NOVEL WEB Chapter 35 - Tomahawk
Chapter 35 Tomahawk
* * *
In the past, a past that had grown somewhat distant.
When I was serving in Gangwon-do, guarding the ammunition depot, my seniors would often ask me if I preferred working in the winter or the summer.
Honestly, what difference did it make? However, I hated bugs so much back then, so I answered winter. I also didn’t like humidity.
Then, when my seniors were discharged and winter came around. I realized the horror of winter and cold.
Thus, the seasons I disliked grew from one to two.
“…Hmph….”
“…Why do you keep laughing?”
…and today, it felt like I was going to dislike winter even more.
Her expression, as if she had something to catch me with, was truly… let’s leave it at that. Explaining further would only irritate me. Anyway, it was fortunate that it was much warmer than before.
[Endure: 21°C // Current Temp: 29°C］
The problem was, despite this insufferable weather, it was still freezing cold.
Even though I was dressed in layers to the point it hindered my movement, the cold seeping in slowly from my extremities was simply unbearable. Moreover, my ears were larger than most people’s… let’s leave it at that.
All this anger, I would unleash upon my enemies.
───Click.
The M249 light machine gun in my hands made a heavy loading sound.
Whether it was for balance or to prevent the game from getting too boring by everyone dying in hand-to-hand combat, this mode showered you with parts just by searching around.
If it were another gun, I’d have to adjust the gas regulator in such terrible weather, but the M249 had no such function. It made me uneasy, thinking it might malfunction if I was unlucky.
Well, I’d think about that later.
[Notification: Key terrain feature detected ahead. Multiple enemies present.］
“Let’s start with that place.”
“It doesn’t seem like a good idea….”
“Then, let’s go.”
Of course, she only shook her head slightly but eventually followed me. A disciple needs to be raised strong; if you coddle them, they only grow weak.
There was no personal emotion involved, certainly.
On one side of the UI, the numbers 32/40 were displayed. The survival mode session that could host 40 people at once allowed for unlimited PVP, and fierce battles were ongoing everywhere.
Until now, I had avoided combat intentionally to get used to the system and mode, but not anymore.
It was time to experience full-scale combat.
The sound of gunfire mixed with the wind started to reach my ears.
An unprecedented snowstorm blanketed all of New York, turning the world white.
The biting snow and flesh-piercing wind were unbearable for a mere human, and even the hostile forces who dared to step into New York were no exception.
Vagabonds who couldn’t endure the changed world and had to take others’ lives to survive, escaped prisoners who had been incarcerated even before the virus outbreak, and soldiers from other countries equipped with superior gear to invade America.
All were powerless before the force of nature.
Those who took appropriate measures and had excellent equipment and survival skills acted first, seeking the most suitable places to conserve their strength and using them as temporary rest stops.
Those who couldn’t do so wandered outside, fighting for their lives in the harsh weather that might not let them survive a single night.
Thus, before the night passed, Manhattan past midnight transformed into a demonic realm where blood was shed on the white snow.
However.
───Click.
Even the elite forces who had occupied the best spots to conserve their strength found it hard to survive the M249’s 5.56mm rounds fired at a rate of 900 rounds per minute into their soft flanks.
──Drdrdrd!
“Aaaaagh!”
“Enemy! Get down!”
First, the patrol squad that had been on an external patrol for a set time fell like autumn leaves.
Due to Manhattan’s current weather, fluctuating around minus 30 degrees, the gun barrel, which would usually overheat, was instead maintaining an optimal firing temperature.
This meant that even with prolonged shooting, the gun wouldn’t expand easily, allowing for smoother firepower.
But that was just the prelude.
As if stirring a hornet’s nest, enemies started pouring out from inside.
“…What do we do now?”
“I’ll provide suppressive fire, aim for those trying to get out the main gate.”
In the dark center of Manhattan, countless flames flared up.
Bullets pouring towards the entrance drew long, thin trajectories. The 900 rounds per minute rate of fire made the bullets appear like a single luminous thread.
Several enemies who were rushing out fell, leaving behind a pile of items, but this was only a temporary situation.
Immediately, personnel taking cover behind the external walls started returning fire.
As bullets struck the ground and walls, sending concrete fragments flying everywhere, Yoo Jin, who had paused her shooting, quickly replaced the 150-round ammo box.
While Harmony, who had become quite accustomed to such situations, attempted counterfire, Yoo Jin added as she coolly pulled back the charging handle.
“Withdraw while I’m shooting. From now on, we just need to pick off those who come out one by one.”
“Yes!”
The second burst continued, and the heat, unmasked even by the extreme cold, spread hotly along the barrel.
Harmony signaled her retreat through a squeeze. The sound of her hurried footsteps grew fainter as she retreated, like the Doppler effect.
Her tail, wrapped in a muffler, moved. It didn’t take long for a grenade from her multipurpose pouch to be held at its tip.
The black object flew through the air.
───Boom!
The retreat was successful, and the two managed to reach a safe location without any loss after completely wrecking the hornet’s nest.
Although Harmony’s footprints were gradually being covered by the blowing snow, they weren’t yet impossible to discern.
With her gun in hand, Yoo Jin moved quickly to the pre-determined waiting point, where Harmony poked her muzzle out and aimed at Yoo Jin. However, as the green IR marker lit up, she lowered her gun.
