MBD | Chapter 2

“Ugh!”

The round fired by Everhart hit the soldier hiding behind the tree squarely in the chest.

It was a reflexive action. A beat later, the soldier collapsed, and Everhart got a clear look at his face.

‘Wait, a kid? And that’s… paint? Is this some kind of survival game arena or what?’

Instead of red blood, thick red dye was smeared across the soldier’s chest.

‘No, this isn’t a survival game arena. This is a mock battle.’

The officer cadets participating in the exercise were wearing small mechanical devices called vital guards on their chests and critical points. If they got hit there with a paint round, they were considered instantly dead.

“Let’s move. Weber Schmidt.”

“A-Ah, yes.”

Weber, who would have been considered dead if Everhart hadn’t helped, exhaled sharply, trying to calm his pounding heart.

Everhart entered the hideout with his junior, Weber. Being good with communication equipment, Weber tried to send a radio message using the machine tucked in the corner. But no response came back.

“Haah, sunbae-nim… I think we’re the only ones left alive.”

The fact that their hideout hadn’t been discovered yet was pure luck, but it was only a matter of time before it happened. Giving up on the radio, Weber turned to Everhart with a look that asked, So, what now?

‘I’ve never seen this situation in the original story.’

Everhart had been racking his brain the entire way to the hideout, trying to grasp what was going on.

After piecing things together, he finally figured it out—this was before the original story had even started.

He wasn’t sure exactly how many years prior, but—

‘The protagonist of I Reincarnated as a Trash Soldier in Another World got reincarnated one year after the Magic Stone Tech Revolution happened, right?’

In its traditional form, the military was, strictly speaking, an army for elite-class mages.

Every soldier could use magic, and those who graduated from the officer academy were the elite of the elite.

Soldiers were the ruling class of society, and noble families considered it only natural for their children to enter the academy and become military officers.

Everhart had entered the Royal Eisenwald Military Academy under that same expectation.

After checking all the standard rifles stored in the weapon locker, Everhart was certain.

‘This is before the Magic Stone Tech Revolution.’

The Magic Stone Tech Revolution was a technological breakthrough that allowed anyone to use magic as long as they had access to magic stones and the technology to process them.

It was a turning point that made it possible for the masses to enjoy what had once been a privilege only for those born with magical power.

Afterward, various nations waged wars to secure magic stones, invading foreign lands and establishing colonies without hesitation. The accumulation of these conflicts eventually led to the Continental War.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the world of I Reincarnated as a Trash Soldier in Another World was divided into two eras—before and after the Magic Stone Tech Revolution.

The fact that he had reincarnated as Everhart before the revolution was a stroke of luck.

‘Right now, physical ability is more important than firepower.’

As a noble-born officer cadet who had grown up with good food and proper training, Everhart was tall and well-built.

His frame was a little on the lean side for a soldier, which was a minor flaw, but his physique was still above the average adult male.

It was no accident that Kang Woojin—now Everhart—had precisely shot the vital point of the enemy soldier hiding behind Weber.

After all, his best skill was marksmanship.

“Uhm, sunbae-nim. What are you going to do?”

“What else? We fight. Did they teach you to surrender the moment a war gets a little tough?”

“This isn’t just a little tough, though?”

“It’s a little tough. Just a little.”

The mock battle was divided into two teams: the assault unit, which had to attack and secure the target, and the defense unit, which had to stop them.

Weber and Everhart’s team were part of the assault unit.

‘The one leading the defense unit is Karl Heinrich, a senior from the year above.’

Their assault unit had a third-year sunbae as the commander, but he was ruled out of action early in the battle.

Naturally, Everhart, a second-year, took over as the commander. And as they were on their way to attack, they fell into a trap and were ambushed.

‘Damn bastard. As if taking a detour is some kind of brilliant strategy.’

Since this had happened before Kang Woojin reincarnated into this world, he couldn’t really say anything about it.

Besides, wasn’t this his own doing? If anything, the original Everhart from the novel was undoubtedly an ignorant noble kid with zero military knowledge or instincts.

“A lot of their forces must have moved out to attack us, and several of them have already died. On top of that, the enemy is busy searching for us. That means their main camp is practically empty. Doesn’t it look like the perfect time to strike?”

“Just the two of us? Uh… wouldn’t surrendering be the smarter choice? It’s not like this is a real war.”

“Train as you fight, fight as you train. In Korea—no, in the Eisenwald army, surrender is not an option.”

“Weren’t you the very one who said we should surrender when the Supreme Commander was taken out… sunbae-nim?”

Everhart completely ignored Weber’s words.

What? What? What kind of soldier talks like such a weakling?

Everhart?

The noble kid Everhart is dead.

He’s gone from this world!

The Everhart standing before Weber Schmidt was now a man who had crawled through the frozen -20°C winters and the scorching 40°C summers of South Korea.

