Chapter 70
Chapter 70
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: 5th Standby - 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The road to the incident site is blocked, preventing vehicles from getting through!
“What do you mean by that?”
It seems like barriers were deliberately set up within the unit! We’ll run to the destination from here!
Once Kim Min-jun’s report ended and the radio cut off,
Second Lieutenant Kim Chul-min muttered in disbelief.
“This has never happened before?”
Right now, getting to the scene within five minutes required a vehicle.
Even if the hunters squeezed out every ounce of strength to run, it was a distance they could barely make.
“Trouble on the first day of 5th Standby? What the hell!”
Sensing something off, Second Lieutenant Kim Chul-min bolted toward the incident site.
**
“Everyone out of the vehicles! We’re running to the destination from here!”
Meanwhile,
Kim Min-jun confirmed the barriers blocking the vehicles and quickly made his decision.
‘Tossing those barriers aside and driving through would work, but that’s probably why they set them up.’
It felt like a test of their situational judgment.
“Damn! What’s this on the first day of 5th Standby…?”
“Has something like this ever happened before?”
“First time they’ve ever blocked the road for vehicles!”
The hunters, who had done 5th Standby drills countless times, grimaced as they piled out of the vehicles.
“Shut up and sprint to the destination at full speed! I’ll handle anyone who falls behind, so move!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Got it!”
At Kim Min-jun’s sharp command, the hunters started dashing like mad toward the incident site.
‘One minute to get out of the barracks. One minute to load up. One minute to the site.’
Assuming they used vehicles, the total time was about three minutes.
The squad would have to run like hell to arrive just seconds ahead of the deadline.
‘I didn’t think they’d make it this tight.’
The situation had popped off anyway, and he had to lead his soldiers there in under five minutes.
“Grit your teeth and run! We’ve got plenty of time!”
“Yes, sir!”
The results of the intense training they’d done to prepare for the last KCTC exercise were paying off here.
If Kim Min-jun hadn’t ramped up the training, getting everyone there in five minutes would’ve been impossible.
“Hmm. 4 minutes 55 seconds. Cut it close.”
Including Second Lieutenant Kim Chul-min, the entire 5th Standby force arrived at 4:55.
At the scene, an officer from a higher unit held a stopwatch, there for inspection.
“Loyalty!”
“Yeah, yeah. Just checking if you’re running 5th Standby properly. We even blocked vehicle access this time, and you handled it well.”
The inspecting officer was an operations staff officer from the Hunter Special Task Force.
A major.
Same rank as the 104th Division’s 2nd Battalion commander, but his unit made all the difference in authority.
‘What the hell? Why’s someone from Hunter Special Task Force here?’
‘Yeah, aren’t they swamped with their own missions?’
‘They’re always deploying overseas—why inspect on the first day of 5th Standby?’
Having never dealt with this in their military life, the hunters worried something unexpected was brewing.
‘Damn it. What’s with day one?’
Second Lieutenant Kim Chul-min felt the same.
He hadn’t imagined an ops staffer from special forces showing up, and his face was stiff.
‘Made it deliberately hard to arrive in five minutes, but they pulled it off unexpectedly.’
Meanwhile,
the ops staffer grinned, pleased by the unanticipated result.
‘Heard that Sergeant Kim Min-jun from 104th Division took down a sergeant from Special Task Force, so I dropped by. Clean work.’
He gave Kim Min-jun a quick once-over, warned them to stay sharp, and left.
“Phew…”
“Seriously aged me ten years…”
“Hey, that insignia. Hunter Special Task Force, right? Why’s a special forces ops staffer at our unit?”
“No idea. But seeing those barriers at first? Brain freeze.”
“Sergeant Kim Min-jun reacted fast and saved us.”
Only after the ops staffer was fully gone did the squad let out sighs of relief.
Not just any unit—the Hunter Special Task Force ops staffer.
One slip-up could’ve spelled disaster for the whole unit.
‘What was that? Because I beat up that Special Task Force sergeant?’
Kim Min-jun watched the staffer’s retreating back for a moment.
‘Nah, no way.’
Special forces wouldn’t make a fuss over a few whacks from me.
They’re not kids.
Sure, I hit hard, but they poked the bear—had to take it.
Shhhh.
‘Hm? What’s this?’
The Night Walker suddenly moved toward the ops staffer.
It planned to extract info from him.
‘You little rascal, following orders perfectly. An ops staffer should have good intel. Keep it up.’
The Night Walker was carrying out his directive to target high-ranking officers for info.
If he’d had more demonic energy to emit, info would flow in like clockwork—slight regret there.
Shhhh.
