{ Bertrand 1 }
“Bert… what did you do before?”
Yang Gwang-gwang’s abruptly thrown question.
Bertrand had no choice but to question him.
“yes?”
“No, I didn’t even play the ＜Field of Hunting＞ game like Dana did… I think I know a lot about guns and weapons. They handle it very well.”
Yuhan Wol sympathized with the question.
Because it was something I was curious about.
Judging from Aiden’s explanation, it wasn’t long before Bertrand escaped.
In other words, he didn’t have enough time to build up such specialties after the game was over.
“I was a soldier. In the past.”
‘Also… ‘
The answer he had guessed came out of Bertrand’s mouth.
Yuhanwol’s question continued.
“But the US doesn’t have a compulsory service system? But why did you join the military?”
“Just, I’ve been interested in guns and military items since I was little. My father was a veteran.”
“ah.”
“So I think I came into contact with them naturally. I was interested in them, and I played with them a lot… It was definitely more like that than my other peers.”
Is it because everyone is focusing on themselves?
Bertrand, who paused for a moment, took a deep breath and continued.
“My father passed away. There was a veterans’ club, and there was a madman there. PTSD (Post-Shock Stress Disorder), the depression, nervousness, guilt, or fear that comes after a terrible experience. Anyway, sane It’s not like this. That crazy guy slashed his father at the shooting range all of a sudden. Right next to it. My father died instantly without taking any damage.”
His mouth opened again when the crowd was silent.
“It happened when I was in high school. After that, I somehow went to university, and I don’t know if it was because of that experience or because of my interest since I was young, but naturally I was interested in enlisting in the military. So I applied to ROTC.”
“So, you were an officer?”
“Yeah. And I went into the Navy SEAL…”
Yang Gwang suddenly cut off Bertrand’s words, who were passing by quickly.
“Wait. Wait!”
“why?”
The Navy Seal is a special force representing the United States.
“Can I get into the Navy Seal through ROTC?”
“So? ROTC is one of the main routes for training American officers?”
His words seemed so natural.
“…”
“The SEAL Officer positions are very small, but you can get in through competition because they have to lead real SEALs and complete all the missions. Of course, the requirements are strict. Physical test scores must be high. Because you have to have a good brain.”
“Uh, now that I see you, you’re an elite among the elite?”
Even to Yang Gwang’s words, which seemed to be mixed with depressing, he answered without any expression.
“It’s necessary for the mission. After all, SEAL stands for Special Warfare… that is, special warfare. Everyone gets BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training) training by default.”
“What is that?”
“It’s a six-month course designed to develop the physical, mental and technical skills necessary to perform special warfare. You will receive training in boat navigation, water surveying, SCUBA diving, land warfare, explosives, weapons, communications, and parachuting.”
“Ugh… just hearing the word is no joke.”
“And, when all the BUD/S courses are completed, you get another 7 months of advanced tactical training called SQT (SEAL Qualification Training). Then you get another year of field training, and that’s when you’re recognized as SEAL.”
“So that’s why Bert is so good with firearms?”
“Then I graduated SEAL Sniper School as a senior.”
“…what are so many?”
Bertrand grinned at Yang Yang-gwang’s reaction that he was tired of it.
“Keep training and improving your skills is like life at SEAL.”
Yuhan-wol looked at him like that.
From what I hear, it seems that he was very good at adapting to military life in the past.
“Then, aren’t they completely elite in the US military? But why did you apply for the BH experiment… No, you applied for the game beta test?”
Bertrand spoke softly at his remark.
“…I lived like a badass, and I just went in.”
“Well?”
There seemed to be some story behind it.
“Why did you suddenly live like a bad person? It was Seal?”
When Yang Yang-gwang asked openly, he, who seemed to have fallen into thoughts for a moment, started talking.
“It was while I was in the military. I went to a pub and met my wife, and I fell in love at first sight. I was alone… Should I say that she looks cold even though she is a beautiful woman? I added it after being rejected.”
“Five…”
“But, as if possessed by something, I recklessly approached and talked to her. And, contrary to what I expected, she looked back and smiled as if she had been waiting… It felt like a melting glacier.
“It was absolutely love at first sight.”
“Yeah. She said she was traveling. So when I asked what kind of trip I was on, she said it was a trip to meet my husband.”
“Wow! Speed is no joke. My wife must have liked Bert from the start.”
“Perhaps. But she didn’t like my military life.”
“why?”
“Well. It’s a starting point for fate. They said we should leave now.”
“Fate? What do you mean? If you want to marry her, let’s go?”
“It felt like that. I understood it that way at the time. Of course, I thought I would understand the position of my wife as well. I must have hated it because it was a dangerous thing. It’s not a good job for a married life.”
