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CHAPTER 04
What was the thing I said most after joining this damn military?
“I’m sorry?”
“I’ll correct it?”
Whatever you might guess, it’s all wrong. The correct answer is this:
“This works?”
One week into military life, I realized something.
The pyramids were built by humans.
What in this world can’t humans do…?
During that week, a recruit’s daily life went like this:
“1,000 jumping jacks—go!”
“Are you insane…?”
About an hour later, I was saying:
“This works?”
I learned that physical stamina can be improved with sheer mental willpower.
“Hey! Lift the log properly! Teamwork, teamwork!”
“Teamwork my ass, how are we supposed to hold this…?”
“…This works.”
I learned that even strength can be improved with mental willpower.
“Your blanket isn’t properly folded?”
“…This works.”
Shockingly, I learned that even blankets can be perfectly folded.
“The floor isn’t shiny enough!”
“…Why does this work?”
I learned that if you clean the wooden floor properly, it can become so polished you can see your reflection.
‘Damn it, even special forces probably don’t train this hard… wait, right, this is special forces…’
Except for basic cleaning and making the beds, our entire day was nothing but training from morning to night.
“…This is kind of weird, isn’t it?”
Rolling around on the dirt as punishment for my miserable push-up performance, I thought:
‘Isn’t this too much training?’
We spent a full week doing nothing but training, not even having a single proper conversation with our fellow recruits. The same went for the seniors.
Most of all, the words I heard from the senior on my first day kept bothering me.
‘He said the previous batch got wiped out.’
I understood that fighting monsters was extremely dangerous, and that many of the other race had died because of it…
But still—
‘Can I survive this?’
A bad feeling kept creeping in.
In Four Madmen Who Are Obsessed With Me, Sarubia—the body I possessed—was already dead at the start. It must have been because of monsters.
I wanted to avoid that fate somehow, but the problem was that it didn’t depend entirely on my effort.
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t become strong enough to defeat all monsters.
Even other race men, who were physically stronger than me, still died to monsters—so could I really survive all eight years and be discharged safely?
‘Unlike the original story, there’s no romance in my life. This isn’t a romance fantasy.’
I gritted my teeth and remembered Aquila’s face from earlier, looking like he desperately wanted to desert while doing push-ups.
‘…And it’s not like I can even become the heroine’s “first love” anymore.’
Aquila showed no interest in me whatsoever. To him, I was just a weak recruit dragging others down under “collective responsibility.” I couldn’t rely on him at all.
And the biggest problem was…
‘This is four years before the original story even begins.’
Which meant the male leads weren’t even “developed” enough yet to start obsessing over anyone.
Even if the “obsessive male leads” plot I was hoping for eventually started, it didn’t look like it would help my life at all…
“How’s basic training going for them?”
After surviving hellish training and sitting on the dirt with dead eyes, Leon—the senior who had mentioned the previous batch being wiped out—spoke to Plato, who was in charge of our training. Leon always spoke lazily, chewing gum-like.
“We pushed them hard all week. From next week, we’ll switch them to the normal trainee routine.”
‘Right? So it’s not always this intense, right?’
So only the first week was insane, and after that we’d join the regular trainee schedule.
I nearly cried in relief. If this level continued for eight years, I’d just desert immediately.
“Now we just need to finish basic sword training.”
“Got it. Hey, you guys! Get up again!”
At Leon’s order, Plato glared at us and gestured.
‘Damn it, we barely rested five minutes… are you kidding me?’
Of course, I couldn’t say that out loud. I was just a rookie, damn it…
We followed Plato back to the training ground, where senior soldiers were already swinging swords.
“Final basic training. The most important part. Today you’ll practice channeling aura into your swords.”
“Plato, I’ll explain swordsmanship.”
“Lady Louise? Ah, understood.”
A higher-ranking senior stepped forward in Plato’s place.
Louise was one rank below April and the second-highest among the sergeants. She had long hair that made her look almost elf-like.
She was calmer than Plato or Leon, but her rank still meant she was not to be taken lightly. Maybe she was only calm because she didn’t need to discipline juniors anymore…
Anyway, this was the first time we were holding weapons after only physical training, so I was a bit nervous.
‘Right… this was in the original story too.’
Even though this was a military setting, the other race didn’t use guns but swords.
Some used strange weapons like giant guns or whips, but those were special cases. The default weapon was always a sword.
But these weren’t ordinary swords. Ne-Mi-Jip added fantasy elements.
The other race could channel aura into their swords.
Even humans could learn it, but while humans needed years to master it, the other race could use it instinctively. That was one reason the empire conscripted them.
Another interesting aspect was that aura differed from person to person.
Those with faint other-race blood used neutral aura. The stronger the bloodline, the more elemental attributes their aura had.
‘The original heroine Darlene had light attribute aura.’
Such strong bloodlines were extremely rare. But Darlene, as the heroine, naturally had it.
Even though she mostly just messed around and focused on romance instead of working.
‘…Wait, thinking about it again, I’m getting angry.’
Back when I read it, I didn’t realize it—but now that I was actually here, I understood something infuriating.
‘That legendary useless heroine… someone else was doing her job for her.’
If Darlene didn’t work, someone else had to cover her duties.
Honestly, shouldn’t she be paying back 3,000 Marne instead of receiving it?
While I was still mentally complaining, Louise began speaking.
“You’re holding swords for the first time. Be careful not to stab the person next to you.”
“…Huh?”
I stared at her blankly, but she was completely serious. I barely held back a laugh.
In most knight-based rofan stories, they would say things like “Hold the sword with reverence…” or “You must protect people with it…”
But here? “Don’t stab your teammate.”
‘Well… yeah, I guess we shouldn’t stab each other…’
We didn’t have any noble mission of protecting the empire.
So we didn’t need some grand mindset either. We just followed orders.
I held the sword as instructed, and she even corrected each of us individually.
“Now, channel your aura.”
‘Huh?’
It wasn’t just me—everyone looked equally confused.
“Your instincts already know how. It’s not difficult. You can do it.”
‘No… we don’t know how…’
Whether we reacted or not, Louise didn’t seem to care.
“Just think of putting aura into it—and do it.”
‘Are you serious…?’
Still, we had no choice but to try.
In this place, nothing was impossible—that was what I had learned in one week.
I stared at the sword with intense focus until my eyes watered, but nothing happened.
‘Focus your mind, draw out your inner power… this sounds like cult nonsense.’
At that moment—
“Sir Louise! I’ve tried but it’s not working!”
One recruit boldly raised his hand.
We looked at him like a savior.
“…Not working?”
Louise’s gaze turned cold.
“This is the military. And you can’t do it?”
‘Damn it.’
“Then I’ll help you do it.”
She walked behind him and kicked his leg hard.
“Still can’t do it? Try again.”
‘This military is just violence and harassment from start to finish… damn it.’
We all quickly looked down.
And then—
“I-it’s working! I did it!”
The recruit suddenly shouted, his sword glowing with blue aura.
‘…It works?’
“Anyone else need help?”
“NO!”
We shouted in unison.
Of course we did. Unity only appears in moments like this…
“Do it. Do it!”
“We will!”
Of course, no matter how hard I stared at the sword, nothing changed.
And in the end, just like the others, I only managed to use aura after receiving the “violence and fear” training method…
‘Wow… this actually works…’
The military is truly a fascinating place.
