Death Progress Bar

tood up reluctantly.
Shi Jin and Luo Donghao also got to their feet with the help of nearby team members.

Fortunately, the morning training session wasn’t too long, and the rest of the training was just practicing marching and turning motions, which wasn’t very tiring.
Shi Jin and Luo Donghao took this opportunity to stretch out their stiff bodies, and they actually felt much better.

Lunch was followed by an hour-long lunch break.
The residents of room 103 all collapsed on their bunks without a word, making an excellent impression of corpses.

“Next time, should the people who move choose to give up immediately?” After a long silence, one of the teenagers finally asked, his voice full of grievance.
“I don’t want to drag everyone down anymore.
Why the hell is the instructor doing this? Does he just feel it’s fun to bully us?”

No one answered.
Everyone seemed to have fallen asleep.

“I just want to hang on with everyone…” the young man continued, his voice growing nasal as if he was about to cry.
It was incredibly stressful to watch your teammates suffer because of your own mistakes.

Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations.
Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!

Shi Jin lay with his hands on the back of his head.
Hearing the anguish in his roommate’s voice, he said, stifling a sigh, “Then do.
Even if you move, it’s fine—as long as we train enough, we will improve.
And the instructor won’t let us stand indefinitely, we also have to do other training.”

“But, if I keep moving again and again, the squad will get a lot of additional training time because of one person…”

“Not really—if it hadn’t been for the instructor to cheat us in the morning, it would’ve been only fifteen minutes.
Everyone would’ve managed to hold on for that long.
The whole team completing the training together is actually not that hard a task,” Shi Jin replied, then joked, “Besides, isn’t there still me? I don’t think anyone can snatch my title of ‘the young master who’s an expert in standing at attention’.
I’ll be able to stand for as long as is needed, even if you move many times.
I’m sure you’ll gradually improve as long as you stick to it.
You’re just not used to the intensity of military training.”

Luo Donghao suddenly sat up on his bed.
“The hell are you saying?” he asked, scowling.
“If the whole team keeps moving, you’ll have to stand for hours! You want to become a cripple?”

Shi Jin poked his head out to look at him.
“But have you ever noticed that the policemen at the roadside sentry box stand guard the whole day, and they still have to pay attention to everything around them? They don’t become crippled, do they? After graduation, we’ll all start from the bottom rung of the ladder, and maybe we’ll get assigned to exactly that kind of roadside sentry box.
Now the instructor has us practice the most fundamental basics.
He intentionally makes things difficult for us because he doesn’t want us to give up easily—because in our future work, there won’t be any room for giving up.”

Stunned, Luo Donghao fell silent.
The other people in the room couldn’t help but sit up, though they didn’t speak either.

“Didn’t the instructor say that ‘the dead’ have no right to speak? He should’ve added, ‘as long as there’s life, there’s hope, so don’t give up’.
Sticking to it is the right choice—the moment we decided to enter this profession, we’ve renounced the option to ‘give up’,” Shi Jin guided them patiently.
He didn’t have the heart to watch these young people continue wasting their time and energy going around in circles, or perhaps even driving themselves into a dead end.

Everyone looked thoughtful.
The person who started the conversation clenched his fists and said, “Shi Jin is right—in this profession, we don’t have the option to give up.
I’ll hang on with everyone, so I’m sorry, Shi Jin, but I’ll continue to drag you down for a while!”

“It’s fine.” Seeing that his talk wasn’t in vain, Shi Jin gave the youth a fatherly smile.
“If you drag the team down, then you’ll just have to invite everyone for a meal when we’re back in school.
Now come on, let’s rest.
We’ll likely return to the regular training program in the afternoon, so we should get our strength back as soon as possible.”

“Yeah!” the teenager responded vigorously.
He added with a smile, “If I’ll have to invite everyone for a meal, then I’d better start saving money now—my physical fitness is really bad.”

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Everyone couldn’t help but laugh, and the atmosphere finally relaxed a little.
Luo Donghao looked at Shi Jin, who was lying on the edge of his bunk and smiling as he watched his roommates.
Unable to hold back his curiosity, he asked, “Shi Jin, your family seems pretty rich, so why did you choose to enter the police academy?”

The laughter stopped abruptly, and everyone looked at Shi Jin tentatively—yeah, he was a young master and could spend his life in luxury, so why did he run to a police academy to suffer hardship?

Shi Jin: “……”

Because being a civil servant is an “iron rice bowl” job… Well, of course he couldn’t answer this way.
He bowed his head in silence, pretending to look serious, then replied, “Because there’s someone I want to protect.
When I become a policeman, I will be able to protect him openly.” As he spoke, he couldn’t help but feel amused at the image of Lian Jun looking at him with an expression full of trust and dependence and saying, ‘Thank you, officer.’

Because there’s someone I want to protect.

Luo Donghao looked at him obviously thinking of someone, with even his smile becoming gentle, and flopped back on his bed.
“You are really a strange young master…” he sighed.

“I’m just an ordinary person.” Shi Jin also lay back on his bunk and looked up at the ceiling, suddenly missing Lian Jun very much.
He’d been away for three days—who knew if Lian Jun was eating properly now that he wasn’t by his side…

In the club, Lian Jun held a tablet, browsing through the pictures and tidbits of information Li Jiuzheng had received from Xiang Aoting and forwarded to him.
As he looked at the photos of Shi Jin, dashing and handsome in his uniform, his eyes were soft.

This is your dream… You look great in that uniform. The person he loved was, indeed, better suited to walk in the light.

“Jun-shao,” Gua One, who had appeared in the study at some unknown point, called in a low voice.

Lian Jun came back to his senses.
He turned the tablet face-down and looked at Gua One, his expression inscrutable again.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.

