I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 21 ­ Total Eradication

* * *

───!!

[Nanomachines consumption rate: 87%. Estimated recovery time: 25 seconds.]

“…Haa.”

A deafening explosion and the thick smell of gunpowder rising in the darkness.

Two people wearing tactical vests over plate carriers filled with high-performance bulletproof plates.

Even so, it was not enough to fully offset the firepower from the simultaneous explosion of three grenades.

The shockwave shook the entire third basement floor, with fragments and stone pieces rebounding off the walls.

Despite the fragments penetrating bodies and hitting the walls, the lethality remained potent.

I almost got blown back, but… I survived.

It might have seemed like a huge gamble, but having experienced similar situations a few times before, and with very little information on the enemy, it was better to ensure the enemy was dealt with, even if it meant putting myself in danger.

In that sense… it wasn’t a completely bad idea.

The two who had blocked the grenades with their bodies had stopped moving entirely.

I threw aside the bodies I was holding, grabbed the gun slung on my gun sling, and aimed at the opposite entrance.

While keeping my aim steady, I responded to the crackling intercom.

“…Hey, are you alive? You didn’t die, right…?”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine… If you’re still nearby, check if there are any enemies approaching from the opposite entrance as quickly as possible.”

“Ah, I was about to go up there, but they started shooting… I’m lying down at the entrance to the second basement level, watching.”

My slightly loosened mental state tightened back up.

The red dot from the dot sight, faintly glowing, continued to aim at the opposite entrance.

Four seconds had passed since the grenade detonated, and the preconditions and questions that needed confirmation to achieve the tactical objective started to emerge again.

Three enemies remained.

Their position was likely the opposite staircase… but not certain.

I had two grenades left.

Two targets were neutralized… one appeared to be a machine gunner, the other seemed to be a rifleman for now.

If they had grid reference guides (GRG) or other items, there was a high probability one was a squad leader, but that was currently unconfirmed.

Overall, the situation didn’t seem to have changed much.

According to risk assessment, the most critical situation to avoid was the enemy escaping to the second basement level, which Harmony’s lone firepower couldn’t prevent.

Therefore, I acted quickly before the enemy could regroup and escape.

I gave a simple order.

“…I’m going to hit the enemy from behind now, so no matter what, prevent them from getting out of the staircase.”

“How do I do that…?”

“Shoot anyone who tries to come out.”

One thing I learned from numerous experiences was that when allies had little combat experience, I needed to give them simple and straightforward roles and objectives.

The preparations were done.

Now it was time for CQB.

I checked my remaining ammunition and cautiously walked down the stairs, keeping my aim steady.

I felt the weight of the trigger under my fingertip.

As complete darkness enveloped me, I carefully checked each corner and hallway, not letting my guard down.

It was possible that while I endured the grenade’s aftermath, one might have come down to the third basement level to establish a bridgehead and solidify the defense line.

During this, urgent communications came through.

───Tatata!

“Yoo Jin, they’re shooting!”

I heard at least two gunshots.

Though she said that, it seemed like she was also returning fire, so I didn’t respond separately.

As I moved forward, maintaining stealth, the number of footsteps and voices increased.

Several times, the flashes from the rear guards’ flashlights burned through the darkness, but the cover provided by a soda vending machine and a toppled trash can was always effective.

In other words, there were many places to hide.

The firefight intensified.

No matter how much Harmony shot, the enemy would soon realize that there was only one person marking them, unless they were fools.

I had to finish it before they forced their way out of the staircase.

“….”

Noise and light were always enough to divert people’s vigilance.

Fortunately, the firefight Harmony was engaging in seemed to have sufficiently suppressed the enemy’s awareness of the possibility of a rear attack.

Taking advantage of this, I reached the other descent route.

The distance to the enemy was roughly 6 meters. However, the subtle angle of the wall and the thick darkness largely concealed my presence.

The sound and frequency of lead bullets raining down grew stronger.

