I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 179 ­ Last Night

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“Ah, this is nice.”

“Don’t sleep here. Go to bed.”

“Oh, I’m not really going to sleep here.”

– Hahaha, so funny.

– What is this implying? Why are they so close?

– Anyway, auction that tail pillow stuck between Dice’s thighs now!

– Hurry up and start the auction! Take my money!

– Fact: This is a commercial broadcast right now.

– This is not just any commercial, really. Hahaha.

Dice hugged the tail pillow with her whole body, becoming one with the floor.

Unlike my actual tail, this tail-inspired pillow was made long and wide to be thick and soft when hugged. It wasn’t the type that tapered and became flexible towards the end; it maintained its thickness from start to finish. Only the printed tail image on it got thinner towards the end.

Anyway, my tail was about 170 cm long, so unless someone was very tall, they could easily hug it to sleep… Well, at least it wasn’t a dakimakura modeled after me.

In other words, it was something I could just let slide. With my head cooled down, it didn’t bother me much.

More importantly, as the person who inspired it, I had to check the product’s quality.

While pulling out the pillow, I casually checked the letters scattered around. They were similar to the ones I saw earlier. The only difference was that these hadn’t gone into full production and sales yet.

In short, these were test products sent with the message, ‘We want to create products inspired by Ms. Yoo Jin, is that okay?’ They also kindly and naturally included links to the manufacturer and seller.

After briefly reviewing both, there were no issues. It seemed like they were originally places that often produced these kinds of pro-gamer goods.

Moreover, there were various other products under the pillow, so it was time to review them.

“All the products we’re showing now are prototypes and haven’t been released yet. I’ll post links to where they will be sold or pre-ordered, so you can check them out there.”

Rustle, rustle.

I pulled out more products.

From one corner of the box, I took out a smaller box wrapped in bubble wrap. It was a mug of an appropriate size, engraved with what looked like my logo and the name Yoo Jin. Fortunately, the handle wasn’t shaped like a snake’s tail.

Meanwhile, there was a piece of clothing wrapped in plastic underneath. It was a T-shirt that could be worn casually. It had a black base subtly mixed with green. On it, a digitally reconstructed image of an anaconda stood out.

It seemed ICARUS was trying to push my personal logo with this vibe. The design was tactical and I liked it.

I decided to introduce the items in the order I pulled them out.

“It’s a mug. Nothing particularly special… It has my logo and name on it.”

“If you keep using that cup, will you grow a tail?”

“Of course. But I don’t want to see tens of thousands of people nationwide with snake tails. I should tell them not to release it.”

“No, you can’t do that!”

– Hahaha, what nonsense.

– I also want a snake tail!!

– Hahaha, I had a naughty thought just now but I’ll keep my mouth shut.

– Dice is startled, hahaha.

– Their chemistry is dizzying, hahaha.

A snake tail.

It’s not a sight I want to imagine. I didn’t have a particular opinion on it, but at this point, it was part of my identity… No, why am I seriously thinking about this? Maybe it’s because I recently received a tail avatar file for Dice.

Come to think of it, I forgot to tell her. I’ll send it to her if I remember someday – thinking that, I pulled out the second item, the T-shirt. Considering it had my logo on it, it didn’t look bad.

“Next is a T-shirt. It seems fine to me, but I’m not sure how it looks to you all. There’s no big issue, so it will be on the sales list. If you like it, buy it.”

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone advertise like this while alive.”

Was that a bit rude?

Then I should add one more thing.

“I’d appreciate your support.”

– Hahaha.

– Should we see this as a defeat to capitalism?

– A draw with capitalism, hahaha.

– Did the advertisers collectively lose their minds?

– It’s funnier because it’s so straightforward, hahaha.

But I have nothing else to say.

Meanwhile, Dice was pulling more items out of the box behind me. There were other goods like snapbacks, handbags, and phone cases, but honestly, they weren’t much different from the T-shirt. Just ordinary items with my logo on them.

Saying this might sound odd, but the tail-shaped hugging pillow and the Nendoroid collection still posing on the floor had more visual appeal.

Separately, the ones that were easy to use had to take this form. There were no defects in the products, so they would all likely pass without issue.

I composed a message summarizing these thoughts.

“Ugh, this is the first time I’ve opened so many packages.”

“But there are only a few left, so hang in there.”

As she said, Dice’s presence significantly shortened the unboxing time. Soon enough, the tightly taped plastic bags and flat paper boxes were piling up in one corner of the floor. The remaining packages were my personal orders like calorie gainers, high-end cooking utensils, and grills, bath products, etc.

By the way, thinking of bathing reminded me that my shedding period was approaching. It would be the first time since returning to this world.

Anyway, for now, I should handle the backlog of work one by one.

“The rest are my personal packages, so I won’t open them… Can you help with the paper recycling?”

“Yes.”

I grabbed a handful first, and Dice picked up the rest. I heard a grunt from behind. Half-instinctively, I added,

“What will you do if you’re already this tired?”

“I do exercise, you know.”

“Cardio is for weight loss.”

The drone cam was waiting inside the house.

As the chat window was getting filled with single characters, I temporarily placed the box at the entrance and took out a pair of slippers for Dice. The cute handwriting ‘Seo Ye-rin’ was impressive… but unfortunately, it was my handwriting.

However, she seemed to notice something else first.

“Hamina?”

“Oh, it’s Harmony. I had a housewarming party a while back.”

“Ah.”

Rustle, rustle.

