Acrid smoke obscured his vision.

“Cough. Cough.”

Was that him coughing?

“Chiiiiik…”

A strange noise rang in his ears.

He covered his mouth with one hand and waved the other through the air. Scattering the smoke wouldn't make his hearing any clearer.

“This is…

chiiik…

Landa…

chiiik.

”

He moved forward.

The floor, with exposed rebar, was visible along with chunks of concrete. Broken frames, glass cases, glass tables... and a wall with curtains could be seen. This place was completely open on all sides.

Was this an office?

“Cough. Cough.”

As he coughed and walked further, he saw it. A business card was lying on the table.

[Executive Han Jung-Gu]

This was an executive’s office. What had smashed into it wasn't clear, but everything was in pieces.

Piecing together the puzzle in his mind, this was an executive office in a high-rise building. The furniture had been quite upscale too.

Then, a voice came.

"There is a living target."

It seemed they were talking about him. He couldn't see an inch in front of him due to the swirling concrete dust, but the strange red light from the figure was clearly visible.

The figure was positioned near the office lobby if this was the executive office.

"Capture? Eliminate? Eliminate. Roger."

Eliminate? That seemed to be the command from above.

Almond instinctively felt around his waist.

'A single pistol.'

He didn't know much about firearms, not enough to identify the type. He had been given a pistol. Compared to what the enemy possibly had, it was far too basic.

Did the enemy have a bulletproof vest, machine guns, or sniper rifles? Possibly infrared?

In contrast, he was just dressed as an ordinary office worker with only a pistol.

“This is Oper…

chiiik…

agent…”

The in-ear piece that had been noisy since earlier continued. This was all Almond had, but—

“

Chiiik…

immediately execute all witnesses…”

Curiously, this command came through clearly.

"It looks like this is my first mission," Almond murmured while hiding behind the executive's upscale desk.

It was only meant for his viewers to hear.

"Huh. What now?"

The chat window wasn't visible, whether it was part of the scenario or not.

— &%#&(@*(

— #$*(((**

— #%((@@)

'It looks like they're all swearing.'

Almond felt a bit disconcerted as he focused on the current situation.

'If it's all witnesses, that includes that guy.'

There was someone immediately aware of his presence and even trying to kill him. He decided to kill that person first.

'But this… just pull the trigger and it fires?'

Almond looked at the pistol. According to what servicemen said, there was something about trigger stability and so forth… It was complicated.

'I've learned how to aim.'

Perhaps it was fortunate for Almond that it was a pistol. Pistol shooting was an Olympic sport. Hadn't he been dragged to learn shooting by a senior using a sports pistol?

The archery seniors claimed that senior taught him to corrupt the spirit of the archery club. In reality, it was just for fun.

Was it the same thing? Anyway, Almond held the pistol as he had been taught. He decided to try shooting one-handed. That was how he had learned.

'This pistol might be a bit different.'

Of course, there was a world of difference between the guns in the Olympics and this one, which was made solely for killing. Still, judging by the design, it didn't seem overly focused on brute power. It appeared to be optimized for assassination and used by agents.

"Entering. Entering."

Tat-tat-tat...

Footsteps of more than one person echoed out.

'There are several of them.'

Almond pondered if he should test-fire his gun first. Firing would reveal his position, but not firing could mean missing at a crucial moment.

'Still, I need to know if it works.'

Assuming the enemies already knew his position, Almond aimed at the chandelier.

Bang!

As the gun fired, the light burst.

The approaching enemies reflexively fired their guns.

Tat-tat-tat!

The chandelier shattered completely, scattering electric sparks everywhere.

"Damn it. Stop shooting. It's just the lights."

'Oh.'

Almond realized quite a bit from this.

'They can't see well either.'

First, the enemies also had difficulty seeing. Otherwise, they wouldn't have started suddenly shooting at the chandelier.

The gun had fired after he pulled the trigger.

“Chzzzzz…”

Now that he figured it all out, the in-ear voice annoyingly began to come through again.

“This is Operator 03…

chzzzzz.

”

Operator?

“

Chzzzzz…

agent…”

"Ah, damn."

Thud.

Almond just removed the in-ear and ignored it. It was quite distracting. Talking to them now didn't seem to increase his chances of survival.

The enemies were already too close.

"Let’s just go for it."

He straightened his crouched upper body and stepped out from cover.

'As I've learned.'

Swoosh.

His hand, holding the pistol, stretched forward confidently. His stance aligned the pistol and his torso at a thirty degree angle inward. His shoulders were relaxed, not tensed. His arms lined up with the gun, aiming at the target.

Click.

'There.'

In the dusty haze, he spotted the enemy moving.

'Inhale.'

He held his breath slightly, focusing all his nerves. He was so calm his heartbeat seemed to slow just like when he was about to release an arrow. This time, it was a bullet instead of an arrow. With no tension in any joint of his arm—

Click.

His finger gently pressed the trigger. Moments later, a flame slowly blossomed from the muzzle. The head of the whirling bullet was being born into the world.

Bang!

He fired a shot and exhaled the breath he had been holding.

"Ha."

As he exhaled…

Ping!

The bullet instantly vanished from sight. Then, it burst the enemy's head.

Boom!

— @&*$(@&*’0

— 38#*@@&

— @(*(!!

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Whatever they were saying, the chat sped up rapidly. They were probably shouting.

"Target! Spotted!"

The fallen one's comrades turned their barrels.

Ratatatatatatatata!!!

