Chapter 132 - Promotion Exam (3)

Talking was forbidden during the exam.

The Badgers watched the three new recruits board the Chinook with crisp, disciplined movements. Once the recruits and their instructor were aboard, the Chinook lifted into the sky.

“Is this a jump with full gear?”

“Of course it is.”

The spectators were talking in hushed voices now.

“They all boarded with their gear on.”

The airborne test was the most dangerous part of the Badger exam, but it was also one that most recruits passed as long as nothing went wrong during landing.

Munching on the snacks they had brought, the spectators waited for the three recruits to drop like tiny mushroom spores.

Soon, the Chinook reached the drop zone. Its door opened, and the recruits leaped into the blue sky.

The sky was growing clearer by the moment. Against that blue backdrop, three green parachutes unfurled in succession.

“Aw, lucky bastards. They get a helicopter,” someone lamented quietly. “I wanted to jump out of a Chinook too.”

“Tell me about it. It rained so much during my exam, I barely managed a jump from a balloon.”

“Hey, planes make you seriously airsick.”

As the conversation continued, the recruits’ parachutes slowly descended. With no midair collisions or tangled parachutes, the media room remained peaceful.

Then the three drones brought the recruits into view as they approached the ground, and the tension returned.

Heshy Lyle was first. The spectators let out appreciative murmurs as he rolled across the ground with textbook form.

“Now that’s a model landing.”

“His father’s an army general, isn’t he? He ought to manage that much.”

“I heard he’d already completed airborne training before he joined.”

Heshy sprang to his feet and briskly hauled in his parachute. The spectators voiced their admiration again as the lines swiftly wound around his arms. Meanwhile, Tom approached the ground in another section of the split screen.

They burst out laughing at the redhead, who landed without the slightest trouble and then rolled across the ground.

“He’s rolling on purpose!”

“Nice landing. Aw, good for him.”

“What a model student. Even going out of his way to roll.”

Having landed as lightly as a drifting dandelion seed, Tom began calmly gathering his parachute.

While Richard grumbled that there had been no problems but the technique clearly wasn’t second nature to him yet, Hilde’s turn arrived.

Hilde, too, rolled across the ground.

“He looks like he’s struggling a bit, doesn’t he?”

The spectators offered comments as the white-haired recruit rose from the ground.

“Is he still half asleep? Or did he twist his ankle?”

“His landing form was perfect, though.”

“His legs should be fine,” Richard said, arms folded as he studied the screen. “There was nothing wrong with his form, and he doesn’t seem to be in any pain in his legs.”

“Exactly. Besides, if something had gone wrong during landing, there’s no way his form would be that clean.”

“But he really does look like he’s having a hard time.”

Voices tinged with puzzlement and concern filled the media room.

“Was he too nervous to sleep?”

The first test passed without any particular problems.

The recruits collected their parachutes and headed back to the instructors. The spectators relaxed and caught up on their conversations. Having tensed up only briefly during the landings, they leisurely enjoyed the interval while the next test was prepared.

Ami, however, sprang to her feet. Ignoring the puzzled looks from Shu and Riccardo, she stepped into the aisle.

“Brother.”

She went to the row behind him and spoke, and he turned his head.

“Why that look on your face?”

“Whose face?” came the curt reply.

Ami didn’t answer.

His younger sister stared down at him. After meeting that silent gaze for a moment, Yun let out a small sigh.

“Go sit down.”

“Will you tell me when it’s over?”

“We’ll see.”

He gave the brief reply and tipped his head, telling her to return to her seat.

“Though I suspect you’ll know by the time it’s over.”

As soon as she heard that, Ami returned to her seat.

“What is it, ma’am?” Shu asked. Riccardo’s gaze also awaited an answer. Ami dropped into her chair, saying she had been curious about something and Yun had agreed to tell her later.

She was quick to switch gears.

Setting aside her unanswered questions, Ami reached for the chips, saying this was her first time trying salt and vinegar and they were delicious.

