LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 239
Chapter 239: Side Effects (3)
Hell Training Regimen.
It was only after it officially started that the 51st batch understood why this training was referred to as punishment.
“Ughhhhh….”
“Grrrrk!”
The 51st cadets shouted loudly as they lifted the massive iron bars over their heads.
“Two hundred twenty-one!”
“Huh? What was that?”
“Two hundred twenty-one!”
“What was that? I can’t hear you; your voices are too quiet.”
“Twooo huuuundreddd, twenty-one!”
“Ah, now I can hear it. Next!”
“Two hundred twenty-two!”
“Huh? I can’t hear you again.”
Yuri ignored them, claiming he couldn’t hear, even though the voices of the 51st batch echoed through the training grounds.
Because of this, the 51st batch had counted up to 222, but in reality, the number of lifts they had completed far exceeded 1,000.
However, Yuri still seemed dissatisfied and clicked his tongue.
“Tsk tsk, at this rate, when will you hit a thousand? I wonder if you can make it in eight hours.”
As Yuri yawned repeatedly, the 51st batch ground their teeth in frustration.
But they couldn’t do anything other than follow orders.
While Yuri’s presence was threatening enough, the sight of the Black Sword Corps surrounding them made it clear that this was an official event of the Cradle.
“Where are those kids lifting the iron bars? Why is it so quiet?”
“Twooo hundreeed, twenty-two!”
“Yaaawn… It’s so quiet it’s making me sleepy.”
With that, Yuri casually laid down on the platform.
Seeing Yuri lie down so comfortably, the 51st batch bit their lips but looked on enviously.
‘I-It’s hard…’
‘I want to rest…’
They had been lifting the iron bars that weighed several hundred kilograms for hours.
They were exhausted to the point of wanting to collapse.
But there were some making things even harder for the already struggling cadets.
“It seems you have the leisure to think about other things.”
“S-Sorry, sir!”
Gunther scoffed, exuding a cold aura.
“Focus. If you lose your grip even slightly, your neck could snap. You’ve just become official cadets; imagine your family’s joy when they hear you died lifting an iron bar.”
“I-I’ll focus, sir!”
It was unclear whether he was concerned for them or just criticizing.
Theresia, with her expressionless face, chimed in.
“Put some strength into it! Put some strength into it! Huh? Wasn’t the iron bar about to come down just now?”
“No, sir! It wasn’t!”
“No, it definitely came down about 3 cm! So that last one doesn’t count!”
“Ugh…”
Arin, who spoke in a teasing tone, held the strictest standards among them all.
Thanks to the special instructors hired by Yuri, the already difficult training became even more unbearable for the 51st batch.
However, the instructor who made things hardest for the 51st batch was someone else entirely.
“I’m hungry.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m hungry!”
“W-What do you mean by that?”
“I’m huuungryyyy!”
“D-Did you say to lift it onto our shoulders?”
“I’m hungry!”
“O-Okay! I’ll correct it right away!”
Unlike the other instructors, Poppy’s critiques were incomprehensible, and they had to rack their brains to figure out the meaning behind his words.
This made both their bodies and minds equally weary.
But no matter what anyone said, the one who tormented the 51st batch the most was Yuri, wearing his red cap.
While the other four devil instructors poked and prodded, Yuri wielded a club and mercilessly beat them down.
Munch munch.
Yuri, lying on the platform, swung his legs and chewed on his rations.
“Let’s see, what number are we on now?”
“Two hundred twenty-three!”
“Hmm… I really can’t remember what number we’re at.”
“Two hundred twenty-three!”
“Oh no, I forgot. Guess we’ll have to start from the beginning.”
“……”
Yuri casually reset the count they had worked so hard to accumulate.
The 51st batch gritted their teeth and glared at him.
Faced with those murderous stares, Yuri merely snorted.
“What? You got a problem?”
“N-No, sir!”
“And what are you gonna do about it if you do?”
“……”
“If you’re that pissed and want to kill me, then try me outside of this hell later. I’ll take you on without rank.”
Yuri smirked mockingly as he waved his wrist.
“Alright, start again!”
