Death Progress Bar Chapter 99

Chapter 99

Additional Training

Shi Jin heard the footsteps of Xiang Aoting following behind him. He wanted to glance back but knew that the students behind him would see if he did, so he stared firmly ahead until he arrived at the corner of the field. There, he did an about-turn, stood at attention, and looked at Xiang Aoting without speaking.

Xiang Aoting faced him with his back to the crowd. He reached out and patted his shoulder, saying, “Don’t tense your shoulders, just let your arms hang straight down. Position your middle fingers along the seams of your pant legs.”

This sounded really familiar. Was there perhaps some kind of multidimensional handbook with lines for every drill instructor to use?

Shi Jin glanced at Xiang Aoting’s severe expression and followed his instructions without comment.

“Back straight, heels touching.” Xiang Aoting circled him, patted his back, and lightly kicked the side of his foot.

Losing his patience, Shi Jin waited for his brother to come to the front again and glared at him—wasn’t this enough?! He’d already pa.s.sed through the police academy in his last life, and standing at attention was the basics of the basics. Xiang Aoting was just nitpicking right now!

“Thinking you’re doing well enough?” Xiang Aoting looked down at him again with the advantage of height, then raised a hand and patted the cap on the teenager’s head. “When it comes to such a basic skill as standing at attention, my, Xiang Aoting’s younger brother is not allowed to do just ‘well enough’—you have to do it perfectly, understood?”

The police academy’s cap had a brim. Xiang Aoting’s pat set it askew, covering Shi Jin’s eyes; now, he couldn’t see anything in front of him except for Xiang Aoting’s feet and legs when he looked far down. He had no choice but to ask, “Am I allowed to speak, sir?”

A slight smile appeared on Xiang Aoting’s face as if he was amused by Shi Jin acting like a well-behaved cadet, but he quickly suppressed it. “Speak.”

“Sir, my cap is obstructing my vision. Please allow me to straighten it—seeing your heroic appearance more clearly would let me better a.s.similate your teachings!” Shi Jin bootlicked without hesitation. All he wanted was to end this torturous instructor-cadet conversation as soon as possible.

But Xiang Aoting refused straight out: “Request denied. Stand still, you’re not allowed to move!”

Shi Jin：“……” You’re totally abusing your official position to get even for a private grudge! How can I properly stand at attention with a crooked hat?!

The students lined up not far away were secretly paying attention to what was happening in the corner of the field. As they watched Shi Jin being “disciplined” and reprimanded by the instructor, and that he wasn’t even allowed to fix his crooked hat, their hearts swelled with sympathy and gloating.

Ah, the young master was really miserable—he was singled out and punished in front of so many students. What a complete humiliation!

The students were sympathetic on the surface, but inside, they were filled with schadenfreude. Suddenly, Xiang Aoting turned back and his sharp gaze swept across the crowd, unerringly focusing on the people whose expressions had been too obviously gloating just now. Raising his chin, he barked, “The fifth and sixth person in the third row! The third and fourth in the fourth row! You have been absent-minded and disregarded your superiors’ speech. Your training today is doubled!”

Hiss—how fierce! Do you have eyes in the back of your head as well?!

The innocent youths, who had yet to experience the brutality of life, were intimidated by Xiang Aoting’s imposing aura. Turning as meek as little lambs in an instant, they didn’t dare to watch the excitement on Shi Jin’s side anymore and obediently turned to the front to listen to the base commander’s speech.

Now it was Shi Jin’s turn to gloat. He was just an ordinary person. He’d been looked at with strange gazes since he reported as school; on the surface, he didn’t seem to care, but if he had to be honest, it did bother him a little.

Well, just a little bit.

“What are you so happy about? They’re not sensible, so you feel you have to follow along? These people here are your cla.s.smates and your comrades for the next four years—if you go to the battlefield, they are the ones who will be watching your back. You’d better get your att.i.tude straight.” Shi Jin hadn’t noticed when Xiang Aoting had turned back to face him. The man raised a hand to help him straighten his cap. When he met Shi Jin’s upturned eyes, his expression eased. “Congratulations on entering college. I’m proud of you,” he said, patting the teenager’s head again.

