I looked left and right alternately while sitting down, standing up, and recovering health. I couldn’t let my guard down for a moment. Seeing me busily eating the first aid kit, Seongheon hyung asked as if puzzled.
“Why are you recovering health so frantically?”
“This? It’s called veteran moving.”
“…Don’t do that.”
Once my health bar fully recovered, we got in the jeep again and moved. I should be anxious since I only have a shotgun for a gun even now, but being with the hyungs felt reassuring.
The West Hill that Seongheon hyung mentioned was outside the safe zone circle, so we had to quickly finish farming and go back. This was a place formed like a small village, and as soon as I entered the first house, I saw guns and ammo placed in the center of the living room.
“Looks like people haven’t come here. Let’s each loot and meet up.”
Unlike supply boxes, ammo on the floor is automatically picked up when you pass by, so if someone had passed through there would be no ammo, Seongheon hyung told me.
So I went up to the second floor with peace of mind. There was body armor there too, so I equipped it and also acquired a pistol. I could physically feel myself getting stronger.
While I was going around that house, Seongheon hyung was looting the house next door. I came back down to the first floor and headed to the basement. There were shield potions and ammo there, so I picked them up and went back up.
<<In 3 minutes, this area will be contaminated. Please evacuate to the safe zone.>>
The narrowing was getting faster, so we had to stop farming here too and go over to that area from before.
In the meantime, the hyungs must have picked up various guns because they were organizing while exchanging ammo with each other, but I was the only one wearing body armor here. How I knew that was because my health bar was longer than the hyungs’.
“If you have sniper ammo, give me some.”
When Daesu hyung approached and asked, I pretended not to have any, but Seongheon hyung glanced at my screen inventory and answered instead of me.
“Daeyoung only has ten too though?”
So I had no choice but to drop the 10 ammo on the ground. Daesu hyung picked them all up and danced in front of me, which was so annoying I wanted to hit the back of his head.
Whether he saw me glaring at the monitor, Seongheon hyung said something to Daesu hyung.
“Daesu-ya, put down some shotgun ammo. I saw you open the ammo box earlier.”
“Tsk.”
As expected, if there’s give there should be take too. Daesu hyung coldly put down only 10 shotgun ammo, the same amount I gave, and moved away from me. Once I got the precious ammo too, I had a good feeling I’d carry this round.
But when Gangjin hyung joined, I had to give up that dream. I don’t know where he got such a thing, but hyung came carrying a portable anti-aircraft missile that looked like a cannon on his shoulder.
“There’s only one guided missile.”
So we have to use it really carefully, he said, standing in front of us like showing off treasure. I wanted to hold something like that too. I decided to carry next round and headed to the jeep with the hyungs again.
Just as everyone boarded and was about to depart, bullets flew from somewhere.
Bang─!
Twang─!
Along with the gunshot, I heard Gangjin hyung’s lament from the side.
“I got hit once.”
Fortunately he avoided a headshot, but the Alt character’s health bar was barely hanging on. The opponent was also most afraid of Gangjin hyung holding the anti-aircraft missile and failed trying to secretly kill him.
“Into the house! Quickly!”
We ended up abandoning the car and quickly entered a nearby house. But even looking outside through the small window, I couldn’t tell exactly which direction the bullets came from.
To my question of can’t we just go quickly, Seongheon hyung answered as if troubled.
“There’s not just one sniper right now. Seeing how they flew almost simultaneously, at least two people are watching us… Where did they shoot from?”
Why he was certain there were 2 or more people was because sniper rifles generally have slow loading speed so the rate of fire is low. But the fact that 2 shots flew simultaneously meant there was more than one sniper.
<<In 1 minute, this area will be contaminated. Please evacuate to the safe zone.>>
We had to decide one of two things: hold out like this and escape urgently when the poison gas comes, or suppress the opponents and move quickly.
We had a guided missile and a sniper rifle too, so no matter how many enemy snipers there were, we had a chance if we just knew their location. But whether the opponents were also hiding tightly afraid of being caught, they weren’t visible at all. Meanwhile, time kept passing.
Wondering if there was anything helpful, I was wandering around looking at the surroundings when Seongheon hyung leaned his upper body toward me and sweetly called my name.
“Daeyoung-ah.”
“Yeah?”
“Go out and touch that tree for a moment.”
“That tree?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Let me see if you run fast.”
I didn’t know why he was suddenly making me run, but I thought maybe we’d run to avoid the poison gas.
‘If hyung is curious about my running speed, I should show him.’
So I immediately left the house and ran toward the tree Seongheon hyung mentioned. After touching that tree and turning back to run into the house, gunshots sounded again.
Twang─!
Bang─!
Bang─!
[‘Jinkey’ (Sniper rifle) ⇨ ‘Kkyudaeyoung’ Stunned]
Exactly 3 gunshots rang out in succession, and I got hit by 2 of them and collapsed on the ground. The enemy team’s snipers weren’t 2 but 3.
“Hyung! Hyung!! I got stunned!”
