NOVEL WEB Chapter 132 - Self Destruction
Chapter 132 – Self Destruction
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“What… what is going on! TK1’s HellOworld and Blank KICKERS’ SajeDudonban have literally been erased! In less than 10 seconds, two players are absurdly kicked out to the lobby!”
– Ugh, damn it. I don’t even know anymore.
– Please take it easy! Please take it easy! Please take it easy! Please take it easy! Please take it easy! Please take it easy! Please take it easy! Please take it easy! Please take it easy!
– At this point, we should seriously check where they’re from, lol.
– No, seriously, stop bringing in special forces to mess things up, lol.
– Sir, I’ll just pretend I didn’t see anything.
Something had happened.
Even the viewers and the experienced casters and commentators with considerable knowledge of AP couldn’t follow the momentary movements. However, it was clear that Yoo Jin, upon descending to the floor, had arrows fitted between her fingers like knuckles.
At the same time, there was a trace visible near the nape of the neck.
In an instant, her right hand, launched like an arrow, penetrated the back of the neck and finished the enemy in one blow. She quickly picked up the gun left by the defeated user, reloaded, and swiftly engaged and defeated another approaching enemy.
Fortunately, most viewers mistook this for a QTE-based melee attack — a sort of cognitive dissonance due to the practically unrealistic play unfolding in the blink of an eye. The countless melee attack motions made it difficult to comprehend.
“Who can doubt it, who can turn a blind eye to the truth! It’s hard to believe in the Preliminary Rank, hard to believe in KSM! But just a few minutes after the first round started, Yoo Jin crushes all suspicions purely with her skill again!”
The commentator’s voice echoed loudly. The pitch, which had been gradually rising since the tournament began, was getting so intense that one might wonder if they would be able to speak the next day. It had only been a few minutes since the game started, but it felt like a roller coaster ride.
Meanwhile, those who were cool-headedly assessing the situation numbered only a few hundred among the 1.5 million viewers — not all of whom could gather in one place to watch the match — while almost everyone else was cheering and shouting in excitement.
Ironically, trivial and useless doubts about Yoo Jin were often discussed by non-professional gamers. In simple terms, it went like this:
– Tournament rank? Only Tier 2? There’s no difference between Medal of Honor and a pro, so what’s the point in scrims?
When this was easily refuted, the second nonsense followed.
– Scrims? Those aren’t even real matches. She’ll get thrashed in the Preliminary Rank, so why the fuss?
Thus, she demonstrated that scrims were a restraint and shackle of her skill, securing first place in the Preliminary Rank with overwhelming physical prowess — yet idiots were everywhere.
Normally, such nonsense should be ignored, but frame theory always had an effect. The more people ignored it, the more curiosity grew about whether Yoo Jin could display the same skill in KSM.
In contrast, pro gamers who directly faced Yoo Jin’s prowess were more silent.
There was no point in discussing it.
Those with far superior cognitive and analytical skills regarding the game sensed the profound meaning in each of Yoo Jin’s movements and thus remained silent.
On the other hand, contrary to the saying “empty vessels make the most noise,” the ones who knew nothing were the loudest. But she refuted it all in the most effective, beautiful, and concise way possible, leading to the present.
There was no verbose explanation.
She did not try to persuade viewers by searching for evidence one by one.
She didn’t even look at them, let alone mention or care about them, showing everything she could — simply by doing so, easily shaking off the remaining ants and turning the wavering onlookers into firm fans.
– …Phew.
Meanwhile, Yoo Jin quietly exhaled, donning the equipment of those she had killed, transforming into a fully-fledged operator. The passionate voice of the commentator vibrated through the air, but a single thought slowly sprouted in everyone’s mind.
Perhaps, not too far from now, she wouldn’t even need to play KSM.
“I hope my student is doing well.”
Of course, she was preoccupied with worrying about her disciple.
───Thududududu!
Loud noises sounded even louder in enclosed spaces. They spread out into open spaces and did not disappear, bouncing off the walls several times before gradually fading away. Considering how significant noise could be in close-quarters combat, it could be a major advantage depending on how it was utilized.
The important thing was how to create the noise and who would be led to make the noise.
Exposing oneself to induce enemy fire was not worth discussing. If the noise gave away one’s position while trying to approach stealthily, it would all be in vain — thus, another method to create noise was necessary.
She carefully took out a grenade. Wrapping it to avoid the pin making a clicking sound when it hit something, she wedged it into a suitable gap in the vehicle she was using for cover and tied the pin to a fishing line. Then, she quietly moved away.
When she had moved a sufficient distance from her previous cover, she yanked the fishing line. The pin, pulled out with an ominous sound, clattered onto the asphalt, casting an eerie silence.
How many seconds had passed since then?
– Boom!
With a tremendous explosion, the vehicle shook.
It wasn’t a fiery explosion as in games or movies but an explosion with black smoke, thousands of fragments, and a shockwave. But it was enough to deafen for a moment.
The explosion hit the walls, breaking into small fragments. It looked like a giant cave or a massive rock dug out by worms of several tens of meters in diameter — a pathway created due to the desert base setting.
NBV Desert Base.
They had tried to expand the base camp but ran out of space, so they carved out what could be called a massive rock mountain and built frames to create passageways and another base there — but due to aging, the frames had rusted, and only the explosives placed to create the path remained.
“Ugh, seriously!”
She heard the enemy’s complaining voice.
30 meters, 20 meters, 12 meters. She quickly closed the distance. However, the enemy, realizing the situation was dire, threw a smoke grenade and started running away desperately. As expected of KSM, they were all cunning.
