23 Megabytes A Second is one of those Ready or Not missions that quietly punishes complacency. On paper, it’s a clean cybercrime bust, but in practice it’s a dense, vertical killbox where missed soft objectives and sloppy clears will nuke an S-rank faster than a single unauthorized use of force. The map rewards teams who think like investigators first and door-kickers second, and it has zero tolerance for rushing the clock.
Map Layout and Flow
The level is built around a compact data-center style office with multiple floors, narrow server corridors, and cramped admin rooms that love to hide evidence in plain sight. Expect tight angles, lots of glass partitions, and desks that block sightlines just enough to break clean lines of fire. The verticality matters; stairwells and split-level server rooms create overlapping threat zones that can aggro suspects from above or below if you move too loud.
Routing is everything here. Clearing top-down is generally safer, but some soft objectives spawn in ground-floor side offices and IT closets that are easy to bypass if you tunnel vision toward suspects. Players chasing speedruns often miss USB drives or loose data terminals because they never fully sweep secondary rooms off the main server floor.
Threat Profile and Enemy Behavior
Suspects in 23 Megabytes A Second skew toward lightly armored but highly reactive targets. They don’t tank shots, but they react fast, reposition aggressively, and will punish bad peeks with snap-fire through glass and door frames. Expect frequent fake surrenders, door ambushes, and suspects using desks and server racks as partial cover with inconsistent hitboxes.
Civilian density is moderate but deceptive. Hostages often share rooms with suspects, especially in office clusters near the server banks, which massively raises the risk of penalty points from bad angles or overpenetration. Less-lethal tools shine here, not because suspects are hard to drop, but because controlling chaos matters more than raw DPS.
Scoring Implications and Soft Objective Pressure
This mission’s scoring is brutal toward incomplete investigation work. You can neutralize every suspect cleanly and still lose S-rank if you miss soft objectives tied to digital evidence and loose intel scattered across the map. Many of these items are not in “obvious” objective rooms, but tucked into desks, side offices, or behind doors that don’t gate progress.
Time pressure compounds the problem. The longer you take after suspects are secured, the more likely you are to rush evidence collection and miss something critical. Optimal play treats soft objectives as part of the clear itself, not a cleanup phase, weaving evidence checks into your room-by-room flow to lock in points before fatigue and impatience set in.
Soft Objectives Breakdown: What Counts, What’s Missable, and How Triggers Actually Work
This is where 23 Megabytes A Second quietly decides whether you walk out with an S-rank or a hollow A. The mission never explicitly spells it out, but soft objectives here are not optional flavor content. They are mechanically tied to score thresholds, evidence flags, and completion checks that only trigger if you interact with the right objects in the right state.
If you treat these as post-clear scavenger hunts, you will miss at least one. The correct mindset is to clear and collect simultaneously, because several triggers are proximity-based and can silently fail if suspects are neutralized before you interact with nearby intel.
Digital Evidence: USB Drives, Data Terminals, and Loose Media
The most important soft objective category is digital evidence, primarily USB drives and unsecured data terminals. These are not marked until you are close, and they do not always spawn in the same room layout, but their spawn pools are fixed to specific room types.
Common USB locations include ground-floor side offices branching off the main lobby, especially the small IT support room with a single desk and wall-mounted monitor. Another frequent spawn is the second-floor accounting office overlooking the server floor, usually inside a desk drawer or sitting loose near a keyboard. If you never open drawers, you are gambling your score.
Data terminals are slightly more forgiving but easier to mis-trigger. Interacting with the terminal requires the area to be in a “secure” state, meaning no active suspects in the same room cluster. If you neutralize suspects through walls or adjacent rooms first, then backtrack, the prompt can fail to appear unless you fully re-enter the room and reset your position.
Paper Trails: Documents, Contracts, and Physical Intel
Paper evidence is deceptively easy to miss because it blends into environmental clutter. These items usually sit on desks, conference tables, or filing cabinets in offices that are not on the critical path to suspects.