It was useless even though I had body armor and drank shield potions.
While I was lying on the ground making a fuss and moving, the Enter character slid over next to me and snap! set up a cover item on the left. While doing so, Seongheon hyung instructed the other hyungs.
“Opponents are on the 120-degree hill.”
“Got it.”
“I saw them too.”
Even while saving me from being stunned, Seongheon hyung kept glancing at the hyungs’ monitors.
Bang─!
Kaboom─!
[‘Alt’ (Missile) ⇨ ‘Jinkey’ Stunned]
[‘Alt’ (Missile) ⇨ ‘Anigeulwaechyeomaja’ Stunned]
[‘Alt’ (Missile) ⇨ ‘Mulzom’ Stunned]
[‘Control’ (Sniper rifle) ⇨ ‘Gongji’ Killed]
Along with a loud explosion, I saw Gangjin hyung and Daesu hyung running up the hill. Seongheon hyung also saved me from being stunned and went up the hill following the hyungs.
I wanted to follow too, but since I had to first recover my fallen health with a first aid kit, I crouched next to the cover and obediently recovered health.
But what’s the use of working hard to fill the health bar when I’ll just get shot again? It felt futile like pouring water into a bottomless jar. Then I saw the poison gas approaching close to us in earnest.
“Hyung! We have to avoid it!”
Seeing the safe zone narrowing quickly, this wasn’t something to avoid by running.
Since the poison gas was approaching faster than the speed of the hyungs coming down from the hill, I was wondering what to do when I suddenly remembered the jeep parked in front of the house.
“I’ll drive the car!”
I boarded the vehicle driver’s seat and quickly drove toward the hyungs. Seeing me bring the car, Gangjin hyung looked at me and praised.
“Niiiice─ kkakdugi.”
“Daeyoung has good sense?”
Seongheon hyung also quickly sat in the passenger seat and looked at me contentedly.
All the other hyungs gave a word of praise each, but Daesu hyung stayed silent to the end. I wanted to leave him behind, but I couldn’t because he got in the back seat first before the other hyungs.
“Step on it, Daeyoung-ah.”
The poison gas was really following right up to our nose, so I quickly started the car. The difference between running speed and car speed was incomparable. Still, we were only shaking them off a little, so I couldn’t relax. I frequently checked the mini-map to confirm directions while driving on the road.
Looking at the fastest way to Top Town, I saw a bridge on the map. So when I turned toward that ‘Bridge of Wailing’ instead of the road going around the mountain, the hyungs looked at me all at once.
“Hey!!”
“No! Daeyoung-ah!”
“Not there!”
I was super concentrating like playing Kart and only looking at the screen, so I couldn’t immediately understand what the hyungs were saying. In the meantime, our vehicle had already entered onto the bridge.
“Huh? What?”
Only now asking puzzled, Seongheon hyung pointed in front of my screen and explained the reason.
“You can’t go on this bridge!”
“Why? This is the fastest way!”
“It’s broken in the middle!”
“Really?”
At hyung’s words, when I looked carefully ahead, the middle of the bridge really was missing.
If they were going to leave the bridge half-built like that, they should just remove it—why leave it there to cause confusion? I resented the game developer. Moreover, the bridge was too narrow to make a U-turn angle, and the car kept gaining speed and rushed toward the center of the bridge.
“Stop!”
“Daeyoung-ah! Stop!”
“Stop!”
“Press Q, press Q!!”
Hearing the hyungs’ words, I quickly pressed Q, but suddenly smoke came out of the jeep’s muffler and it suddenly accelerated.
Really in the 1, 2 seconds of going “Huh?” and panicking, the jeep we were in dropped below the broken bridge and fell endlessly down into the canyon, so high it was. Like the falling car, I felt my blood drain and my head went blank.
“Ah!! Bae Daeyoung!”
“Ah… First time dying in a traffic accident.”
“……”
When I looked at why the car didn’t stop and accelerated, I had pressed the W key instead of the Q key. If you press the W key twice while running it’s a dash, but during vehicle operation this must have been the acceleration function.
The moment the car crashed to the ground, the four of us bounced out of the car and were sprawled out. Seeing the items we picked up burst like firecrackers around us, I was at a loss for words.
<<GAME OVER>>
Only after all the futile scenes unfolded did the ‘GAME OVER’ letters appear in the center of the screen. I was about to press the [Go to Waiting Room] button below it when I felt piercing gazes stabbing into my face like thorns.
“It’s okay. It’s because it’s your first time. You’re also directionally challenged…”
Seongheon hyung sweetly stroked the back of my head and smiled for my dejected self.
I tried to smile together while facing hyung, but I couldn’t because of Gangjin hyung and Daesu hyung’s glares visible over his shoulder. No matter how long I play games, the ‘Q’, ‘W’, ‘E’, ‘R’ order is so confusing. Is it just me? Isn’t it like that for everyone?
Even though I drank soda because my throat was parched, it tasted like plain water. Daesu hyung probably wanted to come to me and say something more, but seemed unable to because of Seongheon hyung.
