I wanted to apologize to Senior Jonathan Kudo for causing him trouble.
As expected, he didn't show up. He didn't seem interested in others, so it wasn't surprising. Everything turned out well, so he must have gotten out without any issues.
I focused on recovery while enduring Samuel's barrage of nagging.
Days spent holed up in the hospital room, eating and resting. Tom and Hesi ca to visit. They were delighted when they saw the article featuring .
When I told them I was being sent far away from the Core, they even envied .
Well, Hesi did.
"Your skills are going to improve a ton!"
Hesi was always full of passion, no matter when I saw him.
"You're going even deeper in, right? I'm really jealous. When do I get to go further inside?"
"...You jealous?"
"You're gonna have a rough ti."
Tom gave a more sensible reaction.
"They say the deeper you go, the worse it gets around there. I hope you co back in one piece. Your recovery isn't exactly normal, you know."
"Yeah. Well, I just need to avoid being a burden."
"Who are you going with?"
Hesi leaned in, his eyes sparkling with excitent.
"You're going with so real veterans, right? Who?"
*
Who? Well.
"Richard Green, Jason Tvain, Choi Ami, William Walker, Aki."
Yoon listed the nas for and then clicked his tongue once.
He evaluated them in a disinterested tone.
"Without Choi Ami, we'd probably suffocate to death."
"...Is it that bad?"
"Didn't Richard Green co see you?"
Yoon pocketed his smartphone in his gown pocket.
I shook my head.
"He didn't co."
"He ca to ."
"Why?"
"He chewed out for not teaching a newbie shooting or driving. Said teaching the basics is basic, and with service periods lasting years, how could the fundantals still be lacking? So he went on a long rant about how I've been advising the HR Director for years to assign Choi Yoon as a ntor too."
I was useless.
Just like Senior Richard Green had said, my basics were lacking.
Self-loathing washed over like a wave, and I clawed at my hair. He wasn't wrong at all. And despite being so deficient in the basics, I'd drawn creatures to and had so unknown stalker attached.
My recovery was too....
Argh.
I buried my head in my knees, and Ami patted my shoulder.
"It's okay! I'll cover for you as much as I can!"
Ami was the light and salt of life.
"Just don't die, Hilde!"
"Sorry in advance, and thank you...."
"Well. If you co back alive, your skills will improve."
Yoon assessed it lightly, as if talking about soone else.
"You don't seem like the type to take a big ntal hit from traumatic events."
"...Thanks for the complint."
"Yeah. It might turn out better than you think."
Ami patted my back as I replied soullessly.
Then she peered at with her round eyes and spoke in a bright voice.
"And Richard said after reading the article that you seem to have so guts! That's high praise from him—he almost never complints anyone. That's huge. You won't be totally hated."
"Huh. Really?"
"It's like stroking your cheek before slapping it."
Yoon calmly crushed the hope.
As I despaired beside him, Ami scolded Yoon.
"Bro! How can you crush Hilde's motivation already!"
Yoon nonchalantly snatched the soy milk from Ami's hand.
"Facing reality is important."
He said flatly, then stuck a straw into the soy milk even though he didn't seem thirsty.
The ntor suited Ami.
A flashy battle for the soy milk ensued. A high-quality struggle where it was hard to follow the siblings' arms with my eyes.
From there, I heard Samuel grumbling, "They're being ridiculous."
Anyway, it was a relief to have Ami. Having at least one person to rely on eased my mind.
I steeled my resolve while blankly watching the soy milk reclamation war. Don't die, act sharp, morize everything the seniors tell before leaving.
I couldn't sar Yoon's reputation anymore.
"What should I do before heading out?"
I muttered to myself, and the siblings froze their flashy gestures and turned to .
They answered in turn.
"I'll tell you all about the people you're going with in detail! Rember it."
"Pack your bags."
I did both.
*
"Sword?"
Richard Green was the one who had first questioned in the auditorium, a man brimming with battle-hardened experience.
"Taught you the sword? Your brother is even more clueless than I thought."
"Co on. He was planning to teach shooting sequentially too."
Ami took the words gently.
"It's not even been that long since he joined. A total rookie who wasn't supposed to leave E Zone anyway."
"That's exactly why he should have started from the basics. No autonomous driving license? Are they recruiting newbies without licenses these days? I need to have a word with the HR Director."
"He'll learn it quick. We can teach him later. Hilde's smart; he'll pick it up fast."
"Later? When is later? After this rookie cos back as a corpse?"
"Arriving in 15 minutes."
Aki, sitting in the driver's seat, spoke bluntly as if oblivious to the tense conversation.
"No anomalies ahead yet."
I wanted to go ho.
It hadn't even been a day since leaving the Core. I was already missing my old staff quarters dearly.
