So, Kato really picked a fight with that kind of person? Such a greedy, stomach-filled Koichi, haha!
"I never picked a fight-!"
"Oi oi, Kato-kun. Hold yourself back. If Kato-kun awakens, not everyone will survive… Ah, but Eugene-san will probably subdue him."
"Ugh..."
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
That Biyam guy really kills the fun, haha
What kind of image do they have of Eugene in their heads, haha
He's definitely Voldemort-level, I think
Isn't it Eugene who flattened Voldemort's nose?
The desk was covered with a mixture of beverage droplets and saliva.
Thanks to coughing multiple tis, my throat was sore, and I felt my lungs shrink due to the lack of air – I wasn’t actually listening to Eugene's stream, but it was because the viewers had passed along statents made during the stream.
To summarize, it was sothing like, "Whenever you get ti, co to the Expo and try participating in the mock battle in building D." But when the news of what had actually happened there reached them, their faces weren’t exactly cheerful.
It wasn’t hard to hear how Eugene and Olivia had completely wrecked their opponents, and Kato, Limit, Hodok, and others – if they went there, they had no idea what would happen to them.
But,
"...So, who really doesn't want to go?"
"I was planning to go eventually anyway. We've gotten a lot of help... Well, I'd want to go even without that reason. And if I ask them to go easy on , won't they let off?"
"That's just teabagging."
"So if I go all out and get beaten, that’s fair and square?"
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Hyun-ah really hits the facts, haha
I really hate how guys can't stand being shown rcy, haha
Hodok, Limit, and Kato are all won, where are the guys?
Fact) All of them
Don't naturally count them as won, hahaahahaha
In the chat, unsettling ssages started rising, but fortunately or unfortunately, they didn't have ti to care. It wasn’t like Kim Stone was wrong about what he said.
But they didn’t have ti or reason to argue about it. It was sothing for later – but they couldn’t put off deciding on a schedule either.
And so, the conversation naturally turned toward that.
"...So when are we going? Does everyone have no schedule conflicts? Anyone who can’t make it due to a scheduled collab or advertising?"
"I have a few, but they're scattered, so it's fine. Let’s pick a date. If not, just let know."
"Got it. If we're going, we should decide soon. Otherwise, next week’s completely booked. You guys saw the notice from the Expo, right?"
"Oh, that..."
"Yeah, that. The thing about not being able to use building D next week... The naval training thing, right?"
Ah, that, haha
Wait, how did they even manage to rent the building during the Expo? Did the seal-freaks just push it through without permission?
Who's even making the insane assumption that a company making twice the national defense budget in a year is using Expo buildings for military training without permission? Haha
Obviously, they must have a deal worked out, idiots, just stop haha
Icarus Dynamics is using it for humanoid advertisents, though?
The chat heated up extrely fast.
Without saying anything, Kato and Hodok told the manager handling the chat, "Just ban the people crossing the line," and that was that. Nothing more ca of it. They had intentionally left the flas to simr.
The reason was simple. They too had a few questions about that point.
"...Like the chat says, Icarus must have cooperated, right? But how does the military do their training? Do they usually just use humanoids for mock survival and stuff?"
"Hey, there we just… set up tents and sleep on cold days. We do sothing like that, but not exactly… like, setting up combat facilities. We just put on laser sensors and make them fight in the mountains."
"Oh, you fight in the mountains? Well, I guess you’ve said our military has nothing but mountains nearby… Anyway, from what you’re saying, it sounds like this kind of thing hardly ever happens. It’s pretty amazing."
"Right. Anyway, well, it sounds like there’s so thing we don’t know."
As Limit checked the official Expo website, he found the notice for next week’s training.
The content was a bit long, but in short, it was simple – access to building C and D would be restricted from 12 PM, and from 1 to 3 PM, a hostage rescue operation would take place in building D.
At the sa ti, there would be combat at the huge mock combat facility in the underground of building D, and after the training, an overall overhaul would make mock battles in building D impossible until next Monday – that was about it.
The reason they were talking about next week or the week after wasn’t a big deal.
"...But can we take photos or videos of this stuff?"
"Actually, they said so of the combat would be stread live. They need to advertise the humanoids sohow."
"Right, this is an expo for selling robots..."
Fact) True
Yeah, haha
If you look at YouSpace, you see people constantly posting CQB videos, so I guess it’s not impossible to show this?
But wait, are the robots already at a level where they can fight humans?
So, what about the cha Biyams, haha
Hmm... thinking about it, I can't really argue with that logic
The second question: Are the robots powerful enough to take on special forces? And that thought turned into, 'Maybe it's possible?' thanks to the existence of cha Biyams.
That said, whether the in-ga cha Biyams and the real-world robots would have the sa combat skills was another unknown. But that wasn’t really sothing they needed to worry about.
People were already speculating, based on the limited information available, about how next week's UDT training would unfold. So were discussing the best spots to view the scenes in building D.
It was a laughable situation, but it was likely intended that way.
"The way they’ve handled public attention is insane. Even if I’ve never done a Dark Zone mission, they’re making want to go just out of curiosity."
"If you talk to Eugene-san, he might just give you a good spot to watch... almost said it."
"Wouldn’t it be like that lounge last ti?"
"...I think I hear the sound of viewers crying their eyes out sowhere."
Why are you all having fun???????????
Eugene guilt-free
If you want to complain, you should have bought Eugene coins early, haha
Soone here didn’t even buy coins but shoved his own coins in a Biyam's pocket, haha
It always cos back to Kato’s courage, haha
Take us too!!!!!!!
Out of nowhere, the chat started attacking, and while Kato was looking around cautiously, the group quickly began to think about what would happen next.
That said, there wasn’t much ti left this week, so it was clear the visit to the Expo would have to be after next week’s training.