“Ugh… one!”
“What was that?”
“Ooone!”
The 51st batch’s desperate screams echoed through the hellish sky.
Time passed like that.
The 51st batch was finally given a brief ten-minute break, a sweet moment of respite.
Everyone collapsed, panting heavily.
“Hey, you there.”
At Yuri’s low voice, the 51st batch flinched.
The ones in the path of his golden gaze shrank back.
“M-Me?”
“No, not you, the one behind you.”
“M-Me, sir?”
“No, not you either. The one behind you, further back.”
As Yuri waved his hand, the 51st batch turned to look.
Eventually, finally.
“Are you… talking to me?”
“Yes, you.”
The boy who was singled out by Yuri gulped nervously.
“Why… are you calling me?”
“Didn’t I tell you before?”
“Pardon?”
“I said I’d stitch up your broken head personally.”
“……?!”
Yes, the one Yuri pointed out was the boy who had initially voiced complaints.
Also known as the “guy with the cracked skull.”
“You’re excused from this.”
Seeing Yuri’s cheerful smile, the boy’s face turned pale, and he trembled.
Yuri, who had been stepping down from the platform, suddenly stopped and glanced in another direction.
“Oh, and you’re excused too.”
“M-Me?”
“Yeah, the one who kept saying ‘me, me’ earlier.”
Yuri’s second pick was the girl who had timidly asked, “M-Me?” earlier.
As if asking why she was excused, the girl gave Yuri a puzzled look.
Yuri grinned.
“In this hell, you must always end your sentences with ‘da’ or ‘kka.’ Understand?”
“B-But you just told us that….”
“Huh? 51st batch talking back? You’re definitely excused.”
Yuri made a dismissive gesture, and the girl who was excused paled even more.
Just as Yuri was finally about to step down from the platform…
“Oh, wait!”
He stopped once again.
Those who were finally starting to relax flinched once more.
“You, the tall guy over there.”
Those standing in the direction of Yuri’s gaze recoiled.
Then they all started turning around one by one.
‘Who’s it now?’
‘Please, not me!’
The one who all eyes finally landed on was none other than Mucci.
“M-Me?”
Upon hearing that, Yuri chuckled.
“Yes. You.”
“W-Why me…?”
“At first, I was just calling you for no reason….”
Suddenly, Yuri’s expression turned fierce, and his voice thundered.
“You dumbass! Didn’t I just tell you to end your sentences with ‘da’ or ‘kka’? Did you already forget something I said a few seconds ago?”
“S-Sorry, sir!”
“Sorry, my ass! You’re excused too.”
“I-I was wrong!”
“…Yo?”
“I-I apologize.”
“Yep. If you’re stupid, you’ll just have to suffer a bit more. So, you’re definitely excused. Absolutely excused.”
“Ugh, ugh!”
Mucci, flustered, flailed about as the surrounding 51st cadets slowly backed away from him.
As if Mucci had caught a contagious disease.
Yuri clicked his tongue at the sight.
“Tsk, what an idiot.”
Mucci likely didn’t know.
Whether he had done wrong or not, he would’ve been excused regardless.
‘Snot-nose, you’re really lucky to have such a great senior directly above you!’
It was all an act of kindness, stemming from a heart that cared for his juniors.
Yes, that’s exactly it!
‘It’s a bit of a pity that only a week remains. Back in my day, it was ten days.’
But what could he do?
Since the new 51st batch was small, the training period had been shortened.
Instead, they could simply compress ten days’ worth of training into a week.
A sort of real-world condensed training, so to speak.
‘In the upcoming week… Mucci, you’ll shed your stupidity and be reborn! As the ruthless Mucci who fits this era!’
Yuri, having singled out the three including Mucci, descended from the platform with a smile.
Soon, the excused cadets followed Yuri and disappeared.
“Aaaghhh!”
The terrible screams that echoed in the sky made the remaining 51st batch shudder in fear.
* * *
Seven hours later.
“One.”
“Comrade!”
“Two.”
“It’s one!”
“What?”
“Comraaaaade!”
“Can’t hear youuuu?”