Meanwhile, Dice struggled with the box blocking her view and had trouble putting on her shoes. I slid my tail over and guided her foot into the slipper.

The sound of shuffling feet. The pile of boxes soon landed with a thud. I closed the door, which I had kept open with my tail, and walked down the hallway while checking the time. 8:47 PM. It was quite late.

Maybe that’s why. An all-too-familiar voice tickled my ear through the fluttering blonde hair in my field of vision.

“Yoo Jin, I actually haven’t had dinner yet.”

“It feels like there’s more to that.”

“I’m too lazy to go back to my dorm.”

“There’s an unused room with a bed. You can sleep there.”

“Wow, Yoo Jin, you’re really rich.”

A brief silence.

Then she continued,

“…Wait a minute. How do you respond so quickly? Don’t people usually refuse here?”

“I live alone, so it’s not a big deal.”

“Can I sleep with you?”

“No. You can’t.”

Swish, swish.

Dice was speechless at the sight of my tail wriggling in front of her eyes.

“There won’t be any space in the bed because of my tail.”

“…I’m experiencing all sorts of things today. But I was lying about sleeping here. I’m not shameless enough to ask for a night’s stay out of the blue. Besides, I have a scrim tomorrow, so I need to wake up in a familiar environment.”

“Do as you like. I’m fine with it.”

While she added,

“But I am seriously hungry.”

“Is that so?”

Click, beep.

The thick iron door closed as we took off our shoes and entered. The destination was set. Dice had a puzzled look as I said that, but I was just rummaging through the fridge.

How long had it been? The three boxes of beef gift sets I received a few days ago – the ones from the first unboxing were long gone in my stomach – were placed on the table.

The drone cam automatically rotated and broadcast Dice’s curious words.

“…I didn’t expect such a high-class dinner.”

“Just help me set the table.”

The drone cam rotated.

I glanced at the camera lens and added,

“Let’s just say it’s a dinner treat and a gift set ad.”

Should I call it my first mukbang?

I didn’t expect it to start so suddenly.

– …Therefore, compared to last year, the skills of each player are estimated to have improved by about 20%. However, this can’t be judged as encouraging. The skills of foreign players also improve every year. Especially this year, unlike expected, the improvement of Korean second-team players is drawing a higher-than-expected upward curve.

According to the attached fifth image, the basic shooting accuracy has not changed much, but the shooting accuracy for moving targets and moving while shooting has improved by nearly 40% compared to the expected analysis indicators, and survival rate has also increased by about 15%.

This is presumed to be due to the newly joined Yoo Jin player this year, and more accurate results will have to be confirmed by further checking the plays of the Korean first-team members who will participate in tomorrow’s scrim….

“Chris, aren’t you sleeping yet?”

“Oh.”

The sound of typing on the keyboard stopped.

The hotel room door opened, and two burly men

made eye contact. As the one who entered placed a still cold can drink on the table with a clink, a hiss sounded.

Although it was not too late in the morning, it was already past bedtime. The one called Chris felt the sweetness of the drink sliding down his throat and added – at least it wasn’t in Korean.

It was followed by the characteristic tones of Chinese.

“I was analyzing the scrim results.”

“You too?”

“It sounds like others are doing it too.”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

The Taiwan national team.

Despite frequently being called the weakest team among the excessively high-tier and strangely skilled countries, they still managed to stay in the game. The most desperate team. The country with the most fierce determination….

That was precisely why they were still awake. After today, the only remaining games were the Asian preliminaries. Therefore, they were analyzing the plays until dawn, as they had no special wake-up time tomorrow.

Besides, since they were the first to field their first team, they had corresponding advantages.

“Don’t overexert yourself. Drink up and get some sleep. It all starts tomorrow.”

“You’re right.”

Direct scrim data analysis rights.

This privilege was given only to the country that fielded their first team first – the reason was simple. When the main force came out first, the other teams had more time to analyze them until the Asian preliminaries.

Since their first team played on Monday, Korea, Japan, China, and Russia would dissect Taiwan throughout Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The direct scrim data analysis rights existed to offset the disadvantages of being the first to field their main force.

‘Finally, we can glimpse some of that person’s secrets….’

In other words, Taiwan could dig deeper into the plays of the first-team players from Korea, Japan, Russia, and China, including Yoo Jin, than any other country.

On the contrary, the other countries – and originally, it wasn’t like that. There was no first-person spectator data. The only things they could figure out were MOA and movement routes. But countries like Taiwan that fielded their first team on the first day of the fourth week had access to more data.

Each player’s first-person gameplay, their movements, their preferred combat styles – literally the most valuable information. And in other words, Taiwan needed that level of data. Without it, they couldn’t survive.

Despite being divided into seven parts, the overwhelming infrastructure and player lineup derived from their massive physique belonged to the Chinese Federation.

Although now gone, Russia had a brilliant military force that once divided the world with the United States.

The powerful nation of the Japanese Republic needed no explanation.

And finally – due to the presence of North Korea, which boasted an unusually strong military force, South Korea continued to produce players with incredible physical abilities, supported by a huge military infrastructure.

The delicate nation of Taiwan had to withstand the sparks generated by the interlocking gears of these four massive cogs.

“Hoo.”

After several sips, half the drink was still left in the oversized can.

As if symbolizing the long road ahead for them.

The man who delivered the drink turned and left.

“I’m going to sleep. It’s better to observe the scrim with a clear mind tomorrow.”

“Good night.”

With a dry metallic sound, the door closed.

Their night was still bright.

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