As soon as that decision was made, all three pairs of eyes focused on Kato.
And then—
"...Why is this only being left to ?!"
"But it’ll be fun that way, right?"
"Hey, hey, I can tell your real thoughts, stop."
"..."
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
How did it end up like this for them, haha
Oh no, haha
The expression of existential crisis, haha
It’s just like 'nothing matters anymore' at this point, haha
But oddly enough, none of the things the viewers were saying were actually right.
The external image that had built up over ti had given the viewers enjoynt, but in reality, he had long since adapted to the fact that he was in the grasp of a Biyam.
Of course, whether it was just resignation and escapism, or if he had reached a state of enlightennt, would remain to be seen.
So how much ti had passed? Kato quickly typed a ssage to Eugene.
'He doesn’t check emails much, but when I text him, he reads it right away...'
Thinking this, he sent the text, and not long after.
[Eugene: It’s probably better to co the week after next. I have soone visiting from today for a few days.]
"...He said that?"
"Ah."
"...Well, if he said it directly, we can’t help it. We were already thinking of the week after next anyway, so it works out."
"Then that’s settled."
They nodded and, with that, the short Expo discussion ca to an end.
And then—
"...Well, it seems we’ve reached an inevitable point."
"Heh, nice to et you. I’m the suspicious shark again today."
"Eh, oh, eh."
When did this person co to Korea, haha
What? Did they take ti off to follow Olivia?
He was streaming from the U.S. to match the ti zone, and now he’s just co to Korea, haha
At this point, it's true love...
Fact) Ca to recruit for the military
anwhile, at the Expo.
Lorentina and her team arrived under the pretext of reconnaissance before the training.
"...So, you ca today for actual asurents, huh? Then your team and the UDT guys must already be inside the Expo."
"Well, you guessed it. No matter how much we simulate in virtual reality, we won’t know unless we visit in person. The realism these days is good enough that we don’t absolutely need to, but still..."
Twenty minutes after Lorentina and her team arrived at the Expo.
There were no drone cams around, no baby Biyams either. They’d been set aside for "heart adaptation" purposes, kind of like how you prepare for a swim by wetting your body before jumping in.
Unfortunately, Lorentina… well, people who aren’t used to it couldn’t handle it head-on. She was like a natural disaster.
But anyway… that wasn’t the only reason. The conversation they were about to have couldn’t be fild by drone cams.
And to prove that, Lorentina took out a holographic map and started marking it with Xs. When I glanced at it, it was over the ocean near the Expo.
The distance was roughly 250–300 ters, I think. I got the general sense.
"Are you trying to make the helicopter hover?"
"You guessed right. It was a category in the sniper competition, but here it’s live."
"Isn’t it supposed to be done with lasers?"
"We borrowed the physics engine used in the Dark Zone. It’s not laser-based; it calculates the damage in real ti, so the speed of the bullets and their trajectories are calculated separately. The trajectory will be shown directly through augnted reality goggles."
"So, it’s much more realistic, huh?"
"That’s right."
Well, realistically, they couldn’t use real bullets.
In reality, they’d have to carry a bunch of real magazines and go out, but since this was training...
Anyway, aside from that, Lorentina had a lot of tasks she needed to do.
"Originally, the enemy in this hostage rescue operation was supposed to be lightly ard, but I opposed that, and we’ve set it up as an irregular warfare special forces scenario."
"I’m not sure about the seniors, but others will probably be bending over from exhaustion. It’ll be hard."
"It can’t be helped."
Seems like it’d be like those special forces from enemy nations infiltrating in fast boats along the Hudson River.
In that case, the armants would likely be different. Assuming they’re special forces, they’d probably have at least the sa firepower as our special forces. They wouldn’t be shooting recoilless rifles, but a 40mm grenade launcher would definitely be possible.
But the key to this operation was the tech capabilities of the think tank, and here, drones, turrets, and pulses would play key roles. Of course, the enemy would also prepare for that, using jamrs and whatnot.
Suddenly, Lorentina turned toward with a sharp motion.
It was so sudden it felt like I saw a ghost. What should I say? Maybe like an eight-legged ghost? But I think Lorentina would be the one to fight it.
Anyway, she then spoke.
"By now, your team should be inside building D, but... I guess it doesn’t really matter. I hear you can adjust the terrain in there?"
"It’s based on pre-entered data, but yes, it’s possible."
"I’m curious to see what will happen on the day of the operation, heh..."
A brief silence.
How much ti had passed? Then, a chilling smile appeared on Lorentina’s lips.
"I think the new recruits would probably have a very fun expression if I took them there."
"Please stop torturing our kids, really. Are you going to chase them out?"
"Haha. Just joking, just joking. Anyway, I think they’re getting used to being here, so shall we head back? I skipped lunch, so I’m quite hungry."
"Let’s have food ready in building C then."
With that, she finally showed a satisfied expression.
And so, we started heading back the way we ca. Of course, there was quite a ruckus around because of the appearance of the shark at the Expo.
It was like a red carpet; people split apart wherever we went. Since we had just had that conversation in a lounge with no one around, it was possible, but now... as you can see.
As we walked by the cafe, I thought I should probably show the cha recruits too. Then, suddenly, my phone vibrated.
It was a secret communication. The shark who was with sent it.
Without moving my lips, the voice module played through my in-ear, and I heard the ssage.
Co to think of it, the young ones.
Yeah?
The shark network we set up here has been buzzing for about a week now.
W-what?
...Wait a second.
Does that an...?
Could it be that the Dagger team from the other world is here playing?
Huh?
The shark network from before and this one... are they different?
What exactly did they do that made the network aware of the Dagger team?
A lot of questions passed through my mind, but right now, that wasn’t important.
Anyway, I really dislike sharp sharks.
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