Harmony’s voice on the intercom grew louder and more intense, indicating that the enemy was preparing to break through to the second basement level.

That would not be allowed.

───Click!

The refreshing sound of a pin being pulled was soon drowned out by the roar of bullets.

About two seconds of cooking.

Then I threw it hard so it would bounce off the L-shaped entryway wall.

Because much of it was obscured by the wall, I couldn’t see what kind of expressions the three waiting at the top of the stairs had…

But surely, they weren’t good expressions.

────!!

The earth-shaking explosion was my start signal.

Kicking off the floor, I sprang forward like a spring. I leapt up the stairs filled with shattered concrete fragments in one go,

Aiming my muzzle at the blurry figures in the smoke.

The selector was set to auto.

Thunderous noise shook the air.

────Tududududu!

It took about two seconds to fire all 31 rounds.

As the last shell ejected and bounced off the chamber, I began reloading, finishing just as the shell hit the ground.

The slight recoil transmitted through the trigger and stock, and the muzzle flash wildly obscuring the dot sight.

All these elements brought back old memories.

“Damn it, what the hell is this!”

I heard an enemy’s voice filled with rage beyond the gunpowder smoke. At the same time, I took cover behind the wall.

Just then, dozens of lead bullets flew past where I had been standing.

It seemed they weren’t fully neutralized yet.

But remembering what my body had learned, I picked up the remaining grenade, pulled the pin, and waited.

Then, I threw it.

It flew over the L-shaped wall. I wondered what the enemies thought seeing it fly towards them.

Of course,

I didn’t care.

────!

The familiar heavy shockwave enveloped me from head to toe and spread in all directions.

I exchanged magazines and waited a little longer this time.

Until the smoke completely cleared.

After a while, I glanced beyond the wall.

Two of them were completely dead, and one was barely clinging to life, quietly awaiting the end.

Whether he had the strength to lift his gun or not, the last survivor lay on the stairs, right hand on his belly, staring at me.

I cautiously stepped out, keeping my aim steady.

Our eyes met.

“Seriously, sir. Killing a fully armed five-man squad in one minute… seriously, wow…”

“Is that all you have to say?”

“No, I mean, even a pro… I never imagined something like this in three years of playing this game, seriously….”

“I see.”

Bang.

Without hesitation, I aimed between his eyes and pulled the trigger.

I nudged the completely lifeless body with my foot, flipping it over.

The heavy impact reverberated through the staircase.

I watched the fragments scattering and disappearing into the nanomachine barrier on my legs and tail, and muttered softly.

“You should have thrown it yourself.”

A grenade in his right hand, held against his belly.

It might have been an effective way to take someone down with him, but his right hand movement was too obvious…

And there were three things here that could cover a grenade.

Leaving the corpse blown away by the explosion behind, I habitually checked my remaining ammunition.

Not much left.

Emptying two magazines in full auto in an instant had taken a toll.

Killing the Fallen was a pretty cheap price to pay, but,

At this point, without access to the nearby ammunition depots, ammo was very precious.

What should I do?

While I was pondering that,

“Yoo Jin, are you okay!?”

“Shouting out right after the situation ends, you have some guts.”

“Oh, that’s….”

It’s fine.

We’d been in a firefight until just now, and used several grenades, so there’s no need to worry about it now.

I took a deep breath, savoring the thick gunpowder smoke that now filled the air. The scent of death filling my lungs was terribly familiar.

But as always, I erased any associated emotions and treated it as just another duty.

I turned off the EMP generator that had been discreetly hidden and put it back into the multi-purpose pouch.

Meanwhile, she seemed to have grown quite accustomed to it, carefully keeping watch around us as she cautiously approached me.

She looked like she had a lot to ask.

But Harmony held back for a moment and cautiously added.

“…Should I keep watching the area?”

“Yes.”

It wasn’t time to relax yet.

I started rummaging through the bodies while she kept watch at the entrance and began asking me questions one by one.

