If he got caught, he would really die.
The sincerity behind it made it all the more horrifying.
"Nngh. Ngh."
*Heave. Heave.*
Taesu crawled away with all his might, too.
Whether it was Gim Hyeokgwon giving chase or Taesu fleeing, their speed was about the same.
Jeong Minsu couldn't even budge.
"……."
*Whoosh.*
Even as the cold wind brushed his cheeks, he just lay there, still as a dead mouse.
Day 2 of training.
The rappelling training resumed.
The problem was that physical training was being run concurrently.
"Trainee Choe, rappel!"
"Rappel! Aaaack!"
It was the moment Taesu let out a scream of muscle pain while rappelling.
Meanwhile, Jeong Minsu and Gim Hyeokgwon were each being put through physical training by their instructors.
"Ugh. Ah."
"Faster."
"Uwah, uwaa."
To the point that it was hard to believe it was midwinter, everyone was drenched in sweat.
A few days later.
It was a day when the muscle pain throughout his entire body had started to feel natural.
The three of them had entered an old building.
For those who had been rolling around outside every day, it was a surprising turn of events.
"They said it was new training?"
"And it's indoors, at that."
"Right. How can a person keep using only their body forever?"
Picturing comfortable training, the three instinctively felt that spring had arrived.
But inside, something smelled.
*Sniff, sniff.* "What's this smell?"
"A pungent smell?"
Just as they were wondering about it.
Before them stood Squad Leader Sam and the instructors in a row.
Squad Leader Sam smiled lightly and spoke.
"I will introduce the tools that will help with the new training."
*Snap.*
Squad Leader Sam and the instructors split to the left and right.
Behind them, a shooting range was revealed.
It was an indoor shooting range.
A table was set up in front of the range, with various firearms laid out across it.
The moment he saw that, Taesu’s brow furrowed deeply.
"Sam, what are you trying to do?"
"It's new training."
"I'm sure I told you clearly that I would not handle guns."
Taesu’s voice sank low.
Squad Leader Sam spoke briefly and succinctly.
"The enemy uses guns; are you going to block them with your bare body, Trainee Choi?"
"Who would point a gun at someone trying to save a patient?"
"They could use a patient to lure you in, Trainee Choi."
"What kind of damned bastards would toy with a human life?"
Taesu scrunched up his face.
But Squad Leader Sam spoke firmly.
"What can’t an extremist armed group that throws away its own life do?"
"That's mere conjecture."
"Then are all the PKO soldiers who died in the line of duty while rescuing hostages nothing but made-up stories?"
"Th-… that’s…."
For the first time, Taesu’s answer got stuck.
Especially to Squad Leader Sam, he couldn’t say that it wasn’t true.
Squad Leader Sam himself gave the reason.
"My first company commander passed away exactly like that."
"I've heard."
"This curriculum was put together so that you, who aren't even soldiers, won't die in vain."
"Yes."
Taesu had no choice but to answer obediently.
Even stubbornness had to be exercised with regard for time and place.
If they had deliberately included this for their sake, it was right to go along.
Perhaps disliking the heavy atmosphere, Squad Leader Sam clapped his hands lightly.
*Clap, clap.*
"I’ll show you the training objectives first."
"Yes."
"Prepared instructors, step forward."
At Squad Leader Sam’s command.
*Click.*
Sergeant Ryan stepped forward.
Then he faced Squad Leader Sam and quickly raised a pistol, taking aim.
*Clack.*
It was a clean, efficient movement.
At that sight, surprise came before admiration.
"Why a pistol?"
"Is he allowed to do that?"
While Taesu and Jeong Minsu were startled, Gim Hyeokgwon spoke indifferently.
"Can't you tell just by looking? It's fake."
Because they were in training, he spoke in English.
At the same time as those words.
Sergeant Ryan aimed the muzzle toward the firing range and fired.
*Bang.*
A real bullet was fired.
Gim Hyeokgwon flinched when he saw that.
"Sorry."
"Why would you say such a thing?"
"I'll stay quiet. You two, please continue."
Gim Hyeokgwon even hunched his shoulders and subtly yielded.
Sergeant Ryan aimed the muzzle back at Squad Leader Sam.
He was dead serious.
The atmosphere was such that he would shoot the moment he found an opening.
Then Squad Leader Sam moved his hands nimbly.
*Swish, snatch.*
In an instant, the pistol moved into Squad Leader Sam’s hands.
The muzzle was also pointed at Sergeant Ryan.
Having disarmed him like that, Squad Leader Sam looked at the three and spoke.
"This is the first training objective."
"Oh. Cool."
"Wow. It's like watching a movie."
At the praise, Squad Leader Sam smiled lightly.
"Thank you."
In the very moment he was responding.
Corporal Guspia appeared from behind Squad Leader Sam.
It seemed the prepared instructor was not alone.
He pressed the muzzle of a rifle firmly against Squad Leader Sam’s back and said.
"Checkmate."
He even put on a meaningful smile.
At that instant, Squad Leader Sam’s body moved nimbly.
This time, it was an entirely different method.
*Clack-clack.*
The rifle was disassembled in midair in an instant.
It would be no exaggeration to call it an upgraded scene from a Hong Kong action flick.