Key hotspots include the second-floor conference room adjacent to the executive offices and the small records room near the server maintenance corridor. Players often clear these rooms early, see no threats, and move on without checking surfaces. The game does not reward proximity here; you must directly interact, and there is no fallback objective update later.
A common pitfall is clearing these rooms while suspects are still active elsewhere. If you sprint through during early contact, you will likely skip interaction prompts entirely due to adrenaline and tunnel vision. Slow your tempo in non-hostile rooms and sweep left to right like it’s a warrant service, not a deathmatch.
Server Floor Intel: Racks, Consoles, and Environmental Triggers
The server floor itself contains at least one soft objective tied to infrastructure interaction. This is not obvious and is often mistaken for set dressing. Look for interactive consoles or terminals mounted near server racks, usually on the outer edges of the room rather than the central aisles.
These triggers are proximity-based and can be finicky. If suspects are still active above or below the server floor, noise can aggro them mid-interaction, canceling the prompt. Clear vertically before committing, or assign one player to security while another interacts.
Routing matters here. Approaching the server floor from the upper level allows you to clear overwatch positions first, reducing RNG from snap-fire through railings and ensuring you can safely trigger the interaction without interruption.
Civilian-Linked Intel and Conditional Objectives
Some soft objectives are indirectly tied to civilians, usually via phones, laptops, or items dropped near them. These only register if the civilian is restrained and alive. Kill the suspect first, scare the civilian into fleeing, and the item may despawn or never flag as interactable.
This most often happens in office clusters near the server banks, where suspects and civilians share tight spaces. Flashbangs and CS gas help control the room without pushing civilians into panic states that break objective logic.
Always restrain civilians before finishing room clears in these areas. It feels slower, but it locks in objective eligibility and prevents the mission from silently docking your score later.
What Actually Fails Objectives Without Telling You
The game does not explicitly notify you when a soft objective becomes impossible. That’s the real trap. Neutralizing suspects too early, failing to re-enter rooms, or skipping drawers and cabinets can all hard-lock progress without a warning prompt.
Another hidden failure condition is leaving the map without all soft objectives flagged, even if evidence is technically visible. If you never interact, it never counts. The extraction trigger does not double-check missed intel; it just tallies what you’ve already locked in.
Treat every cleared room as unfinished until you’ve visually scanned desks, drawers, and wall-mounted devices. If a room looks empty, that’s exactly where the mission likes to hide points.
Tactical Routing to Guarantee Full Soft Objective Completion
The safest routing strategy is a deliberate top-down clear that pauses in every non-hostile office cluster. Clear threats, restrain civilians, then immediately sweep for interactables before moving on. Do not postpone evidence collection to the end; fatigue and impatience are your real enemies.
On the ground floor, prioritize side offices before pushing deeper toward the server floor. On the second floor, clear executive and accounting spaces before overwatch positions, so you don’t forget them once combat intensity spikes.
If you’re running co-op, assign one player as the dedicated evidence checker. While the rest of the team handles security and door control, that player methodically checks drawers, desks, and terminals. It’s not glamorous, but it’s how you turn a clean clear into a perfect one.
Primary Soft Objective: Server Racks & Data Infrastructure — Exact Locations and Interaction Conditions
Once you start treating every cleared room as unfinished business, the server infrastructure becomes the mission’s biggest silent score sink. These objectives are not marked, not highlighted, and absolutely will not auto-complete just because you saw blinking lights through a doorway. You must physically interact with specific server racks and data terminals, and the mission logic is unforgiving if you rush past them.
This objective is tied directly to the map’s core theme, which means Void scattered these interactables in places players naturally sprint through during high-threat pushes. Slow down here. The servers are easy to miss, and missing even one can cost you the S-rank no matter how clean the rest of the run looks.
Main Server Room — Ground Floor Data Hall
The primary server racks are located in the large, temperature-controlled data hall on the ground floor, usually accessed after clearing adjacent office corridors. You’re looking for tall, black server cabinets with active indicator lights, arranged in rows rather than against walls. Only specific racks are interactable, and they will prompt an interaction when you’re close enough and facing the correct side panel.