“We got all five of them, right?”

“Technically, you got two, I got three. There are no reinforcements, so don’t worry.”

“Oh….”

It seemed that wasn’t really what she wanted to ask.

As I kept silent, she spoke up again.

“I don’t really understand what happened. From the opposite entrance, things just kept blowing up, there were screams, gunshots, ugh….”

“We’ll debrief after we survive. I found something good.”

“Huh?”

As I said that, I carefully separated the intact grenade launcher and the four grenade pouches tied around the waist, despite being caught in

the explosion.

I scanned them with my eyes and shared the recognized weapon information via data pairing to my teammate.

While Harmony, who was on guard, kept shaking her head as if she couldn’t believe what she saw, I called out to her.

“W-What is this?”

“It’s a good item that will solve our lack of firepower.”

Milco Mk.14 Mod.0 ­ Revolver-type six-shot grenade launcher.

As I meticulously attached the pouches to her tactical rig, I added with a rare smile.

“Are you ready to become an explosion maniac?”

────────────

[Dark Zone Sub Gallery]

[General] It’s Over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[2025.08.XX Recommendations 98 Dislikes 2 Views 1793 Comments 77]

I met two newbies at Bryant Park and thought I’d give them a taste of spicy but got wrecked without being able to do anything, lol

Later heard that the squad leader and machine gunner died being used as grenade shields

First time I’ve been smashed so thoroughly in a game… hands are shaking so bad I can’t even edit the video right now….

How the hell do you wipe out a fully armed squad in just one minute, seriously what’s that person’s deal?

I was so shocked I didn’t even catch the nickname

And the craziest part is that the person who wiped out our squad is a hardcore player

Who the hell is that with such crazy skills? Doesn’t seem human?

We couldn’t even think of debriefing for 20 minutes, just kept discussing with the team, lol Dark Zone is a damn crazy game

Didn’t know if you die in hardcore PVP, you lose item ownership? Just found out now

[All comments] [By order]

Wow, damn, that play was amazing

That’s why I don’t do PVP, damn, all sorts of crazies keep coming out

Recoil control, grenades, reloading, all maxed out, what kind of hardcore play is this, damn, that’s a sickness at that level

ㄴ[Author]

ㄴㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴThis guy doesn’t think getting hit and writing this post is real?

This… tactical? This… tactical? This… tactical? This… tactical? This… tactical? This… tactical?

Dark Zone is played like this… did only I not know?

ㄴI didn’t know either ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Playing the game like this would be crazy fun… crazy… crazy….

How good is that if you just bought the game recently? Pro gamer level?

ㄴEven the best pros wouldn’t be able to handle a 1:5 in an unauthorized zone PVP

ㄴAre you crazy? There are so many good players out there, how can you judge like that?

The sure thing is, if you put a hardcore tag on a pro, the match won’t last 20 minutes ㅋㅋ

No matter how much you cry, what can’t be done, can’t be done, man….

Observation Point) That was done during the HQ tutorial

ㄴReally? Damn, is that a human ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

ㄴToo absurd to even speak, wow

ㄴIt’s obviously a damn fake, and people still fall for it?

Cool, jeez

But one person is almost just a sideshow? Only that snake-tail person is flying around ㅋㅋ

ㄴI find it more surprising that the sideshow survived ㅋㅋㅋ

Thinking about it, that’s true

Damn, why cut it off so tantalizingly, hurry and upload to Yourspace!!!!!

This author, are you not promoting?

ㄴ[Author] Will get permission from the person and upload quickly… please wait a bit

So, is that person a guy or a girl? The avatar looks hot though

ㄴAs long as the taste is good ㅋㅋ

Crazy… crazy… crazy….

I really hate snakes, but that seems? Okay? Somehow?

My interest is piqued, so it’s a girl ㅋㅋ

Damn, you idiots

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Wow! You know Harmony’s broadcast! It’s really fun!