Breezing Through Battalion Trials
Special Business Designator: Baek Jaesung
I'd heard that Han Seungjin was also eligible for enlistment. But to think the bastard was gunning for the 1st Landing Battalion too.
With Han Seungjin's skills, passing the exam would be a piece of cake. Hell, I might even end up seeing that fucker's face in the military.
We stepped inside the exam building. There, we received our waiting numbers. I drew 21. We were led down a long hallway lined with countless doors.
"Please enter the room matching your number."
A man who looked like a Hunter Association staffer announced it. I parted ways with the girls.
"Good luck on the exam, everyone."
"You too, Jaesung!"
I wasn't worried about the test at all. With my girls' skills, they'd pass no problem.
I entered room 21. It was similar to the room where I'd taken the hunter registration exam back at the association.
The spacious room was completely empty. As soon as I walked in, a voice emanated from the speaker on the ceiling.
Qualification exam commencing. I am the exam assistant Rania.
"Oh ho. AI, huh?"
The first test is the Ability Power Test. Strike the straw dummy ahead with your maximum power.
A straw dummy materialized in midair. It was the exact same type as the one from my hunter registration exam. Guess exam formats are pretty standard everywhere.
"Piece of cake."
I fired a holy missile at the dummy. Brilliant particles of light mercilessly streaked toward it. With a boom!, the dummy shattered into pieces.
Proceeding to the next test.
No pass/fail announcement yet.
Dodge the red spheres incoming from all directions.
Suddenly, red spheres popped out from the blank walls. They weren't made of energy—just holographic projections or something. Speed clocked in around 180 km/h.
There were a fair number flying at me from every angle, but I dodged them effortlessly. No matter how many, they weren't coming so densely that evasion was impossible. Otherwise, it wouldn't be much of a test.
"Easier than I thought."
I spent the next five minutes evading the red spheres.
Proceeding to the next test.
Woosung-gi, section chief of the Hunter Association's Recruitment Management Division, had as his main duty managing incoming hunter enlistees. Due to the nature of his work, he collaborated so frequently with the Ministry of National Defense that he sometimes forgot whether he belonged to the Defense Ministry or the Hunter Association.
The 1st Landing Battalion qualification exam was one of the tasks he oversaw—a straightforward process of sorting results and deciding pass/fail. Thanks to the AI assistant Rania, scores fed directly into his computer in real time.
"Plenty of talent this year."
Good news. Hunters only served one year. Constant influxes of fresh blood were crucial.
In bad years, not a single dungeon hunter enlisted, leaving the Defense Ministry in a real bind—especially for the battalion that relied heavily on dungeon hunters.
"Looks like ten above the cutoff line."
Impressively high. Woosung-gi reviewed the passers' scores. Hwang Cheolmin had barely scraped by.
"Decent talent overall."
Excellent speed score. Power was lacking, but the potential was there.
As he scanned the rest, his eyes stopped on the runner-up's results.
"Oh ho... This rivals a 6-rank dungeon hunter. Ah, this guy's the one from the news."
The runner-up was Baek Jaesung.
"If runner-up scored this high, the top spot..."
The top scorer was Han Seungjin—currently Korea's hottest dungeon hunter.
"The 1st Landing Battalion folks will be thrilled."
"Ugh! I was so nervous!"
Jueun made a pouty face. The rest of us looked relaxed by comparison.
"How'd the exam go?"
"Eh, so-so."
Rina answered, but her expression brimmed with confidence. The test hadn't been tough, so good results were expected. None of us were sweating failure.
"Let's grab food nearby before heading back."
Jisu glanced around, saying there were tons of good spots. The girls pulled out their phones to scout restaurants and debate which sounded best when a guy approached—Han Seungjin.
"Jaesung. Hey. You here for the exam too?"
He flashed that dazzling smile that couldn't help but spark envy. I gave a casual reply.
"Yeah. Been a while. First time since Level House, right?"
"Yep. You getting recruitment offers lately too?"
"Recruitment?"
"I've been getting them left and right from all sorts of companies."
"Oh, that Dungeon Entertainment thing?"
"Exactly."
Han Seungjin was probably drowning in love calls from major corps. Risa had straight-up given up because it seemed hopeless—even counting fingers and toes might not cover all the big players chasing him.
"How'd you do on the test?"
I asked, and he nodded briskly.
"Great condition. Wasn't a tough exam anyway."
"True that."
"Oppa! We picked a place!"
Jisu yelled from behind. I waved at her, then turned back to Han Seungjin.
"Gotta run. Take care."
"You too, Jaesung."
And we parted ways.
Three days after the exam, the acceptance notices arrived. We'd all passed—Jueun included. Thank goodness.
"Wooow! We passed!"
"Admin roles pass as long as you apply. Lucky break."
"I was super worried, you know!"
Jueun hugged me tight in joy. No more splitting up for military service. A year wasn't short, so this was a relief.
"But this isn't the end. We still gotta pass the Special Business Designator exam."
Jueun wasn't a dungeon hunter, so it didn't apply to her.
"That one's soon, right?"
"Yeah. Next week. Wonder what it'll be like. Probably not like the battalion exam. Master didn't drop any hints."
"Whatever it is, we'll ace it~"
Yeonji sounded plenty relaxed. Truth be told, so was I. A week flew by. We gathered at the Hunter Association HQ in Gangnam for the Special Business Designator exam.
The crowd was about the same size as for the battalion test. Scanning faces, it was mostly the same people—including Hwang Cheolmin.
"Jaesung! Listen—I passed!"
Eh? This guy made the battalion too? Must've been a cakewalk for everyone.
1st Landing Battalion
They call it elite... but maybe not?
After ten minutes in the association lobby, a staffer in a black suit came down.
"Those here for the Special Business Designator test, follow me."
He herded us onto a large bus. Looked like this exam was off-site.
"Where we headed?"
Sujin tilted her head curiously. Once we were all aboard, the mic-wielding staffer spoke up.
During transit, I'll brief you on this test. The Special Business Operator Test is structured as a dungeon raid. As you know, it's to select talent suited for the Dungeon Entertainment business. You'll tackle an artificial dungeon crafted directly by the Association.
Simpler than expected. Just clear the dungeon.
"Solo clear!?"
One examinee shot up a hand. Most dungeon hunters raided in teams. Soloers were rare.
The staffer shook his head at the sudden question.
"No. Teams of three. We've assigned members for balance—tank, DPS, healer ideally. Parties without a healer get potions."
"Pass/fail decided by team?"
"Individual evaluation."
"Clear condition is full dungeon conquest?"
"We observe your performance and score it. High enough score passes even without full clear. Full clear boosts points, of course."
"Time limit?"
"24 hours."
Other participants covered my questions. No more came, so the staffer nodded and sat.
"Good luck, everyone."
I glanced around. About ten would pass here. And I could already spot some locks.
'High chance the battalion passers take this too.'
The bus hummed toward our destination.