Marine Park Ji-hoon.
Marine Park Ji-hoon.
The next day, the recon candidates all assembled, boarded a bus, and entered the Jinhae Base Command to take the chamber test.
We went through the second main gate and inside the barracks on Jinhae Base for lunch, and goddamn...
They say the Navy has the best food among the Army, Navy, and Air Force, and sure enough, they served this spicy mixed noodle dish that was fucking incredible...
They'd steamed pork belly for us to wrap and eat, and it was self-serve on top of that.
I silently shoveled noodles into my mouth.
Seal pups.
They're feeding us this well so we'll stuff ourselves before the seasickness vomiting and dehydration kick in, but fuck...
I felt pathetic for having thought that shitty slop was good all this time.
A brief, intense wave of philosophical reflection washed over me, but my hands didn't stop—they kept reaching for the pork belly.
After we finished eating,
the seal pups were casually eating goldfish-shaped ice cream for dessert like it was the most natural thing in the world.
The difference in treatment is unreal.
Watching those bastards cruising around on bicycles in their white caps while we bounced around on a bus, something kept welling up inside me.
'Why aren't those bastards running...?'
After the test, we boarded the bus again and a crushing post-event emptiness hit me, like I'd gone into the city for a good time and was headed back to the ass-end of nowhere I came from.
We rode the bus back to the Pohang training center, changed into PT gear, and ate.
Whoa...
Words couldn't capture this shitty feeling, so I put it in a letter and sent it to Kim Si-yoon.
The next day we did morning run, drill, breakfast, more drill, and then filed into the auditorium.
Ideological education is fucking exhausting.
The armrests on the little flip-up desktops in front of me were covered in graffiti.
- D-20, Class 1606. Big bro's outta here. Later.
- D-13. Sweet as hell, right? Admit it?
- D-2. Jealous as hell, you little shit? Too bad, you're my junior now~ Later.
I was reading the messages, got tired, naturally dozed off, and that red-cap motherfucker immediately woke me up.
Took my punishment drill and sat back down.
The next day, they said we were getting vaccinations.
They told us to roll up both sleeves. I rolled them up, and sure enough, the stares were sharp.
The female soldier giving the injections flinched when she saw me standing there.
The tiger face engraved into these seriously bulging, gnarled arms must be pretty intimidating for other people.
I had to roll up both sleeves, so it was on full display.
And then the same cycle repeated: a little more drill, food, a little more drill. In the evening I wrote letters and slept.
Woke up in the morning, the same routine as yesterday, and time passed.
The exercise load was way too low compared to my normal standard, so I was off doing bodyweight training by myself when
red-cap told me to make a phone call. I called my parents, kept it quick, and hung up.
Nowadays they even let us use the phone.
Rifle week came, and they gave us plenty of personal time.
After getting my duty rotation, I worked out while making the kid I'd won over with promises of photos and autographs do my sewing.
I got three Choco Pies and a drink, and they were so fucking good that I hid them in my footlocker to save them. The platoon leader caught me, and the whole platoon got hauled out to the parade ground for physical training.
I'd caused a huge fucking nuisance, but nobody would say anything to me about it, so I went around and apologized to everyone one by one.
In the Marines, your batchmates are the best, goddammit.
After that we all got tight, started chatting, earned punitive drill, and drilled our asses off.
I was on meal duty, old memories came flooding back, and I scrubbed dishes so damn hard the cook pulled me aside into the storeroom and handed me a drink.
Well goddamn...
"You smoke?"
"I don't smoke."
"Yeah...? You look like you would."
"If I get caught, my dad beats me with a stick."
"Kahahahah! I like the way you talk, kid."
The Marine in front of me laughed and went to clap me on the shoulder, but he must've felt how solid the muscle was.
He suddenly rested his hand on my shoulder and started kneading it.
"Whoa... look at this kid's body, that's insane."
I grinned and tensed up hard.
"Good lord..."
He seemed to want to see more, told me to roll up my sleeves, so I did, and he went silent, pupils shaking.
