Chapter 97
Summer wasn’t known only as the season of weed clearing.
It also carried another nickname—the season of ranger training.
Ranger training.
Along with winter training, it was considered one of the most hated drills among soldiers.
The news that ranger training had been scheduled for this month sent shockwaves not only through the enlisted soldiers but also among the officers.
“Ha… fuck. Ranger training, seriously.”
Because it was such a large-scale exercise, the officers also had a lot to worry about and prepare.
I’d never served as an officer myself, but—
As a soldier, I’d seen up close just how much the officers had struggled up until now, so I knew well enough.
Still, when it came to ranger training, the suffering of the enlisted soldiers overwhelmingly outweighed that of the officers.
While I was seated in the admin office handling work related to revising the duty assignment roster, my attention was drawn to the platoon sergeant’s actions.
Holding the phone, the platoon sergeant nodded several times as he spoke.
“Yes, Battery Commander. Understood. Then we’ll take volunteers today and tomorrow—two days—and select from them. Loyalty.”
After hanging up, the platoon sergeant immediately looked for the duty NCO.
“Duty! Broadcast an announcement right now. Tell all squad leaders to assemble.”
“Yes, sir!”
Meanwhile, Seohwan, who was in the admin office with me, glanced at the platoon sergeant with an anxious expression and whispered quietly.
“Geumseong… nothing bad happened in our unit again, right?”
“Doesn’t seem like it. From what I can tell…”
“From what you can tell?”
Taking volunteers and selecting people.
If you thought about what kind of situation would require selecting personnel separately these days, the answer came pretty easily.
And sure enough, the conclusion came quickly.
“Looks like they’re trying to select ranger instructors.”
“Instructors? You mean those guys who wear red hats?”
“Yeah.”
“Aren’t those usually people from other units who come and do it?”
“That happens sometimes. But it’s not like only one or two units undergo ranger training. Just in this area alone, there are dozens of military units. There’s no way they can cover instructor duties for all of them throughout the entire summer.”
Thinking that ranger training only lasted four nights and five days, and that the rotation was faster than training camp instructors, so maybe it was possible—that would be a big mistake.
Preparing for one ranger training session required at least two to nearly three weeks of preparation.
Because of that, most units selected and trained ranger instructors internally.
At the mention of ranger instructors, Seohwan showed strong interest.
I asked him casually.
“Why? Thinking of applying?”
“Well, wouldn’t it be easier to be an instructor instead of getting pushed around by them during training?”
“If that’s why you’re thinking of applying, you’d better quit right now.”
“Why?”
“Because ranger instructors train even harder.”
It made no sense for instructors to know less about ranger training than the trainees.
So ranger instructors usually moved to the training grounds a week before the actual exercise and underwent separate ranger training themselves.
Starting with PT drills, they had to master all kinds of obstacle courses.
Depending on the situation, they might even take on chemical warfare instructor roles.
Since ranger training required them to be versatile in every sense, the process of earning that red hat was anything but easy.
After hearing my rough explanation, Seohwan thought for a moment and then answered.
“Alright. Then I’ll give up.”
“That was fast.”
“You told me back in basic training, remember? That life in the army gets easier if I listen to you.”
Seohwan’s trust in me was absolute.
Well—limited to the army, anyway.
Teachers are human too. If they see a student who listens well and follows instructions, their favor naturally leans toward that student.
Even among peers, Seohwan always tried to take my words seriously, so I grinned at him.
“Just trust me. I’ll make sure you get a special reward during this ranger training.”
“A special reward? What is it?”
“What do you think?”
In the military, when someone says “special reward,” there’s a very high chance it means only one thing.
“Reward leave.”
Kang Seohwan’s eyes widened.
Preparations for ranger training brought down a directive from the battalion commander.
During morning assembly, the battery commander personally explained it to us.
“From now until ranger training begins, all daily duties will end at 1500 hours. After 1500, physical training will be conducted. Everyone, without exception, change into training clothes and assemble in front of the parade ground at exactly 1500. Understood?”
“Yes, sir—”
Before the soldiers’ response could finish—
“Battery Commander!”
The platoon sergeant called out.
“Oh—Platoon Sergeant. What is it?”
The battery commander turned toward him with a slightly flustered expression.
The platoon sergeant leaned in and whispered something.
The battery commander looked troubled.
“But the Battery Commander said—”
“The senior sergeant already discussed it with the battalion commander and decided it that way. It’s fine.”
“Oh, is that so? Understood.”
Just as I was thinking, What is this about?
The battery commander spoke again.
