Survival Techniques (3)
“R-really?” Han Yeoreum’s eyes widened into perfect circles. It was obvious what she was imagining. In reality, though, it had nothing to do with her pink-tinted delusions. Condoms had plenty of uses beyond contraception. They took up almost no space or weight, could serve as makeshift water containers, waterproof electronics, or be cut up as rubber substitutes. You could even use them as magnifying lenses or for sanitation. There were countless other applications if you got creative.
The reason survival kits often included condoms was mostly for these practical reasons. Of course, preventing horny cadets from causing accidents was probably part of it too. Still, with surveillance devices everywhere, I doubted many cadets would be bold enough to have sex out in the open.
“Yeah. It’s true.”
Martial artists had excellent hearing. Especially cadets skilled enough to get into this academy—if they were whispering, they could still catch every word of our conversation. If we’d used sound transmission, maybe not, but Han Yeoreum hadn’t learned that technique yet. As a result, several glances flicked toward the condom.
“Are you curious about this?” Sergeant Jeon Il-hwan openly picked up the condom. Then he blew air into it like a balloon. The condom swelled dozens of times its size, becoming taut and full. Everyone held their breath, waiting for his next words.
I wasn’t entirely sure what life was like for martial artists in this world, but watching fully grown adults hyper-focused on a single condom was strangely amusing.
“In survival training, condoms are quite useful. Beyond the obvious use of contraception, they can serve as temporary water containers. As I mentioned earlier, water is critical for survival. Martial artists can endure much longer than average, but there’s a saying: three minutes without air, three hours without shelter from temperature, three days without water, and three weeks without food. That’s how important water is. A condom like this can easily hold several liters.”
Just as I’d expected, Sergeant Jeon Il-hwan carefully explained the various uses of the condom.
“Oh… so that’s what it was for.” Han Yeoreum whispered, sounding oddly disappointed.
“What did you think it was for?”
“Shut up. We’re in class.” She glared at me, narrowing her eyes.
After the condom demonstration came an explanation of the rest of the survival kit components, followed by a rundown of the overall curriculum.
“Huh?” Han Yeoreum tilted her head while looking at the presentation. I hadn’t expected this part either.
“Alongside survival training, you will all undergo ‘high-altitude jump’ training. This is because during the uninhabited island evaluation, you will be deployed from the air.”
This wasn’t some survival game show. The idea of taking a cruise ship to a deserted island for a fun group bonding experience was getting further and further away.
So this was why a soldier was teaching the class.
“Sergeant, may I ask a question?” Lee Jia raised her hand high.
“Of course.”
“Then during training, do we get to ride helicopters or transport planes ourselves?”
“Naturally. Martial artists who have reached truly lofty realms can fly freely using sword flight or techniques like Ling Kong Xu Dao. But the greatest advantage of civilization’s tools is their convenience. Even Principal Dokgopae takes a plane when he travels. Though it is a private jet.”
Sergeant Jeon Il-hwan answered with a smile full of amusement. Modern martial artists didn’t actually reject the benefits of modern technology. After all, seeking comfort was a basic human instinct. From an efficiency standpoint, there was no downside to conserving strength.
“In actual gate erosion sites, martial artists often prefer jumping from the air rather than moving on the ground. As one’s realm increases, parachutes eventually become unnecessary. Of course, for your safety, you will be deployed using parachutes. Some of you might think you don’t need them, but since safety is our top priority, I’d appreciate it if you would follow the procedure.”
There was only one person here who wouldn’t need a parachute—Cheon Hayeon. She was the only one capable of using Eogi Chungso to control descent speed with internal energy or Cheonsangje to create steps in the air with her true qi. No matter how much of a super rookie she was, the rest were still freshly minted adults. Kim Yong’s orthodox martial arts were the slow-growth type, so his potential hadn’t exploded yet.
“Alright, let’s begin with the admittedly dry theory portion of the class.” Sergeant Jeon Il-hwan opened a thick textbook.