Everyone pretty much reacts the same way when they see the tattoos.
"These here... are mus~cles."
Only after I joked around did the cook snap out of it and start chatting again.
The cook, smoking and handing out military-life pro tips.
He's just a Private First Class and he talks an awful lot like he's already done his whole service.
Anyone listening would think he's about to be discharged, dammit. I saw him get chewed the hell out by a senior PFC the other day.
The annoyingly tedious ruck march was coming up, so I packed all the necessary supplies for the range into my assault combat pack, drilled and drilled and drilled again, showered, and went to sleep.
The next day, I packed my assault combat pack, passed the Marine Corps Training Group guard post, and headed to the range.
After about fifty minutes of walking, all the little kids were completely wiped out.
'Tsk, tsk. The future of the Marine Corps is looking dim.'
I watched the little kids who'd turned into human wilted cabbages, and when we reached the range, we shot.
Smooth shooting with clean form, rear sight adjustment, then shooting again.
Then weapons drill.
Maybe I just don't get it, but compared to the past, these days they're obsessed with drill to a seriously excessive degree.
In March, sitting on the sand to eat, I nearly froze to death.
The process repeated, and only after four o'clock did we march back to the Training Group.
The little kids, excited because it was downhill...
Their mindset is basically at summer-camp level.
The next day, woke up early, same as yesterday, ate breakfast, shouldered the assault pack, and headed to the range.
The way they handle things is dogshit. We could've just shot it all yesterday and come down, the bastards...
Shot again. Ate lunch. Another weapons drill training session.
They called for volunteers who wanted to shoot more, and a lot of the kids raised their hands.
Those who didn't volunteer just sat around in the meantime. Sweet as hell.
And that evening, along with letters, packages came too.
The package Kim Si-yoon sent was stuffed with all kinds of snacks, and the moment I opened it, there was a note: Give the snacks to the NCOs and officers.
And tucked to one side, all kinds of photos.
- You've got people there asking for my autograph and photos, right? Hand these out. Honestly, they've only got me, admit it? Your graduation's April 21st, right? I'll be there then. Later~
And letters from my parents, and a bunch of pills Da-yeon sent,
and Kim Tae-oh sent one single, lonely letter.
The next day the sun came out a little warmer, and under a brilliantly clear blue sky, we did weapons drill.
On a day like this, it'd feel so damn good to fly down the highway in the spaceship Kim Si-yoon said she'd give me...
I escaped drill hell, did grenade training, learned bayonet techniques, had personal time, and fell asleep.
The next day, we strapped on the assault combat pack and the K2 again and rucked.
We arrived at the grenade task site, practiced throwing methods like crazy, and threw two training grenades.
I figured these fuckers wouldn't give us real grenades anyway and were just working us to death, but
they actually gave us real grenades? Hell yes.
For lunch we ate chicken that tasted like absolutely nothing, then returned to base.
The spicy noodles I'd eaten at the Navy base came to mind.
The chicken's probably good there too... right...?
That evening they served military burgers, and I ate a shit-ton.
At night I got an internet letter, checked who sent it, and it was Kim Si-yoon.
Still, acting like she didn't care while looking after me like this—nobody but Boss did that.
- The weather was so damn nice today. Had a picnic with Da-yeon and the pretty girls from Hanguk University. So sweet, lol.
You fucking bitch...
Finally, the physical fitness test: push-ups, sit-ups, break, then back out to the parade ground for more push-ups.
3km long-distance run... no, more like a quick jog.
Running for eight or nine minutes, it's hard to even call it a long-distance run.
CPR practical training, dinner, bayonet drill, wash up, sleep.
The next day, training at the airborne school, support duties, and at dinner I was desperately aching for Navy food.
The next day, individual combat drills. The soft-skinned little kids had their elbows and knees all scraped raw.
The next day, we walked 6km and arrived at the CBRN training site. Fuck, this is the one thing I really, really didn't want to do...
