I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 251 – Pulse Technology

“…So this place was this luxurious.”

At 4:46 PM, after finishing a long and arduous journey, my first impression upon returning was exactly that. From the entrance of the hotel to the revolving door and the interior visible upon entering, everything felt utterly new.

For a moment, I almost forgot what I needed to do first, but fortunately, I had already informed the schedule manager of my return. I sifted through my slightly hazy memory, got on the elevator, and arrived at the lounge floor.

From there, it was simple. I just needed to verify my identity in the lobby and head to my room. Dice or Harmony would be holding the key card, and since I hadn’t heard of anyone going anywhere, they were likely in the room.

It was a relief that I didn’t forget the way to the room.

“…Is it locked?”

When I reached the door, I gently moved the handle, but it seemed the default was locked. The metallic clunk and the annoying stiffness were felt through the handle.

Technically, it wasn’t stiffness but simply that the door wouldn’t move beyond a certain point due to the lock… Saying it like this might sound odd, but if I applied force, it would at least move stiffly, hence the saying. Of course, the result of such movement would be the destruction of the doorknob, so I didn’t actually do it.

I quietly pressed the doorbell. The clear electronic chime of “ding-dong” rang out. Then, there was a thudding vibration felt from my feet, as if someone was hurriedly running out from inside.

And then – click.

“Yoo Jin’s here!”

“The pride of the University of Pennsylvania has arrived!”

“What are you talking about?”

What kind of absurd, unheard-of nonsense is this?

As I entered, the noise that greeted me was boisterous. It turned out Ink, Michael, and Gambit from the next room were playing a board game. It was a bit strange to see an analog game when VR content existed, but right now, I had to focus on the previous conversation.

In any case, the story was predictable – the lunch we had in Philadelphia must have gone viral on the internet. It wasn’t a derogatory article, and since we hadn’t made any official statements, the posts hadn’t been taken down.

Moreover, the attention on Senior Officer Owens from our side was one of the reasons the posts remained.

And sure enough, everyone seemed quite curious about our senior operations officer.

“By the way, who is this person?”

“Our squad leader, who can kill someone in three seconds if she wants to.”

“Eek…”

It was a joke, but not entirely a joke.

Anyway, after a brief search, I confirmed that it hadn’t spread widely overseas yet. The domestic American opinion was huge enough to say it wasn’t hot, but… well, all identifiable parts were mosaicked, so it wasn’t a big deal.

The problem was the massive tail wriggling under the student cafeteria chair that was impossible to hide with a mosaic. Logan’s bear ears were at least well-mosaicked and ambiguous on his head, and Laurentina didn’t have prominent animal features…

Well, having a long tail was just unfortunate.

Anyway, it was about time to ask how everyone had been.

“How has everyone been?”

“Well, we took some walks nearby, did some shopping, practiced a bit… Oh, and we did a broadcast with Harmony. It was more fun than I expected. My first broadcast had 6,391 viewers, and it increased to 8,000.”

“…Is streaming popular these days?”

Does everyone have an itch that makes them restless unless they show their face on the internet?

Anyway, half of December was almost over. The final championship duo and squad matches were set to start next week. Since we needed to start preparing little by little, I couldn’t help but regret that I had to talk about unfortunate things right after arriving.

Thinking about it, we had about ten days left for practice. It seemed none of them had trouble adjusting to the time difference, and there were about two days left until the end of the first week, which was for rest and adaptation.

‘Should I take them to a nice restaurant as a team-building exercise….’

Unfortunately, my limited experience could only come up with that. Additionally, Dice and Harmony had been singing about wanting to go to a good steak place for a while, so it might be a good idea to take them there before it gets too late.

As I sorted through these thoughts, I started to get confused about whether I was here to rest or prepare for the next schedule. Maybe this was just my nature. It’s chaotic right from the start.

I should take a break.

“I’m going to take a bath. Since there’s no specific announcement today, feel free to hang out here or go back to your rooms.”

“Oh, I’ll head back.”

“Everyone, run away!”

They fled hastily, as if I might assign them homework, which was a ridiculous sight.

And so, finally, peace came. The clothes, soaked with three days of travel weariness, fell piece by piece onto the floor. They were all laundry. I calmly sorted them for laundry service to ensure they would be returned the next day.

It seemed we would be here for quite some time.

“Does anyone need to shower early or urgently use the bathroom?”

“Feel free to take your time. Just don’t fall asleep in the bath!”

It was such a typical reminder from them.

Anyway, as I entered the bathroom, I was greeted by the distinctive scent of bathroom supplies and high humidity. Winter was not only cold but also extremely dry, which had been a major annoyance lately, but I was glad I could solve it as soon as I returned.

After manipulating the hologram on the wall a few times to set the water temperature and level in the bathtub, I stepped into the shower and enjoyed the warm water pouring over my head. Soon, steam began to billow, enveloping me in a pleasant, moist feeling.

Now, it was time to do what I hadn’t been able to do earlier.

“Hmm…”

Though my eyes were closed, I could still see ahead. The lens I always wore – naturally from ICARUS Gear – was rendering the outside environment through augmented reality.

Activating the hologram was simple. I could wave my fingers, but actually, just thinking about it worked. Instantly, without any time lag, the websites of nearby steak houses popped up, and tables available on different dates appeared automatically.

