NOVEL WEB Chapter 153 - Washington D.C
Chapter 153 – Washington D.C
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“Alright, are there any national representatives on this list who we can’t contact? Report quickly. After contacting each user, investigate if there’s a common free schedule. If that’s impossible, group them in sets of three or four!”
“Which companies have requested PPL? Sort out the ads that can be done in virtual reality and those that can only be done in reality. I’ll handle the contacts, so if there are samples, ask them to send photos.”
“Here’s the classification of broadcasting channels that requested interviews… No channel wants to interview more than four people at once. Let’s split them into groups of three, with Yoo Jin and Dice separate, and form six teams with the rest. Any objections?”
“There are over twelve advertising proposals for Yoo Jin alone… Jin-cheol! Yoo Jin is an awakened one, right? Extract just the ad list and send it to her. I’ll check with the legal team for any issues. Don’t get your hopes up.”
“Understood. Also, SSM has requested that we hold off on marking Yoo Jin as part of their team. Her short-term coaching contract ends at the end of November. For now, we’ll list her as unaffiliated.”
People after the tournament ended.
They could be broadly categorized into a few types.
First, those who play.
Second, those who are busy.
Lastly, those who are desperately busy.
When KSM ends, the players take a break.
When KSM ends, the viewers either return to their jobs or play.
And lastly, when KSM ends, countless brands eager to entrust PPL to ICARUS, the team, and the AP Soloing national representatives, become unbelievably busy.
AP Soloing national representatives.
Considering that the viewership of the 3rd KSM reached up to 5 million, they were both national representatives chosen to shine Korea and walking billboards. In other words, they were like carrying treasure.
And the place that existed to handle this more smoothly was ICARUS’s PR department—of course, not only the legal team but also the planning and business departments that handled external promotions.
It was literally busy without a moment to breathe. The national representative list selected through KSM was only announced on Monday morning, and an overwhelming number of inquiries poured in as soon as it was published.
The result was this.
“ICARUS Japan branch also released the JSM list.”
“Okay. Distribute it to each team. Listen up, do it the same way as last year. Just do the basics well, and if it seems complicated, connect directly with the team. We don’t need to do everything. Got it? Just manage the ads applicable to all players, like shoes or gloves.”
“Understood.”
A colossal amount of work piling up even as they breathed.
Moreover, it wasn’t just about handling it; they had to adapt the work form and submission content flexibly according to the constantly changing situation. Only talents matching the stature of the big corporation ICARUS could handle all these tasks skillfully.
That wasn’t all. Amidst such comprehensive work, they had to grasp and catch a series of flows, and create audiovisual materials like PPTs to brief others. Meetings and presentations were endless.
Thus, at least for more than a week, they had to work overtime on top of overtime. But how could they not enjoy working when the money earned flowed into their accounts for their hard work? They earned in three days what others did in a month.
And amidst such pandemonium, Deputy Kim Jin-cheol, busy typing on the keyboard, skillfully moving the mouse and other peripherals, writing various documents.
After being unable to hold back his biological needs and visiting the restroom, he grabbed a cold can of coffee from the break room’s fridge, and someone crossed his mind.
“…It’s only been a while since then, and she’s already come this far.”
Yoo Jin.
The more he synthesized countless data, the more that name emerged endlessly. He was the PR team’s deputy, but still, he was also a bridge connecting Yoo Jin and ICARUS. He couldn’t not know, having heard it so much it was drilled into his ears.
Was it just a month or two ago? She entered with a somewhat stiff demeanor, broke all records for the physical ability tests ICARUS held, and splendidly excelled in hardcore mode, becoming a mysterious woman with a snake tail.
That delicate facial feature and body line… more than that, the sensuous tail wriggling below often came to mind. Even he, who didn’t particularly like reptiles, saw snake videos popping up in Yourspace algorithm occasionally.
As the break room door opened, a familiar figure appeared again.
“What, you’re here for a break too?”
“Wow, senior. I feel like dying… Was it like this last year too?”
“Last year? It was similar but less than now. But what can you do? Next year might be worse. Don’t you know it’s only been five years since Dark Zone was released?”
“Man, this place really grinds people down as much as it pays.”
“If I’m being ground down as your mentor, what do you expect?”
They spent about 20 more seconds like that.
They couldn’t rest any longer as they couldn’t handle the incoming work, so they sighed and left the break room.
The outside was still a mess. Someone was running down the hallway with a tablet PC, it was hard to tell if they were from another department or the same one. The hologram screens floating above the department were flashing brightly.
How should I describe it, it felt like seeing a surreal… or maybe a near-future company. Anyway, it felt like that.
Before sitting down, they exchanged their last conversation.
“Lately, Yoo Jin’s name comes up a lot. How far do you think she’ll go, senior?”
“Well.”
But one thing was certain.
“You’ll probably see her in a month, and in three months too.”
“Wow, do you think she’ll make it to the finals? Really? She does seem to be really good at games. I’m still learning PVE raids….”
“Haha. Forget it and just get back to work.”
Anyway, what might that person be doing now?
Thinking that, he opened the can of coffee he brought from the break room. The ice-cold bitter liquid slid down his throat, clearing his mind a bit, but seeing the hundreds to thousands of text clumps and photos on the screen made his motivation plummet again.
Sigh.
“I want to shoot a gun in-game too.”
Beads of water were forming on the can of coffee.
The heat was slowly fading.
Autumn was coming.
“…Everyone, are you paying attention to what I’m saying right now?”
