Ch.197196. Recruitment (1)

# 196. Recruitment (1)

Finally, the long-awaited day had arrived.

Today was that very day.

Yet I wasn’t exactly feeling nervous or excited.

Rather than those emotions, a sigh escaped first.

“Sigh… I’m all alone.”

Here, in the Special Forces recruitment exam waiting room, I was by myself without a single familiar face, surrounded by countless strangers.

Of course, I had known this from the beginning.

Obviously, among our party, I was the only one who could join the Special Forces right now.

But now that the moment was right in front of me, I felt a bit of regret.

“Maybe I should have asked them to at least try participating…”

Being alone like this made me feel incredibly lonely.

Moreover, this place was different from my usual surroundings in many ways.

Faces that couldn’t be more hostile and the unmistakable stench of sweat that made me wonder what these people had been doing.

I seriously felt like throwing up.

“What kind of suffering is this…”

From the looks of it, they seemed to have warmed up their bodies for the “exam,” but coincidentally, today was the written test day.

Were they unaware… or just stupid?

And so, I waited for my turn in a state of emptiness alongside these intimidating people.

“2 o’clock…”

The start time for the written exam.

About 10 minutes before 2 o’clock.

A rather familiar official appeared.

Long hair that flowed down past the shoulders, giving him a somewhat androgynous appearance.

A middle-aged man with steady breathing and impressively charismatic eyes.

I muttered the name of the man who was gradually approaching.

“Andres Origin.”

Though we were quite far apart, he seemed to hear my voice and responded.

“So you do know me.”

“Of course.”

Not only was he a current Special Forces member, but he would also be the one to save the most lives in the upcoming battles.

His nickname: The Absolute Invincible Shield.

Just the nickname alone revealed how capable an ally he was.

‘Though he probably can’t block that guy’s attack…’

Unless it was someone like Bael inside the Demon King’s Castle, he could block most attacks, but he wasn’t truly “invincible” as his nickname suggested.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could break through his defense either.

“I have some things I’d like to discuss, but we must separate personal and professional matters. Those whose turn it is, please follow me.”

Those assigned the same number followed behind him along with me, heading toward a classroom.

Inside were desks matching our exact number, each with a pen and exam paper placed on top.

“Please take a seat, one person per desk.”

Everyone seemed prepared as they sat down without hesitation and picked up their pens.

And then…

“You may begin now. For your information, this isn’t heavily weighted, so don’t be too disheartened if you mess up.”

With that signal, everyone began solving the problems diligently.

I too turned my attention to the exam paper.

What greeted me were familiar questions. Having been in the Special Forces for more than just a year or two, these were problems I recognized.

‘These questions? I could solve them with my eyes closed.’

***

Of course, it wasn’t quite that simple.

Naturally, even I found some questions difficult, and since I didn’t remember every problem, there were quite a few I didn’t know.

But at least I seemed to have done the best here.

‘Look at their expressions…’

The faces of the other examinees that caught my eye after the test were darker than expected.

Some showed no expression at all, as if they hadn’t studied in the first place, while others had turned pale, perhaps having studied but still failed.

I was obviously neither of those.

‘I think I did pretty well.’

That thought came naturally.

Of course, having been selected as an examiner more than once, I couldn’t afford to do poorly.

And I shouldn’t be satisfied with just this.

This was only the beginning.

“But I guess I can be satisfied with today at least.”

With a somewhat light heart, I left the classroom.

And there, as if he had been waiting, stood a man.

Moreover, someone I was quite close with.

“Why are you here?”

“Just curious. Of course, with Albert, I probably don’t need to check, but I was still curious.”

The Hero was curious about all sorts of things.

I spoke to him as he wore an expression that seemed to ask, “How was it?”

“It wasn’t bad.”

“So you did well?”

“Well, the exam was a bit difficult.”

He didn’t seem to believe me at all.

I wondered why he even bothered asking if he wasn’t going to believe me.

Marco, still thinking I had aced the exam, made a fist with his thumb pointing upward.

