All Beings Under Heaven Bow as One (3)

Basic training ran from January 5th to January 30th — a stretch of just under four weeks.

Having lived through it firsthand, though, I finally understood why the original story only ever showed the first day and the final week of training and skipped the rest entirely.

Those weeks were... breathtakingly, spectacularly boring.

From military etiquette classes meant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to strip the civilian out of us, to lectures on national identity, security doctrine, and constitutional law, to every manner of practical training from forced marches to basic conditioning — there was a bottomless mountain of it all.

Nobody cut a seventeen-year-old kid any slack. We had to grit our teeth and survive an atmosphere so rigid that even whispering to the person next to us was a struggle.

"Everyone, focus."

And so we came to the final week of training. The instructor stood before us, assembled in ranks on the training field.

"Today, as previously announced, you will come face to face with Phantasms."

The instructor had just spoken the name of the very beings that defined the Hwadam Army's existence. By now, I was reasonably used to hearing it.

That was only natural — today marked exactly one week since we'd started theoretical instruction on Phantasms and the Rear World.

"However, this encounter is not for the purpose of a contract. I repeat. This encounter is not for the purpose of a contract."

Well, duh. Since we weren't formally enrolled yet, the depth of the knowledge being handed down was fairly shallow. Coming at it from someone who'd first met all of this through a webtoon, there was little that felt genuinely new.

"The purpose of today's encounter is to determine what category of Phantasm each of you is best suited to."

Ah — the 'compatibility' the instructor just mentioned was a type of Phantasm aptitude.

To put it simply... well, think of chefs. Don't they specialize in different fields — Korean cuisine, Chinese, Japanese, Western?

If the aptitude we'd already tested was a measure of 'whether you can cook, and if so, how well,' then this was a process of determining 'which cuisine you're best at among them all.'

"Following your instructor's lead, each of you will identify the categories of Phantasms that best match yourselves."

Of course, a naturally brilliant cook would probably do well at anything you put in front of them. But wouldn't someone like that be even better at their specialty?

Phantasm aptitude worked much the same way. If your fundamental qualities were outstanding, you could contract with any Phantasm regardless of type. That didn't mean, however, that each person wasn't born with an innate compatibility of their own.

On the battlefield, that slight difference decided life and death — so the Hwadam Army had no choice but to check it.

"One thing. Do not grow arrogant because Phantasms showed interest in you, and do not get any foolish ideas. The Phantasms prepared for you today have been chosen for your safety — only the weakest, most insignificant individuals. Are we clear?"

And apparently, in a class meant to check exactly that kind of compatibility, a few accidents had occurred.

The instructor, his face twisted, repeated his warning-tinged admonition over and over.

Did someone actually contract with a talent-assessment Phantasm?

I doubted anyone could be that stupid, but the way he kept hammering on 'foolish ideas' left all sorts of thoughts swirling in my head.

I blinked my eyelids and swept the stray thoughts away.

"Move out."

It was time to face the Phantasms.

"One platoon enters each zone at a time. First Platoon."

Separate from basic training, the Hwadam Army Military Academy had organized the new cadets into twenty platoons of twenty apiece — all in the name of instructional efficiency.

The platoon I'd been assigned to was Third Platoon. Naturally, that meant I'd been split off from Seong Gwon. I didn't spot anyone who looked like they'd shown up in the original story, either.

Screeee! Shriek!

"...?"

Screeeee!

"Hold on—"

Anyway. The moment my platoon stepped into our assigned zone, the Phantasms waiting inside began screaming all at once.

It was like herbivores being flung in front of a tiger. Desperate, pitiful wailing battered the cadets' ears from every direction.

『They are afraid.』

『They quake with terror.』

At the same time, the Twin Dragon Swords spoke for the first time in a while.

All I could do was blink wordlessly. With everyone around me unable to hear the swords, answering aloud would have just been talking to myself. There was nothing to be done.

This is when a telepathy function would really come in handy...

Unfortunately, telepathy was a feature granted only through a formal contract. And thanks to the government and military's particular brand of consideration, I was currently putting off formal contracting.

Why that counts as consideration, I'll explain later.

So now what? They hadn't told me what the Phantasms were afraid of, but realistically, the candidates were limited.

It's either the Twin Dragon Swords or me.

The Twin Dragon Swords were, after all, their own class of existence. And me... well, no hard evidence, but the things I'd been through in the Rear World weighed on my mind enough to make the list.

If it was really me, that stung a little.

"Cadet Seventeen."

"Yes! Cadet Seventeen!"

The tension I hadn't yet released snapped toward the instructor's call. The habits drilled into me over these weeks kicked in on their own.

"Outside."

"Yes, sir!"

I wasn't the only one who suspected the Twin Dragon Swords in the face of this situation, apparently.