Yes, of course, I’m listening to how beautiful your tail is^^
How can I focus when all I see is the tail~~~
Yoo Jin, I have nothing to do with these 1diots, please have mercy
Morons, geez ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
The mission difficulty is always very hard ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
They’re not focusing, not at all.
In the past, I would’ve picked a donation dancing on the line like a political officer and smashed a helmet to make them excellent viewers, but now that I’m somewhat of a national representative, it’s a bit burdensome.
Is this what they mean by the position making the person? Realizing this at this point was quite troublesome… but it was also enjoyable to be back in my main job after a while.
───Bang!
“I need to do some scouting.”
“Uh, is that how you usually scout…?”
Harmony’s voice filled with doubt came from behind, but scouting was usually done from a high place.
The bang just now was the sound of a fixed anchor being lodged at the top of the Washington Monument. About 170 meters high. It was a trick since using a drone directly could lead to it being shot down.
A steel rope cable hundreds of meters long fell with a swish. After telling Harmony to stay below as it would be dangerous, I pressed the ▲ button and quickly ascended. However, given the height, it took quite a while.
The wind was cold. However, the cloudless sunlight was very clear. The snow piled and frozen on the roof was quite slippery, so I had to be careful. After securing the ascender and myself to the rope, I added to the communication.
“You should move away from the tower.”
“Oh, okay.”
Crack! Crack!
I opened the pouch hanging on my tail and took out the Tactical-Spike Hammer after a long time, breaking the perennial snow on the Washington Monument, which had become an ice sheet after repeated melting and freezing.
As the ice chunks fell over 150 meters in free fall and shattered into thousands of pieces on the ground, Harmony’s surprised voice and the flabbergasted chat messages rose simultaneously.
I knew it ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Nice eccentricity right away, teacher
“Thank you for your donation, Kakkarot’s Snack. It’s not eccentricity; it’s a tactical choice. If you recklessly deploy a drone for scouting, it gives the enemy a chance to preemptively scout….”
There was a reason for everything.
As modern warfare progressed, the importance of drones increased, but counter-drone methods also diversified. Simply put, if you recklessly scout and the enemy realizes they’re being scouted, or worse, if your main force’s position is exposed, it’s disastrous.
This was particularly critical in CQB urban warfare, where vertical battlefields with buildings became mainstream rather than horizontal battlefields stretching hundreds of meters to kilometers. The enemy could be within just a few hundred meters.
Many operators who underestimated this and ended up in coffins in the early stages.
Anyway, with that thought, I opened the multipurpose pouch on my right thigh and took out binoculars, surveying the surroundings. Equipped with
thermal imaging, it could detect heat from engine exhausts of various military vehicles or armored vehicles.
To the right was the White House, in a ruinous state. In front was the Lincoln Memorial. Glancing to the side, West Potomac Park and Tidal Basin, along the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool… there were anti-aircraft guns and SAMs positioned.
The Potomac River running through Washington D.C. Along the riverbanks, Aegis systems were visible. It was quite a tricky situation. Although air support was mentioned in the briefing, without neutralizing all those, the support crafts would just get shot down.
Hmm.
“Wow, why are there so many!?”
“The enemy seems to be thoroughly prepared.”
Upon sharing the sight and observation information, countless missiles came into view. It was just packed full.
However, I already had past experiences, and back then, my task force, Task Force Dagger, solved this beautifully and concisely—an operation named Operation Firecracker for a reason.
Before applying that methodology, I decided to gather more precise information.
───Click!
I unloaded the .338 from the chamber, removed the magazine, and temporarily stored it in the pouch, then took out a tiny reconnaissance drone about the size of a board marker and attached it to the gun barrel. Next, I inserted a propulsion cartridge into the chamber and fired it in an arc.
With a swoosh, the drone soared 500 meters into the sky. Its hidden wings unfolded, gliding down slowly like a flying squirrel, scanning everything around. Without a propeller, it was silent.
It slowly descended, sending all the scanned information to the ICARUS gear before plopping into the half-frozen Potomac River.
“The troop size seems similar or a bit less than the last West Point mission….”
“Indeed.”
By the way, we cleared the West Point mission once more with Harmony off-stream. We had no time then, so we did it with temporary recruits, but as we started aligning the main mission’s pace with Harmony, we made that decision.
Anyway, the troop size was about that. The difference was that then it was two Russian airborne regiments, but now it was a mix of defectors, gangs, and special forces from hostile countries trying to make a big play in a ruined world.
Today’s mission would likely focus on dealing with defectors.
I roughly mapped out an infiltration route in my head.
The mission outline was simple.
Seize the Aegis system placed underground in the Lincoln Memorial, grab the SAM targeting system and trigger a ‘kill each other’ scenario, and if anything remained, call in an MQ-20 Avenger armed with four cluster bombs to harvest everything. It wasn’t a regular method.
And it might be manageable since it was relatively small-scale.
After passing the simplified mobility route to Harmony, she responded.
“Well, it’s a route befitting Yoo Jin, who eats and studies tactics.”
“Why the sudden sharp critique?”
“Oh, sorry.”
Of course, she didn’t seem apologetic at all.
But I forgave her generously and started a brief explanation to help the viewers understand. As always, I thought I was quite kind.
Anyway, hearing the evaluations,
Not a single word Harmony said was wrong, why the flick? Ebeveb hit me too ebeveb hit me
“…Stop trying to satisfy your personal desires under the guise of teasing.”
Oh, caught me, hehe;;
Hit me, really? Sheesh ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
So obvious, this guy ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
All perverts, huh? Without fail, right?
Oh, boy.
The weather was clear, not a cloud in the sky, but it was quite eventful from the start.
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