“Ooooneeeeeee!”
As the hell training regimen was nearing its end.
The glasses-wearing man observed Yuri, who was squeezing every last drop out of the 51st batch, and couldn’t help but admire.
“…Impressive.”
He had worried whether it was wise to entrust the training of the 51st batch to someone only one year their senior.
But what do you
know?
Watching Yuri and his crew grind down the 51st batch, those concerns proved to be unfounded.
“That… that’s talent.”
Yuri seemed to instinctively know how to provoke his opponents, to rile them up further, driving them into a frenzy.
He also had a knack for instinctively assessing the trainees’ stamina and pushing them to their limits, right to the brink of collapse, and then just a couple of times beyond.
Moreover, this didn’t seem like his first rodeo; he had even brought his own instructors and was handling things skillfully.
While the bespectacled man admired Yuri, several Black Sword Corps members approached.
They couldn’t take their eyes off Yuri, who was mercilessly driving the 51st batch, and they spoke up.
“…Did the Commander predict this?”
“Jeez… Watching the way he grinds them down, we should be learning from him.”
“Today, I’ve come to reflect on myself. We’ve been running a so-called hell all these years… but what’s unfolding before us, this is the real hell.”
The voices of the Black Sword Corps members were filled with deep admiration.
They, too, had driven many batches through this hell over the years.
But Yuri’s rendition of hell left them in awe.
“Commander, can we… can we call that guy back next year?”
“Especially Yuri Holland, please make sure he’s brought back!”
Hearing the request of his subordinates, the bespectacled man adjusted his glasses and responded.
“…I’ll consider it, seriously.”
His glasses glinted brightly.
* * *
Creeeeeak—!
The rusty iron gates of the [Hell Training Ground] opened.
“Ughhh….”
“Guhhh….”
Dozens of boys and girls staggered out like zombies.
Every single one of them, without exception, trembled as they exited the hell training ground, barely managing to move.
Their faces were twisted in pain.
‘The saying about limbs being torn apart… was true!’
‘I, I can’t feel my arms or legs….’
Though the tiger hadn’t harmed them, the instructors had ripped their limbs apart.
It was nothing short of horrific pain.
But more than the pain, what tormented them was the overwhelming exhaustion.
‘I’m so sleepy….’
‘I just want to rest….’
Dozens of the 51st batch staggered toward the Forest of Animals.
To restore their battered bodies, even just a little.
To fall asleep as quickly as possible.
And so, a few more hours passed.
Night fell.
* * *
A girl was running frantically through the forest.
“Huff huff.”
Her breath was ragged.
Her clothes were torn and covered in dirt.
Though she was running in a panic, she constantly looked over her shoulder, clearly being chased by someone.
How long had she been running?
Rustle—.
A sound from close by.
Rustle—rustle—.
The bizarre sound grew nearer, and the girl’s face filled with despair.
Then finally.
Rustle—!
A dark shadow leaped out from the side, rushing toward the girl.
The shadow soared high against the moon, casting a shadow over the girl’s face, and she screamed.
“N-Nooo!”
The girl’s piercing scream rang out in the moonlit night, and a reply came from the shadow.
“Yep, yes.”
Eventually, the shadow, which had blocked the moonlight, completely engulfed the girl.
Thud—.
With a dull thud, the girl collapsed.
Having successfully captured his prey, Yuri sighed in irritation.
“Jeez, why run when you knew you wouldn’t get far? You should’ve just let yourself be caught.”
Yuri then reached into the ration pouch he was holding.
Rustle—.
He chewed on the ration while looking down at the fainted girl.
“And to think you still had the energy to run?”
Even after such grueling training, she still had the strength to run.
This slightly bruised Yuri’s pride.
‘Guess I can ramp up the intensity a bit more.’
He nodded slightly and moved on to find his next prey.
Or rather, it was closer to “retrieval” than “hunting.”
Gathering the half-dead trainees scattered throughout the Forest of Animals and dragging them back into hell.
On the second night in the Forest of Animals, it didn’t take long for all the 51st batch trainees, who had yet to recover from the aftermath of the hell training, to be gathered once more.