Black Badger

Black Badger Class 63’s Nana Dol had been suffering from stress-induced insomnia lately.

The promotion exam was drawing closer. An exam that people said almost no one ever failed—yet every nickname attached to it made her uneasy.

“The deadweight filter test,” “the nepotism detector,” “rookie talent show time”....

Instead of being congratulated for passing, the atmosphere made it feel as though if you failed, they might confiscate your enhanced body altogether.

At least her recent scores had consistently been within the passing range, which was a huge relief. If not, even her reinforced stomach probably would not have endured the stress.

Phrases like “a normal Badger never fails” or “if you fail the promotion exam, you can never be sent into the field” were, needless to say, completely unhelpful.

No!

People can fail!

People can fail if they get nervous and make a mistake!

And if she were the only one to fail, what would the seniors think of her?!

That thought alone had kept Nana Dol from sleeping properly for days.

The pressure was even worse because the other two rookies were the type who would pass even if the world split apart.

To begin with, Luke Lyle had grown up in a military family, so he did not even need to prepare specially for the exam. She remembered hearing that he had entered Black Badger with a score ranking in the top ten of all recruits.

On top of that, his older brother was already a Black Badger.

His direct senior: Hesh Lyle.

Meanwhile, Nana did not even have a single acquaintance in Black Badger.

Of course, compared to her other fellow recruit, Jack, Luke was relatively human.

Jack Black.

Nickname: Blackjack.

The undisputed superstar of Center Core.

A former F1 driver who had spawned tens of thousands of anti-fans upon joining Black Badger, yet still had an overwhelmingly large fanbase.

Jack already seemed to be getting deployed on various operations.

Whenever he came to the training grounds, he would say absurd things like, “I’m still far inferior to you guys,” and Nana thought those remarks were outright deceit.

How could someone weaker than her be going on missions?!

And on top of that, he had already mastered fine control of his strength.

Far from smashing things, he would help Luke and Nana with delicate strength-control tasks they struggled with, every single time.

It wasn’t as if he had practiced fine control while driving, either....

Every time Nana looked at her fellow recruits—people who had joined at the same time but seemed to be on a completely different level—she shrank inside.

That gap in ability alone was dizzying, but Nana had another worry these days.

“Do you think a lot of people will come to watch the promotion exam...?”

When she asked in a timid, shrinking voice, her mentor looked up and stared at her.

“They probably won’t even be able to accommodate everyone who wants to watch.”

No!

“Because of him, the seniors keep coming to me asking about the promotion exam schedule.”

“Is there any way I could take it on a different day...?”

“Absolutely impossible.”

The senior answered without a second’s hesitation.

“Hildebert even went straight to take the promotion exam the moment he got released from a kidnapping, just so he wouldn’t miss it.”

Nana clutched her head and fell into despair.

She really hated standing in front of people. Even during the year-end party, she had been shaking uncontrollably when she had to introduce herself in front of the seniors. At least back then, all she had to do was drink with the Commander.

Now, because Jack Black was her fellow recruit, she was going to have to take the promotion exam in front of an uncountable number of seniors.

And the senior just above them—who had been friends with Jack even before joining—had passed the exam despite being injured, further highlighting the stupidity of anyone who failed!

“Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up....”

“I can’t say I don’t understand.”

That was said by her second mentor.

Her mentor had changed midway through. The first mentor assigned to her had fallen seriously ill during the outbreak. Nana genuinely thought her first mentor was going to die.

Fortunately, that mentor—who had even needed ECMO—recovered miraculously.

However, lingering aftereffects forced him to apply for medical leave. As a result, the Personnel Director summoned Nana and personally assigned her a second mentor.

That mentor was the man now standing before her: Leeho Chang.

A senior who suffered from PTSD due to certain events, yet had accepted the role of mentor as part of overcoming it.

Nana had liked her first mentor, but she liked her second mentor as well.

The fact that she had cried her eyes out when her first mentor went on medical leave remained a secret to this day.

