CH 3

The wagon that had 16 Strangers took about three weeks of travel before arriving at their destination.

“Since our classes are different, we won’t see each other as often going forth.”“That is so. Still, we can occasionally see each other at least.”

The strangers that were quiet close to one another expressed signs of sorrow as they farewelled  one another.

“Sunhyuk, stay strong alright. At least as a rider, excluding special classes like Knights and Magicians, you’ll receive the best treatment.”“Groan. But I don’t even have a horse riding skill.”“If you don’t have one, then you need to learn and assimilate it! Do you think they rode on horses from the day they were born?!”

From Kang Jungtae’s consolation, Kim Sunhyuk laughed in the end.

“Alright. Hyung. I’ll also hope for Hyung to rise in your Rank as you aspire to be.”“Ok. Hyung will definitely advance to an Intermediate and take care of all of you.”

After sharing our farewells, a soldier that seemed to be the leader appeared and brought the strangers, one or two at a time, somewhere.

“This way.”

Kim Sunhyuk also was led by a soldier that arrived rather late towards the assigned camp.

“So you are the Stranger, Kim Sunhyuk?”

He went into the large tent, where a scary, threatening-looking man asked.

“Forward! Yes! I am Kim Sunhyuk!”

Like he was taught during his basic education, he pounded his chest and shouted. The man frowned. It seems that something wasn’t to his liking.

“Why are all these Strangers have names like these. Hard to call them, and they don’t sound good out loud.”

He was complaining about a fault I never could have thought of as he inspected me. The man full of dissatisfaction resumed his words

“Freshman. There’s no one here that will treat you specially for being a Stranger. So try and follow as if life and death depended on it. The Rider camp isn’t a child’s playground.”

No wonder, I could feel malice against Strangers just from that one sentence.

“And I’ll caution you prior, but don’t try and confront us by relying on your status or skills. Real Riders can’t compare with you fake like bastards.”

It seems that he was very dissatisfied with the Strangers that were able to grow quickly due to their skills. However, in Kim Sunhyuk’s perspective, he felt that it was unfair. To be summoned into a different dimension forcefully and placed in military training, how could Sunhyuk not want to protest?

“I will be watching.”

From start to end, the man did not say a single pleasant word as he kicked Sunhyuk out of the camp with a threat. Coming out, the guide that he was first entrusted to was waiting for him.

“The Rider quarters are over there.”

It seems that screaming, twisted man was the Commander of the Riders, so he had no clue how everything was operating around here. Without receiving any information from that commander-looking man, he asked the soldier entrusted as his guide, but he didn’t receive much help either.

“I am just entrusted to being a guide. I am not part of the Rider camp, so just enter there directly.”

He was able to sense resentment in the slightly slim soldier’s words. Kim Sunhyuk let out a sigh. He could get a sense that living here won’t be easy.

“Try and endure.”

After leaving a lazy farewell, the soldier disappeared, and Kim Sunhyuk was left alone in front of these large quarters. Being thrown into his living quarters without any explanation, if it was someone else, he would have hesitated from frustration for some time. However, one couldn’t lightly take an officer in his last year of military service.

A new recruit hazing was quite light.

As he breathed out his anxiety, he opened the door and walked in.

“What the hell is this bastard?”

But his sturdy spirit was only brief. When he opened the quarters, the looks that were aimed against him was far more bloodthirsty than he imagined.

A man with a massive body of 190cm had his body wholly covered in scars, so much so that one could believe that he was preferably a criminal rather than a soldier.

“Who the hell does this sissy looking bastard think he is to recklessly enter?”

He had never thought of myself as a sissy, but he was convinced after seeing all these unique looking appearances here. Automatically, his voice crawled back in like a sissy.

“I’m . . .  I am the new recruit.”“Oho. So you’re the bastard that was coming today. That Kim something Stranger?”“Nice to meet you. Very nice to meet you. I had been waiting for you in anticipation for a few days now.”

No… he doesn’t have to be so welcoming.

Unlike his words, his expression felt as if he was going to immediately eat me like sashimi as he hesitatingly withdrew back.

“It seems the wait was indeed rewarding. Never would have thought such a cutie would have come that is.”

For some reason, Kim Sunhyuk held his pants tightly as he took a step back.

—

“Groan.”

He thought something was going to transpire immediately, but after saying a few more suspicious remarks, he left Sunhyuk alone. As such, night had come, and he was the only one to lie down on his bed.

Eyes wide open.

He couldn’t fall asleep. This feeling was different from the past when he was first deployed in that gloomy past. He was currently trembling from that clear horror.

He wouldn’t leap onto me, would he?

The words of the man who had called him pretty continued to circulate in his mind. If he were to sleep now, he might regret it for a lifetime.

However, the accumulated fatigue crushed down onto his eyelids before he realized it. And not long after he fell asleep.

“Hey. Hey.”

His mind wandered in his dream for a while before the voice became a bit clearer.

“This bastard, he’s really sleeping.”“Is he stupid? Or is his iron will that good?”

Kim Sunhyuk belatedly rose his body suddenly from those words.

“Whew.”

He let out a sigh of relief after checking his pants.

“Kuk!”

At that time, stars began to burst from his eyes. And a ripping pain followed in his stomach seconds later.

“Wake up, bastard. We need to have our greeting ceremony.”

“What. If you were going to do it, you should’ve done it prior. In the middle of the night . . .”

