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Episode 6
“Ugh.”
“The behavior displayed by the cadets from the very first day is utterly disappointing! Down and up!”
‘Push-ups after all.’
I sighed inwardly and placed both hands on the floor.
“While your peers were fighting drowsiness in their chairs, the cadets were lying in bed. How selfish is that.”
‘Why is lying in bed selfish?’
It’s an incomprehensible statement, but the military is inherently a place where irrationality is enforced by rank.
“Focus on one, recover on two. If I see anyone slacking, you’d better be prepared. One!”
“Focus!!!”
“Listen to that voice! And you there! Get lower! Are you messing with this instructor right now?!”
The instructor approached Pluto and grabbed him by the hair.
“I said get lower! Are you playing around because I’m being nice? You useless lot. Two!”
“Recover!!!”
“You, who aspire to become officers, what do you think you’ll achieve if you can’t even overcome mere drowsiness?! One!”
“Focus!!!”
“Think and reflect on how weak-willed and unfocused you are. Two!”
“Recover!!!”
.
.
I thought we’d do about thirty like before and be done, but perhaps he was truly angry, as there was no sign of stopping.
“Endure it! Think of it as the responsibility and duty you must bear in the future, and absolutely do not collapse.”
‘You lunatic, how is physical torment considered responsibility and duty?’
If there were a competition for making nonsensical statements sound plausible, he would undoubtedly win.
“Two!”
“Recover!!!”
‘Damn it! This is the limit! Stop!’
It was so exhausting I could barely even move my arms.
“For the last one, go down as low as you can until your chest touches the ground. One!”
I thought it was impossible, but at the word “last,” I mustered every last ounce of strength to move.
Shudder. Shudder.
My arms trembled like aspen leaves.
If hell existed, this would surely be it.
“Remember in your heads the pain caused by the cadets’ selfish actions. Understood?!”
“U…Understood!!!”
Holding only the wish for it to end quickly, I raised my voice.
“Cadets, as per regulations, you lose 2 points. From now on, make sure I never catch you lying down again.”
The instructor shot a murderous glare at each of us one by one before leaving the room.
“Ugh.”
Thud.
As soon as the instructor left, the room members collapsed to the floor.
I, too, had lost all strength in my body and couldn’t even get up.
‘The physical part is whatever, but losing 2 points is insane.’
My goal was to avoid losing points, and it was broken from the very first day.
“If we keep lying here like this, he might say something again, so let’s all get up for now.”
Normally, there would have been objections asking why we should bother, but perhaps because we’d just been punished.
Despite the exhaustion, everyone got up from their spots and headed to their chairs.
“Seriously, just for lying in bed a bit, why do we have to suffer through such harsh treatment like this?!”
Pluto vented his frustration in a voice brimming with irritation.
‘Yeah, I agree.’
It’s certain that the damn military has no concept of human rights.
“I never thought a day like this would come in my life… Haa, I want to go home.”
Even Ion, who hadn’t shown any weakness until now, mentioned home for the first time. His current life must be the complete opposite of what he was used to, so a strong sense of reality must have hit him.
‘These guys seem to need some mental care.’
They might seem okay now, but things like this will keep happening.
If they can’t endure and lose their minds, then there’s no solution from that point.
“We just have to endure for 2 weeks, right? We were just unlucky to get caught this time, so don’t worry about it.”
The key point of comfort is “2 weeks.”
Thankfully, it’s really only 2 weeks.
‘If I had to do 12 weeks with these guys, it’s dizzying to think about.’
I guarantee I would have been the first to lose my mind.
“Right. Let’s all cheer up. As Palan said, it’s just 2 weeks.”
Ion, who had made the “want to go home” comment, lifted his lowered head and pulled himself together.
That’s how the atmosphere began to recover.
But keeping that momentum going isn’t easy.
Especially not in a training battalion.
-Message to all living quarters. Assemble immediately at the company drill ground to line up by platoon. End of message.
The cadets shot up from their seats the moment the instructor’s announcement ended.
“Let’s at least get out quickly for this and try to salvage our image.”
Finally.
It seems our gentlemen have come to their senses.
‘Losing 2 points might seem cheap too.’
Someone might say that.
Well, if you just do well yourself, that’s enough. Why care about others?
‘That might be true in society, but not here.’
The training battalion is a place where collective punishment is doled out as easily as breathing.
‘Looking at it, I wasn’t even lying down earlier, but I still lost points.’
So, if these guys cause trouble, there’s a high probability I’ll get dragged in with them.
“If your feet touch the ground, run! Who’s walking right now?!”
“Is this a neighborhood park?! Move your feet!!!”
Instructors and assistant instructors shouted at the cadets pouring out onto the drill ground.
They looked exactly like shepherds herding sheep.
“Straighten your lines! Don’t look to the side, just look at the head of the person in front!”
“Who’s rolling their eyes right now?!”
They didn’t pay much attention to detailed aspects like line spacing before dinner, but now it was completely different.
“Cadet, name.”
“Terk Gabius!”
“Shoelace is untied. Uniform violation, 1 point deduction.”
The assistant instructors roamed the lines, doling out point deductions almost like shopping.
They looked just like demons.
“All, attention.”
Once a somewhat decent formation was assembled, the instructor stepped onto the podium.
“Today, this instructor observed the cadets without a single moment’s rest for half a day.”
A deeply ominous voice.
This doesn’t feel good.
‘Observed. That’s something they say before they ‘polish’ someone.’
I don’t know why, but in the military, disciplining a junior is often called “polishing.”
