“Form up!”

Commander Isaac barked out orders to the newcomers. He was an intimidating man, with a black eye patch and a deep scar on his face. In front of him was a group of at least two hundred new soldiers making up the Fourth Draft Regiment.

From what I could tell, around two thirds of the force was soldier caliber. The other third was just too young, old, weak, or otherwise unsuited for a military campaign. Of the two thirds that were soldier caliber, the majority were warrior classes, with a few mages, archers, and clerics.

We all wore our military uniforms, which had adjustable flaps that allowed me to drape it over my iron full armor. After wearing our uniforms, we were put in formation.

“Starting from today until the day we get back, your lives are mine! Do you understand, you miserable bread sticks?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“When I tell you to sit, you sit! When I tell you to crawl, you crawl! Do you understand, maggots?”

“Sir, yes, sir!”

“Get on your knees and crawl! Crawl to the wall and back!”

Rows upon rows of new recruits scrambled onto the ground and began crawling towards the side of the city wall that Commander Isaac pointed at.

I coughed at all the dust that was being kicked up by the mass of recruits. There were several officers disciplining recruits that crawled out of line. We were expected to crawl in formation. The Empire’s strict military discipline was no joke.

We reached the wall and turned around, eventually returning to our original positions. Some recruits started to stand up, but were hit by officers holding long disciplinary sticks.

“Back to the wall and again!”

Several people let out groans once they realized they needed to do another lap. This exercise was equal parts exhausting and demeaning. I threw my armor into my inventory and gritted my teeth.

“Anyone I hear bitching and moaning gets their salary cut in half for today! Now crawl!”

Grunts and labored breathes were all I could hear through the heavy dust that was starting to coat my face. With much effort, the majority of the recruits completed the second lap. Slow crawlers and stragglers were being beaten with sticks to hurry them up.

“And, again!”

Commander Isaac’s voice started to ring through my head like tinnitus.

We were forced through drill after drill without any rest, and all the while the officers with sticks beat down anyone that started to lag behind. One of the female recruits started to cry, before being beaten into silence by a disciplinary officer with a baton.

That was just day one. We were expected to train and drill for two more days before departing for our campaign. There were very few quitters despite the hardships. This was because two hundred silver was a substantial sum for both players and residents of the capital.

I wheezed as I inhaled the salty, dusty air on the training facilities. After the first day, we were separated into training groups by class. Casters, which was mostly made up of mages and clerics, went to the dummy training hall to practice their formation aim. Archers, javelin users, and other long range physical damage types, were sent to the forest to train.

Finally, the swordsman classes, which I pretended to be one of, were here in the barracks doing physical training.

Three days was nowhere near enough to improve combat skills significantly. The real purpose of the exercises was to instill a system of discipline and rank, so we would be able to carry out orders with some degree of military professionalism.

In terms of discipline, the training regiment definitely succeeded in bringing our asses in line. If the Fourth Voluntary Regiment’s ability to receive and carry out orders in an orderly fashion could be described in tiers, on day one, the regiment’s ability was F tier. On day three, it had risen to D tier, which was just enough to be able to function as a fighting force without tripping and falling like a clueless toddler. With our three day training regimen under our belts, we could now execute basic maneuvers, like a classroom of kindergarteners being told to distribute birthday donuts to the whole class without falling into abject chaos.

At the end of the third day’s training, several carriages arrived at the city. They were transport carriages, meant to transport soldiers across long distances.

“Attention!”

“Single file, board!”

We formed a line in front of each carriage and began boarding at Commander Isaac’s request. It was time to earn our dough. Books got into the same carriage as me.

Dun dun-dun duuuuuun.

The trumpets were the signal for the transport carriages to move out.

Clippety-clop, clippety-clop.

Hooves hitting dirt road was the predominant sound I heard for hours.

We were headed for war.

————

KB broadcasting, Korea’s number one television and media company, created a dedicated channel for Eclipse Online. It hired several hundred employees including reporters, analysts, game experts, programmers, and special effects staff, to operate the channel twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The channel was a huge cash cow for KB broadcasting, bringing in millions of domestic viewers from launch week. Everyone from elementary school students to middle aged police officers was following Eclipse Online live updates.

Apart from news of dragon sightings in the mountain ranges and the first discoveries of underground dungeons filled with treasures, the biggest story at the moment was the mobilization of the Empire’s forces against the monster coalition and the dwarves.

The reason was simple. Without the army to take back territory and create a defensive perimeter, those newly discovered dungeons and explorable locations were simply not accessible to the average player. Exploring too far meant you were going to be killed by the monster coalition. It was as simple as that.

That was what made the draft against the dwarves such an interesting topic. Dwarves were very rare sights in the game so far, presumably because they lived either very far away or in a hidden inaccessible location. And to access that location, all you had to do was join the army. Player speculation on the forums was at an all time high, and the prospects of a high salary, rare dwarven equipment, and an adventure to an undiscovered land, made many players salivate.

This domino effect of cascading hype caused a gold-rush like phenomenon, where players were rushing to enlist in the dwarven expedition. Spots in the expedition were limited, because the Empire needed soldiers at home to defend against the slowly encroaching monster coalition.

With its connections, KB Broadcast managed to secure a spot for their reporter [Eunjin] to participate in one of the last regiments heading to dwarf territory.

————

The road was bumpy and difficult. We were stuck in the carriage the entire day, in an uncomfortable journey that was similar to a fourteen hour plane ride.

As the sun set and night fell, we finally stopped to rest. Multiple campfires lit up the starry night as rations were distributed. It wasn’t much, biscuits and a bit of jerky, but it was understandable that cheap food that didn’t spoil easily was essential for a long journey.

Soldiers were laughing and joking while sharing beer and metal rations around the campfires.

I turned on KB broadcasting's stream.