Black Badger

"Does it hurt somewhere?"

The media room began to stir.

People looked at Hilde, who floated in the ocean with a face contorted in pain.

Hilde wiped his face with wet hands.

Even after wiping his face, the pain etched into his expression didn't fade. The agony flickered in his furrowed eyes.

People murmured in surprise.

"Did he get hurt?"

"Did he jump in wrong? That would hurt a lot."

"He seemed to dive in fine..."

The murmurs didn't stop. Eyebrows furrowed. While people exchanged puzzled comments, Ami set down her soda.

Shu and Iho widened their eyes from the seats next to her.

Ricardo furrowed his brow and let out a grim mutter.

"That guy's hiding something again..."

Only the people in the same row picked up on his low words.

Iho was the one who responded.

"Why is he like that?"

"No idea."

Ami spoke while watching Hilde, who took a deep breath and began swimming.

"He's looked off since earlier."

The swimming portion began.

Ocean swimming was also a timed exam. They had to cover a considerable distance within the limit. Swimming while hitting designated points, the test ended upon reaching the protruding cape on the opposite side.

If they ran out of energy and needed the rescue team, it was disqualification.

Even if they reached the destination, exceeding the time limit meant disqualification.

Hesi Lyle took the lead toward the goal.

Tom followed close behind without much difference.

People's gazes flew to the new recruit at the tail end and stuck there.

"He was fine when we met yesterday, right?"

Ricardo asked Shu.

Shu nodded without taking her eyes off the screen.

"He even said so himself."

She had forgotten about the open bottle of zero cola in her hand.

"He said his condition was good, so as long as he did well on shooting, passing the exam wouldn't be a problem."

"Then what happened last night?"

"Even the creatures were quiet last night..."

When Iho asked back, Ricardo turned on his phone and checked the duty roster.

Iho and Ami craned their necks to peer at the duty roster Ricardo held.

A shadow fell over the phone screen.

"Yeah, Center Core was super quiet yesterday."

"And even if something came up, they wouldn't call new recruits the day before the exam... Meaning, he couldn't have been pulled for a mission and gotten hurt~."

"Did he eat something bad for dinner?"

Ami turned her gaze to the screen, arching her eyebrows.

"Like, maybe he threw up everything the night before..."

No clear answer emerged.

While they tossed around various guesses, Hilde swam on. He advanced slowly but without stopping. His speed was much slower than Tom and Hesi's, but unlike them, he cut through the water with almost no effort.

"He's really good at swimming."

It was Iho's comment, arms crossed as he watched.

Those in the same row silently agreed. But their faces didn't relax.

Every time he surfaced, pain was visible on his face.

Time was also tight.

Badgers began alternating between the screen and their watches.

The silence that had settled in the media room due to tension broke at some point.

Bang!

The door opened.

A silver-haired man entered through the noisily flung door. The seniors who had been watching the clock or screen turned their heads. Shu, Ami, Iho, and Ricardo also turned.

The visit was so rowdy that even Angela and Kal took their eyes off the screen.

Only Yoon didn't give him a glance.

But Asil walked straight to Yoon, stopping abruptly only after reaching the row where the mentors sat.

"Yoon."

His voice carried anger.

Yoon lazily rolled his eyes toward him.

The atmosphere shifted in an instant. People tensed up, their gazes fixed on the two men. Few badgers didn't know that Asil had once grabbed Yoon by the collar.

Ami stood from her seat.

But Asil ignored the reactions around him, glaring only at Yoon.

"I need to talk to you."

"About what."

Yoon replied, rolling his eyes back to center.

A precarious silence followed. Asil glared at Yoon with clenched fists, then glanced at the screen.

The junior, who lagged slowly behind his cohorts.

Asil, scanning the screen with a furrowed brow, said in a low voice.

"I'll talk to you outside the media room."

"Don't you think you're too late?"

Though he asked what it was about, Yoon spoke indifferently, as if he knew the reason Asil had come.

The former detective bit his lip hard.

Yoon didn't move, eyes fixed on the screen.

"Just sit and watch."

"The hospital..."

"Sit or leave."

It was a voice cold enough to make people swallow.

But the feared incident didn't happen. Asil gritted his teeth, hesitated, then plopped into the nearest empty seat. He hunched over, glaring at the screen with flashing eyes.

His furrowed brow showed no sign of relaxing.

Those nearby craned their necks with faces that wanted to speak.

But Yoon and Asil ignored the reactions around them.

One of those who had craned her neck, Ami, gave up and sank into her chair.

"I need to go ask him right after it ends."

"Please, senior. If we go, we'll just get turned away."

"I should go a bit sooner."

While Iho pleaded with Ami, Shu anxiously checked her phone.

The exam continued. The ocean, where several lifeboats floated in preparation for emergencies. Among the new recruits swimming there, Hesi, holding the lead, was almost at the cape. The proctors overseeing the exam raised beach towels, waiting for the new recruit's arrival.

Tom wasn't far behind Hesi. He would reach the destination soon too.

Only Hilde was on the edge.

People watched the white-haired new recruit slowly parting the seawater in silence.

Hesi and Tom finished the exam.

"Good job."

"Congratulations. These new recruits are doing well."

