NOVEL WEB Chapter 119 - Harmony Survive
Chapter 119 – Harmony Survive
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“Damn it, a whole squad got wiped out at B!”
“They rushed us in the first round. Those psychos are doing everything to put the streamers under their thumbs.”
First Blood.
Numerous messages popped up on the UI, indicating that the situation wasn’t going well. Among the twelve usernames in my view, three turned black, waiting for respawn cooldown. It would be 45 seconds before they could revive.
The winter wind seemed to carry the scent of the fallen’s blood. Of course, the thick smell of gunpowder was omnipresent, so that was beside the point.
Among the over 30,000 participants who joined the game with four of us, many had considerable experience playing Domination mode. The answer to what happened wasn’t hard to figure out.
Four against ten.
C, which had an unusually slow capture speed. Considering that the streamer squad at B was wiped out in mere seconds, the situation was clear. Leaving only a few at C, all ten of the enemies rushed to B.
The early phase of Domination mode was a psychological game, like rock-paper-scissors. Consequently, there were multiple ways to counter such rush tactics.
One effective method was to flank C and establish a sandwich position while the enemy’s 10 members were fooling around at B, capturing A and C, and then annihilating them at B.
However, it was already too late. We lost the initial psychological battle completely. The only consolation for the remaining team members was that it was still early in the game, so there was no need to be overly discouraged.
Meanwhile.
The discussion among Kim Stone, Hotteok, and Limit, who were already dead and in the respawn waiting room, was leaning towards flanking the enemies and hitting their soft spots from behind. It was a common yet effective strategy.
“Let’s relay this to Harmony when she gets here. The enemies seem to have no intention of coming to A from B, so let’s look for a chance to move to C as the situation develops.”
“If we time it right, we might even mess up their respawn timing and positions. Not a bad idea. As long as they don’t play too defensively.”
“They hit us hard right from the start, it was shocking. But we took down two of them before we died, so it shouldn’t be too tough for our team.”
They each chimed in, analyzing the situation.
There was no changing the fact that they were already dead. Moreover, in Domination mode, losing once didn’t mean the momentum would last till the end. This mode was characterized by repeated reversals and comebacks.
Respawn times were gradually decreasing. However, 45 seconds was never a short time. With 30 seconds still left, conversations dwindled.
Considering their profession as streamers, this was not ideal, but…
Today, and at this moment, there was a reason for it.
“…But where’s Harmony?”
Where did she go?
───Rat-a-tat-tat!
[Warning: Seeker Mine approaching.]
“Damn, I should’ve just died!”
Bullets rained down.
Various attack skills followed swiftly and frighteningly. Dozens of bullets from multiple gun barrels zipped past. The shots were aimed to kill without leaving any survivors. Fortunately, it was more of a hopeful barrage rather than precise single shots.
Breathing heavily, I ran while using cover.
Broken and shattered cars, mailboxes, transformers, street lamps, and utility poles. Anything to avoid getting hit. The sound of bullets tearing through the car bodies and windows, and the ominous noise of concrete being chipped by rounds, echoed in my ears.
‘Remember, just staying alive can create variables.’
My teacher’s voice echoed in my mind.
Seeing that about a squad was chasing only me, it seemed she was right. Their determination was fierce. The gap wasn’t that wide, either. I had barely escaped through the middle of the enemy.
Looking back, I didn’t even know how I managed to escape.
I needed to reach a more complex terrain. Somewhere that might offer some advantage. Not an open main road where I’d inevitably get swarmed, but a side alley.
An artificially created passage to move from one avenue to another.
Crack!
A snow-covered path.
My body skidded with a strange friction sound as I made a sharp turn. All that mattered was changing direction. I spotted a tunnel covered in darkness ahead. It was narrow compared to the main road but still wider than some.
The seeker mine closed in. Without looking back, I fired my gun in the general direction, scattering bullets. The front of my vision flashed white with a loud explosion.
A massive shockwave erupted from behind me.
“Argh!”
Boom!
I wasn’t hoping for luck, but there wasn’t much time. If it was luck, then so be it. I managed to steady myself without falling.
Fortunately, the inside was a winding path with stairs and corridors, not a straight hallway. Desperate to escape the increasingly loud footsteps, I hurriedly climbed the stairs and traversed the corridors.
After roughly two more turns, I realized I needed to regroup.
Wow, how did you survive? LOL
Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony!
Yoo Jin’s performance is solid LOL
It’s hard enough to break through ten people, impressive LOL
Such intensity, damn
Click.
The rapidly scrolling chat was no longer on my mind. Reloading the magazine, something I could do with my eyes closed, took just over a second as I replaced the used one with a fresh one from the pouch.
…There was a reason I was made to reload magazines for six hours. Thank you, Yoo Jin teacher.
[Notice: Pulse activated.]
