“Quite a crowd.”
Seeing the trainees swarming around him, Sinhyeok wore a satisfied expression.
“What are you going to do now, hyung?”
Sinhyeok spoke as he pulled potion after potion from his inventory.
“We’re going to attack.”
The water bottles were filled to the brim with red and blue potions.
Every trainee gathered there turned their attention toward the potions.
“Crazy, are all of those potions?”
“All right, everyone, focus.”
Sinhyeok naturally drew everyone’s attention.
“Comrades, the wicked instructors over there are holding our comrades captive.”
“What’s gotten into you, hyung?”
Ichan felt uneasy for no reason when he saw Sinhyeok preparing to do something.
“Shouldn’t we rescue them?”
“What?”
“Why?”
“We should?”
At their stingy reactions, Sinhyeok clicked his tongue and sharply opened a water bottle.
“Top-grade.”
He sprayed it high into the air, and everyone shrieked, stretching their hands toward the sky.
“It’s real! It’s really real!”
Everyone’s eyes widened at the unmistakable reaction spreading through their bodies.
“I make this promise upon these potions. Those who join us! I promise that every one of us will receive the blessing of a perfect score!”
Everyone’s eyes went wild.
A spectacle of top-grade potions raining through the air, along with the promise of perfect scores that bewitched their ears.
“All right! Move! Let’s go defeat the instructors and rescue our comrades!”
Baek Arin and Hong Ichan wondered if this would actually work, but surprisingly, it did.
“Ooh! Let’s go!”
“Yeah! We’ve got to make a mess like this at least once!”
“Yeah! What’s so great about the instructors?”
At Sinhyeok’s gesture, Hong Ichan handed out the potions he had taken out, one by one.
“Charge!”
“Argh!”
At Sinhyeok’s vigorous shout, everyone charged forward with fire in their eyes.
“What’s gotten into them?”
Baek Arin was slightly baffled by how easily they had been swayed.
“Why do you think? An urgent situation interferes with sound judgment.”
Sinhyeok gave a nasty grin as he gathered up his firearm.
“Sigh. I suppose we should go too, right?”
Baek Arin and Hong Ichan got to their feet, hurriedly gathering their weapons as well.
Sinhyeok blocked them with his hands.
“Hmm?”
“What?”
Sinhyeok pointed beside the ruins and explained the exact location.
“There’s a real core about two kilometers in that direction.”
“What?”
Baek Arin was left speechless by Sinhyeok’s ability to discover the core in such a short time.
“Go capture the core. It looks like someone’s standing guard there instead of the boss mob. Take plenty of potions and deal with them properly, all right?”
At Sinhyeok’s nod, she and Ichan quickly took the potions and headed off.
As they moved to deal with the boss mob, a thought suddenly occurred to them.
“But if we deal with the boss mob and capture the core, won’t only we get perfect scores?”
“Come to think of it… No way, right?”
The two looked back at Sinhyeok, who was sprinting along at the rear with an excited expression.
“What a thug.”
The words slipped from her mouth before she knew it.
“Then that makes us thugs too.”
At Ichan’s words from behind her, Baek Arin’s mouth snapped shut.
“Should we go back?”
She flinched at Ichan’s question.
“N-No. Let’s hurry.”
* * *
“They’re coming! They’re coming!”
As the shouts and vibrations grew louder, the instructors waited with tense expressions.
“Rescue our comrades!”
Seeing the trainees rushing toward them in a great mass, the senior instructor’s lips curled into a smile.
“Yes, this is more like it.”
The instructors refrained from using their skills and charged at the approaching trainees.
“If you lose, you’re all eliminated.”
At the senior instructor’s ominous declaration, every trainee flinched.
“The instructors are scared?!”
The instructors bristled at Sinhyeok’s shout from the very back of the group.
At the same time, the trainees gained confidence.
“Yeah, we can do this!”
“Waaaaah!”
“We’ve got more people!”
“Let’s go!”
Before long, the battlefield turned into complete chaos.
Sinhyeok watched from slightly behind the rear of the group.
He removed the training ammunition magazine and discreetly checked it.
[Using Main Skill Enhancement.]
[Training non-lethal rounds are temporarily enhanced.]
Click.
He reattached the magazine, chambered a round, and turned his gaze aside.
He recalled the layout of the area that he had explored through mapping.
“About here?”
Bang.
Amid the melee, a gunshot rang out, and the bullet struck the lock on the temporary prison.
“Hmm? Hup!”
The senior instructor grabbed the waistband of a trainee who was throwing himself around using nothing but brute strength and lifted him off the ground.
“Whoa! Ngh!”
“Take a little rest.”
He looked toward the prison.
A moment later, he clicked his tongue when he saw another group of trainees pouring out.
