Chapter 104
Chapter 104
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 104
Chapter Title: Anticipation
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‘A rune stone is waiting for me!’
Kim Min-jun whistled as he headed toward the training room.
No one would believe he had just finished training—he looked full of energy.
A ten-night, eleven-day winter training exercise was nothing to him, after all.
“It’s a tough cold-weather drill, but I don’t get cold.”
That didn’t mean he hadn’t gained anything from it.
The biggest reward was the rune stone he’d obtained.
The second was that not a single member of his platoon had fallen behind.
That alone would earn him a hefty training score.
“Hmm. I should’ve pushed the guys harder. Maybe starved them for a few days on purpose.”
He’d gotten too excited after so long without a camping trip.
As he muttered to himself, Kim Seo-hyun quietly approached.
“Sergeant Kim Min-jun, sir. Great job on the training.”
“Call me casually when it’s just us.”
“Yes, Kim Min-jun.”
“How was the training? Manageable?”
“Yes. Though the intensity was higher than I expected.”
Her face showed clear signs of accumulated fatigue.
‘Even Kim Seo-hyun, who has top-tier stamina and physique among the recruits, is this worn out.’
The training intensity had indeed been top-notch.
“You heard from the platoon leader earlier, right? We’ve got three days of combat leave starting today. Go rest up.”
“Thank you. But there’s something I’d like to check personally. Mind if I join you in the training room?”
“Sure. Do what you want.”
There was no reason to object.
As soon as they entered the training room, he rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a stone.
“What do you think this is?”
“That’s… a rune stone? Kim Min-jun, you got a rune stone?”
“Yeah. From the white lizardman.”
She clapped her hands like a seal the moment she identified the item.
Of course she knew about rune stones.
Their effects, how rare they were.
She’d studied them endlessly in NCO candidate theory classes.
“This rune stone seems to have the effect of drawing out latent potential.”
“Right. For me, it just unlocked a skill.”
He’d checked the effect already, and it turned out to be a low-grade rune stone.
A bit disappointing, but he’d take it.
Any other hunter would’ve gotten a massive stat boost.
“This never gets easier.”
Like last time, he popped the rune stone into his mouth and swallowed.
Kim Seo-hyun stepped back a little, watching with keen interest.
[You have fully absorbed the rune stone!]
[A beneficial effect has been applied!]
[Dark Sider (D) has been generated!]
Messages appeared as time passed.
“Oh.”
Kim Min-jun smiled in satisfaction at the newly unlocked skill.
It was pretty useful.
“I’ve been getting a lot of mileage out of items lately. Gear really does matter.”
“Kim Min-jun, good results?”
“Yeah. I’m about to contract with the Dark Sider now, so get as far away as possible.”
“D-Dark Sider! Understood!”
At the mention of Dark Sider, Kim Seo-hyun pressed herself against the wall.
Dark Sider was a taboo skill among black mages.
[Dark Sider (D): Summons the familiar Dark Sider. Each summoning demands a new price from the caster.]
“It’s a sealed skill for other black mages, but not for me.”
As he could tell from Kim Seo-hyun’s terrified retreat, Dark Sider was no ordinary familiar.
It resembled a grim reaper.
A ghost-like form cloaked head to toe in black, floating through the air.
“Every time it’s summoned, it demands a price from the black mage.”
A fingernail.
A tongue.
Or a finger.
Unlike other familiars, it required offering a body part from the caster.
That was what made it such a powerful familiar.
“I used this one a lot when toppling other empires.”
Dark Sider was immune to physical attacks.
It wasn’t vulnerable to magic either.
Even killing the caster wouldn’t dispel it.
Once summoned, it wouldn’t vanish until its task was done—that was its greatest strength.
“Come forth.”
Kim Min-jun bit his finger to draw blood and activated the skill.
Shoooo...
Darkness spread around him, and the Dark Sider appeared.
[You who called me… Gah!]
The summon spoke in a eerie voice, demanding its price as usual.
But the moment it saw Kim Min-jun, it prostrated itself on the ground.
[I-Is that… Kim Min-jun, sir?]
Because its contractor wasn’t just any black mage—it was Kim Min-jun.
How could it forget that face?
“Yeah. Which number are you? No. 44?”
[Y-Yes!]
“Oh, No. 44? It’s been a while. Good to see you.”
No. 44.
That was the name given to the freshly summoned Dark Sider.
“You gonna demand a price from me?”
[No, sir! Not at all! I’ll serve you a thousand times over!]
“Good. If only the others were as obedient as you.”
At those words, No. 44 trembled.
The previous 43 Dark Siders summoned before it…
Had all been annihilated without exception.
For daring to demand a price from the man before it.