“That’s right.”
“Anyway, that’s why I boldly quit.”
“Oh… so, then?”
“The two of us got married a little bit… We lived in a small town. I went back to my wife’s place, and that’s how her journey ended. She had a tarot card reader shop there.”
“Oh! So you must have said something mysterious. So what about Bert? What did you do with the military?”
“How did I get a job at a financial company?”
“You were in the military, but you went to a financial company?”
“That was my major in college. My father had wanted that since I was little. I wonder if people in finance looked cool.”
I thought it was good enough.
How good are American financial men?
“After graduating, my career didn’t match the company, so the salary conditions weren’t very good. However, it wasn’t as expensive as Wall Street, so it wasn’t enough to live in. Just what… It was enough for my wife and I to live together.”
Yuhan Wol stared at his face like that.
Was it such a good memory?
There seemed to be a gentle aura on his face as he spoke.
“But one day while I was working, I found something strange. At that time, the company was operating cryptocurrency derivatives, and it was also staking.
“I think it was anonymous?”
“That’s right. It was a non-real-name currency that the government didn’t allow. Of course, the company shouldn’t handle it either. I woke up with what I found, and the staff in charge ran to me and asked me to pretend I didn’t see it. If you just close your eyes, there’ll be no problem, everything is fine. I guess.”
For some reason, the flow of the story seemed to be entangled in dirty things.
Bertrand’s words continued.
“But can it be? If the problem is discovered later, I will get involved too. So I officially reported the problem to the upper management.”
Yang Yang-gwang said, twitching his tongue inwardly.
“Is that a problem?”
“Yeah. The currency belonged to the local gang. I had no idea.”
“Oh…”
“That night, a gang of gangs stormed the house. With a coworker who had been beaten up in front of them. They told me to spit out their money right away. They put a gun to my face and threatened me.”
“It just hit me.”
“Yeah. But because it’s illegal, it was already reported to the government, and all their cryptocurrencies were held by the company. So I couldn’t give them back arbitrarily if I wanted to. But I had to be careful because I had a wife.”
Bertrand, who paused for a moment, spoke again.
“First of all, I said I’d give it back to you to calm down.”
* * *
The kneeling white man said with his hands raised up.
“I’ll give it to you, calm down.”
“Relax? Calm down!”
A member of what appeared to be a gangster strode up to him and put a gun to his forehead.
The white man who looked at it held it tight.
One’s own body that instinctively wants to move.
Already in my head, the action of grabbing the opponent’s gun at once and aiming at him was being replayed countless times.
And even the scene where he used him as a shield and made all the gangsters standing behind him incapacitated.
‘… You have to be patient.’
But my wife is with me.
Don’t move too hastily.
The white man’s eyes looked at her, who was sitting on the other side.
The two eyes met.
The white man showed a smile to reassure him.
“This bastard!”
But that seemed to have touched the heart of the gangster in front of him.
puck
The gangster, who held the gun to his forehead, raised the gun high and swung it down hard, mercilessly slashing the side of the white man.
His head was broken, his upper body bent, and blood gushed out.
“Is this crazy bastard laughing? Has it lost its cowardice!”
Seeing blood did not relieve his anger, he cried out loudly.
‘Where’s the salaryman bastard?’
“I’ll give it back… just calm down.”
“Give it back? Give it back? You bastard, pay the interest and pay it back! I’ve come all the way here, I’m struggling, this labor cost! What are you going to do? You bastard, do you know how busy I am?”
Puck puck puck puck puck
Blood gushed from the white man’s body, from the hands and feet swung by the gangster as if to vent his anger.
“Stop! Stop!”
The wife who watched it screamed.
puck
The white man fell to the floor after another hard blow.
After that, the gangster, who had been stepping on the fearless salaryman for a long time, looked down once, spit and moved.
Then he went to his co-worker and started arguing again.
He seemed to have beaten him hard until he was exhausted.
The gangster returned to the white man again, spitting out a rough breath.
“Heh heh heh. Until tomorrow. Give me 150% until tomorrow.”
“How to get 150%…”
puck
“If you don’t give me my money, your family will die first. From that year on there.”
He giggled as he looked into the white man’s eyes as he lifted his broken head and looked up.
“Oh, I’m scared, so don’t look at me with those eyes. What can I do as a good citizen? I’m a pitiful victim who has lost all of my money to vicious financial bastards. What can I do? “
He looked around and spoke as if jokingly, then hardened his face and continued.
“But the punishment will come. Suddenly your family members will die in an accident for no reason. Do you understand what I’m talking about?”