Black Badger

What the hell did you do?

The fact that those words had come out of Ye-hyeon's mouth was beyond imagination. First, I couldn't wrap my head around Ye-hyeon, who was furious from head to toe. He was gentle in private settings, but soft-spoken in his official duties.

"You're angry?"

I swept the bits of ingredients stuck to the cutting board into one corner and made eye contact with Ami.

"What did you do to piss off the Supreme Commander so much?"

"The trigger was the two-week vacation."

Ami rubbed her elbow and explained in a clear voice.

"The HR Director usually comes in at 10 a.m. and leaves at 4 p.m."

"Huh?"

"But during the busy season, he took two weeks off."

Did he actually do any work?

I gaped at the unimaginable work hours. Coming in at 10 and leaving at 4 left no time for actual work. And he surely didn't skip lunch.

On top of that, from what I knew, he was in an office job and didn't go out into the field.

But everyone seemed to know this, as Walker and Aki didn't look surprised.

Ami continued her explanation, watching me freak out alone.

"There was already a backlog."

"...That makes sense."

"The swirling scandals are personal, so even if they bothered him, he didn't touch them. But the HR Director's flashy scandals aren't something that started overnight. Still, since his job involves dealing with people, Ye-hyeon would occasionally comment that he wasn't keeping proper hours."

"And then he took a two-week vacation when he should have been watching his step."

"Exactly. He'd been holding on without breaking under the devil's talent until then, but he picked the wrong time when Ye-hyeon was in a bad mood."

He had every right to be angry.

I wondered how he'd managed not to explode until then. Memories of the first day came back. People were panicking because the HR Director had left work and then come back. I'd been shocked when I saw the HR Director in the scanner.

So that really had been a shocking incident.

Aki, who had been listening quietly, slowly shook her head.

"When the Commander gets angry, it's brutal."

"Ska gave me a brief rundown."

Ami's eyes curved with amusement.

"He was on a business trip and came back to the office. Suddenly, Ye-hyeon stared at his monitor with a blank expression for a while. Then, in an emotionless voice, he said, 'What is this?'"

"He saw the vacation request the HR Director had submitted."

"Yeah. He looked at the screen Joo had put in for vacation. Ye-hyeon stared at it for a long time, then quietly went down to the HR office. The secretaries said they wanted to erase from their memories what happened after that."

"How has he not been fired yet?"

"He's a genius at reading and handling people, better than anyone."

The senior with the round eyes explained simply.

"In fact, even then, he brought in Will as an achievement and barely got forgiven by Ye-hyeon."

William Walker tossed the rag again.

The kitchen was mostly cleaned up. The curry was finished too. Walker lifted the huge pot. I offered to carry it, but he refused.

Instead of asking again, I quickly gathered the utensils. The two seniors helped us pack up too.

We walked down the cool corridor carrying dinner. It felt as if we were the only ones left in a ruined world.

Dinner was held in what used to be a Gothic art exhibition hall. We used items that had once stood behind red ropes with "Do Not Touch" signs. We pulled over desks and chairs that had been exhibits and sat down. We set the meal on a walnut desk, dripping drops of curry as we ate.

But how exactly had he managed to bring in Senior Walker?

And how many scandals had he caused for Ye-hyeon to say something like that?

As I set the curry, I casually asked. Ami burst out laughing.

"The HR Director is the ultimate homme fatale in my book."

"Huh?"

"Watch out, newbie."

Aki spat out the words as she looked at me with wide eyes.

"You look pretty decent. You never know when his seductive touch might reach out."

"To me?"

"Yeah? Yeah? There are more than a few badgers who've fallen for the HR Director and suffered."

"But to me?"

"Hilde doesn't seem like Joo's type, though."

Ami muttered to herself.

"If he was into him, he would've made a move ages ago... Ye-hyeon oppa hasn't warned Hilde about him either..."

She dragged over chairs for the others coming to the exhibition hall, truly talking to herself this time.

"Ye-hyeon oppa would know best about Joo's love life for various reasons..."

Why was that?

"It tastes good, right?"

I tried to ask, but Tvain smacked my back.

Thanks to that, only a weird noise came out of my mouth. When I came to, I saw the seniors gathered in the exhibition hall. They must have come here after their personal maintenance time.

They were dressed more casually, but no one had put down their weapons.

They settled onto the exhibit furniture one by one.

The only senior missing was the one called Barbie. She was still supposed to be in the situation room. In the Safe Point, people took turns standing watch in the situation room.

There was so much new information coming in that my head was spinning.

