I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 89 – Thicconda

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[Notification: Detecting user’s sleep. Current VR sleep time – 4 hours 37 minutes 23 seconds.]

[Notification: Sleep in virtual reality can cause changes to biorhythms.]

“Ugh…”

What time was it?

As the dizziness unique to VR sleep quickly subsided, the letters that were floating around came into view. The real-world time was approaching 10 PM. What was meant to be a short rest had turned into a long nap.

Despite being unsure if this was a dream or reality, I managed to take off the choker-style blocker around my neck and exit VR. The threefold time acceleration could easily mess up the concept of sleep time.

Cold water helped dispel the drowsiness to some extent.

As my mind cleared, forgotten facts bubbled up. Fortunately, there wasn’t much to do. I hadn’t come home without finishing all the necessary tasks.

However, the unfortunate part was that after doing my part-time job and having dinner, I had fallen asleep just when I could enjoy some personal time.

And I missed Yoo Jin’s live broadcast.

“I missed it.”

Regret bubbled up.

Watching her broadcast was fundamental for finding editing points, given that I half considered editing Fan Space as a hobby. It wasn’t just about the fun parts of the broadcast; I also had to look at the chat.

There was a downside to watching the uploaded videos later; the lack of real-time interaction. However, considering I could rewatch the funny scenes, it wasn’t all bad.

I entered the broadcast belatedly, but unfortunately, it was off. Today’s broadcast seemed to have ended early. Given the VR-based broadcast time was less than 8 hours, it likely lasted only 2-3 hours in reality.

I was somewhat awake. Besides, if I slept now, I wouldn’t be sleepy until three or four in the morning. Since my alarm was set for 8 AM, staying awake was more beneficial.

Instead of lying down, I sat in a chair. A hologram unfolded in front of me, displaying my personalized UI desktop. The first thing I checked was surprisingly the Yourspace alerts.

I checked for any editing errors or typos, noted the interesting reactions, answered questions…

I operated it purely out of fandom. It was rewarding. The only downside was the curiosity about whether my Yourspace work had been mentioned in today’s broadcast.

Given the situation, I decided to write my resume now.

Click.

As the keyboard buttons clicked, letters formed words, words formed sentences, and sentences formed paragraphs. I was slightly inexperienced since it wasn’t time to submit resumes to companies or corporations yet.

Maybe that’s why I wanted to be more active as an editor. My current part-time job wasn’t particularly enjoyable, and ever since Yoo Jin and Harmony started roaming the Dark Zone to dispel hack rumors, I felt motivated.

I moved faster than anyone else. While others were just getting curious about Yoo Jin’s broadcast, I collected her clips. When other freelancers wondered why I wasn’t on Yourspace, I was already on Fan Space.

Though it was purely out of fandom, not being rewarded would make me gloomy.

Up until now, I had refrained from contacting them in hopes that they might formally recruit editors. Was it because I just woke up? Or was it because the repressed desires found a way to escape?

With such thoughts, I completed a file containing my resume, cover letter, and portfolio within an hour.

After carefully saving it, I entered Yoo Jin’s channel profile. Her email was composed of a dozen or so English letters. I had tried to ignore it as much as possible, but now it was time to give it a shot.

I highlighted the part with my mouse. It turned blue, and I pressed Ctrl and C together to copy it. The rest was simple. Open a new window, enter the message box, and send it.

That was the plan.

Until I saw a familiar name.

[Yoo Jin: (No subject)]

[Content: Nice to meet you. If you were watching the broadcast, you might have been waiting for a response. I couldn’t reply immediately during the stream as many eyes were watching, and my intentions might have been misunderstood. Sorry for the wait.

After ending the broadcast, I checked all the videos uploaded to that Yourspace account. They were all enjoyable. So, I wanted to ask if you could work as an actual editor if your schedule allows.

I’ve received many proposals from current editors, but I believe someone who enjoys watching my broadcasts and is active in Fan Space might create more entertaining videos.

I rambled a bit.

Please note that the Yoo Jin account on Yourspace is not very active. Therefore, we need to negotiate how many edited videos to upload monthly to calculate the exact salary.

Without knowledge of this part, I think a basic salary of at least 200 or more would be reasonable. If I’m mistaken, please correct me.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me. However, I might not be able to reply immediately as I receive a lot of emails. Reply at your convenience XD

Thank you for always enjoying the broadcasts!]

First, I doubted my eyes.

Then, I jumped out of my chair.

“Aaaaahhh! It worked! It worked!”

Crash!

Unfortunately,

The first thing he did as Yoo Jin’s editor was break his chair.

“A Fan Space editor, that’s a good choice.”

“Is it?”

“If an editor deeply understands the broadcast, the results will be better.”

