The next day, the moment the wake-up call sounded at six in the morning, Lin Mu started the lucky draw before even opening his eyes.
"Congratulations to the Host for obtaining the Combat Expert skill."
Lin Mu, who was getting dressed, was so happy he almost jumped; whatever he wished for really did come true.
In these three months, aside from passing simple formation drills and individual tactical movements, the original Host's grades in other subjects were pathetic.
Now that he had filled the gap in his combat skills, with his physical fitness and marksmanship, taking first place in the New Recruit Company would be all too easy.
"Today is the day of the New Recruit Company's assessment. You were trained by me personally, and I don't want anyone dropping the ball now."
"I will now announce the assessment content and rules."
"Today, there will be assessments in four categories: military subjects, formation drills, individual tactical movements, and physical fitness tests."
"Each item is worth twenty-five points. Only those who score above eighty can join a company; those below eighty might be sent back to their hometowns."
The assessment for the individual tactical movements category alone took several hours.
This category can be subdivided into many smaller subjects; for example, holding a gun can be divided into one-handed carry, two-handed carry, one-handed ready position, and two-handed ready position.
Another example is crawling, which can be divided into low crawl, high crawl, and side crawl.
And that's just a few; if you add the subjects of utilizing terrain and features and moving under enemy fire, it wouldn't end for over an hour.
After the individual tactical movements assessment ended, Zheng Three Cannons gave the recruits a half-hour break.
During the break, Zhuang Yan turned to Lin Mu and said, "Next up are the physical fitness tests and military subjects. Do you want to compete?"
"Compete?" Lin Mu was stunned and asked in confusion, "Wait, why?"
"Because of the incident where I beat up Zheng Three Cannons, I doubt the regiment will want a troublemaker like me. I don't want to leave any regrets during my time in the army. Your marksmanship and physical fitness have both shown powerful strength over the past two days, so I want to test myself against you."
Lin Mu really wanted to tell him that the reconnaissance units specifically look for troublemakers; if you aren't a rebel, the Reconnaissance Company wouldn't even want you.
But since there was an opportunity to take down the protagonist of the original story, why would he refuse? So, he agreed readily.
"Thank you for agreeing to this unreasonable and impulsive request," Zhuang Yan said solemnly.
The break passed quickly. According to the rules announced by Zheng Three Cannons, whoever finished packing a ten-kilogram rucksack first would set off first.
Run along this road into the mountains; you can stop whenever you see Company Commander Miao.
Furthermore, only the first-place finisher gets twenty-five points, second and third get twenty, and the rest only get fifteen.
Spurred by the twenty-five points and the prospect of facing Lin Mu (Zhuang Yan) as an opponent, Lin Mu and Zhuang Yan set off almost simultaneously.
If there had been a camera, slow-motion playback would have shown that Lin Mu was one step faster than Zhuang Yan.
To be honest, the moment he set off, Lin Mu completely forgot about the bet with Shen Meng and Hu Feng.
Now, his mind was entirely focused on seeing who was better between him and Zhuang Yan.
"Haha, why are these two competing so hard? It's interesting. Old Miao, one of these two must be the one named Lin Mu, right?" said a Colonel standing next to Company Commander Miao at the finish line in the distance.
"Regimental Commander, how did you know?" Company Commander Miao asked.
"I guessed. But wasn't it said that Lin Mu was the weakling of the entire New Recruit Company?" the man asked.
"Regimental Commander, remember that slow-motion video I showed you yesterday? That was performed by this soldier named Lin Mu," Company Commander Miao said.
"Interesting! No wonder you dared to invite me to watch the recruit assessment today; it's certainly been worth the trip," the Regimental Commander said with a smile.
"Look, another soldier is catching up," the Regimental Commander said.
"This one is Chen Xiwa. I think he's a living, modern-day Guo Jing. Although his talent isn't high, he's willing to work hard and steadily, and his grades grow slowly but surely. Besides, he has some talent in shooting," Company Commander Miao said.
"It seems you have good luck, Old Miao. You're about to retire, yet you've encountered three promising prospects," the Regimental Commander said.
"Yeah, good luck indeed. Good grief, looking at this pace, the twenty-five points for the physical fitness test will only fall to these three soldiers. Happy Baby is the slowest of the three, but the person closest to Happy Baby is nearly eight hundred meters behind," Company Commander Miao said.
Honestly, once he really started running, Lin Mu regretted it a bit. How could he have forgotten that Zhuang Yan was a long-distance running expert?
In the original plot, Zhuang Yan beat Zheng Three Cannons in a run as soon as he joined the New Recruit Company, plus he had been training continuously for three months.
People improve too, you know.
But Lin Mu was only slightly regretful; after his body was modified by the system, he could run until dark without any issues.
As someone once said: others are full after two bites, but you can eat two more even after you're full.
Although the analogy is a bit inappropriate, you get the point.
"Lin Mu, I've been practicing long-distance running since I was a kid, and even I'm starting to feel it, yet you aren't even breaking a sweat." Zhuang Yan looked at Lin Mu beside him and asked, "Since you're so strong, why were your training results so poor over the last three months?"
"Isn't it fun to play the pig to eat the tiger?" Lin Mu replied without thinking. "Besides, this is the New Recruit Company. What's the point of being strong here? Is it interesting to watch a bunch of noobs pecking at each other?"
"What... what does 'noobs pecking at each other' mean?" Happy Baby, who had been following closely behind, asked in confusion.
"Don't ask; anyway, it's not a good term," Zhuang Yan said, rolling his eyes at Lin Mu.
"You guys keep chatting, I'll take my leave first," Lin Mu said, looking at Company Commander Miao standing a few hundred meters away.
After saying that, Lin Mu accelerated and easily left Zhuang Yan and Happy Baby behind.
Hearing this, Zhuang Yan, who was already exhausted, found a surge of strength from somewhere to keep up closely behind Lin Mu.
Happy Baby, the slowest of the trio, followed behind out of breath, wanting to say something but unable to get the words out.
"Report, Chief! Lin Mu has completed the physical fitness assessment," Lin Mu said, running up to Company Commander Miao and saluting.
"Young man, your fitness is excellent. To run three kilometers with a ten-kilogram load without being red-faced or out of breath—impressive, very impressive," the Regimental Commander said, sizing up Lin Mu.
"Thank you for the praise, Chief!" Lin Mu gave a military salute to the Colonel in front of him.
If Lin Mu guessed correctly, this should be the Regimental Commander of the 8th Special Regiment, Company Commander Miao's direct superior.
Once Zhuang Yan and Happy Baby arrived panting and saluted Company Commander Miao, before they could even catch their breath, they heard him say, "Are you three willing to join my Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company?"