Chapter 4 The Counselor’s Fourth Day Training march? What zipper?…

Chapter 4: The Counselor’s Fourth Day on the Job

Drill? What Drill?...

By the time Mou Lin and the others emerged from the police station, the sky was already bright. It was a late-summer morning after the rain—the air fresh, the temperature cool and pleasant, and dew glistened on the roadside plants. Everything seemed renewed under the morning light, as if the chaos before dawn had never existed.

Dai Xiaole, his eyes swollen, was applying an ice pack given to him by a kind police officer. Cheng Jingnian stood beside him, guiding the way while helping to apply the ice pack to his other eye.

The turmoil caused by CEO Qin, who had come from off-world to explore the market, and his accompanying mother had finally come to an end. Even without consulting the system to check Dai Xiaole’s future, Mou Lin knew that one unnecessary melodramatic fate had been corrected—after all, the story’s other protagonist was now in prison, and the capital that could have been used as leverage for power abuse would soon face an interstellar investigation.

Mou Lin yawned, his tense nerves finally relaxing. It had been two weeks since he crossed over—the first week was spent in orientation training, and the second week marked the start of the semester. Previously, he had only dealt with minor issues like students staying out overnight, forgetting their student IDs at home, or how to handle inter-constellation transmission of certification materials. This was the first time he had encountered such a major incident.

He opened his terminal. There weren’t many new messages, indicating that the students had been well-behaved and no incidents had occurred during the hours he was away. Mou Lin let out a sigh of relief—his heart finally settling back into place. If another wave of trouble had arisen while he was dealing with this one, his heart probably wouldn’t have been able to take it.

He quickly skimmed through the new messages: a few routine morning updates; two complaints condemning a certain unscrupulous campus food stall that had caused an entire dormitory to spend the night in the bathroom—Mou Lin replied “Received” and forwarded them to logistics; a notification from the school hospital that a student had purchased anti-diarrhea medication, reminding him to keep an eye on the student’s condition; and one message that seemed to have been sent to the wrong person—a dare.

Mou Lin clicked on it: “Venmo me 50 to watch Shui Centurion Crane’s intense αβΩ combat.”

“Shui Centurion Crane” was automatically highlighted in blue by the terminal. Clicking on it revealed that it was indeed a species of crane, but due to its exceptionally high combat ability, it had become the apex predator in a planetary ecosystem.

Truly worthy of students who could get into the Federal First Military Academy—even their jokes were of high quality.

Mou Lin nodded in satisfaction.jpg

An autonomous hovercar automatically stopped in front of them and opened its doors. Mou Lin ushered Dai Xiaole into the back seat and yawned again. “I’ve already used the school’s priority channel to book the earliest pheromone mark removal surgery for you today. It starts at 8:30 AM.”

He opened the passenger door and got in. Cheng Jingnian tapped a few times on the navigation screen, the metal exoskeleton covering his right hand reflecting the morning sun’s rays, which flickered dazzlingly. Cheng Jingnian started the hovercar. “If we leave now, we’ll arrive right when the hospital opens.”

Dai Xiaole nodded timidly. Although both were male betas, it was almost a consensus among all first-year Class One students that Instructor Cheng was more intimidating than Mr. Miao—after all, Instructor Cheng really seemed like a bionic who wouldn’t hesitate to slam them against a wall! Letting Instructor Cheng support him and apply the ice pack earlier already felt like overstepping...

Seeming to mistake his unease for fear of the surgery, Instructor Cheng unexpectedly comforted him. “It’s just a minor surgery, similar to changing iris color. Nothing to worry about.”

Dai Xiaole held back his tears with great effort. He wanted to say thank you, but too many words were stuck in his throat. Instead, he choked out, “But there’s a chance of going blind with iris color surgery.”

Mou Lin: …?

Mou Lin: “Drink some water, drink water. Your throat is still hoarse—drink more water.” And with that, he effectively silenced the kid's ominous remark.

…

Fortunately, mark removal was indeed a minor procedure in the current Federation, not even requiring general anesthesia. Two hours later, medical assistive devices transported Dai Xiaole out of the operating room, with the doctor following closely behind.

