Chapter 33
Chapter 33
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Why Are You Here?
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“Sir! Corporal Kim Min-jun reporting!”
Kim Min-jun took the smartphone from the platoon leader.
-Kim Min-jun? Why are you there during your leave? What’s going on?
Lieutenant Kim Cheol-min’s bewildered voice came through.
As Kim Min-jun pondered how to respond.
The platoon leader took back the smartphone and briefly explained the situation.
“Ah. Corporal Kim Min-jun is currently assisting with civil support operations right now. A gate exploded, so we have to redo the work. Is it alright if I contact you separately later?”
-Understood.
Thanks to the platoon leader’s hurried tone, the call ended quickly.
**
Time passed, and in the platoon leader’s office.
“Hwacheon in Gangwon Province?”
Kim Cheol-min was receiving a report from the platoon leader of 4th Company, 4th Battalion, and double-checked because he thought he’d misheard.
“2nd Battalion, 2nd Company, Corporal Kim Min-jun, correct?”
-Yes. I’ve confirmed it again. It’s Corporal Kim Min-jun, currently on leave.
He was floored by the platoon leader’s subsequent report.
‘What? He went there to help with civil support in the first place? And then a gate exploded?’
He wished they’d just say it was a joke.
Kim Min-jun had gone even further, reportedly handling the Red Boars all by himself.
-Considering he’s just a corporal, it’s truly unbelievable physical prowess.
“Is that true…?”
-Yes. Even I can hardly believe it. On top of that, he’s helping with our company’s backlog. Thanks to him, we’ve cut down the work time considerably.
He’d used a two-day leave to go to Hwacheon in Gangwon Province.
Specifically targeting where the female hunters of 4th Company were doing civil support.
‘How long has it been since hunter mobility training ended?’
It was absurdly diligent.
‘Jeez. And he does that during leave?’
If someone told him right now to use his annual leave and go help another unit with civil support, he’d curse them inwardly.
“I have to report this to the company commander…”
Things were already backed up, and now Kim Min-jun’s situation on top.
“I’ll be pulling an all-nighter tonight… Still, it’s impressive.”
Anything else aside, a hunter who gave up his leave to help with civil support.
How many in the entire division could claim that?
‘This guy… Isn’t he about to get promoted to sergeant soon?’
Kim Cheol-min contacted the company commander and reported what he’d heard from the 4th Company platoon leader, suitably embellished.
**
Thanks to Kim Min-jun’s efforts, the civil support in Hwacheon wrapped up quickly.
“Comrade! Thank you!”
“I’ll buy you a meal next time we meet!”
The female hunters expressed their repeated gratitude as they boarded the bus.
They’d already been accumulating fatigue from hunter mobility training, but Kim Min-jun had made the work much easier.
Some even subtly tried to give him their contact info.
“Ah. I didn’t help for that reason. No need.”
Kim Min-jun firmly refused, putting up an iron wall.
‘What I need is performance points, not your numbers.’
His top priority was getting those stars.
He had zero interest in women.
Of course, that didn’t mean he was impotent.
‘Priority one: reclaim stars and strength. Priority two: Dungeon & Fighter…’
Women were maybe fourth or fifth.
And that was generous.
“Corporal Kim Min-jun. Finish your leave well, and when you return to base, make sure to report to the platoon leader. Thanks to you, there was virtually no damage.”
“Corporal Kim Min-jun! Understood!”
With the platoon leader’s words as the finale, the bus carrying the female hunters departed.
Kim Min-jun confirmed the bus was completely gone before generously sharing demonic energy with the Night Walker.
Shooo-
“Eat up good and work hard.”
It seemed hesitant at first, then sucked in the demonic energy like mad.
Shooo-
Now that the Night Walker’s rank had risen to C, it could do a lot more.
Until now, it had been like casting a fishing line and waiting for a bite, but from here on, it was like wielding a net and roaming freely.
“Good. I was getting frustrated gathering demonic energy anyway. Now getting dungeon info should be easy.”
As Kim Min-jun smiled in satisfaction, the Night Walker alerted him to an anomaly.
The enhanced Night Walker’s capabilities were impressive.
“What? Another gate?”
Shooo-
The Night Walker informed him that a being infused with demonic energy had noticed it and was heading this way.
“What? Not a monster? Then what. The demonic energy is faint, flickering like it might vanish?”
The Night Walker said the target was currently drifting through dimensions.
“Drifting through dimensions, yet it noticed you and is coming here?”
Was it because the Night Walker had been strengthened? Some kind of reverse tracking?
And it had faint demonic energy…
“Probably botched a dimension hop. It’s clinging to life by grabbing anything it can.”
Even he had to endure massive penalties for dimension travel.
At that level, staying alive was a miracle.
“Just leave it be for now. I can’t intervene anyway.”
With his current power, he couldn’t interfere with dimensions.
Kim Min-jun waited quietly in place.
Whoever it was, it had demonic energy at least.
Shoooo-
“A portal.”
About 30 minutes later.
A dark red portal formed nearby.
“Shoddy work. No wonder it failed, made like that.”
