“Hey, show-off. You must be looking forward to today, huh?”
Kim Seyun said to Park Jinsung, who was sitting next to her on an invisible chair.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
In reality, what Park Jinsung was doing was even more formidable than an invisible chair. He was maintaining a position slightly above the chair, making it look like he was just about to sit down, which was quite the trick.
“Pfft. What do you mean what? It’s the physical fitness test day. It’s your chance to become a special forces soldier.”
“Ah, a special forces soldier? Ah, my. Why make such a fuss over that?”
Special Forces Soldier.
Hit 90 percent or more of 20 shots fired.
Perform at least 72 push-ups in 2 minutes,
Complete at least 82 sit-ups in 2 minutes,
Run 3 kilometers in 12 minutes and 30 seconds or less.
Only those who achieve all these criteria at the same time can earn this highly prestigious title. Only the truly physically gifted can adorn their name tags with the Special Forces mark.
After humanity awakened to Edeya, instead of the shooting category, each unit had to undergo a test assigned by their respective commanders.
Kim Seyun poked Park Jinsung’s side, trying to sit him down on the chair.
“Not interested? That’s surprising. I thought the reason your lackeys were so eager these days was that they were aiming to become special forces soldiers.”
“Ha ha ho ho. We’ve surpassed special forces a long time ago. If we had to label it, maybe super-special forces?”
“…And that’s why you get mocked by Ahn Sungho every day for having a middle school syndrome.”
The reason the Zombie Squad members were so enthusiastic wasn’t just because of the special forces title.
It was the chance encounter with Lee Shin and his discovery of Park Jinsung.
If seeing such a remarkable person doesn’t ignite a fire in them, they don’t deserve to be in the Zombie Squad. The Zombie Squad had already reached super-special levels in the fervor category as well.
Every time they saw their captain, they were reminded of Lee Shin’s grandeur, and that was what drove the Zombie Squad to excel.
[That’s our captain! Truly our captain!]
[Captain is the best!!]
They had to suppress their itching mouths with sprinting who knows how many times.
The combat training undertaken by the Zombie Squad brought a broad smile to Ahn Sungho’s face.
[Hehe. Adorable.]
[Eek?! Se, Sergeant?!]
Ahn Sungho’s habit of lightly patting Park Jinsung’s shoulder had increased, and each time, Park Jinsung would distance himself, complaining about it being like a BL scenario.
Unlike the Zombie Squad, Park Jinsung didn’t pay much attention to Lee Shin.
There wasn’t much he could do about it, and he somehow felt they would meet again.
The 10th Platoon’s captain entered the room, armed with a stopwatch and a simple chart, smiling.
“Ready? If so, let’s head out.”
The 10th Platoon slowly moved to the drill ground.
The drill ground was full of traces of someone’s presence. Although no one was actually there, the footprints scattered about spoke of a busy measuring day.
The 10th Platoon’s captain took out a whistle from his biscuit pouch.
“We’re up next after the 3rd Company, so we’ll start measuring right away. Men, start with push-ups. Count the number for members of your own squad, and only call out two people per squad to watch over each other; 1st and 4th squads together, 2nd and 3rd squads together. Got it?”
“Huh?”
Park Jinsung, who was about to casually get down, spotted someone loitering outside the battalion.
Thinking the distance was safe enough, the person underestimated Park Jinsung’s senses. In fact, the figure was so big that it was noticeable even from afar.
Park Jinsung caught the figure perfectly, even though they were clumsily hiding behind a wall.
“Deputy? Deputy!”
“Huh? Why are you calling? Are you going to cheer me on sexily before I go into battle, my husband? Honey! Fighting!”
“Please stop teasing me… Anyway, Deputy, when someone is watching you, are you the type to intimidate them with all your might, or do you just play it off?”
“Hmph. Me? I’m the type that’s pure plus ultra-pure with just the right amount of sexy.”
“Please, I beg you, just stick to one thing, just one. Oh! Not that!”
Park Jinsung shook his head vehemently while lying down.
“Then speak! Obviously, I’m the type to thoroughly crush them! The nerve of someone trying to measure me up? Hmph! I have to make sure they can’t even think about doing such a thing.”
“Is that so? Then… I’ll just go for something in between.”
“Hmph. I detest contrarians. If you want to be my wife, I hope you’ll correct such habits.”
“Whether it’s a husband or what, please just stick to one concept!”
Kim Seyun, who had been giggling with a face as pale as jade, suddenly adopted a serious expression.
