I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

〈Chapter 12〉 11 – Body Check 2

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Special forces belonging to the United States Naval Special Warfare Command had to be familiar with water.

However, as the U.S. defense forces became fragmented, all operators — even those in the Army — were required to have multi-warfare capabilities beyond their specialties.

At least, that was the case for me.

After the U.S. was so easily incapacitated by the virus, and the flames of war spread to the mainland, numerous tactical scenarios that we had never encountered before emerged, which could be broadly categorized into two:

Urban warfare and coastal infiltration operations.

During my four years of activity as an operator, the first three years were spent on the former, during which the U.S. stabilized its mainland affairs by piling up mountains of corpses of countless talented individuals.

Then, once the immediate threat was quelled, it became widely known that hostile nations’ naval forces were continuously anchored in coastal waters.

Thus, back when I had only been an operator for about three years,

I had to simultaneously conduct numerous infiltration and sabotage trainings and actual operations against enemy warships.

And fortunately,

───Splash!

“…Phew.”

I could adapt to the underwater environment faster than anyone else.

When I lifted my head above the surface and checked the flexible band on my wrist, it was already glowing green.

It meant that the data collection on the tail’s movement and resistance in the special environment of water was complete.

I signaled to the leading personnel to inform them of this and exited the pool.

It had already been about four hours since I came here.

The schedule, which started precisely at noon when I arrived at the company building, had been a bit off from the beginning.

This was partly because no one had used this system before, and the leading personnel had to seek my understanding in advance…

[Error: Failed to calculate skeletal muscle mass value.]

[Error: No match. Body outline and weight do not match.]

Why is this machine acting up? Just a moment….

Sorry, please wait a little longer for the measurement results to come out.

Or,

Is there an error in the physical engine? No, we provided the exact value. What? If you put it in like this, it will be considered a cheat, what does that…

…Yes, yes. I will relay the simulation results to that person as soon as I receive them. So, you want us to verify if such actions are physically possible?

Yes, please send a list of requests. I will check everything and relay them in real-time.

Yes, understood.

…Excuse me, but do you like to exercise?

Such things happened.

I couldn’t grasp the detailed circumstances, but just overhearing the phone conversation gave me a rough idea of what was going on.

Even though the words came out like this, there were no major issues with the movements, and by around 1:30 PM,

I headed to the underground area where the company’s welfare facilities and infrastructure were concentrated.

In short, it was a place where the company’s cafeteria, fitness club, swimming pool, and lounge for employees were gathered.

So if you ask what I did there,

Wow, wow, wow… how is this possible for a human…

I thought I was working hard at the company’s gym, but wow.

I exercised again.

It is difficult to list everything, but to summarize… it would be correct to say that I checked how similar the results of the simulator, which operated based on the muscle density and skeletal muscle mass analyzed by the machine, were through numerous exercises.

The proportion of cardio and muscle endurance was slightly higher than anaerobic exercises and other bodyweight exercises.

For those curious,

…Aren’t you getting tired?

Ha, still going strong…!

As always, I ran for over 30 minutes wearing a weighted vest to replace the weight of the military gear,

Ugh, the vibration, the vibration, argh…!

You volunteered to play the injured, so hang in there a little longer.

I carried out various manual transportation methods for injured evacuation for several dozen minutes,

Overall, it would not be an exaggeration to say that I tried all the actions that were possible in the game.

That’s precisely why I came here in the first place.

Anyway, after more than an hour of various demonstrations, I gathered most of the necessary data,

At the same time, I could easily prove that the out-of-common-sense assumptions from the simulation center could all be implemented in reality.

However, unfortunately, as all these preparations were solely for me, there were still many things left to be done.

For instance,

───!!!

How long do we have to do this!

I can’t hear you!

I also had to figure out the tail’s movement during the HALO process using the Fly Station.

Wow, you’re skilled in combat too. Did you learn it somewhere?

…Yes, I learned it somewhere.

I also demonstrated several times how to use this in a CQB situation, especially in melee combat.

Although it included close combat techniques I learned directly from the USSOCOM units and should not be revealed to outsiders,

It wouldn’t matter much since the general public wouldn’t understand what it was even if they saw it.

I also arranged it in my way.

Anyway, the specific operation method was simple.