“Tsk. Are they planning to overwhelm us with numbers?”
The senior instructor looked around with an incredulous expression.
There were trainees with wild looks in their eyes—and Sinhyeok, grinning at the very rear.
“That rotten bastard. He’s playing with them.”
Sinhyeok smiled as he enjoyed the melee.
Judging by the situation, this was a battle that neither side could easily win.
“You trainees won’t get good scores by doing this.”
“Mmgh! Instructor! Are you perhaps getting scared?!”
“Heh.”
The senior instructor drove his fist into a trainee’s stomach.
“Urgh!”
“Clean this up!”
At his shout, the instructors who had been playing around began to use their strength in earnest.
With practiced skill, they gritted their teeth and knocked down the trainees charging at them.
“No! Hold them back! Endure with sheer willpower!”
Bolstered by Sinhyeok’s shouts from behind, accompanied by the potions, the trainees found new strength.
“Waaaaah!”
The senior instructor, Sergeant Lee Jun-ho, looked toward Sinhyeok, who was clicking his tongue and laughing.
“That rotten bastard…”
What was even more outrageous was that the potions he was recklessly spraying into the air were top-grade red potions.
“Sergeant? These are all top-grade?! Mmgh! Hey! Don’t go there!”
Sergeant Lee Jun-ho let out a hollow laugh.
“Yes, I can see that too. What the hell is that guy doing?”
Despite the potions’ blessing, however, the situation remained overwhelmingly unfavorable for the trainees.
“Enough. Your zero scores won’t change just because you do this.”
Everyone flinched as one.
“Why are you making such a commotion and playing with fire during a training exercise that told you to search?”
“Guh, we can’t abandon our comrades.”
“Give me a break.”
The instructor passed through the trainees and headed toward Sinhyeok, who was standing alone.
“Did you have fun playing, trainee?”
“Not yet.”
Sinhyeok looked at the several instructors approaching him and asked,
“Are you going to use your skills? That would be unfair.”
“Of course not!”
They kicked off the ground and charged forward.
‘Physical type!’
Their obvious speed made it clear what their specialty was.
Sinhyeok aimed from the muzzle and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
When the bullets looked different from the ones he knew, Sergeant Lee Jun-ho first dodged them.
“What the hell are those?”
He asked as he stared at Sinhyeok in surprise.
“I added a little seasoning.”
Sinhyeok aimed the muzzle at him again and pulled the trigger.
“Urgh!”
Bang!
Sergeant Lee Jun-ho reflexively rolled to the side and scooped up a handful of sand from the ground.
Whoosh!
He flung the sand into the air, and Sinhyeok lost sight of the instructor’s movements.
‘Where?!’
A chill crept over his back.
Whoosh!
He turned around immediately, but he was a beat too slow.
“First, I’ll confiscate the gun.”
“Ghk!”
Sergeant Lee Jun-ho shoved him hard from behind and immediately snatched away Sinhyeok’s rifle.
Sinhyeok rolled forward once, regained his stance, and looked at the senior instructor.
The instructor removed the magazine and examined the bullets.
“Interesting. Is this the trainee’s ability?”
“Yes. But isn’t it unfair for an instructor to steal a trainee’s firearm?”
“Heh. Anyone can see that this isn’t unfair.”
Sinhyeok took every remaining potion out of his inventory.
The senior instructor chuckled at his refusal to give up.
“You want to keep going? Let’s do this properly for the first time in a while. If, by some chance, a trainee knocks down every one of us, I promise you’ll all get perfect scores.”
Sinhyeok smiled at his promise and crushed the water bottle containing the potions in his hand.
He poured the opened potions over his entire body.
“Oh, what a waste…!”
The potions poured over his body spread across him with a burning heat, awakening the mana throughout his entire body.
“Haa.”
Mana like tiny grains rolled down from every part of his body.
Everyone stared in fascination at the unfamiliar sight.
“First strike wins!”
As Sinhyeok lunged forward, the senior instructor lowered his stance and defended himself.
“Not so fast!”
He blocked the attacks while skillfully dodging and redirecting them.
“Not bad, trainee!”
With their hands pressed together, the two growled at each other.
“You’re not bad yourself, Instructor.”
“You!”
The instructor, losing his temper, released a faint aura.
However, the aura that touched Sinhyeok’s grasp scattered apart.
“Huh?”
“Never let your guard down!”
At the strange phenomenon, the senior instructor sprang backward to avoid the demonic attack of a knee strike aimed directly at his groin.
“This won’t do! Everyone, dogpile him!”
Sinhyeok turned around and shouted,
“Oh, come on!”
As the instructors rushed toward him in a great mass, Sinhyeok calmly raised both hands and shouted,
“I surrender.”
Screech.
