I Became an Officer in Another World in Just 5 Minutes - Chapter 214
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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 214
“Well… I’d like to do that too. But policy matters aren’t my responsibility.”
“Ah, I see.”
Well, if it’s not his responsibility, that’s unfortunate.
‘I wonder if Headquarters handles this kind of thing.’
I don’t know exactly, but since it’s an important matter, the core departments are probably controlling it.
“I’ll try my best.”
“I’d appreciate it.”
Actually, I don’t really plan to make much effort, but I nodded and continued walking.
“One! Two! Three-four!”
As we approached the auditorium.
I could hear voices of people who were obviously training nearby.
‘Hmm.’
Isn’t it human nature to never miss watching others suffer?
I immediately turned my head to check on the cadets in training.
“Ugh! I’ve reached my limit.”
“I’m dropping out.”
I’m not sure what kind of training they were doing, they were just rolling around on the ground earnestly.
But the number of cadets who had dropped out was considerable.
‘No way, it’s almost half of them.’
The training intensity couldn’t have suddenly increased compared to my time.
‘Look at that, the dropouts are chatting away.’
In my time, if you dropped out, you’d be almost on the verge of fainting, and since you’d lost points, you’d lie there like you were dead.
But over there, the cadets were having conversations among themselves.
“Tsk tsk.”
General Chelsa, who was watching the scene with me, clicked his tongue, and I could somewhat understand his feelings.
‘If this reaches the Emperor’s ears, this guy will be discharged that very day.’
If I were General Chelsa, I probably wouldn’t be able to sleep properly from anxiety.
“Isn’t this serious?”
“Yes, it does seem that way.”
I couldn’t disagree with that.
But honestly speaking, I don’t completely fail to understand those guys.
‘Why work hard when it’s random? There are even rumors that seem true about sending hard workers to the Western Front.’
If I were there, I would have just dropped out and chatted comfortably too.
‘Those guys aren’t the strange ones.’
You could call them selfish and senseless.
But people naturally put themselves first, and from what I can see, that’s their highest chance of survival.
“Sigh, why are young people like this these days? It would be great if they were even half like the Lieutenant Colonel.”
‘What nonsense.’
I just pretended not to hear that bullshit that wasn’t worth responding to and kept walking.
“Do they come straight to the auditorium after that training ends?”
“That’s right. Isn’t it?”
General Chelsa turned his head and asked the instructor.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
An answer without a second’s hesitation.
I unconsciously frowned.
‘These bastards are really disgusting.’
Look at that.
They’re rolling around on the dirt ground right now, and they’re going to come sit in the auditorium in that state?
They have no basic consideration for people.
“If there’s no additional training in the evening, let them wash up before coming.”
“That would take at least an hour, is that okay?”
“Yes, it’s fine.”
Actually, it’s not really fine.
But if my one hour makes all those people comfortable, isn’t that an overwhelming benefit by rough calculation?
“Is there training in the evening?”
“No, there isn’t.”
“Then give them time to wash up after training ends.”
“Yes! Understood.”
At the general’s words, the instructor nodded without a second’s thought.
‘They should have set it up like this originally before I said anything.’
I sighed inwardly as I entered the waiting room behind the empty auditorium.
“I have a meeting, and if I’m here, they won’t be able to speak comfortably, so I’ll be going.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes. Thank you for your consideration.”
General Chelsa, who I thought would stay until the end, got up without any regrets.
“I’ll come back around the time it ends, so let’s meet again then.”
“Yes, loyalty.”
I saluted General Chelsa as he left the waiting room, then sat down on the sofa.
‘He’s leaving with good sense.’
His favorability was at minus 99 points, but his recent action raised it by about 3 points.
‘I should work a little harder for him then.’
Of course, that doesn’t mean I plan to give the sharp words he wants to hear.
“You said it would take about an hour?”
To be precise, the instructor will come get me when it’s time.
“Working even on leave, I really have it tough.”
Still, I’ve been spending fulfilling time in the capital for two weeks already.
‘Things have been really quiet lately.’
This much leave is actually normal.
But if there had been problems in the west, I would have had to go down there almost immediately.
However, the Adits Imperial Army is as quiet as a dead mouse.
There are even stories that they don’t seem to have any intention of retaking Belzium Castle.
“Well, not doing anything is right. How could they fight when 30,000 men evaporated?”
It’s right to consider Belzium Castle as never having existed and reorganize the whole situation.
“Sigh, but no matter how I think about it, Belzium Castle was a fluke and there’s no answer going forward.”
I found out later that Baren Seto was in charge of tactics at Belzium Castle.
‘There was a reason why there were no gaps.’
Of course, we won miraculously, but that was heaven helping us.
