[COD] Newbie's Rise to Power

Today's training was still the 100-meter shooting session, and you were in better shape than yesterday.

But after you finish training, the Blizzard Man disappears again.

Vita stands beside you, shaking her head and sighing, "Ah, couples deeply in love..."

Unfortunately, you'll have to have dinner with Vita and the others.

The next few days were like this, and you felt that your friend had been deceived by a man!

You can't lose Blizzard, not only because of friendship, but also because you'll have more people hitting on you.

It wasn't that no one had tried to talk to you before, but your polite rejections didn't have much effect. So Blizzard took the initiative to act as your guardian of rejection.

With her around, you have far fewer worries in this regard.

But now that Blizzard is gone, you've been surrounded by people trying to chat you up.

They were polite in their speech and did not behave excessively. Polite refusal was useless, and you couldn't say anything too offensive, so you felt very bothered by them.

You want to ask Vita and the others for help, but they are too busy taking care of themselves.

After all, there are more men than women here, so it's inevitable that any woman will be approached by someone.

Thinking about this, you get angry again, silently complaining about Blizzard's boyfriend.

Unfortunately, Blizzard kept it a secret, and you still don't know who kidnapped her.

Chapter 10: The Giant in the Corner

I've been having a lot of troubles lately, and today has been especially unlucky.

With Vita and the others not around, you'll have to go to the base canteen alone.

On the way, a new recruit boy greets you.

"Hi, YN. Going to eat? Want to come together?"

You smile politely and decline, saying, "I'm sorry, I'm going to be with my friends later."

He's a bit shy, so after being rejected, he stopped bothering you and went back to his friends.

As you left, you could still hear his friends teasing him.

Upon arriving at the cafeteria entrance, I immediately felt the crowd.

Strange, I don't usually feel this way.

It wasn't until you saw a few people in combat uniforms that you realized there were more people at the base.

After all, the combat uniforms you wear need to be returned to the equipment point after you finish training, and the style is very uniform, unlike the complicated and varied uniforms worn by these people.

Cooperative troops? Or newly arrived troops? You wonder.

"They are also from our base; they just returned from a mission."

A voice rang in your ear; it was a mature-looking man, probably a veteran from the base.

You politely reply, "Thank you. No wonder I haven't seen them before. Are they all veterans?"

The man shook his head: "Not really. They only arrived three months ago. They're not new recruits, but rather experienced veterans transferred from regular troops in different countries. Any one of them could be your instructor."

You nodded, but at the same time, you were a little puzzled: "With such a capable group of people, why does the base still need to recruit new soldiers?"

The man smiled gently at you: "This is a bit complicated to explain. Why don't you sit down and have a meal together, and we can talk about it slowly?"

You felt a jolt, a strange sense that something was amiss, and quickly declined.

"I still need to visit my friends, maybe next time, thank you."

The man didn't press the matter: "Okay, it's a shame, but we can exchange contact information next time."

You laughed it off, saying, "Maybe next time we'll meet again!"

She ran away as soon as she finished speaking, giving the man no chance to say anything more.

You run into the cafeteria, quickly grab the food you need, but then you're worried.

The cafeteria was packed today, almost full.

You regret not grabbing the food earlier; you could have taken some easy-to-carry food back to your dorm to eat.

Now... looking at the pieces of meat covered in sauce on the plate, you're getting a headache.

Where should I sit...?

At that moment, a man raises his hand and beckons to you.

"yn, there are still seats here, you can come and sit down."

You looked over and sure enough, there was an empty seat next to him.

The table had six seats, but five men were sitting there...

You shook your head and declined with a smile.

"Sorry to bother you, let me look again."

As you were saying that, you quickly walked a little further inside.

There's nothing you can do; they're just too enthusiastic. If you're afraid they'll come up and pull you over, then you can forget about enjoying your meal.

You looked around and actually found a spot.

Although one man was seated, there were still five empty seats, leaving plenty of space.

It was probably in a corner, and the lighting wasn't very good, so not many people went there.

You hurried over and sat down in the outermost seat diagonally opposite the man.

"Excuse me, may I sit here? There's really no other place."

The man kept his head down and did not respond.

You looked over there strangely, then paused for a moment.

Why does this man wear a mask while eating? Is he a classified agent?

However, his mask is quite unique, somewhat resembling No-Face from anime, except that the tear stains under his two eye holes are red, making it even more terrifying.

But...it feels somewhat familiar.

If he doesn't answer, just take it as a yes. After all, the cafeteria seating is public, and you were just asking politely.

However, watching him, such a large and strong man, awkwardly holding the bread and eating it inside his mask, I just felt...

Why does it seem a little pitiful?

Could it be that I disturbed him? After all, he was eating with a mask on, and he definitely preferred to be alone.

You felt a little uncomfortable thinking about it.

"Sorry, I'll go somewhere else."

After you finished speaking, you stood up, ready to pick up your plate and leave.

"It's ok."

A voice rang out; it was him.

His voice was deep yet clear, a very unique tone.

Since he'd already said that, you plopped back down and started trying to get closer to him:

"Thank you, your mask is so cool. I don't see anyone else wearing one. Did you make it yourself?"

He nodded, then, seemingly realizing that what he was saying wasn't quite right, added another sentence.

"Yes."

You pressed further, "Is it convenient for you to eat like this? Why don't you take it off?"

He shook his head: "No."

You realized: "So he really is a classified agent?"

He continued to shake his head, and finally spoke in a longer sentence.

"This is just...my personal hobby."

You nod. Okay, that's a rather unusual hobby.

You asked again, still worried, "Will my presence really not bother you?"

Just as he shook his head, a new recruit came over and greeted you.

"Hey yn, may I sit here?"

This is a public space, and it would be impolite to refuse, but after glancing at the man across from me, I decided to go for it.

"Sorry, I'm with a friend, so it might not be convenient."

The new recruit laughed and said, "I saw there were still empty seats, but I came here because there were no more seats available."

It means that there was no deliberate attempt to strike up a conversation.

His words made you waver. Just as you were about to agree, the man opposite you spoke up.

"NO"

"But..."

The new recruit still wanted to struggle.

I said, no!

The man opposite him stood up abruptly and slammed his fist on the table.

You knew he was muscular, but you didn't expect him to be so tall.

This...this person must be over 1.9 meters tall!

With his mask on, the sense of oppression is simply incredible!

The new recruit was probably intimidated and left immediately.

The man sat down again and explained to you in a low voice.