As Shu explained how addictive salt-and-vinegar chips were, Riccardo suddenly spoke.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Ami understood his question immediately.

“He didn’t tell me. But I think we’ll find out when it’s over.”

“He’s not the type to get nervous over an exam...”

Muttering almost to himself, Riccardo stretched back in his chair again.

Ami crunched on her chips without answering.

Until a husky voice came from behind them.

“He looks sick.”

All three of them turned around.

Sylvia didn’t react to their attention. Instead, she fixed her gaze on the white-haired recruit among the three heading toward the rock face they would have to climb.

Known for her exceptional instincts and hunting skills, she scrutinized Hilde with her blue eyes. Without looking at Ami, she asked,

“Did he eat something bad?”

“Oh. That could be it.”

The round-eyed senior looked at the screen with a chip in her hand.

The three recruits were loosening their wrists and ankles in preparation for the climb. Watching Hildebert, who showed none of his usual ease or glib good humor, Ami murmured to herself,

“Does he need the bathroom?”

* * *

“Aah!”

“Whoa!”

“Oh, shit.”

The second event: rock climbing.

The Badgers watching the test cried out. It wasn’t as dangerous as the first event, but it boasted a fairly high failure rate.

Richard’s brow furrowed.

The three training officers’ expressions darkened.

Hilde had lost his footing but held on with sheer arm strength, dangling like a pendulum for a moment. Then he reached up with one arm and resumed climbing, and the spectators let out their held breaths.

“That took ten years off my life.”

“He’s got strong arms. I thought he’d fall, but he pulled himself straight up.”

“I saw him climbing headquarters the other day. If he can climb that without a problem, a natural rock face like this is a piece of cake.”

“He’s really fast.”

“But doesn’t it look like his legs have gone weak?”

The Badgers’ attention focused on Hilde, who was in the lead.

Heshy and Tom weren’t as fast, but they were climbing steadily. That was why the spectators had been watching those two until now. Their eyes had gravitated toward the juniors they weren’t certain would make it within the time limit.

Speed was the biggest reason for failing the climbing test. Most recruits made it up safely, but many of those who failed didn’t reach the top in time.

Tom was farthest behind. He carefully checked every foothold, making him slower than the other two. He wasn’t slow enough for it to be a problem, but there was a vast difference between his pace and Hilde’s.

So while they were watching Tom, who seemed to feel the pressure of the time limit, Hilde had lost his footing despite making perfectly good progress.

“He’s barely using his feet,” someone said, watching the recruit climb as though he’d forgotten his near fall. “Did he really twist an ankle on the jump?”

“I told you, that’s not it. He just looks a little weak, doesn’t he?”

“You can feel how determined he is to get it over with and rest.”

The seniors chuckled quietly.

“He nearly fell, and now he’s going even faster.”

Hilde finished the climb first.

He flopped facedown and lay motionless while Heshy and Tom made their way up. The seniors’ attention returned to the other two, who climbed steadily without losing their footing once. Someone muttered that Tom was cutting it close, but he wasn’t slow enough for it to be a problem.

Shu smiled faintly, saying all three were much faster than she was.

Ami watched Hilde, who showed no intention of getting up.

“I guess he doesn’t need the bathroom. He just looks really tired.”

“He hasn’t been called out on any missions lately, has he? As far as I know, he’s just been holed up training...”

Riccardo narrowed his eyes, arms folded.

Ami tilted her head too.

“Yeah. There shouldn’t have been anything for him to get hurt doing.”

She stared at Hilde, who only slowly got to his feet after Tom reached the top.

“Is he coming down with a cold or something?”

The morning schedule ended quickly.

Everyone had completed the events without difficulty, so lunch was moved forward. The three recruits sat huddled together and began eating the food provided for them. The spectators in the media room also left to get lunch. Several left for good, saying that judging by their performance, the recruits would pass.

The training officers, however, stayed in the media room.

Angela, the most junior of the three, went to collect the lunch they had ordered in advance. None of them were particularly talkative even in private, and they chewed their sandwiches in silence.

Shu and Ami stayed in their seats too.