The portal looked unstable at a glance.
Not getting shredded on exit was miraculous.
“Looks like it used demonic energy for the portal, but the amount is absolutely insufficient. That dark red hue suggests it mixed in something weird.”
As Kim Min-jun muttered to himself.
A man in a black robe covering his entire body crawled out of the portal.
“Freeze. Move a finger, and you’re dead by me.”
At those words, the man’s body jolted violently.
“I said don’t move.”
The moment he prepared to attack.
“Minold-nimmm!”
That familiar voice forced him to halt.
“…No way.”
Kim Min-jun pulled off the robe covering the guy.
Revealing a face he knew.
“Ugh, you crazy bastard… Didn’t I tell you to forget me and live on?”
“Minold-nimmm!”
The man’s identity was the black mage who’d crossed over from Isgard, a fervent devotee of the Ceria Church.
He’d had no name, so Kim Min-jun had given him one himself.
“Ibong-gu. Are you insane? What gave you the guts to dimension-hop?”
Unlike his tacky name, Ibong-gu was strikingly handsome.
The kind of looks that made women passing by turn back.
That’s why Kim Min-jun had deliberately given him such a corny name.
Why?
Because a black mage who was annoyingly good-looking pissed him off.
“Urk! Isn’t Minold-nim the one who left us after just a note?”
“No, you lunatic! If I told your lot I was dimension-hopping, you’d all follow, obviously. You think I’d say that?”
His devotees weren’t right in the head.
Even if dimension travel were easy, he had no intention of dragging them to Earth.
“At least! Shouldn’t your right-hand man like me have been worth bringing along!”
Ibong-gu crawled closer with a hurt expression, clutching Kim Min-jun’s combat boots with both hands.
“Who made you right-hand man! Get off!”
Whack!
“Urk… I, I feel like I’m dying. But if it’s by Minold-nim’s hand, I’d happily accept it.”
“Ah, I hit you without thinking. Take some demonic energy first.”
Kim Min-jun shared demonic energy with Ibong-gu, who was convulsing on the brink of death.
His once-plentiful demonic energy reserves hit rock bottom again.
“Phew. I think I’ll live now.”
Ibong-gu, whose face had been deathly pale, finally stood up with a refreshed expression.
“Hey. Explain from start to finish what happened.”
“Yes. Of course!”
Ibong-gu began from the beginning of how he’d ended up dimension-hopping.
“When Minold-nim vanished, the devotees didn’t elect a new leader—they just wanted to follow you… I thought the church would collapse at this rate.”
“Jeez. I told you not to worry about me and live on. You squeezed out every last drop of demonic energy to make that portal?”
“Yes! Exactly! I volunteered to go as representative!”
“Fine, the portal’s crude, but how’d you set the coordinates? No one in Isgard knows Earth’s coords.”
At that, Ibong-gu grinned proudly.
“That goes without saying—I nailed it.”
“Oh yeah? You guessed a one-in-ten-billion shot and hit Earth?”
“Of course! With faith in the leader, probability’s just a number!”
“Tell the truth or I’ll crack your skull.”
“It’s true, Minold-nim! Why would I lie to you!”
Kim Min-jun sighed, looking at Ibong-gu protesting his innocence.
‘Well, this guy would. Risked his life to see me, and here I am being harsh.’
Kim Min-jun generally disliked Isgardians.
Except.
Among the black mages, his devotees were the exception.
‘I did get a lot of help from these guys in that world.’
They’d moved at his whim while he was there, never betraying him no matter the situation.
“My name’s Kim Min-jun here. Not Minold. Call me Kim Min-jun.”
“Understood! I’ll serve Kim Min-jun-nim until I die in this place!”
Ibong-gu knelt and bowed.
“You—can you still use Mimic?”
“Of course! Thanks to your gracious demonic energy, Kim Min-jun-nim, I’m overflowing with power!”
“Don’t bullshit. I didn’t give much.”
“Truthfully, right now I can only mimic small animals. Sorry!”
Ibong-gu’s specialty was mimicry.
He could copy not just a target’s appearance, but its unique traits and voice.
A skill specialized for infiltration.
‘Since this guy’s here now, time to put him to work.’
At Kim Min-jun’s command, Ibong-gu targeted a nearby crow and used Mimic.
“You’ll move with the Night Walker for now. And absolutely no dangerous stuff. Safety first. Got it?”
“I’ll follow those orders!”
Shooo-
As Kim Min-jun wiggled his finger, the Night Walker enveloped Ibong-gu’s body and transferred Earth info.
-Ooh. This is Earth. Kim Min-jun-nim’s homeland! South Korea!
Ibong-gu flapped his wings, letting out an ecstatic cry.
-As expected of Kim Min-jun-nim! Possessing such immense power yet unswayed by the urge to dominate!
“It’s my home—why would I do that? I love South Korea.”
-Then I’ll love South Korea too!
Ibong-gu flapped his wings joyfully.
“Ah, wait. Speaking of, the other devotees okay? The saintess isn’t causing trouble?”
At his words, Ibong-gu replied with a serious gaze.