The interaction condition is strict: the room must be in a safe state. If a suspect is still unaccounted for in an adjacent room, the prompt may not appear even if the rack is correct. Secure the room, restrain any civilians hiding between racks, then double back and check each aisle deliberately.
Common failure point here is assuming one interaction clears the room. It doesn’t. There are multiple valid racks, and skipping even one aisle can leave the objective incomplete with zero feedback from the game.
Secondary Server Closet — Adjacent IT Support Office
Off the main data hall is a smaller IT support room or server closet that most teams clear in under ten seconds and immediately forget. This room contains wall-mounted networking equipment and shorter racks that look like background props. At least one of these is a valid soft objective interactable.
The interaction prompt is angle-sensitive. You often need to crouch and face the front panel directly, not the side or rear cabling. Players miss this constantly because they’re already mentally moving on to the next breach.
Tactically, clear this room last within the server area. Once threats are neutralized, close the door, sweep the walls, and interact before rejoining the main push. Treat it like evidence, not scenery.
Upper-Level Data Nodes — Second Floor Office Clusters
The second floor contains distributed data infrastructure hidden inside executive offices and accounting spaces. These are not full racks, but smaller server towers or terminal units tucked near desks or against interior walls. They blend in with office clutter and are easy to confuse with non-interactable PCs.
The condition here is proximity and patience. The prompt only appears when you’re standing still and centered on the device for a moment. Strafing past or checking while turning your camera too fast can suppress the interaction entirely.
A frequent mistake is clearing these offices early, then never re-entering after combat escalates elsewhere. If you clear them before the server floor and don’t interact immediately, odds are you’ll forget them. Lock it in while the room is fresh.
Basement or Rear Infrastructure Room — Late-Game Trap
Depending on your route, you may encounter a rear or lower-level infrastructure room near utility access or emergency power systems. This room often contains mixed objectives: breakers, storage, and one valid data interaction hidden among them. Players mentally bucket this as “non-data” and skip it.
The server component here is usually smaller and quieter, sometimes without obvious blinking lights. You must visually scan the room and check anything that looks like a network junction or mini-rack. If it has vents, cables, and a metal housing, assume it’s worth checking.
This is also where teams fail by triggering extraction too early. Once you hit the end-state trigger, you cannot retroactively complete this objective, even if you’re standing ten feet away.
Tactical Checklist to Lock This Objective Every Time
After clearing any room with electronics, stop and do a slow left-to-right sweep specifically for racks, towers, and wall-mounted boxes. Don’t trust your peripheral vision. If the room feels “empty,” that’s a red flag, not a green light.
In co-op, call out “server check” as a verbal phase shift. One player scans while the others hold security. Solo players should pause movement entirely and listen for the interaction audio cue; it’s subtle, but consistent.
Most importantly, interact immediately. Do not plan to come back later. The game will not remind you, and your memory under pressure is worse than you think.
Secondary Soft Objectives: Evidence, Hidden Devices, and High-Risk Civilian Interactions
Once the primary data objectives are locked in, 23 Megabytes A Second quietly shifts gears. This mission punishes players who tunnel vision on gunfights and forget that Ready Or Not grades you on restraint, awareness, and procedural discipline. The soft objectives here are not optional fluff; they are the difference between a clean A and a frustrating A+ or S-rank miss.
These objectives are spread across already-cleared spaces, meaning your routing and pacing matter just as much as your aim. If you sprint through rooms the moment threats drop, you will miss them. This is where experienced teams slow down, reframe the room, and treat it like a crime scene instead of a killbox.
Recoverable Evidence — Small Items, Big Penalties
Evidence in this mission favors small, low-visibility objects that blend into office clutter. Expect laptops, loose hard drives, USB sticks, and mobile devices placed on desks, side tables, or near network equipment. They rarely glow or draw attention, and some are partially occluded by monitors or paperwork.
The most consistent evidence spawns are in individual offices adjacent to the main server floor, particularly those with personal desks rather than shared workstations. Another common location is the break room or security office, where phones are left charging or tucked beside coffee machines. These are areas players clear fast and never reassess.
