TSCU 02

Chapter 2

“Get up, recruits!”

Before his vision had even recovered, a sharp voice pierced his ears.

“Stop dawdling and move!”

Even though he couldn’t see properly yet, Kang Hyuk straightened his back almost by reflex and stood at attention.

“Move faster! You filthy monkey bastards!”

As the insulting remarks directed at humans continued, his vision gradually returned.

The first things that caught his eyes were people sprawled all over the place and orcs walking around carrying clubs.

Dark green skin. Molars protruding from their mouths. Abnormally bulky bodies, as if they had injected themselves with steroids.

They didn’t have pig heads like the orcs commonly depicted in media, but by Earth’s standards of beauty, they were just as unpleasant to look at.

Their basic appearance consisted of excessively developed lower jaws, upturned noses, and yellowish eyes.

It’s been a while.

Looking farther away, he saw the dirt-covered ground and the wooden fence surrounding the circular clearing.

The fence was easily three meters high, making it impossible to see what lay beyond it.

He lowered his gaze again and checked the number 32 attached to his chest.

It was his recruit number.

Just like at a military boot camp in Korea, the recruits here were called by numbers instead of names.

The moment he confirmed it, an orc suddenly strode toward him.

Standing right beside Kang Hyuk was a middle-aged man dressed in a suit.

“W-What are you doing— Ah!”

Thud!

The man protested against the orc, only to be struck on the shoulder with a club and collapse to the ground.

Thud! Thud!

“Quiet! I! Said!”

The beating continued.

The ones swinging the clubs were orc warriors.

Their heavily muscled bodies, as if they had been injected with steroids, combined with sturdy armor that covered their bodies, made them incredibly intimidating.

The people standing nearby trembled in fear and hurriedly got to their feet.

The same thing was happening throughout the entire clearing.

How brutal.

The people gathered here didn’t know it, but this environment had been deliberately designed this way.

Anyone would feel intimidated when surrounded by a high fence in a confined space, with monsters they’d never seen before cursing and beating them with clubs.

On top of that, the horrible stench created by the mixture of blood, urine, and the overpowering smell of the orcs contributed greatly to creating an atmosphere of fear.

Crack!

A man nearby resisted and had his skull smashed by a club.

The people around him screamed, only to be beaten with clubs themselves for making too much noise.

Only then did the commotion gradually die down.

Some of them had probably died.

Don’t look away. Just look straight ahead. Straight ahead.

While all of this was happening, Kang Hyuk gritted his teeth and kept his gaze fixed forward, maintaining a rigid attention stance.

Then an orc carrying a club noticed him and looked at him with interest.

“Hmm? You. What’s your name?”

“Recruit Number 32!”

“Oho. Good. I’ll remember you.”

Kang Hyuk understood the expression on the orc’s face perfectly.

The orc was pleased that he had been quick to read the situation.

It was the kind of expression one might have when looking at a well-trained pet.

But Kang Hyuk didn’t care.

This is the time to keep my head down as much as possible.

He had endured it once in his previous life.

There was no reason he couldn’t endure it again now.

If I step forward right now, I’ll just get beaten and end up crippled. But things will be different in a few months.

He thought with lowered eyes.

And no sooner had the orc patted him on the shoulder and walked past than a translucent window appeared before his eyes.

[Your exemplary attitude has earned the instructor’s favor! One bonus point has been awarded.]

A bonus point.

It was only one point, but in the very beginning, even something this small was worth being grateful for.

Kang Hyuk shouted loudly.

“Thank you!”

“Good. I’ll begin the explanation shortly, so remain on standby.”

With that, the orc walked away to deal with those who still hadn’t come to their senses.

About ten minutes later, the area had been brought under some semblance of order.

Then someone climbed onto the platform ahead.

Kang Hyuk knew him well.

“Attention!”

Unlike the others, he was clad from head to toe in black armor, with a massive black war hammer strapped to his back.

His savage physique, calm eyes that seemed strangely out of place on such a body, and his unique presence combined to create an overwhelming atmosphere.

