I Became an Officer in Another World in Just 5 Minutes - Chapter 17

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 17

A voice that seemed to feel terror beyond urgency.

It was too strange, far too strange.

“Why is he acting like that?”

“Right, did some enemy infiltrate or something?”

“If enemies pushed this far, the Empire would be finished.”

Anyway, since the instructor called, everyone got up from their seats and went out to the parade ground.

“Isn’t there still some time left until the graduation ceremony?”

“Right, what’s really going on?”

Since the results had already come out, military discipline was hard to find among the cadets gathered at the parade ground.

‘Even the assistant instructors look confused, so it seems like they don’t know what’s happening either?’

When everyone was really exchanging glances with question marks floating above their heads.

The instructor came up onto the platform.

“At…attention.”

An expression with his soul drained out.

Looking more closely, he seemed to be in a slight state of panic.

‘Did enemies really invade?’

Otherwise, there’s no way the instructor’s expression would be so bad before the graduation ceremony…

“The reason this instructor urgently called the cadets is that… His Majesty the Emperor will be attending the upcoming graduation ceremony.”

“?!”

What did I just hear?

The story was so unbelievable that I momentarily doubted my ears.

And this reaction wasn’t just mine – everyone was the same.

“His Majesty the Emperor is coming to the graduation ceremony?”

“That’s impossible.”

“We haven’t prepared anything.”

An existence that even nobles, unless they’re high-ranking, would have difficulty seeing once in their lifetime.

It was only natural that the cadets couldn’t come to their senses.

“Although we practiced sufficiently yesterday, since His Majesty is coming, there must not be even the slightest mistake.”

At the instructor’s words, everyone without exception nodded their heads.

‘Has there ever been a moment when the cadets and instructor’s thoughts aligned this much?’

At least not in my memory.

“Since we need to spend time on grooming as well, we can’t do it for long – just one more hour of practice. Since time is short, make sure to approach it with your minds completely focused.”

“Yes, sir!!”

The disappeared military discipline returned, and graduation ceremony practice began with higher concentration than ever before.

“Salute to the flag!”

“Loy…”

“Damn it!”

“Who was that!”

When saluting the flag, you’re supposed to keep your mouth still and only move your hands, but someone made a sound.

“Can’t you focus properly! Are you going to show that kind of behavior in front of His Majesty!”

The instructor shouting with a red face.

He’s really angry.

‘His hands and feet must be trembling, since if we mess up, the responsibility will fall on him.’

So his shouting right now is completely understandable.

“I’m… I’m sorry!”

“If you can’t tell the difference, just lip-sync during all the salute moments, don’t think about showing off unnecessarily.”

From salutes to singing military songs.

We went through each thing in order.

“Oath!”

“Oath!!”

“I solemnly swear as a soldier of the Raikhan Empire to dedicate my body and mind for His Majesty the Emperor and the citizens of the Empire. Candidate Ion Velburn.”

“Paran Oclo.”

“Krushel Kastel.”

“Derick Rahila.”

.

.

Ion was reading the oath, and the important thing here is the timing of saying our names.

‘If you’re even a little late, you’ll stand out alone.’

In that moment, you’d receive tremendous resentful gazes from the high-ranking officials.

‘Just imagining it gives me chills.’

Whether everyone had the same fear as me, they achieved tremendous progress during the short hour.

After practice ended like that, everyone returned to their dormitory rooms and changed into the uniforms distributed the day before.

“Hmm.”

Standing in front of the mirror looking at how the uniform fit, honestly it wasn’t bad.

‘This guy has good proportions.’

Even in my past life, I wasn’t short, but Paran’s body is, how should I put it, just superior.

8.5 head-to-body ratio that you’d believe if someone said he was a model, and an objectively decent-looking face.

If I had this in the Republic of Korea, I might not have become a celebrity but I would have gotten quite a few phone numbers.

‘So what, I’m suffering in the military full of men.’

A knife only has value when there’s something to cut.

“I don’t look weird anywhere, right?”