The biggest pitfall is assuming that securing a suspect auto-clears the room. Evidence does not care about combat state. After restraints are applied, stop moving and visually scan every horizontal surface. If you’re standing, you’re missing half the room; crouch and check desk undersides and shelves.
Hidden Electronic Devices — Not All Tech Is a Server
Beyond the main data racks, this mission hides smaller electronic devices that still count toward soft objectives. These include signal boosters, compact routers, and unsecured terminals that look like environmental props. They do not always share the visual language of the primary objective, which is why they’re missed so often.
These devices most commonly appear in secondary IT closets, wall-mounted enclosures in hallways, or mixed-use rooms that also store janitorial or maintenance supplies. Players see mops and boxes and mentally disengage. That’s the trap. If there are cables running into a wall or a locked metal panel, slow down and check it.
Interaction prompts here are extremely angle-sensitive. You need to be centered and stationary, just like with server interactions. Sprinting past or clearing while pieing the corner can suppress the prompt entirely. Treat these like mines: approach deliberately, face-on, and confirm before moving on.
High-Risk Civilian Interactions — Compliance Is the Objective
Civilians in this mission are not passive score bonuses. Several are flagged as high-risk due to proximity to suspects or access to sensitive areas, and improper handling can tank your grade. Yelling commands and moving on is not enough; you must confirm compliance and physically restrain them.
Common civilian spawns include office workers hiding under desks near the server floor, technicians inside infrastructure rooms, and staff sheltering in bathrooms or copy rooms. These civilians are often masked by combat noise and won’t respond immediately to voice commands. Players assume the room is empty and leave.
The critical mistake is failing to wait for full compliance. A civilian who is halfway through the animation still counts as unsecured. Hold your aim, keep issuing commands, and do not turn away until hands are visible and the prompt confirms restraint. In co-op, designate one player as civilian control while others hold angles to prevent aggro spikes from nearby suspects.
Routing Tips to Lock All Soft Objectives in One Pass
The safest route is to fully clear and soft-sweep each branch before pushing deeper into the server floor. Treat every cleared room as a two-phase process: threat neutralization first, evidence and civilian confirmation second. If shots were fired, assume something was missed.
Avoid triggering extraction until you’ve verbally confirmed evidence, devices, and civilians are complete. The end-state trigger is unforgiving, and this mission loves placing a single USB stick or router just outside your final push. Slow is smooth here, and smooth is how you keep your S-rank intact.
Common Failure Points: Why Players Miss Soft Objectives (RoE Violations, Arrest Order, and Timing Bugs)
Even when players know where every soft objective is, 23 Megabytes A Second still bleeds points through invisible tripwires. The mission’s logic stack is unforgiving, and it expects textbook SWAT behavior under live fire. Most missed objectives aren’t about awareness, but about sequence, restraint, and how the game evaluates your actions behind the scenes.
RoE Violations That Silently Invalidate Objectives
The most common failure comes from treating armed suspects as shoot-on-sight when the mission explicitly wants arrests. Several soft objectives, especially those tied to intelligence recovery, require suspects to be taken alive. Kill them early, and the game quietly locks you out without a notification.
This happens most often in the server floor offices and infrastructure corridors. Suspects here frequently hesitate or fake compliance, baiting players into pre-firing to avoid aggro spikes. If you don’t give them the full verbal cycle and a beat to comply, the RoE flag trips, and any intel or device tied to that suspect is considered lost.
Less obvious is over-penetration. Wallbanging through thin server racks or glass partitions can tag civilians or surrendering suspects you never saw. Even if the room clears clean, the backend still counts it as excessive force, and that soft objective tied to lawful engagement fails instantly.
Arrest Order Matters More Than Players Think
Arrest sequencing is a hidden mechanic that catches even veteran teams. In multi-suspect rooms, especially the open-plan server hall, the game expects the most compliant target to be restrained first. Drop the aggressive suspect but ignore the surrendering one, and you risk breaking the compliance chain.
