NoveLight ™
"...So now you’re not even trying to hide it."
"Isn’t it a little too late to be saying this now?"
Clunk.
The bodies of robots roll all around. If these were humanoid bodies, not human, it’s likely this area would have been a sea of blood and gore, or so Cato thought — a thought that scratched at the back of my mind.
Wherever my eyes landed… well, not everywhere, but occasionally, I’d step on something with my boots or, when taking a short break, would inevitably see a humanoid with its head cut off. It almost felt like a horror movie, but I thought the source of the terror wasn’t these corpses but Eugene, who was working alongside me as a teammate.
And before that thought could vanish,
───Kaang!
A flash of light suddenly burst out of the darkness.
It was like looking at the hallway of a battleship, a cramped space only repair bots could navigate, filled with tangled materials, wires, and other debris. It was the perfect space for Eugene to move around unnoticed, and she slaughtered the enemy robots, wielding a tomahawk.
The humanoids, with heads flying through the air or chests completely torn apart or limbs twisted backward, kept increasing in number, and at that point, I began to question whether I needed to shoot at all.
If a third party were watching me right now… they would probably say my eyes looked empty, hollow.
Still, I could say I had somewhat adapted to the current situation.
"Thanks to you, Eugene, I saved some bullets. But don’t you use a gun?"
"In these cramped spaces, if you miss a shot, there's a high chance the bullet will ricochet. It’s difficult to properly handle a gun in places like this unless you’re carrying an SMG or a shotgun…."
"You could at least use a pistol... Well, half of it is probably your preference, right?"
"You know me well."
Well, what can I say? It’s a preference.
I decided not to care too much. Besides, I’d already seen Eugene carrying a KPV machine gun and shooting it the other day, so if I pointed it out now, what would that change? The viewers are pretty much people whose brains reset every 10 seconds, constantly repeating the same old things, but still...
Anyway, a bit late, but to briefly explain what we’re doing right now... We’re advancing toward the shield generators while carrying dozens of kilograms of explosives. Along the way, Eugene is tearing apart any enemies that show up.
There are just a few problems with that.
───Kugung!
"...Ugh."
"I had underestimated the shockwaves reaching the buildings. This is why no matter how much you calculate, a perfect operation never emerges."
"If only we’d brought something like an antimatter canister, things would’ve been simpler. But carrying dozens of kilograms of conventional explosives is exhausting."
"That’s because they’re a rare commodity. It’s actually quite a lot just to load them into a railgun and shoot them."
Thus, the occasional shaking of the buildings...
I don’t know exactly what’s happening outside. Dice and Harmonie are probably helping somewhere else by now or patrolling around the entrance we went through, recording anything unusual, while the battle continues outside, with lubrication oil being washed off with sweat.
Just in case Artemis detects our signals, we’ve minimized the use of the Icarus gear, but who knows how long that will last...
"Wait a second."
"...?"
I barely managed to open my mouth. Eugene held up a terminal in front of me.
It was probably a picture taken by either Harmonie or Dice. Near the entrance we entered, there were dozens, almost a hundred, enemy humanoids. They were clearly heading toward us. They weren’t too close, but if we stayed still, the chances of them catching up were high.
Before I could even respond, Eugene spoke.
"Go."
"...I’ll find the way."
"Even if you fail, don’t be too discouraged."
"I’m more afraid of your disappointment than mine, so I’ll try my best."
Kkki-kkki-kkk!
The situation was rapidly deteriorating.
A tremendous noise erupted as if a giant was ripping steel apart with its hands, and without any warning, the gates we’d passed earlier began to close. With sparks and explosions going off, it was clear something had gone wrong.
I immediately started running, probably because the gates were closing slowly due to the vibrations caused by the bombardment that had been going on for the last ten minutes. Of course, I didn’t know the exact reason, and I didn’t need to know.
One, two, three. The doors were closing faster, and the doors on the other side were closing even faster. Not that the doors were closing faster, but I was too slow.
───Piiiiing!
The pulse swept across the facility, marking the remaining distance.
Fifty meters.
Amid the deafening noise of the closing doors, faint gunfire echoed. Was Eugene in full combat mode now? I wondered if I could even survive this, but that’s something for later.
After converting the pulse into a directional EMP and releasing it into the half-closed gate, I could clearly feel the speed of the gate slowing down, and I almost slid to the other side.
"Ugh…!"
Screech!
For a moment, it felt like night turned into day. Bullets, fired at dozens per second, whipped through the spot where I’d just been. The firing echoed heavily along the relatively wide corridor wall.
There was no need to engage right now. What was needed was calmness, composure, and the ability to break through. After listening to Biam’s nagging enough times and practicing moving things to reality, it didn’t seem that surprising anymore.
I swiped my hand through the air, and a chunk of stone, as big as a stone, materialized in my hand. I pressed the upper button with a click, threw it back, and less than a second later, the explosion and heat blasted from a distance. Ignoring that, I aimed my gun and shot a bullet at everything in sight.
The enemies were swept away like autumn leaves.
"Ha, seriously..."
By now, I had no choice but to admit it.
No matter how much I felt pressured by… Biam, the experience built on my body by that person… had become an immense help in situations like this.
I couldn’t pretend not to know. The difference in skill between Eugene and me, from when I first met him to now, was literally the difference between heaven and earth. But still, the fact that I couldn’t even reach his toes... it was a strange feeling.
My senses were expanding dramatically, but conversely, time felt much slower. It was partly because of the Perk I had chosen in advance, but fundamentally, it was probably because Biam, who was fighting somewhere out there, was giving me a thorough training.