“Someone is watching us…?”
“At the entrance of the battalion.”
“Let me see. Oh? They’re wearing combat uniforms? Could they be from our battalion? They seem really tall too.”
“The color of the combat uniform is slightly different.”
“You’re Mongolian, right? I really like Mongolian people.”
“I am pure, 100% Korean. So, please don’t just look at me however you like.”
Whistle!
The 10th Platoon’s captain blew the whistle.
The squad members, having their own targets, began their push-ups energetically. While everyone was burning through those 2 minutes with vigor, Park Jinsung took a moment to glance outside the battalion.
“Heheh. I’ll just show them a bit.”
Not that he had a fetish for hiding his strength, but he simply didn’t want to meet the expectations of someone whose identity he didn’t even know.
30 seconds flew by, and the 10th Platoon’s captain expressed concern.
“Ji, Jinsung, aren’t you starting?”
“My condition was a bit off, so I hesitated. I’ll start now.”
Crack, crack, crack.
As Park Jinsung gripped the ground, an unfamiliar sound rang out. The vivid handprints left on the ground made it clear he had grasped it fiercely.
“Hiyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
The first comprehensive guerrilla training of the Haeun Special Training Battalion, led by the overwhelming physical display of its number one performer.
“Ah, that show-off. He could’ve just done it quietly.”
Kim Seyun covered her face in embarrassment, but that didn’t hide Park Jinsung’s dominant physical prowess.
The de facto first enrollee of the Hard Training club.
The leader of the Mad Zombie Squad.
The protagonist who sparked the ‘Let’s all train our bodies!’ craze.
Beep!!
“2 minutes up! Starting from the left, call out your counts loudly!”
“45!”
“79!!”
“30….”
Park Jinsung was aligned at the very end among the men.
Every time a varied tone of voices passed by, it inadvertently made others’ hearts race.
They were all curious. Just how many could Park Jinsung have possibly done?
Thump thump!
Especially those who had been monitoring Park Jinsung’s count for the last 2 minutes had to soothe their pounding hearts because they had lost count due to his unbelievably fast pace.
“Last man! How many did you do?”
“I did 100.”
“…….”
All the other squad members turned their gaze toward Kim Seyun.
The only person here who could verify the truth of that unbelievable figure was just one.
“Hey, show-off. Wasn’t it 102?”
“No. I purposely adjusted to make exactly 100.”
“Oh, is that so? I must have counted wrong then.”
The squad members quietly nodded their heads to the surreal conversation exchanged between Kim Seyun and Park Jinsung.
“So, it is….”
Doing 100 in 90 seconds means, more than one per second….
No wonder it was extremely fast….
None of the squad members could nor wanted to argue. They were merely shivering at a scene that never seemed to become familiar.
Park Jinsung casually glanced towards the entrance of the battalion.
‘Huh?’
Surprise.
The mysterious observer was clutching his belly, bursting into laughter. In common slang, thoroughly cracking up.
It seemed as if he was mocking Park Jinsung’s terrible performance and the astonished squad members.
“Next! Sit-ups!”
Though slightly puzzled, Park Jinsung thought it was for the better.
What he thinks of us doesn’t really matter. It would be a relief if he could just detach his undue interest from us.
‘Moderately, moderately.’
Park Jinsung intentionally kept a moderate line in the next measurement as well. Of course, even this was a figure to be amazed at.
[Midterm Physical Measurement Record for Park Jinsung]
Push-ups in 2 minutes: 100 (72↑/Exceptional)
Sit-ups in 2 minutes: 100 (82↑/Exceptional)
3-kilometer run: 11 minutes 11 seconds (12 minutes 30 seconds↓/Exceptional)
Among the men, only Park Jinsung, and among the women, only Kim Seyun passed the measurements as exceptional.
Although the standards for exceptional warriors differ between men and women, Kim Seyun’s figures were impressive enough not to fall short when compared to the average men’s.
“Yoo-hoo. Jinsung, looks like we’ll both become special forces soldiers nicely? Does this make us an exceptional couple now? Or an exceptional married couple?”
“Personally, I’m not a fan of a muscular couple. So, please stop teasing.”
“You, you what?! I’m just perfectly firm!! Here! Feel it! Now!!”
Kim Seyun, provoked, recklessly thrust forward her stomach and thighs.
“Ah! This, this is harassment! Sexual harassment!”
“What did you sayyyy?! Say it again! No, if you say it again, you’re dead…. I’ll smash you into pieces wherever it might be…!!”
