Project-1004 (4): Perfect Bullseye and the Full Immersion Dream
Chungju Base Control Room, Anomaly Management Agency.
This place, which monitored the anomalies contained at Chungju Base as well as parts of South Korea, was always bustling.
But right now, the control room was deathly quiet.
The cause of this unprecedented silence was Anomaly-1004, who had recently become the agency's top surveillance priority.
As part of Project-1004, she had been issued a custom-made holy water rifle.
The agency had figured it would take her at least a week to get familiar with using the gun, and a full month to achieve any meaningful accuracy.
Yet the results the angel had just demonstrated shattered those expectations without mercy.
She'd learned gun assembly and disassembly from YouTube tutorials, repeating them flawlessly, and then on her very first shots at the range, she'd nailed bullseye after bullseye.
“…”
The agent assigned as her shooting instructor—a total veteran in the field—glanced at the CCTV feed with eyes pleading for help. Even he seemed utterly lost on how to train an angel like this.
“…”
After a brief silence, Han A-young whispered into the agent's earpiece, still deep in thought.
“Let's move on to VR training.”
The agent nodded as if he'd been waiting for those words, then started talking to the angel.
Having achieved what even I had to admit was an insane feat—bullseyes on my very first shots—I lightly practiced my stances while Agent Ajeossi chatted with Han A-young.
Prone shooting first, then kneeling.
And not just single-eye sighting with the dot sight, but both-eyes-open shooting too.
> Instinctively closing eyes. Pay attention.
“Mm…”
As I diligently corrected my form under RatPT's guidance, Agent Ajeossi finished his call and approached slowly.
Seeing me in position, he flashed a soft smile.
“Practicing both-eyes-open shooting too?”
“Yep! RatPT said that's the trend these days…”
“Spot on. Good eye.”
He crossed his arms and watched me run through my stances for a moment before speaking up.
“Angel.”
“Yes?”
“Ever thought about trying a game?”
“A… game?”
My ears perked up at the word.
Games… my absolute favorite thing…!
“What kind of game…?”
“Well, the agency developed this agent training program. Thought you might give it a shot.”
“Training…?”
My perked ears drooped right back down.
Agent training course, huh…
Knowing my luck, it wouldn't be a fun casual game—it'd be the exhausting, stamina-draining kind I hated most.
“Uhmm…”
Seeing my hesitant reaction, Agent Ajeossi waved it off.
“It's not the grueling kind of training you think.”
“Then what is it…?”
“Angel, you ever tried virtual reality games?”
Virtual reality games…
VR, right…?
I'd wanted to try that one where you swing lightsabers to music, so I'd given it a go once before.
But after just ten minutes, the motion sickness hit so hard I bailed way before an hour was up.
I fidgeted with my fingers and admitted,
“Um… I get VR sickness…”
“VR sickness?”
“Yeah… My head starts spinning in VR games, so I can't play for long.”
Agent Ajeossi paused thoughtfully, then grinned warmly.
“No worries about that.”
“Huh…?”
“The agency's training is a step beyond regular VR with glasses.”
Not VR glasses…?
Then how does it work?
He grinned at me.
“I guarantee you'll love our agency's training.”
I didn't really have a choice anyway, and his confidence piqued my curiosity, so I nodded.
“Okay.”
I followed Agent Ajeossi with Ddangddang in tow, our footsteps echoing.
I'd worried it might be too far at first, but luckily, the VR Training Room was pretty close to the Shooting Range.
“Sir!”
A few agents emerged from inside—must be a popular spot for them. Their bright expressions suggested it really was fun, just like he'd said.
“RatPT, know anything about this…?”
I whispered curiously to RatPT.
There was a brief delay before it replied.
> No idea… I don't know either.
“Oh, even RatPT doesn't know.”
> You probably heard, but I can't access the agency's core database, so no details.
“Hmm…”
Well, I'd find out soon enough.
Inside, amid a maze of complex machinery, Agent Ajeossi swiped his agent ID confidently, leading us deeper.
We took the internal elevator down about five floors.
*Ding.*
The doors opened with a cheerful chime.
The moment Agent Ajeossi and I stepped out…
“Huh…?”
It felt like we'd entered another world.
The room hummed with intricate machines I'd never seen before, screens flickering with unfamiliar script. This was no ordinary modern tech.
“RatPT… this looks like tech they don't release to the public, right…?”
> Yeah… Seems that way. Lots of firsts for me too.
I tilted my head, walking on, when a familiar face appeared in the distance.
A woman in a crisp white lab coat, smiling warmly.
Han A-young.
“A-young unnie…!”
I waved happily, and she pulled her hand from her pocket to wave back.
Rushing to her side, she handed me… Twix!
I hadn't had any chocolate since getting stuck here, so I'd been craving it. I beamed and took it.
“Can I eat it…?”
“Yep. You've been good about eating your veggies lately, so this is fine.”
“Yay…!”
As I tore into the wrapper and munched away, she patted my head.
“Surprised you wanted to jump into VR games so soon?”
“It's okay-young…”
“Sorry, we planned a month of shooting practice, but our angel's a shooting genius, so we had to adjust.”
“Hehe…”
Her eyes sparkled with genuine admiration, filling my chest with pride.
Ahem… I am pretty amazing…!
“For the next week, you'll train here fighting anomalies in VR games.”
“…”
“I'm sure you'll love it. It's made by the agency's central control AI.”
I glanced around at her words.
Just tangled machines and cylindrical capsules—no obvious VR gear.
How do you do VR like this…?
Tilting my head in thought, a realization hit me, and my eyes went wide.
“Un… unnie…?”
“Yeah?”
“Is that capsule the machine…?”
She pinched my cheek affectionately and nodded.
“Yep, you go inside for training.”
“Gasp…”
“Not limited immersion like VR glasses—this is full immersion VR. No motion sickness at all.”
> …Just how advanced is the agency's tech…? Feels behind the times.
While RatPT despaired over the agency's tech…
My heart pounded with excitement. Full immersion VR gaming machine…!
Everyone's dream, right?
The thrill from game fantasy novels and SAO came rushing back as I asked,
“When was this made…?”
“Hmm… 2022?”
“Whoa…!”
2022—the year NerveGear debuted in SAO…!
I'd been a bit bummed it never released in real life, but turns out it was developed—just monopolized by the agency, not released publicly.
Eyes sparkling, I looked up at Han A-young.
“Can I be Kirito in there…!”
Swinging a flashy lightsaber as a swordsman… Pure romance…!
Instead of answering, she shoved another chocolate bar in my mouth.
“Angel, in reality, guns beat swords.”
“Okay…”
I nodded glumly.
Han A-young was ruthlessly practical, no romance in her bones.
Unnie… total S!