Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Excuse
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Kate was utterly dumbfounded right now. She couldn't keep her expression in check, and even maintaining her composure felt overwhelming.
"Uniform violation. Your boot lace is sticking out 1cm on the outside. You too, drop and give me push-ups. Forehead to the ground."
"F-Forehead to the ground...!"
With anger boiling up from inside, every single flaw in the trainees jumped out at her. Petty issues she would normally let slide, but Kate couldn't hold back. She called them all out and slapped them with punishments.
"These wannabe soldiers, all brain-dead."
But kicking their shins or smacking their arms wasn't enough to ease her mind.
Kate hadn't yet given a proper name to her own [displeasure], so she was just lashing out at random.
If someone asked her to describe men,
Kate could sum it all up in just three words.
Idiotic,
stupid,
and useless.
Arrogant and discriminatory? Sure, but it fit Kate's personality perfectly.
She excelled in every field,
and she always found a way to achieve what she set out to do.
Her life had been a relentless struggle spanning decades.
The world had changed rapidly,
growing so complex it was hard to keep up,
but Kate had gritted her teeth and charged ahead to the front lines.
It wasn't about a fierce competitive drive. She didn't enjoy comparing herself to others.
She didn't console herself by looking down on the incompetent or cower in awe of great figures.
She simply focused on her own goals,
honed her strengths and weaknesses,
and lived a fulfilling life as a woman...
However,
maybe living so fiercely had left her alone.
"Don't mess with her."
No one stuck around Kate for long. But it wasn't quite bullying.
"She just snaps if you get too close."
"Her personality's kinda off."
It was simply that Kate outshone her peers by far,
making everything else feel childish.
While others chattered about trivial romances, Kate trained her body, threw herself into her studies, and built up her credentials.
She never doubted it was the right path. And in truth, she'd never once missed out on being the top student or model example throughout her life.
What she hated most of all
was making [excuses].
Weaklings always blamed society, their environment, their education—without ever truly striving to achieve anything themselves.
Of course, they'd whine that they'd done their best, but to Kate, they were all just talentless idiots.
If you hadn't achieved something, it was because you didn't try hard enough.
If you tried and still failed, it was because your efforts were misguided.
With the right mindset, anything was possible.
As mentioned above,
Kate despised excuses.
And the one she hated most?
[It can't be helped].
Every time she heard those words, she shuddered with rage. As if anything in the world was truly unavoidable.
If you were desperate enough,
if you truly wanted it,
if you kept pushing endlessly, you could seize anything.
The era of swords, magic, and adventure had ended, but the new age of peace offered boundless possibilities.
So the [obsolete humans] whining weakly were nothing but trash. Lazy, slothful garbage.
This was why Drill Sergeant Kate treated the trainees so harshly—it all stemmed from the same logic.
Trainees who failed to meet the military's standards were obsolete humans, inferior types who couldn't even handle the basics.
Kate even [despised] them.
This fiery temper had driven even men away from her.
Men were inherently weaker than women physically, and they couldn't properly handle the [mana] permeating the world.
So every time she saw a man, Kate couldn't help but regard him with contempt, like a thorn in her eye.
Sniveling,
crying about how tough it was,
constantly whining about aches and pains...
It had been that way since childhood,
right up to her recent days as a drill sergeant at the training center.
Kate had never once felt drawn to a man.
Here's where an interesting problem arises.
While Kate did despise men,
that didn't mean she planned to spend her life as a perpetual singleton.
Kate wanted a partner too. As a beastkin, her [heat cycles] came periodically, leaving her growling alone in bed every time.
She could obtain everything else just fine—money, honor, status, success...
But finding a suitable mate was like searching for a single needle in a desert, leaving Kate perpetually scanning the men around her with dissatisfaction.
By specs alone, she could have married anytime without issue.
"Hoo."
But men just made her sigh.
Their looks paled next to hers, their personalities were annoying, and their heads seemed empty.
When she applied the same strict standards she held herself to, not a single candidate remained.
Every one had some fatal flaw. Other women would pounce on anything with a dick, rush into marriage, and pop out kids like it was nothing...
But Kate had no intention of that.
She simply
waited patiently, hoping someday she'd meet a man on her level.
A year passed,
three years,
five years,
and nearly ten...
Before she finally started feeling anxious.
Women here married as early as their late teens—not dating, but straight to marriage.
Yet Kate had never even held a man's hand.
That was her one flaw.
She had everything,
always lived diligently,
but couldn't find a man worthy of her.
However, a few days ago,
a guy named Han Jeong-woo had wormed his way into her heart.
It was a fresh shock. She'd always thought typical men were idiots who couldn't even take care of themselves.
Han Jeong-woo was a bit different. The way he furtively glanced around and groaned was hilarious, but surprisingly, his movements were sharp for a man.
On the first night, like any other man, he'd whined and faked illness in front of the instructors, but within hours, he'd cleaned himself up and stood watch on CQ duty.
From that point on, he'd outperformed even the women.
Perfectly folded blankets,
immaculate attire,
and a clean appearance to boot.
He stood out from ordinary men, exuding an exotic vibe.
Tall for a man,
and striking even without trying.
And yet,
he even posted remarkable results in certain areas.
"Nya, nyaa..."
Right after the first run,
Kate's heart began pounding like mad.
It wasn't quite love yet,
but her eyes couldn't leave Han Jeong-woo.
It was the moment her long-held [convictions] were proven true. Men always made excuses, but Han Jeong-woo achieved his share without a single complaint.
At the same time, it was the awakening of the girl she'd kept dormant. How joyful it was to witness someone else's hard work up close.
It was a feeling she'd never known before, but Kate felt an unstoppable fascination for this foreign man she'd met at the training center.
He was the first of his kind.
Sweating buckets, gasping for breath,
yet never collapsing.
And when they ended up alone together, he'd shown her his fully swollen erection. That brief encounter in the showers had flung wide open the door Kate had kept firmly shut.
Kate knew little about men, but she had the basics down.
[An erection is a bodily response that only comes after a man is fully prepared.] Unless forced, you wouldn't see a grown manhood in a natural encounter.
For him to swell up first when they were alone was as good as confessing he'd already made all the preparations.
I like you,
and I want a serious relationship.
Please accept my feelings.
So Kate was secretly thrilled.
He was the first man to catch her eye,
and he'd approached her first.
Even the bold, cheeky confession didn't feel bad. It set him apart from other men. Most waited for the woman to come to them...
This man might just work, she started thinking.
That faint wish grew clearer,
and after his perfect shooting score, it bordered on certainty.
However,
it had all shattered in an instant.
This moment felt so chaotic to Kate.
Tears threatened to spill, but crying over one man made no sense.
She couldn't calm her burning face. She wanted to crawl into a mouse hole.
Even Kate didn't know why she was like this. First love, first breakup—she had no idea what to do.
"It was me who rejected him. Okay?"
So she spouted pathetic excuses.
As wretchedly as possible,
ending it in the most squalid way imaginable.