NOVEL WEB Chapter 127 - The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Chapter 127 – The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
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[Notification: Pulse activated.]
[Notification: 6 enemies identified.]
───Drdrdrdrk!
The deafening noise. The firing pin hit the primer, igniting the gunpowder inside the casing and producing an intense explosion. Although it had been filtered through a suppressor, the overwhelming reverberation, amplified by the confined indoor space, shattered into countless pieces and scattered in all directions, gradually diminishing until it settled on the floor like dust.
The strange sound of air escaping from the mouths of Russian-uniformed users as they slammed their faces into the ground. But within seconds, they disintegrated into polygon dust and disappeared without a trace.
One user traversed the now empty corridor.
Their hair, scorched and tangled, and the bulletproof vest layered with dirt and stone dust, along with the scratched and pierced gun, all indicated the chaos they had endured. Despite this, their light mint-colored eyes continued to scan the surroundings, never letting their guard down.
Of course, complaints came as an extra.
“What on earth is our team doing…?”
D still glowed in a neutral gray, untouched by anyone.
Even though Harmony had witnessed the cyan representing allies and the red representing enemies clash several times, it was clear that unless D came under allied control, it was meaningless. Perhaps it was due to the tactical decision made when Harmony’s squad first arrived at D. That thought crossed Harmony’s mind.
So, what was that tactical decision? Let’s rewind a few minutes to when the squad first arrived at D. Due to the excellent support from the enemy’s transport aircraft, there were at least two squads that had reached D before them. And with time, there could be even more.
At that moment, Harmony voiced an impromptu idea.
‘We may not be able to capture D, but we can’t let the enemy capture it either.’
Outnumbered.
Although their allies were advancing toward D, the enemy had already arrived first.
Therefore, their task was not to engage in a frontal clash but to move around the building, subtly sending the encroaching Russian friends back to the redeployment window. Thus, Harmony’s squad chose to crush the vanguard mercilessly.
Harmony’s skillful command, combined with the enemy’s disadvantage of occupying an open area, led to multiple setbacks for the enemy, who attempted to capture the point but failed repeatedly. Eventually, the main force of the U.S. military, to which Harmony’s squad belonged, arrived at D, and the enemy’s initial tactical advantage vanished.
However, this did not mean that the losses suffered by Harmony’s squad were compensated.
[Notification: 45 seconds until enemy UAV reconnaissance ends.]
They hadn’t captured the point, and an enemy UAV was hovering above, raining EMPs. In other words, despite Harmony’s squad moving actively around D, allies couldn’t spawn nearby.
Looking at the slightly outdated holographic map, Kimstone, Limit, and Hotteok were racing towards D from a distance. Whether they hitched a ride in a car, ran, or parachuted out of a wrecked transport aircraft, they were coming in such a manner.
But there wasn’t much time to rest.
───Tududung!
“Ugh, no matter how many we take down, they keep coming!”
Stone fragments shattered by bullets flew in all directions.
Moving from her previous position, Harmony started firing back. More enemies had appeared from somewhere. D had turned into a hellscape with enemies and allies mixed together, engaging in fierce battles everywhere. Harmony couldn’t escape that chaos either.
She saw two enemies approaching from behind a wall through the hologram. Thanks to the ongoing pulse, the visibility hadn’t ended yet. With her finger on the trigger, she took a deep breath and aimed the enemies within the centerline of the holographic sight.
Harmony leaned out slightly, exposing only her upper body, and held her HK416 ready.
A strange noise emanated as the muzzle spat out lead bullets.
“Ahhh!”
“Ugh…!”
Pik, Pik, Pik.
Since this scenario didn’t involve operators but actual military personnel, all users had lost their nanomachine barriers, drastically shortening the TTK. Originally, it took several shots to take down an enemy here, but now, they were sent to the afterlife with just three shots to the upper body and head.
The conquest mechanism, different from the main Dark Zone, naturally categorized users into two types.
Those who died well.
And those who killed well.
Harmony was undoubtedly the latter.
[Intercepted communication: Enemy in the right hallway, enemy in the right hallway! Throw a grenade!]
She wouldn’t miss that.
Stepping over the disappearing bodies, Harmony immediately moved to the end of the hallway and peeked out. She locked eyes with a Russian user who was pulling the pin of a grenade. Oddly enough, Harmony saw this through her dot sight.
With a popping sound, the enemy dropped the grenade and collapsed, and four others panicked and fell flat beside them.
Boom!
The squad must have learned a valuable lesson: never throw grenades in an open area occupied by enemies.
Reloading her ammunition, Harmony returned to the hallway. Beside her, cheers and enthusiastic support flooded the small chat window. The altitude indicator of a plummeting fighter jet would rotate slower than this.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Bartender, get a round for Harmony here!!!!”
“Wow, the timing is artistic lololololol.”
“I wanna play like this! I wanna play like this! I wanna play like this! I wanna play like this!”
Normally, or even just 5-6 weeks ago, she would have never heard such a flood of compliments. The sensation of her spine tingling and a smile creeping onto her face came unbidden. She stifled a giggle, covering her mouth, but the excitement made her hair stand on end.
It was obvious without looking. The cat ears and tail, which responded to the user’s emotions, were probably twitching enthusiastically.
After the intense battle, a sense of relief washed over her. But hearing that the EMP UAV had disappeared through her intercom improved her mood — the crackling noise subsided as communication was restored.
A familiar voice reached her ears.