Shi Jin was stunned. All of a sudden, the scene of the original “Shi Jin” being rescued from the kidnappers by Xiang Aoting flashed in his mind. His chest inexplicably tight, he replied, “I am also proud of you. You are my hero.”

Xiang Aoting’s hand on his head stilled. He looked at Shi Jin for a moment, then carefully adjusted his cap, the epaulets, and the student number on his chest. After a while, he said, “I am very happy that you have chosen this profession, and that you see me this way. I will try my best not to let you down.”

Striking while the iron was still hot, Shi Jin asked, “So, why did you transfer from the Air Force to the army? And you’ve even become my military instructor… Did you call in some favors?”

“No, it was just a normal transfer.”

Shi Jin looked skeptical.

Xiang Aoting’s expression turned stern. He took a step back and said, “Cadet Shi Jin, you have to address a superior officer as ‘Sir’. Understood?”

Shi Jin immediately shouted, “Sir, yes, sir!” at the top of his voice.

Xiang Aoting wanted to smile but held back. “Alright, speak!”

“Sir, I was talking to my fourth brother just now, not to my superior officer. Do I have to keep to military rules even when talking with my brother?” Shi Jin uttered earnestly, almost managing to make it sound like a sincere explanation instead of straight-out sucking up.

This time, Xiang Aoting couldn’t hold back the smile. He reached out to pat him on the shoulder and said, “This is a military base, don’t make such a racket… Stand at attention for half an hour—in half an hour, I’ll come and let you off.” Then he patted him on the shoulder again and walked away.

As Shi Jin watched him leave, his mood, which had become low because of his separation from Lian Jun, became a little better for a while. Looking at the well-behaved cadets nearby, obediently listening to the orientation, he stifled an emotional sigh—his comrades used to pat him on the back like this… When Xiang Aoting spoke like this, he really looked like a professional instructor.

Due to the morning’s episode, Shi Jin became famous again. He was thick-skinned enough to pretend that nothing had happened though, and after rejoining his cla.s.s, he acted as if he’d been intimidated into behaving himself and ignored anyone who tried to talk to him.

The training only started in the afternoon—in the morning, there was just a simple a.s.sembly and allocation of living quarters. Shi Jin followed the instructors to the dormitory building that the base set aside for students. After lining up to receive the personal necessities, he went to his a.s.signed dorm room to prepare for the room inspection.

The accommodation for cadets in the base was worse than in school. Each room housed ten people on double bunk beds; to eat one had to go to the canteen, and there was only one big communal washroom for everyone. Basically, there was no personal s.p.a.ce and no privacy at all.

“I’ve heard that the instructors will do room inspections regularly, and those who fail to pa.s.s will get extra training as punishment. Some of us have probably never folded a quilt in their entire lives, so I’m afraid that the incident from this morning will reoccur,” one of Shi Jin’s cla.s.smates allocated to the same room as him said sarcastically, with a hint of schadenfreude in his voice.

Shi Jin had been a.s.signed an upper bunk. Hearing the comment, he stopped making the bed, jumped down, and stood in front of the speaker, seeming to tower over him.

The teenager probably didn’t expect that Shi Jin would confront him. Shrinking back a little, he stammered, “Wha-what? Why are you looking at me? Wanna fight?”

Xiang Aoting, who was walking by the room with another instructor, halted in his steps. He signaled to his companion, who was going to stop the cadets from making trouble, to let them be, and looked sideways into the room.

Due to a bed frame blocking the view, the boys inside didn’t see him standing at the door. Some students pa.s.sing by also noticed the commotion, but Xiang Aoting’s expression was so ugly that they didn’t dare to approach or speak up.

With everyone’s eyes on him, Shi Jin gestured with his chin at the person who provoked him. “Which is your bunk?”