“Correction. The weed-clearing personnel will be exempt from physical training. You will continue weed-clearing work under the platoon sergeant’s instructions.”
I knew it.
I figured the platoon sergeant wouldn’t leave the grass alone after it had grown back so thick from the heavy rain.
Sure enough—exactly as expected.
You could call it the platoon sergeant’s mercy. Either way, Corporal Yang Seong-gu and I were legally exempted from physical training.
When we headed to the storage shed where the brush cutters were kept, Yang Seong-gu, who had arrived earlier, greeted me with a chuckle.
“Congratulations, Geumseong.”
“For what, sir?”
At first, I didn’t understand why he was congratulating me out of nowhere.
“This is your first ranger training, right?”
“No— I mean, yes. It is.”
I almost answered “no” instinctively.
Technically, it wasn’t.
But to others, it was my first time.
So I had no choice but to act accordingly.
Yang Seong-gu laughed again.
“They call it physical training, but do you know what they actually make you do?”
“PT drills, right?”
“Huh? How do you know?”
“Well…”
Because I’d experienced it firsthand before my regression.
To prepare for ranger training, soldiers practiced PT drill movements during physical training time.
That alone was a form of torture.
I couldn’t exactly tell Yang Seong-gu that I’d come from another timeline, so I made up a reasonable excuse.
“I heard it from seniors in advance.”
“Oh, I see. Makes sense—anyone who went through ranger training last year would know.”
Seemingly convinced, Yang Seong-gu nodded repeatedly.
“Anyway, fuck that. I’d rather run a brush cutter in peace than do that damn PT training. Don’t you agree?”
“Yes, sir.”
There’s no such thing as “getting used to” PT drills.
Once you go to the ranger training grounds and do them, everything you practiced beforehand gets reset.
Because—
The PT training here is done only in training uniforms.
But at the ranger training grounds, PT drills are conducted while wearing helmets, ammo belts, combat boots, and full combat uniforms.
Calling it “just a difference in clothing” would be wrong.
In the army, what you wear completely changes the difficulty of training.
So physical training beforehand is practically meaningless.
And—
It’s not like a few days of PT suddenly multiplies your stamina exponentially.
Of course, it’s better than doing nothing.
But honestly, it would be more efficient to do other work during that time.
That might be why the platoon sergeant deliberately pulled us weed-clearers out.
“Anyway, let’s go work those brush cutters, Geumseong.”
“Yes, sir.”
Despite ranger training drawing ever closer,
the daily routine of us weed-clearers remained unchanged.
Before evening roll call,
Corporal Choi Min-heon conducted a survey using the time set aside for squad discussions.
“The platoon sergeant asked me to survey volunteers who want to apply as ranger instructors for this training.”
At the mention of ranger instructors, murmurs spread among the squad.
Go Jun-ho showed the most interest.
“Private Go Jun-ho! I want to apply!”
“Nope.”
“Pardon…?”
Choi Min-heon rejected him sharply, causing Go Jun-ho to panic.
“Uh… Squad Leader. Didn’t you just say you were taking applications? Then why am I not allowed…?”
“You don’t get it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Just look at your rank.”
“…Ah.”
Go Jun-ho was still a private.
The youngest in the battery.
Even if, by some miracle, he became a ranger instructor—would he really be able to raise his voice at his seniors?
No chance. Absolutely not.
Of course, as an instructor, he would only be carrying out his assigned duties without personal feelings involved.
But even if he claimed that—
Would the seniors on the receiving end immediately accept it?
I’d bet only a handful would.
“What if the seniors you harassed during ranger training retaliated against you afterward?”
“I… didn’t think about that.”
“The army is still a place where people live. As long as there are people, personal feelings are unavoidable. I’m saying this for your own good—privates should generally avoid applying as ranger instructors. The platoon sergeant said the same.”
“Yes, sir.”
In our battery, there were three privates: Kim Won-sang, Go Jun-ho, and Lee Ju-hyeong.
Aside from Go Jun-ho, Kim Won-sang and Lee Ju-hyeong didn’t seem particularly disappointed—they probably never intended to apply in the first place.
Choi Min-heon then asked Seohwan and me.
“Geumseong, Seohwan—what about you two? The platoon sergeant said corporals could try applying.”
“No, sir!”
“I’m not thinking about being an instructor either, sir.”
“Really?”
At that moment—
One person suddenly raised his hand.
“I’ll give it a try.”
Everyone turned toward him.
The soldier who raised his hand was—
Corporal Ji Seok-ho.
The discipline officer of our unit.