This is brutal in co-op. One player pushes to cuff a downed hostile while another swings past a kneeling suspect to clear the next angle. The game logs that as abandoning a compliant civilian or suspect, and any objective linked to securing personnel can fail even though everyone is technically restrained later.
The fix is discipline. Freeze the room once compliance starts. Restrain in visual order, confirm the prompt, then resume clearing. It costs seconds, but it protects objectives that don’t re-trigger once skipped.
Timing Bugs and Soft Triggers That Don’t Like Speed
23 Megabytes A Second is notorious for soft objectives that fail if you move too fast. Evidence prompts, data devices, and certain civilian interactions require you to be stationary, centered, and not mid-animation. Slide in, spin, or issue commands while strafing, and the interaction never registers.
This hits hardest in network rooms and side offices branching off the server floor. Players clear, hear no gunfire, and sprint onward assuming objectives auto-complete. In reality, the USB, router, or laptop was never flagged because the interaction window never opened.
There’s also a known issue with end-state timing. Triggering extraction while a soft objective is technically “available but unconfirmed” permanently locks it out. The mission doesn’t warn you. If even one device or civilian hasn’t been manually checked, the S-rank is gone.
False Positives: When Players Think an Objective Is Done
Visual confirmation lies in this mission. A suspect on the ground isn’t arrested until cuffs are applied. A civilian with hands up isn’t secured until restrained. A blinking device isn’t logged until the prompt completes and disappears.
Audio cues are equally misleading. Shouting “Clear” or hearing teammates confirm doesn’t mean the game agrees. Always wait for the on-screen confirmation and double-check the objective list before pushing deeper or calling extraction.
This is why high-level teams slow down after every firefight. Shots fired means something changed, and changed states often reset compliance or evidence flags. Treat every engagement as a potential soft objective reset, and you’ll stop bleeding progress without realizing it.
Optimal Clearing Route: Tactical Pathing to Secure All Soft Objectives Without Backtracking
Everything discussed so far funnels into one core truth: route discipline is what separates an A-rank clear from a flawless S. 23 Megabytes A Second punishes improvisation because its soft objectives are spatially tied to how the map expects you to move. Clear out of order, and you’ll either miss prompts or lock them behind extraction timing.
This route assumes a slow, methodical pace with hard freezes after every contact. The goal isn’t speed; it’s ensuring every soft trigger fires once and only once, with no need to double back through hostile space.
Initial Entry: Lobby, Reception, and Front Offices
Start by clearing the lobby and reception desk immediately, even if suspects retreat deeper. This area frequently contains a civilian tied to the “secure all civilians” soft objective, and they love to wander during gunfire. If they flee into the hallway and you restrain them later, the objective can desync.
Check behind the reception counter and the adjacent front office cubicles before moving on. One of the early data devices can spawn on a desk monitor here, and it won’t trigger unless you’re stationary and centered. Don’t mirror-clear and leave; physically step up to each workstation and confirm the prompt disappears.
Once the front offices are secure, pause and check the objective list. If any data-related soft objective hasn’t updated, you missed something here, not deeper in the building.
Main Hallway Push: Side Offices Before Server Floor
Move down the main hallway slowly, clearing side offices as priority targets. These rooms are infamous for soft objective failures because players hear no audio cues and assume they’re empty. Several laptop and router spawns live on shelves, under desks, or behind half-open doors.
Always clear these rooms fully before touching the server floor doors. The moment you enter the server room, suspect AI becomes more aggressive, and firefights there often cause civilians in side offices to panic and reset compliance states.
When interacting with devices, stop moving completely. No strafing, no leaning, no issuing commands mid-interaction. If the prompt flickers or doesn’t vanish, back out and re-trigger it until it locks in.
Server Floor: Center-First, Perimeter Second
The server floor should be treated as a controlled box, not a rush zone. Clear the center aisles first, then work clockwise along the perimeter racks. Suspects like to path between rows, and stray rounds here can trigger civilian movement in adjacent rooms.
Soft objectives on this floor usually involve multiple devices, and missing even one kills the S-rank. Check both ends of each row; devices can spawn symmetrically but only one side might be interactable.