The youth shifted uneasily. “What-what business of yours is that?”

“Is it the one you’re sitting on?” Shi Jin ignored his uncooperative att.i.tude and looked at the other people in the room. After confirming that it was indeed the speaker’s bed, he stepped forward and without warning, shook out the already folded quilt on it.

The speaker immediately jumped to his feet, crying out, “Hey, what are you doing?! I only said one sentence, did it really p.i.s.s you off so—”

Shi Jin neatly refolded the quilt right in front of him and put it back on the bed, then straightened up and looked at the teenager. “If you have any doubts about me in the future, I hope you will come and ask me face-to-face. We’re cla.s.smates: comrades who, for the next four years, will entrust our backs to each other, so I don’t want any unnecessary misunderstandings to set us at odds. I’m Shi Jin. What’s your name?” he asked, holding out a hand.

Dazed, the youth instinctively took Shi Jin’s hand and shook it. “I, my name is Luo Donghao.”

“Nice to meet you.” Shi Jin smiled at him, then continued, “Let’s get lunch together?”

“All, alright,” Luo Donghao agreed. As he looked at Shi Jin’s smile, for some reason, his face felt slightly hot. This, this person seemed a little different from the rumors—quite friendly and…

Shi Jin released his hand and said with a smile, “You are my first friend in the police academy, except for my roommates in the school dorm. I hope we can get along well.”

Eh, friend?

Luo Donghao was a bit dizzy. He had the nagging thought that something was wrong, but as he glanced at Shi Jin’s sincere expression, he felt that everything seemed to be right? He nodded and stammered out, “Yeah, me too… Um, Shi Jin, sorry about before. I always tend to run my mouth.”

“It’s fine.” Shi Jin’s smile turned brighter as he continued ensnaring his prey: “I think your straightforward temperament is cute. I like it very much.”

Li, like?!

Luo Donghao looked at Shi Jin’s beautiful smile, listened to his captivating voice, and his heart nearly pounded out of his chest.

This, this guy seemed really—

Knock knock.

Xiang Aoting knocked on the door and asked, “What are you doing?” His eyes swept around, then like a laser gun scope focused on Luo Donghao’s slightly red face.

As if this sharp gaze had broken the spell, Luo Donghao’s heart settled back in its original place and the words choked in his throat. He… was he done for? Did the devil instructor see him provoking Shi Jin just now? Was he going to be punished to stand on the field?

“Sir, I don’t know how to make a bed, so Luo Donghao is teaching me,” Shi Jin looked at Xiang Aoting and lied without batting an eye.

The instructor who stood behind Xiang Aoting couldn’t help but smile. When he looked at Shi Jin, his gaze was much kinder than before.

Xiang Aoting frowned and gave Shi Jin a deep look. “You’re too noisy, keep it down. Finish tidying up your room, and go downstairs to a.s.semble for heading to the canteen for lunch.” Then he signaled to the instructor accompanying him and went to check the next room.

“You’re certainly quick-witted, cadet,” the instructor teased Shi Jin before leaving. Shi Jin replied with a look of blank incomprehension, scoring full marks for his acting skills.

The conflict defused, the atmosphere in room 103, where Shi Jin lived, eased down. Everyone introduced themselves and got more familiar with each other. Luo Donghao solemnly apologized to Shi Jin again and thanked him for his help; Shi Jin said that it was nothing and only the right thing to do since everyone was friends.

Watching Shi Jin’s dazzling smile, Luo Donghao was suddenly seized with an old-father-like concern—this rumored “spoiled and arrogant young master”, didn’t he seem to actually be the “silly sweet” type? With this character, he’d probably suffer a lot in the future.

Shi Jin didn’t notice what impression his “tool to change everyone’s opinion of him” made of him. He was complimenting Xiao Si in his mind, praising it for the buff which made his image in his roommates’ eyes a little more positive.

