READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 56 - Xi
Chapter 56 Xi
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It might sound obvious, but being good at urban warfare and liking it were two completely different things.
In the first place, there were people who missed the battlefield but none who actually liked it. I, for one, didn’t enjoy urban warfare. If Dark Zone hadn’t been based on old cities, I would have never touched FPS games.
Anyway, in such a situation, there was a joke among my team members, including myself, in the past.
The most hated battlefield in the world was urban warfare, and the second most hated was also urban warfare, but the worst of all was urban warfare when the enemies were at a higher position than us.
I almost mumbled this under my breath, so softly that even the viewers couldn’t hear it.
“This wretched place hasn’t changed a bit….”
The entrance to the research facility.
As soon as we entered, we were greeted by a unique, streamlined structure that was akin to a modern art museum… How should I put it? It was an interior building made up of layers of curved structures stacked on top of each other.
Although somewhat expected — the place was filled with balconies that provided cover, numerous hiding spots, and a structure that allowed one to overlook the first floor at a glance. It was truly a grave for attackers.
It was a relief that this place was a research facility. If it had been a well-fortified fortress designed for crossfire, we would have needed at least fifteen rocket launchers.
“…We’re not just going to charge in, are we?”
“Considering the AI’s level, it seems better to attract their attention first and then take down the approaching enemies one by one. Let’s wait near the entrance.”
Luring and controlling distance were essential tactics in urban warfare, although these words were not commonly used in modern combat involving guns.
Especially when a small group needed to break through a difficult point, it was even more effective. Simply put, it meant withdrawing from advantageous points for the enemy and leading them to advantageous points for us.
And sure enough, after a while.
With a loud noise, enemies began to approach, leading gun drones and UGVs.
“If it’s not working out, retreat to the front yard, so don’t worry about ammo and keep firing.”
Rat-a-tat-tat!
High-penetration rounds ripped through the air, destroying bulletproof vests and piercing through soft flesh. The enemies, who had been charging mindlessly without taking cover, kept their pace and face-planted into the ground.
Due to the relatively low difficulty, their return fire was slow, and their dispersal and cover were also sluggish. Moreover, Harmony’s skills were much better than I had expected, so eliminating them wasn’t difficult.
After repeating the same process several more times, we stepped over the pile of bodies and checked the routes with the least exposure to enemy fire.
It seemed like a good choice to go up to the second floor using the stairs ahead.
“Stick close behind me.”
“Got it!”
Amidst the loud gunfire mixing with the siren sounds attached to the ceiling and walls.
Several bullets narrowly missed my body or were blocked by the protective shield provided by the ICARUS Gear’s nanomachines, creating a harsh noise that tore through the air.
While bullets and fragments of stones flew everywhere, I barely managed to hide behind a cover and naturally chose the next route. The protective shield would break after roughly eight more hits.
Since the enemy’s firepower was better than ours, staying in one place wasn’t a good choice. After giving the squeeze signal, I started running again.
As I ran up the gentle spiral staircase to the second floor, reaching about halfway, an enemy with a shotgun appeared in front of me as if waiting.
My climbing speed was too fast to respond with a shot.
Almost reflexively, I dodged to the right. A moment later, flames erupted from the shotgun’s barrel, and twelve lead pellets surged forward.
I shoved the shotgun man’s chest with my left arm while grabbing his face with my right hand, slamming him hard against the wall.
───Bang!
“Ugh, damn…!”
As the back of the enemy’s head collided with the concrete wall of the office with full force, an ominous sound of something breaking was heard, and the enemy died instantly.
If this game had more realistic corpse physics, the wall would likely have been stained with a sticky mix of blood and some whitish fluid.
Anyway, he was dead, so that was the end of it.
**What the heck**
**Wow, what the heck, hahaha**
**Teacher, we don’t know what’s going on, but we’re sorry**
**Harmony is looking shocked from behind, hahaha**
**At this point, I feel sorry for the enemy**
And naturally, once Harmony and I penetrated inside, we didn’t retreat but rather started wreaking havoc, turning enemies into former enemies.
The process didn’t take long.
Once we cleared out the enemies, the script began to progress.
[ISO : I’m glad to see you’re still alive.］
[ISO : I have some good news. Although it’s a bit ironic. According to the scan through your ICARUS Gear, I’ve identified a control room and three satellite antennas on the rooftop.］
[ISO : If you can gain control of the antennas from there, you’ll be able to better understand Artemis’s current situation and gain access to more satellites. In short, it will make supporting operators easier in the future.］
[ISO : Good luck.］
“How would these guys survive without field agents?”
“Haha.”
That’s just how field agents were.
Anyway, I had mentioned that we wouldn’t be able to see each other for a while once we got inside the building, but now it felt a bit awkward. Fortunately, Harmony didn’t seem to mind.
