Chapter 113: The Sixth Anomalous War (１)

****

Today is training day with the task force.

The previous task force was effectively disbanded. The science officer died in a cave—suicide or a fall, no one’s sure. The task force team leader took several months of sick leave, citing extreme psychological trauma.

After replenishing personnel, what remained was an organization quite different from the previous task force.

“Moon of Seoul, Task Force Team Leader Lee Jin.”

“Dr. Geum. Thank you for your hard work.”

I bowed to the task force team leader.

“Yes. Please take care of me, Director. The predecessor is on leave, and the science officer was killed in action, so things are a bit chaotic… but I’ll do my best.”

“I’m sure you’ll do well too, Team Leader Lee.”

Maybe because they were both military, the pleasantries ended quickly even in a serious situation. The team leader began speaking.

“The rules are simple! It’s an 8-on-8 base capture battle, including the Director. For reference, if you’re hit, you’re not dead—you just walk back to the respawn point and you’re revived.”

Simulated combat gear. It seems to register hits on the vest or head area with something like a laser.

“We’ll split into Blue Team and White Team.”

The arena—no, the training ground—is a square about 1 kilometer on each side.

Corners 1 and 3 are our team’s bases, and corners 2 and 4 are the respawn points. The capture bases face each other, and so do the respawn points.

“Oh, and the Director is prohibited from using anomalous abilities. Win with pure physicality and marksmanship.”

Take that away and I’m just a potato.

I nodded anyway.

“Also. Each base is considered captured when two people enter simultaneously. Oh, and you can’t take off your gear—gas masks and such—during the operation! That’s part of the training too.”

We immediately received the simulation equipment. Plastic knives, dummy grenades, vests and helmets, and rubber guns with laser pointers attached.

“The usage is similar to the real thing. Dummy grenades: pull the pin, and if it detonates within 2 meters, you’re dead. Rubber guns: a hit on the vest or helmet means death. Knives: if thrust into the vest with sufficient force, you’re dead.”

The rules weren’t hard to understand.

****

Simulated combat begins.

“This is Blue-1. Simulated combat started.”

The plan was simple. No need to separately guard the respawn point—numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 move defensively around the base, while 5, 6, 7, and 8 split into two teams and go for the enemy base.

I’m Blue-8. Blue-7 is on my team.

The problem is, these capture bases are on the rooftop of a three-story building. You have to clear an entire building to reach the base. It feels like the finish is going to be a real pain.

“This is Blue-8. Moving forward.”

For now, there’s no other option, so I advance slowly. There’s no reason to guard the respawn point. After all, if you die, you come out of there anyway.

The area we need to actively defend—our territory, so to speak—is about half of our corner. The enemy’s position is the same.

“This is Blue-8. Reached the edge of friendly territory. No enemy movement detected.”

Getting hit by a rubber gun would hurt too. A bare-body hit means bruises at minimum, and even with a gas mask on, a hit to the face could crack teeth.

“This is Blue-1. Advancing. Stand by.”

It’d be nice to sneak into enemy territory, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

“This is Blue-1. We’ll open fire from the front to draw the enemy’s attention, so both assault teams advance without delay once the shooting starts.”

I nodded.

One, two, three.

The defense team, spread out and positioned, opened fire somewhere. Whether they actually spotted the enemy or were just shooting blindly, I couldn’t tell.

Gunfire continued for a while. The rubber rounds produced a report nearly indistinguishable from live ammunition.

“This is Blue-8. Entering enemy territory.”

Concrete structures scattered messily here and there. There might be an enemy sniper on a nearby high point, but it’s so dark I doubt they could hit anything. Probably not a concern.

BOOM!

A fake grenade went off somewhere in the distance.

“This is Blue-5. Can’t move. Two enemies are blocking the path, and the others have vanished somewhere. Blue-7, push forward.”

“This is Blue-8. Copy.”

Sound strategy, honestly.

It’s 8-on-8 and manpower is extremely limited. If three people get tied up by just two, that’s a loss, so two block two.

Then the remaining two are coming our way?

“Cover.”

BANG!

The enemy seems to have thought simply.