“As a result, the cadets are the worst class I have ever seen. An attitude of trying to ignore military hierarchy with your noble status, complaints at every turn.”
It’s usually hard to sympathize with what these red-capped guys say, but this time, my head nodded on its own.
‘They are hopeless.’
Our room members have come to their senses a bit now, but others still don’t even button their uniforms properly.
“Asking if they can call a maid to clean, or questioning this and that… It is lamentable to this instructor that such cadets must be commissioned as officers after a mere 2 weeks of training.”
Quite a long build-up.
My hands and feet were starting to tremble.
“However, I cannot refuse orders from higher command that have already been decided. First, I will change that rotten attitude of yours! All of you, squat down!”
‘Damn. We’re screwed.’
I almost cursed out loud at the command to squat.
Why?
‘If what I’m imagining is correct, this is hell.’
Worse than push-ups.
“‘Squat down’? What are they going to make us do?”
“If we’re just staying like this, it’s not too bad.”
Cadets who still didn’t know their own futures whispered to each other.
“From now on, in this position, you will go to the warehouse where you received your gear and back.”
“W…?”
“Wait, you mean go like this?!”
They all denied reality, but in the military, nothing is impossible.
“No objections! Starting with 1st Platoon, 1st Company, all of you, move forward!”
Who could possibly disobey the instructor, who held the overwhelming power of points?
Waddle, waddle.
The cadets moved at a speed several times slower than walking.
After the entire 1st Platoon moved out, I was next.
‘Damn it! Damn it!’
Fortunately, we were using our legs, not our already battered arms, but still, a duck walk?
Memories of the absurdities I endured in training and my regular unit came flooding back, making my hands and feet shake.
“I’m already dying, and we have to get to the warehouse like this…?”
“They’re making us do something utterly nonsensical!”
Moans of complaint came from all directions.
But just when thoughts of giving up arose, the instructor’s behavior was violent.
“Get up within 3 seconds! 3, 2, 1! Cadet loses 3 points!”
“Can’t you see your slow speed is inconveniencing the peers behind you?!”
If anyone showed even a hint of fatigue, he would rush over and yell; if anyone collapsed, points were deducted immediately.
Even Satan would surely concede defeat to him.
“Huff! Huff!”
Somehow we reached the warehouse, but muscle cramps made it difficult to take even one more step.
‘They said training starts tomorrow, damn it.’
Disgusting red-capped bastards.
Everything they say is a lie.
“Ugh.”
On the way back from checking in at the warehouse.
I collapsed from muscle cramps before making it halfway back.
The only silver lining was that from the moment we checked in at the warehouse, the instructor only yelled and didn’t deduct points.
“Ugh, I really feel like I’m going to die.”
Lights out, after finishing even a shower—the time when we could legally lie in bed.
Everyone sounded and looked almost half-dead.
‘Going straight to the lecture hall after that ordeal was insane.’
The lectures that followed lasted until 2 AM.
Maybe because it was the first day, most of it was useless content like the basics of being a soldier, so I let it go in one ear and out the other.
“We ended today with a 2-point deduction, right?”
Ion began writing something in his notebook.
“Yes. No one got points deducted during the duck walk, right?”
“No one. In fact, Derick got bonus points.”
“Hehe, I was lucky. Who would have thought they’d give bonus points for that?”
Those who successfully completed the duck walk were awarded 1 bonus point.
One might think it’s not much, but since bonus points are rare, 1 point holds significant meaning.
“I took a rough look earlier, and about 250 people got points deducted for the duck walk and uniform violations.”
‘That many?’
I thought the number wouldn’t be small, but I never expected it to exceed triple digits.
“If deductions keep coming in like this and we survive, we can easily offset 2 points.”
It seems Ion is still bothered by the 2-point deduction from the bedtime incident.
‘Good. Keep up that attitude.’
I found myself smiling unconsciously at his desirable mindset.
“By the way, may I make a suggestion?”
Just as the atmosphere was settling into sleepiness, Derick spoke up.
“A suggestion?”
“Yes. We have to train together going forward, so how about we drop formalities and speak comfortably as brothers? For reference, I’m eighteen.”
So, Derick’s suggestion was to drop the honorific “nim.”
I liked it immediately.
‘Yeah, it can’t hurt for the roommates to become closer.’
To survive in this hell, we need to be a single team.
“Sounds good. More than that, you’re younger than I thought at eighteen. I’m nineteen.”
Our top-ranked member, Ion Bell burn, agreed while stating his age.
Next was Nanga.
You might have forgotten, but in terms of noble rank alone, I’m tied for second here.
“I’m fine with it too. Age is nineteen.”
With the agreement of the three high-ranking nobles, there was really no need to hear others’ opinions.
“Twenty.”
“Nineteen.”
After hearing all the ages, surprisingly, the youngest was Derick with his steel body.
Next, the largest group was four people aged nineteen: me, Ion, and two others.
Then two people aged twenty: Taylor and Pluto.
Finally, the eldest was Crushel at twenty-one.
“Then, from now on… I’ll speak comfortably. Ion.”
“Good, this feels much better.”
I took the lead in starting, and the transition happened quickly.
“Well then, hyungs, let’s do our best again tomorrow.”
Derick raised his arm enthusiastically.
But everyone was too exhausted to react.
“Alright, haa. Let’s all sleep now. I heard they wake us up at 6:30 AM, so there’s not much time left.”
Ion, weighed down by fatigue, was the first to close his eyes.
And so, the long first day at the training battalion concluded.
-Reveille! Reveille!
“Damn it!”
