Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: This is it!
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Boom! Boom!
Grrrrumble—
Boom boom boom!
The site where dozens of Gigants lifted off simultaneously was filled with ear-splitting noise.
Steam and scorching heat billowing from the Gigants created a desert-like haze shooting straight up into the sky.
The day after a week of basic mobility training ended, Rafal White gathered all the trainees and began the official training.
The outside was noisy with the roar of Gigant engines, but Rafal White's voice, standing on the palm of a Gigant, reverberated off the thick armor plates, reaching every trainee inside clearly.
"As you all know, this is the 'Selection' Training Camp. Only those who don't drop out and make it to the end can take the White surname and become official Gigant Rider candidates. Alright, then. Let me explain how the selection evaluation works."
Rafal White explained the evaluation method quickly, like a narrator reading insurance terms.
"There are four evaluation categories. Endurance score, breakthrough score, tough opponent score, and attitude score."
The endurance score evaluated how long one could keep fighting in limit situations.
The breakthrough score measured combat ability by how quickly one could overpower and control enemies right in front of them.
The tough opponent score assessed performance against unbeatable foes.
The attitude score was arbitrarily decided by the instructors through discussion, based on a trainee's potential and training attitude.
"All scores need to be 60 or above to pass. If you score 80 or above in a category, you get a 10-point bonus to one category of your choice. 90 or above gets 20 points. A perfect 100 exempts one score entirely. If your endurance is 100, even a 0 in breakthrough is fine. Of course, no one's ever gotten a 100 before."
After finishing the explanation, Rafal wore a mischievous grin.
"Of course, you won't remember this evaluation system anyway. Once training starts, your mind will go completely blank."
Thwack! On the massive palm even bigger than a poclain's bucket, Rafal White struck down with a Gigant finger.
"The Gigant. Commonly known as the Colossus Soldier. It possesses godlike power. Today, you'll learn the weight that even gods must bear."
* * *
Rumble!
The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.
It felt like hand grenades exploding all around.
Imagine it.
Towering masses of steel eight and a half meters tall. Shoulders broad like armored knights, with thick, short pipes jutting out. They hissed steam, armor clanking as they charged around.
The intimidation was no different from a battlefield under artillery fire.
Even riding Gigants, the trainees caught in the chaos were already half out of their minds.
But the White Knights assigned as drill instructors were merciless.
-Run, you bastards!
Wham!
-Is that your lower body? So flimsy?
Screeech!
-Get up!
Ten drill instructors blocked the path of 78 trainees. Riding 9-meter combat training Gigants slightly larger than the trainees' models, they shoved and toppled the trainees' Gigants at will.
The mission Rafal White gave seemed simple enough.
"Everyone! Run to the flag 1km ahead and assemble!"
Just run there in your Gigant, and done.
But with ten drill instructors blocking the way, shoving and pulling, the trainees' Gigants tangled and fell in heaps.
Every time Gigants collided, dust rose like a wildfire, sparks flying everywhere.
-Ugh! Bleeech!
Trainees vomited inside their cockpits from the impact and motion sickness.
-Get your shit together?! Gonna lie there on the battlefield too?
Boom! Boom!
The White Knights kicked the fallen trainee Gigants, grabbed their neck joints, and shook them, tormenting the already puking trainees even more.
The instructors' voices boomed through the comms system like a nightmare, pounding their eardrums.
-You fucking shit? Gonna keep lying there like a piece of shit?!
Even while berating them, they didn't miss other trainees slyly trying to stand and flee.
They grabbed the ankle of a rising Gigant and flung it into the air.
Kablooey!
-Ugh! Ack...!
-Get up! Run!
The drill instructors shoved and knocked them down to prevent running, yet kept urging them to run.
The comms system was pandemonium with instructors' yells, trainees' screams, and vomiting sounds. Then, a clear voice pierced through it all.
-Stick together! Stay next to someone!
Her voice was refreshing like a drumbeat, clear like a bell. It was Helena Yellow.
-We can't win one-on-one! Group up and push!
Kablooey!
While other trainees crawled on the ground, she nimbly maneuvered her Gigant, shoving a drill instructor's back with all her might.
As the instructor staggered to regain balance, she grabbed a fallen trainee, helped them up, and aligned shoulders.
-One drill instructor per seven or eight of us! Shoulder to shoulder, push their backs! Overwhelm with strength! If you can't stand, grab their pant legs!
Panic strikes when you have no idea what to do.
