Hollywood: The Greatest Showman

Chapter 20: Immersive

A/N: Sorry guys I made a mistake in the previous Chapter, where I forgot to translate a section. I've translated and uploaded it but for those who don't want to read the previous Chapter again, here's a quick recap of the missing section.

Recap - After getting back at Richard, Renly and Rami go to bunker no. 3 to get the bedding for their boards and meet the same soldier who was earlier handing out their uniforms. They become quick friends and the soldier introduces himself as Tim Barney, a Gulf War veteran. They talk to him and get their bedding. In the board room, as Renly is about to sleep, he meets Jason.

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The cacophony of chirping in his ears was as if he were sitting in an open-air café at an airport, where the deafening noise assaulted him one after another. Subconsciously, Renly waved his hand, trying to dispel the annoyance, but found his muscles stiff and immovable, which caused him some panic. No matter how hard he tried or struggled, he couldn't move a muscle, not even a pinky finger, as if he were experiencing sleep paralysis.

"Get up! Formation!"

The thunderous command exploded in his ears, and Renly sat up straight, his eyes barely opening before the piercing light seeped in, causing his pupils to ache. He closed his eyes tightly and then opened them again, finally adjusting to the light. Several soldiers appeared before him, rudely flipping open each person's blanket, shouting, "Formation! Formation!"

Without waiting for them to approach, Renly quickly got out of bed. The pain in his thighs and arms almost suffocated him, but he clenched his teeth tightly to prevent himself from crying out. He hurriedly put on his socks, thinking for a moment, and simply put on two pairs of socks to reduce friction. Then he put on his boots and stood up in a flurry of activity.

Glancing back, he saw Rami putting on his shoes as well, and James on the other side had already stood up. However, two large suitcases occupied the aisle, making his movement look somewhat comical. James exchanged a glance with Renly and gave a helpless smile. "I don't think I can make it to the last day."

Renly couldn't help but grin. "This is only the first day."

The group quickly spread out towards the barracks outside, the slogans in their ears becoming increasingly severe and fierce, showing no sign of relaxation. Renly only managed to glance around with his peripheral vision and saw Richard lying on the bed like a real corpse, without any movement. However, at this moment, Renly had neither the time nor the energy to care about others. He withdrew his gaze and hurriedly ran out.

The world outside was still dark, with stars scattered across the sky, chilling enough to make one shiver despite it being midsummer, feeling more like early winter.

It should be around two or three in the morning, not the expected six o'clock in the morning assembly time. Renly couldn't help but recall Tim's advice. Indeed, what Tim spoke of was not the itinerary for the next nine days; the first day hadn't even ended yet. The long first day seemed endless.

Four-mile weighted cross-country run.

At three in the morning, he began the four-mile weighted cross-country run. He didn't even know whether there were guns or rocks in his backpack, and even his water bottle felt like a burden—fortunately, he retained some sanity and didn't actually throw away the water bottle. However, he felt he lacked the strength even to throw it away.

Whether it was because his muscles had been completely numb, losing sensation, or because of the previous drills, he had begun to adapt to this level of intensity. His thoughts slowly began to re-operate.

Renly knew that compared to soldiers who had truly experienced war, what they were going through now was just a drizzle. Even for a ten-day boot camp, this was just the beginning. But he couldn't help but ponder, was Eugene's transformation after walking onto the battlefield, witnessing the inhuman hell, exactly like this: from shock to nausea, from fear to numbness, and finally to being lost.

Just like he saw Richard just now.

Aside from his and Richard's petty conflicts, after mental exhaustion reached its peak, he gradually began to lose the ability to feel the surroundings. Perhaps, initially, all he lost was fear, just like a forensic doctor or a cop, getting used to death, becoming accustomed to it; but gradually, those emotions defining humanity began to fade away. He couldn't perceive pain, couldn't empathize, couldn't maintain firm beliefs; he became indifferent, numb, and taken for granted.

Renly vividly remembered a scene from "The Pacific": Eugene prying open a dead man's mouth to extract the gold teeth.

Before this, Eugene had always refused to do such things, even feeling nauseated and pained, which went against his beliefs: the deceased had passed away, at least give them enough respect, there was no need to reveal the most base, greedy, and ugly aspect of humanity for a little gold. This also made him initially very repulsive towards the indifferent Merriell Shelton. The relationship between the two couldn't be described as friendly.

