Just like what that beautiful hand did on the screen, he silently tapped his fingertips on the table and stood like a stone statue with complicated thoughts. But if he thought about it now, it didn't seem that complicated.
"Eh… I don't know. Will I just live in a world ravaged by war forever? I have no intention of joining any anti-war movements anyway."
"Alright. Even though I've retired, there are still a lot of professional soldiers out there, they also need to make a living."
Jeong Taeui muttered and threw himself back on the bed.
Swipe. His leg hit the corner of the wall. It hurt like hell.
***********************************************
Even though he had predicted it, it all burst like a bubble.
The next day. Instructor Golding of the second martial arts training school called Jeong Taeui about 30 minutes before the official training session started. It was only natural, he had left the training room yesterday under the pretext of changing clothes and disappeared 30 minutes later, when the roll call was called, he was still lying on his uncle's bed without moving an inch. So now he had to pay the price by rolling around on the floor in the early morning before the regular classes started like this.
Jeong Taeui, both mentally and physically exhausted, staggered into the morning regular class. Today there would be a lecture analyzing combat experiences. The auditorium was equipped with a large screen, but it was still quite small compared to the room. There, the team members sat around it in silence.
When Jeong Taeui entered the classroom, the instructor glared at him fiercely but didn't say much, probably because he had heard the situation from instructor Golding.
Tou stealthily found an empty seat and sat down, then immediately turned to look at Jeong Taeui.
"Did you have a good date with Golding? You got called away right after breakfast, what a hot relationship."
"Yes, it was so hot that I burned to death."
Jeong Taeui grumbled and whispered as he looked towards Tou but then shrank his neck when he received the bullet-like gaze of the instructor on the podium. Tou pretended not to know anything and sat up straight with his eyes facing forward.
"As everyone knows, the joint training with the European branch is coming up. So today we will review the video data of the previous trainings and conduct individual analysis. Well, here is the data from last year's joint training."
While Jeong Taeui was mercilessly poking Tou's side, the instructor pressed the control button. The black screen lit up and a video was shown on it. The image quality wasn't very good, but it wasn't hard to see the scenes.
"Damn it, it hurts."
Tou grimaced and turned to Jeong Taeui, cursing under his breath. This time, it was Jeong Taeui who pretended to look innocently forward.
"Be quiet, look ahead. This is the joint training record."
Jeong Taeui said coldly. Tou raised his hand to retaliate, but Carlo lightly kicked his chair. A small beep sounded. The video stopped. The guide's icy gaze turned towards them.
"There. Do you guys want to see these after class during break time?"
An equally cold voice spoke up. Tou immediately sat up straight and spoke seriously.
"No. I absolutely do not want that."
"Sorry. I'll keep quiet."
It was better to bow unconditionally. This morning, Jeong Taeui realized the truth that one could completely lose oneself when facing one's superior. Of course, Tou, who had lived here for a long time, could not help but know that.
Below the governor and the deputy minister would be his officers and lieutenants. But the position of guidance officer is not a small title to be taken lightly. If he is already a guidance officer at UNHRDO, then when he moves to another organization, he can immediately take up a senior position.
The grizzled instructor stared at them coldly and then took up the remote again.
"If you want to save your own life, don't neglect your duty. Watch carefully."
As the instructor finished speaking, the video started moving again.
These are the recordings of the training with the European branch last year, but not the whole thing, just the necessary parts that have been cut and edited.
At the beginning of the video, the normally quiet classroom began to buzz with the gory content before their eyes. Everyone watched the videos seriously and quietly discussed them with their colleagues sitting nearby.
Jeong Taeui had never been through any joint training before, he just focused on the screen and listened to the sounds in his ears.
"Well, less than 10 days left. After watching this, do you think you can keep up?"
A colleague next to him tilted his head and muttered to Jeong Taeui. He crossed his arms, propped his chin on his hands, and stared at the screen before replying without taking his eyes off the screen.
"It feels like a systematic gang war. Joining hands with your own side and beating the other side to the death…However, I also have to worry about my own life, I'm a bit worried."
Among the men struggling on the screen, he would occasionally see his colleagues in this room appearing in the video. However, it felt like he was seeing them for the first time. Those were faces that seemed to be on the line between life and death. If he lost, he would surely die.
There were no murder weapons. The guns were either paintballs or air guns. The knives had worn edges, so they couldn't stab anyone. In other words, on the surface, it was just normal training.
