Chapter 15
Chapter 15
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 15
Chapter Title: Troll Hunter (1)
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Suhyun had been carefully making his way while mulling over his options, but surprisingly, the issue resolved itself without much trouble. Once he stepped out from behind the waterfall, the Calcutta Gorilla was nowhere in sight—it must have finally given up and turned back. Suhyun, who had braced himself for a full-speed race back to the city if they ran into each other, breathed a deep sigh of relief.
It wasn’t as if he was being actively chased anymore; it would just take time, but getting back shouldn’t be too hard. Suhyun got his bearings and started moving.
* * *
It was rare for a brand-new mercenary company to handle official business right away on Cameron Planet. There was a reason startups were called startups. The people they gathered lacked experience, and the company itself had no real know-how.
Cameron Planet was a place where variables could pop up anytime, anywhere, so if luck wasn’t on your side, failure came swiftly.
Jo Seung-hyun knew that all too well. He had recruited Lee So-hee and some seasoned soldiers, but even he knew that wasn’t a full guarantee. If experienced soldiers were all it took, this kind of business wouldn’t exist in the first place. The military would have already finished colonizing Cameron Planet.
That was why he had no intention of blaming them even if this job failed. But the results had come back in a way he never expected.
They had successfully reached the coordinates.
And they had even found resources there. That alone was worth celebrating. Plus, the team hadn’t exactly been lucky either—they had run into monsters on the way and dealt with them.
Normally, he would have thrown a big party the moment they got back.
But the mood right now was anything but celebratory. One member had gone missing.
‘Ugh….’
Jo Seung-hyun scratched his head furiously as he reread the report. When he first saw it, he couldn’t believe it and had called Lee So-hee in privately to confirm.
“No way, really? You know who this is, right? The rookie we brought in to groom.”
“No exaggeration whatsoever. You can ask anyone else, and it’ll be the same.”
Cameron Planet was a place where even veterans got lost, yet a fresh-faced newbie straight out of basic training in the Korean military had spotted the monsters, handled nearly the entire fight, and taken care of everything from start to finish. No matter how many times he heard it, it didn’t sink in.
‘Even a genius wouldn’t pull this off, right?’
And the aftermath was even more absurd. They had encountered a Calcutta Gorilla at the coordinates, and the rookie had shaken it off, allowing the team to return safely.
‘Did I recruit a rookie? Or did I somehow snag a hidden master in disguise?’
If there was even a hint of age falsification, he might suspect something, but Suhyun’s identity checked out. He had double-checked just in case. The age was right, and the records showed he had enlisted in the Korean military and been discharged almost immediately.
Unable to wrap his head around it, he called in someone else.
“Chang-sik. Was this guy really that amazing?”
“He was seriously incredible. We’d all be dead without the rookie.”
“…Got it. You can go. Send Su-yong in.”
Kim Chang-sik left, and Park Su-yong entered.
“Su-yong, be straight with me. If the rookie went missing from the start and you’re trying to pad the compensation payout, don’t worry—I’m not the type to cheat on that stuff, and you know it.”
The team he had assembled weren’t bad apples, so he wondered if they were exaggerating the rookie’s contributions to secure a fat payout for the missing guy. But Park Su-yong shook his head coolly.
“Nothing like that. It was all Kim Suhyun, every bit of it.”
“Really?”
“Do I seem like the type to lie about something like this? If you don’t trust me, President, I’ll walk out right now.”
“No, it’s not that I don’t trust you! Hold on. It’s just… too hard to believe.”
Park Su-yong was skilled enough and not a bad guy at heart, but he was way too straight-laced. Jo Seung-hyun grumbled inwardly as he soothed him. The guy didn’t get jokes at all.
‘I’m still his boss, though….’
Of course, he didn’t let it slip out loud. The man would argue back immediately.
“He’s not some Earth vet with experience—how the hell did he pull this off? Explain it so I can buy it.”
“I heard both his parents were soldiers on Cameron Planet. From the way he talks, seems like he wandered around these parts a lot as a kid.”
“People actually took a kid in there?”
“That’s what he said. What can you do?”
“There are folks even more reckless than me out there…”
Suddenly, Suhyun’s parents had become irrational lunatics in his mind.
“Got it. You’re dismissed.”
“President.”
“Yeah?”
“Please give Kim Suhyun a bigger cut of the reward money. You can take it out of my share or the others’ if you need to…”
“You’re fine with it, but have you asked the rest?”
“They’ll agree if you do.”
“Alright. Don’t worry about it—go get some rest. You earned it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once the door closed, Jo Seung-hyun leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He thought he had seen it all in his time, but this was genuinely bizarre.