After the room is quiet, holster the urge to move on. Walk the entire perimeter again and visually confirm no blinking or interactable prompts remain. This double-pass costs time but saves a restart.
Back Offices and Network Rooms: High-Risk Soft Objective Zone
These rooms are where most runs die silently. Network rooms branching off the server floor often contain the final required data device, and the interaction window is extremely finicky. If you enter while sprinting or issue commands immediately, the game may never register the prompt.
Clear suspects first, freeze the room, then interact with devices one by one. If a civilian is present, restrain them before touching any equipment. A civilian shifting position mid-interaction can cancel the trigger without feedback.
Before leaving this section of the map, open the objective list again. If a data objective is incomplete, it is almost always in one of these rooms, not ahead of you.
Final Sweep and Extraction Discipline
Only after all side rooms, network spaces, and the server floor are confirmed should you push toward extraction-adjacent areas. Any remaining civilians must be restrained now, not later. Waiting until the end risks pathing bugs or AI repositioning that invalidates earlier compliance.
Do a full team halt before calling extraction. Stand still, check objectives, and confirm nothing is listed as available or incomplete. If something is missing, do not trigger extraction under any circumstance; it permanently locks soft objectives.
This route works because it respects how Ready or Not actually tracks progress, not how it visually presents it. Follow the path, freeze often, and the mission finally plays fair.
Loadout & Team Composition Tips for Full Soft Objective Completion
By the time you’re reaching the final sweep, your success is already decided by what you brought in and how your team is structured. The 23 Megabytes A Second mission punishes generic loadouts because its soft objectives demand precision, patience, and uninterrupted interactions. This is not a DPS check; it’s a control and consistency test.
Primary Weapons: Control Over Lethality
Avoid high-caliber rifles with heavy recoil or over-penetration. Server rooms, back offices, and cubicle clusters have thin walls and shared civilian spaces, and stray rounds can trigger panic pathing that breaks soft objective interactions. 5.56 with controlled semi-auto or SMGs with solid accuracy stats are ideal.
Suppressors are non-negotiable. Unsuppressed shots can aggro suspects in adjacent rooms you haven’t frozen yet, pulling civilians out of safe positions and into device interaction zones. That single movement is enough to cancel a data collection prompt without ever telling you why.
Less-Lethal Is Mandatory, Not Optional
At least two officers should carry dedicated less-lethal tools, not just tasers as backups. Beanbag shotguns or pepperball launchers are critical for freezing civilians near server racks and desk clusters without forcing them to relocate. The goal isn’t compliance speed; it’s positional stability.
Do not rely on verbal commands alone in network rooms. Civilians here tend to flinch, rotate, or kneel into interactable hitboxes. A controlled less-lethal hit locks them in place and preserves the soft objective trigger window while you work through devices.
Optics, Lights, and Interaction Visibility
Run low-zoom optics or irons. High magnification scopes actively work against you in this mission, as soft objective prompts require precise camera angles and line-of-sight. You need to see blinking lights, cables, and subtle interaction icons, not pixel-perfect headshots.
Weapon-mounted lights should be on at all times in office wings and server aisles. Several data devices spawn low or behind equipment where ambient lighting doesn’t reach. If you can’t clearly see the prompt, the game often won’t register the interaction even if you’re standing in the right spot.
Utility and Equipment Loadouts
Bring extra zip ties across the team. Civilians tied early stay tied, and that stability is what keeps soft objectives from silently failing later. Running out of restraints and leaving a compliant civilian unsecured is one of the most common S-rank killers on this map.
Gas and flashbangs should be used sparingly and deliberately. Gas can push civilians out of interaction range, while poorly placed flashes can cause AI to stumble into device clusters. If you deploy utility in a room with potential data objectives, clear and restrain first, then interact.
Team Roles and Command Discipline
Designate one officer as the primary interaction lead. This player handles all data devices, laptops, and servers while the rest of the team holds security. Swapping who interacts mid-mission increases the risk of missed prompts due to timing or positioning differences.