The instructors all stopped and stared blankly at Sinhyeok.
“Seriously? You surrender?”
“Yes, I surrender.”
The instructors and the trainees sprawled across the ground alike stared at him in disbelief at how quickly he had given up.
“Why? If you were going to give up, why make such a huge mess…?”
“Heh heh.”
At the dumbfounded senior instructor’s question, Sinhyeok pointed with one finger toward the core.
The instructors turned pale as they silently followed the direction he indicated.
“Damn it! Hey, hey! Who’s at the core right now?!”
The junior instructor, Yongchan, answered with an awkward expression.
“Only Urka is there right now.”
Bzzzt.
The radio crackled ominously.
Soon, a transmission from the orc instructor came through.
“The core’s been captured by the trainees. I’m done here, chhk.”
Only a single transmission was reported, in an utterly exhausted voice.
“Who—who was it?!”
“Hold on, chhk.”
A moment later, they reported who had done it.
“Instructor, it was trainees Baek Arin and Hong Ichan. They just legally took the core from Instructor Urka.”
“Ah.”
Sergeant Lee Jun-ho stared blankly at Sinhyeok, who was smiling with an utterly exhausted expression.
“A feint?”
The instructors’ collective minds were blown by Sinhyeok’s astonishing stratagem.
“Then doesn’t that mean our squad’s training is over?”
At Sinhyeok’s shameless remark, the instructors looked at one another, wondering what they should do.
“F-For now, stand by.”
The instructors gathered together to discuss the matter, while Sinhyeok quietly glanced behind him at the heat building there.
The trainees, burning with indignation, finally realized what had happened.
“Hey, mister.”
“Come here for a moment. Huh? Hey!”
Sinhyeok smiled benevolently and said,
“The one who gets fooled is the fool.”
“Get him!”
“Catch that bastard!”
The trainees who had all been knocked down sprang up like a swarm of bees and chased Sinhyeok.
“Why?! We had fun thanks to me!”
“Gaaah! Give us back our scores!”
Sinhyeok snickered as he dodged this way and that.
“They’re easy now that I’ve drained all their strength!”
“D-Damn it!”
“You should’ve run more during your usual training!”
The instructors seemed to have finished discussing matters among themselves and calmed the agitated trainees.
“Everyone, stop for now.”
Screech.
Everyone’s gazes focused on the senior instructor.
“First, a promise is a promise, so every member of First Platoon, First Squad, receives a perfect score.”
“Waaaaah! Instructor!”
“And all the other squads will also receive perfect scores.”
Everyone looked puzzled at the generous scores. The senior instructor explained,
“This is the first display of teamwork we’ve seen since the training center was founded. The battalion commander has approved perfect scores for everyone.”
“Waaaaah!”
“Therefore, as promised beforehand, every squad, including Baek Arin’s, will end training and return immediately. Move!”
“Move!”
“This is awesome!”
Sinhyeok smiled and pointed at himself, congratulating himself as the cheers poured down.
“Yes, yes, you all know this was thanks to me, right?”
The trainees celebrating beside Sinhyeok didn’t know what to do with him.
“Should we kill that man or keep him alive?”
“Let’s keep him alive for now.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Soon, Baek Arin and Hong Ichan appeared, battered from head to toe.
“Haa, haa. Is it over?”
When Baek Arin asked if it was over, Sinhyeok told her the news she had been waiting for most.
“You got perfect scores. And training’s over!”
“Yes!”
Sinhyeok smiled and supported her and Hong Ichan.
“Let’s go. We had fun thanks to you~”
She gave a faint chuckle and muttered,
“Still, mister, you’re really awful.”
“Yeah~ I know.”
* * *
After everyone returned much earlier than expected, they collapsed in their respective lodgings.
Sinhyeok lay on his bed, groaning.
“Ugh, every bone in my body aches.”
Ichan hugged his pillow with a blissful expression.
“Yes! They said we’re off from tomorrow through Sunday~ I’m so happy.”
Having gained three days off, Ichan rolled around with a blissful expression.
“They’re giving us three days off? Ah, that’s a long time.”
At the complaint that three days off was too long, Ichan turned his head, wondering if he had heard correctly.
“Seriously?”
“I’ll get bored. There’s nothing to do here.”
“Honestly, hyung, then practice alchemy. Try making some other potions or something.”
At Ichan’s suggestion, Sinhyeok remembered the ‘Corrupted Lesser Dragon’s Blood’ sitting in his inventory.
“Hmm, should I?”
He stayed lying down and took a single drop of the hardened blood from his inventory.
[Corrupted Lesser Dragon’s Blood][Rare]
=====================
The blood of an unnamed lesser dragon, a winged reptile that was never granted wisdom.
※ Increases mana control when refined and consumed.
======================