“But you’re not actually planning to charge in without a plan… right?”

“Don’t worry. I’ve got an idea.”

Everhart’s gaze landed on the outer wall of the cave that served as their hideout. The cave had been fitted with electrical wiring, and nearby, there was an emergency generator and a pile of batteries.

“Let’s move fast. Time is tight.”

Everhart hastily gave Weber some instructions. Weber didn’t understand what was going on, but he followed Everhart’s orders without question.

An hour later, Karl Heinrich’s unit discovered the hideout. They cautiously entered the darkened cave.

Tick.

“Huh? What’s that sound—”

Shuuuuuuuuuu!

A burst of sparks erupted inside the narrow hideout, and in an instant, thick smoke filled the space.

“Something’s wrong! Fall back!”

“Fire! It’s fire!”

Startled, Heinrich’s soldiers scrambled to escape the cave. Just as the smoke engulfed the entrance—

BOOOOOM!

“Wha—what the hell…?”

“Was that an accident?”

There were no casualties, but a massive explosion had just gone off inside the hideout. While they stood there, dumbfounded—

Ratatatatatata!

“Aaaaagh!”

“Above! They’re above us!”

“Fuck, return fire! What the hell! Why are there so many of them still alive?!”

From above, paint rounds rained down in a chaotic storm, and through the smoke, vague human shapes emerged.

Because of the smoke and the high-ground position, Heinrich’s soldiers could barely see what was happening. To their eyes, it looked as if the dead had come back to life and were now firing at them.

“Hey! No, look, they’re just dummies!”

“What do you mean dummies?! The shots are coming straight at us!”

“Take cover, you idiots!!”

By the time they realized those were just hastily made scarecrow dummies, their formation was already a tangled mess.

‘What the hell? Did sunbae-nim suddenly awaken some hidden skills?’

Just an hour ago, Everhart had been the same guy spouting nonsense like “Charging straight in is the best strategy!”

But no matter how absurd it seemed, his strategy was working flawlessly.

At first, Weber had his doubts, but as soon as Everhart gave the orders, he diligently weaved between the scarecrow dummies that had been pre-positioned with machine guns and started unloading paint rounds in every direction.

While Weber kept Heinrich’s unit tangled up in chaos, Everhart made his way straight toward the objective.

He silently concealed himself in the blind spots of the forest, holding his breath.

Thankfully, the layout of the target area wasn’t unfamiliar.

Separated from the chaos, the objective’s presence was clear. Everhart heightened his senses, finger resting lightly on the trigger.

And the moment his target entered his sights—

Bang!

As soon as the opponent revealed themselves, he fired directly at their chest, where their Vital Guard was placed. The cadet, with impressive reflexes, immediately tried to dodge.

However, the instant they were hit, their ability to return fire was nullified—meaning they couldn’t shoot any paint rounds anymore.

“H-huh? When did I get hit?”

The cadet blinked in confusion.

‘Hah. Just a bunch of greenhorn rookies.’

There was no way they could match K-Everhart, a man thoroughly trained through all kinds of hell.

Everhart pointed his gun at the bewildered cadet’s head. The cadet instinctively raised both hands in surrender.

“I-I’m dead already, okay?”

“I know.”

“Then why…?”

“What do you mean why? Can’t you see my condition? Ah-choo…!”

Even if it wasn’t as bad as Korea, the forest at night was still freezing.

Because he and Weber had needed to make as many scarecrow dummies as possible, they had stripped down to almost nothing.

“Where the hell are your clothes? No, wait. What are you trying to say—”

“Take them off. Now.”

“Hell no! Why?!”

“Why is a dead man still talking? Do you want to get beaten and strip, or just strip?”

“Aaaaargh!!”

Thus, Everhart acquired warm enemy clothing.

‘Phew, finally, I can feel my fingers again.’

After stuffing his pockets with the weapons he had brought, he immediately set off toward the objective location.

The objective was in a barracks situated in the middle of the forest.

Several guards were stationed at the entrance, and even from a distance, they looked on edge.

By now, they must have noticed that something had gone wrong at the hideout. They had assumed victory was in the bag, only for an unexpected crisis to shake them up.

Everhart took out the flare gun he had brought from the hideout.

A bright red flare suddenly shot into the sky, prompting Heinrich’s forces to rush toward the disturbance.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Everhart pressed himself against the barracks’ outer wall.

Examining the building, he estimated its height to be slightly lower than a three-story structure.

There were plenty of metal structures scattered around, making it easy to climb up. In no time, Everhart managed to slip inside the barracks.

At a glance, the objective was obvious—it was a small box placed at the center of the room.

Five people were standing around it.

Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Karl Heinrich was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where the hell did that bastard go?’

Kaang—.