PASSION Chapter 4 Part 12

Chapter 4 Part 12

Though his colleagues all asked as if they couldn't understand, Tae-ui was too stunned to even think of answering.

Training even on weekends was news to him. Looking back, his colleagues thought it so obvious that no one had mentioned it. He hadn't heard from his uncle either that there were no holidays during joint training.

--Hope the weather's good.

Suddenly he recalled his uncle's smiling words from earlier. And before that, Shin Lu's muttered words tilting his head "Did I misunderstand?"

"Damn... So that's what it was."

Tae-ui suddenly lost all energy and collapsed onto the table. His determination to definitely survive until the weekend even with less than two weeks to live felt futile.

"Hey, why are you crying? Though I completely understand not wanting to do endurance training."

"Yeah. If you're going to die, that's when you're most likely to. ...And if there's someone you want to eliminate, that's the best time to aim for."

Utterly gloomy words passed over Tae-ui's head as he lay on the table.

Until just earlier he had been able to hold onto hope remaining amid despair, but now even that hope had vanished. Only despair remained.

Seeing Tae-ui motionless collapsed on the table with no energy, Tou patted his shoulder as if understanding everything.

"It's okay, it's okay. You've got us. You don't think we'd just stand by watching you die right in front of us?"

"Right. When you're in danger, this time I'll steal Moller's Colt and shoot for you."

Pushing aside Moller who was shouting not to make such jokes, everyone offered words saying they were comforting him. However, those words were far from comforting, only more clearly foretelling the gloomy future.

"Cheer up, Tae-ui. How can you be so down already? The real blood-spilling starts this afternoon."

"Ah yes. Let's loosen up these stiff bodies. Been a while since we've hit some human punching bags."

Suddenly the voices around grew deliberately louder. At that, the European branch members sitting on the other side who had been noisily talking among themselves started shouting roughly.

"Learning only to act tough when you'll be useless after getting hit from the start."

"Do they only teach how to fight with words in the Asian branch? And even that's terrible."

It was starting again. With Tae-ui lying on the table depressed now in the background, they started fighting like packs of dogs. The two groups of shouts directed at each other were getting closer and closer.

Tae-ui raised his head with a gloomy face. Everyone was standing facing the European branch members, pouring out irritating curses and shouts, and the noise coming from the other side was just as bad. From behind colleagues lined up like a wall in front, Tae-ui asked Moller who was also sitting in the back with a tired face:

"So every day for the next two weeks will be like today..."

"Today's actually mild since we're seeing each other after a while. It'll get more and more heated as days go by."

Though still glaring sulkily at Tae-ui, Moller grumbled an answer. Tae-ui muttered sadly:

"Plus this afternoon we start proper sparring with those guys."

"Yeah. Today is free individual sparring - boxing, judo, hapkido, kendo, etc. - pick any two you like and follow those rules, everything else is unlimited free-style."

"What's that? If you allow the rules of two martial arts each, there's practically no restrictions. What kind of sparring is that? It's just fighting."

"Of course it's no different from a dogfight. If it were proper formal sparring under strict rules, would there be this much built-up grudge?"

"But still, training with other branches must have been similar, so why is it only like this with the European side?"

"Well, since this is my first joint training with the European branch I can't say, but maybe we'll understand once we get hit by those guys during training."

"..."

Though he had never experienced the pandemonium between the European and Asian branches, having rolled around a bit at other branches, Moller understood the current situation better than Tae-ui.

Leaving just those two in the back, the conflict between colleagues and the group of European branch members was intensifying. First just throwing curses and criticism across the serving table between them, they gradually got closer while increasing the intensity until now they were throwing whatever utensils they could grab like spoons and forks. If they got just a few dozen centimeters closer, it seemed they would grab collars across the table and start physical fighting.

Though he wanted to slip away even if called a traitor rather than get involved in that fight, they were blocking the path to the door so he couldn't leave. And there weren't any windows to the corridor visible behind either.

While sighing that if it was this exhausting when the fighting was still relatively civil, how much darker would things get going forward, Tae-ui rolled up his sleeves. No choice. When they start fighting, he'd pretend to help a bit then make a run for it.

