The Chief Drill Sergeant Who Killed the Wrong Chicken.

The classmates in the class immediately looked around, curious about who was the person who was called out by the counselor on the very first day.

Qi Yuan stood up from his seat and raised his hand to indicate it was him.

"Let's go, I need to talk to you," said the counselor.

Under everyone's gaze, Qi Yuan followed the counselor out of the classroom.

The counselor didn't take him very far, just to a quiet corner.

"Tomorrow during military training, you will be an instructor. Go find the chief instructor and the instructor in charge of our class," said the counselor.

Then he handed Qi Yuan an armband.

"This is the identifier for assistant instructors. Ideally you should wear the same uniform as them, but since they are army uniforms, it's hard to borrow one for you. So just make do with this for now."

"Make do with it?" God damn it...

And why was he suddenly made an instructor?

If it wasn't for the fact that the counselor had just held a class meeting with him earlier, he would have suspected this counselor was actually a shapeshifting classmate pulling a prank on him.

Qi Yuan took the armband, puzzled, and asked: "Counselor, why am I an instructor?"

The counselor looked at him resentfully.

Are you here to discourage people or are you here to show off, do you really need to ask?!

"The military training content is too simple for you. To make you feel part of it, we arranged for you to be an instructor."

The counselor's words left Qi Yuan stunned. He could only nod in agreement.

That made sense. He was here purely to get a degree and officially join the authorities.

It wouldn't make sense for an A-level superhuman to bully low-level superhumans.

Although it felt good to bully the weak in the short term, in the long run it would get his account banned.

And he was directly smurfing with a high level account. Wouldn't he get banned immediately?

The counselor hurried off after speaking.

An A-level superhuman wouldn't get into trouble in the deserted school building, but he, as a D-level superhuman, might.

Seeing the counselor leave, Qi Yuan returned to the dorm.

Lying in bed, perhaps because of the change of environment, he was somewhat sleepless.

His strength increase had slowed recently and he was stuck.

The authorities hadn't deployed him to assist with anything. Going into the Fusion Zone to farm small monsters familiarized him with his skills, but didn't do much else.

Should he hire some internet water army [1] to boast about him online or collaborate with an agency on promotion?

No, no...

Boasting without proof would only make people disgusted.

Also, if a monk gave up sweeping the grounds to instead become a fighting monk [2], his strength would quickly be exposed.

Similarly, once he lost his mystery, opponents' estimates of his strength would fluctuate within a certain range.

It was still best to remain mysterious and not reveal his hand until the very last moment.

...

"Boss, Shen City University said they wanted to assign me an instructor assistant from my class to help out."

Having just been called back from the mountainous regions, a National Guard Army soldier took off his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow.

"Just treat him as a prop. If he interferes, let me know and I'll talk to the commandant," said the boss.

"Alright."

Wanting to tattle to get the guy sent back, the National Guard soldier shut his mouth awkwardly.

...

The next day,

Qi Yuan put on his uniform and armband and headed to the parade grounds for assembly.

The instructors hadn't arrived yet, so Qi Yuan waited at the entrance for them to enter the grounds, allowing him to seamlessly blend in with the instructor group.

The freshmen in the grounds chatted noisily.

Classmates who had just gotten familiar with each other always had endless things to talk about, from their hometowns to families to personal interests.

Qi Yuan put on his hat and sat bored on a rock waiting for the instructors.

There was no one chatting around him so he could only take out his phone to lurk [3].

The newly formed class group chat was exceptionally lively, showing 99+ messages since last night.

【Qi Yuan seems to not have come...】

【Yesterday the counselor called him out separately, what exactly happened?】

【@Zou Ziyi do you know anything since your dorms are next to each other?】

Zou Ziyi quickly replied in the group chat.

【Zou Ziyi: Don't know, but I remember him leaving in uniform】

They were gossiping about him again, making everything seem boring.

Just as he was about to reply in the chat to end the discussion, he changed his mind.

It would still be quite fun to see his classmates' surprised expressions later.

"You, come with me."

An instructor in military uniform stood in front of him. This instructor, just by standing there, had an imposing manner like a mountain.

Behind him, over a hundred instructors were lined up tidily in a square, standing tall and gazing sharply. An incomparably imposing aura emanated from them.

But...

Mountains posed no threat to A-level superhumans.

He might not be able to topple them with one punch each, but tall buildings would definitely be out of the question.

Therefore Qi Yuan was not intimidated. He stood up and saluted.

Under the weird gaze of the instructor who had spoken, he followed behind the square formation.

"Get back here, stand beside me."

"Yes, sir."

Qi Yuan nimbly returned to the side of this instructor, who was likely the chief instructor.

He followed the instructor into the parade grounds. The freshmen on the grounds shuffled slowly back into position.

From his vantage point on the stage Qi Yuan could see clearly – the freshmen's formation was no match for the instructors' square.

Not to mention they were all out of shape, their standing postures left much to be desired.

The chief instructor took the microphone. With his voice booming from his belly, he roared.

"Attention! Stand at attention!"

The speakers emitted a shrill buzz, making the freshmen's scalps tingle. Conditioned by years of reflexes, they immediately straightened their backs and brought their feet together.

The freshmen's previously lackadaisical behavior had improved to a barely satisfactory level. Considering it was the first day, the chief instructor let them off easy.

"Sit down!"

The freshmen who had just displayed a modicum of discipline revealed their true colors at the "sit down" command – the difference between the fast and slow ones was half to two whole seconds.

"What is this nonsense! Are all of you deaf?! Again!"

"Up!"

"Sit down!"

Doing it once more made it look passable on the surface. The chief instructor then moved on to the main event.

"I am very unsatisfied with your performance just now. I expect all of you to have the attitude of being ready to fight at any time during military training from now on."

"Understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Louder! Haven't eaten?"

"Yes, sir!"

After a few rounds of commands that established his absolute leadership, the chief instructor began his true intimidation tactics.

"I know what you youngsters are thinking, hmm?"

The chief instructor paced as he continued his piercing words: "You think in the future you will all become prestigious high-level superhumans or one of the Nine Seats? Or heroes who save the people from calamity?"

"Wrong!"

"In the future, the vast majority of you will be battle team members, support staff, patrol teams, National Guard Army!"

"Obeying orders is an ironclad rule you must understand for your future."

After this speech, the chief instructor held the mic in one hand and put the other behind his back.

He turned his spearhead towards Qi Yuan, gazing sharply as he barked harshly.

"You!"

"Why were you waiting outside just now instead of in the parade grounds? Did you not get the school notice?!"

Qi Yuan, who had spaced out from boredom, returned to his senses. Bewildered, he pointed at himself.

"Who else could it be?"

Because I'm an instructor!

Qi Yuan could guess with his toes that giving that answer would embarrass the chief instructor.

He tried a more tactful response: "Sir, my orders were not to wait in the parade grounds."

The chief instructor went silent while the air became heavier.

What do you do when you're halfway through killing a chicken to warn the monkeys [4], then realize you've killed the wrong one?

Only then did the chief instructor notice Qi Yuan's armband. His brows furrowed.

They didn't need any assistants today. What was he here for?

How awkward was this now!

The freshmen also vaguely sensed something was off. Soft chuckles could be heard from below.

The chief instructor was anxious to find a way out of this. Seizing on what the freshmen gave him, he immediately shouted: "Laughing! What are you laughing at? Did I tell you all to laugh?"