My Ability is Gacha (4)
Pop.
A streak of pure white light flashed across the blue sky, and a woman in the form of a shimmering haze appeared.
Metatron, unable to shake the confusion from her mind, shook her head from side to side and grumbled. Soon, her eyes scanned the space below, and she spotted a mountain thick with lush green trees.
"Is this... a mountain?"
#!@@@%%%
^%@!#@!#@!
ARGH!
Voices, presumably belonging to many humans, were echoing from deep within the mountain. They were sounds of people writhing in pain and filled with spite, but they were certainly not screams of terror.
"What is this... I'm scared..."
The collective shouting made even her, a being close to a god, feel a sense of dread. Yet, on the other hand, she became curious about what on earth they were doing to scream like that in unison. Above all, she didn't believe that the unconscious soul who had guided her here would have led her to such a place by mistake.
She focused her consciousness, turned her body into light, and moved toward the spot where the most humans were gathered and shouting.
What met her eyes upon arrival were hundreds of humans dressed in a motley mix of 70% green and 30% brown, their helmets secured with chin straps, moving in perfect, disciplined order.
"Guerrilla unit!"
"Guerrilla, guerrilla, guerrilla!"
Using strange slogans, the humans moved in perfect unison, scattering quickly to take their positions, and then continued to march in place.
A human wearing a strange, octagonal hat and sunglasses stood on what appeared to be a platform and bellowed at the top of their lungs. The sharp voice cut through the noise of hundreds of people and reached her ears with precision.
"Prepare for PT exercise number 8!"
"SIR!"
"...??"
Following the command, hundreds of humans laid down on the ground in an 'L' shape and lifted their legs.
"What is this... what's going on... why are they doing this..."
"We will repeat this 10 times. The final count is omitted. DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!!"
"SIR!"
"PT exercise number 8, 10 repetitions, START!"
The man screaming brought something to his lips and blew into it, producing a bizarre sound.
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"One!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Two!"
"Lift your heads!"
In time with the strange sound, the humans moved their waists back and forth in unison, repeating the odd posture.
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Nine!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Ten!"
"YOU FUCKING IDIOTS!"
"Who is it! Damn it!"
"Wake up, you bastards!"
Curses erupted from all sides.
"Who is still not focused!!!"
"We will repeat PT exercise number 8, 10 times. The final count is omitted! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"
"SIR!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"One!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Two!"
"Lift your legs!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Nine!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Ten!"
"Ah..."
Watching with a nervous heart while keeping her left eye closed, she sighed the moment she heard the word "Ten!" and closed her remaining right eye as well. She felt pity for the humans who would have to endure repeating that agonizing action once more.
"You fucking bastards, want to die!"
"Which son of a bitch is it again!"
"Wake up, you asshole!"
"You oblivious idiot!"
Curses erupted from all sides.
"Who is still not focused!!!"
"This instructor is disappointed in your progress!"
"If you succeed this time, today's guerrilla training is over!"
"PT exercise number 8, 8 repetitions. The final count is omitted! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!"
"SIR!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"One!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Two!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Seven!"
Beep! Beep-beep-beep! Beep-beep-beep-beep!
"Waaaaah!!!"
Seeing the humans succeed because no one added the final count, she found herself clapping and rejoicing along with them without even realizing it.
"I, this instructor, am moved by your mental fortitude!"
"Eat a delicious dinner, rest well, and I will see you all back here tomorrow morning!"
"Dismissed!"
As soon as the human called the instructor finished speaking, the sun suddenly set, and the surroundings began to darken.
"Is it becoming night? Something must have happened at night."
A tent made of triangular fabric caught her eye. It looked as if the humans she had seen earlier were huddled together in the tent.
"...? Humans are staying in that collapsing tent?"
As she approached slowly, the voices of the humans drifted from the tent.
"Hey, share some of your supplies with us."
"What? Why should we share ours?"
"Ah~ the youngest left the supplies in the duffel bag on the way here. Come on? Don't be so stingy... we're comrades, aren't we~"
"Man! I'm going home 4 weeks earlier than you!"