Seats for five. Preferably in a place separate from crowded areas. Thinking tomorrow evening would be suitable, I sent a message to ask, and everyone excitedly responded with an OK sign.

Even-

-Squeak!

“Wow! We’re going for steak tomorrow!?”

“You’ve been singing about wanting to go, so we should go before we get busy, don’t you think?”

Of course, Dice received a flick on the forehead for letting in the cold air during my shower.

Naturally, the location was the same place I visited with the squad members last time. Fortunately, there were plenty of seats. Considering we were going in the evening, I also pre-booked a car for the trip, so there wouldn’t be any headaches over security issues.

Upon sharing the news in the Engram group chat, everyone went wild. There were talks about splitting the cost evenly, but… Since the amount four people would eat and the amount I would eat would be similar, it seemed too harsh.

‘Next…’

I considered a few topics to discuss during tomorrow’s dinner. Simply put, it would be a discussion to prepare for the final championship. They probably wouldn’t like discussing it over dinner, but it had to be done.

Before coming to the U.S., I had already prepared a customized curriculum and handed it out. They had been practicing even during my absence, so there was no need to worry too much.

With these thoughts, I finished my shower.

As the alarm indicating the bathtub was filled went off, I rinsed off the remaining bathroom products under the ceiling’s water stream and stepped out.

“Oh.”

Steam rose from the bathtub.

I carefully eased myself in. Inside, there was a chair-like structure specifically for me, so having a tail wasn’t a problem. The water was warm, almost hot, reaching up to my neck, and a warm sigh escaped my lips.

Opening the blinds next to me revealed New York’s nightscape. Thanks to the variable transparency glass, I could see outside without worrying about anyone peeking in.

Now, all that remained was work related to the think tank. I might as well check it out now.

“…Phew.”

My inbox was filled with numerous emails.

Using keywords, I sorted the essential news chronologically and reviewed them. The contract review results from various law firms indicated there were no legal issues, clearly stating the terms were 100% in my favor.

This part had been reviewed multiple times by many people, so I wasn’t too concerned – the important part was next. It was time to start the actual operations, and to get the think tank moving, it needed a kick-start.

After typing at the same speed as my thoughts, I sent an email through a direct line. Within about three minutes, a reply came.

-[JGH: Send it here.]

The message below contained a name, title, and email address.

After sending a simple “Have a good night” reply, I used ICARUS Gear to access the operational plans I had prepared and sent several technical files to the given email address. The files were massive, but splitting them into thousands of parts made the transmission quick.

Considering the issues with initial capital deposits and the need for early operation and development costs, I packed a variety of technologies into the email. If this wasn’t enough, it would be troubling, but I would watch and see.

Having dealt with the last matter, I looked outside.

“…It’s snowing.”

What to say? Watching the falling snow while taking a bath had its charm. Perhaps I was growing to love snow.

How long had it been? The simple alert indicating 6:30 PM snapped me back to reality. After entering the bathroom around 5 PM, I had taken a 30-minute shower and then dozed in the tub for about an hour.

Instead of feeling wrinkled, my skin felt supple, as if I had applied oil. I shook off the remaining sleepiness, finished cleaning up, dried off with a towel, changed into the prepared casual clothes, and opened the bathroom door quietly.

To my surprise, the smell of food wafted in.

And-

“Ah, if you had come out a bit later…!”

“Yes! I told you I’d come out before 7!”

The scene before me.

Harmony and Dice were waiting at an elegant table set with what appeared to be room service dishes. It looked like they had made a bet involving me.

A momentary chuckle escaped, but oh well. Perhaps this scene was proof that I had returned to where I belonged.

“It’s snowing outside, and we didn’t feel like going out, so we ordered room service. Come and eat.”

“We specially prepared a chair with a hole for your tail, Teacher Yoo Jin.”

“Good grief.”

But I didn’t refuse.

Although it was an unexpected dinner, it had its own joy.

Of course,

“…Wow.”

“How did the room service bill come to over 700 dollars?”

“I’ll pay for what I ate, so don’t worry.”

The cost of one meal was quite substantial.

It was a sad reality.

“…During the Omega Virus crisis, I was only a corporate manager staying at Central Park, so I’m not sure exactly how useful this technology is. I’ll have to hear the engineers’ opinions and decide.”

“While we still need more thorough analysis, the moment this file’s potential is fully realized, the think tank might find itself among the world’s top 1000 companies.”

“My goodness.”

At 6:23 PM, when all of New York was seriously contemplating what to have for dinner, the temporary executive meeting of the think tank was in utter chaos.

An hour earlier, a literal bombshell had landed. Through a secret email, thousands of related and auxiliary technologies linked to the pulse technology usable by ICARUS Gear were handed over to them.

There were jokes about having bought the fate of a pandemic-stricken America in advance due to the astronomical costs invested over 20 years… but wasn’t this too much?

The fragments of technology that had been decades ahead of the current America were enormous.

“…For now. After extensive discussions, let’s form partnerships with various companies. Technical teams, please brief us on how this technology can be applied in different fields and areas. We’ll give you a fortnight. In the meantime, we will survey the market.”

“Leave it to us. We’ll create briefing files that even those just entering elementary school can understand.”

With that, the discussion ended.

However, most of them were already deeply connected with the American defense industry, so actions were swift, and the executives here began to carefully hint at several reliable contacts.

It was just two months ago that the entire American defense industry had been in shambles.