Chapter 15: Harmony
by 000 000
“Sigh.”
Mint-colored hair trailing down her back and perked-up cat ears.
The winter’s fierce wind blew steam from her breath like a waterfall cascading from her mouth.
As her breath swirled around, tickling her hair before disappearing behind her, Harmony, with a somewhat immature demeanor, cautiously adjusted her laptop.
“It’s summer in reality, but it’s winter here. It’s fortunate it’s not really cold….”
She looked more like she was speaking to someone unseen, resembling more of a person looking at a small cat rather than a human.
She continuously fiddled with her fingers while staring intently at her laptop screen.
However, despite her tactical appearance, the reality was a bit different,
”Is this a high school girl who served in the military? Is this a high school girl who served in the military? Is this a high school girl who served in the military?”
”Even the people, who performed rituals 30 times a day, are crying in tears of applause ha ha ha”
”Let’s go for character creation ha ha ha “
Customization and character setup and creation.
Those seemingly random actions were actually one of the motions randomly generated during character creation.
Of course, regardless of such facts, the chat window that appeared small in the corner was immersed in a torrent of emotion.
<This is a dream? Thank you for 1000 won =”Spoonsorship!=”/>
”Thank you… thank you… I can finally achieve enlightenment… Is she new here?”
Glancing at it briefly, as she always did, she left her thanks.
“Thank you for the donation. Many of my friends recommended it to me. And as a comprehensive game streamer, I’ve been thinking of trying FPS games too… Anyway, that’s how it is.”
She cautiously adjusted the sliders.
Aim Assist, recoil Assist, Damage Assist, Health Assist, Action Assist . The five sliders that controlled the difficulty of the game itself.
While she didn’t plan to lower all of them to below 90%, as usual, the chat window was changing more capriciously than anyone else.
She didn’t show it, but Harmony glanced at it out of the corner of her eye.
However, amidst it all, there was an unbearable word.
Pressing down the red button deeply hidden in her heart, she began to rant.
“… Argh, no, wait a moment. Hey! YYou guys said it would be difficult to pull all the slides, so I did that, why are you calling me a super coward!”
The chat window instantly turned into a sea of laughter.
Of course, she too, through years of streaming experience, knew.
The thousands of people staying in the chat were just there to see her various reactions.
To put it nicely, they were mischievous, and to put it bluntly… they were losers.
Sigh.
Anyway, she had received various pieces of advice beforehand, so her goal was clear, and therefore, it didn’t take her long to create her character.
Mechanical voices and holograms popped up around her ears and in front of her eyes as she took her first step onto the ground, blessing her.
“Icarus System activated. All systems functioning normally.”
“Operator identified: Codename Harmony.”
“Welcome to Brooklyn Heights.”
“Wow…”
A sigh escaped naturally.
If it were any other virtual reality game, like a fantasy game, perhaps a fairy would have flown in for guidance and adaptation,
But the mechanical and mineral dialogue somehow stimulated her interest.
Meanwhile, a firearm appeared in her hand automatically.
Without paying it any special attention, Harmony looked at the in-game objective that appeared before her eyes.
[Proceed to Central Park HQ.]
Feeling quite overwhelmed, she cautiously spoke up.
“…I heard before starting this game that going to Central Park HQ is part of the tutorial? It was said to be very difficult by other players.”
“Open the coin betting arenaaaaaaaaaaa”
“You’re probably going to die more than 10 times lol”
“You’re going to get wrecked by a PVP zone, right? You noob.”
“Aren’t there any other users spawning nearby?”
A torrent of words.
The term ‘group ignorance’ seemed most fitting, but even witnessing it wasn’t easy.
However, Tricky, the latest streaming platform provided by Icarus, had a system that automatically pulled out the most helpful logs for streamers.
It popped up immediately, and she compared the information she had researched beforehand with the information provided by viewers in her mind, nodding slightly.
“I heard all users spawn randomly, but they said you can meet other people up to the armed safe house. Is that true?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“It’s a rule to party up with the person you meet there and go to HQ together. “
<Opinion agreed upon by many viewers=””/>
The Dark Zone, where countless people play.
However, on the other hand, to attract newbies to this game, which is harsh to the point of being cruel, the chat started leaving comments agreeing with viewers who provided rare correct opinions.
Of course, in simpler terms, it meant they were just giving lots of “yeah lol” responses.
And there’s one mission to top.
