It was only the first day of military training, so both Eren and Jean restrained themselves a bit. Eren turned and walked out of the cafeteria.
Jean, however, bumped into his goddess—Mikasa with her flowing black hair. Blushing, he approached her to strike up a conversation, but Mikasa only had Eren in her heart. She brushed him off with a casual response and walked away.
Jean, the brown-haired boy, blushed furiously and quietly followed after her, staring longingly at Mikasa's graceful figure as she left.
Jean felt his heart race. She was just too beautiful—her flowing black hair, delicate features, soft pink lips… everything about her made his heart thump.
Nearby, Ryan also witnessed this classic scene.
Jean liked long black hair, huh? Too bad. Simps never win. Soon, Mikasa would cut her hair short.
Instant karma.
Jean followed along, only to find that the goddess he admired was familiar with the idiot he'd just insulted earlier.
Jean: Σ(っ°Д°;)っ — If I'd known, I would've been nicer earlier!
---
Ryan didn't bother with that nonsense. Carrying a piece of bread, he walked over to where Sasha was practically down to her last breath.
Whoosh! Sasha suddenly lunged forward and snatched the bread from Ryan's hand.
In the blink of an eye, she scarfed it down clean. The speed at which she grabbed it was insane—Ryan thought even someone with lightning reflexes wouldn't have stopped her.
"Ryan, do you have more?" Sasha looked up at him with big pleading eyes.
Ryan sighed. No way. He'd begged the lunch lady just to get this one.
Just as Ryan was wondering what to do, a small, blonde-haired, blue-eyed, doll-like girl approached with a piece of bread and a canteen.
Looking unsure, she said to Sasha, "Um… I brought you something to eat… do you… need it?"
"Angel!" Sasha cried and immediately dove at her, snatching the bread and stuffing it into her mouth. The kind girl gently handed her the canteen, and after finishing, Sasha collapsed into her arms.
Ryan twitched slightly. He was handsome too—black hair, blue eyes, a perfect mix of East and West. And he brought her bread first. Why didn't he get called a god?
He remembered the blonde girl—her name was likely Christa.
Christa was struggling to support the exhausted Sasha. Before Ryan could help, another girl showed up—a tall, black-haired recruit with a ponytail.
She looked at Christa and said, "Trying to do a good deed? Do you really think your effort will be rewarded equally?"
Christa was stunned and didn't know how to respond.
"Hmph, forget it. I'll carry her back for you. Think of it as a favor," the black-haired recruit said.
"Are you trying to do a good deed too?" Christa asked instinctively.
"Nope. I just enjoy watching this idiot's stupidity," Ymir replied with a smirk.
Ryan rolled his eyes on the side. "That's your way of complimenting someone?"
"Oh? Isn't that the Potato Girl's fellow villager? Hey, little brother, you got a problem with me?" Ymir taunted with a poisonous tongue.
"Hmph, call me 'big brother' and you'll be right. I've got no issue. Thanks for helping carry Sasha back," Ryan snorted.
Sure, he looked like a 12-year-old shota now, but he was already 16—definitely old enough to be her big brother.
Twelve was the minimum age for recruits. Some joined at 13 or 14, but hardly anyone was older than 16.
"Hahaha! Don't make me laugh, kid. Believe it or not, I could be your grandma," Ymir said mockingly.
Heh… Ryan's eye twitched. That sounded like a challenge. Did she really think he'd go easy on her just because she was a girl?
Of course, Ryan had no idea how complicated Ymir's past really was. If someone wrote it all out, it'd be tens of thousands of words long.
She had once been a mindless Titan wandering outside the walls for decades before she accidentally devoured a Marley warrior with Titan power, becoming the Jaw Titan's current host.
If you counted her years as a mindless Titan, she really could be Ryan's grandma.
"Alright, stop bickering. Let's get her back first," Christa said, stopping Ryan and Ymir's squabble.
Ryan shrugged and said no more. They still needed that sharp-tongued black-haired woman to carry Sasha back to the girls' dorm.
After all, relying on tiny blonde Christa to carry her was asking too much.
Again—showing off always comes with payback. If it came down to age, Ryan really didn't stand a chance against her.
Back in the dorm, everyone was preparing to sleep. No one chatted much. The balance test was tomorrow, so getting rest was best.
The night passed without incident. The next morning, Ryan was jolted awake by shouting.
"You have ten minutes to wash up! Then assemble outside, wait for the whistle, and run ten laps around the camp! After that, gather at the cafeteria entrance for balance adaptability testing…" Instructor Keith's booming voice shook the entire dorm awake.
The boys' washbasin was behind their dormitory. They had running water—a surprisingly modern setup.
The tech tree in the world of Titans was bizarre. The civilization inside the walls wasn't even up to World War I levels, yet they had ODM Gear—a total black-box technology.
Meanwhile, the Military Police still used muskets.
After five recruits were eliminated yesterday from the 5000-meter run, no one dared slack off, even though everyone was sore and aching.
Looks like that baptism by fire and show of authority worked. The newbies all behaved, knowing full well if they got sent back to hauling rocks and weeding fields, there'd be nowhere left to cry.
After the morning run and a hasty breakfast, everyone gathered at five triple-pronged balance trainers.
Operating the ODM Gear wasn't as easy as it looked. After all, it was asking people used to 2D movement to suddenly function in 3D space.
Flying wasn't simple. So before training with the gear, they had to hang from the simulator to test their balance and adaptability. This test helped determine a recruit's potential for mastering the equipment.
On the field, Ryan was hanging from the simulator steadily, barely swaying at all.
The adaptability test was actually quite difficult. Anyone who couldn't meet the standard in two days was kicked out. Every batch lost dozens of recruits this way.
"Whoa, awesome, Ryan! You're making me feel some serious pressure here," Thomas said, shocked by Ryan's near-perfect performance.
"Sigh…"
Ryan let out a soft sigh. Life was so lonely when you were this amazing. He hung there like a pro, soaking in the surrounding gasps of awe.
Sure, it was a bit pretentious—but what's the point of life if you don't show off a little?
So not only did he show off—he made sure to do it with flair and class.
Out of the 309 recruits, over 200 had already been tested. 187 had passed. Those who failed had one more chance the next day.
So far, only Mikasa could compare to Ryan's performance. But what could he do? He was naturally humble—yet still couldn't help outshining everyone!
Thud!
Beside him, Eren fell hard to the ground. Oof, that looked painful—Ryan winced just watching.
"Ouch!"
Eren dangled halfway from the machine, clutching his head and crying out.
"Eren, are you okay?!"
Mikasa immediately ran over upon hearing his cry, helped him down from the machine, and gently bandaged his forehead.
Jean stared, eyes wide with jealousy. He looked like he wanted to smash his own head to trade places.
"Tch tch."
Ryan sighed. If he remembered right, Eren's belt was defective. That's why his fall looked so bad.
Seeing this, Ryan undid his safety latch and jumped down. Time to make himself known.
Of course, he had no intention of pointing out the belt defect. If the belt's faulty, there's no way anyone could maintain balance.
But maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Setbacks build character, after all. (Eren later managed to stay balanced for three or four seconds with the defective belt during the evaluation.)
Eren was still too green. He needed more beatdowns from life.