"Ah~ what happened to comrade love~ Please, just help us out... I need to save face in front of the guys... help me out."
"Sigh... fine. But I can't just give it away. We collected money to buy these supplies and put in the effort to bring them all the way here, you know? So, I'm charging double."
"What??? Double? Hey! I'd rather have a soldier's liver..."
"Don't want to? If you don't like it, just leave."
"Ugh... this youngest bastard is dead today, seriously... Fine! I'll buy it for double. I'll wire the money after the training ends."
"Okay! Guys~ we have a customer. Go deliver the supplies. After the training, let's go eat something delicious with this money!"
"Waaaaah!!!!"
With the tent shaking slightly, several dark human figures emerged. Among them, she saw one human moving while fuming with anger, clearly having lost his temper.
She raised her right hand and wrote in the air. Light embroidered the air following her fingertips, and letters were carved into the void.
The pettiness of selling supplies at a high price to a comrade in need...
*Whoosh*
After completing the sentence, she pressed the center and dragged from left to right; the sound of a book turning echoed, and the letters crumbled away.
As she followed the figures of the two moving humans, the conversation they were having reached her ears.
"That Private Lee bastard is dead."
"Hey... don't say that. If anyone is going to do it, I will."
"Shut up! Who do you think you are? He's a member of our unit! That guy who added the count at the end earlier was him too!"
"I was going to let it slide, but I just can't. My hard-earned money... sigh."
"Huh? Is that true?"
"Yeah!"
"Agh! Thinking about how much I suffered earlier... can I go with you and give him a piece of my mind?"
"No!"
"Aww~ I'll just go and say one thing. It's too late even if you try to take care of him now."
"...? What are you going to say to him when you go?"
"Eh~ it's nothing much. Just, 'Hey, I heard you were the one who added the count at the end of the guerrilla training today? Let's talk after it's over?' like that, heh heh heh."
"Wow~ you devilish bastard... don't do that, seriously, it'll cause big trouble for the unit."
"Heh heh heh, I'll just do it moderately and back off."
"I told you not to do it!"
She felt disgusted by their attitude of giggling and singling out a human to harass.
Contributing to threatening a comrade's well-being...
"Sigh... he really is trash, just like they said. I can't even give him a good rating even if I wanted to, can I?"
Her hand, which had been writing the evaluation, stopped as she sighed. "What is this?"
Before she knew it, the whole world had turned white. As she looked left and right, something pure white was pouring down from the sky above her head.
"This is... snow, right? Hehehe."
She laughed innocently and caught a snowflake with her left hand, but then an annoying shout reached her ears.
"Ah~ trash is falling from the skyyyyy!"
"Man, this snow, once it starts, it just falls every single day! There's no end to sweeping it."
"Guys~ the brooms are just sitting there! Why aren't you sweeping faster?"
"Hehehehe! It reminds me of last year when we were sweeping the snow so hard, and the seniors were just standing there with their hands behind their backs shouting."
"Exactly... I promised myself that when I became a senior, I'd work hard with the guys to finish quickly... but I understand the seniors' actions now."
"Hehehehe, a senior just needs to provide encouragement. Hey! Let's do it quickly!"
"Guys! Let's sweep the snow quickly! Now that I'm a Sergeant, my rank insignia is so heavy that my neck hurts, making it hard to aim!"
"Is he crazy, hehehehehe! Well, it's true that a Sergeant has the miracle of boosting everyone's morale just by standing there."
"Hahahat, that's right! Sergeant Kim!"
Calling this white, small snowflake trash... Curious about the existence of these heinous humans who defined her joy as trash, she moved her body to where the voices had come from.
In the place where the voices were heard, a guy wearing a hat with four '—' marks pressed down was standing with his hands behind his back, giggling and shouting loudly. Yet, no one countered their conversation, and they were silently doing their work, which left her even more bewildered.
"Sigh... I suspected it, but... is it you again? And why is everyone accepting it as if it's natural?"
