"Haah..."
A misty breath poured out like a waterfall from my mouth.
The weather was so cold that everything was freezing solid. Yet, the lake stretching out ahead of us was oddly frozen in a bizarre pattern, as if soone had smashed it with a giant hamr and it had refrozen in that shattered state.
In the northern part of New York, where even the presence of people had been devoured by the cold, we moved quickly along the lakeshore, reaching our destination and activating the detection sensors. Soon, a point emitting infrared lasers in all directions beca visible.
"There it is. The infiltration point."
"Infiltration point...? It just looks like the lakeshore to ."
"Your eyesight seems fine."
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
Translation: Deny reality, and I'll make a shabu-shabu out of you in the lake.
LOL Are you out of your mind??????
Goosebumps LOL
How long have you been hanging out with the teacher and still don't know her????
Well, of course.
The objective point was glowing with a square object indicator from hundreds of ters away, but instead of approaching it directly, we had to walk around the opposite side of the lake, which seed suspicious.
Before long, we reached the drop point. A rather large box was waiting for Yujin and , welcoming us. The box was twice the size of the supply containers you would find in a base.
Without hesitation, we opened it, and as expected, what appeared to be diving suits ca into view.
"...So, we just put this on?"
"You’ve really gotten used to things, knowing what to do without needing instructions."
"Never thought I'd end up wearing sothing like this..."
Well, in other fantasy VR gas, people wear full plate armor to fight. In so ways, isn’t this the sa thing? It’s hard to say which is better; it's all pretty surreal.
While we were putting on what was more gear than clothing, a voice ca through the intercom, and the objective appeared on the front UI.
But that wasn't the important part.
Sothing far more important caught my eye.
It was a tail!
-[ISO: It seems you've safely reached the box. Inside, you'll find two diving suits and an old EMP generator. It’s lighter than it looks, so just drop it in the infiltration path under the lake, and you're done.]
-[ISO: Hurry up. Artemis' regular performance check will begin soon.]
"The weather is terribly cold."
"Whoa, look at that tail."
Yujin’s tail, snugly covered in the diving suit, was twitching as if it were uncomfortable, and, of course, the chat exploded. While her body’s contours were obscured by the gear, the tail was impossible to hide.
The fact that only I knew that tail was real made feel—wow.
I could hardly suppress the smile tugging at my lips.
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
New Skin: Diving Suit Yujin! New Skin: Diving Suit Yujin! New Skin: Diving Suit Yujin!
Excuse , may I touch that tail just once?
That tail curve is a work of art LOL
Don’t enjoy it alone; let us join in, Harmony!
-Crack!
With a small tremor, the edge of the frozen lake shattered.
The lake, over a hundred ters wide and several kiloters long, looked as if it could absorb any sound with its vastness.
But when you look at the dozen or so skyscrapers suddenly standing on the other side of the lake, it doesn't seem quite as quiet.
Soon, a hole large enough to easily accommodate two people and the old EMP generator appeared, revealing the eerie blue interior of the lake that no one wanted to enter.
We checked our gear one last ti.
-[Alert: Maximum heat function activated.]
"Oh, it’s getting nice and warm."
"Why don't you dip your feet in? Can you bear it?"
"Let’s see… Whoa!"
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
What kind of sound is that LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
Calm down LOL LOL LOL
Quick, sprinkle so water on your body to prevent a heart attack.
Reflexive scream LOL
"It's too cold!"
"Stay in for a bit, and it’ll feel better."
"Oh, it really does."
As the icy cold contact point quickly ward up, Yujin, before even visually appreciating the shape of her tail, hauled the massive EMP generator over and dumped it into the water.
Though it was described as old, it still felt like a costly piece of machinery. However, Yujin casually tossed it into the water, leaving montarily speechless.
The only relief was that it didn’t make a huge splash. It was just like the teacher to never forget the basics... Even though we were all temporarily frozen in shock, she continued speaking nonchalantly.
"Don't worry. It’s not easy to break."
"Oh, okay..."
Say sothing before you throw it LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
This person is sneakily reckless LOL
Distracting us with the tail while pulling weird stunts—is this so sort of diversion tactic?
Of course, she knows what she's doing LOL LOL LOL
I give up, I’m done with this.
Seriously, what should I say?
It's not just my imagination that this person seems to pull off these stunts as naturally as breathing.
But I composed myself and continued preparing for what would be my first underwater infiltration, albeit in a virtual reality setting. As the UI in front of began adjusting my breathing timing and even my actions, a voice ca from behind.
"Are you ready?"
"Even if I say no, you’ll push in, right?"
"Haha. You shouldn't actually do that, though. It’s more dangerous than you think."
And with that, sothing was on my shoulder... no, it was the tail. Even though it was covered by the diving suit, the smooth, soft texture was unforgettable.
As a chilling sensation ran from my waist up to the back of my neck, and I was carefully stroking it with my hand, a slight pressure suddenly gripped my waist and shoulder, followed by the words:
"Now, instead of stroking my tail, get in the water."
"Huh? Wait, teacher! I’m floating!"
"That’s because I lifted you with my tail."
Just as she said.
With my waist and part of my shoulder wrapped by the tail, the next mont I naturally began floating into the air and then slowly lowered into the water.
Of course, not by my own will.
"Gah!"
Splash.
That was the start of my first dive.
*[ISO: It seems you've safely entered. Now, let brief you on the real purpose of this mission. As you know, Artemis isn’t just a dangerous PMC. They are extrely dangerous.]
