Chapter 31
A massive shadow fell over the formation.
The soldiers’ faces were already pale with exhaustion, yet instinctively, they all understood: this is the end. Once we cross this mountain… this dreaded return march will finally be over!
One soldier muttered “Fighting” to himself, as if brainwashed, while another could only huff and puff with heavy breaths.
Next to me, Juhyung trudged along, repeating the same words over and over.
“It’s the end… it’s the end…”
Not yet, buddy.
…Though in my mind, I wanted to retort dozens of times.
But seeing Juhyung’s trembling knees and the sweat pouring from him, I couldn’t bring myself to say a word harshly.
And the hope that it was almost over fueled our weary bodies to keep moving.
The same went for me.
I took a deep final breath.
And once more, I stepped toward the mountain.
Approaching the last ridge, my leg muscles trembled as if they were about to tear.
My pack felt like a boulder pressing down on my shoulders, and my boots, soaked with sweat, dragged heavily along the ground.
I was on the verge of collapse.
The company squad leader, who had been walking ahead, ordered a brief rest.
“Take a ten-minute break and then continue! Stop moving and rest right where you are! Don’t go anywhere, got it?”
“Yes, sir!”
Without anyone prompting, we all flopped down right where we were.
It wasn’t flat ground—sitting on the slope was uncomfortable, awkward, and not ideal for catching our breath.
Yet, even this inconvenient rest was as sweet as an oasis in a desert.
“Phew…!”
I wiped the sweat dripping from my face with the back of my hand, but the heat was relentless—sweat poured as if it were raining.
Sehwan let out a deep sigh as he gazed at the mountain peak.
“We just have to get up there, right?”
“Probably.”
My memories were fuzzy, but I recalled it wasn’t so bad that it was unbearable. Otherwise, there’s no way I would have completed the return march.
The military is strange that way—pushing soldiers to the edge, just shy of “I might die,” keeping them on the brink but not quite over.
‘That’s exactly what drives you crazy,’ I thought.
If it were truly unbearable, you could just give up—but this limbo feeling, being toyed with by the military, was strangely frustrating.
Sehwan got up and lightly tapped my shoulder.
“I’m going to pee. Wanna come?”
“Sure.”
After taking care of business nearby, we returned to our spots.
Then, Sergeant Hwang Moon-bin quietly called us over.
“Want a drink?”
He handed us his canteen.
“I still have some water left in mine,” Sehwan said, pointing to his own.
But I read Sergeant Hwang’s expression in an instant.
“Yes, I’ll take it. Thank you.”
“…?”
Sehwan tilted his head, puzzled.
“You don’t have water? You said you still had half left earlier.”
Ignoring him, I tilted the canteen Sergeant Hwang offered and gulped it down.
Gulp, gulp, gulp!
“Ah…!”
As I’d expected, it wasn’t ordinary water.
“Thank you, Sergeant Hwang.”
“I was planning to drink it alone on the way. But we’re about… 30 minutes? That’s when we’ll arrive. There was more than I thought, so I decided to share it. But…”
Sergeant Hwang glanced at Sehwan with a meaningful smile.
“Sehwan said he didn’t want any.”
I poked Sehwan’s side with my elbow.
“Tell him to give it to you.”
“I… I have some water…”
“No excuses.”
Sehwan had a saying from our trainee days: if it’s me speaking in the military, you could trust it completely.
Seems like he remembered that, because he nodded and accepted the canteen from Sergeant Hwang, drinking the contents in one go.
His pupils widened instantly.
“This… this isn’t water!”
“Shhh!”
Sergeant Hwang and I simultaneously gestured to keep quiet.
“What if the officers catch you, huh?”
“S-sorry! By the way, Sergeant Hwang, when did you put ‘sports drink’ in the canteen?”
That’s right—Sergeant Hwang’s canteen contained not water, but sweet sports drink.
He chuckled and pointed at Sergeant Choi Min-heon.
“I didn’t want to waste the leftover drinks, so I divided them between my canteen and the squad leader’s. Tastes way better than water.”
He wasn’t wrong.
But I was impressed by their boldness.