Mou Lin instantly straightened up. “What’s wrong, Doctor? Is there a problem?”

There was no trace of the man who had been leaning against the wall, fast asleep just moments before.

“It’s fine. It’s just that this bed moves too fast—the hospital never bothers to adjust the settings.” The doctor wiped his sweat. “The surgery was successful. The mark has been completely removed. The patient is young and in good health. If the wound heals well, there shouldn’t even be a scar. He just needs to rest in bed for three days and avoid strenuous activity for a month.”

“No problem, I’ll write you a medical excuse. It’s still early in the semester—catching up on missed coursework won’t be too hard.” Mou Lin patted Dai Xiaole, who was struggling against the medical assistive devices.

Cheng Jingnian added, “You can make up the missed Joint Training Camp next year with the next year’s batch.”

“Right, the Joint Training Camp.” Mou Lin repeated. What joint drill?

A red-tagged notification popped up on his terminal—an official notice from the school titled “Notice on the Joint Training Camp for First-Year Students of Our School, the Federal Second Military Academy, and the Federal Tunan Military Academy.”

Mou Lin: “Perfect timing—the school just sent a notice. Let me see if there’s any paperwork I need to fill out for you now…”

He opened the file, and the first line that caught his eye was:

“Participants: All first-year students, counselors, and drill instructors.”

What? I have to participate in something that sounds like hell-difficulty military training?!

Mou Lin slumped into the couch, utterly defeated.

“Hang in there, Mr. Miao!” The Class Two counselor laughed heartily, while her twin sister (the drill instructor) helplessly pulled her upright.

“Mr. Miao, no need to worry. The Joint Training Camp mainly tests the drill instructors.”

The Class Four counselor quipped playfully, “Yeah, us delicate administrative staff just need to be prepared to make things harder for them.”

“Really?” Mou Lin lifted half his body from the couch backrest.

The Class Three counselor adjusted his glasses and cautiously said, “Well, let’s not make it too difficult.”

Mou Lin let out a long sigh and collapsed back into the soft cushions.

At the Federal First Military Academy, each grade was divided into four types of classes upon enrollment: Class One, where Mou Lin and Cheng Jingnian were assigned, included all ABO designations but only males; Class Two, managed by twin beta sisters, included all ABO designations but only females; Class Three, with a male beta counselor and a female alpha drill instructor, included only alpha and beta students of both genders; Class Four, with pure beta and omega students of both genders, had a female omega counselor and a male beta drill instructor.

The first time Mou Lin heard about these combinations, his head spun. Fortunately, student gender composition wasn’t part of the counselor evaluation criteria—it was just for easier allocation of counselors and drill instructors. After all, interstellar society placed great emphasis on ABO gender privacy, and only those of the same gender or betas were allowed into dormitories.

The Class Four drill instructor cleared his throat. An academy-graduated military medic, he, like Cheng Jingnian, had been assigned after early retirement for certain reasons. He served as the most reliable anchor among the first-year counselors and drill instructors.

He sent a simplified version of the training camp procedures to everyone’s terminals. “I’ve summarized this year’s Joint Training Camp procedures. The location is the same as previous years, but the activities have changed.”

Mou Lin opened the file.

The three military academies participating in the Joint Training Camp were all located on Frostwhite Planet, so the training site was naturally set in the Banga Naka Rainforest near the equator, home to a training facility ranked among the most advanced in scale and specialization throughout the Kylin Constellation.

The Three-School Joint Training Camp lasted 7 + 15 days. The first 7 days referred to the on-campus training courses since the semester started, while the next 15 days were for students to train in the rainforest. These 15 days were further divided into three parts: the first 7 days of inter-group competition among students, the next 7 days with drill instructors introduced as “hunters,” and the final day for the summary meeting.

“So we’ll be monitoring from the rear?” Mou Lin raised his hand.

The Class Four drill instructor smiled. “Scroll down.”

In the first 7 days, students would earn extra points if their per-capita resource gathering exceeded the baseline, which was the average after drill instructors collected resources for themselves and their counselors.