That was when they first learned Dark Siders could die.
‘We were only doing what was natural for us…’
They’d just wanted a fair give-and-take, yet countless Dark Siders met their end.
To black mages, Dark Siders were objects of fear.
But to Kim Min-jun, they were little more than flying rags.
“I’ll call you when I need you later. Go back for now. Just wanted to say hi today.”
[Yes, sir!]
Of course, it would never voice any complaints.
With Kim Min-jun as its contractor, silent obedience was the safest path.
Shoo.
The darkness enveloping the area faded, and the Dark Sider vanished.
“Treating a Dark Sider like an object…”
Kim Seo-hyun, who had watched from afar, swallowed hard without realizing it.
‘Kim Min-jun has summoned Dark Siders plenty of times before…’
Now she understood why they never demanded a price.
‘Only Kim Min-jun could force such a one-sided contract.’
If any other black mage tried that?
The Dark Sider would suck every last drop of life force from them.
“Kim Seo-hyun. You said you had something to check? Done?”
“Huh? Oh, yes!”
She startled and replied.
Truth be told, there was nothing specific to check.
She’d just made up an excuse to stay close to Kim Min-jun.
Their platoons were different, and training meant few chances to meet.
“Alright. I want to do some personal training, so use somewhere else if you’re training.”
“Yes, understood.”
It was disappointing, but interrupting Kim Min-jun’s training would be rude.
Kim Seo-hyun bowed briefly and left the training room.
“Alright. Time to train the perpetual engine after so long.”
Kim Min-jun sat down, closed his eyes, and began image training.
Personal training right after exercises, in the training room no less.
Passing officers clicked their tongues at the sight, but to Kim Min-jun, it was nothing.
**
2nd Battalion Commander’s Office.
“Why are the troops in such bad shape?”
The battalion commander frowned as he reviewed the winter training results.
Dropout rates were over 40% higher than last year.
“No matter how cold it was, does it make sense for a single platoon to have over ten dropouts?”
“No, sir!”
The company commander snapped to attention under the sharp gaze.
Even in harsh conditions, a 40% dropout rate was excessive.
“Round up the dropouts for special physical training.”
“Understood!”
“And… oh.”
The battalion commander’s eyes stopped on one entry.
2nd Company, 2nd Platoon had zero dropouts.
All fifty members had completed the training.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a platoon with no dropouts. I hear Sergeant Kim Min-jun played a big role?”
His tone softened at the mention of Kim Min-jun.
“Yes, sir!”
The company commander seized the moment to report that 2nd Platoon had no deductions.
“Sergeant Kim Min-jun not only took down the white lizardman barehanded but also made major contributions to securing food and water!”
“Right. And he looked after the stragglers from other platoons too… This bonus score says it all.”
The battalion commander finished speaking and drummed the table for a while.
He seemed to be mulling a major decision.
“Company commander. You know we’ve got a double dungeon raid scheduled in seven days?”
“Yes, sir!”
Double dungeon.
Of course he knew.
A special type where a dungeon contained another dungeon.
Hunters had to clear two dungeons total, making it tricky.
That’s why it was tackled by officers only, no enlisted.
“I want to slot Sergeant Kim Min-jun into that raid somehow. What do you think?”
The fact that the battalion commander brought it up meant it was already decided.
Asking the company commander was just to check for any minor risks.
“I’m all for it, sir! But… I understand the double dungeon we’re targeting has unmeasurable difficulty.”
That was the tricky part about double dungeons.
Some had measurable difficulty; others didn’t.
This one was the latter.
And it wasn’t just that—entry was limited to five to ten people max.
About squad size.
“Right. That’s why we were told to form a squad from experienced lieutenants to captains. But we got approval to include Sergeant Kim Min-jun as an exception.”
“I don’t doubt Sergeant Kim Min-jun’s strength. But if things go wrong…”
The raid was joint with other units.
If an officer from the Invincible Hunter Battalion became a liability…
The backlash would be unavoidable.
The battalion commander chuckled dismissively at the company commander’s concern.
“If a squad including Kim Min-jun can’t clear the double dungeon, we might as well make one out of mukunghwa flowers.”
Opportunities for the Invincible Hunter Battalion to join double dungeon raids were rare.
They had to maximize the gains.
To that end, he’d bowed his head to the division commander multiple times.
‘Human greed knows no bounds.’
He’d been content with colonel, but now he wanted a star.
‘For that, Kim Min-jun, I need your performance.’
The battalion commander sent Kim Min-jun a text giving him time to decide.
Ding.
“Kim Min-jun, as expected. Bold as ever.”
The reply came in under ten seconds.
The battalion commander chuckled happily for a good while.