If the officers had caught them… it wouldn’t have ended well.
‘Well, the officers might inspect packs, but they wouldn’t check inside canteens.’
They must have known that, which is why they dared to pull this off.
Thanks to them, I could recover a bit of my depleted energy—and unexpectedly received a gift.
‘Time to get moving again.’
The company squad leader raised his voice, signaling departure.
Now, truly… it was the end.
“Haah… haah…”
“Just a little more, just a little more!”
The officers’ voices came faintly.
Beyond the towering ridge, I could faintly see the glow of streetlights.
Those lights were the long-awaited signal of our return.
Go Junho pointed ahead.
“Isn’t that the streetlight in front of our unit’s guard post?”
Sergeant Ji Seok-ho nodded heavily in confirmation.
Seeing the guard post meant… we had finally arrived.
We gritted our teeth.
Though the slope was steep, the soldiers supported each other, taking step after step.
Boots slipped on gravel here and there.
Yet, united as one, we crossed the final ridge.
The uphill ended, and…
“Waaaaah!”
“Finally, the top!”
Cheering tore through the night sky.
Now, only the downhill remained.
But downhill was no reason to let our guard down—we could easily tumble all the way down if we slipped.
Dragging our exhausted legs, we finally reached the base.
The faint guard post came into clearer view.
“Finally… the barracks!”
“We survived, damn it. It’s really over.”
The soldiers were ready to bolt toward the post at any second.
After a few more steps, we passed through the guard post.
We gathered in small groups in the company parade ground.
Though our legs were ready to collapse, our hearts overflowed with energy from completing the return march.
After a moment, the company commander slowly stepped forward.
“You all did well. Today marks the end of the ranger training. I’m proud that none of you gave up and every one of you walked to the end together. You’ve worked hard, so I won’t make this long. Go shower, rest well, and enjoy your weekend. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
The company commander instructed the officers to let the soldiers rest and do nothing over the weekend.
With that, he had done all he could for us.
After roll call, entering the barracks brought familiar smells to my nose.
The scent of unwashed uniforms, damp mattresses, and musty air.
Worst of all, after almost ten hours of marching, the stench of feet dominated.
“Ugh, gross!”
“Damn, whose feet smell this bad?”
“Open the window!”
“Thought CBRN training was still going on, crazy.”
Sergeant Choi Min-heon shouted at us.
“Leave the gear for later. Everyone, go shower. Quickly!”
“Yes, sir!”
We threw our packs aside and prepared for the shower.
Shampoo on our heads, we headed to the cramped shower room.
Most of the squad crowded in at once.
Normally, complaints would have erupted, but after experiencing shower rooms during ranger training, no one complained.
They even praised our barracks shower as the best.
I realized—people’s attitudes really depend on mindset.
After showering, I roughly dried my hair and laid out my mattress.
Just then, the controller entered and called out.
“There’s no separate roll call. Squad leaders, just check the headcount and go straight to sleep.”
The moment he finished, we all flopped onto our mattresses.
Staring at the ceiling…
‘It’s finally over…’
Only now did it truly feel like ranger training had ended.
Before sleep, I opened the system window to review the gains from this training.
Prize money: 100 million won.
Just thinking about that made me feel sleepy.
As expected, I fell asleep almost immediately.
I was so exhausted, I don’t even remember dreaming.
When I woke up, it was 11:30 a.m.
Some soldiers had also woken and were enjoying their Saturday morning in various ways: going to the lounge, visiting a karaoke, and so on.
‘I should get moving too.’
To go on leave next week, I needed to prepare in advance.
The most important thing:
‘I need to contact my family before leaving.’
No point in a leave if there’s no one to meet—it would be wasted lounging at home.
‘It’s the weekend; they should pick up.’
Taking my notebook and phone card, I headed to the public phone booth.
Luckily, no one was there.
Flipping open my notebook, I wondered who to call first.
One name stood out: Ryu Ji-yeon.
‘Should I call Ji-yeon first?’
She had said to contact her when I went on leave.
Justification in place.
Swallowing dryly, I dialed her number.
For some reason, this felt harder than ranger training itself.