As the hunters returned to the 5th Standby barracks, the Night Walker handed over the intel it had pulled from the staffer.
‘Good. Show it to me one by one.’
Kim Min-jun closed his eyes and reviewed the info for a while, then chuckled derisively.
‘So this was the plan?’
First day of 5th Standby.
Test initial response, then release monsters on the last day.
‘Special forces ops staffer—going all out.’
Normally, incidents during 5th Standby were fake.
But according to the Night Walker’s intel, the staffer had prepped real monsters for the final day.
‘What the hell is this setup?’
Reviewing further, Kim Min-jun frowned at the monster type and location.
‘Releasing two weakened orcs via special drugs. Fail to clear in eight minutes, add three more?’
Orcs were monsters he could drop in ten seconds.
But not for his squad.
Even weakened, they’d take time.
‘That alone wouldn’t be bad, but the release point’s far.’
Even flooring it by vehicle, nearly five minutes away.
Hunters had to down three orcs in five minutes.
Way beyond standard hunter capabilities.
Plus, only up to deputy squad leaders allowed in combat.
To test soldiers’ handling in restricted conditions.
‘Too bad. More demonic energy, and I could’ve gotten more.’
This was all he could learn for now.
‘Still, this is plenty.’
As Kim Min-jun organized the info and opened his eyes, Corporal Kim Kwang-sik had approached.
“Sergeant Kim Min-jun. Everything okay? You look worried.”
“Worried?”
Yeah, a bit.
Not for me—for my squad.
‘Better to split orcs with the soldiers than solo them for higher performance scores.’
They’d evaluate deputy squad leader judgment and soldier command too. Him wiping them out solo would dock points there.
“More importantly, do you know orcs’ weak points?”
“Orcs? Why orcs out of nowhere…? Their weakness is the neck.”
Corporal Kim Kwang-sik answered, puzzled by the sudden question.
“But they’re huge. Nearly three meters. Even with a sword, you can barely reach their chest.”
“Right. So when fighting orcs, target the legs first. Anyone here fought orcs?”
At his words, Sergeant Lee Seung-ho raised his hand slightly.
“I faced one in a dungeon when I was a corporal.”
“Oh, really?”
Kim Min-jun gathered the squad and spoke quietly.
‘Last day of 5th Standby, stay sharp. Orcs incoming.’
‘…Pardon?’
‘How do you know, Sergeant Kim Min-jun?’
Monsters during 5th Standby happened occasionally.
But just formalities—low-grade at best.
Orcs were tough for hunters.
‘Overheard the ops staffer mumbling. If true, orcs at dawn on the last day. Prep hard.’
Truth was, his summon extracted it.
‘Got it.’
Seeing Kim Min-jun’s serious eyes, the squad nodded grimly.
If true, no joke.
**
Time passed, last day of 5th Standby.
Including day one, one more fake incident.
After that, just patrols and barracks standby.
“Sergeant Kim Min-jun. Today’s the day you mentioned.”
“Yeah.”
Kim Min-jun was patrolling with Private Lee Dong-jin.
The kid firmly believed orcs were coming, tense as hell.
“Relax. Coordinate well, and we’ll take them easy.”
“Understood.”
If he were his old self, Kim Min-jun would’ve said more, but no need now.
“You’ve improved a ton since private days. That freezing habit against monsters is mostly gone.”
“Thank you. I’ve worked on my mindset.”
“Good change.”
Lee Dong-jin wanted to say ‘Thanks to you, Sergeant Kim Min-jun,’ but played it cool.
‘Dunno why, but weird…’
He hadn’t expected a few words to change him.
Now promotion to corporal felt real; he hit the training room after duty, motivated.
“But Sergeant Kim Min-jun, no thoughts of transferring?”
“Why? Want me gone?”
At Kim Min-jun’s playful look, Lee Dong-jin shook his head fast.
“No, not that. You promote fast, so skilled… Just curious.”
“Got an offer from Hunter Special Task Force recently. When I was sergeant. Said they’d make me staff sergeant if I joined.”
“Special Task Force… Tough to get in.”
“At my level, I could go anywhere. Turned it down flat. No electronics. No internet, obviously.”
“You couldn’t handle that, Sergeant Kim Min-jun.”
“Right? How’s a guy live without games?”
Mid small talk patrol, the siren blared suddenly.
Wheeeeeeng!
Emergency alert siren.
Ops staffer released the monsters.
“Early—faster than thought. Gear up now!”
“Yes, sir!”
Kim Min-jun sprinted straight for the military vehicle.
‘Watch this perfect run.’
Take notes, ops staffer.
Perfection looks like this.