A burst of gunfire blossomed, but it was too late. The impacts all hit above Almond’s shadow.

He already leaped to the next cover.

Bang!

A single gunshot rang out amid everything.

"!"

Swoosh...!

Red blood burst forth from an enemy’s head. The shot fired by Almond as he leaped struck its mark.

"...!"

A man who appeared to be the leader glanced at his fallen subordinate and spoke, "The enemy is presumed to be of agent level."

He deduced this after observing Almond’s shooting skills. It was not the skill of a regular soldier.

Click.

A faint scraping sound came from the crevices of the collapsed concrete wall.

"Eight o'clock."

Whoosh!

The enemy immediately switched directions and pulled the trigger.

Ratatatatata!

Amid the barrage of gunfire, three shots were fired.

Bang! Tat!

One bullet ricocheted off the rebar, but two men instantly died.

"Cough...!"

In an instant, all the leader’s subordinates had died. Only the leader was left capable of fighting.

"Ha... Ha..."

He looked with trembling eyes at the rebar structure in front of him. Had it not been there, he would have been dead too.

After completely taking cover, he amended his report.

"Correction. He’s not just at the level of an agent. The target is above the elite agent level. Our company should prepare corresponding forces."

***

Meanwhile, Almond had been promoted to elite agent status in no time.

"This feels better than I thought?"

He felt surprisingly pleased with how well the pistol shot.

— LOL, better than a bow...

— Ditch the bow?! Ditch the bow!? Ditch the bow!? Ditch the bow!? Ditch the bow!? Ditch the bow!?

— Can't you still see the chat?

— Almond, the worst streamer on earth! Almond, the worst streamer on earth! Almond, the worst streamer on earth!

— Soaked in the comforts of civilization...

— Traitor Almond!

"Ah. I can see the chat."

He addressed the viewers who had been spamming, thinking the chat was not visible.

"I can see the chat now. Don't spam."

— Oops...

— Really

— LOL

— Sorry…

"Let's eliminate the last one and get out of this building. It looks like it's going to collapse soon."

Almond refocused on the game, steadying his breath.

He decided to try a basic feint first. He threw a nearby metal storage cabinet far away. As it made a loud noise, the enemy reacted.

Tat!

"?"

Just a few short bursts of gunfire rang out. This wasn't what Almond had hoped for. It hadn’t drawn enough of the enemy’s attention.

"This isn't it..."

— Would this work? LOL

— Do they think it's a zombie? LOL

— Beginner tip: Don't think the enemy's brain is like yours!

— LOL, simple

Like many modern games, the enemy AI was quite advanced. There was only one thing to do now.

"I'll have to use that strategy."

— ?

— Acting like he has a strategy again

— Fact: He's just shooting

— What strategy?

— Almond's strategy: Dodge everything and hit everything.

— For real though. Plan C2. Here I go."

— LOL, he's serious LOL

— Is there no C8?

— Almond the strategist, knows nothing~

— He says he's serious, believe him LOL

After saying this, Almond suddenly stood up and fired his gun toward where he thought the enemy was.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"?"

He was prepared to immediately engage in a battle of reaction time if the enemy responded and planned to land a headshot.

The enemy didn’t respond.

"..."

He watched for a while, but no reactions came.

"Then..."

Almond picked up a glass bottle and threw it.

Crash!

Still, the enemy didn’t react. Almond cautiously closed the distance while staying covered. After a while, he saw the enemy and realized it.

"Ah. He was already dead."

The enemy had died from the first shot. Almond had correctly guessed where he had been.

— Shadowboxing LOL LOL LOL LOL

— LOL

— Is C2 code for shadowboxing?

— Plan C2 is scary... it even deceives his only ally (himself)...

— Time to switch to Plan C8. Just saying that makes sense.

"Turns out it went well. I'm heading out."

He calmly walked toward the emergency exit.

— Watched “Turns Out It Went Well” operation, nice going, agent~

— LOL LOL LOL

— What is this? LOL LOL

— Is it even legal to earn challenge points this way? Seriously didn't know.

***

Meanwhile, a few staff members were watching the challenge.

"Wow, he's getting out in one try?"

Few challengers managed to escape the executive office on their first try. Since this challenge allowed multiple attempts, it was supposed to be difficult.

"But if he's evaluated as an elite agent, the upcoming challengers will have a tough time."

"Almond plays games so well that getting evaluated as an elite agent... might be possible."

Almond had been evaluated as an elite agent earlier. This meant that the enemy reinforcements would also match the increased difficulty. As the difficulty increased, so did the challenge points.

"The problem is he's taking triple the challenge points."

"Ah...

haha...

right?"

No one had worried about a player exceeding the challenge points limit before. Now, everyone was making questionable expressions.

"

Cough

. Even if he's an elite agent, can he get out of this building? If he dies inside, exceeding the limit won’t be possible. Even if he retries, points aren't given for the sections already cleared."

"Well... that's right."

Reattempts were free, but points weren't awarded for already cleared sections. Points were only given if the player progressed further.

The challenge would proceed with the same difficulty once Almond was recognized as an elite agent, making every stage even harder to clear. This was their point, but...

"Huh?"

"... Eh?"

Almond was making his way down the building.

Bang!

Tat!

With every gunshot, enemies fell. They were supposed to be enemies dispatched to handle an elite agent, yet they felt as if the challenge was on normal difficulty.

"..."

No one said it out loud, but they all had the same thought.

'Is he really going to get out in one go?'