Gua One stepped forward and put the file he held on the desk.
“There’s some movement in the underworld.
In addition, the authorities suddenly invited us to cooperate on a mission in G Province.”

G Province? Wasn’t that where Tarantula’s headquarters was?

Lian Jun frowned.
He took the document and quickly flipped through it, his expression sinking a little.
“They want to take a shot at Tarantula,” he said.
“But why? Why are the officials suddenly focusing on Tarantula? Snake Fang is clearly the one making waves right now.”

Gua One shook his head, just as puzzled.
“Jun-shao, should we agree to take part in this assignment?”

“Yes.
If we want to protect Tarantula, we must participate in this mission.” His finger tapping on the file, Lian Jun ordered, “Contact Tarantula—I need to meet with Lu Shan.”

Gua One was well aware that this matter was of utmost importance, so he nodded hurriedly and turned to carry out the order.

Death Progress Bar is translated by Betwixted Translations.
Read on the original translator’s site to get the fastest updates!

As Shi Jin expected, during the afternoon training, Xiang Aoting didn’t tell them to stand at attention but instead, like the other teams, made them do some regular training.
The whole squad breathed a sigh of relief—to be honest, if they had to be subjected to this kind of psychological pressure tactics several times a day, every day, they would all break down sooner or later.

After going through two hell-like standing at attention training sessions, everyone found the regular training pleasant and relaxing and threw themselves into it with enthusiasm, without Xiang Aoting even having to order them.
They also took this as a chance to try to prove to him that they were not as useless as he thought.

During the scheduled break time, Luo Donghao and the others in room 103 exchanged tacit glances, then got up and walked to the people from the other rooms, and whispered to them.

Shi Jin didn’t know anything about it because as soon as the break started, Xiang Aoting pulled him out of the training field to help him bring water for everyone in the squad.

“You really are using your position to bully me,” Shi Jin accused Xiang Aoting in a low voice, lifting a bucket of water.

Xiang Aoting was also carrying a bucket.
Seeing that Shi Jin’s forehead was damp with sweat, he reached out to help him hold the bucket.
“I just wanted to talk to you.
Are you mad at me for what I did during the morning training?”

Shi Jin looked at him as though he were an idiot.
“Why would I be mad at you? You are our drill instructor, so it’s up to you to decide how to train us.
Besides, you’re doing this for our own good—everyone will understand this in the future.”

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Xiang Aoting didn’t expect him to understand and was a little moved.
He raised a hand and rubbed Shi Jin’s head.

Without his support, Shi Jin’s bucket lurched down, nearly hitting the ground.
He stopped walking and hurriedly straightened his back to stabilize himself, then took a step sideways to avoid Xiang Aoting’s hand.
“Don’t touch a man’s head and a woman’s waist, don’t you know this precept? I’m not a child anymore!” he said.
Then, as if a sudden thought hit him, he moved back to his brother’s side and gave him a false look of worship. 

As soon as he saw it, Xiang Aoting knew that the teenager was definitely scheming something.
He reached out to help him hold the bucket again, asking, “What are you up to?”

Shi Jin flashed him a fawning smile.
“I’m not up to anything… I’ve heard that instructors are allowed to use mobile phones.
Have you brought your phone with you? I want to send Lian Jun a message, but my own phone was taken away and locked up.
I can’t get it back until the military training is over.”

Xiang Aoting frowned, obviously unwilling.

“Are you still calling yourself my brother?” Shi Jin complained, aggrieved.
“Look at my trembling legs, my hunched back, my sweaty head, and this bucket of water I’m carrying.
You—”

“You can’t borrow my phone, but I can send Lian Jun a message for you,” Xiang Aoting had no choice but to compromise.
“What do you want to tell him?”

Shi Jin instantly changed his expression to a flattering smile again.
“Just that he has to eat and sleep properly.
That’s all, otherwise you’ll feel awkward.
Thank you, Fourth Brother—as expected, you really are the brother who loves me the most.”

Xiang Aoting’s expression softened.
“Everybody loves you the same.” Abruptly, he pulled the water bucket out of Shi Jin’s hand, quickened his pace, and walked towards the squad’s position.

Stunned, Shi Jin watched him trot away with two buckets of water, then smiled and chased after him.

He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt very happy.
It was as if he’d been looking forward to such a moment for a long, long time.

No one had fallen into the abyss—on the contrary, everyone’s future was still filled with endless possibilities.

Abruptly, Xiao Si said, < JinJin, your progress bar has dropped to 80.
>

Surprised, Shi Jin stopped to take a look at the progress bar.
His gaze was confused—why did it drop suddenly? Did he just do something?

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Extra: why would Lian Jun receive photos from Li Jiuzheng

One day, Lian Jun sent a text message to Li Jiuzheng: [I’ll let you take Shi Jin to school, but you’ll need to do something for me.]

Li Jiuzheng (instant reply): [Deal.]

———

Another day, the brothers’ chat group:

Xiang Aoting: Xiao Jin is working hard. [picture][picture][picture]…+n

The brothers quietly right-clicked and saved.

Li Jiuzheng adjusted his glasses, saved, and forwarded.

———

#What is the instructor doing when he’s standing behind the squad all the time?#

Translator’s Notes:

“Don’t touch a man’s head and a woman’s waist” – a common saying passed down from ancient times.
Short explanation: in ancient times, the identity and status of a man were recognized by his clothes, headwear, and/or hairstyle.
As such, the man’s head (with all that’s on it) could be equaled to his dignity.
An elder could touch a child’s head, but touching a grown man’s head was a social taboo.
“Don’t touch a woman’s waist”  – if a woman let her waist be touched by others at will, it was regarded as being wanton, which could ruin her reputation and chances to marry.
(Source)