I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 133 Smashed Cake

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“It’s a disaster, I’m doomed, what do I do….”

Thunk!

A chilling sound accompanied the incoming bullet that hit the cover I was currently hiding behind. The impact caused a vibration to spread through the contact surface as a large amount of physical energy was neutralized. Concrete walls were chipped away, sending fragments flying in all directions.

The remaining nanomachine level was below 30 percent. The main control tower, about a hundred meters away, indicated that about three minutes were left until the base’s self-destruction, giving updates every ten seconds. But amidst this, the sound of the enemy’s movement mixed in, like the footsteps of death.

A professional gamer from Regio Invicta, Hornet.

He was currently engaged in a firefight with Yoo Jin.

‘Seriously, this is so terrifying…!’

Hornet.

At first glance, it seemed like he had just picked a cool word from the internet for his nickname, but in reality, he had a significant history with this nickname ­ years ago, in his childhood, he had messed with a hornet’s nest and suffered immensely, leaving a lasting impression.

Since then, he had lived his life with utmost caution, but now, it felt like he was receiving divine retribution for stirring up a cyber hornet’s nest.

I had hoped not to meet him, praying even before the game started and getting advice from fellow pro gamers, but to encounter him in this situation was truly unfortunate.

Moreover, the weight of the actual firefight was far heavier than anticipated.

Just two minutes ago, the situation had been a three-way battle excluding Yoo Jin. But after the central control room exploded, she casually walked out, and took down the two fighting with their backs to her, turning it into a 1-on-1 battle with me.

As I said, it happened in just two minutes.

───Crash!

Bullets flew through the air, and a grenade arced gracefully before landing on the ground.

I didn’t take my eyes off Yoo Jin’s position for even a second. She had emphasized that knowing the enemy’s location was crucial. To beat the opponent… it wasn’t about knowing oneself, but about thoroughly understanding the opponent.

There wasn’t a single pro gamer who didn’t know she would be a dark horse. That’s why Yoo Jin’s playstyle was analyzed more than anyone else’s. Others looked for weaknesses, adapted her strengths, and supplemented their own unthought-of shortcomings by watching her.

Despite all that, the pressure of the firefight was far beyond expectations.

“…Ha!”

He discarded the useless thoughts whirling in his head.

He knew he was going to die in this massive artificial cave.

Crushed to pieces by thousands of boulders the size of trucks, or caught in an explosion, or maybe getting a hole blown in his head by a grenade, death was inevitable.

But KSM was not just about kill points and ranks. He wasn’t entirely sure about the detailed criteria, but if he managed to land a significant hit on Yoo Jin… it might be helpful later.

And if luck was on his side and he managed to take Yoo Jin down with him, at least he’d have a story to tell over drinks ­ that might even be evaluated positively.

Clack.

He pressed the catch, and the empty magazine dropped to the floor. Making a sound on the ground was not an option.

He grabbed a new magazine, switched it out, and peered out with just the muzzle of his gun, firing. A faint blur zipped by.

How could she move at such speed? There was no time to marvel. Confirming that not many bullets had hit, he hastily got up and put distance between them. The closer they were, the higher the kill possibility and TTK exponentially increased.

It was more like a game of tag than a battle. Yet, all these actions seemed laughable as his improvised engagement tactics were quickly seen through.

With each tactical option blocked, the opponent’s advantage grew.

The remaining nanomachine shield would shatter soon, but without time to recover, the relentless assault would end it all.

“Ha….”

He always knew there was someone better. He had learned that the hard way after being eliminated in last year’s Asian qualifiers… but he couldn’t collapse here. This was just the first match.

-[Warning: 1 minute 20 seconds until base self-destruction.]

He wanted to stall longer, but this time, she seemed to be in a hurry. When she fought Corvus or others, she even had the leisure to chat, but now… well, at least stalling had been somewhat effective.

Yoo Jin’s figure faded from view. The distinct wiggle of her snake-like tail was the last thing he saw before quietly muttering to himself, inaudible to anyone else.

“…I did all this, surely I won’t survive…?”

If he survived, it would be absurd, and he would sit down and cry.

And cry he would, very loudly.

With an unsettling sense of the future, Hornet quietly closed his eyes.

Waiting for the slowly approaching death.

-[Warning: 1 minute until base self-destruction.]

Boom!

A unique sound that only a grenade could make. The 40mm round should have drawn an arc through the air, but instead, it punched a heavy blow into the rusty tiltrotor at the ceiling.

The resulting explosion and vibrations. A massive chunk of metal, weighing tens of tons, descended under gravity, screaming its final wails.

The shattered cockpit was the first to fall, then the body followed, entrusting its heavy, rusty mass to the invisible chains of gravity. After falling dozens of meters, the Osprey, now crushed into thousands of mangled and broken pieces, would be buried under rocks in less than a minute.

Before the dust settled, I followed the ICARUS Gear’s guidance, walking to the part of the wreckage that used to be the fuselage’s storage compartment, and dug through the debris. Despite being scratched and damaged, it was still intact – a box.

A box the size of a gun cabinet, with the ICARUS logo engraved on it.

A zipline launcher.

It was what I had been looking for.

-[Notice: Verified.]

Though dented here and there, it wasn’t impossible to open.

At this point, there were 40 seconds left.

I took out a few items from the cabinet: the launcher itself, two 100-meter bundles of steel cables, two wall-mountable stakes, two charges that could shoot up to 150 meters, and lastly, an ascender.