Ion spun around once in front of me.

“Seems fine.”

“Ugh, I’m nervous. It’s been too long since I’ve stood before His Majesty.”

“If you’re nervous, what am I supposed to do? Please do well up front.”

They say ranks 1st through 3rd receive their graduation certificates directly from the Emperor.

‘Salute, receive the graduation certificate, then kneel on one knee while saying the grace is overwhelming.’

Looking at the difficulty level, it’s not that hard.

“I’ll try my best.”

An expression unusually tense for Ion.

Even for a ducal family, the Emperor seems to be equally heavenly.

“Phew.”

I thought it would be a somewhat leisurely day, but due to an unexpected variable, time flew by in the blink of an eye.

-Pam pa pam pa ra pam pam! Pam pam!

The sound of the military band playing from the distant parade ground.

It means the graduation ceremony will start soon.

“Since His Majesty the Emperor has come, maintain disciplined walking. Understood!”

“Yes, sir!!!!”

Somehow, military discipline was at its highest on the last day.

“This instructor will trust… trust the cadets.”

An expression that showed no trust at all.

But what could he do?

At this point, there was no answer other than to trust.

‘Bro, I’ll try to do well once.’

Of course, it’s not something that works just because I do well alone, but it’s better than doing poorly, isn’t it?

“From now on, there will be a graduation ceremony for officer candidates. We would appreciate it if guests and family members would take their seats.”

The host’s opening remarks for the event – this is the real beginning.

“After completing two weeks of arduous training and being reborn as proper officers of the Empire, 1,307 cadets will now enter the parade ground. Please welcome them with loud applause!”

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The representative candidate who had been in charge during the march stood at the front as the 1st Battalion departed from the parade ground.

‘Hey, that bastard. His steps aren’t matching.’

The instructor must have noticed too, as he quickly ran over to correct the candidate’s posture.

‘What a struggle.’

Such an anxious expression.

No matter how terrifyingly loud the instructors shout, they’re only tigers in front of us – in the end, they’re just junior officers with the rank of lieutenant.

“2nd Battalion, forward march!”

The 1st Battalion had completely left the parade ground, and next was the 2nd Battalion.

After waiting a bit longer, our turn as the last battalion finally came.

“Phew, let’s go.”

I took a deep breath to steady my mind and took my first step.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The moment we reached the top of the uphill path, the people gathered at the parade ground came into view.

Among them, one man sitting in the front row of the platform, radiating an overwhelming presence.

Though he was still too far away to see his face clearly, everyone probably realized that person was the Emperor.

‘Focus, focus. I can’t make any mistakes.’

Since a mistake by the leader would ruin the entire formation, I poured all my attention into my walking pace.

“The 3rd Battalion now entering passed the march training as the most excellent battalion, showing recognized perseverance and effort…”

There was an introduction from the announcer, but it didn’t register in my ears at all.

‘One, two, one, two.’

Only the rhythm until the very end.

Thanks to my devoted effort, there were no mistakes until we reached the battalion checkpoint.

“Now that all the protagonists of today’s event have gathered, we will begin the graduation ceremony. First, we will have the national anthem.”

‘Oh, God, Buddha, Jesus. Please don’t let anyone make mistakes.’

If some clueless fool started shouting loyalty, the instructor would probably foam at the mouth and collapse.

“Salute to the flag.”

The announcer’s words.

At the same time, the soldiers saluted while civilians placed their clenched right fists near their hearts.

‘Oh?’

Was heaven helping us?

Miraculously, no idiots appeared to shout loyalty.

“Due to time constraints, we will only sing the first verse of the national anthem.”

With the Emperor present, we sang until our throats were raw, followed by a moment of silence for the spirits of national defense, instructional words, and other somewhat tedious proceedings.

About 30 minutes after the ceremony had begun.

Finally, our time had arrived.

“We solemnly swear to dedicate our bodies and minds for the citizens of the Empire. Candidate Ion Velburn.”

“Paran Oclo!”