“You’re not leaving, are you?”

“Nope. I’m about to order burgers. Want one too, Shu?”

“Yes. Just a cheeseburger for me.”

“One for me too,” Riccardo told Ami as she browsed the delivery app.

Leaning back in his chair, he was watching the recruits eat their lunch.

“And add a sparkling water...”

“Got it.”

Ami ordered for Sylvia as well, then went out a few minutes later to collect the food herself.

The room was quieter now.

Those who remained ate their burgers and watched the recruits taking a break on the screen.

Ami frowned as she chewed her burger, eyes on the screen.

“I really think he’s coming down with a cold.”

On-screen, Hilde sat leaning against the table with his eyes closed.

“Did he push himself too hard in training?”

“But I saw them yesterday, around five fifty.”

Shu stared at the screen too, her brows arching in puzzlement. The most junior Badger apart from the three on-screen murmured in her characteristically matter-of-fact voice,

“He looked completely fine then. He seemed to be in great shape, too.”

It was soon time for the afternoon tests.

The Badgers who had gone out for lunch returned to the media room one by one. Many didn’t return, but new faces arrived to take their places: people who hadn’t managed to get up that morning, or who had finished their morning schedules and headed over.

Iho Chang, who belonged to the latter group, rushed inside just before the shooting test began.

“Whew. Thought I was going to be late.”

Panting as he entered, he made his way toward Ami, who was waving him over.

“Is the shooting starting now?”

“Yep! Any second! Sit next to Ric, Iho.”

“I’m not worried about the other two, but Hilde worries me.”

He dropped into the seat beside the smiling Riccardo and ran a hand through his hair.

Perhaps remembering Hilde getting chewed out by Richard when they had gone outside the core together, Iho looked at the white-haired recruit first.

“Has he gotten any practice in?”

The recruits passed the shooting test without incident.

Tom scored highest. Hilde came last, but he, too, safely earned a passing score.

The seniors burst out laughing when Hilde spread his arms in silent celebration after firing his last shot.

“He’s so happy.”

“Shooting must’ve worried him the most. When he finished the climb first, he just looked tired.”

“Why’s he so happy about coming last?”

Hilde continued celebrating silently until preparations for the next test were complete.

Unable to speak to him, Heshy and Tom grinned and gave him thumbs-ups.

A ripple of laughter passed through the media room.

“They’re little chicks.”

“Just the sea swim left now, right?”

“Once the basic fitness test is done. Still, it looks like they’ll all pass without trouble.”

“You never know. The sea swim is the hardest part. That’s where the most people fail.”

The conversation flowed while the training officers held their tongues.

“They’ll be pretty worn out after taking tests on edge all day, you know?”

The basic fitness test ended.

The recruits headed off to prepare for their final test, the sea swim. They walked to the diving point and took off their combat boots. Heshy was the first to finish getting ready. He neatly arranged his boots, then took off his shirt, folded it, and set it beside them.

Tom finished preparing in the same way.

Hilde quietly removed his boots too.

“Isn’t he taking off his shirt?”

The spectators murmured as they watched Hilde, who, unlike Tom and Heshy, showed no intention of removing his black T-shirt.

“If he swims in that, the seams will chafe. That’ll hurt.”

“Maybe he doesn’t know?”

“Well, it won’t be a major problem.”

“Didn’t you teach him that it’s better to take his shirt off?”

Richard turned to Yun with a frown.

Yun didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at Richard. With his brow faintly furrowed, he simply glared at the screen with the same anger and irritation he’d shown when he first came in.

Those emotions were so unmistakable that, one by one, the spectators fell silent.

The media room grew a little quieter.

With the sounds of the exam now easier to hear, the noise of the recruits plunging into the water rang loudly through the room.

SPLASH!

The waves rolled.

The recruits plunged into them in bursts of white water, then raised their heads above the dark surface.

The swimming test had begun.

Heshy was the first to cut through the waves, with Tom following behind.

“Huh?”

Leaving Hilde behind.

“What’s with that look on his face?”