Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

The track is a standard 400-meter lap, so two kilometers is five laps. For a group of newly enlisted recruits, this number on the parade ground at 6:20 in the morning is roughly equivalent to a public execution.

Lu Xiao still had the whistle in his mouth, and the corners of his mouth were already turned up.

"Run! Run! Don't move! Every step you take is an extra lap!"

Li Mo stood on the inner circle of the track, his deep purple eyes scanning each new recruit who passed by.

He remained expressionless, but his gaze lingered on Zhao Xiaohu and Qian Duoduo for a moment longer—probably assessing whether these two would become the first group of casualties to fall on the track.

Then his gaze shifted to the front of the line.

At the front of the track, two figures were running side by side.

Gray and black hair, one bright and one dark in the morning light, like two parallel silhouettes.

Xuan Xiao's strides were long, his pace not fast but each step was graceful and light. His breathing was steady, and his arm swings were small but perfectly coordinated with his stride, clearly showing he had been trained by a professional coach.

He turned his head and glanced at Bai Ye, who was running to his right.

Bai Ye stared straight ahead, his amber eyes half-hidden by his eyelashes, revealing no emotion. His stride was slightly shorter than Xuan Xiao's, but his pace was faster, and his landings were almost silent.

After two laps, his rhythm remained unchanged.

Xuanxiao glanced at him again.

As the third lap began, other recruits on both sides of the track started walking.

Bai Ye and Xuan Xiao have already surpassed most people by a whole circle.

Xuanxiao's lips curved slightly.

"Eh."

Bai Ye ignored him.

"Shall we have a comparison?"

Bai Ye's eyelashes fluttered slightly, but her gaze remained fixed straight ahead.

"From here to the finish line, whoever gets there first wins. The loser has to wash the winner's socks for a week."

Bai Ye finally turned her head and glanced at him.

"boring."

He looked away and kept running.

Xuanxiao smiled.

Are you afraid of losing?

Bai Ye didn't turn around.

This is the fourth lap.

Zhao Xiaohu and Qian Duoduo had completely given up on their running dignity, walking forward arm in arm like two unfortunate brothers. The tall guy from Class 3 who had a side stitch finally recovered and started running again. Someone from Class 2 squatted by the track and vomited, but Li Mo picked him up and they continued running.

The two people in the lead had already lapped the others twice.

When he reached the fourth and a half lap, Xuanxiao suddenly accelerated.

His stride suddenly lengthened, and the swing of his arms increased accordingly. He darted away from Bai Ye like a hunting dog that had been unleashed.

Xuanxiao discovered something after running less than two hundred meters.

The footsteps behind me didn't get any farther away.

Not only have they not grown further apart, they've actually gotten closer little by little.

He didn't turn around, but his ears caught the sound of footsteps—light, quick, and dense, like raindrops hitting banana leaves, with a rhythm that sent chills down his spine.

Bai Ye caught up.

Xuanxiao gritted his teeth and accelerated again.

The footsteps behind them quickened.

Fifth lap.

The finish line was just a hundred meters ahead. Lu Xiao stood beside the line, a stopwatch appearing in his hand out of nowhere. Li Mo also turned around, his deep purple eyes locking onto the two runners in the lead.

The other recruits on the track had automatically moved to the sides, and some even stopped, panting, to watch the two figures one in front of the other.

Xuanxiao put all his energy into the last fifty meters.

He ran very fast. His long legs and long stride were maximized during the sprint, each step like hammering nails into the track, the soles of his shoes grinding against the reddish-brown plastic granules with a fine friction sound.

But the footsteps were still behind them.

In the final thirty meters, Bai Ye cut in from Xuan Xiao's right side.

The last ten meters.

The two people are standing side by side.

Zhao Xiaohu's mouth dropped open, and he even forgot to breathe. Qian Duoduo tugged at his sleeve, and their hands unconsciously clenched together. The other recruits also forgot they were being punished, standing there dumbfounded, watching the two figures, almost overlapping, rush towards the finish line.

Lu Xiao pressed the stopwatch with his thumb.

Two figures crossed the finish line at the same time.

Lu Xiao glanced down at the numbers on the stopwatch, his golden eyebrows twitching slightly.

Then he looked up, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Xuan Xiao and Bai Ye, a meaningful smile curving his lips.

"Bai Ye, 7 minutes 12.32 seconds. Xuan Xiao, 7 minutes 13.47 seconds."

one second.

One second too late.

Xuan Xiao braced himself on his knees, panting heavily. Beads of sweat dripped from the ends of his gray hair, leaving dark spots on the track.

one second.

He lost.

He lost to a boy who was half a head shorter than him and looked so refined he should be on a magazine cover.

Xuanxiao raised his head.

Bai Ye stood beside him, also adjusting his breathing. But he was in much better condition than Xuan Xiao—his breathing was only slightly faster than usual, a thin layer of sweat glistened on his forehead, and a few strands of black hair clung to his temples.

Those eyes lifted and looked at him.

"You have to accept the consequences of your bet."

His voice was still slightly hoarse from running, but his tone was calm and even, as if he were stating a fact that was already set in stone.

Xuan Xiao straightened up, wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and his emerald green eyes were filled with shock that he had not yet fully processed.

"Didn't you say you wouldn't compete?"

Bai Ye glanced at him.

"I've changed my mind."

Xuan Xiao was stunned.

The morning light shone from behind Bai Ye, casting a pale golden halo around his black hair. His already exquisitely handsome face was softened by the backlighting. Tiny beads of sweat glistened on his forehead, and his amber eyes reflected the track and the sky.

A person who looks like this.

I outran him.

Xuanxiao suddenly laughed.

It wasn't the same kind of smug, slightly arrogant smile as before. It was a smile that welled up from the depths of the chest, tinged with helplessness and some indescribable emotion.

"OK."

Bai Ye withdrew his gaze and turned to walk towards the meeting point.

Xuanxiao stood there, watching the straight figure walk away. His gray hair was ruffled by the wind, and his emerald green eyes reflected the boy's retreating figure and the increasingly bright morning light.

Zhao Xiaohu shakily made his way to the finish line, looking like a melting ice cream cone. He had to grab Qian Duoduo's shoulder to keep from collapsing.

"Do...do they even have human beings...?"

Qian Duoduo was panting and couldn't speak, so she just shook her head.

Lu Xiao put away his stopwatch, his gaze lingering for a moment on Xuan Xiao's back, then for a moment on Bai Ye's back.

Then he blew the whistle.

"What are you all standing there for! Those who haven't finished, keep running! Those who have finished, gather at the assembly point!"

A wail erupted across the playground.