“Still, try to think about it positively. Everyone will be so focused on Jack that they won’t even look at what you’re doing.”

“What if I trip instead of failing the exam?”

“Then you get up quickly and keep going.”

“I just hope I don’t fail....”

When she muttered gloomily, Leeho strode over and lightly patted her shoulder.

Having come from an intelligence agency, he had a knack for putting people at ease.

“Don’t worry. You’re good.”

He even offered such lip-service comfort....

“I’m not just saying that. Relax your face. You’re really good. Way better than I was as a rookie. You just get too nervous when there are a lot of people.”

That’s the problem, though....

Nana Dol tried hard not to look too miserable.

She was aware that she was now part of a special forces unit, and she made constant efforts to act accordingly, but it was not easy.

Looks like she had failed to manage her expression again.

Leeho sighed and shoved his hand into his pocket.

“I’m serious, and you still don’t believe me.... It’s not that I have some special eye, but from what I see, when you focus properly, you show skills that would shock even Class 1 seniors. You just don’t realize what you’re like when you enter that immersive state.”

“C-Class 1 seniors?! How could I possibly....”

“And besides, even if my judgment isn’t perfect, I think you actually have quite a bit of talent in swordsmanship—”

He cut off mid-sentence with a sudden, “Ah!”

Startled, Nana widened her eyes at what followed.

“They said Hilde’s coming to headquarters today.”

Nana’s jaw dropped.

“If there’s time, I should ask him to take a look at you.”

“That’s okay!”

Nana blurted out.

Only afterward did she realize how fast she had answered.

Leeho blinked.

“That was a strong reaction.”

Ah....

She was doomed.

“Do you dislike Hildebert? Well, that happens. Quite a few Badgers say they just feel an instinctive aversion to him....”

“N-no!”

Nana hurriedly corrected his misunderstanding.

She did not dislike Hildebert at all.

Of course, she knew that opinions about Hildebert were sharply divided within headquarters. After the rampage of a Class 10 Creature in Center Core two months ago, Nana—along with everyone else—had learned that Hildebert was not human, but a Creature.

Public opinion had split.

At first, favorable sentiment had been overwhelming, but after Hildebert took medical leave and stayed out of sight for two months, voices began to question whether it was right to have a Creature as a Black Badger.

Some openly expressed disgust, saying it made them uncomfortable, while others insisted he needed to be placed under surveillance.

Of course, there were still more people defending Hildebert....

In any case, Nana did not dislike Hildebert.

He just made her uncomfortable.

“He’s too handsome....”

When she muttered that, Leeho’s eyes went wide.

Her mentor let out a hollow laugh.

“What kind of reason is that?”

“It’s true.”

She said awkwardly.

She had never really had a proper conversation with Hildebert, but she had always felt burdened by how handsome he was.

“And Jack Black doesn’t burden you?”

Her mentor asked, amused.

“He’s good-looking too, and he’s a superstar.”

“Isn’t Jack less exotically handsome than Senior Taleb? Senior Taleb’s eye color alone is already—”

“It is striking.”

“Yes. And Jack isn’t very interested in people.”

He showed an equal indifference to everyone.

It didn’t feel unpleasant. If anything, Nana found that comforting. No matter what mistake she made, Jack would not judge her.

Leeho blinked.

“Really? He already memorized all the seniors’ names.”

That was because Jack was observant.

But Nana could not quite say that Jack seemed to watch people the way one observed animals—quickly grasping an individual’s personality and traits, yet showing no interest at all in how each individual actually lived.

So she brushed it off vaguely and slipped out of the training grounds.

She was afraid her mentor might actually bring Hildebert over.

How was she supposed to show her shoddy skills to someone who could swing a sword and bring down buildings....

After showering, she dragged her exhausted body into a café on the tenth floor of a secluded building in headquarters.

She usually frequented Café Senabi, but with the Science Wing under construction, Senabi had been temporarily closed.

