Chapter 130 (1/2)

Chapter 130

There was the glow of the sunset.

Mulan’s Night wasn’t over yet as the twilight deepened.

Now there was only the third tradition left. It was the highlight of the Mulan training camp, the main event.

“From now on, the last tradition ‘Destroy the Ruins’ will start!”

Kunta’s shout exploded and the trainees roared.

He raised his hand to stop the cheers and then continued with a brief explanation, “Mulan has been haunted by wolves from generation to generation! The reason is that after crossing Mount Smir in the south, the Wolves’ Ruins will appear. Also...”

A long story followed.

Park Muyeol nodded as he listened to the explanation.

‘...It is boring. The bottom line is that we are going to invade the ruins.’

It was a very simple conclusion but it was a fact. He yawned at the lengthy explanation.

He was tired from the work beforehand.

Haeba whispered from next to him, “You can sleep a bit, I’ll listen.”

“Cough. You will?”

Park Muyeol’s head nodded and he started to doze off.

It was 30 minutes later that the explanation ended.

He was in dreamland when he felt someone shaking him.

The trainees around him were slowly moving.

“Cough, is it over?”

“Yes, Chairman-nim.”

A light shimmered in front of him.

Park Muyeol shook his head with a slight dizziness and followed the group.

The place where we were heading was just south of Mount Smir. It was where he went to see the village chief the other day and was kicked out.

Mount Smir was dyed by the setting sun and boasted a very nice view.

Park Muyeol couldn’t help frowning when a familiar smithy was spotted.

“That son of a bitch.”

“Huh? What did you say just now?”

“Nothing. I was just reminded of something.”

Park Muyeol’s words were ambiguous to the questioning Haeba. In any case, it was in the past so it was funny.

Then a voice was heard from behind him.

It was a young man in his 30s, who gave off a pretty tough impression.

Well, not as much as Park Muyeol.

He asked, “Instructor, are you really planning to quit?”

“Yes.”

“It seems to fit you pretty well.”

“I never intended to stay here from the beginning. I have to go see a friend.”

“Friend? Are you talking about a peer?”

“Yes, he is strong.”

“As strong as you?”

“Um, he was when I was young. However, I don’t know about now.”

“Oh my god, I got goosebumps.”

Another group member was attracted by the words.

He gave off a soft appearance but his fierce eyes were rather sharp.

“However, are we going to stay like this, where we don’t even know each other’s names?”

From the moment they entered the training camp, all their user IDs became ‘Trainee.’

It was Trainee XX. It was like this.

“Yes, it is funny. We know the instructor’s name but isn’t it funny that we don’t know each other’s names? Well, I know the name of that person. I heard the instructor call him Haeba.”

“......”

The three trainees’ eyes focused on one person and Haeba scratched his cheek in an awkward manner.

“Haha... Yes, I am Haeba. It is nice to meet everyone.”

The moment he finished his greetings, everyone revealed their names.

“My name is Muksabal. If you ask me why I’m called Muksabal, it is a nickname the people who tried to beat me up came up with. (TL: Generally acorn jelly in a chilled broth. But it can also be slang for badly damaging or disfiguring a face i.e. beating to a pulp). Huhu.”

“I am Jekyll. It doesn’t mean anything. I got that nickname because I’m a Ji-ssi. (Ji is his surname) It was from an early age.”

Muksabal was surprised by Jekyll’s words. “Oh? You’re a Ji as well? Ahh. Let’s get along. Which Ji-ssi are you from?”

“It is just an unknown family. My father said this when he checked the genealogy.”

“Ahh. You too? I’m the same. Kuhahaha!”

Park Muyeol saw the two men who had found something common in a strange place and smiled. “Crazy guys.”

“Kuhaha. We’re all crazy guys.”

“It is a testament to our craziness that we endured your training.”

Park Muyeol shook his head as they spoke.

The last trainee was a foreigner who just watched quietly. He was a huge man with a seemingly simple personality.

“What is your name?”

“...Baroque.”

It was a short answer but Park Muyeol didn’t feel bad.

This person never once expressed hardship during the special training. According to Park Muyeol’s long experience, this was a real honest person.

They smiled and chatted as they crossed the mountain.

The sun had completely set and a dreary night came.

Kunta handed out torches to the instructors one by one and they kept walking.

Finally, everyone reached the Wolves’ Ruins.

“Take a break here. Get ready to set up camp!”

The trainees moved busily and a small bonfire was lit.

All of them sat around it with Kunta in the middle.

“After around 10 minutes, Groups 1 and 2 will enter the ruins together. Today is a full moon night and the wolves will be ferocious. The instructors can come in and fight together with their trainees for safety. The goal is to break through the wild wolves living in the ruins and bring out the silver wolf’s mane. The team that brings out the most silver wolf’s manes in 15 minutes will be the winner.”

Everyone nodded to show they understood the explanation.

10 minutes passed and Groups 1 and 2 moved to the entrance of the ruins.

The trainees who saw it cried out.

“Have strength~! You don’t know who will win!”

“Hahaha! The champion is naturally our Group 4.”

”What are you talking about? It hasn’t even started yet! Stupid!”

“It would be disappointing to exclude our Group 5!”

“Don’t leave out Group 8!”

Park Muyeol smiled as the trainees stimulated each other and raised their enthusiasm.

Muksabal also shouted loudly.

It was a voice that everyone could hear.

“No, Instructor, won’t we win?!”

“You have to. Tonight, the pot will completely explode.”

“Hey, you guys! Did you hear? The old man said he was going to blow up every one of you!”

“Puhahaha!”

Everyone laughed and grabbed their bellies.

They all knew this was the last time.

Thus, they didn’t express their displeasure with each other.

In any case, a new adventure would begin from the moment they leave the training camp.

Just then, Park Muyeol’s grandson, who was sitting with Group 4, walked over to this place.

The trainees of Group 7 went to another place to talk and laugh.

Park Muyeol invited Seongchan to sit and Park Seongchan sat right next to him.

Seongchan muttered, “It’s nice to be doing this after a long time.”

“It is as you say. I’m thinking of the old days.”

They stared into the burning bonfire with soft eyes.

Both of them were silent but they were smiling.

The memories they shared were the same.

‘It has been a year since then.’

It was only a short period of three months but the two of them went to the mountain together to train in swordsmanship.

There were only the two of them but there were many nice memories.

They caught hares and also struck wild boars, even though it was dangerous. How good was their vacation?

“Grandfather, it is my parent’s death anniversary tomorrow.”

“...Yes, I already know. Let’s go early tomorrow morning.”

Park Muyeol was moved by his grandson’s words.

In that unfortunate accident, Seongchan lost his parents and Park Muyeol lost his son and daughter-in-law.

It had been a windy winter.

A rough snowy night.

The two of them had been killed by a truck driver under the influence of alcohol on the way back from buying Seongchan’s birthday present.

They kept their promise to die together but ironically, they failed to keep their promise to give Seongchan a gift.

“It will be your birthday soon. Is there anything you want?”

“Um...” Seongchan paused for a moment before continuing, “I’d like a capsule.”

“What about the one Gitae is using?”

“Give that to Uncle.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Park Muyeol nodded. Time passed and Groups 1 and 2 came out together. Once he saw that Dutch, the instructor of Group 1, was screaming, it would seem that Group 1 had won.

Then it was time for Groups 3 and 4.

“Grandfather, I'll be going.”

“Yes, be sure to win.”

“Haha. Of course!”