I Have Returned, but I Cannot Lay down My Gun

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Just the fact that I came back couldn’t be the end of everything.

Associated Names
One entry per line
귀환했지만, 총을 놓을 수는 없습니다
Related Series
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Recommendation Lists
  1. other
  2. Ranking of novels i have read
  3. genderbender novels
  4. Gender Bender
  5. TS novels FTW

Latest Release

Date Group Release
03/16/25 Fenrir Realm c269
03/15/25 Fenrir Realm c268
03/14/25 Fenrir Realm c267
03/13/25 Fenrir Realm c266
03/12/25 Fenrir Realm c265
03/11/25 Fenrir Realm c264
03/10/25 Fenrir Realm c263
03/09/25 Fenrir Realm c262
03/08/25 Fenrir Realm c261
03/07/25 Fenrir Realm c260
03/06/25 Fenrir Realm c259
03/05/25 Fenrir Realm c258
03/04/25 Fenrir Realm c257
03/03/25 Fenrir Realm c256
03/02/25 Fenrir Realm c255
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4 Reviews sorted by


Sareza
Sareza rated it
August 7, 2024
Status: c48
To sum it up: The novel is hard to get into at first, but if you're curious, start from chapter 14.

The beginning is a bit rough. The female protagonist gets transported to a parallel world like some kind of special forces member, then gets sent back to a modern-day Earth that isn't the one she's familiar with. Here, she becomes significant in a virtual reality shooting game. The early chapters spend a lot of time establishing why she's so strong and what she looks like, which isn't really the main... more>> focus. There's some TS (it means gender-bend) element, but it's not a big deal since the protagonist has been in that state for a long time, and it doesn't come up much. Romance? None here. No male protagonist, just pure action. The TS part is mentioned casually, like, "It was really hard back then, " so it's not something to worry about. In short, the TS aspect is a weak 5% addition, and the beginning mainly explains the protagonist's special forces background. Honestly, you can just skim it.

The start is pretty confusing. I pushed through to episode 48, but the beginning is tough. If you're using this as a reference, skip it. It only starts getting readable when the game part kicks in around episode 14. The main character returns to Earth from a place called the "Dark Zone, " which is then portrayed as a game on Earth. If you ignore the start and focus on the game aspect, it gets better.

Once the MC dives into the game, they face some challenges and solve hidden problems, cranking the difficulty to hardcore mode. A tutorial begins, and during this, the MC meets a broadcaster named Harmony. Being a capitalist, Harmony invites the main character to join her party for a mission with money involved. From then on, the main character takes the lead. Since they're a love interest (?), they get added as a friend, and MC plays the game together with Harmony.

There's a lot more, but diving into all the details would make this too long. Overall, it's a mixed bag, hard to read at first, but if you're curious, skip to chapter 14 and see if it catches your interest. <<less
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Hooljeyak
Hooljeyak rated it
August 24, 2024
Status: --
Fun read, though maybe due to faulty translations or the author, a lot of information is seemingly ommited. In my humble opinion that the novel would be easier to read knowing the bigger circumstance the MC is in instead of trickling the info over time.

... more>>
Spoiler

MC is a Korean soldier who transfered into a SOF team in the US after some kind of virus outbreak. Then is transported to another world suddenly. In time, MC discovers that the world she is in now is a alternate history where the war never happened and instead her own world appears to be self contained within a full-dive VR tac-Sim game.

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<<less
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templeofshadow
templeofshadow rated it
August 16, 2024
Status: c37
This novel takes obvious inspiration from the Tom Clancy's The Division series of games, specifically the first one at least up to c37.

When the game portion starts (c14), it seems to draw heavily from The Division (the first game), albeit with the setting being in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan. Secret military operators in a post-plague US, fighting with various factions for control. Basically, instead of the ""good guys"" being called "The Division", the faction is called "ICARUS".

There are other differences, but I don't care to write them out. Also, I... more>> didn't play much of the first game, only the second, so honestly I don't remember much about it, besides it's general vibe and major story beats.

The basic premise (from my understanding) is that some dude got drafted from the Korean military into a secret US special operations organization, and spent four years in hell after a plague outbreak destroyed the US. Somewhere during this time, he gets genderbent and turned into a snake demi-human. Then, something happens (this doesn't seem to be well explained as of c37) (EDIT 2.26.2025: In the last 10 or so chapters [241-251], the process by which the MC entered ICARUS and their subsequent return to relative normality has been explained more properly. No spoilers though) and the MC somehow goes to a world similar to their previous one (or perhaps gets sent back to the past) except nothing bad has happened. The first 13 chapters are the MC learning about the current state of the world, doing essentially slice of life things.

During the aforementioned slice of life things, MC finds out about a full-dive VRMMO game that perfectly recreates their experiences in "hell" (Brooklyn during the outbreak), and obviously they are drawn to the game. And that's where the story really starts. I won't go into any more detail.

I love what I have read. 4.5/5 (-0.5 pts for unoriginality), rounded to a 5 because I like the vibe. As Sareza said, if you're curious, start from c14 and see if you like it. If you do like it, I'd go back and read it from the beginning to get some background information (since the novel is still quite early in the plot, I can't say whether or not details shown in the first 13 chapters will be important later). But either way, if you like modern (-ish) warfare stuff, give it a try and see if you like it. And if you like The Division, also give it a try since the game sections draw heavily from it.

As an aside, I am definitely biased lol. I like modern military stuff, I like TS (gender bender) stuff, and I like VRMMO stuff. This novel checks a bunch of my preferences, so its not surprising that I love it. If any of that turns you off, don't go into this novel expecting to like it. Basically, look at the tags and see if you dislike anything. If you don't, and you're a member of the aforementioned groups (likes modern warfare, or The Division player), try reading it. <<less
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offirmative
offirmative rated it
October 28, 2024
Status: c26
Reading about fictional person playing fictional videogame is already a boring proposition, but reading about fictional person outright cheating at said fictional videogame is an absolute no sell for me.

... more>>
Spoiler

In addition to getting an overspecced combat-optimized body and years of hands-on isekai experience, game developers personally invite protagonist to their headquarters and craft her a custom unique in-game avatar that perfectly replicates her real-life specs.

Needless to say, everyone else is stuck with default settings. There's even supposed to be a system in place that prevents real-life spec-ops wets from gaining advantage by throwing their aim off, but of course it doesn't work on protagonist for some reason.

[collapse]

Other novels that feature videogames as a theme usually focus more on other aspects like meta-play or character relationships, but this novel so far is just Mary Sue getting showered in universal admiration and awe from friends and foes alike. <<less
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