The Platoon Position Lottery
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Sergeant: Baek Jaesung 10
All members of the combat company in the 1st Landing Battalion had individual rooms. The one assigned to us was about 16 square meters—not bad for solo use.
The room came equipped with a bed, desk, chair, and a small TV. A tiny speaker was mounted in the ceiling for ship-wide announcements. Every room was identical in size and layout. Military life, right?
"Once you've checked your rooms, report back to the company office. Time to get serious with the position lottery."
Position lottery?
The name gave it away. Just like drawing lots for class roles back in school—beautification committee head, health officer, librarian. We were assigning duties here too. Sure, this was way more meaningful than those pointless school gigs.
We gathered in the company office again. The company commander flashed a mischievous grin as he pulled a massive board from a drawer in the corner. At the top, it read 3rd Company Roster Board.
"As you can see, I'm the company commander."
"Isn't a colonel a bit overkill for company commander?"
Hwang Cheolmin blinked wide-eyed. Fair point—a colonel was usually too high up for platoon-level command. Though the 1st Landing Battalion's dungeon hunter specialization made it special.
"Haha, yeah, pretty much. For the record, the battalion commander is a brigadier general."
Our battalion commander had stars on his shoulders too. In a world full of two-star old-timers from other branches, that was probably the bare minimum to hold his head high.
"Alright, the positions up for grabs are: deputy company commander, quartermaster, equipment squad leader, recon squad leader, and firepower squad leader. Pick what you want."
Was it really okay to assign roles this casually?
Plus, "squad leader" sounded impressive, but none came with actual subordinates. Just a title to stroke egos, I guess.
I had my doubts, but whatever.
"I'll take quartermaster!"
"Nice. Sergeant Hwang Cheolmin, you're the quartermaster... Let's jot it on the board."
Hwang Cheolmin snatched it first. A goofy guy like him handling logistics? The 3rd Company's future looked dim.
"Hmm..."
Rina pondered surprisingly seriously. The vibe didn't scream "high stakes," though.
"What's the equipment squad leader do?"
"Think of it as comms specialist. Though you'll handle a bit more gear than your average radio op."
"Then I'll take that."
"Roger. Equipment squad leader: Sergeant An Rina..."
Rina went for equipment squad. Wonder what gear she'd be paired with?
"I'll handle deputy company commander, then."
Han Seungjin picked third. Suited him perfectly.
"Oho, excellent. The legendary Sergeant Han Seungjin volunteers as my right-hand man. I'm so thrilled I don't know what to do with myself."
The commander joked as he added Han Seungjin's name to the board. Left were recon and firepower. Neither appealed.
"Recon squad leader for me."
While I mulled it over, Jang Gun-gi claimed his spot. That left me with firepower squad leader by default.
Not bad—the title had a cool ring to it.
"Perfect. Add it to the board... Hold up, wait a sec. Got badges for everyone."
"Badges too?"
Rina tilted her head. This was more legit than expected.
"Yep, sew 'em on your shoulder pocket. There's an alterations shop on deck 7 run by an Italian guy. Show him your uniform and badge—he'll hook you up. Battalion foots the bill, so no cash needed. Swing by after duty today."
The commander doled out badges from the drawer. Come to think of it, his own shoulder sported one: two winged longswords crossed in an X. Probably the commander insignia.
Han Seungjin's deputy badge showed a single winged longsword pointing skyward. Hwang Cheolmin's quartermaster had a torch and magazine clip. Rina's equipment badge featured an antenna emitting a lightning signal.
Mine? A massive cannon etched in ink. Straight-up screamed firepower.
"Phew... Can I really handle this?"
Rina eyed her badge, mumbling worriedly as responsibility sank in. She'd crush basic military stuff without breaking a sweat.
"Alright, positions assigned. Now for the real important part."
The commander flipped the roster board. The reverse side had another chart. Front listed roles like commander and deputy; back had tank, DPS, healer.