Noisy battlefield. Shaking ground. Screaming instructors. Solid ground slamming you even after standing, then knocked down again. Stomach flipping. Trainees lost in panic, faces wet with tears and sweat.
Helena snapped them out of it in an instant.
She showed them what to do. The shining path through this hopeless situation.
-Ugh!
-Grrrr!
Trainees stood, drooling. Those who couldn't grabbed the instructors' legs.
-What the hell! Let go!
-These little shits!
The instructors resisted fiercely, but fallen trainees started rising one by one.
Thud!
Thud thud!
-Hold! Don't get pushed!
Under Helena's command, trainees gradually pushed back the instructors.
Kang Geohan watched the whole thing.
'Wow, she's sharp.'
Hard to believe it was the judgment and leadership of a 17-year-old girl—so seasoned.
Thanks to the gap it created, Kang Geohan stepped out of the formation to survey the battlefield broadly.
The trainees' efforts were impressive. Helena went without saying.
'Loen's got a good head on her shoulders too.'
-Left! Left side!
Her snap judgments on instructor movements and paths were almost always right.
Helena acknowledged it, handing detailed commands to Loen before long.
'And that one's... Harkrux?'
Red-haired pretty boy with fierce eyes. The serf boy Loen said to watch.
'Is he... imitating me?'
The boy charged at the front, lowering his body for a tackle on the instructor's Gigant. Grabbed one leg, rammed the belly with his shoulder.
The exact technique Kang Geohan used on Rafal White. Seemed simple, but required explosive mana use.
Of course, being amateurish, it only made the instructor hesitate, not fall like with Kang Geohan.
Still, for a serf, it was outstanding sense.
'But...'
Kang Geohan swallowed hard.
'It still won't work.'
The outcome was clear in his eyes.
'The instructors never intended to let us reach the goal.'
Kang Geohan glanced to one side of the battlefield.
Boom!
Rumble!
-That all you got? Seven, ten of you, and this is it?!
Because there was a monster on the instructors' side.
'Rafal White.'
He sliced through the charging trainee formation like filleting ripe fish, tossing them aside. Helena's hard-earned lines crumbled helplessly.
'We can't pass without dealing with that guy.'
Kang Geohan bit his lip.
He'd just found his job.
'Rafal White. Somehow tie him down.'
Thump. Thump.
His heart pounded with excitement. Pectoralis hissed steam.
Feeling the pleasant rising tension, Kang Geohan stepped toward Rafal.
* * *
'Yes! I did it! I'm number one!'
At that moment.
Gerot Yellow was sprinting toward the goal.
'Dumbasses. This is a test of quick wits and decisiveness from the start! They don't get it!'
In Gerot's mind, confronting the instructors was nonsense from the outset.
So he subtly slowed his pace to let others go first, then slipped through the gap as instructors toppled the front line.
'This is it! Breakthrough score!'
Even Helena, who aced the entrance test, couldn't catch up.
No need to mention that Kang Geohan bastard, who he was confident he could drop in 10 seconds up close.
'This is where true worth shows. Who has better judgment, who's more agile!'
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Afraid of getting caught, Gerot pushed his Gigant to full speed.
Even just running drained mana fast. The pressure felt like boulders thudding down on his whole body.
Sweat dripped from his chin.
It gave Gerot even deeper conviction.
'See?! Just running is this hard, fighting instructors is impossible. This is right! The answer!'
Finally, the goal flag appeared right before his eyes.
He saw the instructor's Gigant guarding it.
Head raised, shoulders squared—like shocked by his arrival. Soon that huge hand would pat his back in praise.
'Overwhelming first place! Everyone else fails, I pass alone!'
Chest swelling with triumph, he charged at the instructor's Gigant.
The instructor reached out. Gerot reached out. At last, as hands nearly touched.
Kablooey—!
The outstretched hand snapped back faster than it extended, and a massive foot shot up. Then came the world-flipping shake and dizzying impact.
Rumble!
Gerot's Gigant, struck dead-on by the kick, flew back rolling far.
-Ugh! Bleeech!
Hit by the surprise blow, Gerot tumbled on the ground, dry-heaving.
Vision shook, ears ringing like cicadas.
Boom! Kablooey!
The instructor stomped terrifyingly near Gerot's cockpit and roared.
-You fucking bastard! Ditch your team? You ditch your team?!
Fucking bastard!
Thud!
You fucking bastard!
Screech!
One curse, one kick.
Vomit rose to Gerot's mouth, tears welled in his eyes.