I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

Chapter 50 - Preparation



Chapter 50 – Preparation

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[Dark Zone Sub Gallery]

[General] Damn, I can’t climb the ranks in Apex tournaments because it’s so messed up

I can’t tell if this is a game or a gathering of crazy people. I’m constantly slipping here, it’s so annoying.

Even SOF promotion matches are like this. What the hell are the guys in Tier 2 or 1 doing?

I’m quitting this damn game.

[All comments][Sorted by registration]

-Fact) That section is originally the most annoying in the world.

-Looking at the kill log, you seem to reach the promotion matches quite often. Top 1% of the gallery.

ㄴ[Author] Just feeling really down and venting.

-If you make it to the top 10, your MMR won’t drop, buddy….

ㄴ[Author] I know that, but dying so pathetically makes me not want to play.

-Wow, the top guy did 17 kills alone in the promotion match, lololololol

ㄴTry it yourself, ‘SOF’

ㄴNah, Diamond sounds better~~~

ㄴThese are the real monsters, those who go wild in the promotion matches are the scariest.

-Hey, isn’t that top guy Yoo Jin?

ㄴWho the hell is that, you idiot.

ㄴIf you don’t know Yoo Jin, why are you even in Dark Gallery, lolol

-Is the top player a pro who just wakes up at the end of the season?

ㄴCheck their record. No minister can compare to this.

ㄴDamn, look at that MMR rocket up, lolololololololololol

ㄴIt’s even more absurd if you watch the broadcast.

ㄴOh, a streamer….

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[General] Why is Yoo Jin suddenly playing so damn hard?

Are they really preparing for the Asian qualifiers?

In just a week, they went from Gold 3 to Diamond, that crazy person.

At this MMR rising speed, they’ll hit Tier 2 soon.

[All comments][Sorted by registration]

-A week????

-Who the hell is this crazy person, lololololol

-Do they not eat and just grind ranked all day? What kind of stamina does this person have???

ㄴIf we knew that, would we be here?

-It seems like they get a lot of MMR not just from being first but also from the number of kills per game.

ㄴ[Author] Maybe because they play like that every round?

ㄴAveraging more than 13 kills per game, how would that be slow, lol

-Watching this person shatters all my preconceptions.

-I thought they were a low-rating bully, but they’re just really good, damn lolololol

ㄴA bully (high rating)

ㄴIf you massacre all the users except yourself, that’s also bullying, right?

ㄴlololololololol

-The amazing thing about this crazy person is that they haven’t died once since the game started.

ㄴReally?

ㄴMind-blowing;;

ㄴMadness is nothing special, for real.

-[ISO: Excellent! You have all the competitors at your feet!]

“…Phew. This round was tough.”

-Tough (14 kills)

-How do you play like this in high ratings???

-The higher you go, the more skilled the players get, dang.

-If it’s SOF level, they must know the map by heart, doesn’t this person have any ups and downs?

-Ups and downs are just an excuse for the weak.

The victory screen filled the entire screen.

It blinked off and the game summary screen came up. There was too much information to summarize on one page, from movement paths to bullets fired, total damage, and kill cams.

In a way, it looked like a mistake notebook. For users who wanted to improve their skills or rank, it was an essential tool.

The downside was the massive file size.

As always, I linked it to the in-game Dark Zone community for everyone to see. At the beginning of the broadcast, I didn’t think much of it and just moved on, but as my rank went up, requests increased.

The promotion motion in Dark Zone was simpler than expected.

The avatar in a military uniform had a flamboyant effect on the left chest badge, changing to the corresponding rank.

The Recon badge, equivalent to Platinum in other games, disintegrated into powder and was replaced by the new SOF badge. There was also a separate military uniform patch.

-The crazy person who reaches SOF in a week… We live in Yoo Jin’s era.

“Thank you for the donation.”

Sigh.

A tired breath escaped my lips. Due to the hardcore nature of the game, it consumed a lot of stamina each round. Even if most of the movement was done by vehicle, it was still exhausting.

Over the past week of broadcasting, I found out that my rough limit was ten hours in-game.

If I didn’t consider the future and just played, I could go for three days straight, but maintaining condition was important given my clear goals.

Until now, I could always win first place without much thought, saving my energy.

I had heard that the climb would get tougher from SOF onwards.

The current broadcast time was 10 hours and 22 minutes in-game. The number of viewers was 2,813.

The 30,000 viewers on the first day were heavily inflated due to the uniqueness of the broadcast explaining the hacker incident. It was like the initial rush of a newly opened business.

For a newcomer, it was an unbelievably strong start.

In the lobby, I saw my rank, a mix of elegant silver and diamond transparency. But the number 5 next to it indicated that there was still a long way to go.

A quick glance showed viewers clamoring for one more game to celebrate the promotion.

But as I said before, managing fatigue was important.

It wasn’t impossible to play another round, but it was interesting to see how my words influenced the viewers’ reactions.

“…Then let’s do this. I’ll play one more game but without commentary and end the broadcast today, or we can finish with a feedback session. I’ll leave the decision to you.”

The management bot responded to my command by automatically opening a vote.

The numbers fluctuated wildly.

-Feedback! Feedback! Feedback! Feedback! Feedback! Feedback! Feedback! Feedback! Feedback!!!!

-Do you think making this deal will stop us from choosing feedback?

