Chapter 66
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: After Roll Call, Assembly
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Ahead of the sacred evening roll call, each unit has the soldiers clean the barracks and internal facilities to keep everything spotless.
The current time is exactly 21:00.
30 minutes until evening roll call.
"Hoo-"
A cynical voice broadcasts from the speakers installed in each barracks.
Company members, from this moment, please carry out cleaning according to the duty roster system.
The voice flies by like an arrow. Even Mino's sharp hearing struggles to catch the sentence in one go.
"Come on, everyone, let's clean~"
The moment she hears it, Corporal Rachel flops face-first onto her bed, but the rest of us have to get ready to clean.
Corporal Clara slips on some comfy slippers,
while Private Sika and Private Kanna grumble as they lace up their ugly sneakers.
Mino and I exchange a quick glance before hopping smartly out of bed to prep for cleaning. As recruits, we have to handle all the grunt work like this to stay in everyone's good graces.
"Hmm?"
But our model behavior rubs Corporal Rachel the wrong way.
"Everyone, freeze. What the hell is Jeong-woo doing right now?"
"Private Han Jeong-woo...?"
She singles me out. That wagging finger and arched eyebrow trigger my military PTSD.
"Why are you cleaning?"
"I-I thought it made more sense for Private Mino and me to handle it than the seniors!"
Diligent Recruit
A recruit who knows his place. A quick-witted guy who jumps on all the chores! Military Life Points +1
The seniors burst into laughter and cheers before I even finish speaking. Private Kanna, with her rabbit ears, nods furiously, deeply touched by her direct junior's sensible words...
"Nah, that's not it."
Corporal Rachel grabs my wrist and drags me all the way to her bed.
"Didn't I tell you? Just stick with your big sis from now on!"
Another roadblock.
Senior corporals always know how to make recruits squirm.
But the nonsense I'm dealing with here is a whole different flavor from back in Korea.
A senior corporal flashing a pretty smile and patting the spot right next to her...
"Our Jeong-woo doesn't need to do that stuff~ Let's chill for a bit. Okay? Come sit by sis!"
She irresponsibly yanks me over and plops me down next to her on the bed.
"There we go~ Yeah, that's the stuff."
Then she lays down, using my thigh as a pillow. Her red hair drapes over my entire lower body.
The other seniors don't glare at me—they just eye Corporal Rachel with envy.
"What kinda food does Jeong-woo like? What's your hobby?"
The [power] to park a guy on her bed and chat away.
A perk only corporals get...
"Looks cute even from down there. Mmm. See, that's why a man livens up the vibe."
"Wh-what're y'all starin' at? Get to cleanin' already."
Corporal Clara tuts her tongue but stays busy herding the remaining trio.
Under her watch, Sika, Kanna, and Mino have to scrub the barracks spotless.
"Uh, Corporal Rachel...!"
"Yeah?"
"I wanna clean too!"
I rack my brain to wriggle out of this awkward spot.
Sitting idle while the seniors clean is the height of embarrassment.
"You don't like hanging with me?"
But Corporal Rachel pulls rank again.
No moves left then. I just sweat bullets in this mortifying mess.
"True dat. Make the recruits mop too."
No. 2 in looks, Corporal Clara's itching to hand me a rag too, payback for not picking her.
Precious guy or not, she wants to boss around the jerk who snubbed her.
"No way!"
Corporal Rachel digs in her heels, throwing a full-on tantrum like a kid on the bed.
"Can't you see I'm on a date with Jeong-woo? We got another recruit! Make him do double duty!"
"Lordy..."
"Jeong-woo, don't mind her. So, where were we? Hometown's where~? What does your mom do?"
Her flirting's so aggressive it's straight-up clingy.
Looking up at me with a slight blush, Corporal Rachel's eyes drip with curiosity and affection.
"Ever had a girlfriend? No fiancée or nothin', right?"
In an army stuffed with women, guys must be gold.
Still, as a corporal, she'd be better off hitting on PFC Liv next door. Why me...
End-of-term vibes—she wants to snag an easy mark before discharge.
Knock knock.
"Um..."
But a wildcard shows up.
The Platoon Leader, patrolling to check cleaning status, steps right into our barracks.
