Chapter 105
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 105
Chapter Title: Influence, Fort Roberts (4)
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In the center of the two-man circular formation, the senior instructor, Sergeant Velasquez, raised his voice.
“Infected variants are physically tough. But does that give them an absolute advantage in close combat? No, it doesn’t. It’s because those half-dead things don’t take care of themselves.”
He paused for a breath before continuing.
“You might wonder why that’s a weakness. But don’t forget that variants were originally human. Sure, their muscle strength has increased, but that doesn’t mean their vital points have vanished. They can endure pain better than a normal human, of course. But unless it’s a ghoul-like enhanced variant or some special type beyond that, no variant walks away unscathed after taking a hit to a vital spot. Look at the screen.”
The images projected by two projectors were bright enough even under the lights. They were edited helmet cam footage. Sequences of variants charging relentlessly. Many scenes were familiar, recycled for training and propaganda, but the editing was fresh. At the moment the variants lunged, the speed slowed, with highlight effects emphasizing every hittable vital point.
“In combat, variants will come at you like brainless idiots. Arms outstretched, charging blindly. That means their entire body’s vital points are wide open. It’s only a few seconds, a brief moment, but if you stay calm, you can choose your strike point freely.”
The demonstration attacks varied: stabbing with a rifle, palm-striking the jaw, elbowing, shoving them down, using sidearms like pistols and combat knives, or headbutting and shouldering when they grab your gun.
During the following practice session, Winter checked the allied members’ form. A rare chance to use 「Instruction」. The 10th-grade 「Close Combat」 was the limit of human capability without genius, so the AR comments popping up were precise and spot-on.
“When stabbing with the rifle, raise your arm higher. Make it level with your shoulder. Hold the gun sideways. Think of aligning your body with the direction of force. If your motion strays from your center of gravity or buckles too much when applying power, you’ll get pushed back easily. You could even tear a ligament. The stab has to be instantaneous. Pull back immediately and fire—that mindset.”
When Winter corrected their form, the trainee improved noticeably. Some even got more motivated. The instructor handling the Korean group, Sergeant Carver, gladly accepted Winter’s help.
“You’re a good teacher, sir. Being good at something yourself and teaching it well are two different things. You seem like a natural-born soldier in every way. It’s a shame. You’d fit better as a non-com than an officer… Assuming you kept building your record like this, you’d have been the youngest sergeant major in history for sure.”
The sergeant’s words carried the pride that non-coms were the backbone of the army. It was partly true. A sergeant major, the pinnacle of non-coms, was rarer than a lieutenant colonel. Winter affirmed that pride.
“Thanks for the praise. But what can you do? It was a decision for a reason.”
If he’d followed the normal promotion path, he’d be a sergeant or staff sergeant by now. He wouldn’t have this command authority, but there were perks to the non-com track too.
‘Captain will probably be the ceiling for my promotions.’
The problem was he’d fought too well so far. Captain was the highest officer rank that could fight on the front lines. As long as he had the propaganda office’s favor, making major would be tough.
‘If it’s unavoidable, they’ll spin a heartwarming tale about me turning down promotions to stay in the field.’
Of course, he had no complaints. That was his plan anyway, and command authority was that important. Plus, being an officer helped wield influence among the refugees.
There were ways to promote further. In special forces, field-grade officers could still fight on the line. But that would separate him from the refugees.
The private chat ended quickly. This was training time. Carver said it was his first time as instructor but carried out his duties responsibly.
A question came from Park Jinseok’s squad during practice.
“Captain! Doesn’t this move seem kinda dangerous?”
Winter eyed the questioner and his partner’s stance, then asked.
“Mind running the post from the start?”
“Oh, sure.”
Just watching made the questioner tense up. Winter was struck anew by Jinseok’s squad’s discipline. He didn’t feel it much usually.
To use a rifle in close combat, you needed minimal clearance space. The drill divided into three stages based on approach and resistance: post, frame, hook.
‘Basic of basics—not anything impressive.’