I held my breath and then accidentally sucked in a lungful all at once, almost died for a second, but somehow I finished the training.
The next day, we took our PT clothes to the pool, did ship-abandonment training, jumped from 4M, 7M, 10M, and then swam like hell.
Nothing special, just all kinds of training, and then it was Hell Week.
Full combat load, marching 7km.
We arrived at the guerrilla training area and ate breakfast, and this time I was on meal duty.
This is the only way I can actually eat the amount I need...
As long as it isn't Hell Week, they supposedly provide food scaled to a normal person, but it's nowhere near enough for me.
I don't care about the taste, just give me the right quantity, you cocksuckers...
Rappelling. Then digging a hole in the ground with a shovel, building a fire, and cooking rice.
The next morning, a platoon leader I hadn't seen before, who looked older, asked how many pull-ups we had to do. People yelled out twelve.
I did them casually and dropped down, and the platoon leader called me over.
"Trainee."
"Trainee! Park! Ji! Hoon!"
"Not satisfied?"
"No, sir!"
He felt my body a bit, then asked again.
"Is the food insufficient?"
"YES!!!!!!!"
Oh fuck, here's my chance.
"Thirty reps, double portions. Over fifty, open self-serve. What do you say?"
"I'll give it a!!! try, sir!!!"
"In return, show me your maximum."
The platoon leader cracked a faint smile, and I almost smiled too.
With a dead-serious expression, I grabbed the bar and started doing pull-ups.
I'll show you what a pull-up really is, so please don't take this back...
I started pulling up with perfect form. I cruised past thirty, and when I hit sixty, people's mouths started dropping open.
Too early to be surprised. I haven't even started yet.
I seriously started picking up speed.
"Huff. Huff... huff... huff..."
"""Insane..."""
The classmates who'd been puzzled all through training, seeing that I only ever looked annoyed but never showed any sign of struggle, understood today.
I hit two hundred, satisfied, and dropped down to a crowd of people who'd lost their words.
"Follow me."
"Yes, sir!!!"
I really did sit down one-on-one with the platoon leader and started eating as much as I wanted.
Whoa... now this is what I'm talking about, dammit.
"I've heard you've never once struggled in any training."
"That's correct, sir!!"
"At ease."
"No, sir!!!"
"I hear you're the kid Jong-hyeon's been raising."
"...?"
Why was Jong-hyeon's name coming up all of a sudden? As far as I knew, he'd been discharged from UDT.
"Ah...? You know him, sir?"
"Course I do. We went through UDT training together."
"May I ask one question, sir?"
"At ease~"
"What was Jong-hyeon's rank? Nobody seems to know."
"As I recall, he was discharged as a Major."
"Is that so, sir?"
"If you applied for reconnaissance, you'll be seeing me quite a bit~ Don't worry about the food."
"Understood!!!"
"In return, you have to demonstrate that you're earning this by performing at this level."
"Understood!!!"
I found out later that this man was a living legend even among the reconnaissance battalion.
A man who single-handedly killed twenty-five pirates, they say.
He was here because a colonel he was close to had taken over as battalion commander and brought him along.
From that day on, I ate as much as I wanted and exercised like a madman.
As if to say, this is the power of maxed-out physical stats.
I clocked a 10km long-distance run in the thirty-minute range and ate like a beast.
I took overwhelming first place in every event, leaving jaws practically on the floor.
"The world doesn't care about second place!!! Trainee!"
"Trainee! Park! Ji! Hoon!"
"Lie down."
"Ack!!!"
"Rest easy."
"Understood!!!"
This... is sweet as absolute hell.
Honestly, if a bunch of people are rolling around in a shit pit and you alone get to be on the wooden plank above the shit, isn't that great?
This time we started individual combat drills. I crawled toward the objective point as if my arms and legs had motors attached, and the instructors were impressed.
If they're going to hand me rewards like this, there's no reason not to.
Plunging into the muddy water, rolling in the muck, and quickly passing under the barbed wire—the rest while waiting was pure bliss.