"Ah, Platoon Leader. At ease~"
Corporal Rachel half-asses getting up and throws a sloppy salute. The mumbled words and lazy motion gotta grate.
"Ri-right now's cleaning time for all personnel... Why're you lying around, Corporal Rachel...?"
She eyes Rachel to get cleaning but shoots a polite glance my way too, sitting all proper.
"Ah, Private Han Jeong-woo needs to clean too...!"
"Private Han Jeong-woo!"
In a way, she's bailing me out of this mess.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Direct order from the Platoon Leader? Gotta obey.
But...
"Aw, c'mon, Platoon Leader! They ain't past recruit protection period yet."
Corporal Rachel slips on her slippers, stretches lazily, and straight-up counters.
Now the vibe's weird again. Corporal Clara senses it, eyes bugging out as she glances between Platoon Leader and the senior corporal.
"Who puts recruits on cleaning their first day in? And I'm discharging soon—making me clean too...?"
"Uh...?"
Damn.
This trajectory leaves me hanging again.
"Um, well, uh..."
The Platoon Leader starts sweating.
She doesn't know how to handle this yet.
Freshly assigned lieutenants might as well be recruits.
Like Mino and me, she's clueless about the unit, all clumsy mistakes on the job.
I'm on my second tour at least, and Mino's built like a tank...
"Still, cleaning has to get done..."
Platoon Leader's different.
No confidence, no smarts, no charisma...
Nothing like Captain Yujin.
Yujin's got that soft but don't-fuck-with-me aura. Platoon Leader? Nada.
"God, you're so frustrating."
That's why Corporal Rachel can ignore her outright.
"Today, we busted our asses because of you, Platoon Leader."
Even granting it's true a hundred times over, that's too far.
Poor woman. The kinda pitiful that tugs heartstrings...
"Shoveled for 12 straight hours! Dug up the whole damn ground, but it was the wrong spot, so dig again! Job that takes 1-2 hours—we slaved all day...!"
Whoa, hold up.
That's crossing a line.
She's not a bad person, but listening, she sounds like the unit's top villain.
"Uh, n-no... I-I already said sorry earlier..."
"After all that, making us seniors clean too? Total bullshit."
"Ah, yeah... Then at least the recruits..."
"Ehey, seriously!"
Corporal Rachel pulls her trump card.
"Our crew'll just hustle harder. Kanna! Over here!"
"Private Kanna?"
Private Kanna, wringing out the mop from across the room, gets dragged over clueless.
"You'll cover triple for the recruits, right?"
"Huh????"
Her eyes go saucer-wide.
Rabbit ears shoot straight up in shock.
Chest bouncing up and down.
"M-me?"
"Who else? Recruits' first day—no cleaning for them. You handle it like always?"
"But..."
"But what? You gonna slack now that recruits are here? You crazy bitch?"
Private Kanna has no choice but to grab three mops, tears in her eyes.
"Mino! You too—park it here. Recruits off cleaning today."
"Private Mino. Got it."
Corporal Clara's got the broom, Private Sika too.
Mopping duty's me, Mino, Kanna—but...
"Hiiing..."
Poor Kanna's the only one stuck slogging with the mops, politics' sacrificial lamb.
But those pitiful tears and sweat aren't pure injustice.
She's busting ass cleaning while dare the recruits lounge on the corporal's bed...
Her rabbit ears, perked sharp and twitching, look fierce.
Outcome's obvious.
After cleaning wraps,
after roll call ends,
before lights out...
Recruits assemble—solo.
"Y-you two! Don't mess with your direct senior!"
Private Kanna, rabbit ears straight up, hauls Mino and me aside.
"I'm your direct senior! I was cleaning—why weren't you?!"
...First day in, and it's nonstop drama.
Isekai army or not, it plays out eerily like Korea.
One big difference, though.
"And why didn't you pick me earlier?!"
"Huh?"
"You're a jerk! Yeah, you don't go for girls, do you?!"
The people chewing me out are drop-dead gorgeous.
And some sport cute animal ears.
Poiing-
Plus, every time they get mad, the bust right in front of me jiggles all honest-like...
That's it. That's the difference.