So lately, she had no choice but to use the café on the tenth floor.

A place not often used, since members of the top brass occasionally showed up.

Which was exactly why she quite liked that aspect of Café Cello—

“Ah, Nana.”

Gah.

“On your way here after training?”

Why was Jack Black here?!

Nana panicked.

But if he had only been with Luke Lyle, she would not have panicked this much.

Unfortunately, shockingly enough, Hildebert was standing next to Luke.

No—all three of the Class 62 seniors were there!

The heads of the three seniors, who had been looking up at the café menu board hanging from the ceiling as if about to order drinks, snapped down all at once.

“Hello!”

Nana reflexively snapped into a formal salute.

“Seniors!”

At the same time, she realized her small, private evening had just been ruined, and she cried internally.

Luke and Jack, who knew her personality well, gave her apologetic smiles.

You don’t have to.

What power do you two have, anyway? As long as Senior Hesh Lyle is here, there’s no way I’m getting out of this....

“Dol!”

As expected, Hesh Lyle greeted her enthusiastically.

“Perfect timing. I’ll introduce my peer. Hilde—she’s the only junior you haven’t formally greeted yet. Say hello to each other now! Who knows when you’ll be back again after today.”

“Sure.”

At Hildebert’s reply, Nana Dol screamed internally.

When the senior who was just as famous in Center Core as Jack Black cast his gaze toward her, the internal screaming only grew louder.

Hildebert spoke gently.

“Hi. I’m Hildebert Taleb. Feel free to call me Hilde.”

“I’m Nana Dol.”

Nana felt an immense sense of relief that ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) she had answered without stuttering.

The senior with golden eyes smiled faintly.

“Sorry it took so long to greet you properly. Because of my situation, the formal introductions kept getting postponed.”

“N-not at all!”

In truth, she had been overjoyed that the introduction had been canceled.

But she could hardly say that out loud, so she answered stiffly like a proper rookie.

Then she stood at attention, hands neatly at her sides, desperately hoping the conversation would end quickly.

Luke snorted.

“You don’t have to stand so stiffly.”

“Did you come to eat dinner?”

Jack gently joined the conversation.

He probably felt bad for calling her name.

“What are you going to eat? I’ll treat you—pick something.”

“Huh? No, it’s fine. I—”

“No, I’ll pay. I should’ve treated you a long time ago, but I never got the chance—”

“Hilde, I’ll pay.”

Just as Jack’s offer was about to be declined, Hildebert cut in, and Tom hurriedly added on after him.

But Senior Tom bought me something last time....

As that thought crossed her mind, Hesh lightly tapped Hildebert’s shoulder.

Then he said,

“Yeah. Didn’t you say all your cards got frozen?”

Nana opened her mouth, then quickly shut it again.

She saw Hildebert searching his pockets for his wallet and looking troubled.

“Right.”

The senior rubbed his neck with an awkward expression.

“I forgot for a moment. Sorry. I should’ve brought cash....”

“Forget it. But when are they unfreezing that account they locked over that ridiculous charge? Must be a real pain.”

Hesh did not bother hiding his disbelief, while Tom looked like he was wondering whether it was okay to say things like that openly. Hildebert just let out an awkward laugh as Nana stared at them in a daze.

In the midst of it all, Jack suddenly held out his card to Hildebert, only for Hesh and Tom to shove his arm aside and head for the counter.

There was a brief back-and-forth.

But in the end, Hesh and Tom won.

Despite appearances, the two seniors were fairly strong-willed.

Knowing this well, Luke did not even bother offering to pay.

Jack’s small attempt to place his card into Hildebert’s hand also failed....

With their orders placed, they turned to look for seats.

As they craned their necks and glanced around, Tom looked at the paper bag in Hildebert’s hand and asked in a puzzled voice,

“What did you bring?”

“Oh, a game console.”

Hildebert answered.

“I’m going to sell it secondhand.”

Hesh and Tom’s mouths fell open.