Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Never Touch That New Recruit
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Who could have ever imagined it?
In a South Korea made up entirely of towering high-rise apartments.
A place where, because so many people had flocked to the capital it was nicknamed the Seoul Republic, they just kept stacking long buildings skyward.
"Ta-da! We're here~."
"Y-Yes...!"
The day would come when I'd live in a detached house.
"Come on in! Our house is suuuper big!"
"Y-Yeah... it really looks that way..."
This was Seoggok-dong in Gangnam-gu.
As Rolling, who had been driving a foreign luxury car, pulled into the parking lot beneath the detached housing complex, a security guard approached as if he'd been waiting.
"Madam. We'll take it from here."
"Thanks."
Wow, I'd only ever seen this in celebrity variety shows.
We passed the guard who'd taken the car keys and parked for us, heading toward the passageway connected to our house.
All the while, Sophia clung tightly to my hand.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed, I glanced sideways at her.
Sparkle, sparkle.
Her sparkling blonde hair and big, bright eyes stared openly right at me, which was overwhelming in the best way.
"Mommy, mommy!"
"Yes?"
"Shin-woo will definitely! Dad'll like him too! I can just feel it!"
"Dad...?"
Come to think of it, I hadn't met her father yet.
As the husband of a Commander Hunter, he must have some seriously impressive specs himself.
At the very least, top 5% in South Korea.
"Um, ma'am Rolling."
"Feel free to call me... well, not mom, but aunty is fine."
"Ah, okay. Aunty Rolling, then."
She must have realized calling her "mom" right off the bat made me uncomfortable.
I smiled at her consideration and pressed on with my question.
"So... what kind of person is Sophia's dad?"
"Hmm? My husband... well... if I had to describe him..."
"He's super handsome!"
"And really strong."
"He's funny too!"
"But he's got this straightforward charm that's exactly my type... Oops. No need to tell the kid all that."
In simple terms, he was Rolling aunty's soulmate.
And to Sophia, he seemed like the world's greatest dad.
'Bring back some booze, man!'
"Lucky..."
That was when we reached the elevator connected to the detached house via the passageway.
"Oh, and Dad's the same as me!"
"Huh?"
"Dad's a 'Beast Hunter' just like me!"
Beast Hunter?
A Beast Hunter whose social skills had plummeted below zero to -100, making communication outright impossible.
That was the guy I was about to meet. I whipped around to Aunty Rolling in a panic.
"Yeah. That's right. And he's a soldier too."
"A soldier...?"
"Yep. His current rank is probably... around 'Army Chief of Staff'?"
A Beast Hunter who struggled even to mingle with people, commanding every soldier in South Korea's army.
What kind of mental monster was he?
Her mother was a Commander Hunter on par with three-star division commanders on the battlefield.
And her father represented the Korean Army as the Army Chief of Staff.
'This is a real golden spoon family...'
I corrected my earlier thought.
Sophia's dad wasn't just top 5% in South Korea—he was top 0.1% bigshot territory.
I swallowed hard.
No matter how amazing he was, as a Beast Hunter, he wouldn't welcome a new human barging into his nest.
Of course, it'd be great if he liked me, monster traits and all, like Sophia who was still holding my hand.
'But prepare for the worst case.'
I wasn't a perfect monster.
He might sense more of my human side than the monstrous parts.
Bracing for a thorny ordeal, I finally stepped into the elevator and entered the detached house.
"Daddy! I'm home!"
The moment we got inside, Sophia let go of my hand and ran off to find her dad.
My tension had made the hand she'd been holding drenched in sweat.
"Hoo. Hoo."
"Nervous?"
"A little?"
It reminded me of my old military service days.
Standing guard at the sentry post for a division commander's visit.
My heart had pounded just like this back then.
To steady myself, I took a moment to look around the house interior.
A massive TV on the wall, a terrace letting in warm sunlight, even a small lawn garden outside. It was luxurious.
But above all, the house was ridiculously spacious.
A 30-pyeong apartment—the top dream home in Korea—would look like a doghouse here.
If anything, it made me even more tense.
'What kind of guy is gonna come out... I'm scared to death...'
That was when Aunty Rolling looked down at me with a grin.
"You're finally here!!"
Thud. Boom. Thud. Boom.
A massive earthquake of footsteps heading our way made my whole body tremble.
Gulp.
I was so tense, it felt like my phone was vibrating.
