Shipboard Drills and Rina's Lunch Hijack
The missions of the 1st Landing Battalion's combat company were more laid-back than I'd expected.
Unless it was my day to pull duty officer shifts, I'd wake up at 7 a.m. ship time—which matched Korean time exactly. After roll call via phone, we'd grab breakfast and kick off morning training.
Cheonghaejin, the largest ship in South Korea, surprisingly had internal training facilities onboard. And not just any facilities—these were specialized setups for dungeon hunters, complete with ability usage allowed.
"Alright, first day of team training. We'll split it into general tactical drills and special tactical drills. The special ones prep us for dungeon outbreaks. Think of 'em like the usual stuff you do outside. Here on the ship, we'll focus on special tactics."
We followed the company commander to the ship's special training facility on the 11th floor. The entire floor was dedicated to training, with over half allocated to the 1st Landing Battalion.
The rest went to the special-purpose peacekeeping forces. Apparently, even they had a few dungeon hunters among them.
Our platoon was a six-man party: 1 tank, 4 DPS, 1 healer—a pretty solid balance. Plus, Rina and I were both 7-rank dungeon hunters.
Han Seungjin was probably around that level too. The guy's skills were already beyond 7-rank.
The company commander was a 5-rank hunter. Hwang Cheolmin was an 8-rank scatterbrain who caught a lot of flak, but he pulled his weight. Jang Gun-gi? Hard to gauge his full strength.
Overall, our party's firepower was top-notch. If we synced up right, we could raid a 6-rank dungeon. Rina, me, and Han Seungjin could overperform way beyond our ranks.
"This is Sergeant Major Kang Gi-nam, here to assist with today's training. He's the 1st Company's vice commander. Everyone, say hello."
A young man in a red beret and military combat uniform was already waiting in the training room. His insignia showed three swallows and three stars—the highest NCO rank, sergeant major.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Kang Gi-nam, 1st Company vice commander."
The 1st Company was an elite unit even among the landing battalion, packed with veterans at 5-rank or higher.
Kang Gi-nam had a stiff, clipped voice. After a quick self-intro, he dove straight into training.
"Let's start light with Demon Looks."
He extended his hand toward empty air. A surge of intense mana flowed from his fingertips.
Following the mana, a black mist coalesced silently in midair. It condensed into a point, then molded like clay into a single brick golem streaked with black.
"That guy's got Real Mirage, huh."
Rina eyed his hand sharply. Real Mirage turned illusions real—an ability I'd seen once during my guild registration exam.
In seconds, Kang Gi-nam summoned five Demon Looks. His skill was obvious.
Demon Looks were monsters from temple or cave dungeons. Earth attribute, weak to water. Their sky-high physical defense made melee inefficient.
"Begin."
The five charged us in perfect unison, fanning out in a straight line without overlapping paths. Their steps were synced like a drilled army.
"Tanking!"
The company commander stepped forward. Come to think of it, I still hadn't heard his ability.
Turning himself into a meat shield, he gathered mana into his fist. His skin seemed to gray slightly.
Same as Yeonji's Material Conversion?
Or maybe Body Strength.
"Company commander's ability looks like Body Strength."
Rina, sharp as ever, answered my unasked question.
"How'd you know?"
"His mana pulse was totally different from Yeonji unnie's. Similar abilities have similar pulses, right? Not identical since everyone's is unique, but his was way off."
Damn, woman's intuition?
I barely sensed it.
Anyway, the commander boldly faced the five Demon Looks and unleashed punches like bullets. Fluid, physics-defying speed—he slammed a few into each golem's chest.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
But the Demon Looks didn't budge. True to their defense, they shrugged off the hits. He was probably just pulling aggro anyway—soloing them would kill the training.
"I'll support!"
Rina thrust her hands forward and clenched her fists. Cracks split the space beside her.
Rina's ability: Chain Disaster.
A material ability summoning chains for freeform attacks.
Clank!
Bundles of cold metal chains snaked like living serpents toward the golems' ankles. Each precisely bound a leg.
