Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam!
"Ack... Here we go again."
The sound of a wake-up call that would make any Korean military scribe cringe filled the living room.
Just another morning. The soldier's day began as usual.
I am Kim Hyun-soo, a medic. I'm twenty-one years old.
I'm an unremarkable soldier who just received the rank of private.
Of course, if you think that medics spend their days eating chocolate pie at the PX, you'd be wrong.
Especially if you're a grunt like me, there's no time to breathe, even as a medic.
"He's bleeding from the back of his head. Get me some antiseptic, gauze, and bandages."
"Yes, sir."
I follow Corporal Park's instructions and hand over the necessary items on a tray.
The infirmary had been bustling with patients since morning.
But... The patient's face looked familiar.
"That sergeant, I've seen him before..."
Wait, isn't this Sergeant Huang?
It was the troublemaker sergeant who had been sent to jail for beating up a rookie the other day.
"Ah! Fuck!"
"Hang in there. It'll be over soon."
Sergeant Hwang, who was bleeding from the back of his head, cursed as soon as the disinfectant hit him.
Corporal Park calmed him down and continued the treatment.
Fortunately, the disinfection and first aid were quick.
"Okay, it's done."
"Ugh... It still hurts. Hey, give me some painkillers."
Sergeant Huang suddenly glared at me and made an unexpected demand.
"What?"
"Give me a painkiller."
When I made a puzzled face, Sergeant Huang's voice got louder.
"Do I have to talk to you so you can understand me? Give him morphine or something!"
"Are you crazy.
Morphine?
You think that's a drug you can just give him anytime?
Morphine is a very powerful painkiller that is highly addictive and has side effects, so the number and amount of doses are strictly limited.
And I don't have the authority to give it.
"I'm sorry. I'm not authorized to make that decision..."
Boom!
Sergeant Huang's hand slapped my cheek.
"Asshole, why are you talking so much when the sergeant tells you to do it!"
"...I'm sorry."
It hurt so much that tears formed in my eyes, but I held it in.
At that moment, Corporal Park mustered up the courage to intervene.
"Sergeant Hwang, you shouldn't do this!"
"I told you to get the medicine, I don't know, I'll take it myself!"
Sergeant Huang picked up a pair of scissors to cut the bandages and rushed to the medicine cabinet.
"There's no morphine in there!
I threw myself in front of him.
"Wait..."
Pook.
I felt a hot sensation in my stomach.
"...Did I get stabbed?
Blood poured out. I collapsed to the floor.
"Hyun-soo!"
Corporal Park shouted urgently. But my strength was already draining from my body.
"Hyun-soo, wake up! Hey!"
Corporal Park shouted, shaking me desperately.
His hands were covered in blood, and his eyes were filled with despair.
But contrary to his wishes, I was already finished.
"He's dead."
The medic's declaration echoed through the infirmary.
At that moment, all sensation vanished and I was sucked into the darkness.
...
'This is... Where am I?'
It was endless darkness. There was no sound, no light.
"â â â â â â â â â ..."
I faintly heard a sound.
Kwaaang!
There was a sudden explosion, and my eyes flew open.
A gray sky, the smell of gunpowder, and flames came into view.
"Wake up!"
A strange man shouted, shaking me.
He was wearing a white military-like coat, but I didn't recognize his face.
"This is... Where am I?"
Something was wrong with his voice. It was my voice. It was a woman's voice.
I looked down at my body in surprise and saw my breasts.
"...That's not my body, is it?
I woke up in the middle of an unknown war zone.
A strange man, his name was Corporal Colt Brandon.
He called me "Chris."
"Your name is Chris. You forgot your name?" My position is medic. We're retreating from enemy fire!"
Before I could comprehend, the fog of war swept over us.
Thump! Thump!
Explosions erupted as shells fell.
Corporal Colt moved quickly, leading me.
The battlefield was filled with chaos and fear.
"Run!"
I grabbed his hand and ran.
This body was much lighter than my own, and my movements were nimble.
After running for a few minutes, I finally managed to escape the saturation.
Breathing heavily, I collapsed to the ground.
"Corporal Colt... Where the hell am I?"
"It's the Hasturk Plains. Why are you acting like you don't remember anything?"
His voice was serious.
"The war... Why am I here?
But there was no time to think.
He heard the sound of shells falling in the distance again.
"I think we have a wounded soldier!"
A pained scream came from somewhere.
"Just ignore them, our lives are more important right now!"
Corporal Colt shouted, but I didn't hesitate.
As a medic... I couldn't leave a man behind.
"I... Let's go!"
I shook off his protests and started running in the direction of the screams.
"Dude, you crazy...!"
Cpl. Colt yelled, desperately calling out to me. But I couldn't hear him.
All I could hear was someone screaming and a series of explosions.
All I could see was a groan echoing through the shattered walls.
I could faintly see the shadow of a wounded soldier crouched on the ground in pain.
'We have to help him.
The thought in my head was simple.
My body moved of its own accord. Light steps stepped over the rubble and I approached the wounded soldier.
"Are you okay? Where are you injured?"
I examined his body. His leg was the worst. I could see a deep cut from a shell fragment.
He had lost so much blood that he was already half unconscious.
"...Hmph..."
His moans were faint. I pressed my hand to the wound and took a deep breath.
"I need to stop the bleeding.
