My Desertion Would Be Faster Than Heros’ Obsession

“Attention! Salute to Chris-nim!”

The soldiers facing each other raised their swords high. Each blade shimmered in various colors, infused with their individual auras.

Chris stood in front of the path created by these swords, staring at us with an awkward expression on his face.

“…I feel like I’ve just been hiding out in this unit, but still, thank you all for your hard work! Stay healthy and get discharged! Make sure you come out alive!”

With those words, he confidently walked down the path formed by the swords. However, his face bore the expression of someone holding back tears.

‘What must it feel like to endure for eight years?’

Chris walked all the way to the cart in the distance. It was the same cart I had ridden in when I first arrived, and it was also the cart that would take those leaving the unit.

We were gathered at the company headquarters, seeing off the departing soldiers from each platoon.

Not only were we sending off our own members, but a commander from Gamma Platoon was also being discharged today, so we saluted him once again.

Finally, the commander’s farewell ended, and it was time to bid farewell to the promoted corporals who were leaving.

‘It’s just April, alone.’

There seemed to be no one else from her platoon, or they were dead. Only April was standing there, waiting.

“Attention! Salute to April-nim!”

At those words, we raised our swords again.

April stood there, smiling her usual smile.

‘That crazy b**** is finally leaving… Thank you….’

“Stay alive. Let’s not meet again once you’re out!”

With her trademark short farewell, April walked away.

As she was walking, she stopped for a moment in front of me, who stood at the far end.

Without turning her head, she stared straight ahead and whispered just loud enough for only me to hear.

“Black Magic Search Special Forces.”

“Huh?”

“It seems you’ve realized that this system is messed up too, so I’ll give you a special reward. If you still think this system is wrong when you’re discharged, come find me in the Black Magic Search Special Forces.”

“W-What are you planning…?”

“I’m going to destroy the system.”

After that, April continued walking without another word, leaving me standing there, mouth agape.

‘W-What did I just hear?’

Destroy the system? Does that mean she’s planning to tear down the Border Defense Army itself?

As I was lost in confusion, April, Chris, and another commander climbed into the cart.

When the cart started moving, they never looked back.

Suddenly, I had this thought.

This world is based on the novel Four Obsessed Madmen Cling to Me. And there must certainly be a gaping hole in this world that wasn’t covered by the novel.

Somehow, this world must have patched that hole.

For example, in a hierarchy-based group, the absence of extreme cruelty was likely due to the bond that Arkon shared after going through life-and-death situations together.

Though I had only read the novel, I didn’t know that this world was an apocalypse, but in reality, this world was a tragic nightmare.

So then, what about the Border Defense Army?

A system where monsters constantly appear, and Arkon risk their lives fighting.

How does this unreasonable world, created merely as a backdrop for a novel, manage to continue?

“I’m going to destroy the system.”

Somehow, I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that I would seek out April even after my discharge.

***

The day after April’s promotion and departure.

“…Hey, when are we getting discharged?”

Feeling strangely empty, I poked Aquila, who was standing next to me. He looked down at me with his orange eyes.

“…I hadn’t thought about that.”

“What? You’re not thinking about getting discharged, are you?”

I stared at him with a look that said are you crazy?, and he immediately responded.

“No, I think about it every day.”

“Ah, I thought so.”

Even though he was the male lead in the original, he’s still human, so his way of thinking is the same as anyone else's…

“Salvia, I have a few things I need to do after I get discharged.”

“Yeah, I’ve got some things too.”

“And one of those plans involves you. Thinking about it now, I don’t think I’ve asked for your consent.”

“Oh, really? Don’t worry, I’ll do whatever it takes!”

I gave him a couple of playful pats on the back. Yeah, after getting discharged, I’d be left with no one I know in this world, so I might as well keep in touch with Aquila.

‘...Wait a second.’

Suddenly, the image of Dalin, the heroine from the original novel, popped into my mind.

Since the plot of the male leads obsessing over me was long gone, I wasn’t really interested in whether those four original male leads fixated on Dalin or not.

‘Then, Aquila, you bastard, are you planning to get discharged and marry Dalin and live happily ever after?’

That would be a bit problematic. After all, the only person I could even call a friend in this world was Aquila.

I didn’t want to be the “husband’s female friend” awkwardly stuck between a newlywed couple.

‘And Dalin, seriously, she’s so clueless, isn’t she?’

When I read the original NemiJip, I didn’t think much about it, but after becoming immersed in this world, I realized that the original heroine was a torture officer.

There was no way I was going to hand over my precious comrade to someone like that.

“Aquila.”

“Yeah?”

“If you’re planning to marry some dumb girl…”

I looked straight into Aquila’s eyes as I spoke.

“I’ll kill you.”

“…What?”

I felt Aquila’s pupils waver for a second.

‘…No, I’m not normally this extreme with my words.’

Ever since I enlisted, it felt like my words just came out without any filters. But as long as the original meaning gets across, it shouldn’t matter, right?