But that day, Eugene's world finally collapsed. After seeing a Japanese soldier use a pregnant civilian woman as a human bomb, he seemed to lose his sanity, wanting to pry open a long-dead, decaying body, and extract the gold teeth inside. The madness and paranoia of that moment were completely out of control.

At that moment, Renly first felt the struggle and collapse deep within Eugene's soul, as if his soul was being torn apart forcibly. But this was just a small touch, difficult to accurately describe with words, or perhaps, those who had not truly experienced the battlefield couldn't truly understand the pain of such transformation, how painful this change was. The surface may seem calm, but the inner turmoil cannot be seen. He felt heavy in his heart.

Renly thought of Tim, perhaps if they could become friends, then they could communicate. Tim could help him understand the truth of those battlefields, different from the truth portrayed in books and movies.

Looking at Rami and James persevering by his side, unconsciously, they had become each other's companions. James grinned, panting, "I know I'm charming, but I'm not interested in men." This teasing remark made Renly and Rami burst into laughter, even a small group nearby laughed along. Then someone behind joked, "Too bad, men aren't interested in you either." This time, everyone burst into laughter.

Apart from introductions, they had no time to talk, but their familiarity with each other slowly spread in the air.

At least one thing was certain, Renly was right. The boot camp was just the beginning. After the four-mile weighted cross-country run, they only got two hours of rest before diving into training again. Renly couldn't even remember what he had for breakfast, just gulping it down.

During the meal, Renly learned that the entire camp had not had dinner last night; everyone slept hungry. Renly thought he was the only unlucky one for missing dinner due to falling asleep, but hearing this news, he felt a sense of balance. "At least I had a good night's sleep."

James sitting opposite rolled his eyes so far back they almost disappeared into his head.

The training on the second day was still long. In addition to the basic training before, they also conducted simulated battlefield training—similar to field games with paintball guns, except they had blanks in their hands. Although they wouldn't get hurt when hit, the impact was enough to knock one down.

Even more terrifying was the fact that, due to being their first real combat training, everyone not only lacked coordination, acting individually but also lacked any tactics. Faced with a team of real soldiers, they were wiped out in less than fifteen minutes, with only two people on the other side injured.

Before the second round of training began, the lieutenant in charge formally explained tactics to them, including analyzing the terrain, analyzing the enemy's formation, and distributing firearms and ammunition. Everyone cooperated according to their positions in the series. This round of training still ended with the actor team being wiped out, but they persisted for thirty-five minutes and successfully knocked down three people from the opposing camp.

It was progress, albeit slight.

In the evening, after finishing the 800-meter obstacle course training, they finally got some rest time. From entering the camp yesterday, almost twenty-four hours had passed without a proper rest, so most actors believed there would be no night exercise tonight. However, Renly remained cautious.

Three hours later, the people from Room 3 were scattered all over the place, lying in a ruined building, limbs askew. The wilderness surrounded them on all sides. They had just marched in the dark for who knows how long, not knowing the direction or the time, with nothing but a compass to guide them.

The lieutenant instructed that a night raid would be launched in forty-five minutes.

Renly tugged at his jacket, but it was useless. The ruins were riddled with holes, like a sieve, and the bone-chilling cold wind was everywhere. He was wearing only a tight-fitting undershirt, a shirt, and a jacket, which couldn't withstand the cold, but the absurdity was that it was only July, how ironic.

Turning his head, he saw Rami curled up in a corner, holding his backpack like a koala, trying to keep warm; James sitting beside him wasn't faring any better. He took off his socks and put them on his hands like gloves, trying to figure out how to tuck his hands into the sleeves.

Renly shook his head speechlessly, then took off his boots and handed over a pair of socks. Seeing James's puzzled look, he explained, "I wore two pairs of socks when we set off."

James immediately widened his eyes in surprise, looking somewhat ridiculous in the moonlight. "You're a lifesaver, mate."

"Two cigarettes." Renly handed over the socks, but when James reached out, he pulled them back and said, "In real combat, helping each other is normal." Since they could only exchange cigarettes, a luxury, this was their currency. Now, Renly brought this habit with him.

James gritted his teeth, snatching the socks and then stuffing one into Rami's arms. "One cigarette." Then he rolled up the remaining sock, stuffed it into his backpack, and finally tucked his feet in the backpack. The sight was truly ridiculous, even Rami couldn't help but look up.

In the cold wind, they were like dry leaves hanging on branches at the end of autumn, shivering but unwilling to fall. This did feel a bit like a real battlefield.