The Demon Looks didn't panic, though. No brains for it? Or just par for the course?
Movement halted, but they didn't stop attacking.
Black orbs in their chests glowed ominously—not for light. Bad mana vibes: mana orbs, ninety percent.
"Move!"
The commander shouted short and charged the front two. Mana-fist to one's chest, kick to the other's.
BOOM!
Collision sparked a flash and explosion. Sneaky bastards. The commander got blasted back hard.
"Company commander!"
Rina's chains caught him like a catcher's mitt. But three golems still glowed, aiming at us.
"Darkness Arrow."
From Han Seungjin, pitch-black arrows sniper-shot the trio precisely.
BOOM!
Small blasts erupted on each.
"I'll clean up!"
Hwang Cheolmin, mana-wrapped fists, accelerated forward like lightning. His ability: Acceleration. Decent in close quarters.
Not smart against Demon Looks normally, but the orb-damaged ones had cracked shells.
Hwang Cheolmin and the commander handled one each up close. The commander held back, dodging to observe us.
Rina's chain smashed a remaining golem's head clean off. It slumped dead.
Han Seungjin sniped joints with Darkness Arrow, immobilizing his.
Last one: Jang Gun-gi. Teleported in, KHC straight punch to the orb—destroyed it. Smooth form; he'd trained properly.
Cleans house without lifting a finger.
I had zilch to do.
We synced a few more rounds. Morning training wrapped at noon.
Morning training over—lunchtime. All meals on Cheonghaejin were from the onboard shopping district. Food stipend came with pay, plenty generous. Grab whatever.
"Oppa~! Here! Here!"
Wandering with Rina, debating eats, Jisu waved wildly from a cafe terrace.
She sat with Sujin and Yeonji at a swanky spot. Lunch there, huh.
Table had coffee and sandwiches. Solid for filling up.
"Y'all beat us here. Rina, sandwich today?"
I thumbed Jisu's table. Rina wasn't picky; sandwiches were fine.
She glanced, then grabbed my hand and bolted deeper into the district.
"Eek! Unnie! No fair!"
Jisu yelled from behind, but Rina just chuckled and ignored her.
Not like usual Rina. She dragged me to a tiny Chinese joint at the district's end—not Korean-style, Americanized.
"Orange chicken. Been wanting to try it. This place good?"
Grinning like that, less about food, more monopolizing our lunch.
Her playful sparkling eyes tugged my hand up. Dodging her red wool beret, I gently stroked her silky white hair.
"Wha? What's this? Treating me like a kid?"
"You are a kid. Heh. Shoulda stuck your tongue out at Jisu while running."
"Am I the oppa here?"
She crossed arms, spun away.
That attitude clashed hilariously with her red beret and combat gear. How could I not pet her?
"Fine. Just us today—let's eat good."
"Yeah. Just us. Orange chicken for me. What you want, oppa?"
"Hmm. Spicy noodles over there."
Her orange chicken was decent. Mine? Not so much.
Too Yankee-taste?
Post-lunch: specialty study time. My MOS was firepower squad leader—rifles plus machine guns, rockets, mortars. Tons of trivia to memorize.
"Baek Jaesung. Quiz results."
Company commander handed me a note. Raining red ink.
"Study properly. Your girlfriend aced it."
Rina smirked beside me. We were the platoon's official couple. Fact.
He'd casually warned no shipboard sex.
Too late. Fucked like rabbits last night. Shoulda said it sooner.
Not that it'd stop me.
"Specialty study is bullshit, but since you're here, give it your all."
"Haven't cracked a book in ages."
His nagging made me open the manual. Skimmed ammo tables, zonked out. Woke at 3 p.m.—afternoon training.
"To the training room."
Afternoon was solo drills.
I grinded hard: stamina work, ability practice. Done at 6, then dinner.
We ate together. Jisu griped at Rina over lunch.
"Unnie's pizza is mine!"
Snatched her food, teased. Guilty Rina giggled, indulged her.
Clear who the big sis was. Looks-wise, busty Jisu vs. flat Rina confused roles. But heart-wise? Rina's chest was bigger.