Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Corporal
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If it were any other hunter, they'd be thrilled, but Kim Minjun found Son Eunseo's gaze irritating.
It was like she was saying, 'I'll be watching to see just how good you really are.'
'I'll show you exactly what a skill gap looks like.'
Kim Minjun stared straight ahead with a serious look in his eyes.
Unlike the other teams, Team 40's hunters were brimming with motivation.
'Whoa, damn. She's looking at us.'
'We'll hold out no matter what!'
They were misinterpreting Son Eunseo's gaze in their own deluded way.
To put on a cool show for her, the hunters stared ahead with fierce determination.
"Prepare!"
At the examiner's signal, rubber bullets fired toward the hunters.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Whoosh!
"Ugh!"
"Eek!"
But what difference did it make?
Every hunter except Kim Minjun lasted less than 20 seconds before getting pelted all over.
"Is that guy Kim Minjun? Yeah, from the 104th Division."
Kim Minjun dodged every single rubber bullet for nearly a full minute.
Son Eunseo passed perfectly too, but the reactions were night and day.
"What a crazy bastard... Why go out of his way to dodge like that?"
And for good reason—Kim Minjun was evading the bullets while holding one leg up.
"But his movements are so clean."
"Right? Like the protagonist in a wuxia movie."
Kim Minjun perfectly avoided the barrage with the minimal movements.
He had no choice.
Most hunters predicted the rubber bullets' trajectories and flung their bodies around.
Son Eunseo did the same.
'These are way slower than mana bullets.'
But midway through, Kim Minjun started looking off in random directions, acting all casual.
'This is no-look evasion.'
There wasn't a trace of tension on his face.
He looked like he was just out for a stroll.
"...What the hell? How's he dodging without looking?"
Son Eunseo had thought Kim Minjun was just showboating.
But he evaded perfectly for a full 1 minute and 10 seconds.
The test ended at 1:10 probably because even the examiner got distracted by him.
"Uh, um... Well done. We'll prepare for the stamina section right away! Use the break time to loosen up!"
The examiner stayed as composed as possible to gloss over his mistake.
As Kim Minjun returned to his spot, he shot Son Eunseo a look.
'Don't take it too hard. Work at it for about a hundred years, and you could be like me.'
Her face showed a brief shock before she looked away.
"Don't cross the line—keep plenty of space and line up!"
"Yes!"
"Got it!"
After a 10-minute break, the hunters moved to the entrance of an empty dungeon.
It was for the final stamina test of the stats section.
"Officers are waiting at the checkpoint inside the empty dungeon! Get your hand stamped and come back! Time limit is 40 minutes!"
"Yes!"
While strength and agility were done in teams by stages, stamina gathered everyone for a single run.
It felt just like a marathon.
"Go!"
At the examiner's start signal, the hunters poured into the empty dungeon.
[You have entered the dungeon.]
Most hunters held back early to pace themselves.
No one knew the distance to the checkpoint, but they had to prepare for even a short sprint in the worst case.
"Hoo... ha."
"Huff!"
"...Hoo."
They ran while regulating their breathing steadily for a while.
Flash!
One hunter suddenly surged ahead.
A quick glance showed it was Son Eunseo.
'Sigh, that guy's such an attention whore.'
Her dad was the division commander, right?
If she was trying to show off for him, it wasn't incomprehensible.
Swoosh.
Son Eunseo, who had pulled ahead, whipped her head around to look at Kim Minjun.
'What now.'
Her eyes said, 'Bet you can't keep up with this either.'
'Testing me? Wanna race?'
She still hadn't gotten the picture.
He could've ignored her, but it felt like losing if he did.
Flash!
"......!"
"What the hell? Does he have motors in his legs?"
"He won't last running like that."
Kim Minjun blew past Son Eunseo in an instant, then turned his head.
"No big deal."
He even smirked to rub it in.
"W-What did you say?"
"Oh, just talking to myself. Slipped out."
"......"
Son Eunseo gritted her teeth and sped up at the sight, but she couldn't catch Minjun.
It was like kids bickering to protect their pride.
'I should wait here until that girl from earlier shows up.'
Kim Minjun went further, getting his stamp from the officer ahead of time and waiting in place.
The officers eyed him curiously but didn't stop him.
He could just be catching his breath from exhaustion.
"Hoo... ha."
There she was, Son Eunseo, in the distance.
Kim Minjun raised his hand, flashed the stamp like "Look at this," and bolted for the exit.
"Eek...!"
Son Eunseo chased after him with a look that said she couldn't lose, but she came in second.
First place went to Kim Minjun, of course, with an overwhelming 29-minute record.
And that was while messing around.
"Kim Minjun. Impressive. Perfect score in all stats sections."
"Private First Class! Kim Minjun! Thank you!"
The examiner glanced at the record sheet, then nodded with satisfaction.
Son Eunseo watched with an annoyed glare.
'What? You started it with me.'
Now that she knew her place, she'd probably back off.