Xiao Si was very happy to be praised. Its heart swelling with pleasure, it blurted out, < Don’t mention it—as your daddy, this is what I should do. >

Shi Jin’s expression froze, and he once again sent the system to the “small black room” to let it calm down.

If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.

After lunch, the military training officially began. The squads were separated and a.s.signed to instructors, with Shi Jin’s squad inevitably taken over by Xiang Aoting.

All the students who had seen Xiang Aoting “educating” Shi Jin in the morning couldn’t help but take a breath when they saw him coming their way. It’s actually him—it’s over, we won’t get through this alive.

The morale of the team went down like a lead balloon.

Seeing everyone’s reaction, Shi Jin shook off his own resigned weariness and said, “Come on, don’t be like this. Didn’t you notice that we actually hit the jackpot? Look at our instructor’s insignia—he has the highest military rank among all the instructors here.”

Because it was the first day of the freshmen’s military training, the soldiers weren’t wearing fatigues but regular summer uniforms. The rank insignia was clearly visible on the shoulder loops.

Hearing Shi Jin’s words, his cla.s.smates were taken aback and turned to stare at Xiang Aoting, who had already drawn near. After seeing his rank, they couldn’t help but gasp again.

What the h.e.l.l, why would a senior officer come to serve as a drill instructor for freshmen? It didn’t make sense!

“What are you looking at? Eyes in front!” Xiang Aoting barked as soon as he arrived, scaring the loosely standing cadets into straightening up and staring straight ahead.

Looking at Xiang Aoting’s appearance at this moment, Shi Jin had a feeling of novelty. He sighed with feeling—judging from Xiang Aoting’s current harsh att.i.tude towards the cadets, it seemed his brother had given him a royal treatment earlier.

While he was immersed in thoughts, Xiang Aoting had already finished introducing himself and began rearranging the students’ positions. When he got to Shi Jin, he had to pat the teenager’s head to wake him up.

Embarra.s.sed, Shi Jin let out a low cough and obediently found his place in the line according to height.

The team sorted out, Xiang Aoting pulled out the roster and took the roll call. He roughly taught everyone the standard military postures, then said something that sent chills down everyone’s spine: “First, stand at attention for an hour. If a single person moves, the whole squad will get additional training!”

f.u.c.k! The cadets gaped at him, stupefied—the whole squad would get punished because of one person moving? That was too cruel! Instructor, are you a devil?!

In the meantime, “the devil”, face expressionless, had already slapped the back of the first student in the first row. “Keep your back straight! I taught you that a moment ago, you’ve already forgotten it?” Then he turned to the second person in the first row.

Everyone recalled Xiang Aoting punishing Shi Jin in the morning, knocking his cap crooked and so on, and shuddered. They hurriedly gathered their straying thoughts and stood still, waiting for the devil’s inspection.

The cadets stood at attention as well as they could, and Xiang Aoting criticized and corrected them one by one. It was a sweltering summer day, but their hearts felt as if they were in the middle of a cold winter.

It was terrible. Although the instructor didn’t say anything nasty, the look in his eyes, which seemed to say that he was looking at useless waste, was enough to deal everyone critical damage.

Shi Jin stared at the front and stood still. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Xiang Aoting slowly getting closer, and unconsciously straightened his back.

Finally, Xiang Aoting stopped in front of Shi Jin. The two brothers stared at each other.

“You, get to the front,” Xiang Aoting said out of the blue.

Shi Jin: “???”

“Hurry up!” the man urged him with a frown.

Shi Jin returned to his senses and hurriedly answered, “Yes, sir!” then went to stand in front of the squad. Inwardly, he kept cursing Xiang Aoting—what was with this public shaming, wasn’t his brother bullying him too much…

“Take a look at his posture. His middle fingers are aligned with the seams of his pants, his legs are straight and heels touching, and his body weight is evenly balanced between his right and left foot.” Xiang Aoting stood next to Shi Jin and put a hand on his shoulder, using him as an example to once more teach the cadets how to stand at attention. Then he looked at the students whose posture he corrected a moment ago, saying, “I only taught him it once in the morning when I punished him, and he remembered the key points, but look at you: I just corrected you, yet many of you are already making the same mistakes again.”

