READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 60 - Special R&D Complex
Chapter 60 Special R&D Complex
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“Has it started?”
“Yes, just now.”
Meanwhile, at that time.
While the first scrim match of the morning at the end of August was just beginning, about a hundred people were watching the live match videos floating in the air, scattered in various locations.
If one were to categorize them all under a single label, their social positions, genders, and other elements varied, but in the broadest sense, they were all people who created value through the Dark Zone.
In short, most of them were professional gamers, coaches, managers, enforcers, and others who could gain something from watching the match.
Four screens were displaying different videos and 3D maps in holograms.
About a hundred red dots were scattered over a large research complex. The pattern was uneven, with more clusters around key terrain features and buildings where better items and infrastructure could be secured.
As the last person set foot on the ground, the number that had stopped at 100 began to slowly decrease one by one.
Murmurs were heard here and there.
“Are there any names you know among those who just died?”
“No.”
Or,
“Definitely, after doing scrims for a long time, no one tries to fight barehanded right from the start.”
“There’s almost no one like that now. It’s a basic of the basics.”
And such mundane conversations,
“Since it’s a research complex, the meta is very similar. There’s a lot of fighting over key positions until the Juggernauts come out….”
“High-powered firearms and high-penetration rounds come out a lot, so fights are faster than on other maps. Even with a lot of scrims, it’s hard to slow down the overall death tempo.”
“This map appears in every tournament. It’s the toughest, really. After one match, you’re mentally exhausted.”
These were conversations that only professional gamers or analysts could have.
Rather than just watching the video, it felt more like they were freely critiquing it in real-time.
This was natural since most of them were not ordinary gamers but literal professional gamers. To them, the game was not a stress-relieving pastime but a subject to analyze.
Meanwhile, analysts, aiming to extract meaningful results from this match, were also watching intently and engaging in intense discussions.
This was because the path to the global finals, or the final championship, was a thorough sifting process for the users.
Before the Asia qualifiers, two main matches took place.
Ranked games filtered the top 100 users above Tier 2 based on MMR.
Unlike the tournament ranks, this was called the preliminary rank.
And through the Korea Selection Match for these 100 players, the top 20 performers could participate in the Asia qualifiers.
From there, the maximum number of people who could advance to the final championship was four.
Only the best of the best could advance.
Because of this, not only professional gamers who didn’t participate in the scrim or were soon to enter another scrim but also numerous headhunters and analysts were watching the screen with intense focus.
They were looking for standout players or noteworthy users because of their keen observation.
Users with excellent improvisational skills. Users with fast early-game pacing. Users who could stably control high-recoil firearms or excel in all aspects….
There were many aspects to evaluate, and many people to evaluate.
Meanwhile,
“…Hey. That… Yoo Jin, was it? Who is that?”
“Yoo Jin? Isn’t that the one people have been talking about lately? Why, what’s up?”
“The weapon they picked up at the start is kind of… crazy.”
“…Oh my God.”
M107 CQ.
In other words, it was a close support version of the Barrett M82, a sniper rifle that used 12.7mm rounds.
Yoo Jin, seen on the screen, was inserting a magazine with ten rounds.
Clank, clunk.
The charging handle of the guns I had used so far made a higher and faster sound when pulled. The reason was simple: because the bullets weren’t that long, the charging handle had a shorter travel distance.
Conversely, the larger the caliber and the longer the bullets, the lower and heavier the sound made by the charging handle.
The living proof of this was the M107 CQ, quietly resting in the high-powered weapon storage of this research complex map — simply put, a variant of the Barrett.
Specifically, one with a significantly shorter barrel.
“…Sigh.”
A magazine almost square in shape.
Inside it were ten rounds, each the size of a board marker, with all their tips painted dark. Simply put, they were special armor-piercing rounds. 50-caliber armor-piercing rounds were not meant to be used on people.
But I would use them. Today, now, and immediately.
I had mentioned it several times before, but frankly, I could ignore most of the operational sustainability constraints that had to be considered due to human physical limitations.
As long as I was supplied with the appropriate amount of calories, I could carry heavier and more recoiling guns while others were using 5.56mm carbines, providing sufficient fire support.
In the past, my roles included being the point man with a ballistic shield or handling squad fire support.
Of course, I wasn’t going to carry just this; for regular engagements, I planned to use relatively standard firearms like the ASh-12.7.
