“Do they get ulcers or something if they don't torture us first thing in the morning?!” Jo Won-Gu muttered while gritting his teeth.

It felt like his bones were creaking for real, not just his imagination. His discharge from the mandatory military service was only about a month away, so being forced into participating in guerrilla training had already incensed him to no end. Yet, this year's training seemed particularly harsh.

“...Did these instructors all lose their damn minds?”

For some reason, Jo Won-Gu thought he could sense the drill instructors chomping at the bits.

He glanced at his squad member. “Hey, Wung-Cheol?”

“Corporal Seok Wung-Cheol, sir.”

“Tell me something. Is it my declining stamina, or are these as*hole instructors trying to kill me?”

“Are you comparing this year's training to the last year's, Serg?”

“Yeah. This year is a lot crazier than the last time, right?”

Seok Wung-Cheol chuckled. “Eii~, Serg, I think you're forgetting something, sir. Wasn't there a big accident last year before we joined the training?”

Jo Won-Gu tilted his head slightly. “A big accident?”

“Yes, Serg. Didn't some kid fall during the rappel training and break his legs? And he died while being transferred to a hospital, didn't he? Don't tell me you already forgot about that, Serg.”

“...Aha, that's right.”

“And that raised one hell of a fuss back then. The instructors got scared, and they didn't make us go through anything too tough last year, Serg. I mean, we even had inspectors dispatched from the higher-ranked unit to keep an eye on the proceedings and all.”

Jo Won-Gu slowly nodded, having finally managed to dig through his dim memories and recall those events. “Hmm. That means we didn't get to taste the real...