However, everyone sitting here knows that seemingly harmless things can completely become real murder weapons.
"Ha. Tou's stupid silly actions were also filmed."
Jeong Taeui laughed and pointed at the screen. The man frowning beside him was the one who appeared on it. Just as he was about to seize the opportunity and punch his opponent, he stepped on a guy who had fallen behind him and lost his balance. The punch could only cut through the air. So, he was easily countered by his opponent.
Tou grumbled and clicked his tongue, wondering, 'Why did you film that scene?'. Yuen Ho, who was sitting next to him, was also seen on the screen, his face clearly showing his ferocity.
"Here it is. Don't just keep looking at the failures. Show me the victories too. Our team members are all just acting stupid, it's embarrassing to see."
"This brat…— I never make stupid mistakes. Don't you find it absurd?"
"Isn't such a basic mistake stupid enough?"
Tou could only choke on his words at Jeong Taeui's cheerful smile. He rolled up his sleeves and was about to pounce on Jeong Taeui when the surroundings suddenly became strangely quiet. In that strangely cold atmosphere, Tou turned back to look at the video in confusion, Jeong Taeui also looked forward.
An edited video played on the screen. Even though it was edited, the main content was still very clear, just that the front and back parts were cut out.
In that video, there was a man.
His face was pale as if there was no blood in it. Not knowing what he was thinking, he looked down at his feet from above. The man with the boring expression and neat clothes did not look suitable for appearing in videos like this. It would be more appropriate if he appeared on the cover of some fashion magazine.
"....That face must be so cute when it smiles."
Jeong Taeui exclaimed and added, 'But his face is so pale, what a pity.'
Tou immediately turned around to look at him. He looked at Jeong Taeui as if he had just seen a ghost. Not only that, the members who were sitting in places where it was difficult to hear him also turned their surprised eyes on Jeong Taeui, their pupils almost jumping out of their sockets. Jeong Taeui didn't know if they were glaring at him or not.
Jeong Taeui looked around, wondering why these people suddenly became like this, then turned his eyes towards the screen.
The man in the video wasn't even armed. His hands were empty, wearing only shiny black gloves. He didn't look like he was hiding any other secret weapons. He wore a fitted shirt and simple pants, with nothing extravagant about his figure.
They didn't insert the wrong video, did they? No, that scene is definitely this branch.
Jeong Taeui raised his hand to rub his lips while propping up his chin and curiously looking at the screen, at that moment, their eyes met. The moment those glassy black eyes looked through the screen towards him, Jeong Taeui's heart skipped a beat.
He was probably looking at the camera mounted on the corner of the wall. A smile appeared on his expressionless and bland eyes. Jeong Taeui secretly guessed that the man was probably younger than him. It was hard to tell his age just by looking at his appearance, but there was still a faint trace of youthfulness on that smiling face.
The man walked closer to the camera and held out his hand. The screen was immediately covered by his black gloves.
However, before the camera was completely engulfed in black light, the hand stopped. He realized that there was another man appearing right behind him as the hand slowly let go of the camera. It was a man with a rather large build compared to other Orientals.
When he saw the new man, someone whispered "Kiyomi". He seemed to have heard that name somewhere before. Jeong Taeui quickly realized that it was the person who had been seriously injured during the previous training and was now in the hospital recovering. It was also the previous owner of the room he was staying in.
The man named Kiyomi held a knife in his hand. It was a dull knife, so it couldn't be used to slash people. But Kiyomi didn't back down, even with his face red, he glared straight at the man in front of him. It seemed like he said something, but since the video didn't record the sound, it was hard to tell what he said.
The man suddenly approached Kiyomi. For a moment, tension was evident on his face as he approached at a pace that was neither fast nor slow.
Kiyomi immediately turned the blade half way, the blade facing down, and approached the man. While swinging his elbow to punch the man, he raised his hand holding the knife and stabbed straight down. Whether the man avoided the elbow or the blade, he would still leave an opening and could be taken down at any moment.
The man slowed down. Then, he reached out and pressed against the wall beside him, using his strength to push the wall and jumped to the side.
Jeong Taeui's fingers that were rubbing his lips suddenly stopped. He seemed to have just seen something very strange.
On the pure white wall that the man had just touched, there were black marks as if something slimy from his gloves had stuck to the wall.
What is that?
Jeong Taeui didn't have time to think.