If you asked why these were the only ones available, I wouldn’t have much to say. After the drop, the first thing I saw inside the building was the high-powered/large-caliber firearm storage.
Including the magazines, bullets, body armor, pouches, ballistic plates, and other gear, my total weight was now 51.4 kilograms.
It wasn’t a weight that would hinder running or moving around.
[Notification: 87 remaining.］
[Warning… translating: Juggernaut patrols are commencing. All research team staff must carry appropriate identification means. Otherwise, you will be eliminated.］
On the way here, the PDAs of the researchers scattered on the floors and shelves showed the patrol routes and detection ranges of the Juggernauts, which served as the equivalent of the circle in this map.
Killing a Juggernaut awarded the same points as killing a user, but they weren’t made for ordinary users to hunt. They roamed in pairs, making them quite troublesome.
Not that I wouldn’t take them down when encountered, but….
Anyway.
───Clank.
Opening the door, I carefully stepped outside.
Compared to the maps I had played so far, this research complex was relatively small, and most of the fighting happened indoors rather than outside.
The outside was not a viable battlefield, and the randomly opening and closing barricades increased the chances of dying to external patrols without decent equipment.
It was time to move around a bit.
With the Barrett, equipped with a variable magnification scope, slung over my back and the ASh as my main, I moved around as quietly as possible.
The map was quite complex, with many hiding spots, but sensors installed everywhere would trigger if one stayed still for too long, making them a target for both users and Juggernauts.
Constantly circulating the map using all available skills to survive was the strategy for aiming high in this research complex map.
───Tat tat tat tat!
───Drrrr!
“….”
As if to confirm this, sounds of combat echoed from all directions.
It was a situation that could be called a war of all against all. In such a situation, it was best to use not only all senses but even a sixth sense to find the enemy.
The areas where firearms could be obtained were on the lower floors, and patrols began from there.
I had to spend some time loading and adjusting the sights, which slowed me down a bit, but the upper floors were already occupied by those who had secured strategic positions.
For now, I would wander around and take down any stragglers.
Rustle.
At the same time, I heard a sound from the hallway that turned at a right angle.
I immediately silenced my footsteps. Assuming we both heard each other, the other side would also be narrowing their vision and focusing on their hearing.
At this point, it was more important to have a more relaxed field of vision than to concentrate.
I decided to use a trick I had often used in the past.
Crack.
I kicked a piece of plank debris with my toe, as if I had accidentally made a sound.
It was about 10 meters to the entrance where the hallway turned left. Ordinarily, one might expect a grenade or an area-clear grenade instead of poking a beehive.
However, one common misconception is….
That the sound of pulling a grenade pin is inevitably heard.
Using that as a signal, I sprang forward like a bullet.
Not without any preparation, of course, but ready to charge the moment I heard the sound of the grenade being pulled, I moved faster than the enemy would expect.
───!
“Huff…!”
Closing the distance quickly, I aimed as I turned at the entrance and met eyes with an enemy preparing to throw a grenade. My first thought was that the avatar looked quite pretty.
With a thud, a few bullets flew and struck the high-performance body armor, producing a loud noise.
I didn’t aim for the head, so I didn’t think I had inflicted fatal damage.
But one thing was certain….
The physical impact was enough to knock the enemy holding the pin-pulled grenade backward.
Almost simultaneously, I hid behind cover, and a short flash, smoke, and shrapnel erupted.
───Boom!
“Rest in peace.”
Hope they go to a better place.
“Damn it, what a crazy…!”
“Oh, what’s this? Dice! Why are you out so early!?”
“Wow! You know SSM! They
’re really famous!”
Dice.
One of the first-tier users of SSM Entertainment’s professional team had suddenly been eliminated, ranking only in the mid-80s, and had woken up in the debriefing room.
Her heart was still pounding. She had pulled out a grenade to respond immediately to the noise, but was it anticipated?
Startled, she failed to throw the grenade in time and exploded with it in her hand.
In hindsight, perhaps the sound of kicking the plank was a bluff.
As her excitement subsided, her thoughts began to clear.
That’s what Apex Predator was like. A slight difference, a single variable could easily determine victory or defeat.
And she had lost the psychological battle.
Slowly rising, she carefully walked over and sat down in a plush chair in the debriefing room, muttering in a daze.
“Aaah….”
As always, another reaction was added to the collection of victims of Yoo Jin.
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