What mattered was proficiency. No matter how simple the technique, without enough practice to ingrain it, it wouldn’t work in real combat. Even Winter, with his skill corrections, was the same. Corrections didn’t help if he tensed up and his mind froze, failing to translate to motion.
The questioner, at a proper distance from his partner, took a deep breath and signaled Winter.
“Starting then.”
His partner charged aggressively, mimicking a variant. The questioner blocked with an open hand. That was the post: left hand to check, right to shoot. Press the rifle tight against your inner arm, body close, pull back as far as possible, and fire into the opponent.
But this was training. Assume the arm buckles under speed and mass. At the narrowed distance, the next block was the frame. Winter pointed out one mistake and the sloppy transition.
“Your hand went out too fast at first. The variant would bite it off. Gauge the distance right. Less blocking, more striking—fast as possible.”
“Got it.”
“Don't force it too hard either. You’re not arm-wrestling the variant, right? If your arm’s buckling, just let it. Start with a slight bend accounting for that. Better for absorbing a full-body charge.”
“So, don’t aim to fully block—just slow it down?”
“If it’s too much to block fully. You’re Do-yun, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Frame isn’t just bracing. It’s an attack itself. When transitioning from post to frame, lean your upper body forward too. Why?”
“To strengthen the strike?”
“Half right. The other half’s center of gravity. You’re getting pushed back on impact, right? Lose your center, and it’s hard to shift weight or easy to fall.”
That afternoon’s lesson was handling being knocked down. The curriculum reflected real combat flow.
“I get it, but honestly, this stance feels really dangerous. Getting bit by a variant is game over anyway, but propping them with your hand or elbow under the chin… They’ll try to bite somehow…”
“Close combat itself is an extreme risk. You have to accept some danger. Do it right, and it’s fine. No need to hold long—just enough time for the shot. Want me to show?”
With everyone already watching, Winter decided to demonstrate. He assigned Do-yun as the variant. Do-yun, donning the training gear from the original partner, faced Winter five or six steps away. Winter removed magazines from his rifle and pistol, checked empty chambers, then nodded.
“Come at full speed.”
Full speed? Do-yun hesitated, got clearance from another group to widen the gap, then crouched like a sprinter. Winter waited, arms down.
Do-yun charged straight on, variant-style. Winter palm-struck his chest. Braced. But even with corrections, he couldn’t fully handle the speed and weight.
‘In real life, I’d have shot already.’
The muzzle was on his heart.
Training, so proceed. As he was pushed, Winter bent his arm, leaned in, and elbowed.
Thwack!
The sound was loud. Elbow hit the chest guard; from wrist to elbow, it pinned the throat. Hard to bite now. Another shot opportunity. Click! The empty hammer strike echoed hollowly. Do-yun’s mock variant died twice.
Then Winter shoved him off. Pivoted the arm at the elbow, grabbed the side of the face, flung hard left.
A leg hook made holding on futile.
Winter aimed his pistol at the fallen Do-yun.
“See how you got hit?”
“Uh, yeah. I think so.”
“If they grab you, do like that. Yank the head through or whatever. Don’t leave hands free for nothing. If that’s not enough, ram them. All the stances and moves Sergeant Velasquez demoed flow as one, like post to frame.”
Sergeant Carver was demoing similarly elsewhere.
Winter joined practices, rotating partners.
Morning training ended at 11:30. Lunch was combat rations pushed to the gym. Support troops sighed. They hustled to line up faster next time, avoiding bad menus—like the cheese-vegetable omelet Winter got.
The distributing instructor suddenly asked.
“…That okay, sir? You should swap for another.”
“Someone’s gotta eat it. Clearing inventory? That one’s piled up.”
As Winter noted, the rations were wildly imbalanced. All the menus the troops hated. That was refugee support treatment still. Winter was the sole exception outside regs.
‘Lucky the alliance combat teams are regular army.’
The instructor, bothered too, sighed and swapped his own share.
