Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Hunter Army Training Camp-1
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“You lazy fucking maggots! You gonna move like slugs?”
“Keep your heads up straight and move your asses!”
The drill instructors suddenly raised their voices.
The recruits, now turned trainees, hesitated in confusion, fumbling awkwardly.
‘Huh. Looks like they’re not gonna hit us, at least.’
Kim Minjun watched the instructors yelling with bulging neck veins and thought they seemed decent enough.
Sure, they were barking orders, but at least they were telling everyone what to do.
“Close up to the front! Push like you’re trying to kill the guy in front of you!”
“Why aren’t you repeating after me?”
“Ah, close up to the front!”
Under the instructors’ threats, the recruits narrowed the gaps to the people ahead.
No chairs in sight, they just stood there for a moment.
Then the battalion commander climbed onto the stage.
“Before we start, anyone here got Hunter talent but couldn’t enlist in the Hunter Army? Raise your hand!”
The commander announced that if anyone spoke up now, he’d get them into the Hunter Army right away.
“As you all know, Hunters get treated way different from regular soldiers.”
The commander listed off all the perks that came with the Hunter Army.
“You grunts might make less than 700,000 won even as a private first class. In the Hunter Army, even privates start at 3 million won base pay.”
But the recruits just stared silently at the officer.
Not everyone had Hunter potential, and anyone who did would’ve enlisted there already, naturally.
“Hmm. No one?”
It was a routine question asked every time new trainees arrived.
Less than three minutes in, the commander started to step down from the stage.
“Commander, sir. We’ve got one over there.”
“What?”
At the instructor’s words, the commander’s gaze shifted to the corner.
“The guy who just raised his hand—front and center! Get up here, now!”
At the instructor’s shout, all eyes turned to one side.
The one with his hand up was, of course, Kim Minjun.
“Yes, sir!”
Following orders, he put power into his legs and leaped straight onto the stage.
“Wha—what?!”
“Crazy bastard!”
Crack!
The wooden floor splintered, and one recruit shot up into the air.
The trainees gaped at Kim Minjun floating midair.
“…….”
Even the instructors and commander stood speechless.
The commander cleared his throat awkwardly as Kim Minjun landed right in front of him in an instant.
Sure, he’d said to hurry, but who expected him to fly up there?
“Why’d a talented Hunter like you enlist in the regular army?”
The commander’s tone softened a bit toward Kim Minjun.
A real Hunter talent showing up in the regular ranks would be a huge plus for promotions down the line.
“Missed the application deadline.”
“Alright. Follow me.”
“Yes, sir.”
Kim Minjun trailed after the commander out of the auditorium.
The other recruits shot envious glances their way.
“Eyes front!”
“Head straight ahead!”
“Close up to the front!”
Of course, the instructors cracked down soon enough.
**
Kim Minjun entered the commander’s office inside the training camp.
“Wait here. Someone from the Hunter Army will come get you.”
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
The commander smiled warmly and brewed two cups of instant coffee.
“You should’ve read the enlistment notices more carefully. Hunter Army’s gonna chew you up.”
He handed one cup to Kim Minjun.
“Thank you, sir.”
Who’d have thought he’d be sipping coffee brewed by the commander on his first day.
About ten minutes passed.
“Sir! Is this the trainee with Hunter potential?”
A burly soldier in uniform strode into the office.
Towering nearly two meters, with a massive, rugged build.
Sergeant Lee Seungho, sporting his sergeant insignia, gave the commander a casual salute.
“You’re here. This is the soldier I reported.”
A colonel speaking respectfully to a sergeant?
He’d heard the Hunter Army’s rank system differed from the regular army, but seeing it in person was a fresh shock.
“So he’s got Hunter aptitude. Open your status window and read off the stats one by one.”
Awakened Hunters could summon a status window to objectively check their power.
It was just basic stuff like strength, agility, stamina—nothing fancy like levels or classes in some game.
Put simply, Earth’s Hunters were like enhanced humans, Captain Africa style.
“Yes, sir.”
Kim Minjun summoned his status window right there.
Come to think of it, Isgard had a status window too. Wonder how this one works.
[ERROR]
“…It’s showing an error.”
Strength, agility, stamina.
His unique job skills, mana, everything.
Couldn’t read any of it properly.
Maybe because he’d returned using only his own pure mana, without the saintess’s power.
The whole system was glitching out.
“You messing with me?”
At the error report, Lee Seungho glared at Kim Minjun like he wanted to kill him.
A status window error?
Never heard of such a thing in over three years of service.
“There’ve always been wannabes trying to sneak into the Hunter Army without real talent.”
Lee Seungho started suspecting Kim Minjun outright.
Occasionally, people exploited the fact that others couldn’t view their status windows to scam the perks.
Of course, it always got found out within a week at most.
“Hold on, I saw it with my own eyes. This soldier jumped over five meters straight to the stage.”
Sensing things heating up, the commander jumped in to mediate.
“…If you saw it yourself, Commander, I’ll report up the chain first.”
