Chapter 109
In the distance, someone was approaching with heavy, deliberate footsteps, their silver insignia glinting in the sunlight.
At a glance, we could immediately tell it was the regiment commander.
As soon as the regiment commander appeared, the instructors and the key battalion staff rushed over in a flurry.
“Attention! Salute!”
“Salute. But… why aren’t you training?”
The instructors and battalion staff were clearly flustered at the commander’s remark.
The regiment commander gestured toward them and said,
“Don’t stop the training just because I’ve arrived. Continue what you were doing. Pretend I’m not here.”
Easier said than done. How could anyone treat a colonel, parading freely across the obstacle course, as if they didn’t exist?
It sounded absurd, yet no one dared voice opposition in front of the commander.
In a military organization, openly defying a superior is strongly discouraged.
The battalion commander gave the instructors a subtle signal, and they returned to the stage to resume leading the PT exercises.
“Number 8: Full-body twists! Ready!”
“Ah!”
Of all the exercises, why did it have to be the full-body twist…?
Muttering complaints under our breath, we spread our arms and lay down, preparing for the twists.
“One! Two! Three! Four!”
Perhaps because it was the day after rain, the humidity made us sweat even more than yesterday.
Our eyes stung from the sweat, but we did our best to shout with full force.
The regiment commander slowly walked around the training ground, his gaze not just on the trainees’ movements.
“Hmm.”
He inspected every detail: a fallen leaf on the ground, a patch of weeds, even corners where the dirt hadn’t been fully swept.
Every time I watched him, a chill ran down my spine.
‘It’s not like I’m in a horror movie…’
But I knew one thing: the fear I felt was nothing compared to what the officers were experiencing.
Among them, the battalion commander was probably the most anxious.
He was desperate to secure a promotion this time, so even the slightest imperfection would make him extremely nervous.
Meanwhile, the instructor’s voice cut through the summer sky.
“Can’t you shout any louder?!”
“Ahhh—!”
With the regiment commander nearby, we had to double the volume of our shouts just to satisfy the instructor.
The louder the instructor’s commands, the louder our voices echoed across the training ground.
At the same time, the regiment commander stopped in front of us and crossed his arms.
Unlike the center of the field, which was filled with our screams, the area around the commander was eerily quiet.
Amid the tense silence, he slowly nodded.
“Your voices are good. You seem full of energy.”
“Full of energy,” he said—it was half true, half not.
If the regiment commander hadn’t come, we wouldn’t have been shouting this loudly.
This was a show performed solely to impress him.
Still, the commander’s praise, brief as it was, made the battalion officers straighten their shoulders with relief.
Then he turned his gaze toward the areas recently cleared of weeds.
Seeing the neatly maintained grass and road edges without a single weed, he gave a faint smile.
“You’ve managed the base well. I can see the effort. It rained heavily yesterday, yet not a single weed has grown. It almost looks like you hurried to run the mower because I was coming.”
I could even see the battalion officers visibly tensing.
“Ah… no, sir!”
“Except for running the mower three days ago before the training started, everything else has been left as it is!”
The senior sergeant and battalion commander desperately delivered their lie.
Whether the regiment commander truly believed them… I had no idea.
Still, the fact that his words were praise and not criticism was uplifting enough.
Without adding more, the commander moved on, followed by the officers.
Once they disappeared, the frozen air gradually relaxed.
At least the grounds maintenance had received high praise.
‘I guess we survived…’
A little later, the senior sergeant called the weed-clearing soldiers together.
“Good work. Thanks to you, everything went smoothly.”
He looked over us with a satisfied nod.
Corporal Yang asked,
“So, the regiment commander has left?”
“Yes. He inspected the course and the tent area, then returned to the regiment.”
“Phew…!”
A collective sigh of relief escaped our lips.
“Since you’ve done enough today, take a proper rest. I’ll make sure the instructors know.”
“Yes, sir!”
The weed-clearing soldiers responded in unison.
As everyone relaxed, I immediately raised my hand.
“Senior Sergeant!”
“…Yes?”
I took a deep breath and spoke clearly.
“We worked really hard. Could we also get some merit points?”
Silence fell around us.
Corporal Yang looked at me incredulously, as if to say, “Do you think that would work?”
The senior sergeant squinted and stared at me intently.
“Well… honestly, you did work hard. You ran the mower, cleaned up afterward, and were immediately put into training without rest because the regiment commander came.”
“Exactly.”
Others might think we were being greedy, but from our perspective, it was a fair request.
And if we could get the merit points, who wouldn’t be happy?
The senior sergeant sighed, resigned, and nodded.
“Fine, I’ll see about awarding the merit points as well.”
“Thank you, Senior Sergeant!”
The weed-clearing soldiers, initially doubtful, now smiled at me and praised my initiative.
A short while later, we were informed that each weed-clearing soldier would receive 30 merit points.
Yesterday, Seohwan and I had barely earned about 20 points through grueling work.
If one weed-clearing session gave 30 points…
‘That’s a huge gain.’
I even hoped the regiment commander would visit the obstacle course often—it was a big advantage.
But I couldn’t relax.
I had risen high in the obstacle-course rankings, but…
‘You never know when the standings could change.’
Especially the results of the trench combat later that afternoon were crucial.
Rumor had it that one soldier from the 3rd Battery had been collecting merit points almost non-stop since yesterday.
If I were tied with that soldier…
‘I have to score points in the trench combat no matter what.’
Obstacle-course training, weed-clearing, and now trench combat prep—was it always this busy?
After organizing my thoughts, I, along with my squad, completed three obstacle courses and then headed to the trench combat area.
The instructor gathered the trainees and explained the rules.
“Each battery selects ten representatives. You must capture the flag from the opposing base and bring it back for a touchdown. The winning battery will earn ten merit points per participant, so give it your all. Understood?”
“Ah!”
The battalion commander was present to watch us.
Before the match, we selected the players.
In the end, the final ten included me, Seohwan, Go Junho, and Wonsang—four of us from our squad.
If we won, our unit’s victory was guaranteed.
The first match would be against the Headquarters Battery.
“Nice luck with the draw.”
“Indeed.”
We were pleased since the Headquarters Battery was considered the weakest among the four batteries.
Even in sports events, they usually came in last.
The strongest contender was likely the 3rd Battery.
Among the 3rd Battery participants, one man stood out.
Seohwan whispered and pointed.
“Geumseong, see that guy? The huge man over there.”
“Yeah, I see him.”
He was nearly two meters tall, a giant in stature.
I instinctively realized:
‘He must be the one rumored to be closest to the Obstacle Course King.’
Go Junho gulped hard as he looked at the giant.
“Can we actually beat him?”
“We won’t know until we try.”
In sports, the outcome can’t always be predicted beforehand.
There’s always a variable, and we must find it to exploit it.
If we do that…
‘We can win the prize money and the special leave.’
I clenched my fists without realizing it.