However, just as Tae-ui made this decision and was about to go pretend to join the fight, salvation came from an unexpected place.

"You bastards, first you wreck the cafeteria and now you want to ruin this place too?! Don't want to eat?! If you don't want to starve, take your fighting outside right now, you bastards! And you're paying for all the tables and chairs and equipment you destroyed, you damn fools!"

If the serving staff who had been silently clearing leftovers amid their fighting hadn't exploded in anger after getting hit by someone's thrown chopsticks and started furiously banging the side dish containers with a ladle, that fight would have escalated to physical fighting in less than a few minutes.

Those who bowed down to the serving staff even more than the branch Director General or even the headquarters Director could only lower their voices and threaten each other "Just wait until afternoon sparring, we'll beat you until you cry."

Most of the people who said "Just wait, we'll beat you until you cry" kept their word. Those who had been glaring at each other ready to devour one another while lining up in order even before the sparring start command, rushed at their designated opponents the moment the start signal dropped. And they fought literally "to death." Like that, everyone succeeded in beating their opponents until they cried tears and blood.

In other words, everyone got beaten like that.

Tae-ui, who was relatively late in the order, became completely sick of the situation watching colleagues and opponents ahead crawl out bleeding profusely one after another.

"Are they all crazy?"

When Tae-ui asked very seriously while rubbing his chin, Yuan Ho who was standing behind him being next in line nodded very gravely.

"Right. A beating is the only medicine for such madmen. Giving them a good thrashing at times like this is good for them too. Where else would they learn like this?"

"..."

Though he seemed somewhat normal always acting bright and refreshing, this guy was crazy too... Turns out it's not that the people are bad, this place just has bad water. It was a society that pressured drinking.

Tae-ui looked at Yuan Ho sadly for a moment before turning away. Even now two men were fighting like dogs in front of him, biting and clawing. The instructor seemed to only check whether they violated the rules of their chosen martial arts, regardless of blood soaking the floor. Then he would stop them when either someone indicated defeat or when the outcome seemed clearly decided to anyone watching.

The infirmary's going to burst today. Since there weren't enough beds they couldn't put everyone in the infirmary and looking at their state, if laid down side by side they'd probably keep fighting throwing things even while lying down. They'll run out of medical supplies.

Though Tae-ui had been skeptical about what good could come from making them fight like this and whether joint training was really necessary, as the sparring progressed he set those thoughts aside.

After each match, the instructor would point out things worth noting from the recent sparring. Like when someone swung their left arm from this direction to that direction, the opponent blocked by raising their right leg at nearly a right angle - listening to him was not just surprising but chilling how accurately the instructor observed and remembered. Even reviewing the recorded footage to check again, the instructor's words had no mistakes.

Also surprising was that even the men who seemed to just be standing around shouting mindlessly like crazy supporters while colleagues sparred properly grasped what movements affected victory or defeat, and what each person's strengths and weaknesses were.

Though the fighting was like dogfighting, it became excellent research material for the spectators. And the spectators were excellent enough to understand that material.

Tae-ui scratched his nape and muttered internally. Right, though he rarely felt it, these guys were considered elite externally even though they were such madmen. Even that colleague who just got dragged out covered in blood after beating and getting beaten half to death had special permission for a 2-year job training from the National Intelligence Service to learn at the branch from last year until the end of this year. There were many who came in training format saying they wanted more self-development while belonging to other public institutions.

...Why do such capable people bet their lives so readily on trivial things?

Tae-ui shook his head and sighed.

"Don't sigh. You won't die. If things get bad, surren-- I can't bring myself to say surrender, but if things get bad just faint and get carried out. But make sure to land one good hit on that guy first."

Yuan Ho grabbed Tae-ui's shoulder firmly from behind as he spoke. This friend seemed to have misread Tae-ui's thoughts. When Tae-ui sighed, he seemed to think it was because his turn was coming up soon and he was anxious.

Thinking "Well it's true I don't want to get hit and am anxious," Tae-ui looked toward the opposite side. And examined who would be his opponent.