The other hunters barely made it back in 38 or 39 minutes.
"Alright! That concludes the stats section! Eat lunch, then assemble at the training ground by 1 PM, understood?"
"Yes!"
"Got it!"
The morning schedule ended.
After lunch, the hunters faced the main weapon exam in the afternoon.
The main weapon test wasn't that hard.
As long as they followed the hunter manual like a taekwondo grading, most passed easily.
'Man, why's there no blunt weapon forms in the manual?'
Kim Minjun grabbed the easiest weapon, a sword, with a disappointed look and performed the forms by the book.
"We haven't even started the monster combat assessment, and already over half have failed! How do you expect to protect the people like that!"
"No, sir!"
"You know better—why screw up like that!"
"Sorry!"
"Forward prone!"
"Forward prone!"
"Backward prone!"
"Backward prone!"
The failed hunters got disciplined hard by the roaring examiner.
It was no surprise over half washed out—the test was brutally tough.
But with high-ranking officers as examiners this time, including the battalion commander, it was meant as an example.
"Line up by rank! Privates on the left, in order!"
"Got it!"
The last item: monster combat ability.
Naturally, higher ranks faced tougher monsters.
"Grrrr...."
Privates handled 4 hounds at once.
Private First Class and Corporals faced goblins for evaluation.
"Private First Class: 3 goblins. Corporal: 6 goblins."
"Yes!"
Unlike training, there were no safety measures like muzzles on the monsters.
Full combat, for real.
"Ready? Start!"
"Yes!"
At the examiner's signal, Kim Minjun raised his blunt weapon.
It was a metal bat wrapped in barbed wire, just like back in his old unit.
'Missed this feel.'
As Kim Minjun savored it, the goblins broke free.
"Kieek!"
"Human! Kill!"
Three snarling goblins.
Not one, but three.
They didn't charge all at once—instead, they spread out and circled Kim Minjun.
'Oh? Using their heads, huh?'
As expected from sly, underhanded goblins.
They stayed out of his range, waiting for an opening.
'Doesn't matter. You're still just goblins.'
Kim Minjun pulled out his metal bat for them to see and tossed it behind him.
"Ki, kieek?"
"Human! Human dropped his weapon!"
Humans in weird clothes get weak without weapons!
Thinking that, the goblins rushed him without hesitation.
"Nicely hooked."
Thwack!
Kim Minjun kicked the goblin charging from behind.
'Black Mare Jet Kick!'
The goblin's head exploded, killing it instantly.
"Kieeeek!"
It took him just 40 seconds to finish them off.
Bare-handed, that score was absurd.
"Huh... First time seeing a hunter toss his weapon and beat goblins bare-handed in a promotion exam."
"That hunter's specialized in strength stats? Still just a PFC, but outstanding."
The watching officers started clapping on the spot.
Clap clap clap clap.
Perfect score.
A hunter who aced every section.
And a PFC at that.
The other examiners stood and joined in the applause.
"I didn't know the 104th had such a standout hunter!"
All eyes from officers and hunters turned to Kim Minjun.
'That's me.'
He shot Son Eunseo a smirk.
"What a... barbaric guy."
She shook her head, looking done with it.
The exam went smoothly and wrapped up past 9 PM.
"Good work everyone on the tests. Especially Kim Minjun!"
"Co... Corporal! Kim Minjun!"
"Ha! Yeah, you little punk. You're the luck charm of our unit!"
Only one from Kim Minjun's unit passed.
Fewer passers than usual, but Kim Minjun making it was a big deal.
"The battalion commander looked pleased too. Said a PFC perfect score is unprecedented."
"Thank you!"
"Come here."
The platoon leader removed the PFC insignia from Kim Minjun's shoulder and pinned on the corporal one.
"Corporal Kim Minjun! Thank you!"
"Yeah, I get to smile these days thanks to you. Keep it up."
"Yes!"
I'd thought he was sharp from the start, but crushing the promotion exam like this?
"Hey, thanks. If you flunked too, we'd have gotten reamed back at the unit."
"No, sir, thank you!"
"Your promotion speed is insane. Don't bully us when you hit sergeant later."
"Got it."
We'll see about that depending on what you all do.
Kim Minjun boarded the bus amid congratulations from his seniors.
'Hm? What?'
Typical attention whore.
Son Eunseo had somehow come out and was staring at him by the bus window.
'Division commander's daughter, huh? Yeah?'
A PFC acting on her own?
Oh, wait—she promoted too, so corporal now.
Kim Minjun opened his mouth wide at her like "Ahh," making it obvious.
'This is the difference in our level.'
He even threw in gestures for clarity.
She had to get it now.
"Y-You crazy bastard! Why the hell are you doing this to me all of a sudden?"
Son Eunseo was dumbfounded.
Sure, she'd first noticed him out of rivalry, but after seeing him dominate the goblins, that feeling was long gone.
She'd even thought there was a lot to learn from him.
'I was gonna ask how his stats are that high to pull that off, the psycho.'