Beep!
Four enemies were approaching. Due to the corridor’s structure, their speed had decreased significantly. Perhaps they feared a possible ambush. It was a wise decision.
Yoo Jin had said – it felt like her words had become a bible – that in Dark Zone CQB, the most important thing was how much firepower you could bring in the shortest moment.
In other words, even if I neutralized the leading enemy by shooting a few rounds into their head, the firepower deficiency in the meantime would expose me to danger. It was hard to understand, but that was what she said.
So, what was the most training I received during these five days?
Click.
It was grenades.
Not just one, or even two, but I pulled out three.
During the lessons, she told me that grenades, with their hundreds of fragments each as lethal as half a bullet, were the pinnacle of modern CQB. Detonating them in the right place was equivalent to unloading an entire magazine into an enemy.
Thus, the instruction to master the simplest things first made sense.
Various throwing techniques, how to toss grenades to the desired spot, and cooking. Cooking, in particular, was the most dangerous and useful. I understood completely. Practicing cooking grenades resulted in dozens of explosive deaths for me.
Of course, if asked whether I could handle them well now, I couldn’t confidently say yes…
Ping!
If not now, when?
I pulled all three pins. The distance to the pulse-exposed enemies was about seven meters. They might have slowed down, but they would reach me soon enough.
Cunningly, they approached with a shield-bearing point man in front. Two leading, followed by two more about 20 meters behind.
Five meters.
One second.
Three meters.
Two seconds.
Clink.
And then there was light.
───!!!!!!!!
Boom.
The deafening explosion and shockwave felt like they were crushing my entire body. The simultaneous blast of three grenades was powerful enough to damage even the nanomachine barrier.
But there was no time to rest. An enemy, who had automatically discarded his shattered shield, staggered into view.
I quickly aimed and delivered swift judgment through the red holographic sight.
On full auto.
The HK416 spewed a barrage of lead.
Dr-dr-dr-dr-dr!
“Aaah!”
It took less than a second for one enemy to melt away like ice cream.
But another enemy immediately returned fire. I naturally shifted my aim to the head. After about 15 rounds hit, the nanomachine barrier couldn’t withstand it.
Click.
However, the rapid firing had emptied the 30-round magazine. I didn’t have enough ammo to finish the second enemy with one magazine.
At that moment, I released the rifle and smoothly drew the pistol from the holster on my right thigh, just as I had been taught.
The pistol required more finesse than one might think. Simply drawing it quickly didn’t solve everything. The arm’s extension, grip technique, and sight alignment all had to fit together like a puzzle.
But Yoo Jin made sure I kept working on that puzzle until it was perfect.
I aimed for the head.
It was time to showcase the results.
Bang!
One shot. But it wasn’t the end, just the beginning.
The key to rapid pistol firing lay in feeling the trigger wall. Grip the gun firmly to keep the aim steady, find the point where the trigger stops, and repeatedly pull back to that point for rapid firing.
Following this technique, I quickly fired six shots, breaking through the nanomachine barrier and tearing into the enemy’s head.
In just a few seconds, two enemies had vanished.
Suppressing my rising sense of crisis, I added with difficulty,
“…I need to run…!”
????????????????????
WTF??
What did I just see, damn
Wow, LOL
Amazing LOL
There was no time to stay still.
Although I managed to take out the vanguard, the remaining two wouldn’t fall for the same trick, nor would they be easy targets.
The distance was about fifteen meters. We were facing each other across a corridor. I peeked out and aimed
my pistol at the enemies who were cautiously peering out to see what had happened, firing the remaining eleven rounds to suppress them.
After discarding the empty magazine and reloading a new one into the pistol, I holstered it, then looted a grenade from a fallen enemy. Yoo Jin had said that the sound of a grenade pin being pulled could be used for bluffing.
I decided to try it.
Click!
The sound of the grenade pin being pulled caused the enemies to rush in quickly.
But I reversed it – of course, something Yoo Jin taught me – gently placing the grenade at my feet and sprinting away, all while loading 30 fresh rounds into the HK416.
Boom. With a satisfying sound, one enemy got caught in the blast from the grenade I left behind. I had already run towards A, so I was unaffected.
As one enemy staggered from the explosion’s impact, another emerged from the exit and aimed at me. A firefight was inevitable.
Now was the time to apply the shooting techniques Yoo Jin had drilled into me, despite the eye strain, ear ringing, and finger numbness.
───Bang! Bang! Bang!
Two out of four enemies were already down.
The remaining enemies would likely keep pursuing me, losing track of more effective strategies in their focus on me. A prolonged fight would only disadvantage them.
The reason was simple.
[Notice: Allies have requested support.]
“We were outnumbered earlier, so now it’s our turn.”
People quickly learned useful tactics, and she was no exception.
A chilling smile appeared on Harmony’s face.
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