That orc was Black Hammer, the head instructor of this place.

He quietly opened his mouth.

“You are all trash.”

His vicious words pierced the crowd.

“Hopeless apes. Trash who can’t even kill a single baby magical beast on your own. That is your current state. Snort!”

Black Hammer swept his contemptuous gaze across the crowd and continued.

“I am Black Hammer, the head instructor of the Black Claw Recruit Training Camp. This training camp will give you a chance to escape being trash. Even you apes should at least be able to take care of yourselves if you complete the entire course. Snort! But…”

His nose twitched as he spoke firmly.

“Those of you who fall behind and cannot keep up with the course will be expelled from the training camp immediately. Keep that in mind. Dismissed.”

The moment Black Hammer finished speaking and stepped down from the platform, the orc instructors began leading the people away.

“Everyone, move!”

Kang Hyuk quickly followed the group.

“AAAH!”

“You filthy monkey bastard! Can’t you understand what I’m saying?!”

The screams of those who moved too slowly or resisted being beaten with clubs rang loudly in his ears.

“AAARGH!”

Eventually, they arrived at a barracks-like accommodation.

Wooden bunks stretched along both sides, while two pieces of worn-out cloth that looked like rags were roughly rolled up against the wall.

Even though this was a place he had passed through once before, Kang Hyuk couldn’t help wondering if the environment had really been this terrible.

Then again, back then, he had been so preoccupied with surviving the training every day that he hadn’t had the time to care about what the accommodation looked like.

Even seeing it again, it really does look like a military barracks from the 1960s.

There were so many people packed inside that even sitting down was uncomfortable.

The sour smell of sweat, blood, and urine irritated his nose.

It would honestly be better to lie down on the dirt floor and sleep than stay here.

Once the instructor confirmed that everyone was seated, he spoke.

“If you say ‘Status Window,’ you can check your stats, abilities, and skills. Until further instructions are given, stay here quietly and wait.”

“Yes, sir!”

Kang Hyuk’s voice rang throughout the room.

Everyone’s eyes immediately turned toward him.

He had been the only one to answer.

“You stupid monkey bastards!”

But when the next fierce shout came, they flinched and hurriedly turned their eyes back toward the instructor.

The instructor’s large nostrils twitched as he shouted.

“Answer!”

“Yes, sir!”

After hearing the booming response, the orc looked over the others with an displeased expression.

Then he briefly met Kang Hyuk’s eyes before leaving the accommodation.

Silence.

No one dared to speak easily.

That was understandable.

The people here had known nothing about the existence of the battlefield. They had suddenly been sucked through a blue door and dropped here.

In such a situation, with monsters treating them like recruits and constantly barking orders at them, it would have been strange if they adapted easily.

Just like Kang Hyuk had.

The people who had kept their mouths firmly shut finally began asking him questions long after the orc instructor had left.

“Excuse me… Do you know where this place is?”

“Yeah. You seem to be adapting really well.”

Kang Hyuk glanced at them and shook his head slightly.

“Didn’t you see how brutally they were beating people earlier? I just did the same thing I did in the military because I didn’t want to get beaten. That’s all.”

“Ah…”

“Come to think of it.”

The people who had asked the questions soon lost interest and began bringing up other topics.

“What on earth is this place?”

“I was definitely sleeping in my room…”

“I was on my way home after working overtime.”

Kang Hyuk understood their feelings completely.

When he had first arrived here in his previous life, he had been so frightened and upset by the unfairness of the situation that he had crouched in a corner and cried.

This must feel even more horrifying than being drafted into the military all over again.

Rather than joining the conversation, Kang Hyuk quietly stared into empty space and muttered inwardly.

Status Window.

A rectangular window appeared directly before his eyes.

[Kim Kang Hyuk]

[Lv. 1]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Recruit]

[Strength: 10]

[Stamina: 10]

[Agility: 10]

[Mana: 0]

[Remaining Points: 1]

[Ability: -]

[Skill: Running]

[Due to your racial bonus, your stat and skill growth rates are increased by 15%.]