She was deeply disappointed and began to write the evaluation again with her right hand, which she was still holding up.
Does not do his own work under the guise of encouragement.
Talks nonsense about how just standing there without doing anything helps everyone.
However... the surprising part is that the work speed is truly terrifyingly fast.
Efficiency is extremely high... incomprehensible...
It's clearly bad, but everyone here accepts it and takes it for granted.
It's as if they've been brainwashed...
Determined that the brainwashing technique is extremely excellent.
But the brainwashing technique is not detected! <<- Important☆☆☆
It appears everyone is accepting it voluntarily.
Increasingly... I cannot understand...
Having finished the evaluation, she stared at it intently before flipping it. Then, she slowly scanned the evaluation she had written. After examining it closely, she muttered:
".... Does this make sense? They're accepting all that nonsense without any brainwashing? This place... it's not the era of kingdoms, is it?"
The world she knew had shattered into pieces. "When the evaluation is over... I must ask him..."
Brainwashing without brainwashing in a free world... As she vowed to ask about this above all else, the world plunged into darkness once again before her eyes.
"There's more...?"
A building that looked old came into view. A human with an aged appearance ran out of the building.
"Where did Sergeant Kim go!"
"Sergeant Kim! Sergeant Kim!"
"Sergeant Kim, that bastard! He really is a master of hiding! I clearly saw him in the barracks!?"
"Hey, Sergeant Song! Gather the guys on the parade ground! And finish the work Sergeant Kim was doing this morning."
"Yes, sir!"
"Ugh! Learning only the bad things because he's a terminal Sergeant!!! His military discipline is so loose because he's going on his final leave soon! Tsk!"
The human, who had been grumbling and throwing a tantrum for a while, soon went back inside the building.
"Sigh... what a crazy guard. It's just a guy going on his final leave in a couple of days, so what if he hides a bit? Why are they so obsessed with not letting the Sergeants be?"
"? Oh, didn't you know? His promotion to Warrant Officer was omitted."
"What? No, why? No, what's the point of knowing. It serves him right~"
"Ah~ why are the people who are leaving bothering the administrative officer so much, making it hard for the company members! Where did Sergeant Kim go again!"
"Sergeant Kim? He's probably watching us from somewhere nearby right now, isn't he? Man! Stop grumbling and let's go. Before the guard really loses his mind! And Sergeant Kim said he'd buy us drinks later."
"Eh? Is that true!"
"Yeah! He said he'd treat the whole company to the PX before he goes on his final leave... what should I get to eat~"
"Oh! The whole company?"
"Hmm~ ask Sergeant Kim when he comes later. Now, grab your tools and let's finish the work quickly. Come on~ let's go~"
"Yes-!"
Watching them march in perfect order with a chorus of loud voices, she remembered the words that he was hiding here. Looking around to find him, her eyes were met only with a wide open space with a floor made of sand and gravel, and a forest thick with a few large trees behind it.
"...He's here?"
*Flap*
"...!"
No sooner had her words ended than a poncho with green, brown, and black stains tangled in various patterns flapped and flowed down from in front of a large tree. Behind the flowing poncho, he was revealed.
"Ugh~ the smell! Why doesn't the smell go away even if you wash this damn poncho... damn guard... seriously, making someone who's going on their final leave work until the very end."
"Ptooey!"
Spitting on the ground, he carefully followed the group that had left first, moving not only without a sound but also quickly.
"..."
She silently wrote the evaluation with her right hand.
Stealth skills are excellent..!
Has friction with certain high-ranking figures and is cowardly, but shows exceptional talent for boosting ally morale!
As she dragged and sent the evaluation, the space suddenly began to shake, and the world started to tremble.
*Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble*
Soon, the whole world turned into darkness.
"Is it finally over? Sigh... it's a short time, but I'm exhausted. Shall I go back?"
She focused her consciousness and poured her will into returning.
*Vwooom*
A round object of bright white light appeared. She focused her consciousness on the round object.
Pop.
As all the light was sucked into the round object, the white light of the object extinguished as if it had finished its work.