Chapter 4 Part 31

But they were exhausted. Even during the mere 30 minutes allotted for dinner, they couldn’t properly chew and swallow their food, instead collectively denouncing the instructors over the sudden, unannounced news of a night march. What was even worse was that they had to go on the march fully equipped with their packs.

Uncle. You said it wasn’t the military. But what is all this? Why are we marching, and why are we carrying full packs?

Jeong Tae-ui endured the heavy load pressing down on his shoulders, silently cursing his uncle for the countless time since arriving on this island.

“If the instructors can’t take off their clothes, I’d rather take off mine and run out of this cursed island.”

It was then that someone grumbled from up ahead.

“If you want to take them off, do it after the joint training. And for anyone who wants to strip me, I’ll welcome you, so come find me anytime after the march.”

This fresh voice, without a hint of exhaustion, came from behind Jeong Tae-ui. A chilling silence instantly fell. Not only did the men chattering in front fall silent, but those behind were also startled, as if they’d jumped. They never dreamed that an instructor would be mixed in among the people around them, whom they hadn’t properly checked.

Jeong Tae-ui flinched, startled by the familiar voice he hadn’t expected to hear so close by. Though there was no way his internal cursing could have been heard, he still felt subtly self-conscious.

“Unc… Instructor Jeong, are you coming with us too?”

“How could I just sit around and play in the Instructor’s Office? Who knows when an incident might occur. Besides, if we go another hour or two, we’ll start encountering other teams.”

His uncle muttered, seemingly annoyed, from a place where he must have been for some time—he certainly hadn’t been there at the start of the march. Just as he said, though they had started separately, after wandering through the forest for this long, they were bound to start encountering other teams. It wouldn’t matter if those teams were from the same Asia Branch, but if not, it would become troublesome.

“With this much fog, if we go a little deeper, you could kill someone and secretly bury them, and no one would know. In fact, if you dug up this whole forest, you’d probably find several bodies.”

His uncle said it casually, as if a joke were the truth. Jeong Tae-ui glanced at his wristwatch, thinking that it might genuinely be true. A little over an hour had passed since they started.

“We’ve probably come about 3 or 4 kilometers. If it’s 20 kilometers, even if we finish quickly and go back, it’ll be midnight.”

“I wonder if we’ll even be able to find our way back, in the middle of the night,” Jeong Tae-ui muttered, scratching the back of his neck.

It was already pitch dark all around. Since it was such a dense forest that it was dim even during the day, now that it was night and the fog was thick, it was even darker. It wouldn’t be strange if they got lost like this.

“Well, it’s not that big of an island, so even if we get lost, it won’t be far.”

His uncle replied to Jeong Tae-ui’s additional mumble as if asking what he meant.

“You won’t be able to go back by midnight. We’ll be spending the night in the forest.”

“What?”

“We’ll go another 10 kilometers, then unpack our gear in a suitable spot. I told you to bring your sleeping bag. Didn’t you bring it?”

“No, I just brought the packed bag as is, so the sleeping bag would be in there, but that’s not the problem. You said we’re staying the night in the forest, sleeping outdoors?”

“Hmm. People sometimes need to toughen up by sleeping outdoors. We’ll also take turns on guard duty and keep the bonfire going.”

“They say there are snakes here, poisonous snakes!”

“That’s why I said we’re setting up guard duty. You need to be able to trust your comrades and sleep.”

“No, what kind of rule is it to let people sleep in a forest where poisonous snakes come out at night!”

“Even if they’re poisonous snakes, their venom isn’t that strong, so if you get bitten and treat it quickly, you won’t die, I think I told you that.”

“That’s not the point, Uncle. There are things more dangerous than snakes roaming around—.”

Jeong Tae-ui exclaimed, looking like he would fly into a rage if he said a few more words, but there was no particular reaction from the others. Only after seeing their attitude, as if they had experienced this several times and there was nothing to be surprised about, did Jeong Tae-ui keenly feel that this was not a joke but reality.

Jeong Tae-ui had also spent countless nights sleeping outdoors. He had slept under the stars, in the dew, and even where snakes and centipedes rustled. But those snakes weren’t poisonous, and the people he’d been sleeping outdoors with weren’t enemies constantly aiming for his throat.

“Ah, right, you had a reason to take good care of your life. But… I saw some unfamiliar handwriting in the notes you gave me. Whose writing is it?”

His uncle suddenly said, smiling subtly. Jeong Tae-ui shut his mouth. If he said, “It’s him,” and added the burden of ten more volumes of copying to that guy, their time together would decrease, but ratting him out so openly felt a bit awkward. However, just as Jeong Tae-ui was about to open his mouth to slightly increase his own safety, his uncle spoke first.

“But Tae-ui. While there might be some correlation between his free time and the duration of your life, didn’t you consider that, in the end, your life might be in greater danger?”

Jeong Tae-ui closed his mouth again. It wasn’t surprising that his uncle had already figured out the owner of that handwriting. He was no longer surprised by anything his uncle knew, considering his ability to instantly sort and process mountains of documents.

However, what his uncle said was something Jeong Tae-ui had briefly worried about himself. He wondered if the slight help Ilay League-row had given Jeong Tae-ui might turn into poison for him, perhaps backfiring.

“Think wisely and give me your answer by the time we return to the branch tomorrow.”

His uncle said, smiling. Jeong Tae-ui clicked his tongue bitterly. At this rate, he would either have to insist it was his own handwriting until the end, or silently accept the burden of ten more volumes of copying.

The forest grew denser and denser. He repeatedly heard the sound of twigs breaking as his colleagues ahead muttered, “Damn it, I wish we could just burn all these trees down.” Every time they stepped into an unmarked path, branches seemed to scratch their faces.