What she'd learned as a medic was ingrained in her.
My hands moved with familiarity and I began to administer first aid.
At that moment, he heard Corporal Colt's voice behind him.
"Chris! You're crazy! Do you know what you're doing?!"
I replied without even turning around.
"You're a medic, you can't just abandon people!"
Cpl. Colt stiffened for a moment, then sighed.
"Ha... What a ridiculous kid."
He quickly looked around and began to watch.
It didn't take long.
Stopping the bleeding and bandaging the wound was a simple matter.
But he couldn't leave the wounded man alone.
"Corporal Colt, we need to take this man with us."
"Take him? The two of us and this wounded man? Are you out of your mind?"
"Of course I'm sane. A medic's first priority is to keep people alive."
Cpl. Colt clutched his head with both hands and eventually heaved the wounded man onto his shoulders.
"If I die here, I'm going to make sure it's because of you."
"Thank you!"
I said, bowing my head sincerely.
The road was not flat as I ran with the wounded man on my back.
Shells fell here and there, and dust obscured my vision.
In the distance, I heard the roar of tanks.
"Over there! Get behind the rubble of the building!"
Corporal Colt shouted.
We ducked behind the rubble. Fortunately, the tank seemed to be moving away.
"Huh... we can't keep doing this."
Corporal Colt wiped sweat from his face and shook his head.
I caught my breath and checked the wounded man's condition. Thankfully, he was regaining consciousness.
It was then.
Shhhh!
A sharp, ear-splitting sound. It was a familiar sound.
"Shells?
"Shells falling! Get down flat!"
Kwaa-ang!
The shell landed right in front of the wreckage.
The shockwave shattered the wreckage and we fell to the ground.
Corporal Colt tried to shield the wounded, but a few shrapnel grazed his arm.
"Shit...!"
Corporal Colt gritted his teeth. I quickly examined his arm.
"Are you okay? It's not deep, there shouldn't be any risk of necrosis."
"You think you're in a position to tell me this?"
His eyes rolled back.
"Move! I could fall again!"
We started running again.
I realized now.
This was not the world I knew.
The battlefield, the binge drinking, the shrapnel. Everything was both familiar and unfamiliar.
"Why am I here?
I wondered deep in my heart.
But there was no time for questions.
After a few minutes of sprinting, the saturation was far away.
We entered the ruins of a small abandoned village.
Corporal Colt set the wounded man down and sighed.
"Let's just wait here. Any more movement and we're both dead."
I nodded.
"Aye, sir. But we need to look around a bit more, in case there are other wounded."
Corporal Colt leaned back against the wall and waved his hands tiredly.
"You go ahead and do it. I don't have the energy to stop you."
I began to look around.
There were signs of battle all over the ruins.
Gunfire could be heard in the distance.
The war showed no sign of ending.
And in that moment, I realized.
My name is Chris.
I exist in this world as a medic.
And I have only one role.
To save lives.
While I organized my thoughts in my head, Colt huffed and pushed the wounded man back against the wall.
His eyes were as sharp as ever.
He looked at me and said.
"Chris, you need to get your shit together. You look like you don't even know what's going on right now."
I nodded, dumbfounded by his words.
"You're right, I don't know where the hell I am or why I'm doing this, or that my name is Chris... You were the first one to tell me."
Colt let out a short sigh and ran a hand through his hair.
"Okay. I'll try to keep it simple."
He looked me straight in the eye.
"This is the Hasturk Plains. We, the Republic of Halen, are at war with the Empire. They started attacking this area last night, and now we've been ordered to retreat. You and I are in the middle of it, trying to stay alive."
"War...?"
I mulled over Colt's words. A war.
The last thing I remembered was Sergeant Huang, and then... There was nothing but darkness.
"Yeah, the war. And you, Private First Class Chris. You're a medic. I don't know why you're acting so stupid right now, but you must be out of your mind."
Colt's tone was irritated, but there was concern in his eyes.
"But I... I don't really remember. I can't believe I'm Chris... I must have..."
"You were hit in the head with shrapnel from a shell, so your memory may have been blown. Actually... It happens in war."
Colt paused and looked into my eyes.
"Look, Chris. I know this is complicated, but you're too important to us right now. You're a medic."
"...Medic?"
I looked down at my hands. I could still feel the sensation from the moment I'd first-aided the wounded soldier.
"This hand, it moved without me realizing it. Am I really a medic?
"Yes, medic. Without you, the wounded would just bleed to death. You may have lost your memory, but that hand still remembers, and that's your job here, to keep us alive."
Colt said in a determined voice.
"Ha... I didn't think I'd be left behind, though. I'm only doing this away from the main body because you went down."
He laughed as he finished. There was weariness in his laugh.
"Fallen?"
"Yes, Naxxo, because you took too much time when you were wounded. The main army must have already retreated and crossed over this plain, leaving us behind."
I grew more and more confused as he spoke.
"Left behind... does that mean we're alone now?
Colt must have read my expression because he nodded his head slightly.
"Yes. It's just the two of us, including the wounded soldier you saw earlier."
He gestured to the wounded man and continued.
"So, if we're going to survive this, we need to move, and whether or not you come to your senses is up to you, but just follow me. Do you understand?"
It took me a few seconds to process his words.
But he was saying the right thing.
I nodded silently.
"Okay, just tell me what I need to do."