"Shooting finished."
The results from the afternoon shooting were announced.
"Out of 60 shots, perfect scores: Bu Shin-hyeok, Baek Ah-rin. 55 hits: Hong I-chan, Go Da-in, Song Jae-sik. And 50 hits: Park In-cheol, that's it. These are A-class, the rest are graded according to their shot count. Dismissed."
The three outdated hopefuls who had at least expected something from the afternoon shooting were once again bitterly disappointed.
"Wow."
Words failed them.
The shooting had taken place at a training ground that randomly simulated urban downtown.
The targets were hidden among buildings and cover, and hitting civilian targets resulted in a penalty of minus one point.
"Crazy bastards. While the rest of us were training, did they do nothing but shoot?! They're not even ranged classes! One's an alchemist and the other's just a swordsman!"
The three couldn't contain their boiling rage.
The others who had shot moderately were just as flabbergasted.
"Is that even human?"
"No, they should take it easy!"
Grumbling was everywhere.
Shin-hyeok wore a smile at the resentment and curses coming from the sergeants all around.
"Ah, that feels good. This is more like it."
Ah-rin and I-chan shook their heads as they watched him savor other people's misery, just like back in boot camp.
"You're wicked."
"Hyung, that's a sickness."
"This is my happiness. Their resentment and curses are my happiness. Ah~ I'm so happy."
Seeing him laughing and enjoying himself, the 3rd Squad Leader appeared and scolded him.
"You still have that habit. Enough with the enjoyment."
Lieutenant Gang Si-yun smirked as she looked at Shin-hyeok.
"I'll enjoy it just a little longer."
He perked up his ears, stacking up their vicious remarks one by one.
"Ugh, that perverted bastard."
Shin-hyeok smiled and disappeared into the mess hall, leaving the two behind.
"Take your time talking."
Lieutenant Gang Si-yun chuckled as she watched him go.
"Seriously, I don't know why that guy is the way he is."
Ah-rin, seeing the squad leader who seemed to know him quite well, asked a question.
"But Squad Leader, was Sergeant Bu Shin-hyeok like that before, too?"
"No. When he first came in, the kid was as gentle as could be. He was kind and spoke politely."
"What?"
"What?"
Both expressed surprise at the starkly different picture.
"But after going through a rough patch, he ended up like that. He really struggled to adjust. Still, why did he have to change that way?"
Lieutenant Gang Si-yun shook her head and urged them.
"Don't you two copy him. That guy, seriously..."
She pushed them both on the back.
"You two eat a hearty meal and do your best this evening, too."
"Yes, ma'am!"
She massaged I-chan's shoulder, giving him extra encouragement.
"Especially you, Hong I-chan, you're doing very well. Just keep showing what you've got. Got it?"
I-chan smiled at the squad leader's support.
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Good. Then good luck, and eat well!"
The way people looked at the three had changed, if only a little.
As those around them headed to the mess hall, they whispered among themselves.
"So they're not totally hopeless."
"Yeah, looks like they put in some effort in their own way."
Ah-rin and I-chan pretended not to hear the loud whispers around them.
"Let's hurry inside."
"Yeah."
When they walked in, Shin-hyeok, who had already secured a seat, waved at them.
"Over here!"
The two quickly got their rice and side dishes and sat down. The three hurriedly filled their stomachs.
Only after putting something in her belly did Ah-rin recall the evening's event.
"Phew, but Gramps, how do they do the mental strength evaluation tonight?"
"That? When I did it, it was just a written test. Solving questions about gate knowledge, basic tactics, or your specialty."
"Oh, then that'll be easy."
"Ah, I hate stuff like that."
Ah-rin was pleased, I-chan wasn't. Shin-hyeok added something.
"It wasn't just solving problems. They'd cast curses, confusion magic, or spells all over the exam hall while you took it."
"What?"
"Huh?"
"If you finished it all, it was a perfect score. Even if you couldn't finish, if you endured for quite a while, they gave points."
Shin-hyeok wrapped up his old story and tried to reassure them.
"Nah, they probably don't do that anymore. It's been eight years, they must do something different now."
The three thought so too.
But when they actually faced the test, nothing had changed from the past.
"Then, begin."
The Sergeant Major sternly announced the start. Immediately, a torrent of curses, illusions, temptations, and disruptions erupted.
[A Curse of Mental Confusion is triggered.]
[You hear Whispering of Temptation.]
[You hear spirits' whispers that toy with the mind.]
"Heh, how is it unchanged."