White Team just planted a sniper in their base.

From one end of the arena to the other is within a kilometer, so as long as there’s no cover, the whole arena is covered. At least in theory.

Do rubber rounds not fly that far?

“This is Blue-8. Incoming fire our way. Sniper inside the enemy base.”

“This is Blue-5. Moving under cover.”

The problem is I can’t gauge their skill.

It was a bit dizzying, honestly. In a real situation, my head could’ve been blown off hundreds of meters away without me knowing what hit me… right. With a suppressor, the person next to me would only realize a sniper existed after watching me drop.

“This is Blue-5. About to die.”

“This is Blue-6. Same.”

The radio went quiet. Probably dead. Ah, it’s a simulation, so not actually dead. They just turned off their radios like dead people would.

A variable.

The two dead ones have to mark the respawn point and come back. Will White Team use this opening to attack, or come for me?

“Blue-7. Watch your back!”

I used a tree as cover and opened fire. Two enemies were shooting at us from behind. For now, forward — the base is ahead anyway.

There’s no reason I should win. I decided not to use abilities either. My advantage is… hmm, being short means a smaller hitbox?

“This is Blue-8. Neutralize failed. Going deeper into enemy territory. I’ll shake them off.”

No loss there.

We’re already right at the base anyway, and between the people chasing us and the sniper in the base, four of them are tied up with us.

I took cover behind a concrete structure, then aimed again—

BANG!

Gunfire continued. Blue-7, who came with me, kept firing toward the rear. It’s dark out, but through night-vision goggles I can see—

A person.

I aimed upward again.

BANG! BANG!

Got one. Hit the vest. One enemy lowered their rifle and started walking back toward the respawn point.

“This is Blue-7. Enemy sniper has completely locked down movement. Can’t move.”

Feet tied, huh. Got one, but two more enemies are walking this way. I stayed still, and a grenade rolled toward me. I started running—

BOOM!

Quieter than a real grenade, but still loud. I sprinted to the next piece of cover, but realistically it’s too far. I resumed firing—

THUNK. Out. I lowered my rifle. Probably took a sniper round to the helmet.

“This is Blue-8. Out.”

I set down my gear and slowly walked back toward the respawn point. Once I get there and turn the radio back on, I’m revived.

“This is Blue-1. Entering enemy building.”

Huh, when did they get all the way over there?

“Blue-1. Entering base.”

“Blue-2. Entering base.”

It’s already over? Well, 7 and 8 did tie up three or four people. It’s not surprising they could advance in that window.

“Blue Team wins. First simulation exercise concluded. Everyone, return to headquarters.”

Simulation over.

The exercise ended more anticlimactically than I expected. We headed back to base to prep for round two.

****

[Simulation combat record. No. 1.]

[Filed by: Lee Jin, Team Leader of Task Force Moon of Seoul.]

[During this training session, we practiced room clearing, marksmanship, hand-to-hand combat, rapid reloading, and several other techniques before moving on to the simulation combat.]

[Winning or losing isn’t really the point.]

[Director Geum? Setting aside anomaly and equipment, she’s ordinary. Nothing at a level impossible for a human. It’s a bit odd that she does it in a woman’s body, though.]

[Well, it’s not like I pushed her to her limits. On the surface, I don’t see anything unusual. She’s on par with the other members.]

[The members’ accuracy rates, average movement speed, step counts, and other data are attached separately. Please use them for personnel evaluations and capability analysis. As an aside, even in these figures, the Director’s level is just ordinary.]

****

[Re: Simulation combat record. No. 1]

[Filed by: HR Section Chief]

[Sir. Being ordinary by task force standards is what’s strange. Isn’t it remarkable that someone of that build can run around carrying full gear in the first place?]

[It’s hard to say the Director hasn’t improved. Anyway. Thank you for the information. The document you sent will be processed electronically and reflected in the personnel evaluations.]

[I trust the Task Force Team Leader is also aware.]

[If the Director were to fully utilize all the anomalies and equipment she possesses, there’s no guarantee she could be subdued even if the entire Seoul Branch’s forces were mobilized. And this time, I noticed she can teleport too.]