“I really hate this…” Han Yeoreum slumped over her desk and looked at me.
“Sit up. You have to study.” I ruffled her hair, then grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her upright. She couldn’t start thinking about sleeping already.
“…Mmmnya.” Her eyes were heavy with drowsiness.
After the long, boring theory lecture finally ended—
Poke. Poke.
I jabbed Han Yeoreum’s cheek with my finger. In the end, she hadn’t been able to endure the tedium and had passed out completely.
“Hey, wake up. Class is over.”
“Ugh…?”
“What do you mean ‘ugh’? I said class is over. What are you going to do during the exam?”
I sighed and grabbed her soft neck again, hauling her upright. It felt exactly like picking up a cat.
“I’m screwed.”
“You’re only realizing that now?”
“Wake me up next time.”
“I poked your side more than ten times.”
“…Why am I such an idiot?” Han Yeoreum covered her face with both hands and groaned.
“You may be an idiot, but you got insane strength in return.”
Thud— Her fist landed perfectly in my side.
“Ow.”
“You called a girl an idiot, so you deserve to get hit. How’s that powerful strength taste?”
“You’re the one who called yourself an idiot first.”
“Aren’t you supposed to comfort me? Like, ‘You’re not an idiot’ or something. You need to learn more about women.”
“I’m just bad at lying. You used to say honesty was one of my strengths.”
“Ugh…” Han Yeoreum grumbled as she stood up. “I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”
“Sure. What do you want?” I stood up and straightened my things.
“Meat. I’m stressed, so I need to taste some blood.”
“What are you, from the Blood Sect? ‘Taste some blood’? Seriously.”
“Don’t even joke about that. It’s disgusting.”
“Sorry. That was a slip of the tongue.”
Yeah, the Blood Sect really was too repulsive to joke about.
“Let’s hurry up and go out. I’m getting tired of the academy cafeteria.”
“Are we allowed to leave?”
“Plenty of time.”
I was craving something delicious too. We really matched well in this regard.
There were surprisingly many high-end restaurants clustered near the academy. That was the biggest difference from normal university areas. Martial artists were basically no different from nobility. Naturally, the amount of money they spent was on a completely different scale from ordinary people. Like how Cheon Hayeon had casually thrown a hundred billion won at me.
“The thing I like most about coming here is the food.” Han Yeoreum said happily as she picked up a piece of meat.
“For something that comes with the threat of death, that’s a pretty small happiness.”
“Is it really that small when it comes to eating?”
“I guess you’re right.”
A piece of high-quality beef grilled over charcoal. The rich, oily flavor and savory aroma of the meat made me let out an involuntary sigh of satisfaction.
“By the way, what did you talk about while I was sleeping?”
“The theory stuff you can just memorize from the book anyway. The more important part was about the evaluation process.”
“Process? You said we jump out of a transport plane, right?”
“Yeah. Apparently we take a civilian flight to Okinawa, then switch to a military transport at the US base there and head to a deserted island in the Pacific.”
“So we’re not going straight from here.”
“If we did, it would’ve been hell.”
You couldn’t call the ride in a military transport plane comfortable even as a joke. This world seemed to use mana stones to make transport planes larger, but a military craft was still a military craft. If military planes had gotten ‘a bit’ more comfortable, civilian airliners were basically flying hotels.
“I’m kind of looking forward to it. A deserted island experience!”
“Don’t get your hopes up. Reality is hell.”
“Still, isn’t it kind of romantic?”
“Romantic my ass. Under a blazing sun where it’s hard to even breathe, you’ll have bugs the size of your finger flying around.”
“Do you always have to crush people’s fantasies to feel satisfied?” Han Yeoreum pouted.
I immediately picked up a piece of meat and held it to her lips. She quietly accepted it like a baby bird. After repeating the process a few times, her expression finally softened again.
“If we prepare properly, maybe it won’t be as bad as I think?”
“Mmmnya. I’m counting on you.”
“Nope, this won’t work.”
“What?” Han Yeoreum tilted her head.