Two new recruits had passed.

People quietly offered congratulations to Kal and Angela.

The pair nodded in response. If all new recruits had passed, even the taciturn duo would have smiled and accepted the greetings. But the atmosphere wasn't right.

There was still a new recruit whose pass hung by a thread.

Moreover, he was Yoon's deputy mentor.

No one but Yoon's deputy mentor struggled, and the surroundings quickly quieted. People averted their eyes from the juniors, who wrapped beach towels around themselves and sat on the beach.

"Uh, he can't stop now."

Not much time left.

At the speed he'd shown so far, it was a razor-thin distance. With only that distance left, Hilde suddenly stopped.

People let out surprised noises in unison.

"Why stop?"

"Did he run out of strength?"

"So close."

"If he sprints now, he could barely pass..."

"Come on, new recruit! Just a little more!"

Desperate words poured out.

Hilde, who couldn't hear such words, bobbed in the water for a while, catching his breath.

[Ha.]

Then he let out a small sound.

A voice laden with fatigue. The man raised a wet hand to wipe his face.

After washing his face, he closed his eyes and tilted his head back.

Until someone muttered, 'Should we call the rescue team?'

Until someone said, 'He's basically failed now, right?' He opened his eyes.

Hilde stared straight at the drone with golden eyes.

Then he smiled faintly.

"His eyes are really pretty."

"He's handsome."

"Ah!"

The sound of splashing water resonated in the media room.

"I'm going again!"

Hilde dove underwater.

The media room, quiet with disappointment and resignation, quickly grew noisy. People cheered at the new recruit slipping through the water like a seal. Well done! Just a bit more! Cheers poured out. Some announced the remaining time every 10 seconds, others the distance to the goal.

The voices grew louder as Hilde's speed increased.

Since diving, Hilde hadn't once surfaced.

He appeared only as a silhouette under the deep blue sea. He kept swimming submerged. There were no noisy splashes, no body parts breaking the surface to part the water.

He cleaved through the ocean at a speed incomparable to before.

The cape approached rapidly.

In the end, Hilde arrived at the cape with 10 seconds left on the clock.

"Woooah!"

The media room exploded with noise.

As soon as he arrived, people stood up.

"He did it!"

"He passed!"

"Hey, what was that? Why so fast at the end!"

"Did that guy do it on purpose? Damn, he shaved ten years off my life!"

"Wooo!"

Ami jumped up and down in joy.

"He passed! He passed!"

"Ah, my heart..."

"Thank goodness."

Iho wiped his face, looking even more fatigued.

Shu set down the tightly gripped bag of potato chips.

"I thought he failed..."

They celebrated noisily.

The screen was obscured by the standing people. The footage was hard to see amid the figures lost in elation. Few were even watching the screen, excited by the movie-like close call.

The room was immersed in the thrill of victory.

The new recruit slowly crawled out from the seawater.

The seniors only noticed something wrong when Hilde, emerging onto the beach, tried to stand but his knees buckled and he collapsed forward.

[Hilde!]

Tom and Hesi's voices rang out in the media room.

[Hilde! Hey!]

People's eyes widened.

Those in celebratory gestures froze.

Even those leaving the media room stopped in their tracks.

Ricardo shot up from his seat. Asil kicked his chair and stood.

Ami, who had been jumping, widened her eyes to the size of acorns. Shu spilled her zero cola in shock, and Iho slowly rose from his seat with wide eyes.

People watched in horror as the new recruit couldn't get up on the beach.

[Did your strength give out?]

Hesi knelt beside Hilde and asked urgently.

[Or does it hurt somewhere? Where does it hurt?]

[Call an ambulance!]

Tom shouted, reaching an arm under Hilde's body.

The instructors hurried into motion. As soon as Tom confirmed they were moving, the red-haired new recruit wrapped his arms around his cohort to support him.

Tom, propping himself on his elbows and panting, choked up as he spoke to his cohort.

[What's wrong with you?]

[...Tom.]

Hilde muttered in a hoarse voice.

[Sorry, but loosen your arm... It hurts...]

[Arm? Hurts? Where does it hurt?]

[Did he get injured around there?]

Hesi rushed to Tom's side as he quickly loosened his arm.

The one kneeling next to Tom.

As he grabbed the hem to lift Hilde's top, Hilde let out a pained sound.

[Wait, slowly... Slowly...]

[Why? Where does it hurt? Did you hit a rock on the way down?]

[No... Ugh,]

As Hesi slowly lifted the top, Hilde's brow crumpled sharply.

He groped the air, then grabbed his cohort's hem and began trembling.

Cold sweat poured down.

[Sorry. Just hold on a bit. We need to see the wound to treat it.]

[Just to the hospital...]

Hilde buried his head in the sand without finishing.

Hesi lifted the top.

The people in the media room couldn't see Hilde's upper body. It was blocked by Hesi and Tom's backs. Instead, they saw the new recruits, who had been lifting the t-shirt to check the injury, freeze in place and remain motionless in shock for a while.

Their gazes fixed in one spot, unyielding.

Their pupils shook with shock.

Hesi's stunned voice resonated.

[What is this?]

Yoon, who had stood, cut off the feed and walked out of the media room.