Chapter 539_I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

“…Something’s off today. There’s a lot ofmotion outside.”

 “Right? What’s going on today? I haven’t heard anything about it.”

 Epcot Virtual Reality Studio, World Tree.

 Its official name existed, but no one bothered to call it anything other than World Tree. The towering structure stood, with people in various costumes peering out through the adjustable ss walls to look at the street below. Unlike usual days, a noticeablyrger crowd was heading toward the Dark Zone area.

 Normally, it wouldn’t have caught my attention, but today was different. There was an obvious surge of people moving together. Curious onlookers, perhaps intrigued, began to follow along, and the crowd continued to grow.

 The fact that the outside world was bustling differently from usual caused unease among those on the upper floors of the building.

 Moreover, the visitors who wanted to enter the World Tree were being held up by the rule that they had to leave after 40 minutes, which became a convenient excuse for the cosyers inside the World Tree.

 "Well, I guess we’ll have to go soon. The tickets are expensive, anding back would require a lot of effort. Since we’re here, let’s check out the Dark Zone area.”

 “Do we really have to find an excuse like that?”

 “Damn it, Dn. You might not get it, but anyone who starts with Terra finishes with Terra. We aren’t like those Glory & Honor fans who switch from swords to guns every day.”

 “That’s why Terra yers are called ‘Tem,’ you crazy bastard.”

 Tem.

 It was a derogatory term, but it perfectly captured a snapshot of the gamingmunity’s current split. The term had simple origins. It referred to the yers split between Dark Zone, Glory & Honor, and Terra. Terra, the fantasy game, was considered a "concrete support base" for the gaming world, while the Glory & Honor and Dark Zone yers often criticized its "closed-off" nature.

 Although Glory & Honor was a fantasy game with swords, bows, and muskets, it could be considered a more tactical, straightforward affairpared to Dark Zone, which was far grimmer in its setting and gamey.

 “Those masochistic bastards. After struggling in real life, they go to Dark Zone to y in even worse conditions. Is that fun?”

 “^Second ce, forever^”

 Of course, these were just jokes, andpetitive trash talk was part of the gaming culture. The rivalry was mostly a meme, something gamers said to tease each other. However, Dark Zone and Terra had be games so fundamentally different that they were near opposite ends of the spectrum.

 Terra was a fantasy game that blended every cliché you could think of: from campfires under starry skies with bards ying lutes, to elves, dwarves, and all manner of mythical creatures. It was an expansive world full of demons to y and quests toplete.

 But Dark Zone was nothing like that.

 Back to the scene:

 The reason some Terra yers hesitated to step into Dark Zone''s territory was because of this stark contrast. Of course, the United States was and of freedom, and people rarely judged each other for their choices. Ultimately, it came down to the individual’s decision.

 And at that moment, more and more people, initially cosying fantasy characters, began to step towards the Dark Zone area.

 The Terra area at Disney World looked as beautiful and grand as any other part of the park. Its appearance wasparable to the likes of Harry Potter’s themed areas, with grand marble temples, sprawling elven realms, and underwater cities. Everything was meticulously designed to capture the beauty and mystique of fantasy.

 But as I walked further through, the scene suddenly shifted as I entered a gateway shaped like a burnt tree—a stark contrast.

 “Is this Times Square or something?”

 “No, I think it’s just a gamendmark.”

 The scene indeed appeared shattered: broken asphalt, with grass poking through and rusted cars strewn about. Several decaying buildings stood, and even the famous Dark Zonendmarks—like the shattered U.S. Capitol and a crashed Air Force One in a nearbyke—were clearly visible.

 Naturally, the Dark Zone area shocked many of the visitors. Their reactions were a mix of awe and confusion as they adjusted to the post-apocalyptic environment.

 "I can’t even tell what I’m looking at."

 "This ce… the quality’s insane in its own way. It feels like a movie set."

 The White House had been repurposed as an operations base, with a huge Russian-made hovercraft floating above ake designed to resemble Tidel Basin. It wasn’t actually from Russia but a replica from the Dark Zone universe where Russian forces had invaded the U.S. maind.

 As we walked around, even the fantasy cosyers who had never seen this kind of world before quickly grew ustomed to it. Patrol staff walked by, treating them as if they were real enemies, pretending to report sightings of elves as part of the immersive experience.

 The Dark Zone was truly something else.

 Eventually, the crowds began to disperse, heading toward the Dark Zone Museum. I couldn’t help but feel intrigued, but also confused by the massive attention the area was getting. It became clearer that the Dark Zone wasn’t just about ying—it was about experiencing the world’s contrast, pushing boundaries, and pulling in every bit of tension and thrill into a contained environment.

 "Wee to the Dark Zone Museum. Please be aware that some expansion work is still underway, so the interior might be a bit hectic. We ask for your understanding."

 "Based on theyout, I can’t help but think the expansion work might be due to us, isn’t that just a feeling?"