Despite shooting diligently at the enemy disappearing into the smoke, they barely survived, leaving behind a nanomachine barrier, and fled deep inside the giant cave. She missed them. Understandable. They must think that fighting her meant certain death, but at least they had a chance if they ran.
“Threw away a grenade.”
Of course, it was a trivial statement. As mentioned earlier, this place was filled with explosives placed to create the path, and as said, opening even a small box would spill all sorts of explosive firearms and explosives, with grenades underfoot.
After retrieving the used grenade and placing it back in the pouch, she cautiously entered the giant cave while keeping a watchful eye. The space was huge. It was a terrain feature in the game and a crossing point for many users. It was never small. It could even be called a hub.
The scenery revealed itself.
– Rumbling…
Aging.
Proving its age, the facility, which was wide enough for helicopters or tilt-rotors to pass through, echoed with eerie and ominous sounds and silence. The wreckage of a fallen tilt-rotor hanging from the ceiling looked like it could fall at any moment, but judging by the rust and neglect, it wouldn’t.
And several dozen meters below that, amidst countless temporary buildings scattered over a massive cavern exceeding a radius of 300 meters, flashes and lead bullets flew. About five people were aiming here.
The central tilt-rotor dropped a zipline launcher, ensuring numerous battles took place here.
There was another reason people gathered here,
– [Warning: Six unidentified personnel detected inside the cavern. Security mode activated. Unmanned patrol scanning….]
Central Control Facility.
Located in the center of the cavern, it allowed control of all facilities within the rock mountain. Gates, lighting, power, even the explosives installed inside — all could be controlled.
Moreover, the fewer people, the lower the security protocol level, meaning the people gathered here were monitoring each other to prevent anyone from coming alone, extracting the benefits, and blowing up the facility.
But as the saying goes, the darkest place is under the candlestick, this was actually the best timing to infiltrate the facility. In other words, the destruction of security protocols in areas where sporadic skirmishes occurred would be subtly buried.
If caught by enemies or drones… well, it couldn’t be helped.
As long as she could manage, she would sweep them all away.
– Ping!
A muffled gunshot, having passed through a silencer.
However, the bullet, losing no speed, traversed hundreds of meters in an instant, pierced through a window, and accurately hit someone inside who was engaging in psychological warfare while running around the building.
The nanomachine barrier activated. It turned from bright blue to red in an instant. The head was particularly difficult to defend, and even a few shots could easily break the barrier. Thus, through the LPVO scope, she saw the enemy hiding in all sorts of panic.
A similar process repeated several more times. The bullets from unexpected places made the enemies hide or shadowbox, and in the meantime, she could successfully create a space to maneuver — from now on, it was a race against time.
───Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
CCTVs located all around were instantly
destroyed. It was common knowledge that the terrain of the AP map changed with each play, but it was also common knowledge that the basic framework did not change much.
The unmanned drones patrolling around switched to intensive surveillance mode. They immediately took a defensive stance, but it didn’t mean the AI was smart. Selecting the enemy farthest among the identified drones, she fired a few shots at its feet.
Since those things were light despite appearances, once hit and knocked over, the direction in which they fell would roughly indicate the shooter’s position. Therefore, another method was needed here.
While the alerted enemy moved due to the nearby bullets, she loaded a round into the underbarrel grenade launcher and aimed at the enemy. The UI automatically displayed the range and impact point, making it easy. All she had to do was pull the trigger.
With a thump, the grenade flew in an arc.
The next part was predictable.
– Boom!
– [Warning: Alpha-grade security mode activated. Drone hit at DH2 point. Concentrate fire on that location.]
She glanced at the rushing drones and leisurely descended the ramp, entering the front of the base.
What followed was simple. Hacking. With the power of the ICARUS Device, nothing was impossible — it was essentially a massive computer in the shape of a watch. It was developed by pouring billions of dollars into a watch to interfere with all existing electronic devices.
The main gate opened in an instant. It took about 2 minutes to clear the way, feed bullets to keep the enemies quiet, destroy the CCTVs, and bury one drone before coming down and breaching the main gate.
Judging by the surroundings, it seemed they didn’t know she had accessed the base. She quietly walked in, took the elevator to the 3rd floor, and arrived at a modest central control room. There were various strange buttons, but not many important ones.
– [DO NOT PRESS THE BUTTON]
A prominently large and red button in the center.
The wreckage of the tilt-rotor hovering above the base and the zipline launcher inside it. It all fit together like a puzzle.
When she pressed it, the siren on the ceiling started blaring like crazy with an artistic touch.
– [Warning: Base lockdown and self-destruction procedures activated.]
– [Warning: Main base AI and drone operations halted.]
– [Warning: All personnel inside the base must evacuate within 5 minutes.]
“Quite a lot of weird features.”
What should I say?
AP — as I mentioned before — could be described as a hodgepodge of everything I hadn’t actually experienced under the pretext of a virtual reality skirmish within the Dark Zone world.
And this feature too… it was too blatant to be an Easter egg, so it was better to see it as something the developers just wanted to include. Like how there’s always a self-destruct button in the lair of a mad scientist, like in movies or games.
It’s ridiculous, but as long as it could be used effectively, it was enough.
The view outside the window was pure chaos.
The surroundings shook as if an earthquake had struck, with two people hurriedly escaping through nearby routes and three others in the midst of a firefight where the routes overlapped. They seemed to rely on the zipline, believing they could get out alive if they eliminated the rest.
The fact that I had thought the same thing would be their downfall.
– [Warning: 30 seconds until the completion of the central control room self-destruction procedure.]
Walking out leisurely, she discreetly confirmed the positions of those fighting nearby.
It was time to kick everyone eyeing her zipline out to the lobby.
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