NOVEL WEB Chapter 20 - First Contact
Chapter 20: First Contact
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[Streamer Sub Gallery]
[General] Harmony is a bitch, LOL
[2025.08.XX, Upvotes 0, Downvotes 0, Views 76, Comments 8]
How much of a buff does that party asshole have?
Mobs I’ve never seen during the tutorial keep appearing endlessly, LOL
[All Comments] [Sorted by Date]
- Hey, aren’t those landing troops? How is she still alive????
ㄴ[Author] For real, LOL
ㄴThe teammate in the party is a total beast, LOL, more like a tank driver than a bus driver.
It’s so exciting to watch, LOL. I couldn’t stop laughing when she dropped the magazine and had to do push-ups later.
ㄴ[Author] Totally agree. The teammate is creating so much great content.
Who cares about Harmony? Everyone’s watching because of Yoo Jin, LOL
ㄴWho’s Yoo Jin? Is she a small-time streamer?
ㄴ[Author] That’s the nickname of the girl in the party with her.
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[General] Breaking News: Harmony totally destroyed, LOL
[2025.08.XX, Upvotes 0, Downvotes 0, Views 119, Comments 7]
Second home run ruined, LOL. Looks like she’ll have to restart from Brooklyn in the middle of the night, right?
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Who actually gets caught by that, LOL
Can’t even run away like a coward, LOL
Crazy bitch… Crazy bitch… Crazy bitch… Crazy bitch…
ㄴNot a crazy bitch, just a fucked one, LOL
If the teammate carries this too, then she’s truly insane.
ㄴAll they need to do is survive for two hours with a newbie streamer, sounds easy, LOL
ㄴPulling that shit in the Unauthorized Zone? Come on, even pros get shredded there if they’re unlucky.
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“Here is blocked too. The tracks leading to other stations are all sealed. There aren’t many ways out.”
“That’s enough.”
Even though countless places on Earth remained untouched by human hands, humanity chose density over expansion.
As time passed, this tendency intensified. Humanity, having no more land to live on, began to open the sky and dig into the ground.
And beneath seemingly normal land, subways and underground shopping malls transporting countless people thrived.
Bryant Park.
This place where I set foot was also filled with underground tunnels and subway stations connected like a spider’s web.
“…”
“What do we do now?”
“Wait a moment.”
I asked for understanding and immediately began to think.
As I had done many times before, I detailed the necessary conditions to achieve a specific goal.
First, I listed the major premises and then examined the conditions we faced.
Five enemies.
I had confirmed the grenadier. Assuming the operation of a typical small squad, there would be a squad leader, a machine gunner, and the remaining two would be riflemen.
One of the riflemen would likely also serve as a designated marksman or sniper, but during the engagement, I had not seen anyone carrying a DMR or sniper rifle.
There were three stairways in the station.
The ground floor was the first floor, the second basement level had the gate and stairs leading to platforms on either side,
and the third basement level was a tangle of platforms and various stores, essentially making it two levels intertwined without clear distinction.
Considering standard squad operations, it was natural for at least two-man teams to move together in such a complex terrain.
However, moving as a group of five was inefficient and dangerous.
Therefore, it was highly likely that the five would split into two and three.
“No tripwires or anything like that… How many grenades do we have left?”
“Three.”
“And magazines?”
“Five full ones and three half-used ones.”
“There’s no time to reload now, so switch to new ones. Set your selectors to full auto.”
Given the cover provided by structures like pillars and platforms supporting the ceiling, engagements would occur within a range of no more than 20 meters.
With limited nano-machine data processing, this close range meant our current armament could deal sufficient, if not devastating, damage to the enemy.
I also checked my equipment.
Had the device not been so limited, I could have set up seeker mines remotely.
Alright.
I began a brief summary.
“You should have a rough memory of the underground layout.”
“I’ve memorized some of it, but, um…”
“You don’t need all of it. I’ll explain only the expected engagement points. This station has a rather unique structure.”
There were two station entrances, one on each side of the road.
Neither descended straight but bent at right angles, allowing those entering from either side to see each other.
These paths converged and led to the gate.
The entrance to the third basement level, leading to the platforms, was similarly structured, allowing people descending from opposite sides to see each other.
When facing each other, the distance between them was approximately 25 meters.
The difference was that the third basement level had a narrow downward path leading to the platform right beside the point where they could see each other.
And…
“Unless the enemies descend fully to the third basement level, we’ll hide here, at the start of the right-angled path.”
There were two paths: one each for the ascending and descending platform.
The paths weren’t entirely open; rather, they were closer to being enclosed.
Thus, if we hid, there was no fear of being spotted from the opposite side.
Puzzle pieces started to fit together in my mind.
Our goal was to defeat them one by one.
“And then?”
“When they enter the curved entrance, at the point where they can see us… Let’s call it Point Alpha.”
“Okay.”
“The key is, when they enter Point Alpha, the distance between us and the enemies will be no more than four meters.”
“Then we just shoot all of them at Point Alpha?”
“Not exactly, but close.”
Given the enemies’ armament and armor, rushing into close combat could result in a counterattack.
We needed to eliminate two for sure, then trap or pin down the remaining three.
“When they enter Point Alpha, I’ll throw a grenade at the opposite entrance and charge at one of them.”
“What?”
“One of the remaining will shoot at me, or will be about to.”
“Right.”
“So when I charge, throw all the remaining grenades at them, and retreat up the path as fast as possible.”
“… This is…”
A brief silence.
Our eyes met, and her gaze was one that would be directed at someone clearly insane.