Kang Hyuk read through the information before stopping at the skill section.

This is the same.

In his previous life, he had also started with the Running skill.

That was because he had always jogged along the riverside every evening.

Someone might wonder what good a mere Running skill was, but when it came to skills, the more you had, the better.

If he had been given a month instead of a week, he would have focused on obtaining skills.

Well, even so, he hadn’t wasted his week.

The stats are all 10, as expected.

Most ordinary Earthlings started with stats of 10.

Stats below 10 were automatically fixed at 10.

Of course, if someone had exceptional abilities in a particular area, they could receive stats above 10.

Unfortunately, Kang Hyuk wasn’t one of them.

I’ll invest the point in Stamina.

He immediately invested the bonus point he had received earlier into Stamina.

To avoid falling behind here, Stamina was more important than anything else.

Kang Hyuk then checked the detailed effects and limitations of his skill before finally looking at the Ability section.

It’s not there…

He had secretly hoped that the Predation Ability might be present.

But perhaps because he had returned to the past, the fact that he had awakened it seemed to have been nullified altogether.

Still, it wasn’t as though there was no possibility of awakening it again.

After all, he had already awakened it once.

Though the fact that he hadn’t awakened it until the moment before his death bothered him somewhat.

Clack.

Just as he finished carefully reading through the Status Window, he heard the door open.

“Everyone, get up! It’s time for training!”

It was the orc instructor who had led them to the accommodation.

Without hesitation, Kang Hyuk got up and walked toward him.

“Hmm. Everyone, line up behind this human.”

The orc gave a barely noticeable smile before turning around.

If Kang Hyuk hadn’t moved so quickly, another thunderous shout would have erupted.

No one, however, seemed to realize or appreciate what he had done.

“Move out!”

Kang Hyuk ignored it and followed the orc instructor.

Most of the paths within the training camp, just like the clearing, were surrounded by tall wooden fences.

It felt as though they were walking through a maze.

Occasionally, he saw paths branching off in several directions, but he had no chance to investigate them right now.

Following the instructor, they arrived at the place where they had first been summoned.

“Everyone’s here! You half-grown apes!”

Black Hammer stood on the platform and shouted at the top of his lungs in his fierce voice.

If Black Hammer is here…

Kang Hyuk moved only his eyes as he surveyed his surroundings.

Everyone he had seen in the large clearing earlier was gathered here.

With several clues falling into place, memories buried deep in his mind resurfaced.

Black Hammer the instructor.

The entire group assembled.

The clearing surrounded by high fences.

He reached a conclusion.

This is the selection.

No sooner had he reached that conclusion than Black Hammer opened his mouth.

“Before we begin proper training, I intend to weed out the hopeless trash in advance! A very good idea, isn’t it? Snort.”

He finished with his characteristic snorting sound.

Then the orcs who had been waiting began walking around and handing something out.

Eventually, the orc instructor in charge of his accommodation approached Kang Hyuk.

“This is your lifeline, so take good care of it.”

Unlike the others, whom he handed the item to without saying much, the orc tossed Kang Hyuk a single remark.

“Thank you.”

“Hmph!”

The orc said nothing and moved on to the next person.

Kang Hyuk examined the item he had received.

The blade on both sides was quite sharp, while the handle had been shaped to fit comfortably in the hand.

[Ordinary Dagger]

[Grade: Normal]

[It is an ordinary dagger with a well-sharpened blade.]

Kang Hyuk checked the information and smiled with satisfaction.

Outside the training camp, even a Normal-grade dagger like this would cost money to obtain.

And even within the camp, a dagger was extremely important.

It would be difficult to make it through the selection empty-handed.

“All right, then. Let the selection begin!”

He gripped the dagger’s handle tightly.

This was his first opportunity to stand out.

And not just any opportunity—it was an opportunity to make himself truly noticeable.

If I’m going to do it, I’ll do it properly.

Everything would begin here.