Eating four combat rations by myself, I feel like I'm going to live...
Honestly, I feel like I'm going to shit.
I'm really fucking happy.
So this is why people say the Republic of Korea runs on connections and a military-silver-spoon.
Cheonjabong...
This right here is the true flower of the Marine Corps...
Armed up. Walking about 30 kilometers over roughly twelve hours.
Honestly, I can't understand how it takes twelve hours.
When I'd strap on gear and go play in the back mountain with Jong-hyeon, 30 kilometers was a two-to-three-hour job.
And that's not even on trails...
It's bitter that I have to eat only a little for twelve hours again, but what can you do... gotta go.
Ate dinner and departed at eight.
Two in the morning...
My stomach suddenly hurt, so during a break I got permission, went into the mountain, took a shit, and came back.
That's how not-hard it was for me.
The terrain was rough, sure, but I used to go around with Jong-hyeon making trails where there were none.
Only the lantern light shone as we reached the midway point of Cheonjabong.
Something that suddenly came to mind—I'd heard they don't go all the way to the summit of Cheonjabong these days.
'Huh?'
To think I actually expected this to be hard...
A Marine endures through sheer mental strength, but right now I'm covering with physical strength.
In the past, it was grueling as hell...
The way down.
There's a rule of Cheonjabong. In this moment alone, regardless of instructor, platoon leader, or medic, everyone becomes so damn kind.
Eventually we reached a clearing in the morning, tore into our combat rations, and headed back to the Training Group.
Only after you've conquered Cheonjabong and returned do you finally receive the red nametag.
Red nametag... whoa, shit, the nostalgia is killing me...
And then we ate lunch. It was fucking delicious.
Felt like maybe now they were finally treating us like human beings.
Naturally, I passed into the reconnaissance battalion.
Some might not know, but applying for reconnaissance doesn't mean 100% acceptance.
Before I went into the military, I hadn't understood why Jong-hyeon told me to get the certifications, but now I did.
Having freediving, scuba diving, and lifesaving certifications gives you a pretty significant points boost.
Of course, I would've passed even without them...
The next day, we did *IBS training, and the sunlight was intensely strong.
Everyone looked exhausted, so fine, I'll do it. I'm the one who's fine.
When we arrived at the reconnaissance school, I could see the people doing the later phase of reconnaissance training. Thinking that's my future makes me feel like shit.
(*An acronym for Inflatable Boat Small, referring to rubber boats used for covert infiltration, maritime reconnaissance, and personnel/equipment transport during amphibious assault operations or river-crossing operations.)
The next day we headed back to the reconnaissance school for KAAV (Korea Amphibious Assault Vehicle) boarding training, and
the recon trainees were running like hell in full combat gear.
Every time I see it, it looks like shit.
Suddenly they put headgear and gloves on us.
Some kind of combat baton?
With flimsy equipment like this, whoever took a hit from me would be saying goodbye to this world on the spot.
I was famous as a one-punch man in my past life too, but I'm confident my current body far surpasses that.
We finished all kinds of shitty training, put on our dress uniforms, and took a crazy amount of photos and videos.
And then... finally, only one day left until graduation.
We had a rolling-paper session where we anonymously wrote things we'd wanted to say to the platoon leader, but
I figured he wouldn't even read them anyway, so I just scribbled something.
- Had a nice time playing~ Later.
The little kids, gaining confidence from my message, started copying me.
Led by my recon classmates, they started giggling and writing insults like they were betting on who had more guts.
In the end, our whole platoon got the most brutal collective punishment drill you can imagine.
They said they wouldn't mess with us. Bastards...
The next day.
Before breakfast, we ran through the graduation ceremony rehearsal one more time, ate, and quickly changed into dress uniform.
At the very end of the ceremony... the owner of a face that might as well have "Presence: Overwhelming" written on it, Kim Si-yoon, approached with a smile to place the cap on my head.
Fuck... they say when you're stuck in the military even a grandma looks beautiful, but... she was goddamn, goddamn pretty.