Turning all the enemies blocking our path into immobile statues, we climbed the stairs and reached the snowy rooftop.
The antennas were already operating on their own, and the area around the control room was full of enemies. Judging by the alarms on the UI, one person was manipulating the devices in the control room while another was outside, directly connecting to the antennas.
Naturally, the dirty work fell to me.
“Please handle the machines inside. Leave the outside cleaning to me.”
“Uh… sure. I guess it’s okay.”
No more words were needed.
The muzzle spat fire.
“Hey, bro. Are you busy right now? Can you talk?”
“Wow. Do they have phones with network coverage in the dumps these days?”
“No, so I’m saying, I’m grinding and playing ranked matches with you.”
A voice came through the smartphone.
It was none other than Russ, a coach for a second-tier pro team and one of Kato’s connections, who had rescued Kato from the Unauthorized Zone while he was scouring for Redex, Intel, graphic cards, and keycards like a beast.
Given the characteristics of Apex Predator, where the distinction between pros and top-tier gamers was relatively ambiguous due to the high skill level, and the nature of streamers who inevitably knew a lot of information, Kato naturally had some knowledge of the pro scene.
Russ was someone he had met because of that.
“Anyway, what’s up? Did you reach Tier 2?”
“Uh, that’s easy. I reached Tier 1 with 571LP last season. If I grind seriously, I’ll be a challenger right away.”
“You talk like you own the world. So, you blew your promotion match for Tier 2?”
“Ha, no… that was really….”
He had nothing to say.
It was true that he had been playing casually and got beaten up. Even after buckling down and grinding seriously, he couldn’t beat that user once.
Moreover, he had never seen that user properly. Just when he thought he could aim and shoot, a shot with insane accuracy would fly at him before he could pull the trigger.
Honestly, that user named Yoo Jin had no reason to stay in that tier. In other words, Kato felt like he had been swept up in a natural disaster.
At least that’s what he thought.
“Just kidding. Judging by your promotion match, it’s understandable. There’s a reason everyone’s talking about that person online these days.”
“Right? See? It’s not that I’m bad; it’s that they’re really good.”
Russ naturally steered the conversation in the direction he wanted.
Yoo Jin.
Even if not as good as real pro gamers who put their lives into it, earned fame, and generated revenue, Kato could still proudly say he was a decent gamer anywhere.
But that person had shattered him multiple times.
So, the main point began here.
Although he lost as a single gamer, considering the upcoming Asian preliminaries, this was clearly beneficial from a broader perspective.
That player had appeared like a comet, and without even participating in scrims, it was too early to make a hasty judgment. Nevertheless, Kato could confidently say one thing.
That user was undoubtedly going to cause a huge stir in the upcoming Asian preliminaries.
That was the reason he contacted Russ.
“Anyway, Russ. Are there many scrim spots these days? It’s the end of the competitive ranking season. The meta’s probably set, and there should be some promising players around, right?”
“Of course. This year is full of talent. The pro teams you know are probably scrambling to run scrims with their main and second teams, and they’re scouting new players too. These days, the pros are the ones requesting scrims first.”
“Really? Why haven’t I seen that user in any scrims?”
“You know they can’t stream scr
ims because of strategy leaks. Where’s the Kato who used to fly around in the past?”
“I know, but.”
He began to share stories one by one.
Although he hadn’t watched everything, he had at least kept up with Yoo Jin’s broadcasts to some extent… Lately, Yoo Jin had been busy doing collaboration streams with another streamer named Harmony, rather than scrims or ranked games.
Moreover, even when reviewing other videos, there was no sign of scrims.
An ominous feeling spread.
“It feels like this person is ignoring all the messages and just doing whatever they want….”
“…That’s true.”
It couldn’t be that the messages weren’t sent.
Especially considering that Yoo Jin had beaten Kato, who could somewhat guarantee a chance against pros, multiple times.
With the goal of the Asian preliminaries in mind, there was no reason not to be interested in scrims.
That meant….
“…Hey. Did this person block all whispers and friend requests?”
“…Maybe?”
Considering that Kato himself had to prime-subscribe and donate 50,000 won on the broadcast, begging to get his friend request accepted….
Wait, why did I assume what happened to me wouldn’t happen to others?
Meanwhile, at that moment.
<**[Official］ Xi IMPRESSIVE has donated 50,000 won.**>
**Congratulations, Yoo Jin, on qualifying for the Dark Zone Apex Predator Asian preliminaries through your promotion match.**
**Our team has sent several scrim participation requests, but we believe you didn’t see them due to message blocking and other reasons. So, we’re conveying our intention through this donation during your stream. We would be really grateful if you could participate.**
“Thank you, Xi IMPRESSIVE, for the 50,000 won donation… Yes, I’ll check it out.”
…What the heck is this?
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