By way of expulsion, the instructor assigned a cadet officer — the academy equivalent of an assistant, though not quite the same — to stand at my side and marched me out.

"..."

"..."

Ridiculously, the zone fell silent the instant I left it. Proof that the Phantasms had recovered their composure.

I felt like a target confirming a kill shot. It did not feel great.

"...There is no need to be discouraged, Cadet Seventeen."

"Yes, sir!"

Apparently even the cadet officer had never dealt with a situation like this; unable to smooth over the awkwardness any other way, he gave my shoulder a couple of pat-pats.

But honestly? My gut was blaring alarms left and right, telling me my suffering had only just begun. And it was the kind of instinct that, sadly, seemed unlikely to be wrong.

Rustle rustle!

"Th-the plant-type Phantasms—"

『They said to evaluate promising recruits' aptitude, so why did they bring in monsters— KYAAAAH you looked at me!! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!!!』

"The humanoid types, too...!"

Just as I feared, my uneasy hunch had landed dead on target.

The Phantasms, gathered by type across the zones, reacted to the sight of me by either fleeing outright or curling their leaves shut — universal rejection.

"The object-types and amorphous-types are showing normal responses... no, startlingly enthusiastic responses, sir."

That said, not every Phantasm had rejected me. The object-types and the amorphous-types didn't just accept me — they courted me passionately.

In other words, just like at the entrance exam, they'd come swarming around my feet like so many pieces of candy.

"Hmm..."

For reference, the Hwadam Army generally used three criteria to classify Phantasms.

One was the familiar division into folk tale, legend, and myth. Another was classification by form — humanoid, beast-type, plant-type, object-type, amorphous-type, and so on. The third was by size: small, medium, large.

They occasionally classified by ability or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠combat strength too, but the individual variance was so extreme that it was rarely used — or it remained an unofficial classification at best.

"The records say the Hogu-rogmo showed no rejection whatsoever."

"At present, we estimate that any Phantasm other than object- and amorphous-types would need to be at least legend-grade to withstand the cadet."

Anyway, confronted with a situation that had blown past abnormal and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kept on going, the instructors huddled together in a buzzing cluster. Even the cadet officer leaned his face right in — this had to be a genuinely outlandish situation.

And me and my platoonmates? Our escort supervisor was right there in that huddle, so what could we do besides stand by?

I surreptitiously fiddled with the Twin Dragon Swords on my back under the weight of everyone's stolen glances.

The swords were wrapped up tight so no one could touch them carelessly, so all my hand met was the coarse texture of cloth.

"This class certainly has its share of oddballs? One cadet draws only the beast-types' interest, one has the aptitude but receives no one's choice at all, and one terrifies every low-grade Phantasm except the object- and amorphous-types."

"Better than having no talent at all."

Amid the chatter, a snippet floated over that I suspected was about Seong Gwon. The instructor had clearly meant it as a whisper, but it somehow made it to my ears.

In the original story, Seong Gwon was famous for being compatible only with beast-type Phantasms and nothing else. Is it the same here?

If this world's Seong Gwon had the exact same talent as the original, there'd be no need for me to worry much.

After all, the Phantasms the original Seong Gwon contracted with were none other than the beings called Death Gods — or the Four Directional Gods.

Separately, I wonder who the one that got no choice was.

It wasn't that no such character existed in the original. But that character was one of protagonist Baek San's classmates, which meant the timelines didn't line up. A kid who'd only be one or two years old right now had no business being in the military.

Get no one's choice and your later assignments get disadvantageous, huh... wait a second. Does that mean it'll be disadvantageous for me too?

A normal school balances its classes so the strong don't all clump into one room. Probably an ordinary army does the same.

To get a good evaluation later, I'd absolutely have to make First Platoon, though?

But the Hwadam Army was not an 'ordinary' army, and the special military academy was where that distinctiveness was maximized to the extreme.

Since their purpose was producing special operations units meant to be deployed to the most dangerous places, they chose imbalance over balance — in other words, they staffed platoons purely by merit.

They'll account for supernatural abilities and combat roles, sure, but in first year, first semester even that's off the table...!

Of course, placement wasn't merit-only without exception. With real combat in mind, they did distribute basic roles — riflemen, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠designated marksmen, grenadiers, and the like.

But how were they supposed to know which role a cadet fresh through the gate had an aptitude for?

First year, first semester was strictly merit-ordered, and whether you started in First Platoon back then carried real weight all the way to commissioning.

The ones who start in First Platoon from first year, first semester and finish in First Platoon to the end are treated differently. Almost like legacy blood, like purebloods.

The original Seong Gwon was the textbook case. According to the webtoon, her anomalous rise through the ranks owed not only to her accomplishments but to the foundation she'd built from her academy days.