Objectively, it was our crushing defeat.
‘Since we lost once, Count Seto will appear again, won’t he?’
Then it’ll start becoming like Adman Castle again.
“I can already picture it.”
I really don’t understand why no one else knows this obvious future.
“Sigh, there’s really no answer. I should go get some fresh air.”
I sighed as I left the auditorium and looked around.
“This path brings back memories too.”
Actually, it hasn’t been that long.
Just a little over a year.
I still vividly remember walking here in formation with my roommates.
“I wonder if everyone’s doing well.”
Since there are no cell phones, it’s not easy to hear news.
‘We should get together sometime.’
But even in South Korea where we have SNS, people say “let’s meet up” a hundred times but never actually meet once.
Would it be any easier here?
To meet everyone together, we’d need at least the end of the war.
“The trees here are still the same. Really, those times were… good my ass.”
Whether it’s because my personality is twisted or because I have a good memory.
Strangely, I’m not good at romanticizing the past.
“Really nothing has changed at all.”
I still had plenty of time.
Since there was no one here to stop me, I just walked along the path on a whim.
“The air here is really nice.”
Of course, even going to the city would be a hundred times better than South Korea.
Still, this Training Camp is somehow…
It’s as if they planted a World Tree here, there’s an especially strong phytoncide feeling.
“This place is exactly the same too.”
The dormitory building where I stayed for 2 weeks.
As expected, nothing had changed at all.
“How is this possible.”
I’m starting to suspect that time has stopped.
“Ahh, washing up right after training makes me feel human again.”
“What’s gotten into them today? Usually they only let us wash before bed.”
The voices of cadets coming through the open bathroom window.
Since it was my suggestion, I couldn’t help but smile.
‘That’s right, your big brother understands how you feel.’
Someone like me really shouldn’t be on the front lines but should be a Training Camp counselor.
‘Just thinking about it sounds amazing.’
I even made medical carriages, so honestly, shouldn’t they issue me a medical license through special admission at this point?
“Ugh, I feel alive. We have to go to the auditorium after this, right?”
“Yeah, Paran Oclo is coming to give a speech.”
Very ordinary conversation.
Just as I was about to move away since listening any longer would make me seem like a pervert.
I heard words that made me stop in my tracks.
“Why should we listen to that bastard? It’s so fucking annoying.”
“Exactly. I don’t even want to see his face, but we have to sit there and clap. What makes him better than me?”
Voices filled with hatred.
This is quite shocking.
‘Hey, it’s not like I’m making you do training. Why are you cursing at this?’
If they were losing sleep time because of me, I’d accept the cursing.
But that’s not it.
There definitely would have been some class anyway, so nothing changes for them.
And most importantly.
‘It seems like they just hate me as a person.’
Since I’m not magnanimous enough to ignore gossip and move on, I took another step closer and perked up my ears.
“Exactly. Who can’t do that? Just stay quiet. I really hope I run into him on the street. I’d punch him in the face.”
“If you’re so good at fighting, you should have died following those people who died there. What kind of hero is he supposed to be? Right?”
“All he did was throw some stupid soldiers around, but he wants to look good.”
Clench
At these utterly disgusting words, my fist clenched without me realizing it.
“Keke, exactly. If I go to the Western Front too, I’ll do the same thing. You just need to handle the soldier bastards well and that’s it.”
“You’ll get Lieutenant Colonel rank soon too.”
“What’s Lieutenant Colonel? I’ll probably get Colonel too. And I’ll form a guard squad with soldiers to surround me during battles.”
“360-degree human shields? That’s a good idea.”
“It’s more beneficial for replaceable soldiers to die than for high-level personnel like me to die.”
Bang!
Unable to listen to such unbearable words any longer, I couldn’t contain my anger and kicked the bathroom wall.
“What… what was that?”
The wall didn’t collapse, but the sound was loud enough to startle the people inside.
I considered barging in, but shook my head and turned around.
“Disgusting.”
If I saw their faces directly, I felt like I might cross the line.
And I didn’t really want to do that either.
If the majority thinks this way, even if I go and discipline them, it would just be a brief interlude with no real change.
‘These kinds of people are officer candidates?’
Of course, I didn’t expect any great professional mindset from them.
I don’t have that kind of mindset either.
But shouldn’t they at least have some sense of responsibility as officers toward their soldiers?
“I was planning to just get through this casually, but that won’t work.”
My mind just changed a bit.
This disgust I’m feeling right now.
If I don’t vent this, I think it’ll go beyond losing sleep and actually twist my personality.
Riiip!
I tore up the script I had brought in my pocket into shreds.
“Where have you been…”
The instructor in the auditorium looked at me as I entered.
Was my anger showing?
He stopped mid-sentence.