“Argh! What exactly do you want me to do?!”
While Park Jinsung and Kim Seyun continued their comedic banter, the next measurement proceeded. The leader of the 10th Platoon, now accustomed to such a scene, went on with the schedule regardless.
And so, the final measurement approached.
Instead of shooting, a discretionary test chosen by the unit.
After organizing the charts, the leader of the 10th Platoon scanned his beloved platoon members.
“The last measurement chosen by our Haeun Special Battalion is the art of Edeya.”
“Huh. Edeya art? Is there such a thing?”
“Use your own Edeya to create the most artistic work possible. You have 30 minutes. The more a work can only be done with your own Edeya, the higher the score you’ll receive.”
“Heh.”
Park Jinsung discreetly stepped back.
After all, there aren’t many arts that daggers and killing intent can perform.
“[Blood-sucking dagger…!]”
Park Jinsung threw his dagger towards the entrance of the battalion while the other squad members were momentarily engulfed in panic.
Swoosh! Thwack!
The dagger, flying fiercely, stuck perpendicularly into the entrance pillar. It was meant as a reply to the one who had been looking this way just a moment ago, but there was no response, perhaps they had already fled.
“Tch. Could it be that I was the target?”
Even though the dagger flew a considerable distance, it wasn’t at a speed that was easy to react to. The lack of any surprised reaction suggests that they had been watching Park Jinsung all along.
“Why keep staring at me?”
This was a guess based on absolute confidence in physical ability. Unless it was Ahn Sungho, no one could possibly match Park Jinsung’s physicality.
“Alas. I tried to offer a voyeur as an art piece. Now I’ve missed both the artwork and the chance to pretend I didn’t know.”
Park Jinsung sighed deeply with regret. If he had known, he would have thrown it even harder.
Meanwhile, as Park Jinsung was lost in his thoughts, the other squad members were fervently engaged in their artwork.
“[Pulls out what was tucked in and swings it!]”
Creak. Woosh! Woosh!
Byun Kiyoung pulled out two trees and sprinkled a heap of leaves over the squad leader’s head. Rubbing the branches against each other truly created a beautiful effect, as if it were raining leaves.
“Keke! Platoon leader? How about the work title, ‘Leaf Rain in a Fairy Tale’? Just give me a perfect score, will you, huh?”
“Oh my. How pretty. I’ll use the effect well, squad leader. [White Jade Goblin!]”
Kim Seyun took out a small cutter knife from her outer pocket.
Whirr…. Slice. Slice. Slicey slicey slicey slicey!
The leaves flying over the squad leader were all split in two, scattering apart.
As they fluttered down, their numbers doubled in a moment. Cut in two mid-air, they scattered in all directions.
A sword expert-level goblin could wield even a short utility knife with ease. Though not quite as adept as Park Jinsung, it was still worthy of the master title.
“You trash! Get lost! Don’t ruin other people’s work and just scram!”
“Why so harsh among squad members. Anyway, the special forces title is out of reach, right?”
“Think all your babble makes sense… Want to die?”
“Hehe. Seems like there was something under the special forces, what was it? Combat pro? Ahaha, sorry sorry. Were you aiming for that?”
The collaborative artwork of Kim Seyun and Byun Kiyoung was unmatched in scale and delicacy. Squad members wasted time just staring in awe.
“Hehe! Excuse me…!”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Radioactive waste! What are you?!”
Park Jinsung thrust himself into the two people’s artwork.
“Csik. [Partial Killing Intent.]”
The muttered onomatopoeia triggered partial killing intent in Park Jinsung.
A hot whirlwind surged through his right arm alone. The killing intent trying to ascend through his arm was firmly blocked at the shoulder, returning to the fingertips of his right hand.
“Hyaaaahhhhhhhhhh!!”
Another bizarre kiai sound produced a bizarre piece of art.
Suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk suk.
Park Jinsung bestowed tiny holes onto each leaf that Kim Seyun had split in two.
As red trails soared upwards, the leaves tumultuously swayed. Their movement was erratic like being caught in a typhoon, but none were left without holes.
“Hehe.”
“For a waste to do this…!”
“Oh. Quite a skill?”
If Byun Kiyoung’s scattered leaves were a shower, Kim Seyun’s sliced leaves were a downpour. Park Jinsung gifted holes to each leaf falling like a downpour.
“Haha… Pretty.”
The platoon leader, who had been quietly observing from above, unknowingly smiled warmly.
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