For now, we ate dinner. I pushed aside memories of the two-tone-haired researcher, info on Joo, and details about the Safe Point and D Zone to one corner of my mind. Amid Richard Green's barrage of nagging, I silently shoveled the hot curry down my throat.

*

The most miserable thing was handling scraps.

That was what Ami said. Food scraps, trash—whatever it was, we had to deal with it all ourselves, so it was unavoidable. A lot of people found that stuff tough and exhausting.

But that was fine. Unhygienic tasks could be done quickly, washed off, and forgotten.

The most horrific was the shooting lesson with Richard Green.

The first evening in D Zone. After cleanup, he dragged me out of the building. Then, out of nowhere, he shoved his gun into my hands and started an intensive shooting lesson.

Ami insisted, "He's been tense for over ten hours; let him rest," and Iho argued, "Give him some break so his focus improves and he learns better," but it was pointless.

On top of that, I had no talent for shooting.

It had been months since I'd practiced, so everything felt unfamiliar and new. I couldn't expect the knack I'd had with driving or swordsmanship.

"It seems your mentor really didn't even teach you the basics of shooting."

I'd thought I'd kept up decently for someone who'd neglected practice for so long, but at the end of the intensive lesson, Richard Green gave a cold assessment.

Disappointment dripped from his voice.

"The newbie lacks fundamentals."

"I'm sorry."

"Shooting skills are average at best."

"I'm sorry. I'll work harder."

"I haven't seen your swordsmanship. But with shooting talent this mediocre, your sword skills are probably similarly average. Doesn't look like you have as much talent as those two young punks who followed you here."

"...I'm sorry."

At least it should have been better than shooting...

"No need to bother looking. It's late anyway."

"I'll work hard."

"Work very hard."

"Richard, if you say more, the halfwit might cry."

Jason Tvain chuckled and chimed in.

Ignoring his slippery voice, Green gruffly gave instructions.

"Can't even expect long-range support from you, so stick to driving for now."

I complied with the order in my battered state.

I trudged back into the building. The darkness was settling in. A cool wind blew. I dragged my heavy legs to the cot.

After a quick wash, I didn't move from the cot for a while.

An enormous sense of self-loathing washed over me. I'd never felt this in front of Yoon. Well, Yoon had never expected anything from me, so there was no disappointment either.

On the day I was down, Ami and Iho comforted me diligently.

Before switching watch duty with Barbie, Iho said this.

"No one meets that guy's standards."

He crunched on an energy bar and looked at me with tired eyes.

"Even Aki and William, the geniuses of the century, get nagged by Richard. Don't take it to heart, newbie."

"Yeah. Hilde's doing great!"

Ami dragged her cot next to mine.

Then she looked down at me, lying there depressed, with her round eyes.

"Most newbies don't even make it this far at this stage. It's an exceptional situation. You're doing way better than that?"

"Thanks. But it's true I'm no help with long-range support."

"Did Hilde waste time while others were learning to shoot? No, right?"

Ami said firmly.

"It's just the order got switched. And because of our oppa's will. Don't beat yourself up like an idiot, Hilde."

As Yoon said, without Ami, I'd have suffocated to death.

William Walker and Aki were talented types who didn't know how to comfort well. So Iho and Ami took good care of me. Thanks to those two gracious seniors, I pulled myself together again.

Gratefully, Ami even gave me an intensive lecture.

"The magazine is as important as the gun itself. If it doesn't feed bullets properly, the gun won't fire. So you have to check the magazine over and over."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Did oppa teach you how to maintain weapons?"

"No. He checked the gun I carried, but said with my shooting skills, I'd likely hit friendlies, so not to draw it unless necessary, and that was it..."

"I see. Weapon maintenance starts with zeroing. Just listen lightly. From a prone position in advance stance, fire five rounds at a target 90 meters away. Then look at the bullet grouping on the target and adjust the sights so the next shots hit exactly where you want."

I got it. In my case, I couldn't tell if it was bad zeroing or just me being bad at shooting.

Anyway, Ami didn't blame my lousy shooting skills.

"Oppa zeroed it for himself, which might not fit Hilde. Things like distance between eye and sight. So eventually, Hilde should zero it himself."

After the helpful intensive lecture, I mulled over the content and prepared well.

I closed my eyes, resolved to wake at 5 a.m. As the youngest, I got the consideration of the last watch shift. Not having to wake at dawn was a huge relief.

I had to make sure I wasn't a burden the next day too.

Would I have to drive that junk military vehicle again?

Probably not. There had to be other vehicles somewhere in this building. With those thoughts, I drifted into a light sleep.

*

I woke at 3 a.m.

Because Aki shook me awake.

"Get up. Now."

"The building's completely surrounded." The senior's gruff voice hit my ears.