Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: Hwacheon-2
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Sss—
“Gate!”
The air was splitting open bit by bit.
The precursor to a gate's formation.
“Kim Minjun! Get out of here, quick!”
Son Eunseo jumped in alarm and grabbed his arm, but he didn’t budge an inch.
His goal was that very gate the Night Walker had reported.
“No. I can’t.”
“Huh?”
“These guys are about to come bursting out any second.”
Before Kim Minjun could even finish speaking, monsters began emerging one by one from the cracked gate.
Monsters with the appearance of wild boars—Red Boars.
“But these don’t look like regular Red Boars…”
Son Eunseo observed them and noticed something off.
Their red fur was tinged with purple.
Their eyes were the same.
They looked like Red Boars on the outside, but something was different.
“Ever fought Red Boars before?”
“I have, but… there’s too many of them!”
“Go get the platoon members, quick!”
“What about you, Kim Minjun!”
Instead of answering, he pointed off in one direction with his finger.
“If I fall back that far, those things will rampage through the civilian areas.”
“There’s no choice! You’ll really die! What do you plan to do without any gear!”
“Don’t worry and go! Hurry!”
*I have to suck up all their magi myself!*
*And the achievements will all be mine too.*
“Just hold on a bit!”
“Ah! Before you go, lend me some gear!”
Son Eunseo said she’d be back as fast as she could and handed him a military knife.
“Nice. Time to level up my weapon proficiency with this.”
A gate that had just formed.
Some gates showed precursor signs, while others appeared completely without warning.
That was why gates were so tricky.
This one was the latter type.
“Keeek!”
The herd of Red Boars spotted Kim Minjun and let out roars like they were about to charge at any moment.
“Whoa. Overflowing with energy after sucking up all that magi, huh?”
Red Boars had incredibly thick hides.
And having absorbed magi, they’d be even tougher.
Dealing with them normally required mana bullets as a must.
“The company over there might have grabbed emergency rifles, but even that wouldn’t cut it.”
There were already ten of them right in front of him.
Saturated with magi, no less.
“These are all mine.”
*And the achievements that come with them too.*
‘Corruption.’
Ssss—
They were extremely vulnerable to internal attacks.
Just bait with some monster poison, and they’d die on their own after a while.
Kim Minjun channeled magi into their bodies.
“Ku, kuek!”
The Red Boars immediately started staggering.
“Does the magi I’m giving you hurt a lot?”
“Kuek!”
“Stay still!”
Kim Minjun plunged right into the middle of the herd and wildly absorbed their magi.
“Kwek!”
“I said stay still!”
He swung the military knife with force at the thrashing monsters.
Slash!
“Your hides might be tough, but you think that works on me?”
Every time Kim Minjun swung his knife, a Red Boar’s body split in two.
He dispatched them leisurely, as if slicing tofu.
“There! Red Boars in sight!”
“Where’s Corporal Kim Minjun!”
“He’s surrounded by Red Boars!”
“Don’t come any closer! I’ll handle them all!”
By then, the 4th Company platoon leader and her platoon members had arrived, but Kim Minjun waved them off desperately.
*Don’t touch my achievements.*
[You have absorbed a certain level of magi.]
[Magi stat increases by 1.]
[Magi stat increases by 1.]
[Magi stat increases by 1.]
[Night Walker has been strengthened.]
[Basic Swordsmanship has been strengthened.]
*Nice. Got a good haul of magi. Even leveled up some skills on the side.*
Kim Minjun grinned at the floating message windows.
“Whoa… What? You took on the Red Boars all by yourself, comrade?”
“Comrade! How’d you do it alone?”
“Quarter them with the military knife. Easy.”
“…Huh?”
“That… works?”
The female hunters looked baffled at the mention of using a military knife.
Red Boars were resistant to physical attacks.
“Corporal Kim Minjun! Are you hurt anywhere!”
“Corporal Kim Minjun reporting. Just some scratches, otherwise fine.”
Time passed, and the situation was under control.
The 4th Company platoon leader rushed over and meticulously checked him for injuries.
“Phew. When a gate appears, you evacuate immediately and report it first. What were you thinking, not moving from the spot?”
“Sorry. I thought if we left them, the Red Boars would cause massive damage to the civilian areas.”
“You acted right as a hunter, but even if you’d run, no one would’ve blamed you. What could you do bare-handed?”
“Sorry!”
The other female hunters nodded in agreement with her words.
A gate popping up right in front of you without any precursor? Not running would be the weird thing.
“But seriously, what were you doing here? Civilian support is 4th Company’s job. Which company are you from?”
“Corporal! Kim Minjun! Assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Company!”
Along with his response, Kim Minjun pulled out his leave pass from his pocket and showed it.
The platoon leader’s face turned dumbfounded.
“You’re on leave today—why are you here?”
“I had business in Hwacheon, and with nothing else to do after, I came to help with civilian support!”
“What?”
*Came to help with civilian support? On leave?*
Unbelievable.
*What the…*
She’d heard of Corporal Kim Minjun, but not to this extent.