The eyes of Taesu and the other two went wide.
"Can that really be done?"
"Wasn't that staged?"
"That is quite surprising."
*Clap, clap.*
They were even clapping without realizing it.
A few more demonstrations followed after that.
They were self-defense techniques such as disarming an opponent or subduing someone holding a gun.
And afterward, Squad Leader Sam spoke to the three.
"This training only ends when all of you have mastered everything that was demonstrated."
"I think we'll really need it."
"That's precisely why it was included."
"Then what should we start with now?"
Taesu was brimming with motivation.
Above all, it was because he liked the fact that he could neutralize guns.
Looking at such a Taesu, Squad Leader Sam curled up one corner of his mouth deeply and spoke.
"All personnel, prepare to fire."
His words were not a joke.
Since it was an indoor shooting range, they started by choosing guns.
"From pistols to rifles and machine guns. Just pick whichever one you like."
"Instructor, why must we shoot guns?"
"Trainee Choi, do you know the operating principles of a gun?"
When Sam asked back, Taesu shook his head.
"I don't."
"And you intend to follow the self-defense techniques?"
"I thought I just needed to learn the essentials."
Taesu lodged a slight protest.
Even though they were inanimate objects, he had an aversion to shooting itself.
It was understandable given that he hadn't served in the military.
Squad Leader Sam asked without batting an eye.
"Can you just grab any surgical tool and use it roughly?"
"A process of proficiency is required."
"Do you think a gun is any different?"
"It's not."
Because the questions were so deliberate, Taesu immediately had to back down.
Squad Leader Sam pointed to the various personal firearms laid out on the table and spoke.
"There are roughly about twenty types. All of you will become proficient in everything from shooting to disassembly and reassembly."
"Understood."
"Then prepared marksmen, enter immediately."
Squad Leader Sam shouted powerfully.
And shortly after.
Shooting began.
Since it was an indoor shooting range, it was short-range shooting, but it was live-fire shooting at targets.
Taesu was shooting with a pistol-type handgun.
*Bang. Bang, bang.*
With each shot fired, Taesu’s gaze grew sharper.
*I will conquer this by all means.*
They say knowing the enemy and knowing yourself is the key to a hundred victories.
In this land filled with war, techniques to neutralize the enemy were absolutely necessary.
And there was another reason, too.
It was said that guns and bullets each had different characteristics.
If he developed the eye to analyze all of them, he could be of help to gunshot patients.
Even as he pulled the trigger, Taesu was mentally applying it to patients.
That was Taesu’s perspective.
Jeong Minsu and Gim Hyeokgwon were a bit different.
First, Jeong Minsu was in a somewhat difficult situation.
*Bang.*
"Hup."
"Trainee Jeong, do not be surprised every single time."
"Yes."
"Grip more firmly with both hands so it doesn't shake. Fire."
*Bang.*
"……Hup."
He kept flinching at the gunshots he fired himself.
Corporal Guspia was visibly dumbfounded.
To that extent, he seemed to need a lot of time to adapt to the sound and recoil.
On the other hand.
Gim Hyeokgwon was practicing shooting with a rifle, not a pistol.
*Rata-tat-tat.*
"Uwahaha, this relieves stress."
"Trainee Gim, control yourself."
"What?"
*Swish.*
When Gim Hyeokgwon turned the muzzle, Private Anthony flinched hard.
"Calm down, calm down."
"Don't touch me."
"Don't do something you'll regret later."
"I'd only regret it if I shot. Shall I try really regretting it once?"
Along with the threat, Gim Hyeokgwon gave a cold smile.
It was an advantageous situation he hadn't felt in a long time.
He looked ready to pour out all the stress that had built up.
Private Anthony was quick to judge.
There was no benefit to provoking him unnecessarily, so he remained silent.
"……."
In the meantime, Gim Hyeokgwon aimed at the distant target again and pulled the rifle's trigger.
*Rata-tat.*
"Hahaha."
A chilling eeriness surged from the sight of Gim Hyeokgwon enjoying the gunfire.
Naturally, after shooting practice came maintenance of the used firearms.
The dedicated instructors kindly taught them one by one.
"The start of pistol disassembly is like this…."
*Click, clack.*
"Oh, press here and…."
"Next is the bolt…."
"You call this that, and this is…."
Because it was their first time, their clumsiness was evident.
Even so, disassembly and reassembly were good for grasping the characteristics of the guns.
The types of guns were diverse, too.
Pistols such as revolvers and pistols.
Rifles such as the M16 and AK-47.
There were also grenade launchers, machine guns, and submachine guns.
And even the latest firearms recently supplied were prepared in variety.
The time spent like that was just over an hour.
There was no way the training would end there.
Another type of training was waiting.
This time, they went outside again.
On a quiet drill ground, trainees and instructors stood facing each other.
The expressions of Taesu and the other two were not very good.
"Nothing good ever comes from facing instructors."
"They said it's not physical training."
"Then what are we supposed to do looking at each other's faces?"
Unaware of the training contents, they were filled with nothing but bewilderment.
Then Squad Leader Sam, standing in the center, readily cleared up their curiosity.
"This session is hand-to-hand combat training."
"What?"
The three flinched in surprise and looked.