Then, extending that thumbs-up toward me, he said:

“I hope you achieve good results the day after tomorrow.”

The day after tomorrow.

That’s when the second test following the written exam would take place.

“Of course, that’s my specialty.”

“And don’t get hurt too much; I need to see you next week.”

“Next week…”

Next week would be the third and final test.

By then…

I spoke to the Hero, who tended to hold grudges.

“You really know how to hold a grudge…”

“Oh, it’s just a coincidence. Just a coincidence.”

He claimed it was a coincidence, but his face couldn’t hide his excitement.

His ambition to get revenge for that time was all too obvious.

I wanted to say something, but I was definitely not in a position to do so yet.

And anyway, if I joined the Special Forces, Marco would be my senior, so I needed to treat him with respect.

“Ah… yes, what a peculiar coincidence.”

“Then I’ll see you then. I wish you luck.”

Marco seemed sincere with those words.

It seemed he didn’t have any ill intentions.

And above all, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

‘It’s definitely better to face Marco than other Special Forces members.’

Of course, I knew the skills and fighting styles of others too, but since I was different from before, I needed to think differently than before.

In that respect, it was much better to face Marco, whom I had already fought many times.

I asked Marco, who was subtly helping me:

“I can go home now, right?”

“Yes, of course.”

***

That night.

Andres, along with those two Special Forces members, stayed late into the night grading the essay questions of the exams.

Perhaps because it was so late, everyone looked tired.

But none of them showed it.

Except for one.

“Can’t we go now? Andres? I’m dying of exhaustion…”

“Then die.”

“So cold… Can’t we take a little break?”

“No.”

Andres continued the work.

Seir looked at the scene and spoke with a voice full of complaints.

“Why are we doing this anyway…? We could have others do it…”

“We need to grade accurately.”

“Aren’t you bothered by this?”

“We volunteered for this, so there’s no helping it.”

Marco accepted it more calmly than expected.

Seeing his reaction, Seir hung his head.

“I didn’t think we’d be doing this… But what are you looking at so happily?”

Marco was gazing at a particular exam paper with a pleased expression.

Andres also became interested in Marco’s reaction to the question.

“It’s just a really well-done exam paper.”

“Speaking of which, that friend of yours must have taken the exam today. Is that his?”

When Marco silently nodded, Andres went behind him to check the examinee.

An exam paper reminiscent of an answer key, filled with suspiciously detailed answers.

A thorough response to a question about Special Forces law.

Andres looked at the answer and said:

“Was there even such a law?”

“Exactly.”

“He seems to know more than I do…”

“It shows how hard he’s worked. No wonder he looked pleased.”

A near-perfect exam paper.

Albert, who had submitted such a paper, was more than enough to meet their expectations.

“I’m looking forward to the next tests.”

“We have some videos; you should check them out.”

“I saw the one where Major Marco got beaten up. Looked quite painful.”

“I saw that too.”

“I bet everyone in the Special Forces has seen it.”

If Andres, who rarely watched such videos, knew about it, then everyone else must have seen it too.

Flustered, Marco broke into a cold sweat and said:

“Ah… even if you’ve seen it, you don’t need to… There are many other videos.”

“But that’s the one with the most intense fight. It was entertaining.”

Unlike Andres, Seir seemed to have watched many other videos as well.

Andres, who had become somewhat interested, asked Seir:

“Have you seen other videos too?”

“Of course. I’ve probably seen all the ones that exist.”

“How is he? By your standards.”

“To be honest…”

The two waited for his answer.

And Seir gave the response they somewhat expected.

“He’s incredible.”

“That much?”

Seir, who usually didn’t hesitate to criticize even those called geniuses by the public.

But this time, he openly praised him.

“Yeah, on par with His Majesty or even better. That’s what I think.”

“That’s unexpected… I thought you’d say something like ‘he’s just a rookie’ as usual.”

“Because he’s not a rookie.”

Seir’s high praise.

Hearing it made me truly feel that a generational shift was happening.

“If you say so… he must be quite something.”