Chapter 68
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Chapter 68 - 지옥주 (4)
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Hell Week (4)
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After that, Soni Chepelin’s attacks stopped falling. It was partly because she hadn’t used magic, but also because the dense forest of trees that had formed around the cliff conveniently obscured the smoke.
Additionally, the food problem could be solved relatively easily.
Perhaps the only saving grace was that, as a mountain range with few human traces, there were plenty of edible wild animals.
Since some of the soldiers had grown up in the harsh northern regions, they began skillfully making traps to hunt rabbits and deer.
Of course, recklessly using guns or magic carried a high risk of being detected by Soni Chepelin, so all disassembly and cooking had to be done by hand.
Furthermore, the members of the 1st Platoon, led by Claude, discovered a stream at the foot of the mountain, providing a continuous supply of drinking water.
They also gathered edible wild plants like kudzu and mountain berries that grew in the area.
Despite the easy supply of food, due to the nature of the snow mountain, quite a few soldiers showed symptoms of hypothermia.
At those times, they warmed their bodies inside the ‘Igloos’ designed by Bell Mayer, minimizing non-combat losses.
Thus, 72 hours passed on the snow mountain. The thick morning fog lifted, and a bright sun rose over the high mountain peaks.
“You’ve worked hard!!! Everyone!!!”
Soni Chepelin’s voice echoed throughout the entire snow mountain. To be precise, it came from inside the bodies of the platoon leaders and other officers.
The small magic crests tattooed on their wrists. After analyzing the formula, it was an extremely simple design that played a recorded voice when a certain amount of time had passed.
Since it was a crest engraved by a Grand Archmage, perhaps I hadn’t noticed it.
Only then did I realize that Soni Chepelin hadn’t been tracking their positions simply through magic or the smoke from fires.
‘……No wonder she pushed us into the snow mountain without any countermeasures; she had already prepared for everything like this.’
Our Soni Chepelin had a plan for everything?
The Colonel must have blasted magic whenever she detected magic power or suspected their location from campfires, but considering that our positions had already been completely exposed, and we had been frantically changing our combat lines and moving stealthily for the sake of concealment…….
I couldn’t help but feel a sense of hollowness.
“The current time is 07:30! I announce that the snow mountain survival training is officially over! The members of the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion must complete their descent by 09:00! That is all!”
The lively voice was particularly irritating.
‘Later…… when I make a great achievement and stand above Soni Chepelin, I’ll smack her right in the forehead……!!’
I clenched my fist and made a resolution.
“I will definitely!”
The moment they heard that the training was over, the soldiers finished their preparations to move faster than ever before.
“Damn it, I’m never coming back to this shithole again.”
“The north is a land of hell from now on…….”
The soldiers grumbled curses as they packed their gear. I’ve felt this several times, but the way people live is no different here than in reality.
I let out a snort of laughter and looked at the lined-up troops.
“Is the total count correct? Injuries!”
“None!!”
Thanks to the platoon leaders leading well, there wasn’t a single casualty in the company.
There were dangerous situations like encountering a Yeti, but the fact that no one was injured was commendable nonetheless.
“Good. But the training isn’t over until we’ve completely descended, so don’t let your guard down and let’s descend safely!”
“Yes─!!”
“Then, begin the descent!”
As I gave the command, the soldiers lined up and began to descend along the ridgeline.
Of course, since there was no well-maintained hiking trail in a snow mountain where Yetis could pop out, the platoon members tied ropes around their waists to secure each other, just in case.
It would be a bit unfair to get injured only after enduring the hellish survival training period.
‘Still, I’m glad they’re following along well.’
We had only known each other for two weeks, and excluding Claude, the platoon leaders were quite young, so there was a high chance they wouldn’t listen well, but……
Looking at the results only, the soldiers under my command were quite cooperative.
Rather, since their age groups were similar, a friendly atmosphere might have easily formed between the platoon leaders and the soldiers.
‘I’m reminded of the time I was a company commander.’
The situation, era, and methods were a bit different from back then, but my mindset was clearly different from when I was completely inexperienced.
‘It’s nice.’
Here, at least, it seemed I didn’t have to worry about being disappointed.
There was no adjutant who looked down on me just because I was a newly promoted Captain, no battalion commander who caused a scene every day, and no sergeants or staff sergeants who went on leave and caused trouble.
‘If only I had known how to handle things as wisely back then as I do now, would the results have been different……?’
The faces of the people I had been quite close with seemed to flicker before my eyes.
-Captain, you’re too by-the-book. We’re people who will be leaving in less than two years, shouldn’t you make the soldiers feel attached to the unit?
-The Intelligence Directorate’s direct command is very different from a regular field unit. Captain, you need to approach the soldiers first.
‘I couldn’t do it well back then, but I think I understand what they mean now.’
I’ve already grabbed the golden lifeline that is Soni Chepelin. If she’s the kind of person who secretly comes to meet the head of a nation, that says it all.
Now, the people I need to care about are those below me, not above.
From Lumia to the low-ranking soldiers whose names I can barely remember.
Only if they follow my commands well and grow on their own can I save this country, which is hanging by a thread.
That stance has not changed since I first possessed this world.