The ga console. The comfy bed. The window with just the right amount of sunlight. I missed everything. Even the lessons with Yoon swinging swords around.
I'd even take the guest room in Yoon's house, where the Supre Commander lived.
But I couldn't. I was in a situation where I had to live outside indefinitely until the Supre Commander's exile order was lifted.
Day 1 of exile.
To avoid showing my discomfort, I kept my gaze down, studying the floor of the military vehicle.
The rumbling jolts hit my ears loudly inside the vehicle. We were heading to a Safe Point roughly in the center of D Zone. We'd co to E Zone by train. But from D Zone onward, there were no tracks laid.
That's why Richard Green had been furious with about not even having an autonomous driving license.
I'd heard he had a lot of anger due to his mithril-like unyielding convictions.
"Putting a chick like this in our group and sending us to D Zone. Ye-hyeon is really issuing irrational orders these days."
"That's what I said."
Jason Tvain, who had been sitting next to Richard Green watching get scolded, joined the conversation.
He was consistent as ever. The sleek, shining face even in pitch-black combat gear, the rough, sloppy vibe around his body. And his steady dislike for Ye-hyeon.
"His judgnt is slipping more and more. Ami, you live with him—doesn't it show in your eyes?"
"Nope."
"Why issue an order like this? He's never done anything like it before."
"When have we ever questioned the Supre Commander's orders? If it's commanded, we follow."
Ami brushed off Tvain's words nonchalantly and replied stiffly to Green's mutterings.
"It's not a bad thing, right? Richard, you were curious about Hilde too."
I reflexively looked up.
My eyes t those of the battle-hardened veteran soldier. He had his arms crossed, his gaze burning with anger and conviction.
The senior looked at piercingly before breaking the silence.
"Talev."
"Yes."
"Don't let your guard down."
His voice carried the fury of a man angry at a world that didn't align with his ideals.
"From D Zone on, the mont you do, you lose your life."
A War Hero who had survived the First War and Second War. A true soldier who charged to the forefront before anyone else. One of the top ten elite among countless Black Badgers, beyond doubt.
I didn't avoid his gaze.
"Yes. I'll keep that in mind."
Richard stared at for a long mont before turning away.
Silence returned. The engine noise echoed in the windowless military vehicle. I let out a small sigh of relief that the carpet bombing directed at had ended.
As I swallowed the sigh and glanced around, my eyes t Ami's.
Ami smiled gently, her round eyes crinkling.
Whoa. So bright I couldn't see her face.
The senior, who was pure light, sidled up smoothly and looked up at .
"Did you pack your gear well?"
I glanced down at the military pack between my legs and nodded.
"Yes. Checked it three or four tis."
"What's in it?"
She phrased what might have been a high-handed "Recite it, newbie" to soone else in that gentle way.
Grateful for it, I silently listed the contents of the pack.
"Ammunition, drinking water, ergency rations, fishing line, sunlight reflector signaler, small saw, fire-starting magnifying glass, bulletproof vest, magnetic compass, spectral compass, spare communicator battery, basic first aid tools."
"What first aid tools did you bring?"
Richard asked without taking his eyes off .
I answered imdiately without hesitation.
"Blood transfusion kit, suturing tools, painkillers, carbohydrates, antibiotics, scalpel, IV fluids, IV injector."
"Have you learned how to use them?"
"Yes."
"Morphine?"
I showed him the morphine I'd stashed around my neck.
Richard fell silent again. It seed I'd passed his test.
I reflexively sighed in relief, and Ami grinned.
"You learned how to use the communicator and tactical beacon, right, Hilde?"
"Yes."
Actually, Yoon had tried to teach how to repair the communicator and tactical beacon too.
"You don't seem too dumb, so."
But I was dumb.
Yoon quickly gave up on teaching repairs. Not just because of ti, but because I wasn't technically proficient enough to et his expectations.
Yoon's standards for others' intellect were sky-high. He insisted on content I couldn't even grasp as the absolute basics and urged to learn them quickly and apply.
In the end, he recognized my intellectual level and compromised.
aning I'd just rote-morized the usage and repair thods for communication gear.
I still lacked confidence in fixing a broken communicator. I'd blindly morized basic responses, but not all scenarios. Yoon didn't expect to repair properly either. How could I, without understanding the chanisms?
If I got separated and the communicator failed, I'd just try the morized fixes once.
Better not get separated at all.
I gloomily stared at my pack, and Ami said gently.
"When we arrive, we'll unpack at the Safe Point."
"Ah, yes."
"Then reconnaissance...."
BOOM!
The vehicle flipped.
Spinning vision. Seniors shouting. Heavy impact sounds.
William Walker and Ami's firm arms grabbed .
As I regained my balance guided by their hands, Richard Green roared.
"Ti to hunt!"
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