Yet, instead of stating it outright, the cat-eared user who introduced herself as Harmony asked,
“…Then how will Yoo Jin survive?”
“Well, simply put, the enemies make excellent shields.”
By that, I meant using the enemies as literal meat shields.
So…
“Yoo Jin.”
“Yes?”
“It might be rude to ask, but who exactly are you?”
Ah, well.
Someone who’s been through a lot of… various things.
I pulled out a small EMP generator from my multi-purpose pocket.
Fiddling with it as my body remembered, I pressed a few buttons, and it began emitting a pulse with a small sound.
Naturally, her eyes, filled with curiosity about what it was, turned to me.
[EMP attack detected. Device functionality and communication bandwidth reduced.]
[From now on, only short-range communication and team communication are available.]
[ICARUS combat support equipment CSAG unavailable.]
“…What’s that?”
“It’s the local EMP generator I received during character creation.”
I hid it in a corner of the wall where the enemies wouldn’t find it and turned off the UI, which was gradually becoming noisier, adding,
“Either we or those five won’t get out of here alive.”
– EMP attack detected.
“…EMP? What do they have?”
“It must be an EMP grenade.”
“The status effect isn’t clearing. If it was a grenade, it would clear soon.”
EMP.
Also known as electromagnetic pulse, since its introduction into the game, it had been the leading cause of user frustration and rage.
It disrupted everything from ammo count displays and maps to complete lockdowns of various combat support equipment, also known as skills.
That very thing, which only appeared in high-level content, was here.
“This isn’t clearing. We’re screwed. Can’t even see squadmates on the map.”
“Could one of those two have an EMP generator?”
“They say the reason for the Unauthorized Zone is because of jammer imports, so maybe it’s that. Let’s focus.”
But the comms, noisy due to the EMP, quieted down again at the squad leader’s voice.
Five members with X-marked revolver patches on their shoulders moved swiftly,
splitting into two and three, and entered the subway station through two entrances.
Task Force Desperado-019.
In Dark Zone, five members could form a task force, a small group, and then add suitable words and numbers to create their own team.
This team was gradually gaining recognition through their activities on the world’s largest video upload site, Yourspace.
“See anything?”
“Nothing. It’s frustrating not being able to use close-range scans.”
“Let’s capture those two and then find and disable any jammers. Any objections?”
“None.”
The five, meeting again at the entrance leading underground, passed the deactivated gate and faced another split entrance.
There was no significant problem with either path.
They stopped and guarded the area, awaiting orders.
“We’ll split as we did earlier. The riflemen and grenadier will take the left, and I’ll go with the machine gunner to the right.”
“Wouldn’t it be better for all five to push through?”
“The path is too narrow for five to shoot effectively, and friendly fire or mass casualties are possible.”
“There are only two enemies, though… Alright, I get it.”
Though not professional, the five moved competently, splitting into
their respective teams and signaling.
With a click, they set their selectors to full auto and began descending the stairs in a tight, controlled manner.
“To avoid friendly fire, the machine gunner and I will descend first here. You enter from the opposite side at the same time.”
“Roger.”
Swish.
The sound of boots meeting the landing, and the sound of clothing rustling against each other.
Only the faint sounds of breathing and heartbeats could be heard in the eerie silence as the machine gunner, armed with an Mk.48 LWMG, entered the right-angled stairway.
Unlike the relatively lit second basement level, the third basement level was closer to complete darkness.
With each step, their visibility narrowed.
“…”
Maintaining high-ready positions to prevent immediate response and friendly fire, the squad leader followed the machine gunner at a one-meter distance.
Unknown terrain began to reveal itself.
‘… A path turning to the right? Is there one on the opposite side too?’
But now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
The path split. According to prior drills, the machine gunner would cover the right turn, and the squad leader would cover straight ahead.
Though it was a bit troublesome not to be able to watch the rear, it was manageable by checking more frequently.
In theory, it was an impeccable entry.
Except,
they didn’t know who they were up against.
─Click!
“Ugh!”
Bang!
A heavy sound, never heard in Dark Zone before, echoed through the dark third basement level.
The squad leader’s vision, narrowed by looking through the half-broken holographic sight due to the EMP, widened rapidly as they realized what had happened.
All they saw was something from the right path rushing at the machine gunner at an incredible speed.
─Boom!
Meanwhile, a grenade exploded with a flash at the entrance to the opposite stairway where the other three should have been coming down.
The chaos and successive events caused the aim to waver, scattering thoughts.
But the squad leader, hardened by years of Dark Zone play, recognized a solid object rolling to their feet by sound alone.
‘…!’
RGD-5.
Looking down, they saw three Russian fragmentation grenades, pins and safety clips all removed, lying at their feet.
However, before they could fully process this, the machine gunner’s body flew towards them, filling their vision.
Bang.
The heavy pressure felt all over their body made them lose control.
When their vision went black, all they could faintly feel was someone running past them up the stairs.
And.
─Thud!
“Excuse me.”
When they came to, both the machine gunner and the squad leader were on their knees, facing a grenade, held by someone whose face they hadn’t even seen.
The tremendous force from their necks and the pulling power they couldn’t resist.
The owner of that immense strength,
used the machine gunner and the squad leader as meat shields, holding them tightly together.
All this happened before the typical four-second delay for a fragmentation grenade to explode.
They couldn’t understand what had happened, but there was no need for further words.
“No, what the hell───”
A flash, and the two were expelled to the grey screen signifying death.
With a nonsensical warning that they were killed by a party member in hardcore mode, losing their equipment ownership.
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