Shi Jin blinked, surprised—Xiang Aoting was actually praising him?

“As soon as I praised you, you changed your center of gravity. Don’t be distracted, stand properly!” Xiang Aoting admonished him in a low voice, patting his back.

Shi Jin straightened obediently, deciding to stop cursing his brother for the time being.

Xiang Aoting continued to teach the students with Shi Jin as a model, then went to correct their posture again. When he finally was barely satisfied, he stood to the side, watching them.

Shi Jin, still standing in the front: “???”

No, wait, why didn’t you let me go back? It feels awkward standing here all alone. And with everyone looking at him, he didn’t even have a chance to slack off.

The cadets glanced at the singled-out Shi Jin, then at Xiang Aoting, who slowly walked along the last row, and felt some sympathy—

The instructor definitely targeted the young master. Although the instructor praised him, he left him standing in the front alone, watched by everyone. The young master was really pitiful.

The time went by minute by minute. The students didn’t dare to turn their heads to see if Xiang Aoting had left, so they could only look straight ahead at Shi Jin standing in the perfect “at attention” position. Unconsciously, everyone focused on him, and they began to secretly worry.

Young master, I don’t know how long you can last, but please don’t fall too early or everyone will get additional training.

Ten minutes, twenty minutes, half an hour, forty minutes… One after another, some students wobbled and were pointed out by Xiang Aoting, who subsequently increased the time for which the squad had to stand.

Gradually, everyone’s attention shifted from Shi Jin, who was standing as still as a rock, to the rest of the team—Please, don’t let anyone else move. I’m so tired, I want to rest already.

The one-hour time limit arrived at long last, but because of the added punishment time, they had to continue standing.

About ten minutes later, another squad was allowed to rest, then the next one, then the next. Their mood affected by the cheerful atmosphere around them, the people in Shi Jin’s squad gradually became restless, and more and more of them stumbled. Of course, Xiang Aoting kept mercilessly adding to the penalty time. Slowly, everyone felt desperate, even resentful.

“If you want to be better than others, you must work harder than others.” Xiang Aoting suddenly went back to the front and stood next to Shi Jin. Facing the cadets, he said, “If this was the battlefield and every time you moved, one of your comrades would die, would you still dare to move?”

The youths frowned, their faces tensing.

“Those who haven’t moved, aren’t you thinking that those who have are dragging you down and it’s their fault that you were punished with additional training?” Xiang Aoting glanced around the crowd and saw that some people indeed looked angry. Suddenly, he said, “All those who have just moved, sit down and rest.”

Everyone was stunned for a moment then their expressions changed.

“Sit down!” Xiang Aoting barked again, seeing that n.o.body moved.

Frightened, the people who had been called before sat down hesitantly.

The other students’ expressions became angrier and angrier, and the looks they gave Xiang Aoting became more resentful, thinking that he was too unfair.

Ignoring the hostile gazes, Xiang Aoting announced, “From now on, anyone who moves can sit down and rest, while the remaining cadets are responsible for completing the additional training,” then went to stand behind the squad again.

The atmosphere changed in an instant. Everyone still standing started glancing at all the sitting people around them, hesitation and struggle obvious on their faces—should they persevere and carry the burden of the others’ mistakes, or should they give up directly so they could rest as well? Which should they choose?

“I’m sorry.” A chubby boy was the first to give up. After apologizing, he took off his cap and sat down, lowering his head in shame.

After the first came the second, then the next one. Some people staggered unintentionally, some pretended to be unintentional, and sat down one after another. There were fewer and fewer people standing, and the atmosphere in the team was more and more bleak; those who had already rested did not have a relaxed look on their faces, but they all kept their heads down in silence, their expressions ugly.