Block the enemy’s attack, induce a temporary stalemate, simultaneously wrap the enemy’s leg with my tail and throw them, or quickly pass by and trip them with my tail.

These are simplified contents, but the core is about that.

And back to the beginning.

Besides the physical trait of feeling refreshed when entering the water, I was also drenched in sweat from numerous exercises I had done two hours earlier.

I wouldn’t need to go to the fitness club today.

Droplets of water dripped down the curves of my body. With each step I took, footprints made of water were left behind.

As if to erase all traces left by the swimming pool, hot water from the showerhead washed me from head to toe.

My body, which had cooled down slightly, regained its normal temperature.

Long hair absorbs a lot of water unless taken care of after a shower, so it was better to lightly squeeze out the moisture to prevent hair damage.

After that, I finally began to dry my hair and body with a towel.

Removing as much moisture as possible from my body, I entered the drying room, where warm, dry air blew from all directions.

Confirming that my hair was completely dry, I placed all the swimming gear provided by the company at the return location,

Removed the flexible band from my wrist and set it aside for a moment.

Opening the locker, as I put on the clothes I had worn when I came here one by one, I wondered if this was the end.

There were more things to do than I thought, but on the other hand, it felt a bit lukewarm to say that I had done something significant.

How should I describe this…

…Boot camp?

No, that’s not it.

Anyway, for the first time in a long while, I indulged in idle thoughts. When was the last time I thought about such trivial things?

…At least not during the 4 years and 8 months I spent there.

In the first few months, I roamed the coldest big cities to survive, then took a test after saving an operator by chance,

Then lived at the shooting range and kill house for several months.

When I was finally deployed, I went everywhere that needed an operator, and before I knew it, three years had flown by.

Then, when I could finally catch my breath, I underwent endless maritime training.

…..

“Your expression looks good. Did something happen?”

“Nothing much, I just enjoy swimming and being in the water.”

“Ahaha, I see.”

Before I knew it, I was facing two people.

I had seen them for only a few hours, but I had become quite familiar with them and had various conversations.

“Forgive me if it’s intrusive, but is your fondness for water related to your physical traits?”

“You phrase simple things complicatedly.”

“Since I work in a department that handles many meetings internally and externally,

I avoid making assumptions by linking the physical traits and personal preferences of manifested individuals.”

“You have it tough.”

It seemed like there were all sorts of things.

“Anyway… yes. Since I’m on the anaconda side, I enjoy swimming in the water.”

“Really? That’s fascinating….”

…I had no idea how my image or the image of a manifested individual was perceived in this world,

But talking to someone who found everything I did fascinating was quite bewildering.

To me, it was just an everyday routine.

I hope they won’t start applauding just because I breathe later on.

Feeling like the protagonist in some otherworldly story I once read,

“…As previously notified, today’s examination ends here. Next, we just need to retrieve the sensors and discuss the connection device.”

“I thought you wouldn’t retrieve them since you attached them to my body.”

“They said it’s to more precisely identify the resistance and muscle movements received while the body is in motion… or so we were just informed.”

They did all sorts of things.

I just hoped this would be helpful later.

“Then, should I remove them myself?”

“Oh, our machine will remove them for you. We need to accurately identify the positions where they were attached.”

“I see.”

Then, the two exchanged glances.

And that turned into a conversation, almost like a sitcom.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Be gentle.”

“Me!?”

“Then should I remove the sensors attached to a female customer’s body?”

“…You have a tendency to say things that make me want to hit you, even if you’re right.”

Nevertheless, the two seemed to be quite close.

Anyway, that was that, and this was this.

Han Seol-ah from the PR department, who ended up having to remove the sensors attached to my body because we were the same gender, eventually pinched her senior colleague’s side.

And then.

”

Don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

“…”

“…Oh.”

…It seemed like she was trying to reassure me, but the tone was a bit off. It felt like I had become a kid getting a vaccination.

Anyway, she had to endure my gaze, similar to that of a celebrity seeing a fish head curry for the first time.

Fortunately, she seemed to realize she had said something strange.

New data incorporation confirmed.

Verifying storage path… EA/RK/KW/CC – FA – THS – CINCD – INDX – E.

Cross-validation of data completed.

Current matching rate 99.2196%.

Collecting pre-submitted information…

Waiting for operator valid code input.

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