Shin-hyeok wanted to shut his eyes tight at the dizzying sight.
He kept seeing depraved things.
Ahead, porn played; to the sides, hardcore horror showed; and from behind, someone kept whispering.
"Old man, play with me. Oppa's looking so hot."
"Haaa."
Shin-hyeok blocked his ears and only looked at the test paper.
But the test paper kept shaking too.
It appeared as two, then three, and when it was one, the letters wobbled back and forth.
"Water is water, a ball is a ball, black things are writing, white is paper."
Everyone shivered, struggling to take the test.
Surprisingly, everyone was holding up fairly well.
'This can't be the end of it.'
Back then too, the biggest disruption in this test was one's seniors.
Having those not in the evaluation crowd around to interfere was the most disruptive part.
Even now, several came in and circled their direct juniors.
Sergeant Song Jae-sik shut his ears to his senior's visit, kept his eyes nailed to the test paper, and focused.
"Oops, our Jae-sik just checked his locker."
A flinch.
"What could this be~"
'No! If I turn my head, I'm out! Please!'
"Oh my! How obscene! You bastard!"
"Wow, I didn't know our Jae-sik was like this. Da-in's panties!"
At those words, Go Da-in's head snapped up.
"You rotten bastard! It was you?!"
Raising her head, Go Da-in saw the smirking senior and his empty hands.
The supervising Sergeant Major spoke coldly.
"Go Da-in out. Mental strength D-class."
"......"
Go Da-in, eyes full of indignation, stomped her feet as she looked at the senior.
"Haha. Hey, we went through this too."
"But still, sunbae!"
Sighing, she left the test hall, while the vicious seniors whispered between their direct juniors, Song Jae-sik and Park In-cheol.
Scenes like this filled the room.
Shin-hyeok stuck his tongue out at the crazy sights and sounds everywhere.
'Crazy people. Got nothing better to do? Why are they still doing this these days?!'
Fortunately, with his direct superior the busy Logistics Chief, Shin-hyeok could solve the test in peace.
Ah-rin and I-chan, having only recently arrived, also had no interference from direct seniors.
'Nice. If I keep solving like this.'
Shin-hyeok saw the approach of the supervising Sergeant Major.
'No, why is she coming?!'
Kim Hyun-sook looked down at Shin-hyeok, who kept his eyes buried in the test paper, and spoke.
"You must think you're safe."
Tap.
Shin-hyeok's hand, which had been moving busily, stopped.
Soon, his low mutter could be heard.
"Please."
"Who do you think knows your dark history the most?"
"......"
Cold sweat poured down Shin-hyeok.
'Damn!'
Because his favorite escape spot was the window ledge in front of the Sergeant Major's office, she knew a great deal of his dark history.
"What about your first love? I've got a lot to say about that."
Shin-hyeok's hand trembled.
This provocation hit others, too.
Everyone's feelings were the same.
'I want to hear it! I want to turn my head and ask!'
All sorts of curses and spirits ran rampant, but these were not the type to be greatly influenced by such things.
"Her name, what was it. Kim Ji..."
"Ahhh! Stop!"
Shin-hyeok saw the Sergeant Major's smugly smiling expression.
"Eliminated. You're C-class."
"Waaaah. Sergeant Major, that's cheating."
"It's got to have a human touch. Hurry on out. So I can properly test the rest."
Shin-hyeok clicked his tongue, looking at the few who remained.
"There, there. Just to toy with the others."
"Get going now."
Those remaining grew very tense at the ominous conversation.
The Sergeant Major checked the rest and said.
"Curious what I'll do?"
With no answer, the Sergeant Major smiled and carried on the conversation alone.
"I let that one out on purpose. He knows my methods too well. And he can break them, too."
She tapped the desk.
"What do you think is the greatest fear? I think it's this."
She paused briefly, then whispered to everyone like a warning.
"Something you cannot feel, fear that comes from the unknown."
With those words, her energy flowed out and engulfed everyone.
[An unknown energy consumes the body.]
"You cannot hear."
[Hearing is blocked.]
"You cannot smell."
[Smell is blocked.]
"And if you cannot even feel on your skin."
[Touch is blocked.]
She answered wickedly.
"You go mad."
And in the one second that passed, a few flinched and raised their heads.
"Out. Leave. Ah~ you can't hear, right?"
At the Sergeant Major's glance, a few people came in and carried them out.
They rose and left. Ah-rin and I-chan, along with Song Jae-sik and Park In-cheol, remained, their hands trembling as they stared only at the test papers.