In the weather where breath scattered as soon as it left the mouth due to the biting wind, Harmony, her excitement slightly subdued, added in a calmer voice.
“Uh, we took down about… six people, right?”
“Yes. But there are probably ten more inside. And with this skirmish, we’ve likely drawn a lot of attention….”
Haa.
A breath, expelled like a waterfall, scattered.
“The ideal situation is for other agents, hearing the commotion, to engage the Russians coming out, and we hit them from behind… but that’s too much to hope for.”
“We might get caught between two forces.”
“Your insight has really improved.”
Hehe.
She smiled slightly, clenching and unclenching her hands to fight the cold. No matter how many layers of clothing, it was hard to withstand minus 30 degrees.
At best, it could only delay the onset of hypothermia. Even now, the time the two could endure the cold outside was slowly decreasing.
Scanning potential routes for the enemy through the holographic sight, she only saw a few silhouettes moving around in the distance, closing the gap.
The wind was so loud it seemed to drown out the gunshots, and there was no other sign of life around.
The decision was swift.
“…Having stirred the nest, let’s finish it… gather what we can and move to the hideout. If this is all the system offers, there’s no more business here.”
“Got it. As quickly as possible?”
Yoo Jin nodded silently.
The two stood up.
The primary task of a machine gunner was, of course, providing fire support.
While riflemen in the same squad, with relatively lighter armament, flanked the enemy for a strike, machine gunners pinned them down with firepower to prevent escape.
Thus, their guns were heavy and thick. Their goal wasn’t direct engagement.
Sustained fire from a fixed position was easy, but for a machine gunner to suppress enemies like a rifleman required overcoming various practical constraints.
However.
───Drdrdrd!
“The enemy is flanking! Their breakthrough speed is no joke… aaaargh!”
If direct engagement with a machine gun was difficult, overwhelming physical strength to control it was one solution. Yoo Jin was tearing through the enemy lines like a storm.
The metal chunk, weighing easily over 10kg with the ammo box, moved effortlessly in her hands like a twig in a child’s hand.
Disregarding the inertia from sudden aim adjustments, she handled the light machine gun like a carbine, delivering at least six bullets to every enemy’s abdomen.
“…No matter how you look at it, she’s not human….”
Behind her, Harmony, who had evolved into a supporter, muttered unconsciously.
While wondering how to help, she watched Yoo Jin, who, using proper cover and overwhelming firepower, was shredding enemies ahead… although the visual was quite odd.
Every time she pulled the machine gun’s trigger, the pom-pom on her hat wobbled, creating a sight so ironic it was hard not to notice.
The visual doesn’t fit, for real lololol
So cute but really scary
She looks like Santa Claus delivering death, not a teacher
Is she a god for combining coolness and cuteness?
What’s with her avatar, I’m losing my mind!!!
Too cute lolol
Meanwhile, Harmony was picking up items Yoo Jin had left behind, filling her inventory to the brim until her bag was stuffed and couldn’t hold any more.
As the chat exploded with bizarre nicknames like “Greedy,” “Pig,” “Swine Woman,”
and “Hoarder Harmony,” the front yard was cleaned up nicely.
Whether this was her true skill or not, she was indeed remarkable in many ways.
Having not yet entered the building, Harmony carefully took cover near Yoo Jin.
“Are there many inside?”
“About seven, but their defense is quite solid.”
The building’s interior was lit. Despite the weather, the power grid operators had desperately restored was doing its job well.
There were likely more entry points than just the front door, but without knowing the interior layout, a wrong entry could turn them into Swiss cheese in no time.
After a moment’s thought, Yoo Jin activated a skill.
A circular pulse spread out in all directions, detecting everything around.
[Detected enemies: 7.］
[Rescanning… Power breaker location popping up.］
And Harmony knew what she had to do.
“I’ll go turn it off.”
It was a perfectly established command and obedience relationship.
Leaving behind Harmony, who quickly disappeared behind the building, Yoo Jin began to move slowly. Estimating the number of lights inside, how dark it would get when they turned off.
She placed the machine gun on the ground, as there was no need to carry it inside without night vision adjustment.
In her hands were only a tactical tomahawk and a handgun.
Thirty-five seconds after the skirmish ended, the entry point was the back door.
───Flick.
The lights went out.
In the complete darkness, Yoo Jin stealthily entered.
Activating the night vision function of the ICARUS Gear, the lenses glowed white, and urgent Russian filled the air. The enemies likely had night vision too, but darkness was not something easily overcome.
Starting from behind the enemy hiding near the back door, aiming at the front door.
And—
Crack!
“Gah!”
With one swing of the tomahawk, her superhuman strength crushed the Russian soldier’s head like a watermelon.
The body immediately went limp and sprawled on the ground. The noise was minimal, the combined sound of the axe and a brief scream far quieter than gunfire.
Infrared laser and flashlight beams flickered wildly from the stairs. Two enemies rushed down to investigate.
In the next moment, two handgun rounds shattered the leading man’s thigh.
“Aaaaahhh───!”
Thud!
Immediately losing the strength to stand, he tumbled down the stairs. But there was another marine, following a short distance behind. His Russian dual-eye night vision goggles glowed eerily.
However, before he could fire his AS-VAL, three more shots pierced the darkness. Unfortunately for him, one hit the T-zone of his face perfectly.
Leaving the fallen body behind, the tomahawk swung again at the still-living one.
Four enemies remained, but soon, there would be none.