I kept pushing forward, reflecting on all of this.
How much time had passed?
With my body battered and broken, I barely managed to lock the control room door and make my way to the panel.
"Can’t get a signal… no surprise."
My HP was now below 10%.
My arms and legs had already turned black. Fracture and hemorrhage markers were flashing on one side of my UI. Naturally, no matter how much I tried to move, my limbs didn’t respond well. Plus, even though I had learned a lot from Biam, carrying this absurd amount of explosives made it impossible to exert 70% of my original physical strength.
Well, at least thanks to the explosive backpack, I wasn’t shot in the back.
As I struggled to put the bag down, strange noises echoed around me.
What could I say? There was this thick cylindrical object filling nearly the entire room. They were constructing a plasma field through massive electrical currents or something like that.
But that wasn’t the important part.
"The remote detonation device... is already fried."
I saw the LED indicators completely fried from bullet impacts. The internal circuits were probably the same.
But that wasn’t the important part.
"I’ve had enough fun with this shield. It’s about time to confiscate it."
45 kilograms of explosives, 70% stronger than TNT.
In such an enclosed space, the likelihood of a horrific explosion was high, and I giggled as I flipped the bag upside down. Even if remote detonation wasn’t possible, a shock would make the explosion happen naturally.
I bent forward, wrapping my elbow around a pull handle, like starting a chainsaw, and then snapped my back straight, pulling the lever.
A small clicking noise rang out, and then the explosion and heat surged from a distance.
"Now, I can finally rest."
And a flash covered the room.
───Kuuuung!
"…Wow, amazing."
"That’s insane. Didn’t Yerin do something like this once in Tanhoizer?"
"She did, but…"
A massive flame erupted over several hundred meters.
Among it, blue plasma flames, the partially melted, burning debris of hundreds of tons of shattered material, and collapsing walls and structures.
It was the moment Eugene’s team had pulled off another impressive feat.
[Dark Zone - Streamer Sub Gallery]
[General] Cato<<<< This guy’s just getting praised, LOL LOL
<Photo of Cato blowing himself up with half his limbs blown off>
I think I get why Biam brought him, LOL LOL
General Stream Comments (continued)
Cato did it.
Cato really did it.
Unlike Harmonie and Dice, both of whom died alongside me, and we were revived at the original drop point, we still managed to succeed.
Cato, looking somewhat dazed, scratched his head while sitting in a chair. The rest of us — Harmonie, Dice, and everyone else at the drop point — kept shouting his name, “Cato Grapher!”
Outside, things were even more chaotic. Some were waving around LED picket signs and fluorescent sticks, trying to draw attention to themselves. There were even users wearing self-illuminating sunglasses with sequins, causing a stir in every possible way.
In the end, it all boiled down to one reason.
The moment Cato threw the explosive, the shield generator was destroyed. That led to the nearby Artemis drones turning into molten metal and charred plastic.
"I thought it was an understandable difficulty, even if we failed, but we actually succeeded."
"I thought we’d only manage to get the explosives through, but somehow, it worked out. Haha."
"If anyone was going to fail, it would have happened no matter what. Anyway, enjoy this moment now. You’ve earned this kind of recognition."
"Great job, Cato Grapher."
"I knew you could do it."
What can I say? A Mecha Biam sandwich?
Barely an hour after we were dropped off, the Third Gateway was literally reduced to ashes. Upon hearing this, Jin and Rain arrived at the original drop point at an unbelievable speed, almost flying, expressing their gratitude to Cato enthusiastically.
It felt weird to see my body and face in this situation, but I didn’t find it strange enough to interfere. I just left them to it and proceeded with the debriefing, taking the files from the Mecha Biam duo.
Photos of the Third Gateway taken just two hours ago and photos taken right after.
Of course, the difference was like night and day.
"The building that had the shield generator is literally flattened. Before the operation, it was half-jokingly mentioned, but I never expected it to explode like this…"
"Due to constant artillery and railgun bombardments, the shield was working at full capacity, and because the defense prioritized the shield, they couldn’t stop Cato Grapher’s intrusion in time. That’s likely the big reason."
"Well, in the end, without assistance from all directions, this mission would have been impossible. And we wrapped it up cleanly."
Was it even bombing, really?
Anyway, the ground zero was a completely catastrophic sight. Everything had been obliterated. Melted steel frames and ruined gate structures were barely recognizable.
By now, thousands of players probably had already crushed the remaining Artemis forces near the Third Gateway.
Well, in terms of contributions, my team would definitely come in first. Cato would be number one, but since there were still many tasks to focus on, I handed over the speaking rights to Jin and Rain, who were about to take over the presentation.
"It will still take a day or two to fully capture the Third Gateway and hit the factory on the other side. Great job."
"Since the gateway has been breached, there’s a high chance Artemis will send reinforcements, but that’s been more or less handled, so we don’t need to worry too much."
"Handled?"
"Yes."
Just as I had a pretty good idea of what Jin was going to say, a map appeared in the air, showing all the enemy and ally movements within a 10 km radius, including the Third Gateway.
Air defense networks scattered all over the place and railgun positions that had not yet retreated were slowly being dismantled, one by one.
I knew what those symbols on the map were.
As if reading my mind, Jin added:
"Archetype. Dagger and Laser said they were really impressed with the SUAV attack Archetype performed."
The teams operating the remote control for the Dagger and Laser were happily dismantling the surrounding air defense networks.
For some reason, Artemis seemed quite pitiful at this point.