Then, survival instincts kicked in, and my mind flashed to something from the Hunters Blood official setting book I'd read before.
In this world, unlike the real one, where monsters existed, even conscripted soldiers fought them regardless of rank.
Military service held far higher value here than in reality.
And if someone mocked conscripts with lines like "Military vacation~" or "The army's basically a camp these days?"
"National Intelligence Service."
"...Pardon?"
"You're under arrest for insulting soldiers, insulting youth—targeting multiple young men in their 20s—and suspected North Korean spy activity for periodically undermining brigade morale."
"Wh-what are you doing?!"
An event dubbed the "National Intelligence Service incident" would trigger.
You could easily spot civilian NPCs who'd debuffed soldiers getting dragged out by the hair on the main street, beaten with batons, and stuffed into car trunks.
And now I was about to meet the de facto head of that army.
'Gotta make a good impression... One slip, and it's straight to the NIS basement...!'
Fathers were usually daughter fanatics anyway.
Bringing home a boy who caught his angel daughter's eye? I wouldn't be welcome.
As I panicked, the man himself finally appeared—the Army Chief of Staff of the Republic of Korea Army, a figure even division commanders couldn't touch.
"Hm!"
"...!"
"Hmmm?"
He was like a mountain.
Even I, at 184cm, gulped at the sight of this 2-meter giant whose head nearly brushed the ceiling.
True to this world's military culture where skill determined rank, his body was a hulking mass of muscle, making the Sophia he held in one arm look tiny.
Above all, even a guy like me had to admit he was a well-preserved middle-aged stud.
It was only natural to quail under that overwhelming presence.
For a split second, I even thought about monsterizing and bolting.
But then.
"Heh!"
Before I knew it, the Army Chief of Staff had scooped me up in a hug, lifting me to eye level with Sophia.
"First time meeting? Nothing beats name, rank, and serial number!"
"Name, rank, and...?"
"Sigh. Honey..."
"I'm Army Chief of Staff, General Lee Seok-gyu. And you are?"
It might've seemed intimidating, but with his clear eyes meeting mine at equal height, he asked.
"I'm Han Shin-woo, sir!"
I answered loud and clear.
"A resounding reply! I like it! Hahaha!"
The Army Chief of Staff laughed heartily, pleased.
"No need to call me 'Father' right away. Just 'Uncle' for now."
"Y-Yes! Uncle!"
"Hahaha! Does exactly as told—love that! When you head to basic training later, it'll be fun swinging by with my adopted son in tow!"
Army Chief of Staff's fun visits to basic training with his adopted son.
My chest already swelled with anticipation.
In this Korea, all adults over 19—regardless of gender—had to serve national defense duty unless they became Hunters.
"Sophia's got US citizenship, so no service for her, and she wants to be a Hunter anyway."
"Yeah! I'm gonna be an awesome Hunter just like Mom!"
"Sophia... don't you want to be a cool soldier like Dad?"
"Nuh-uh! Soldiers have to wake up super early! Can't eat what they want! Can't sleep when they want!"
"W-Well, that's true..."
Despite coming from a military family, both wife and daughter aspired to be Hunters.
"Sniff... My sooon!"
"Ah! Dad, let go! Shin-woo's mine!"
In a way, I—who'd shoulder the same duty—seemed like a ray of hope for Uncle Seok-gyu.
A father weeping with joy. His daughter yanking his cheek away from mine like she was keeping him from slobbering on "hers."
And the mother smiling at the whole scene.
'They're so kind even though we're not blood-related.'
In my original life, a ligament tear during service had confined me to a villa afterward.
This was clearly a fake world from a game.
But if this was all a dream, I hoped it never ended.
"Finally! I can tell the division commanders to take good care of my kid too!"
Oh, and if I flunk the Hunter exam and switch to military service, I pre-emptively hit X for my division's officers to express condolences.
That evening.
"Sophia?"
"She fell asleep with Shin-woo."
"Really?"
Lee Seok-gyu widened his eyes at the news that his daughter—who forbade contact with anyone outside the family—had slept beside a peer for the first time.
He soon smirked with relief, lifting the corner of his mouth.
But that lasted only a moment.
"Hey, honey."
"Yes?"
Alone in the kitchen, Lee Seok-gyu asked his wife Rolling with a suddenly serious expression.
"Did you bring home a 'monster'?"