[Ally communication: Hey! Moni, are you still alive!?]
[Ally communication: Noknyangi isn’t just any Noknyangi, she’ll outlive you. Anyway, we’re coming as fast as we can, but, um….]
“What is it?”
A brief silence.
Since she had no idea what had happened, Harmony waited for the next words.
[Ally communication: Limit Princess got blown away. It’s like The Wizard of Oz, she barely escaped from the transport, but got caught in a whirlwind, so she’ll be late. We’re trying to get there ourselves first.]
“…What?”
…A whirlwind?
She wanted to ask what kind of nonsense they were talking about, but,
[Broadcast: Attention all personnel in the building. A strong gale is currently blowing outside the building, so please evacuate to the inner parts of the building. Do not go outside. Once again, a strong gale is blowing outside….]
“Seriously, what’s wrong with this map!”
At the same time, Harmony retraced the familiar internal structure and headed outside. The sound of the wind grew stronger as she rounded the corridors. Allies she encountered along the way added that they shouldn’t go outside, but curiosity was hard to contain.
The outside, glimpsed sporadically, was dark and stormy, unlike the clear skies of minutes ago. Naturally, rain was pouring down. The roar of the vortex created by the building and the wind had grown painfully loud.
She stepped outside.
And she saw it.
───Whoooosh!
“…Wow, what is that?”
A giant column of wind descending from the clouds, swallowing everything in its path.
“…You seem to find it very amusing.”
“It’s not every day you see something like a tornado intruding on a battlefield.”
In other words, it was interesting.
To be honest, I don’t particularly like combat or battles. I mean, what reason would I have to like it? Just thinking a little about where I’ve been would give you the answer. But liking and being interested are different stories.
Even though I may not like combat, watching Harmony, who has grown significantly while traveling with me, adapt to various combat zones is undoubtedly entertaining. Moreover, the introduction of a tornado, an unprecedented variable in the battlefield, is… quite an interesting story, not to be dismissed lightly.
Having only experienced New York’s snowstorms, heatwaves, rain clouds, and typhoons, this was something worth paying attention to.
“Have you ever tried the Conquest mode?”
“Not yet, not once… Seeing the transport aircraft, helicopters, various vehicles, and tanks, it feels like I’d die to a stray bullet. I don’t think I’d enjoy it much.”
“Well, Yoo Jin… it seems you don’t particularly like dying.”
Someone who, no matter what, finds a breakthrough, or if not, at least wipes out everything around them — Dice briefly thought of a tactical nuclear bomb —, that was roughly the external evaluation of Yoo Jin.
She once mentioned that getting accustomed to death could be seen as a skill degradation. Initially, it was confusing whether that was nonsense or not, but even without embellishment, Yoo Jin demonstrated it through her actions several times.
Of course,
“…What are you writing so diligently?”
“I’m checking if there’s anything applicable to training.”
“Ha.”
This is scary, scary. What’s in this person’s head — or rather, is there any data unrelated to this field in there? Like favorite foods, clothes, perfumes, cosmetics, or whatever… of course, I couldn’t arbitrarily assume her gender.
I glanced at her and spoke.
“By
any chance, did you work at the Jinhae naval base before Dark Zone? UDT, or maybe Special Forces…?”
“Well. That part….”
“Uh… Was it something I shouldn’t have asked? Sorry.”
“It’s not that, I just had to think for a moment.”
Did I touch a sensitive spot? — Thinking that, I started to make an unsure expression, but Yoo Jin was sorting through various thoughts flooding her mind. Specifically, she was retracing some recent past memories.
As I once mentioned — fragments of the past that come unexpectedly.
—The Department of Homeland Security is waiting for you.
There was no need to think further about this sentence. Fortunately, DHS — for some reason — seemed to remember my efforts. Reflecting on my past, the status of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was sky-high.
Just considering it, it’s evident they stand shoulder to shoulder with major federal executive organizations like the Department of State, Department of the Treasury, Department of Defense, and Department of Justice. They also handle presidential security, intelligence, and counterintelligence, customs, and immigration management, indicating their absolute status within the U.S.
Seeing the current DHS Secretary Richard A. Bernstein’s signature — who was already dead when I was in New York — included below the message, they clearly did not regard my status lightly.
…If I talk to them, maybe they’ll create a new military career for me.
“Um, so….”
“I’m not mad.”
“Eek!?”
Wrapping her tail around the nervous Dice, who was uttering “Ottoke” repeatedly, and tapping her head with its tip, Harmony heard a shriek. Harmony liked it, but Dice still had a long way to go.
Anyway, I had no reason to be angry. It just felt like a distant issue, so I didn’t bother to say it out loud. The military career issue would surely come up someday. And to resolve it, I might need as much help as possible.
Taking a small breath, I added.
“…You’re really not mad?”
“Really.”
“Phew, thank goodness… Ah, I forgot what I was going to say — Ah, right. Tomorrow, KSM is gathering 100 people for a meeting, are you going? It’s fine to watch the recorded video later, but since it’s in VR, I think I’ll go.”
“Really? In that case, there’s no reason not to go. I wonder if I received an email about it.”
“Check your mailbox often.”
“…Maybe I should.”
But by then, Dice’s fiery glare made me quietly avert my gaze. Why just me, everyone.
Anyway, our break time had quickly passed.
Patting her on the shoulder, I added.
“Let’s get back to it.”
“Ugh….”
Slap, slap.
My training camp continued to operate diligently today.