"You all know we do tons of dungeon ops, right? So we need positions. They're preset: I'm tank, Sergeant Han Seungjin, Sergeant An Rina, Sergeant Hwang Cheolmin, and Sergeant Jang Gun-gi are DPS. Sergeant Baek Jaesung, you're healer."
Made sense—the company was built around our classes. He slotted names into the positions.
"That's standard, but emergencies might split us into two teams. So let's pre-assign Alpha and Beta teams."
Six people split even: three and three.
No matter what, I gotta team with Rina!
Non-negotiable. I shot my hand up.
"I wanna team with Rina!"
"Whoa, way too obvious, huh?"
The commander side-eyed me.
No way this bastard had shady intentions toward Rina, right?
If so, he'd end up KIA with a two-rank promotion.
"Rina and I partied together pre-enlistment. We know each other's styles inside out. Perfect synergy."
True story. No one here matched us better.
We clicked as people and hunters. Rina glanced around, then whispered:
"Sergeant Baek Jaesung's right."
"Hmm... Fair enough. Same party before? Solid. So Beta Team: deputy commander, Sergeant Baek Jaesung, Sergeant An Rina."
Commander and deputy split naturally.
Better than teaming with that clown Hwang Cheolmin, anyway.
With teams locked, the commander pulled thick manuals from a drawer.
"Your study material starts today. Tactics manual for deputy, admin regs for quartermaster. Oh, and Sergeant An Rina, Sergeant Baek Jaesung—follow me. Time for gear intros."
Great, stuck with annoying extras.
*-*-*
Colonel An Seokho led Rina and me to a room labeled Equipment Room. We ran into others outside.
"Sujin! Jisu!"
It was Sujin and Jisu.
"Whoa, bro's equipment squad leader too?!"
Jisu beamed. A sharp-featured female soldier stood beside them. The commander introduced her.
"This is 4th Company Commander, Colonel Jo Misuk."
Jo Misuk looked mid-30s, below average looks. Prominent cheekbones, skin that screamed rough as loofah just from sight.
Hmm... Military really isn't for everyone.
"This is the equipment room. Biometric panel—fingerprint and iris scan to enter. Classified gear inside, so be careful."
He opened the door. Wooden shelves lined the walls, packed with heavy military hardware. Guided munitions and comms gear from training were there too.
"This is the comms unit for equipment squad leaders."
He pointed to a bulky backpack rig like an old sat phone. Numeric keypad and all.
"Usage and maintenance in the manual I gave you. Memorize within a week. And this, this, this..."
Rina and Jisu's gear list topped ten items, big and small.
"Next, firepower squad leaders. Follow me."
4th Company's firepower lead was Sujin.
"Hehe. Jaesung and I just click."
Sujin smiled brightly.
I didn't choose firepower, but yeah, we meshed well. Maybe fate meant for us to share the role?
"Firepower storage here."
Right next to equipment room. Iron shelves inside, same setup.
"Isn't that a bazooka?"
"Nah, anti-monster rocket. But we don't use 'em."
"Why not?"
"Needs mana stones embedded—good ones cost over 100 million won each. Haha, like firing cash bundles. Production halted three years ago. Classic desk-jockey screwup."
Ah, budget apocalypse.
Viable for civilians?
Nah, norms couldn't even handle the mana output.
"Your weapons: this machine gun and anti-tank rocket. Study the manual thoroughly."
Hated studying, but the gear looked slick. Cooler than the K1 rifle. Heavy to lug, though. Inventory slot it?
By the time we'd checked everything, end-of-duty hit. We headed to our rooms.
"Keep studying after hours. Test tomorrow."
Commander warned, so I cracked the book. But dense machine gun specs gave me an instant headache.
Did I really need this? Would I even fire one in service?
Hell, I have Machine Gun skill already. Wasting time on this book.
I slammed it shut and hit the bunk. Time for a nap. Too much crammed in today.