Military Training

With their meager skills after only a few days of training, challenging instructors who had undergone special forces training was practically suicide!

But Rookie Number One, Lin Ran, and Rookie Number Two, Wu Liang, were already rubbing their hands together, discussing how to take down the instructor and earn that special honor.

Just as the two were about to charge in, Xue Chen pinned each of them down with one hand. Seeing their confused looks, he said, "If you don't want to die, behave yourselves. If you really want to push yourselves, why not first watch how the seniors get beaten?"

Then, under their indignant gazes, a heavy object struck the grass on the field at a perfect angle with a dull thud, followed by a second, then a third...

"Ah... who's that? So brave?" Rookie Number Two, Wu Liang, said in shock, swallowing hard. If Xue Chen had not pulled him back so quickly, he would probably have been one of the people piled on top of each other.

Xue Chen patted his shoulder. "Kid, sometimes being willful enough to take on a challenge can count as self-improvement. But there's one kind that absolutely isn't advisable—delivering yourself to your death. Understand?"

Wu Liang: "..."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!" Looking at the grass that was practically strewn with bodies, Xue Chen could not help curling his lips. They were still too young.

After watching the seniors repeatedly court death and ultimately become part of the human pile, those with their own little schemes quietly backed off as well.

"Alright, after everyone's friendly exchange, it seems you're all very willing to take part in this military training. Line up and follow me to run ten laps around the field. Go!"

With the instructor's order, the neatly lined-up freshmen all moved, rushing toward the track.

"He calls that kind of thing a friendly exchange? If I taught you a few more times, wouldn't I just cripple you?" Lin Ran muttered as he ran.

"I seriously suspect this instructor's girlfriend ran off with someone else back in college." A student who had participated in the instructor's friendly exchange gritted his teeth after hearing Lin Ran's complaint.

"And she ran off while pregnant, too," another male student from the friendly exchange chimed in.

Xue Chen smiled. What did this amount to? There was even more exciting stuff ahead. The moment they tried to resist, those instructors would become even more thrilled. Breaking troublesome recruits was their only fun here.

Sure enough, after three or four laps, the troublesome rookies who had undergone the instructors' friendly exchanges were all wiped out. Next came the girls whose stamina gave out, while Lin Ran and Wu Liang had begun panting heavily as well.

"Pant, pant... this won't do. We have to think of something," Lin Ran said, looking exhausted.

"I... can't take it anymore. My feet are numb." Wu Liang's mouth was already dry, and he was starting to see things.

Both felt that if they kept going, they would collapse, so they hurriedly looked at Xue Chen. At that moment, Xue Chen's gaze happened to sweep over them.

"Why are you looking at me? I'm tired too!" Xue Chen said helplessly.

"No, aren't your feet hurting?" Wu Liang asked suspiciously. He had only been running for a short while, yet his toes already felt like they were being pierced by needles. But Xue Chen looked completely fine.

"Mm." Xue Chen responded with forced calm, thinking that he had a secret weapon. He would have no problem running another ten laps.

"You... something's off. You must be faking it!" Lin Ran declared with certainty.

"Hmph! Believe it or not. I can't be bothered to argue with you." Xue Chen kept running.

After seven or eight laps, the rookies were all exhausted, but Xue Chen did not feel the slightest bit tired. This surprised the instructors, because this freshman's stamina seemed to far surpass that of ordinary freshmen.

By nine-thirty, the rookies were basically sprawled across the field. At that point, Lin Ran and Wu Liang gave up outright. When Xue Chen was almost at the finish line, he found a relatively comfortable position and collapsed. The tallest tree caught the most wind; he had better remain an ordinary rookie to blend in with the group. A cold and aloof persona did not suit him.

"I'm first..." The one sticking his neck out behind him was the first to reach the finish line...

Chapter 43: Military Training

"Do you know what impression you give me right now? A bunch of useless trash. No, you're worse than useless trash. At least trash can be recycled. You'll only become garbage that harms society." Expressionlessly staring at the stopwatch in his hand, the instructor's face was almost completely devoid of emotion. He spoke quickly, shouted every sentence, and even the other instructors beside him lowered their heads without saying a word.

"Instructor, what you're saying is rather unfair. None of us have received systematic training, and we're only students. We are not the garbage you claim we are." While the instructor was lecturing them, a boy in the front row raised his hand to argue. Xue Chen took in every expression on the boy's face. Honestly, he was still too green.

Sure enough, upon hearing his rebuttal, the instructor immediately smiled. "I was indeed wrong just now. Becoming useless trash is not scary. Even being unrecyclable garbage is not scary. But if garbage does not know how to sort itself, that is the most terrifying thing, because such people will eventually become hazardous waste to be destroyed."

Hearing that, the boy wanted to step forward and argue, but someone beside him tugged at his sleeve. After all, the situation was against them. If they really clashed with the instructor, the outcome would probably not be pleasant.

Seeing that he had nothing more to say, the instructor sneered.

"What? Nothing to say now, huh? Hmph. Since none of you have anything to say, remember the rules I'm setting today. Starting tomorrow, you will run twenty laps around the field every day. Anyone who falls out of formation will run one extra lap, until no one falls behind anymore."

After saying that, the instructor walked away. The moment he turned around, the field, which had just quieted down, became noisy again. Everyone's attention was focused on this new instructor.

"There's every reason to suspect that this instructor has something wrong with his brain. We're not going off to war; it's only military training. Why do we have to run, and twenty laps at that?" Lin Ran dejectedly found a patch of deeper shade and flopped onto the grass, completely drained.