It made sense. For an editor to receive good feedback from viewers, they needed to understand and highlight the streamer’s strengths, weaknesses, small quirks, and key humorous points.

There were many emails from those who wanted to apply as editors, but after reading them all, I realized some tried to exploit my inexperience and some were simply not skilled enough.

On the contrary, there were many hidden gems. The Fan Space editor I contacted first was as good as vetted. The account itself was like a massive portfolio.

If I hadn’t been juggling the Preliminary Rank and Temporary Coaching Position, I might have contacted them sooner.

Harmony nodded and checked the time on the watch on her left wrist. It was obviously a military watch, not something she usually wore.

Extending from it were countless personal gear pieces and two guns. One was attached to her bag with the muzzle pointed up, and the other was in her hand.

It had been a long time since I did PVE. It wasn’t an illusion, but reality. No matter how long it took, it never exceeded weeks. Given the density of the schedule, it was inevitable to think this way.

Snow still fell around us, just like last time.

The weather was dreary, the dead city was desolate, and various objects were scattered everywhere. Abandoned cars, scattered trash cans, and garbage. Thickly frozen snow that no one had stepped on and the corpses in between.

It was a rather bitter sight for me. A few years ago, I roamed such areas for real, not in a game. There was little difference between then and now.

Artemis Technology.

It was time to tackle the main missions I had been putting off.

As Harmony, who had been sitting in a chair that seemed unused for years, stood up, I also got up. In front of us were buildings adjacent to a large, long lake.

Looking a little further ahead, there were letters floating, indicating the start of the mission.

The gist of this mission was simple: destroy the amphibious drones and assault boats that Artemis PMC was testing in the nearby lake and prevent them from selling the technology to foreign countries.

As far as I remembered, it was a failed mission. It was an incident Icarus had experienced. The failure led to adversary nations invading the US mainland.

Of course, it wasn’t my failure. At that time, multiple task forces were operational. I was part of Task Force Dagger, and the mission was botched by Task Force Elysium.

Anyway.

“Do you remember what I said about Artemis last time?”

“Oh, I don’t remember anything.”

“I didn’t expect much.”

“Ugh…”

A small grumble was heard, but what could I do? It wasn’t information worth memorizing diligently.

Harmony briefly stretched and turned on the broadcast. I did the same. Although the start time of the broadcast was always the same, today’s start was different. It was natural for those who entered to be surprised to see the Dark Zone on immediately.

The broadcast title was [A day of grinding main missions with the teacher].

[Oh, what’s this?]

[Haha, hello!!!!!!!!!]

[Today’s stable Dark Zone collaboration is so sweet, haha]

[It’s an underwater mission! An underwater mission!!!]

[What’s this? Does it mean she’s going to show Anaconda’s swimming skills???????]

“Ah, hello! As the title says, I plan to grind the missions that have been piling up. We’ll probably do at least ten missions, right?”

“Nice to see you all again.”

[StartingRichMan has donated 1,000 won.]

[But why are you suddenly grinding the story? You’re doing Preliminary Rank and missions, your stamina is unlimited, haha.]

“StartingRichMan, thank you for the 1,000 won donation. The thing is, um… I saw that one of the requirements for advancing to the finals was 100% main progress. I can’t afford to be held back, so I decided to grind it.”

“What? You didn’t tell me that, teacher!”

“It would’ve been too much if I told you directly.”

[Confident.]

[What’s this? Is she going to dominate KSM and the Asia Preliminary?]

[How long has it been since you started the Preliminary Rank and you’re already aiming for the finals, haha.]

[That endless

confidence… so scary!]

[Forget it and just show us Anaconda swimming style, Yoo Jin.]

Hmm.

Maybe I should have just said I wanted to grind the missions for no particular reason. Although I asked them not to make a clip of that part, I wasn’t sure if they’d comply.

I decided to beat up some enemies instead.

After a final check of the firearms and gear before the mission, I started moving in earnest with Harmony.

[ISO: Artemis’ antics are beginning to be revealed. You should have a rough idea of the gist by now, so no further explanations are needed.]

[ISO: I’ll send you the coordinates. There, you’ll receive the enemy status, underwater infiltration equipment, and other items via satellite images.]

[ISO: The weather isn’t good. To avoid freezing to death from hypothermia at the lake’s bottom, keep the heating function at maximum.]

“Oh. Yoo Jin, it’s going to be very cold!”

“…Why do you always look at me when it’s about cold?”

“Hehe.”

[Thiccconda!]

[Yoo Jin’s custom-fit underwater infiltration suit (made by Michelin)]

[I don’t care, show me the chubby Anaconda in a fat suit!]

[Skin-tight suit Yoo Jin vs. chubby squirming Yoo Jin]

[Of course, it’s chubby Anaconda, haha.]

….

Maybe I shouldn’t have done the survival mode back then.

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