“We might end up separated.”
“We can just find each other quickly.”
“We don’t know if that’ll be possible. I’ll tell you only the key points, so memorize them.”
“Okay.”
“And this.” I pulled a small wooden box from my pocket and handed it to her.
“What is it?”
“It’s the Honwon Dan. You keep it.”
“Is it a spiritual medicine?”
“Yeah. Roughly speaking… it’s a top-grade medicine that can increase your internal energy by about sixty years’ worth.”
“Why are you giving this to me? You should eat it.” Han Yeoreum stared at me intently.
“Just in case something happens on the island. Eat it if you’re in danger. They’ll restrict what you can bring, but I think carrying something like this should be fine.”
I’d seriously considered eating it myself, but using a top-grade spiritual pill just to increase internal energy felt too wasteful. It was basically like gaining an extra life.
“…What about you?”
“Unlike you, I’m not an idiot, so I can memorize the entire survival manual.”
“Can’t we split it in half?”
“We could, but the effect would drop significantly.”
“Let’s split it in half and each keep a portion. If we meet up and it’s urgent, we can combine them.”
“I should ask Jia about that first.” Depending on the type, some spiritual medicines had to be consumed whole. If the Honwon Dan was like that, splitting it might just ruin the medicine.
“Mmmnya. Then ask her, and if it’s okay, let’s split it.” Han Yeoreum pushed the wooden box back toward me.
“It’s fine. The effect will be exactly half, though.” Lee Jia gave a gentle smile in response to my question.
“That’s a relief. Thanks.”
“Not at all. Are you going to share it with Miss Yeoreum?”
“Yeah. Her studying is completely hopeless, so I’m worried. If she thinks she’s going to die on the island, she should at least eat this, right?”
“I suppose. She seems like she’d handle things calmly, though.”
“It’s not that she’s stupid. She just refuses to study no matter what. She says her eyes close the moment she sees a book.”
“There are people like that.” Lee Jia brushed her red hair behind her ear and nodded.
— Uwaaaaaaaaaaah!
— Aaaaaaaaaah!
Suddenly, screams that sounded like shrieks echoed from nearby.
“Whoa. Sounds pretty intense.”
“It’s almost our turn and you’re this calm?”
“I’ve jumped off cliffs a lot. I’m used to heights.”
Just what kind of sect was the Honwon Sect…?
Watching Lee Jia remain perfectly composed, I couldn’t help but wonder.
The high-altitude jump training was divided into several stages. First came learning the various movements required for jumping and handling the equipment. Thanks to their exceptional talent as martial artists, that part ended in the blink of an eye.
Next was the mock tower jump training. It was exactly what it sounded like—jumping from the giant tower in front of us.
“I-is this right?” Han Yeoreum, who had been waiting up ahead, crept over and grabbed my sleeve.
“This isn’t what a mock tower is supposed to be like.”
The mock tower I knew wasn’t this tall. The standard was a tower about eleven meters high—the height at which humans felt the most fear—where you descended using ropes. This thing was easily over a hundred meters. That was more than thirty stories. On top of that, the descent speed was insane. It wasn’t a roller coaster, but it accelerated like crazy at first, then suddenly decelerated midway. If I weren’t a martial artist, my organs would’ve been completely scrambled. They had clearly used some special method.
No wonder they’d brought us to the 25th Special Mission Flight Wing instead of doing it inside the academy. I’d thought it was strange from the beginning. Still, ten meters really was too low for martial artists. Even so, a hundred meters seemed a bit excessive.
“Cadet Han Yeoreum, please come forward.”
A sudden announcement called for Han Yeoreum.
“Save me.” She looked at me with pitiful eyes.
“Sorry. Have a safe trip.” I firmly pulled my sleeve free.
Like a cow being dragged to the slaughterhouse, Han Yeoreum trudged over and boarded the elevator.
— Kyaaaaaaaaaah!
A moment later, her high-pitched scream rang out from above, sounding exactly like someone riding a theme park attraction.