 "Haha."

 As the docent answered awkwardly, it seemed I hit the nail on the head.

 I chuckled hollowly, rolling my eyes as I surveyed the room. The museum we were in resembled theyout of Central Park HQ, with photographs and descriptions rted to the HQ disyed on the walls. Though it was hard to figure out the full story, once we entered the room, it became clear that the museum followed the main storyline of Dark Zone.

 The docent’s exnations were aligned with that structure.

 "Central Park HQ is the first ce users encounter after they log in, and it marks the beginning of the Dark Winter crisis. It was here that the first spark for theplete resolution of the pandemic apocalypse ignited."

 "Well, that’s quite poetic."

 "Haha. Now, let me briefly exin the structure of Central Park HQ."

 Jin, Rain, and Mav were the only ones listening with wide eyes, thoroughly engrossed.

 That meant that mypanions and I were not quite as captivated.

 Despite being a reduced scale, the map of Central Park HQ, which stretched 6 meters wide and 1 meter tall, was quite urate—though not identical to the one I remembered. But the essential features were all there: training areas, amodations, the Gray House, and more...

 I had spent about six years of my life at that location, and it wasn’t something I could easily disregard. Every time I nced at the buildings on the map, memories flooded back, and images of past events, some vivid and others faded, seemed to pour out before my eyes.

 Logan, Lorentina, and Olivia shared expressions of quiet reflection, simr to my own.

 We passed the UN Assembly Hall, West Point, the northern part of New York, and headed toward Washington D.C. The docent didn’t need to tell us where to go next—we already knew. The museumid out everything in a linear fashion, mirroring the main Dark Zone missions.

 The most intriguing part was that the museum not only showcased the story but also provided detailed exnations about the enemies faced during those missions in dedicated halls.

 "Code Name: Crow, former PMC from Artemis, and the team leader of ''Corpus.'' Currently, he has defected to Icarus. As you can see, most of the enemies encountered in the northern part of New York were from Artemis…"

 "Hmm."

 I wondered if this person had regained their memories.

 They hadn’t died, so perhaps they had. But that wasn’t my concern. We continued to giggle and made our way to the next section.

 After some more walking, we arrived at a new section with an entirely different atmosphere. The air was tinged with a strange, subtle scent, and it was evident that this part of the museum had been recently constructed. It marked the end of the main storyline of the game.

 From here, the story transitioned to the Incursion missions.

 "Look at that, our names are proudly disyed everywhere."

 "From Operation Bluefield onwards, your contributions have been huge. Disney even considered creating a diorama of the first yer to clear it, but since they couldn’t get approval, they just made a hologram instead."

 "Haha. That wouldn’t have worked anyway."

 Indeed.

 Beyond our thoughts, the hologram diorama disyed a vivid and dramatic scene, with only the most significant parts of each Incursion mission being represented.

 Operation Bluefield, with the suspicious activities on the Russian aircraft carrier’s bridge, and the subsequent explosion of the escort ship—this was the mission I had yed months ago. It felt strange how time warped as it had already been about a year since that mission took ce.@@novelbin@@

 The next mission, Operation Chariot, followed, depicting the western U.S. remation.

 Soon, Rain, crossing his arms, grumbled about how he hadn’t been there and about the things we’d been up to, but before long, the focus shifted, and the story moved to the unknown zone.

 Then came the hologram showing me tying up Jin.

 Neither Harmony nor Lorentina appeared in that part, so it was just me.

 "Akita, that''s me there."

 "Wow, when was that?"

 "I never thought you’d actuallye to this ce."

 At the same time, he raised his phone and showed us something. It was a press release on the Dark Zone website, summarizing an event featuring a special appearance of Mecha Eugene in the Epcot VR Studio to promote the new Incursion. The announcement was rted to an uing release where Jin and Rain would be introduced as well as the third Mecha for the next Incursion.

 I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being subtly guided by my parents'' influence in this.

 The docent continued as if nothing had happened:

 "The expansion work mentioned earlier is precisely for this reason. In about two weeks, the new Incursion story, involving the third UES, will be released, and the work should bepleted in about a month."

 "So, you’re getting ready to wee a new friend."

 "Exactly."

 Then, all eyes shifted toward Mav, who had been following us quietly.

 Lorentina chuckled and added:

 "If you leave the third one at the construction site, the project’spletion date might be moved up."

 "No, please! I’ll run away!"

 "Just kidding, just kidding."

 Everyone, including the docent and the nearby people,ughed, but Olivia and I could only manage half-hearted smiles. We knew exactly what kind of ns were brewing behind the scenes.

 In the world from which we came, Mav had been rescued after the Burning Donkey operation, and now, with a goofy personality, the question was how Mav would fit into the uing missions.

 With that thought in mind, I patted Mav on the head, and as I walked, I mused, ''In a few days, when we get to Russia, those two will probably be pretty persistent in following us around...''

17kNovel

Chapter 539