<New mission=”” registration!=”” [Time limit=”” 2 hours=”” 45 minutes=”” If successful=”” 50,000 won]=””/>
Upon arrival at the armed safe house, party with the user you see and arrive at HQ.
She smiled silently at that.
Gotcha.
Putting money on something you have to do anyway?
It was unbearable.
However, as Harmony immediately opened her mouth to accept it, as if prearranged, another new mission was added.
<New mission=”” registration!=”” [Time limit=”” 3 hours=”” 00 minutes=”” If successful=”” 100,000 won]=””/>
Absolutely solo play until arrival at HQ
….
She added, feeling as veins were rising in her head.
“…I will proceed with the party mission.”
Anyway.
There were plenty of people in the world who wanted to see others suffer or suffer themselves.
Rather than doubling the mission fee, I think it would be better to prevent myself from dying and losing interest in this game.
She took pictures of the mission marked as target practice and slowly crossed the city of the dead covered in white snow.
Without even knowing what kind of beginning this was.
It was said that the beginning of this game was truly random.
In this game where even the spawn points were random, some started from stranded destroyers, some woke up underground,
And there were even those who were lucky enough to start in a safe house.
Accordingly, even shooting, which corresponds to the tutorial within the tutorial, was like that,
According to confirmed information, some shot various objects on the destroyer, some aimed guns at shooting targets in the safe house, and some hit cans.
And….
Among those targets, there were people.
Shocking.
As the red blood flowed down over the white snow, creating shallow puddles and slowly freezing before disappearing.
The human-shaped silhouette crossing through it. The smoke emanating from the muzzle melts into the sky.
With holes in their heads and chests, abandoning the comrade who ceased vital signs and fleeing, she focuses her aim on the two villains.
It felt too realistic to call it a game.
While someone might hesitate to shoot a person, if those two who had just been hacking away at others with an axe were the ones, the story was different.
Familiar weight.
Familiar texture.
Familiar sight.
The four bullets fired one after another with a recoil added two human-shaped objects to the cold streets of New York pavement.
After ceasing aiming and scanning the surroundings, she blurts out her honest impression.
“What a disgustingly well-made game….”
The sensation of air touching the skin. The vibration that hits the shoulder with every pull of the trigger. Up to the dazzlingly clear sky as if nothing happening on the ground mattered.
Everything in this game was so reminiscent of my four years.
I melted back into the world I once inhabited, and the feeling was… always similar. It was a bit disappointing that I couldn’t see the game as just a game anymore.
Three assailants and one victim.
Confirming that all were lifeless, I proceeded forward.
As effortlessly as breathing, I manipulated the crawl to determine my current location.
Current location: Brooklyn Heights.
It was eerily similar to the route I had taken.
Approximately 8 miles, or roughly 10 kilometers, away from Central Park HQ based on memory.
If there were a high-speed transit, I could have comfortably and safely ascended along the East River, but at this point, such hopes were futile.
One foot in the alcove, thirty rounds in a standard STANAG magazine. Six shots in total, two for each of the three assailants. The UI indicated as much, but I had to verify it myself to be sure.
Unmanaged and chaotic buildings. Between the main roads, the vast expanse of the Brooklyn Bridge loomed.
As far as I could remember, without a boat, one had to detour significantly to access the bridge.
After meticulously ensuring no enemies were nearby, I attempted to operate the main systems.
However,
Tactical Support Equipment: Unusable.
Nano-machine Defense Function: Minimal strength activation.
Module System: Not available.
Accessible funds/weapons caches: Untraceable.
“Damn it.”
Well, that’s how it goes.
What kind of equipment would they give to a newbie who’s barely been in the game for five minutes?
The slight weight of the vague feeling bulletproof vest and tactical rig, containing fourteen magazines and a few grenades, was all I had now.
Adding a few more, there was a small EMP generator inexplicably provided in the utility pouch.
It was perhaps thousands of times better than going in naked, but the enemies I would face ahead were numerous beyond count, and many of them had better equipment and gear than I currently possessed, some even controlling crazy stuff like drones and unmanned vehicles.
Sigh.
Between the imposing bulk of the gear pressing against my body, a white breath dissipates into the air.
I adjust my firearms and double-check if the zeroing is set correctly.
“Somehow, it’ll work out.”
For now, this gun with just one red dot sight mounted on the AR-15 and the pistol and tactical knife in the holster were my only lifelines.
There was no time for complaints.
Movement began.
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