Assembling it was straightforward. Connect the stake and steel cable, attach them to the launcher, then insert the charge. All this took barely 5 seconds. The sight automatically linked, showing the estimated impact point.

With a bang, the stake, resembling an anchor, shot across the ceiling and out through a hole. Confirming it had latched onto something solid, I attached the ascender.

-[Warning: 30 seconds until base self-destruction.]

The prefabricated buildings that had seemed so enormous up close shrank rapidly.

Accompanied by the sound of a rapid zip, my body ascended swiftly. Despite carrying around 300 kilograms of gear, including firearms and armor, the cable and ascender showed no signs of strain.

Hot, dry winds and an encroaching sandstorm were palpable. Reaching beyond the ceiling, I felt it against my skin.

It took approximately 10 seconds to get from the ground to the outside. I detached the ascender from the steel cable, shoved the spare stakes, cables, and charges into the multipurpose pouch, and secured the ascender to my armor.

It was time to part with the heavy grenade launcher.

Adjusting the sling on the over 10-kilogram launcher to keep it steady, I took a deep breath───

“Ha…!”

And started running.

Ironically, those who designed this map seemed to love backstabbing. What I mean is, using the zipline launcher to escape through the ceiling didn’t solve everything.

Below was literally a cavity. Moreover, the massive rock inside was a mess. Could something forced open with giant drills and explosives be considered stable?

Of course, they had frames to support it, but all of that would be obliterated in 15 seconds.

The outcome was obvious.

The very ground I was standing on would be completely destroyed.

───Boom!

How much time had passed? The sound backing my anxiety pierced my eardrums.

A heavy vibration was felt from below, repeatedly. There was still about 500 meters to run. Clenching my teeth and pushing off the ground, I heard an unpleasant noise from my ears.

The ground was collapsing from the weakest points.

The reason the enemy had kept running was no big deal. He knew that if he stalled long enough, I would be buried here in some way or another. Frustration welled up, but what could I do?

Running with clenched teeth, I reached for the launcher. The ground was shaking, and there was no time to leisurely load ammunition.

Cracks visible to the eye were spreading across the floor!

-Clack!

I opened the multipurpose pouch with my right hand and pulled out the stakes and steel cable.

The current speed displayed on the UI was 33 km/h. Doing this while carrying dozens of kilograms of gear would have consumed an enormous amount of calories in reality.

Under such circumstances, I combined the stakes and steel cable. The more weight applied, the tighter the connection. Once done, I took the cylindrical charge, transferred all items to my right hand, and retrieved the launcher with my left.

───Crack!

“Ugh!”

I almost tripped on the twisted ground. Glancing back, I saw everything was collapsing around the cavity I had climbed out of.

It looked like the end of the world

, but there was no time to be surprised. The remaining distance had shrunk to 100 meters, and if I didn’t finish everything within that span, I would have no choice but to jump off the cliff unarmed.

Opening the front of the launcher, I inserted the stake, shoved the coiled cable into the compartment, and barely managed to insert the charge into the back, finishing the loading. What would typically take under 10 seconds took over 40 seconds while running.

The speed of the cracks was alarming. In less than 20 seconds, the massive rock that had housed the base would be flattened like a smashed cake.

A mushroom-shaped rock about 100 meters high came into view.

There was no time to kneel and aim. With cracks chasing from behind and unstable ground ahead… the edges of the rock were collapsing. Running and aiming, I had to do it here too.

As in the past, it was do or die.

A wildly shaking aim point. But the target was so large that as long as I didn’t shoot in some weird direction, it would hit.

───Bang!

With a strange noise, the stake shot out.

As it flew across 50 meters and made contact with the mushroom rock, the internal fragmentation explosive activated, burrowing deep inside. Then, spikes sprang out, firmly anchoring it to the wall.

The impact point was 90 meters above ground, and the rock I was running on was about 60 meters high. Only 10 meters remained before the edge turned into a cliff. The cliff was approximately 35 meters wide.

I connected the ascender to the steel cable and threw the launcher towards the cliff. Turning my back on the rapidly unwinding cable, I clung to the ascender and entrusted my body to the unknown.

In short, I jumped off the cliff.

“Uwaaah─!”

Grrr!

Instantly, 300 kilograms, combined with gravity, would exert almost a ton of pressure on the ascender and stake. But there was no choice. The rest was up to luck.

The wall quickly filled my vision.

───Thud!

“Ugh…!”

I slammed into the mushroom pillar wall like a pendulum.

The heavy impact was barely absorbed by the nanomachine shield. Despite being prepared, the intense pressure forced all the air from my lungs.

After barely catching my breath, I pressed the ▲ button with my right thumb, and my body scraped up the rough wall. Glancing down, debris rained down from where I had just been. The launcher I had thrown down was already buried in rocks and out of sight.

For about 20 seconds, amidst the roaring and flying dust and debris, even unexploded explosives triggered, sending tons of fragments flying.

Another 30 seconds passed.

“…Hoo.”

A gruesome sight unfolded before my eyes.

The massive rock, with a diameter of 1 kilometer, was flattened like a pancake.

The three who had fled earlier had already escaped, as there were no additional kills. With a deep sigh of relief, I watched the astonishing scene. I survived today too.

…Surely, I’m not the only one struggling so hard in this game?

-Zzzr!

I descended with the ascender. Some parts of the steel cable were buried in millions of stone fragments and couldn’t be found, but it had performed its duty admirably.

-[Notice: The base shield is shrinking.]

Only 32 players remained. Two stages left until the final shield.

The game was not over yet.

Life was truly arduous.

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