“Derick Rahila!”

.

Perfect timing to an unbelievable degree.

‘These bastards, they weren’t unable to do it – they just weren’t doing it?’

It was absurd beyond belief.

“We have heard the passionate oath of the candidates. Next, we will present the graduation certificates. The three outstanding candidates will come up to the platform.”

The problematic moment had finally arrived.

Praying inwardly that nothing would go wrong, I walked to the front of the platform with precise military bearing.

“When His Majesty approaches, give a powerful salute with full force, you know that, right?”

The waiting instructor reminded me of the final precautions before going up.

“Yes.”

“Good, I trust you. Go on.”

With the instructor’s permission granted, we lined up in order of rank and walked up the stairs.

‘Is this really heaven?’

About halfway up the stairs, people started becoming visible.

Among them, the one who drew the most attention was undoubtedly the sun of the Empire, the Emperor.

‘He’s… younger than I thought.’

Instead of the white-haired old man I had expected, he was a middle-aged man about my father’s age.

Next to him was… a three-star general.

From what I heard during the introduction, he was the commander of the Education Command, the higher unit above the Training Camp.

Behind them sat rows of two-star and one-star officers.

General Chelsa, whom I had seen during the entrance ceremony, couldn’t have looked smaller.

“This graduation certificate presentation will be specially conducted by His Majesty the Emperor, the sun of the Empire.”

As soon as the announcer finished speaking, the Emperor rose from his seat for the first time since the ceremony began.

‘Why is he so intimidating?’

The aura of being an emperor? No, he just naturally overflowed with charisma.

His intense gaze that seemed ready to devour someone at any moment, combined with his medium-length hairstyle, gave the impression of a Viking warrior rather than an emperor.

“Loyalty!!! Ion Velburn reporting to His Majesty the Emperor!”

As soon as the Emperor approached, Ion saluted and announced his name.

“Hmm, you’ve grown a lot. When did I last see you, last year?”

“That’s correct!”

“Taking first place too, the excellence of Velburn continues this time as well. Splendid.”

“Thank you!!!!”

His trembling hands showed just how nervous Ion was right now.

“Where will your assignment be?”

“I will be going to the Western Border Defense Command!”

“Going exactly where you’re needed. Use that clever mind of yours to contribute to the Empire’s victory.”

“I will do my best!”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

The Emperor said this while patting Ion’s shoulder once and handed him the graduation certificate that the commander had brought.

“Your grace is immeasurable!”

With the prepared response, Ion’s turn ended and the Emperor took one step to the side to stand in front of me.

“Loyalty!!! Paran Oclo reporting to His Majesty the Emperor!”

I started the same way with a salute.

But the Emperor’s expression was a bit strange.

“Paran? That’s a name I haven’t heard before. What number child are you in the family?”

“The third!”

At my answer, the Emperor’s expression crumpled slightly, very slightly.

One might think it wasn’t a big change in expression, but he was the sky and sun of the Empire.

‘I’m screwed.’

He was definitely angry about the family’s behavior of sending the youngest when he had specifically conscripted them.

“Well, seeing that you achieved second place, they must have sent their most excellent heir. Isn’t that right?”

“Th…that’s correct!!!”

Fortunately, it seemed to pass somehow.

No, actually, this was even better for me.

‘The Emperor just referred to me as the heir, right? Now it’s undeniable.’

No matter what nasty tricks my eldest brother might pull, the Emperor had me in his mind as the heir.

As long as I didn’t die, the game was over.

“The Oclo Family’s role in this war is important, and having such an excellent heir commissioned as an officer is very reassuring.”

“Your… your grace is immeasurable!”

The Emperor regained his calm expression and patted my shoulder.

And then came the problematic question.

“So, where will you be assigned?”

‘Ah.’

Actually, I had been worried about this moment ever since I asked Ion about it.

‘How should I answer?’

I wanted to lie if I could, but I couldn’t do that.

Because the person I’m dealing with is none other than the Emperor.

‘Sh… ah… damn.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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