Finally, only Luo Donghao and Shi Jin were left standing out of the entire squad of forty people. By now, they’d been standing for nearly two hours, and their clothes were already soaked with sweat. Around them, the other squads finished resting and moved on to the next part of the training.

“Sir, I’ve finished resting and can continue completing the penalty,” someone reported, wanting to switch with Luo Donghao or Shi Jin so that they could take a break.

Xiang Aoting glanced at the speaker. “On the battlefield, people who have already ‘died’ won’t come back to life.”

His words startled the cadets. Their heads lowered more and more, and some of them couldn’t help but clench their fists.

Luo Donghao, whose legs were so soft that he almost fell down, gritted his teeth and stood up straighter. He looked at Shi Jin, who stood straight and steady the whole time, and determination set on his face—he mustn’t… lose to this guy!

Twenty minutes later, Luo Donghao’s knees buckled and he tumbled to the ground. Now, Shi Jin was the only one still standing. However, he stood at the front with his back to everyone, so perhaps he didn’t know that his whole team was wiped out.

The minutes ticked by. Someone couldn’t help but say, “Sir, everyone’s had enough rest already. Let’s start the next part of the training, like the other squads.”

“Shi Jin is still holding on. Are you giving up on him?” Xiang Aoting asked, unmoved.

They all felt as if they were slapped. They tightened their lips and no one spoke anymore.

If you’re seeing this notice, you’re reading this chapter on pirate site – the original translator of Death Progress Bar is Betwixted Translations.

As time pa.s.sed, the surrounding teams had begun training in full swing, but their corner was deadly quiet. Everyone looked at Shi Jin in silence, with serious and tense expressions. The first people to fall down had rested for more than an hour; their physical exhaustion had already dissipated, but their mental exhaustion was getting heavier and heavier.

More time went by. As the late afternoon was about to fade into early evening, Xiang Aoting finally walked back to the front. Putting a hand on Shi Jin’s shoulder, he looked at the sitting cadets and said, “The whole team consists of forty people, thirty-nine of whom fell. Each person accounts for three minutes of additional training time, which makes nearly two hours. Shi Jin has completed this penalty. This was Shi Jin’s determination to ‘save’ you. Remember the feeling of ‘resting’ just now, and when you go back, think about what your choice would mean if you were on the battlefield. Dismissed!” After he finished speaking, he tapped Shi Jin on the back, then caught Shi Jin’s suddenly limp body. He bent down, put the young man on his back, and walked outside the training ground.

Shi Jin had stood at attention for too long, and now his body was stiff and unable to move. As he lay on Xiang Aoting’s back, he mustered the last vestiges of his strength to grab the man’s collar and said, grinding his teeth, “Fourth Brother, just wait for the combat training.” See if I don’t beat you to the ground!

“I’m sorry.” Xiang Aoting shifted the teenager’s body higher on his back to let him sit more comfortably. “But I knew you could do it… Xiao Jin, after today, no one will be able to say that you’re a spoiled young master, and no one will bully you anymore. You also are my hero, and you’re growing up so fast.”

Stunned, Shi Jin looked up at the back of Xiang Aoting’s head for a moment. Suddenly, he grabbed his brother’s ears and pulled them. “I have plenty of ways to prove myself,” he growled. “You overdid it—I thought my leg bones would snap and pierce through my backside!”

The ear yank shocked Xiang Aoting into momentary silence. He turned his head to look at Shi Jin, saying stiffly, “Is, is that so? I’m sorry, I seem to have done something unnecessary…”

“But thank you.” Shi Jin leaned back on him, put his head on his shoulder, and whispered, “And thank you for carrying me out so I didn’t fall flat on my face in front of my whole squad, Fourth Brother.” Although being piggybacked by the instructor actually seemed more embarra.s.sing of the two.

Well… never mind.

Xiang Aoting was silent, only the arms supporting Shi Jin tightened their grip. As he continued walking outside the training ground, he murmured, “You don’t need to thank me… As your older brother, this is what I’m supposed to do.”