Just like the beautiful hands on the screen, he quietly tapped his fingertips on the table and stood like a stone statue with complex thoughts. But looking back now, it didn’t seem that complicated.

“Ah….. who knows. Will I always live in a war-torn world? Anyway, I have no intention of joining any anti-war movements.”

“Alright. Although I’ve quit my job, there are still many professional soldiers out there who need to make a living.”

Jeong Taeui mumbled and threw himself back onto the bed.

*Whack*. His foot hit the corner of the wall. It hurt like hell.

***************************

Although he had anticipated it, everything shattered like a bubble.

The next day. Golding – the Instructor of the second martial arts training center – called Jeong Taeui about 30 minutes before the official training session began. Of course, the day before, Jeong Taeui had left the training room on the pretext of changing clothes and disappeared for 30 minutes. When called for roll call, he was still lying on his uncle’s bed without moving a muscle. So now, he had to pay the price by rolling on the floor early in the morning before regular classes began like this.

Jeong Taeui, physically and mentally exhausted, staggered into the formal class of the morning. Today, there would be a lecture analyzing real combat experiences. The hall was equipped with a large screen, but it was still quite small compared to the room. Members of the team had already gathered around and sat in silence.

When Jeong Taeui entered the class, the Instructor glared at him fiercely but didn’t say much, probably because he had heard the situation from Golding.

Tou sneaked into an empty seat and immediately turned to look at Jeong Taeui.

“Did you have a fun date with Golding? Being called out right after breakfast, what a hot relationship.”

“Yeah, it was so hot I got burned to death.”

Jeong Taeui grumbled, whispering to Tou, but then shrank down when he received a bullet-like glare from the instructor on the podium. Tou pretended not to know anything and sat up straight, looking forward.

“As everyone knows, the joint training with the European branch is coming up. So today, we will review videos of previous training sessions and conduct individual analyses. Here are the data from last year’s joint training.”

While Jeong Taeui stealthily poked Tou’s side mercilessly, the instructor pressed the control button. The dark screen lit up, showing a video. The image quality wasn’t great, but it was good enough to watch the scenes in it.

“Damn it, that hurts.”

Tou winced and whispered to Jeong Taeui, who then pretended to be innocent, looking forward.

“Quiet, look up there. It’s the joint training record.”

Jeong Taeui said coldly. Tou raised his hand to retaliate, but Carlo lightly kicked his chair. A small beep sounded. The video stopped. The instructor’s icy gaze turned towards them.

“You there. Do you want to watch this after class during your break?”

A cold voice spoke up. Tou immediately sat up straight and said solemnly.

“No. I absolutely don’t want that.”

“Sorry. I’ll stay quiet.”

It’s best to bow unconditionally. This morning, Jeong Taeui realized that a person could completely lose themselves when facing their superior. Of course, Tou, who had lived here for a long time, couldn’t be unaware of that.

Beneath the Director and Vice Director would be the Instructor and Assistant Instructor of that person. But the position of an Instructor was not a minor title to be taken lightly. If an Instructor at UNHRDO moved to another organization, they could immediately hold a high position.

The Instructor with gray hair glared at them coldly and then picked up the control.

“If you want to save your life, don’t neglect your duty. Watch carefully.”

The instructor spoke, and the video started moving again.

It was footage from last year’s joint training with the European branch, but not the whole thing, just the essential parts that had been cut and edited.

As the video began, the previously quiet class started murmuring at the bloody scenes. Everyone watched the videos seriously and quietly discussed them with colleagues nearby.

Jeong Taeui, who had never experienced any joint training before, focused on the screen and listened to the sounds around him.

“So, it’s less than 10 days away. After watching this, do you think you can keep up?”

A colleague next to him whispered stealthily to Jeong Taeui. He crossed his arms, rested his chin on them, stared at the screen, and replied without taking his eyes off it.

“It feels like an organized gang war. Team up with your side and beat the other side to death….. But I also have to worry about my own life. I’m a bit concerned.”

Among the men struggling in the video, he occasionally saw colleagues from this room appearing in the footage. However, it felt like seeing them for the first time. Those were faces truly standing on the edge between life and death. If they lost, they would surely die.

There were no lethal weapons. The guns were either paintball guns or air guns. The knives were dulled, so they couldn’t stab anyone. In other words, it was entirely formal training.

