Chapter 25
Leading by Example
After a short while—
“Battalion Commander has arrived!”
“Already? Company, on your feet!”
The instructor barked a hurried order.
We were supposed to rest for another three minutes, but that break vanished the moment the battalion commander was mentioned.
I was reminded once again: a superior’s visit in the army never helps anyone.
In the distance, the battalion commander appeared, hiking up the steep trail with a few staff officers.
Since vehicles couldn’t reach this training site, even the “king of the training center” had to climb here on foot.
Sweating and short of breath, the commander dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief.
The instructor and assistant instructors snapped to attention and saluted sharply.
“Loyalty!”
“No problems during training!”
“Everything’s on track?” the commander asked.
“Yes, sir!”
He nodded slightly. “The grenades?”
“They’re set over there, sir.”
“I’ve got an afternoon schedule, so I’ll just give a quick demonstration and head back down.”
“Understood. We’ll prepare right away!”
The instructor raised his voice to the assistants, who scrambled to get things ready for the commander’s throw.
The battalion commander turned to us with a forced smile.
“They’re real grenades, but no need to be scared. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“You there—assistant instructor—give the trainees a quick rundown of the throwing process.”
Assistant Instructor Joo Yong-hyuk gave a fleeting why me look, then stepped forward.
“You’ve all heard this plenty with the practice grenades. Nothing hard: pull the safety pin, remove the safety clip, and then…”
While he explained, the commander moved with the instructor and assistants to the throwing pit.
The grenade range had three small pits.
Three people threw at a time—fast enough that the exercise usually ended quickly.
It didn’t even take as long as live-fire drills.
Just throw and step out.
Still, as the instructors had repeatedly warned, it was far more dangerous than live shooting, so every precaution mattered.
That’s why the battalion commander himself was demonstrating.
Helmet on, face set, he limbered up.
—Hand over the grenade.
The control tower gave the next instruction.
The instructor passed him a live grenade.
Despite receiving a real one instead of a dummy, the commander’s face stayed calm—he’d done plenty of demos before.
His expression said plainly: Let’s get this over with.
Well, he did mention having an afternoon schedule.
—Remove the safety pin.
“Safety pin removed!” he repeated loudly.
—Remove the safety clip.
“Safety clip removed!”
Ping! The clip popped free.
So far, so good.
All that remained was to throw.
Then—
Thud.
“…Huh?”
Maybe he was too relaxed.
Instead of arcing gracefully downrange, the grenade dropped weakly right in front of the pit.
“!!!”
“Commander, watch out!”
“Everyone down, now!”
The assistants shouted frantically, urging us to hit the ground.
I looked toward the commander’s pit.
The instructor suddenly stretched his arm outside the pit—
Rattle-roll.
He managed to roll the grenade down the drain pipe leading out of the pit.
It tumbled out and dropped into the ravine—
BOOOOM!
A towering column of water erupted with a deafening blast.
Had the instructor hesitated for even a moment, those three men might have died.
“……”
“……”
“……”
The entire range fell silent.
Just then, a translucent system window appeared before my eyes:
[Rare Quest Generated]
Survive the live-grenade training.
Reward: 100 million won will be accumulated.
Now I understood.
Why such a simple quest was classified as Rare.
And why the reward was a full hundred million won.
The training paused while they cleaned up after the incident.
Because the one who’d blundered was the battalion commander himself, neither the instructor nor the assistants could scold him.
They simply listened while he said, “Sorry for dropping morale by coming here for nothing.”
“No, sir! We’re just grateful you’re unharmed!”
“Is that so… Anyway, thanks for saving me. Without you, I’d be dead,” he said, patting the instructor’s shoulder awkwardly.
After that strained farewell, the instructor turned on us, voice sharp.
“You saw it just now—this is a real grenade! Make a mistake and you’ll lose fingers, ears, maybe your eyes! Be careful. Extra careful! Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Keep your heads on straight!”
“Yes!”
Unable to vent at the commander, he seemed to be venting at us instead.
Under the blazing sun, fully geared with gloves, helmet, goggles, and body armor, every trainee’s face was tight with fear.
Even Seo-hwan beside me was trembling.
The battalion-commander effect—no joke.
The range went silent again.
“Live-grenade throwing will commence now!” the instructor bellowed. “First squad, get ready to move down!”
“Yes, sir!” the assistants replied.
Then—
“Assistant instructor!”
A trainee suddenly raised his hand, tore off his helmet, and collapsed to the ground.
He was from the first squad.
“I… I’m too scared. I… I can’t do it. I’m sorry!”
Others quickly confessed they couldn’t do it either.
Normally, such words in boot camp were unthinkable—
but better that than death.
The commander’s slip had triggered a chain reaction.
The atmosphere froze.
“…What?”
Assistant Instructor Park Gil-young clenched his lips and gripped his clipboard tight.
“If you give up, you’re headed straight to the disciplinary unit! Got it?”
“I’m sorry! Truly! But… I can’t! I’d rather go to the disciplinary unit!”
“What did you say?”
Even the instructors seemed shaken that trainees were openly rebelling.
“If today’s training is delayed, everyone gets punishment drills! Still refusing?”
One by one, the trainees avoided his gaze.
Even Han Gang-tae, who’d wanted to be best trainee, hesitated, eyes fixed on the ground, arms stiff at his sides.
It was always like this in the army:
if one person balked, the rest clammed up and watched.
And since the culprit was the battalion commander himself, the disturbance was only worse.
If things kept up, the grenade training might be canceled altogether.
That won’t do.
A rare quest worth a hundred million won—
I couldn’t let it slip away.
Time to earn some points.
No choice.
I have to step up.
I quietly raised my hand.
“Trainee number 45, Lee Geum-seong! I’ll go first!”
Silence fell.
Every instructor and assistant looked at me.
“You’ll do it?”
“Yes, sir!”
Just as fear from one trainee had spread,
I figured that one trainee’s courage might help the rest move forward.
Honestly, there was no other way to get the training back on track.
The instructors conferred briefly.
Then the instructor spoke.
“Fine. You go first.”
“Yes, sir!”
Ignoring Seo-hwan’s anxious protests, I followed Assistant Instructor Park to gear up.
Behind me, I heard murmurs.
From the control tower came the command:
—Hand over the grenade.
“Grenade received!” I shouted back.
The real grenade felt unmistakably heavier than the practice ones—solid metal, real explosive inside.
Through my goggles I watched Park’s lips:
“Pull the pin, then just throw it downrange. Understood?”
“Understood.”
I took a deep breath.
Click!
I removed the safety pin, then the clip.
I set my stance naturally, calmly—just like practice.
“One… two…”
Whoosh!
The grenade traced a clean arc.
Thud.
…
Then—
KABOOM!
The ground shook and a massive spray of water shot skyward.
A perfect detonation.
I turned back toward the assistant instructor.
Park Gil-young slowly nodded.
“Good. Well done!”
“Trainee 45, Lee Geum-seong! Thank you, sir!”
[Rare Quest Cleared]
100 million won has been added to your total.
Quest complete…
Soon, other trainees found their voices.
“I’ll go next, instructor!”
“I can do it too!”
The hardest throw is always the first.
And if you go first, you reap the biggest reward.
What could have ended in failure was now back on track because of my action.
It didn’t end there.
When I returned to my spot, the instructor quietly beckoned me.
“Number 45, right?”
“Yes, sir! Lee Geum-seong!”
“Good job. I’ll give you extra points. Keep that in mind.”
“Thank you, sir!”
Another step closer to best trainee.
A very satisfying outcome for the day.