“Got it?”

“…If you help me with the plan I mentioned earlier, I don’t think that will ever happen.”

“Good, I promise.”

I hooked my pinky finger with his.

As we were doing that, Isina walked by and, with a slightly exasperated tone, muttered.

“Ha... Where did these two go wrong in their thinking…?”

***

Time in the military passes terribly slowly.

Today marked exactly one year since we enlisted.

It was also the day when a new commander from another unit was arriving.

Just like how April got promoted and left for another unit three months ago, yesterday, Louise left the unit. And today, someone from another unit was coming to our unit.

‘I hope they have a decent personality.’

But after spending six years in the Border Defense Army, it’s probably impossible to keep a decent personality, damn it.

“Hey, guys, Winter-nim said to come in quickly.”

“Oh, I guess the new commander has arrived?”

Taking advantage of the rare break, I got up from where I had been hiding in the corner of the building and followed Isina along with Aquila. It seemed like we were going to greet the new commander.

When we reached the building, I saw a man with purple hair standing in front of the unit members.

With purple hair and purple eyes, he looked extremely tired and had a somewhat gloomy aura.

I quickly blended into the group of soldiers, and once everyone else had arrived, the new commander spoke up.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Taro, the 70th batch commander assigned to this unit.”

‘Ah, he must be the same batch as Louise.’

Since Louise, who was a corporal yesterday, got promoted to commander and left the unit, a commander from the same 70th batch was now coming to our unit.

“I know things are tough for all of you, so I’ll try to stay quiet while I’m here….”

“Big trouble! Big trouble!”

Just then, someone interrupted Taro’s speech, rushing over in a panic.

‘Interrupting the commander’s speech? Are they out of their mind?’

Everyone froze and stared at the person who had cut in. Plato, the corporal, was standing there, panting heavily.

‘Oh right, Plato said he was going to the company headquarters for something?’

If I remember correctly, Plato had gone to the company headquarters not far from here to check on new weapon supplies.

Since I had also hidden away while Plato was out, I couldn’t have misremembered.

“…You’re a corporal, aren’t you? What’s going on that you’d interrupt me like that?”

“I-I just heard something at the company headquarters, and it’s a big problem!”

Plato, acting unlike himself, raised his voice and shouted with an anxious tone. Taro, uncomfortable with the disturbance, asked.

“What’s going on? Did a grade one monster appear?”

“Monsters aren’t the issue right now!”

I couldn’t make sense of what was being said, but Taro frowned, seemingly suspecting something.

“What is it? Is there some joint training with the company?”

“N-No, it’s not that…”

“Then is the brigade commander visiting our unit?”

“N-No!”

“Well, I guess that’s unlikely. So what is it?”

“The Crown Prince is coming on an inspection visit to our unit!”

When Plato’s words ended, the atmosphere grew tense for a moment.

“Ugh!”

Altair collapsed into his seat with a loud sound.

“…Please tell me this is a lie.”

Winter looked at Plato with a desperate expression. I had never seen Winter make such a face before.

“No, no….”

Taro, who was about to scold Plato for causing a scene, began trembling.

‘The Crown Prince?’

That was a term I hadn’t heard in a while, like something out of a romance fantasy novel.

‘...Wait a minute, if it’s the Crown Prince, isn’t he basically a romance fantasy male lead material?’@@novelbin@@

The Border Defense Army’s male leads had lost their flair, but a Crown Prince with a title would fit right into a romance fantasy, wouldn’t he?

My mind, after a year of immersion in this world, began to run through romance fantasy scenarios again.

‘What if the Crown Prince, here for an inspection, becomes a clingy male lead after seeing me?’

He might say something stupid like, “You’re different from the other women.”

Of course, every woman is different, so it’s a given, but the male leads in romance fantasies tend to be silly like that.

‘The Crown Prince, huh… Doesn’t he have that ruthless, cold tyrant vibe?’

Seeing the senior soldiers look terrified at the mention of the Crown Prince’s visit, it was clear that the Crown Prince was someone to be feared!

Yes, this is it!

“Ishina-nim, is the Crown Prince known to be a very cold-hearted person?”

“What?”

When I asked, Ishina looked at me as though he didn’t understand, his face pale just like the other soldiers.

“Everyone seems really scared, is there a special reason?”

I was hoping that the tyrant Crown Prince would come to the unit and become obsessed with me, setting off a romance fantasy plot.

“W-What are you talking about, Salvia…?”

Ishina spoke in a trembling voice.

“Don’t you understand why we’re all so terrified…?”

“What do you mean…?”

Ishina grabbed my shoulder with a look in his eyes like he was about to cry.

“Cleaning… we have to clean…”

“…What?”

“We have to clean, clean… how much do we have to clean… we need to clean…”

‘Damn it….’

In the end, I collapsed helplessly onto the ground.

‘Damn, romance fantasy plot…’

At this point, maybe it’d be better to assassinate the Crown Prince before he even arrives.