‘What if a fairy showed up, helped me out, and vanished?’
He was indulging in fantasies like that. Snapping back to reality, Jo Seung-hyun refocused.
With testimonies like these, Kim Suhyun’s feats were undeniable. He never would have imagined even the stoic Park Su-yong stepping up like that….
If Suhyun’s skills were real, he wasn’t just some treasure—he had basically carried the team single-handedly. Even as a rookie, any number of outfits would kill to have talent like that.
‘So why’d he join my company? Wouldn’t a big corp have been better?’
It might have been smarter to go through trials and showcase his abilities, but that was water under the bridge now.
‘Ugh… Did I plan this too sloppily? Got blinded by greed?’
He had figured it would be relatively easy. As long as no bad luck hit, a team with their skills—including veterans and Power Armor—could handle the Calcutta region no problem.
In the end, the job succeeded, but it had cost a rookie’s life for the team to barely scrape by. Deaths were par for the course in this line of work, but that didn’t make them any easier to stomach.
And if that rookie had been extraordinarily capable? All the more so. As someone who dealt in people, Jo Seung-hyun couldn’t help but feel self-reproach for overlooking and wasting Suhyun’s talent.
If it had just been some random newbie death, the team could bounce back quick, but from the vibe, Suhyun had apparently rallied them hard in that short time. With his years in the trenches, Jo Seung-hyun could tell. There was a clear difference between someone who became the team’s glue and someone who didn’t.
The former held the group together and kept things running just by being there, while the latter’s presence or absence barely mattered. But when they were gone, the impact from the former was far worse.
‘Damn it. Get it together. What’s done is done. Time to clean up the mess. I’m the boss.’
Looking at it objectively, the mission had been a success. Coordinates confirmed, resources found… Losing one merc wasn’t a statistically significant hit. Jo Seung-hyun tried to console himself with that.
‘More importantly, where do I send this guy’s reward money? No family….’
BAM!
“?!”
“Kim Suhyun. Just got back.”
“!?!?!?!?!?!?!”
* * *
“Y-you-you-you’re alive?!”
“I was never dead to begin with.”
Jo Seung-hyun’s bellow drew the team rushing to the office, thinking something had gone down. Cameron Planet wasn’t total lawless territory, but it was still wild land at heart. Even in human settlements, trouble could erupt.
But inside the office wasn’t an intruder—it was Kim Suhyun, covered head to toe in dirt.
“No way you marked me as dead just for being a week late…?”
“Haven’t done it yet, but—how?!”
Everyone stared at Suhyun like he was a ghost. Kim Chang-sik even poked at his waist and arms outright.
Thwack!
“Ow! What the hell, Su-yong sunbae!”
“What kind of stunt is that to pull on someone who might be hurt!”
Park Su-yong roughly swatted away Kim Chang-sik’s hand. Kim Chang-sik protested in an aggrieved tone but had no comeback, so he shut his mouth.
“Kim Suhyun made it back?!”
Finally, even Lee So-hee showed up. As the crowd swelled, Jo Seung-hyun scowled.
“Alright, listen up! Kim Suhyun has returned. Everyone got that? Everyone except Kim Suhyun—out! I need to hear what happened!”
At Jo Seung-hyun’s shout, they shuffled out reluctantly. Everyone had questions for Suhyun. But their faces were all brighter now. The rookie they thought was gone forever was back—that alone was cause for joy.
“Oh, wait. Before we talk… Any injuries? We should hit the hospital first. Coming all this way just to croak from wounds would be too tragic.”
“Nope, no injuries.”
“You sure?”
“If you don’t believe me, come to the hospital with me.”
“Fine. We’ll go together after we’re done talking.”
“?”
Suhyun hadn’t expected him to actually agree, so he eyed Jo Seung-hyun strangely. Mercs were supposed to manage their own health. Lying about being fine and keeling over later was on you, not anyone else. But going to the hospital together for a checkup?
‘What’s with this guy?’
Suhyun had shown up late—literally just now—so he hadn’t sensed the company mood. He had no idea Jo Seung-hyun had grilled the team over and over about his exploits.
“Sorry to grill you right after getting back, but… how’d you make it?”
“Of course you can ask. It’s work stuff—gotta log it.”
“Y-yeah, right.”
No ordinary rookie acted like a grizzled merc. Jo Seung-hyun unconsciously straightened up.
“Escaping a Calcutta Gorilla was definitely tough. Its power is basically Power Armor-level to begin with.”
“Yeah.”
Jo Seung-hyun hadn’t anticipated one showing up near those coordinates. If he had known, he never would have attempted the op.