Lunch was an hour and a half.
The omelet smelled decent but looked and tasted like chewed-up regret. Even Winter, used to rough chow, struggled. Swallowing was nauseating. Better than pre-death energy packs, barely.
Coincidence or curiosity? Yura had the same. She gagged on the first bite, then ignored it. Dessert and drinks for her meal.
After eating, Winter headed to Li Airing’s spot. As the boy officer approached, action team members fiddling with their gross meals jumped up.
“Han, what’s up?”
They were wary, cowed too. Winter smiled softly.
“Long time, Kun Tao. Zhe Guang, Kang Chuan too? Sorry to interrupt lunch. Mind passing a message to Madam Li? I’d like a quick word.”
Token politeness. Kun Tao glanced at the female deputy. She, sitting nearby with nothing to relay, eyed Winter and nodded the team aside.
Li Airing rose to greet him.
“Nice to see you, Teacher Han. Didn’t greet you properly today. Forgive my rudeness.”
“No need. I should be asking forgiveness.”
“…What do you mean?”
To her quiet turn away, Winter said.
“Really? Well, not bad then. If you’ll pretend it didn’t happen.”
A moment later, Li Airing sighed.
“Teacher, isn’t it too late to bring it up now?”
She resented that the Triad Alliance should’ve warned about the police crackdown beforehand, despite their cooperation. Winter prodded her worry.
“Weren’t you concerned Chinese would be political scapegoats? Sure, the raid hurt short-term, but your biggest worry’s weight lifted, right?”
Li Airing looked glum. Winter continued.
“Crime’s a bomb that grows. How long you gonna hug it? If things flow as you fear, the U.S. government will say later: ‘Every Chinese is a drugged-up killer—sweep ’em all!’ Want to see people cheering that?”
“So you think that was for our good?”
“Among other things. I don’t believe in killing all criminals. Only if they push past my limits, unavoidably.”
A warning: don’t cross that line.
“…As I said before, hard to tell if you’re good-natured or not.”
She sighed deeper, straightened, and asked.
“So, what do you want?”
“Tell Elder Li Chenjian I’ll visit tonight.”
“Couldn’t you send someone?”
“Wanted to check if Madam Li’s still worried about it, and how you’re taking it.”
Tested her, she frowned silently. Before she could ask more, Winter bowed out.
“Then I’ll go. Rest up. Good luck with afternoon training.”
Curious or not, Li Airing let him leave.
============================ Author's Note ============================
#Chapter Payment
Naver Enstore launch was planned for late September but delayed for some reason. Thanks for waiting a bit longer.
#Q&A
Q. asa2289: @Love cooled off lately...? Or childlike wonder run dry..? Hard to see you often...
A. Half wonder dry, half stamina dry. Writing keeps me up till dawn, but construction near home blasts from 6 AM. Haha. Wanna burn it down.
Q. Gaon-ui-byeol: @... Writer-nim, sorry for the accidental comment spam last time? ㅠㅜ Me too. Page froze, kept clicking—disaster lol. Sloo... slooow writing fiiiine *sob*
A. Wasn’t startled. Just lost five livers. Thanks. Slooow, sloooow writing it is.
Q. Spinmit: @That second thing about drilling a hole in the stomach—related to my nick?
A. No way. Ask something more wholesome next time. :)
Q. Echi: @Curious about zombies. Babies appeared, so half-human half-zombie possible in this world?
A. Never thought about it as writer... Hmm... Similar possible maybe...
Q. Pigoo-wang-nicotine: @If buy paperback later, bonus writer bikini bromaid pls. 1:1 life-size full-body on front door: no thieves, auto-fix washer, even double eyelids appear.
A. Report thieves to cops, call repairman for washer, surgeon for eyelids. Bromides have unspeakable ominous effects, true, but can’t sell for book price.
Q. Sowol: @Writer-nim, first commercial work?? If prior, wanna buy even if published.
A. Columbarium’s first. Pitched to pubs without serials multiple times—always rejected.