From a dim conscience to sudden pain, Kim Sunhyuk who had never been in this situation before was about to talk back before holding himself in check.

“What? Did you hear? I haven’t misheard, right? Is this bastard is grumbling due to his sleep?”“We left you alone in the day since it was hot. Bastard. Isn’t this the perfect timing? To have an exorcism?”

The threatening giants glared at him with an absurd face.

Ah, shit. I’m fucked.

The frowning Kim Sunhyuk quickly raised his body up.

“How should we make it – so that the rumors spread like he was beaten to a pulp?”“Should we tie him to a horse, and let it run for an hour or two?”“We could hang him upside-down like that other foolish bastard from before.”“The foolish bastard from that day was me, you bitch.”“Ah, so that was you? This bastard finally became a man.”

While I was regaining my consciousness, they were already discussing on how they should cook me. Just listening to them speak was not so good for his mentality.

“Good. It’s decided.”

Kim Sunhyuk, as if he didn’t want to know about the decision at all, swallowed his saliva.

“Choose.”“Since it’s been already decided, the weakest one . . .”“This bastard still hasn’t fully woken up yet. Choose who you’re going to fight!”

From that shouting of that large guy, he was able to belatedly realize the situation.

“Did you think we would beat a short-legged dog up in a group? In our proud Rider Regiment, there’s no such crummy tradition.”

No. Just being like this was crummy enough . . .

Kim Sunhyuk, who possibly couldn’t spit out such a sentence, held it in as he cautiously looked around.

“That side . . .”

Since everyone was so large and threatening, it was the same no matter who he chose. So he randomly selected one of them.

“Did that bastard choose me?”“Well, he’s pretty good at catching onto things. It’s surprising how he chose the most incompetent bastard among us. Jonathan, did you tell him?”“As if. Just by looking, you can clearly tell that Hansen is the weakest among us.”

The insulted man, Hansen, began to redden as the Riders around him began to chuckle aloud.

“Is that true? You chose me because I looked the weakest?”

Kim Sunhyuk, realizing that things were going to be ominous, decided to just keep his mouth shut.

“This bastard, you’re good as dead.”

After he finished his words, the scary Riders began clearing out the beds, making an arena-like circle in the center. Although he saw those heavy beds being easily lifted, Kim Sunhyuk attempted to ignore it.

“If you happen to lose, I’ll take good care of you. Recruit. Don’t worry!”

No. That’s even more worrisome.

Among the guys with threatening-looking faces, the most dangerous one was cheering behind Kim Sunhyuk. But seeing him not tremble, it seems that he had somewhat anticipated this, as the words of the Instructor weren’t a bluff; that he would have a hard time adapting in that regiment.

“AHHHH!”

Hansen, who was fully enraged, let out a yell as he ran towards him. Although it was just a tackle of brute force and strength, it was still dangerous as a freight train was heading towards him.

Hansen outstretched his hands as he approached to grab his waist. Sunhyuk quickly sidestepped and kicked his knee high. Just like the fighting technique he had learnt from the training grounds, however, the opponent did not give up easily.

“Ugh!”

Hasen, who groaned briefly, stretched out his hands again with a distorted face. Kim Sunhyuk, who didn’t expect him to come out so tough, was caught by his hands.

“I’ll kill you.”

An immense strength inflicted his waist as he could his breathing clog up.

“Kuk.”

There was no means to counterattack with both hands at all. No, there was one way. He immediately wriggled his body and pulled his head back as much as possible.

Kwajik.

He smashed his head onto Hansen’s with all his strength, as Hansen screamed holding his nose. Being free in the midst of that event, Kim Sunhyuk kicked up for the finishing blow.

But he ended up just kicking in the air. Hansen stood agape with blood flowing from both noses. And soon, foam arose from his mouth.

“ Ah, no. I wasn’t trying to intentionally . . .”

Though he was trying to explain that this was an accident, the Riders that were monitoring this were malignantly watching on.

“Ooh! Is it broken? I think I heard a breaking sound.”“He may be sissy-looking, but he’s extremely merciless.”

Seeing Hansen slowly falling over, the Riders were full of surprise.

“Well anyhow, that Hansen bastard lost in the end.”“Tch. For this to be the level of the Rider regiment. Level.”“Sigh. How unfortunate. I wanted to take good care of him.”

This bout that ended differently than he anticipated. The joy of victory never came to him as all he could feel was relief from the others’ appalling grumblings.

—The rest of the Riders were shocked on how Hansen appearance had turned out to be. Anyone knows that Hansen was one that would fight simply and recklessly. If anyone tried to squirm out of the hands of this strong, reckless boar, they would have their ribs broken and forced to scream in pain. But that frail-looking recruit defeated that person.

“If he so wished to, he could have freed himself from Hansen’s grip. He’s not powerful enough to stop him from pulling his head back that much.”“So you’re saying that frail looking bastard is stronger than Hansen?”“We can’t judge a Stranger based on their outer appearance.”

Come to think of it, did they say status? The origin in which the Strangers grew in strength were different from them.

“If he is not a freshman that is.”“Anyhow, his malice is certainly not normal.”

The man’s words were only half right. One Rider that had kindly talked spoken to him after seeing him overcome his welcome ceremony, he was greeted with a shocking revelation.

“I have never rode a horse before though?”“Then why did you come to the Rider Regiment?”“Since my Class was . . . Rider.”

He couldn’t say the word ‘Dragon’, so he swallowed it up. No matter how the situation would unfold, he was definitely a Rider.