-There’s no reason to watch another game when the skill level between Recon 1 and SOF 5 is similar.

-Let’s just have an educational broadcast, teacher.

-We’ve already watched ten hours of games.

It was an excellent shift in strategy.

Aside from watching the broadcast, gamers always harbored the desire to climb higher. It was interesting to see this manifest so directly.

There were also viewers who disagreed, those who weren’t interested in Battle Royale mode or focused on PVE.

But over the past week, most of the latter had naturally fallen away, and the vote decided to end the broadcast with a feedback session.

I closed the game and transferred the files to the Just Chatting VR studio.

Taking a deep breath, I chose my words carefully.

Fortunately, speaking while streaming was not as difficult as I thought. It wasn’t a talk show, just explaining my area of expertise filled the audio sufficiently.

The initial pressure had significantly lessened.

Playing the video, I began to speak the first words that fit together like a puzzle in my mind.

“In summary, players at this level tend to be impatient while overly cautious. I haven’t seen any exceptions.”

It’s understandable.

They must have learned some psychological tactics since they’re confident in their skills, and they probably know the map better than I do, having played for only a week.

So when they expose a gap, they mercilessly exploit it. If you can’t handle it, you die immediately.

Average players get ruthlessly eliminated at this stage.

But conversely, if you show a gap that’s hard to exploit, they get drawn in, ignoring their safety.

After that, it’s simple. It’s like tripping someone who’s sprinting, and the faster they are, the more disastrous the outcome.

As I explained, the video showed an enemy getting killed by a simple claymore trap after frantically chasing me.

A perfect example.

“If you’re too cautious, your field of vision narrows. You react excessively to minor stimuli. Ultimately, creating favorable conditions for yourself is the best strategy in such games.”

Of course, with a hundred people fighting on a single field, it’s easier said than done.

Frankly, I don’t think anyone can apply what I’m explaining perfectly.

But regardless, the explanation continued.

The video contained various plays, some achievable by viewers and others impossible to replicate.

The former involved complex building and terrain fights, while the latter included melee kills, lead shots, and near-miraculous shooting skills.

It was hard to say which was more prevalent, but for explanation purposes, I’d focus more on the former.

My general strategy was simple: loot from enemies and secure a good spot in the circle once equipped.

Anyone could see it, but knowing it didn’t make it easy to counter.

For about an hour, I continued explaining my plays to thousands of viewers.

As always, it was an embarrassing time.

My social interactions were quite shallow at this point.

In terms of fitness, there was the gym owner. Other than that, there were contacts from various stores for promotional purposes. The former was the more consistent contact.

For streaming, it was Harmony, but I wasn’t sure if communicating only through social media counted as a proper relationship.

And I didn’t engage with viewers as much, not completely avoiding it but not dedicating much time either.

In a way, it was lukewarm. I wasn’t sure if I was planning to make streaming my future career or if I was just avoiding doing something else.

I was in such a transitional phase lately.

It wasn’t like I didn’t know the answer.

I had almost achieved the “making money while sitting still” dream, and could continue doing what I liked for a few more years.

But that wasn’t my mission. Continuously taking on challenging tasks was a person’s duty.

Maybe I was just seeking confirmation.

-[Harmony: Teacher~~~How are you these days? Thanks to you, I’m playing Dark Zone diligently! Everyone says Dark Zone is better than the games we used to play, ㅠㅠ]

-[Yoo Jin: I think so too, honestly.]

-[Harmony: ( Ĭ ^ Ĭ )]

-[Harmony: I wish more people would appreciate games like Getting Over It, T^T]

-[Yoo Jin: And you’ll recommend them to me too, right?]

-[Harmony: Oh, hehe;;]

-[Harmony: But you haven’t tried it yet (,,· . ·,,)]

Guess I’ll try it someday, then.

Anyway, this person occasionally contacted me even without specific reasons. Most conversations were about the legal action against the stream sniper or streaming advice.

Having only streamed for a week, Harmony was an excellent mentor.

-[Harmony: It seems you find streaming quite doable, haha.]

-[Yoo Jin: Yes… I guess?]

-[Harmony: (· ₃ ­)♥]

-[Harmony: It’s always like that in the beginning.]

-[Harmony: Streaming is a job, and without a sense of mission, it becomes dull….]

A sense of mission.

Maybe.

I stopped my fingers, which were unconsciously typing. The unsent message was asking how to find that goal.

Even if I sent it, I wouldn’t get the answer I wanted.

Ultimately, a goal had to be a balance between what you must do and what you want to do.

Unless not doing something would pose a significant risk to my life and future, setting goals solely on what must be done leads to long-term lethargy.

Harmony was remarkably perceptive in this area.

Texts were pouring in while I glanced away from my phone.

-[Harmony: Since you’ve started streaming, why not try Yourspace too?]

-[Harmony: You can consider hiring an editor when you’re financially stable!]

Sure.

But her suggestion wasn’t entirely ineffective.

With a lighter heart, I typed my response.

-[Yoo Jin: It seems like a huge hassle, so I’ll start with something else.]

Sure.

Instead of diving into a complex task after just a week of streaming, it seemed better to attempt something I had never done before, like interacting more with the viewers.

Suggesting a seemingly daunting goal and then mentioning a much lower goal as a compromise is a negotiation tactic.

In a way, Harmony had achieved that unconsciously.

Impressive.

Or maybe I was just messed up.


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