Military Academy: Special Forces System - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Cross-country Training

Translator: Li_Voon_Loke

“Quit school? Why do you want to quit school?”

Zhao Rui was very surprised. It had not even been two weeks since they started school and someone already wanted to leave.

“Is it because you can’t adapt to life in the Military Academy? Or is the training too intense?”

Qian Jiang did not immediately answer. At that moment, there was silence, and the sound of a cigarette being lit could be heard clearly by Zhao Rui.

The tall recruit took a deep puff of the cigarette and took out a new cigarette. He was about to pass it to Zhao Rui.

“Class monitor, do you want to smoke?”

“I don’t smoke. I just want to know why you want to leave the Military Academy.”

“Because I don’t have the talent to become a soldier in the first place. I came here to repay a favour.”

“Repay a favour?”

“Yes, to repay a favour.”

At midnight, the toilet was exceptionally quiet.

Qian Jiang told Zhao Rui his story.

“When I was young, I was very naughty and liked to fish in the river. Although my parents would beat me whenever they saw me go to the river and throw away the fish that I caught with great difficulty, I couldn’t change this habit.”

“In the summer when I was 13, I went to the river alone as usual. But on that day, my feet suddenly cramped and my body couldn’t move in the water. I almost drowned. If it wasn’t for the veteran who saved me, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

“In our village, there was a highly respected disabled man. He was a veteran with third-class merits. I heard from the adults that the soldier had an accident during demining and was blown up which caused him to become disabled. He was alive but only had one leg left.”

“Class monitor, you should find it incredible, right? A disabled man with only one leg still dared to go into the river to save people.”

“That summer, this disabled soldier jumped into the river recklessly, and I was saved because of it. However, he drowned in the river because he was too weak.”

“At the funeral, the villagers from neighbouring villages came to send him off because he was a hero and a respected person while I became the person who caused the hero’s death. We people in the countryside are very pure, no one blamed me for it.” The tall recruit’s voice was choked with sobs.

“But I’m still very ashamed. If I hadn’t insisted on going to the river, he wouldn’t have died. So from then on, I made a decision in my heart. In the future, I will become a respected soldier like him to help more people.”

Zhao Rui didn’t expect the silent Qian Jiang to have such a shocking experience.

After hearing Qian Jiang say these things, Zhao Rui was puzzled.

“Since you want to become a soldier, then you should continue to stay in the Military Academy. You can only realize your childhood dream if you stay in Odin Academy. Why do you want to drop out?”

Qian Jiang shook his head and said, “I thought the same before. Only by staying in the Military Academy and becoming an outstanding soldier like him can I repay his life-saving grace. But now I’m starting to hesitate. Can I really become an outstanding soldier?”

“I’m the worst in the entire sixth team. No matter what kind of training program I’m in, I’m always the one who makes the most mistakes. Everything requires talent, right? The clumsy me doesn’t have the ability to become an outstanding soldier.”

“Even if I continue to stay in the Military Academy, there is still the question of whether I can graduate in the future. Not to mention that many people have to be punished because I keep making mistakes. I’m the one who implicated them. Just like when I was a child and dragged the man to his death because of my playfulness, I’m now dragging down my comrades in the sixth team.”

Qian Jiang’s voice contained more helplessness and shame. He wanted to repay the favour and become an outstanding soldier, but because of his lack of ability, he had to give up.

If the instructor only punished him when Qian Jiang made a mistake, Qian Jiang could continue to persevere.

However, every time the instructor punished him, he would also punish the whole team. Qian Jiang felt that he had been dragging others down, so he did not have the courage to continue.

“Hahaha.” Zhao Rui’s laughter came from the toilet cubicle next to his.

Zhao Rui laughed and said, “I know why you keep making mistakes during training.”

“Of course it’s because I’m stupid. My body is not coordinated. I am only dragging others down.” Hearing Qian Jiang’s lack of self-esteem, Zhao Rui was confused.

“It’s not like that! Qian Jiang, you’re thinking too much. When we train, we have to be fully focused. As for you, you’re thinking of training well to repay the man who saved you when you were young. At the same time, you’re also thinking of not dragging others down. When we train, we have to be fully focused. Of course you’d make mistakes when you do it half-heartedly like that!”

Zhao Rui added, “If I was thinking about something while training like you, I would also be scolded by Instructor He.”

“But I…”

Qian Jiang wanted to say something but was interrupted by Zhao Rui.

“From tomorrow onwards, you will focus during training so that you won’t make any mistakes like before. If there are any subjects that you don’t understand during the day, come to me and I’ll practice with you at night. I will teach you step by step!”

Using night time to help Qian Jiang train would definitely take up Zhao Rui’s rest time and it would also take up Zhao Rui’s training time in the King of Soldier’s training space.

Moreover, once the dormitory supervisor caught them not sleeping at night, Zhao Rui and Qian Jiang would be penalized.

However, Zhao Rui felt that these risks did not matter. He had to keep Qian Jiang in the Military Academy.

Zhao Rui understood that if Qian Jiang left the Military Academy like this, he would have to live in the shadow of regret for the rest of his life.

Hearing the class monitor take care of him like this, Qian Jiang was touched.

This time, he started to sob softly. It was different from when he was on the balcony. Previously, Qian Jiang would cry because he felt inferior and ashamed of his lack of ability and dragging others down.

But now, Qian Jiang’s eyes were red because he was moved by the camaraderie of his comrade.

From that night onwards, Zhao Rui would look for Qian Jiang whenever he had the time. He would privately correct Qian Jiang’s movements and change his mentality.

Qian Jiang’s rapid progress impressed the instructor. The other comrades also learned quickly, thanks to the help of class monitor Zhao. Now, it seemed that no matter which angle one looked at it from, the sixth team’s square formations were all neat, making it a pleasant sight to watch.

The formation training ended and the cross-country training began.

On this day, the sixth team did not stay on the field after they gathered. Instead, they walked towards the back of the mountain behind the school under the guidance of the instructor.

Odin Academy had a back mountain that was classified as a military restricted area. Many of the Military Academy’s projects were carried out on this mountain.

The recruits of the sixth team were extremely happy because ever since the start of the school year, they had been training inside the school. Now, they could finally breathe in the fresh air from the outside. At this moment, they were as excited as wild horses that had gone out of control.

Half an hour later, the instructor brought the recruits to an empty space at the back of the mountain. The trees around this empty space had all been cut down.

“Today, we are going to carry out a very strict training, the cross-country 3,000-meter event.”

When He Yingbo mentioned the training event, most of the recruits did not think much of it..