However, no one sitting here was unaware that seemingly harmless things could become deadly weapons.

“Ha. Tou’s stupid blunder was also recorded.”

Jeong Taeui laughed and pointed at the screen. The man frowning next to him was the one appearing on the screen. As he tried to seize an opportunity to punch his opponent, he stepped on a guy who had fallen behind and lost his balance. The punch only hit the air. Thus, he was easily countered by his opponent.

Tou grumbled, wondering why they recorded that scene. Yuen Ho, sitting next to him, who was also chuckling, appeared on the screen. A fierce expression was clearly painted on his face.

“There it is. We can’t just watch failures; show me some victories too. Our team members look foolish doing stupid things; it’s embarrassing.”

“You brat….. I never make foolish mistakes. You don’t feel ridiculous saying that?”

“Basic mistakes like that aren’t foolish enough?”

Tou could only choke on his words at Jeong Taeui’s cheerful smile. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to pounce on Jeong Taeui when the surroundings suddenly became eerily silent. In that strangely cold atmosphere, Tou turned back to look at the video, and Jeong Taeui also directed his gaze forward.

An edited video was playing on the screen. Although it had been edited, the main content was still very clear, just trimmed of unnecessary parts before and after.

In that video, there was a man.

His face was pale as if there wasn’t a drop of blood in it. Whatever he was thinking, he looked down at his feet from above. The man, with a bored expression and neat clothes, didn’t seem to fit in such videos. If he appeared on the cover of a fashion magazine, it would make more sense.

“…..That face must look lovely when smiling.”

Jeong Taeui sighed and added, “But his face is so pale, what a pity.”

Tou turned to look at him. He looked at Jeong Taeui as if he had seen a ghost. Not only that, but the members sitting in spots where they could barely hear him also cast surprised glances at Jeong Taeui, their pupils nearly popping out. Jeong Taeui didn’t know if they were glaring at him.

Jeong Taeui looked around, wondering why these people suddenly became like that, and then turned his gaze to the screen.

The man in the video didn’t even have a weapon. His hands were empty, only wearing black gloves. He didn’t seem to be hiding any secret weapons either. The shirt fit his body perfectly, and he wore simple pants with nothing extra on his figure.

Did they insert the wrong video? No, that scene was definitely from this branch.

Jeong Taeui rubbed his lips with his hand while resting his chin, curiously watching the screen. At that moment, their eyes met. The moment those glassy black eyes looked through the screen at him, Jeong Taeui’s heart skipped a beat.

Maybe he was looking at the camera mounted in the corner of the room. A smile formed in those expressionless, bland eyes. Jeong Taeui guessed that the man might be younger than him. Just by appearance, it was hard to tell his age, but there was still a faintly youthful look on the smiling face.

The man approached the camera and reached out. The screen was immediately covered by his black gloves.

However, before the camera was completely obscured by black, the hand stopped. He realized there was another man appearing behind him as that hand gradually moved away from the camera. It was a man with a larger build than most Eastern men.

When seeing the newly appeared man, someone whispered “Kiyomi.” It seemed he had heard that name somewhere before. Jeong Taeui quickly realized that this was the man who had been severely injured in the previous training and was now recuperating in the hospital. He was also the former owner of the room Jeong Taeui was staying in.

The man named Kiyomi held a knife in his hand. It was a blunt knife, so it couldn’t be used to cut anyone. But Kiyomi didn’t back down; his face turned red as he glared straight at the man in front of him. He seemed to say something, but since the video didn’t record sound, it was hard to know what he said.

The man suddenly approached Kiyomi. In an instant, tension appeared on his face as the man moved closer at a moderate pace.

For a moment, Kiyomi rotated the knife half a turn, the blade pointing down, and approached the man. While throwing

 an elbow to strike the man, he raised the hand holding the knife and stabbed downward. Whether the man avoided the elbow or the knife, he would leave an opening and could be taken down at any moment.

The man slowed his steps. Then he reached out, supported himself against the wall, and jumped to the side.

Jeong Taeui’s fingers, rubbing his lips, suddenly stopped. It seemed he had seen something very strange.

On the white wall where the man had touched, there were black marks as if something sticky from his gloves had adhered to it.

What was that?

Jeong Taeui didn’t have time to think.