Just look at our useless squad members; those who were always looked down upon are now being recognized as proper platoon leaders by the soldiers.
Watching that is quite a proud thing for me.
“Captain Enok Levandel, it’s our turn to depart now.”
“Has the 4th Platoon also departed?”
“Yes.”
The 72-hour survival training was over, but the training itself had not yet ended.
That’s why it’s called Hell Week.
It’s called Hell Week because it’s as grueling and difficult as the hell you go to after death.
Living on the snow mountain was plenty hard, but not even a week has passed yet.
What kind of training is scheduled for the remaining two weeks is completely unknown.
During this training period, my role as company commander is solely to make our precious company members unite as one.
“Good. We need to depart quickly to receive the next training diligently as well.”
I nodded to Lumia standing beside me and began to descend, following the line of troops.
After the training ended, the assembly point announced was the border fortress ‘Mchensk’, which is connected to the Kalpas Mountains.
This was a place I knew well.
When I played as the Sovye Empire, it was one of the strongholds that had to be bypassed during the invasion of Ukraine.
Mchensk Fortress is the frontline fortress you encounter first after crossing the Kalpas Mountains.
And at the same time, it was the only defensive fortress established in the far north.
Since the ‘Kiyal’ river flowing from the mountains blocks the path to the plains, any invading army that enters along the Kalpas Mountains had to break through Mchensk to reach the plains of Ukraine.
A single massive fortress appears the moment you cross the mountains.
Plains unfold after passing the fortress.
Anyone could see it was a strategic choke point, so most players tried desperately to capture Mchensk Fortress. I did the same many times when I was a newbie who knew nothing.
However, it didn’t take long to realize how foolish that was.
To reach Mchensk, you first had to break through Kalpas.
Even if you sent an elite division, the geographical nature of the rugged mountains caused combat power to plummet at a terrifying rate.
It was a demonic realm where monsters like Yetis roamed openly.
It was already near death to endure for 72 hours with a small unit; setting up a division or corps-level base there and continuously attacking the fortress was practically impossible.
Soldiers aren’t herbivores; they can’t march while picking mountain berries.
Consequently, they suffered huge losses in terms of supply, and watching their carefully nurtured elite divisions get shredded by the Ukrainian defenders who held the geographical advantage tore at their hearts.
So, once I came to understand the ways of the world to some extent, I never deployed troops toward Mchensk Fortress.
I realized late in the day that the more appealing a fruit looks, the more deadly poison it hides.
Having that past made Mchensk Fortress feel a bit different to me.
A majestic castle fortress. The thickly piled castle walls were sturdy enough to withstand hundreds or thousands of bombardments.
The defenders guarding it had eyes like a bird of prey.
‘No wonder divisions get wiped out here.’
It was so imposing that even Belgorod Fortress would be treated like a mere watchtower, and I couldn’t help but agree unconsciously.
“Company Commander Enok Levandel.”
“Thank you for your hard work in the training. Please, come in.”
The guard at the gate saluted crisply, and the heavy castle gates began to open.
“Colonel Soni Chepelin has instructed you to come to the special barracks in the east of the fortress.”
“Special barracks… you say?”
“Yes.”
I felt a slight sense of confusion. Mchensk Fortress was practically as large as a small town.
If they had prepared special barracks inside the fortress, it meant we would be staying and eating here for at least a few days.
Did that mean this Hell Week training was effectively over?
‘No, it was originally a two-week plan. Are we going to rest for a couple of days and then move to another region?’
I headed to the location the guard mentioned and pondered Soni Chepelin’s intentions.
“Huh…?!”
I heard Lumia’s startled voice. I turned my head unconsciously, and a familiar woman was waving her hand.
Who is this? Before I could even react, she ran over and hugged me tightly. A refreshing scent wafted over.
“Our cute junior~!! It’s been a while!!”
“Lieutenant Debra Bennett? No, what is a Lieutenant doing here……”
“I’m not a Lieutenant. Look here.”
Three diamonds.
So she had been promoted after all.
“Captain Debra Bennett.”
“That’s right, that’s it. I heard you became a Company Commander too, Enok? From Platoon Leader to Company Commander, that’s a super-fast promotion!”
“Ah, never mind that. What brings a Captain to this place?”
I was flabbergasted by the appearance of someone I never expected. As I stood there dumbfounded, the Captain playfully slapped my shoulder and answered.
“Why else? Didn’t I get transferred to the Central Education and Technology Research Department this time?”
“You did… do that?”
‘You did do that’? You’re not interested?”
“I mean, what is someone who went to the Central region under Colonel Victor Zelensky doing in Mchensk?”
“They say there’s new weaponry from the Ukrainian army here, so they wanted to try incorporating my technology. I came to test it.”
“New weaponry?”
“You guys haven’t seen it yet? Actually, they’re doing a demonstration run right now, look up at the sky!”
I looked up at the sky at those words, and saw a glossy, oval-shaped object undulating over the roof.
“A balloon? ……Wait, hold on.”
A pure white, massive balloon slowly rising toward the sky. It was an object I couldn’t possibly not know.
“……My god.”
Lumia, equally startled, gasped, and the soldiers following behind let out a chorus of exclamations.
An airship.
The very symbol of terrifying aerial weaponry was spreading its wings toward the sky.