"Now, then one is left. What could it be?"
Though their hearing was clearly blocked, her wicked whisper spoke in their minds, making everyone tense.
'Sight. If you cannot even see, the fear of the unknown reaches its peak.'
[Sight is blocked.]
[Even smell is blocked, all five senses are shut down.]
[You reach a total sensory deprivation.]
[Extreme terror seizes your mind.]
Those who remained began to tremble violently.
Soon, they let go of their hands and collapsed sideways.
"Out."
But she went unheard.
The Sergeant Major checked who was left.
"Baek Ah-rin, Hong I-chan. Just the two, then."
She smiled and immediately withdrew her energy.
"Hwaaaap!"
"Hupp!"
The two shot up and looked around.
The scene, with only themselves and the Sergeant Major remaining, left them dumbfounded.
"B-class."
"Ma'am?"
"B-class, that's quite good."
At the now-finished test hall, Shin-hyeok opened the door and stared at the supervisor.
"Khm, what?"
The Sergeant Major looked at Shin-hyeok, feigning innocence.
"If only it weren't for your rank."
"Hmm-hmm."
She continued shamelessly.
"What would you even do if you scored high on this."
"Still, bringing up that story is foul play. My painful wound."
"Khm-khm-khm, that's just you. That person's living a fine life, only you khm."
Shin-hyeok sighed at the deliberate prodding.
"I'm disappointed with the score!"
"Ew, fine. I was a bit harsh. I'll raise it. Since you're a guy who'd stick it out anyway, I just pulled you out because it was a bother."
She stepped into the hallway and announced the next day's schedule to those waiting.
"Tomorrow is personal tactical ability and individual combat power evaluation. It's just assessing search capability and combat rating. So bring your gear, that is all."
Everyone dispersed in a noisy bunch.
Soon after, I-chan and Ah-rin came out of the test hall, staring at Shin-hyeok with blank faces.
"Ah..."
"Uh..."
They just stared with their mouths gaping.
"Feels distant, right? The world gets far away then close again, and what you see becomes strange."
The two looked at Shin-hyeok with dazed eyes. They soon came to their senses and followed him.
"That was a really strange experience."
"It was incredibly scary. But hyung, did you do it back then, too? The Sergeant Major said she pulled you out on purpose."
Shin-hyeok recalled the past.
"I'm the best at that. Now and then, across the whole unit."
This was something he could say with certainty.
At his matter-of-fact answer, the two chuckled.
"Nah, stop joking. There are so many amazing people at Hongik."
"Huh? You don't believe me? I'm serious. Do you know what happens after that sensory deprivation?"
"What?"
Shin-hyeok launched into a detailed story.
"About one minute later, your ki sense is blocked. Your instinctual sixth sense for feeling energy."
"Huh?"
"And then do you know what happens?"
The two clamped their mouths shut.
"Time. You slowly stop feeling time. Not one minute, two minutes, but a hundred days, two hundred days, a thousand days. It feels like an eon."
At the vividly recounted old story, the two turned pale.
"Just when your brain starts to shrivel and you feel yourself withering away, they wake you up. Do you know what they say then?"
Gulp.
The two perked up their ears, and even passing sergeants listened in.
"Zero points."
"What?!"
"The battalion commander and the Sergeant Major were cracking up like that. Anyway, it's a wicked hobby."
Everyone laughed awkwardly, feeling grateful they hadn't endured to the end.
"Well, that's what happened. After me, they didn't really go that far anymore."
Ah-rin and I-chan realized why this hyung had become so twisted.
"That's how it was then..."
"So you became this perverted hyung."
"Your face got twisted."
"And your mind rotted."
Shin-hyeok couldn't even manage a smile at the razor-sharp insults.
"You little..."
Thinking of the next day's schedule, Ah-rin spoke to Shin-hyeok.
"So do you know what we do tomorrow?"
"Probably search capability and practical combat evaluation?"
"So what exactly is that."
"Maze-finding, virtual monster fights, and one-on-one sparring with seniors. That's what it was like for me."
* * *
As they passed by, the three hopefuls from last year gritted their teeth, thinking of the next day.
"Still, tomorrow..."
"We're the bosses. We're good at searching too."
"Yeah. Plus, we overwhelm them in practical combat evaluation. How many operations have we been on?"
Thinking of tomorrow, the three prayed for the first place they hadn't achieved and for the battalion commander's direct commendation.
"Tomorrow, it's definitely us!"