Even in a gathering place for the gifted, never letting go of the top tier — that one title carried genuinely meaningful consequences.

Let's take this step by step. First, the Phantasm category the military rates highest is humanoid. Next comes beast-type.

Both possessed intelligence, and after training, a Phantasm and its partner could act independently of one another — that was what earned them their favorable treatment.

Even with her outstanding aptitude limited strictly to beast-types, that was why the original Seong Gwon got placed in First Platoon.

Plant-types aren't exactly low-rated either — they lose out on offense but carry overwhelming advantages in defense and purification.

If I absolutely had to rank them, third place would go to plant-types. The category that produced the most so-called 'healers' was the plant-type Phantasms, too.

The rarest category, the amorphous-types, gets rated highly on similar grounds.

So how were the amorphous and object Phantasms desperately courting me rated, exactly?

...Both of them get treated like garbage, that's how.

Amorphous-types were hard to rank because their evaluation swung wildly by individual.

And object-types were... just plain bad. Precisely for the mirror-image reason that humanoids and beast-types were preferred.

Object-type Phantasms mostly get lumped in as support gear, sigh.

It was unavoidable.

Setting aside the Twin Dragon Swords, since they're off the charts. The object-type Phantasms I knew were the motorcycle I'd met in the Rear World, and the Gwishin Stones — ghost-repelling rocks — that the Hwadam Army used most commonly... and honestly, both of those could assist in combat, but it was hard to call either a main force, no?

That was the overall feel of object-types. Hard to use directly in combat, or if usable, only by the partner handling them directly.

And in the latter case, Hwadam Army doctrine made them awkward in every possible way. Better if they were ranged weapons — but as melee weapons, they clashed with the doctrine's principle of avoiding close-quarters combat with otherworldly creatures, given the physical disparity involved.

Still, I do have the Twin Dragon Swords, though...

Because of all this, my chest kept tightening for no reason. The thought of but these are the Twin Dragon Swords and the thought of they're only the Twin Dragon Swords kept crossing swords in my head.

My goal of matching up to the original Seong Gwon is crumbling into nothing just like that? Really?

Failing to make First Platoon wouldn't be any real problem, but I'd set myself that target all the same. Really?

Because the kids got scared — of me, or of the Twin Dragon Swords — and that alone?

No, no. If it's me they're scared of, that's actually fine. If it's the swords, that feels a little unfair? No, honestly, even if it's me, that's a little unfair too?

What did I even do?

"H-her eyes—"

"WAAAAAH—!"

Crash!

KRRRUMBLE!!

"What the—?!"

In that instant, everything around us erupted into chaos.

And as if that weren't enough, screams and thunderous roars burst out from every direction at once — too many to even count.

EEEEEEENG—!

Half a beat behind, the alarm signaling an emergency slammed into everyone's ears.

My hand seized the cloth bundle holding the Twin Dragon Swords before my mind caught up. Unconscious action, straight from survival instinct.

"Evacuating the new cadets first! Get ready!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Command, we have a situation—"

The cadet officer and the instructor moved to shepherd us out, while the highest-ranking instructor turned to assess the situation.

Whatever came through his earpiece, the man's face flashed into open shock. It did not look like good news by any stretch.

"A Somokgoe¹ — the Howling Wood Fiend!"

CRREEEAK!

The next moment, the instructor summoned his Phantasm. Whoooosh. A tree with bark of deep, dark color rose up around us with a sound like a whistle, as if shielding us from harm — a net woven of living wood closing around our ranks.

"Evacuation impossible! Formation in defense—"

"Instructor!"

KUUUNG. KUUNG!

In the middle of all that, Phantasms of every shape and form materialized anew.

They didn't circle the instructor or the cadet officer — they ringed the perimeter around me and my platoonmates like a siege. And no matter how I looked at them, they didn't seem like anything our side had summoned.

White horses, crows, ghosts, deer, insects — an enormous variety of them.

"Maegu!"

"Dungal Mouse!"

As if to answer them, the instructor and cadet officer called their own partners in turn. In an instant, dozens of Phantasms stood locked in confrontation.

Faced with an unforeseen crisis and a scene none of them had ever seen in their lives, the cadets had gone ghost-pale.

『There is no need to meet them in battle.』

『They have been called.』

Through it all, the only ones calm were, apparently, the Twin Dragon Swords. My gaze, buried in tension, swung reflexively toward the swords hanging on my back.

『Look upon them.』

『Let them render due reverence.』

As ever, the Twin Dragon Swords offered no clear explanation.

"...The Phantasms."

"Wh-what...?"

No — maybe this once, that had actually been the most precise explanation possible.

The dozens of Phantasms that had seemed to encircle us — encircle me — instead of attacking, knelt and pressed their heads to the ground.

Just as the swords had said... exactly as if they were paying worship.