While Sergeant Lee Seungho reported to Hunter Army HQ.
The commander fidgeted, leg bouncing nervously.
‘I’d heard the Hunter Army was a whole different class from regulars.’
But this level?
‘Gotta get him in there.’
Kim Minjun waited calmly for the report to wrap up.
“Command decided. You’re a special case, so I’ll test your Hunter aptitude myself.”
He threatened heavy punishment if it turned out he’d dragged them all here with no talent.
“Yes, sir. Understood.”
Kim Minjun felt an urge to slap the ugly mug of the surly sergeant but held back.
Once he got into the Hunter Army and outranked the guy, he could do it anytime.
“Then carry on, sir! Salute!”
“Salute!”
Sergeant Lee Seungho exchanged salutes with the commander and left the office.
Kim Minjun followed him to the Hunter Army barracks.
“Even with my years of service, I’ve never seen a raw trainee with that kind of physique.”
A trainee jumping five meters without training…
“That kid’s the real deal. My eyes don’t lie.”
The commander gazed out the window at Kim Minjun, smiling contentedly.
**
An hour in a military vehicle winding up mountain roads.
Kim Minjun arrived at the Hunter Army’s dedicated training camp.
‘This is insane.’
Nothing like the camp he’d just left.
State-of-the-art facilities everywhere—clearly taxpayer money poured in.
“See that?”
Lee Seungho pointed to a blood-red stone in the middle of the parade ground right after they got out.
“Yes, sir.”
“Move it even a little, and you pass.”
“That’s it?”
“Don’t know where your confidence comes from, but yeah. You get ten minutes.”
It looked like maybe 100 kg, but that stone was Red Stone, a dungeon byproduct.
‘That size? Over 500 kg. Normal trainees strain like hell just to budge it a bit.’
Because of that Red Stone, over half the Hunter Army hopefuls washed out every year.
‘Status error, my ass.’
Lee Seungho planned to hand him over to the MPs the second he failed.
‘This’ll be a breeze.’
Meanwhile.
Kim Minjun went to hoist the stone one-handed but paused.
‘One hand feels a bit wobbly—better use two.’
They said in the army it’s bad to stand out too much?
‘Screw that. When am I gonna get promoted if I keep playing it safe?’
Kim Minjun snatched up the Red Stone effortlessly.
“Gah….”
Lee Seungho, witnessing it, fell backward in shock.
Not a single trainee had ever lifted a Red Stone with two hands.
He couldn’t believe his eyes even seeing it live.
“At—at ease! Stop! Don’t come closer! It’s dangerous—put it down!”
“Huh? Yes, sir.”
As Kim Minjun approached like he was supposed to carry it over, Lee Seungho waved frantically for him to stop.
“Your status window really errored out?”
Eyes wide like he’d seen a ghost.
Face said it all.
“Yes, sir. No lie.”
“…Fine. Start training with the other trainees today.”
After a brief chat with Lee Seungho, Kim Minjun headed inside the camp.
“Weird. Red Stone’s fine.”
Lee Seungho gave the stone a push.
Perfectly normal.
Even he, a sergeant, had to push pretty hard to move it like that.
“Our unit’s top strength stat belongs to me, and even I couldn’t lift that easy.”
A raw trainee just picked it up?
“Guess a monster slipped into the unit.”
**
An hour later.
Trainees who’d finished training started gathering in the parade ground.
Drenched in sweat from head to toe, whatever they’d done.
“All of you, at ease.”
Sergeant Lee Seungho took the stage, briefly introducing Kim Minjun as the new arrival.
‘Drill instructor now?’
He was wearing a red beret, unlike before.
“Alright, up again. Next training. New guy knows nothing, so take care of him.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Got it!”
Less than five minutes later, the trainees followed Lee Seungho to another training ground.
“The next four weeks are hell. Let’s survive.”
“Let’s do our best.”
Now fellow Hunter Army trainees, they exchanged quick greetings and briefed him on what was coming.
“Hunter Army throws you into combat right after training, so it’s four weeks of nonstop insanity.”
“Feels like they’re working us to death.”
“But weekends are free. They grind you hard, but give real downtime.”
Hell training? To Kim Minjun, it was just regular exercise.
He’d faced death how many times in Isgard? This was nothing.
“Any PC bangs here?”
“Internet cafes? Pretty much everything.”
A grin spread across Kim Minjun’s face at the reply.
Dungeon & Fighter Burning event started this weekend—perfect timing.
“All hands, attention!”
Thirty minutes climbing mountain paths.
Lee Seungho halted at the stairs.
“From now on, sandbags on, climb to the top.”
6,000 steps.
80 kg sandbags.
Near impossible for normals, but doable for Hunter potentials.
“Understood!”
“That all the volume you got?”
“UNDERSTOOD!”
The trainees stared up at the endless stairs, minds going blank.
“Ha… That’s the kinda insane training you need just to nudge your stats up a bit. Not what I pictured Hunters being.”
One trainee vented to Kim Minjun.