*[ISO: After the Artemis leadership was wiped out and the company was abandoned, they’ve been willing to do anything to ensure their survival. Even if it ans selling off the company’s equipnt, facilities, and technology to hostile nations.]
*[ISO: We must prevent these people from wielding and selling such technology on the ruins of a half-destroyed New York. If possible, recover it. If not, destroy everything—be it technology, people, or servers.]
"Destroying people too—what a terrifying order."
"It’s quite ruthless."
The underground water supply system passing through Artemis Technology’s subterranean lab zone.
They had a system in place not only to bring in the necessary drinking water through the water supply but also to purify and use the lake water, making it an excellent entry point into the headquarters today.
Last ti, we brazenly raided another building, extracted data, and fled, leaving the PMC’s mood at an all-ti low.
At this point, the entrance to this building was guarded by ominous turrets and strike teams, ready to shoot any suspicious figures lurking nearby.
If we manage to pull off a stealthy exit through the water supply system later, that would be ideal, but with ISO instructing us to shoot everything that moves, our options were limited.
Honestly, it seed like they were telling us to turn everything living into a corpse and walk out the front door.
We could manage.
As we infiltrated the base, the enemy communications started to be intercepted.
*[Echo 2. Anything unusual during patrol?]
*[None so far.]
*[Confird.]
─Ratatatat!
"Ugh...!"
Despite the seemingly ordinary communications, three patrol mbers fell to the ground with bullet holes in their heads.
The infiltration wouldn't take long. The goal was to push as deep inside as possible before the enemy discovered us. In the middle of the loud water sounds, we used a winch to descend further down.
Of course, the target was the underground server room. Since they used lake water as cooling water for the server, we had significantly shortened the distance.
The problem was the sheer size of the underground facility, as we had previously assessed.
*[ISO: Good. You're almost at the weapons testing lab. Stay sharp.]
"Weapons testing lab—it doesn't sound good."
"It's probably exactly what you're thinking."
We carefully opened the ceiling hatch of the elevator, descended below, and forcefully opened the closed door, only to be greeted by ominous background noises and flickering sirens.
A state-of-the-art lab, eerily white. Around us were all sorts of drones, prototypes, and an empty reception area—accompanied by the sound of tallic clanging from the other side.
I signaled to Harmony with a hand gesture.
A pulse wave radiated forward.
—Piiiiiing!
Seeing the dozen or so figures and drones moving toward us beyond the wall, I quietly spoke.
"We’re trapped, so let’s wipe them all out."
"Got it."
With resolute voices, the sound of nurous footsteps and chanical noises rged into one, and soon, a slow-moving group began to pass by in front of us.
Given the structure of the underground facility, stealth was impossible by any ans, and the heavy, unsettling background music subtly signaled that it was ti to engage in full-blown combat.
Red markers highlighted the enemies' weak points and vital spots.
The shooting began.
-Ratatatatat!
"Enemy! Aaah!"
"Disperse! Disperse!"
The heavy gunfire echoed as it collided with the walls, amplifying the noise.
Given the straight-line structure of the underground facility, it ant that if we didn't quickly finish off the engagent, we could be surrounded by reinforcents in no ti.
thodically, I began taking down enemies one by one, only to realize I had beco overly imrsed in the task. It might be ti to help Harmony sharpen her shooting skills again since it’s been a while.
I slowed down my shooting pace a bit to give her so room. The plan was for to flush out enemies from cover, and Harmony would take them down.
As I deliberately reduced my shooting speed, the chat quickly caught on to my intent and began playfully teasing.
Adding a comnt or two, I said:
"Ah, my joints suddenly hurt."
"Hey, Yujin! What are you talking about all of a sudden!?"
Suddenly your knees and arms start to ache, right? It’s Harmony’s turn to shine?
Teacher, it’s so obvious LOL LOL LOL
Yesterday… I lifted… too much weight… at the gym…
Waaah, I’m baby Yujin, co ‘save’ from these enemies
Harmony going ballistic because she can’t accept reality LOL LOL LOL
As the previously tense atmosphere quickly lifted, Harmony, now shooting twice as much as before, began to yell while enthusiastically pulling the trigger.
She seed increasingly desperate as her eyes rolled around, and she continued firing, her expression grim and determined.
Watching the enemies drop one by one, it was clear that despite not playing Dark Zone regularly, her skills hadn’t deteriorated much.
Helping out just a bit should be enough.
I focused on assisting her, like targeting an enemy about to launch a grenade launcher so they would miss and hit the floor instead, or shooting at one of the legs of a quadruped turret that had just started warming up its chaingun, causing it to lose balance.
Anyone could eliminate enemies by prioritizing targets, but it was the speed that asured the level of skill.
After swiftly clearing the enemies, the communication resud.
*[ISO: There’s so jamming going on. Without the Artemis tech files those two recovered last ti, this mission could’ve been much tougher.]
*[ISO: Move quickly. Reinforcents will reach your position in three minutes. If you can smash the keypad after passing the security door, that would be ideal.]
*[ISO: Good luck.]
And then Harmony's shout rang out:
"What do you an, no warning before doing that───!"
"Sorryyy aaahhh!"
LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
Serves you right LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
Go easy on her, she’s a rookie after all.
Teasing a returning newbie, that’s just an LOL LOL LOL
Suddenly my teammate isn’t shooting!!!
Shake, shake, shake, shake.
She grabbed my bulletproof vest with an expression of pure frustration and shook .
I deserved it.
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