Issue fewer commands during interactions. Ordering AI teammates to move, stack, or clear while a soft objective is being completed can interrupt the animation or cancel the trigger entirely. Lock the room down, go quiet, and treat each device like a bomb defusal, not a loot pickup.
AI Teammates vs. Co-op Considerations
AI teammates are safer for soft objective consistency, provided you leash them tightly. Keep them posted at doors and corners, not roaming, and never issue a global move command while interacting with devices. AI pathing through server aisles is a known way to block or reset prompts.
In co-op, communicate explicitly before every interaction. One player bumping a civilian or rotating a suspect at the wrong moment can undo five minutes of perfect clearing. Call out when a device is being interacted with and freeze all movement until it completes.
Loadouts and roles don’t just make combat easier here; they determine whether the game acknowledges your success at all. Treat every piece of gear as a tool for preserving soft objective integrity, and the mission stops feeling random and starts feeling solvable.
S-Rank Checklist: Final Verification Before Extraction
By the time you’re thinking about extraction, the mission is already decided. This final window is not about clearing more rooms or chasing stray suspects; it’s about confirming the game has actually registered every soft objective you interacted with earlier. Rushing the exit without verification is how flawless runs quietly downgrade to an A+.
Treat this phase like a systems check. Slow down, cross-reference your HUD, and physically revisit key objective zones if anything feels off.
Confirm All Soft Objectives Are Logged
Open the objective list and verify every soft objective is marked complete, not just “found” or partially tracked. On 23 Megabytes A Second, the most common culprits are the server rack upload and secondary data terminals, especially if they were interacted with during active combat.
If an objective is missing, return to its physical location. Data devices will often allow re-interaction if the first attempt was interrupted by AI movement, suppression, or a cancelled animation. The server room racks and office-side terminals are especially prone to false positives where the prompt triggers but doesn’t fully register.
Recheck High-Risk Objective Zones
Before calling extract, sweep the server room one last time. This area is dense with interactable hitboxes, and teammates or suspects can clip into racks, blocking completion. Make sure every server interaction zone is clear of bodies, restrained suspects, and AI pathing.
Secondary offices and cubicle clusters are the next priority. These rooms often host laptops or terminals that don’t stand out visually and can be missed if you cleared them during a firefight. If a room had a desk, a monitor, or a closed laptop, physically approach it again and look for prompts.
Civilian and Suspect Status Verification
Count your restraints. Every compliant civilian must be zip-tied, and every suspect must be either restrained or confirmed neutralized. A single unsecured civilian left behind, even in an early-clear room, will void S-rank regardless of objective completion.
Pay special attention to civilians pushed by gas or flash effects earlier. They can end up behind furniture, inside server aisles, or clipped near doorframes where they’re easy to miss. If the TOC callout doesn’t confirm all civilians secured, you’re not done.
Unauthorized Use of Force Check
S-rank is unforgiving about force thresholds. If you’re unsure whether a suspect was legally engaged, review the mission flow before extracting. Shooting a suspect mid-surrender or during a weapon drop animation can still count as excessive force, even if the threat felt real in the moment.
This is why clean arrests matter on this map. The more suspects you restrain instead of neutralize, the safer your score becomes. If something feels borderline, assume the game will side against you and adjust future runs accordingly.
Extraction Timing and Team Discipline
Only call for extraction once one player has verbally confirmed every checklist item. In co-op, designate that same interaction lead as the final verifier to avoid conflicting assumptions. Once extract is called, do not issue movement commands or split the team.
Extraction itself can still fail a run if a teammate aggroes a hidden suspect or bumps an unsecured civilian on the way out. Move as a unit, weapons low, and treat the path to the exit like a cleared hallway, not a victory lap.
Final Tactical Takeaway
23 Megabytes A Second doesn’t punish sloppy gunplay as much as it punishes impatience. The map is designed to reward players who think like investigators first and operators second. If you slow the final two minutes down and respect the checklist, S-rank stops being elusive and starts being consistent.
Master this verification phase, and the mission becomes one of the most reliable S-rank clears in Ready or Not. Clean inputs, disciplined teams, and deliberate exits are what separate good runs from perfect ones.