“I just took a walk around. I’ll be in the waiting room, so call me when you’re ready.”
“Yes…!”
I passed the instructor who gave a brief response and went back into the waiting room.
After waiting a moment, the instructor entered the room.
“Um… Lieutenant Colonel, all the cadets are seated.”
“I’ll be right out.”
“Yes.”
After confirming the instructor had closed the door and left, I opened the shop for the first time in a while.
[Voice Enhancement Pill]
Voice is power and a weapon for officers. When consumed, your voice becomes louder and more persuasive and convincing for 10 minutes.
(Can be stacked up to 3 pills.)
Price: 10p
Just 10 points for 10 minutes.
Naturally, I hadn’t planned to use this for the speech.
But while sitting in the waiting room thinking about it.
Beyond just venting, I think I need to fix these bastards’ mindset.
“In the end, I’m acting exactly as General Chelsa wanted.”
That part is slightly annoying.
But well, what can I do?
The situation is this messed up.
‘One won’t be enough, right?’
If my voice loses power while speaking, nothing would be more unnatural than that.
‘Tsk, fine, if I’m going to use it, let’s do it properly.’
Suppressing the thought that it was wasteful, I increased the purchase quantity by one more.
[You have purchased 2 Voice Enhancement Pills.]
Almost simultaneously with the message, pills dropped into my hand.
They looked like ordinary pills commonly seen in South Korea.
‘I should take them with water.’
Since water was prepared in the waiting room, I put the pills in my mouth and took a sip.
Gulp
The pills went down smoothly since they weren’t very large.
After waiting a moment, I opened my mouth to test it.
“Ah.”
My voice didn’t seem to have changed much.
For a moment, I wondered if it was a scam.
But even though the system is ruthless, they’re not liars.
“I’ll have to trust it.”
After taking another sip of water to moisten my throat sufficiently, I opened the door to the waiting room.
“I just go straight up to the stage, right?”
“Yes! That’s correct.”
The Instructor seemed extremely tense.
It was obvious he could tell I wasn’t in a good mood right now.
‘I did show it quite a bit earlier.’
Of course, it’s the same now.
It’s just been contained and condensed a bit more.
“Let’s do this.”
As if heading to the battlefield.
Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I stepped onto the staircase leading to the stage.
Thud thud
I climbed to the end of the staircase.
The moment I reached out and pushed the curtain aside.
The faces of the Cadets filling the auditorium came into view.
“Tonight’s dinner menu…”
“So the training… hey, he’s here.”
As soon as my figure appeared, the murmuring auditorium fell quiet.
Heavy silence crawled across the floor and climbed up to the stage.
Thud
Now I walked across the flat stage instead of stairs, approaching the Cadets.
One step, two steps.
With each step, the distance narrowed, and when I got reasonably close.
Without saying a word, I stood still and looked around at the faces of the Cadets.
10 seconds like that.
20 seconds
30 seconds
.
.
1 minute.
As time dragged on, it was only natural that the silence would gradually break.
“What’s this, why isn’t he saying anything?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did he forget what to say?”
Whispering sounds.
They probably think I can’t hear them.
But standing on the stage, I could hear many more voices much more clearly than expected.
‘So this is how it feels.’
During that one minute.
Everything I needed to say was magically organized in my head.
“Looking at you all from here.”
When I finally spoke after the long silence.
The whispering died down and their gazes turned toward me again.
And the first sentence I would deliver in front of this overwhelmingly large number of Cadets was simple.
“You’re nothing but a bunch of immature brats.”
Perhaps it was a rather shocking opening line.
Though it was the same silence, I could feel the temperature drop sharply.
“Can you all, who can’t even stay quiet for a single minute, truly be Officer Candidates responsible for the Empire’s future?”
I asked while looking at a Candidate sitting in the front row, but naturally no answer came back.
“Pathetic.”
After withdrawing my gaze, I continued speaking while walking to the other side.
“I too received the same training as all of you here a year ago. At first, I was naturally mediocre. Everything was unfamiliar, and I hated the environment that restricted my freedom.”
After putting a period there, I turned my body back toward the Cadets.
“But at least!”
Perhaps due to the voice enhancement pills, my voice resonated heavily and filled the space as if I were using an amplification magical device.
“I knew why I had joined the military. Do you all know? Candidate, tell me.”
When I pointed to one Candidate sitting in the front row, he stood up from his seat.
“Uh… um, to achieve victory in war.”
A very textbook answer.
However, my question doesn’t end here.
“Victory in war. Candidate, are you currently contributing to the Empire’s path toward victory?”
“Uh…”
An answer that didn’t come immediately.
Of course.
I intentionally asked it so he wouldn’t be able to answer.
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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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