had grown colder. However, the faint smell of gunpowder and the sharp scent of earth and metal in the chilly wind proved that this was no peaceful place. The appearance of heavily armed friends further solidified that idea.
Looking up briefly, there was a digital billboard floating nearby, showing who had contributed the most in this incursion based on their points.
Naturally, Eugene’s party was still in first place. The one-hit destruction of the enemy’s network hub and mobile base was a feat no one else could match, which was exactly why the enemy had fired their laser weapon at them.
But this didn’t necessarily mean they would only get easy missions moving forward.
"Archetype, Harmony, Dice, Cartographer, Olivia. I didn’t expect such performance in just one day… but due to urgency, I’ll skip the compliments."
"Anyway, that’s not important. There’s a saying, with great power comes great responsibility, right? If that’s the case, I think it’s time to assign you all a more... significant mission."
Ding.
As usual, the briefing/debriefing room was where it all began.
Four of them, including Eugene, sat in chairs, and immediately a holographic screen popped up, displaying a huge object, possibly a gigantic mortar or something unidentifiable, rotating in front of them.
The strange shape could hardly be described as a "spectacle." Even Eugene and Olivia, who had experienced all kinds of things, shook their heads in disbelief. It looked like an extended version of the bi-ray cannons from past China.
At that point, Eugene opened her mouth.
"…I don’t think that’s a cannon made to fire regular shells."
"That’s right. It’s some kind of railgun, but instead of shells, it’s firing drones."
"Firing drones? So, that means... it could ramp up power at unimaginable speeds?"
"Not exactly, but it’s definitely possible."
At the same time, the firing trajectory of the rail cannon popped up on the screen.
It was targeting Collins, a small town about 41km southwest of the forward base, not the current frontline where Eugene and her team were fighting.
Understanding the meaning of this, Eugene and her team frowned, and Jin tapped on the Icarus gear to send the mission to everyone.
"Twisting the saying 'With great power comes great responsibility' like this..."
"Well, war always takes strange turns, right?"
Jin spoke casually, but quickly wiped the playful expression off his face and added.
"Artemis is up to some nonsense again. Feel free to recruit additional troops, but let’s crush their wrists, alright?"
There was no refusal.
It was now time for the second battlefield, located behind the forward base.
"…This feels a bit weird, but it’s the first time Eugene’s gathered this many people, isn’t it?"
"Well, for escort missions, the more people, the better. It’s different from infiltration missions."
Two armored vehicles, two Humvees with smart missile launchers, mini-guns, and M2 machine guns attached. Inside, twenty people had split into different vehicles.
Thinking back, it felt like a different era altogether. When Eugene had dragged me along, there was a huge crowd, but strictly speaking, skill and experience cannot always be replaced by numbers. Today, we had randomly recruited 15 people, so there was a noticeable difference in the strength of the group.
The vehicles were passing through an area near Dublin, around 90 kilometers west of the forward base.
Most of this had been skipped in the script, but there were still robots moving on the roads. When I asked what they were, Eugene replied that they were unmanned machines paving the road. It was one of those pointless post-apocalyptic details that really made this game feel more immersive.
Anyway, after some time had passed...
"Identifying a large vehicle convoy ahead. IFF identification confirms they are our allies."
"Let’s divide the forces as discussed earlier. They’re already signaling us, so we’ll take a detour and stay off to the side."
"Confirmed. The identification shows Dagger Team and Laser Team. I’ll connect the communications."
Several trucks and armored vehicles passed by.
Instead of being packed tightly like chocolate chips in a cookie, the vehicles were spaced out, with Humvees and trucks moving along in intervals. The equipment buzzed for a moment before returning to normal, likely due to the directional EMP Eugene had mentioned.
One armored vehicle and one Humvee went toward the upper part of the formation, and the rest moved toward the lower part. Eugene’s team, including me, was in the lower half.
While Olivia and Eugene chatted through the communications, Dice and Harmony, who were sitting next to me, weren’t paying much attention to the surroundings. They were either resting with their eyes closed or watching a video on YourSpace.
I was curious, so I finally spoke up.
"You two don’t seem... nervous at all."
"Well, not really. But no matter how nervous we get, the scheduled tragedy isn’t going away. So, I’m just taking it easy until then."
"…Isn’t that just resignation?"
"Of course it is, hehe."
And then Harmony added:
"Seeing you say that, it feels like something is about to happen."
"I mean, I’m not a disaster deity or anything."
"Well then, how about we make a bet?"
At the same time, there was a click-click sound.
Harmony and Dice skillfully began checking their weapons. The two of them were handling Mjolnirs that made a chilling noise as they moved. Was it a joke, or was it serious? Either way, the way they looked, it seemed like if anyone on the opposite side dared to attack, they wouldn’t come out unscathed. I wisely decided to keep quiet.
After some time, I started checking my own weapon when...
Boom!
"This is insane."
"It’s started. Everyone get out and set up improvised cover with your skills! The trucks can deploy shields on their own, so don’t worry too much!"
This was like something out of a higher state of combat.
Without a hint of panic, Harmony, Dice, Olivia, and I all got out of the Humvees. The area around us was open, and Artemis drones in the distance were easily visible.
Setting up cover was simple. We heard the sounds of polyurethane grenades and foam chemicals popping as part of the process. When we sprinkled the hardener we’d brought, it created an excellent makeshift cover that could block bullets.
At the same time, a sharp sound rang out.
Ka-ka-ka-ka-KAANG!
"Don’t stand up, or you’ll lose your head."
"Whoa, that startled me!"
"Whoever brought the Sopram, connect with the truck's network and lock on to the heavy equipment and tanks coming from the far side. The missiles inside the truck will provide fire support."
Amidst the chaos, the voice of the commander was calm and clear. It was said that not losing composure as a leader can make a huge difference, and it seemed that was indeed true. The team quickly marked targets on the UI.
One, two, three, four... In no time, over ten targets were marked. Meanwhile, the shield that had been deployed from the truck continued to shimmer, covering an area that spanned tens of meters.
Boom!
"So, these guys shot their railguns or whatever and fired at us? It looks like they came fully loaded with all kinds of weaponry..."
"Yeah, we’re in the same situation."
Click!
As the chilling sound echoed from nearby, I reflexively turned my head. At that moment, the side of the truck opened. It was like watching a beehive in action. When it tilted at a 45-degree angle toward the sky, I immediately realized it was a missile pod.
With a whooshing sound, the cover broke, and three massive missiles shot across the sky with enormous bursts of fire.
How long had it been?
Boom!
"…What the hell."
"They’ve brought dozens of cluster missiles."
"...Shouldn’t we have stayed out of this?"
Eugene didn’t respond.
Of course, everyone knew that her silence wasn’t a sign of agreement. It was obvious she wasn’t in favor of it.