In the next 7 days, counselors would participate in student activities as rescue objectives, required to play the role of pampered, demanding young masters/misses from wealthy families.

“So we’re hindering the drill instructors in the first half and the students in the second half,” Mou Lin summarized.

The other counselors exchanged cheerful high-fives.

The Class Two counselor added, “And don’t feel too guilty. In the second half, they’ll be the ones scaring us.”

Mou Lin looked confused.

“Although the students wear jungle camouflage, the drill instructors have to wear pure white combat suits to give advantages,” the Class Four counselor explained, gesturing. “In the jungle, whether day or night, there’ll be a white figure lingering at the edge of your vision, chasing like a ghost. Last time during the Joint Training Camp, those kids were screaming non-stop for the first three days straight.”

The military doctor fell silent for a moment before adding, “You were screaming too.”

“Yeah, yeah, I was. This year, whoever draws Cheng Jingnian as their pursuer is probably doomed. The Theta Model enhancement is pretty strong, right?”

“After all, it’s a combat-type enhancement, unlike our support-type enhancements,” the Class Two drill instructor said, extending her right leg, which was a metallic prosthesis from the knee down. Since she was a female alpha and thus considered of a different gender designation to some, the Class Three drill instructor kept a slight distance as she extended her left wrist, augmented with metal exoskeleton.

Everyone couldn’t help but gather around to compare. The visible circuitry on their prosthetic enhancements were more prominent, whereas the metal covering Cheng Jingnian’s right hand seemed almost decorative in comparison.

“So cool. Why do I, as an alpha, have to deal with implant rejection compatibility issues?” the Class Three drill instructor lamented. The Class Two drill instructor patted her shoulder. “I’m a beta, and I didn’t get one either.”

Drill Instructor Theta, a former military medic, felt his nearly cured PTSD about to relapse: "Don't just casually ignore the damage from the Theta Model, okay?!"

His partner stepped in to smooth things over: "Right, right, how about we all do some preparations together... I've got a link for some universal inhibitors that are half-past their expiration date, Tianma brand, and they're on sale."

"Send me the link."

"Let me just share it in the group chat! I recently found some that are even closer to expiration and cheaper, but unfortunately, I can't find it now."

Mou Lin: "Is this self-funding work expenses?"

An experienced instructor started sharing tips: "You can get reimbursed for what you use, and for what you don't use, just resell it anonymously in the campus group later."

"Exactly, if it really doesn't sell, just keep it. With so many alphas and omegas, there'll be plenty of uses for it in the future."

The instructors began exchanging experiences, while the drill instructors who were left out gathered to discuss tactics.

Amid the laughter and chatter, Mou Lin felt an inexplicable sense of detachment.

"Die a terrible death."

He saw pale lips part, finally settling into a shape almost like a smile, the red mole beneath the lower lip standing out like a curse.

Outside the pitch-black window, pale, ribbon-like lights drifted, stretching out like branches.

Mou Lin sat at the desk, the ache in his chest still lingering, his mind still foggy.

"...So, we hope to entrust you with freeing everyone from destinies they can’t control. Uh, are you listening?"

The person sitting across from him waved a hand in front of Mou Lin's dazed eyes: "There shouldn't be any aftereffects, in theory? Doctor, come here for a moment."

He lifted his right shoulder slightly, and the pure white bird, falcon-like, perched there spread its wings, tapping Mou Lin's forehead. A warm sensation spread from where the skin met the feathers; Mou Lin's previously stagnant blood quickly warmed and flowed again, leaving him feeling completely refreshed, as if he had just woken from a deep, satisfying sleep.

"You should be fine now. Aftereffects from having just died once—everyone understands." That person planted a big kiss on the white bird, his lips suddenly flushing with color, drowning out that red mole. "From where did you stop listening? I'll start over for you."

"...From the beginning," Mou Lin said.

Author's Note:

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Posting every other day, next update on the 3rd at the same time. Bye for now, my dears, remember to bookmark/subscribe and come see me and Teacher Cheng and Mr. Miao!