*Perfect. This is going great.*
Meanwhile.
Kim Minjun kept a calm expression.
*On leave, voluntarily came to help with civilian support, handled a gate.*
Got magi, took down monsters.
Racked up achievement points.
Image boost too.
He was eating his cake and having it too.
“What happened when the gate appeared?”
“For the Red Boars, I borrowed a military knife from Corporal Son Eunseo and dealt with them.”
“……”
Kim Minjun finished his report like it was no big deal.
Son Eunseo stared at him with a look of utter exasperation.
“Still, doing that alone? Well… situation’s wrapped up, so whatever.”
The platoon leader finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Platoon leader! The Red Boars are cleanly bisected!”
“Whoa. With a standard military knife.”
“Comrade, you’re so strong!”
The female hunters checked the corpses and marveled.
*Went off without a hitch.*
Might be annoying paperwork later for the report, but that’s for later.
*Anyway, I spotted the Red Boars with my own eyes, and I took them down.*
Should be fine.
“You okay, comrade?”
“Got emergency meds from the platoon leader! Use this!”
The female hunters suddenly swarmed around him out of nowhere.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“At least disinfect!”
“Yeah!”
They even tried to apply it themselves.
Kim Minjun quickly backed away from the female hunters.
*Damn. Got scratched by these trash mobs.*
Anyway, gate’s done, so time to head back.
“Ah….”
“More monster corpses now.”
“Gotta disinfect all over again…”
He looked over.
The female hunters stared at the Red Boar corpses with despair.
They’d just finished disinfecting with so much effort, and now a gate meant starting from scratch.
*Got nothing else to do anyway—should I help?*
Go back now, and it’s just Dungeon & Fighter at the PC bang.
Might as well rack up some points while I’ve got time.
Kim Minjun grabbed a disinfectant sprayer and slung it on his back.
“Platoon leader. Mind if I help out?”
“What?”
“Looks like it’ll take a while like this. I’d like to assist.”
The 4th Company platoon leader saw his action and was momentarily speechless.
No, now she was just confused.
*Coming here for that reason. Wanting to help with civilian support, even forfeiting leave.*
Unexpected situation had increased the workload, that much was true.
“Fine. Go ahead. I’ll report this to your 2nd Company platoon leader.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Comrade! Just rest!”
“You must be tired from fighting monsters—let us handle it!”
Despite the female hunters’ protests, Kim Minjun said he was fine and started disinfecting.
“Whoa. Heard he’s on leave today?”
“So he’s helping us during his own leave?”
“Insane…”
The female hunters’ conversation topic had shifted to Kim Minjun.
“How’s he not scared? A Red Boar charge hits like a truck.”
“And there were so many.”
Watching him work diligently fired them up.
**
The work dragged on into the night.
“Kim Minjun.”
“Whoa, you scared me.”
Lost in thought for a moment, Kim Minjun nearly sprayed Son Eunseo’s face when he saw her.
“Almost blasted your face.”
“W-what?”
“Oh. Move aside for a sec.”
Ignoring her, Kim Minjun thoroughly disinfected the nearby area.
“Can we talk for a bit?”
“Work’s almost done, so sure.”
I’m on leave anyway—this much is fine.
“The promotion exam last time. You passed with perfect score, right?”
Ah.
The promotion exam.
That’s what this is about.
“You were cursing me out from the window, weren’t you?”
“Huh?”
“Waving your hands all like, cursing me out?”
What’s this woman on about.
What I said was, *‘This is the difference in our eye levels.’*
Kim Minjun kindly recreated his previous hand gesture and lip movements.
“This is what I said. ‘This is the difference between you, and me’s, eye leve—’”
“Eek…! Whether that or this, it’s still cursing!”
“Why’s that cursing? Just a joke.”
She responded a bit irritably, but didn’t seem actually mad.
“You know only one private has ever aced the promotion exam?”
“Me?”
“No, not you—exactly one, 25 years ago.”
Oh.
Whoever it was, they were good.
“Who was it?”
To his question, Son Eunseo answered proudly.
“My dad… I mean, my father.”
“Ah. The division commander?”
“Yeah. Dad’s the only one who went from enlisted all the way to general. I enlisted as a private because I want to be like him.”
Aha.
So she came to brag about her dad?
*Still, interesting. Her dad’s the one who achieved what I’m aiming for.*
Intrigued, Kim Minjun asked about her father.
“Before that, the agility section of the promotion exam. Tell me how you dodged the rubber bullets.”
“You mean dodging the rubber rounds?”
“Yeah. I get the rest, but rubber bullets make no sense.”
“It’s all because of you.”
“Huh?”
Son Eunseo looked puzzled.
“You provoked me from the strength section on, so I tensed up unnecessarily.”
“No, why’s that my fault! I just felt competitive with you, Kim Minjun!”
Their childish banter continued for a while.
“Kim Minjun!”
“Corporal Kim Minjun!”
Just then, the 4th Company platoon leader beckoned him over.
“Take the call. It’s your 2nd Company, 2nd Platoon leader.”