Chapter 76
Chapter 76
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 76
Chapter Title: Harvest
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[Harvest Necklace has harvested sufficient monsters.]
[Harvest Necklace is transforming.]
[Transforming....]
[Remaining time: 5 days]
'Oh right, I had this.'
The Harvest Necklace obtained previously.
Including the Irregular monsters processed this time, it seemed complete.
'Nice.'
I could feel the necklace squirming and melting away.
If I just let the time pass like this, it would solidify into the shape of a hard candy.
Once that happened and I consumed it, I should receive the effects of the spiritual medicine.
'Looking forward to five days from now.'
I hope my Magic stat goes up or something.
**
The dungeon raid was over.
As soon as Lieutenant Kim Cheol-min returned to the unit, he headed to the company commander's office to make his report.
"What? Irregular monsters—not just two Red Anglers, but thirty?"
"Yes... that's correct. The corpses should still be there, so you can recover them. As for the two, Sergeant Kim Min-jun processed them somehow, and they vanished without a trace."
At the absurd number of Irregular monsters, the company commander shot to his feet.
"Casualties? No, more than that—the force assigned to the dungeon raid was just First Platoon, right?"
Not one or two, but thirty.
With that many Red Anglers, cooling grenades wouldn't have stood a chance.
"No casualties occurred."
Lieutenant Kim Cheol-min began reporting on how the dungeon raid had proceeded.
"As soon as we passed a certain point, an unexpected wave of heat poured out. Judging that there were a significant number of Irregulars, Sergeant Kim Min-jun..."
"...What did you say?"
The longer the explanation went on, the more bewilderment filled the company commander's eyes.
"He handled it like that?"
And no wonder—it was an unprecedented, utterly bizarre method of dealing with the Red Anglers.
They'd built a wall out of spare fire-resistant suits, then dragged the monsters over one by one with a whip to process them.
It was a method no normal person could muster the courage for.
"Whew... alright. Given the circumstances, what choice was there? No casualties, and the dungeon was cleared spotless. That's the important part."
Only then did the company commander let out a sigh of relief.
The regular radio check-ins hadn't come in, so he'd wondered if something had gone wrong.
Who could've guessed an emergency like that would happen?
"If Sergeant Kim Min-jun hadn't been there... our platoon might've been wiped out. It was that dire."
"Yeah. With that many Red Anglers clustered together, no amount of cooling grenades would've helped. And it was a sealed dungeon to boot."
The company commander said he would report the incident to the battalion commander and urged greater caution with dungeons going forward.
"Whoa. For real?"
"Red Anglers, thirty of them from in there?"
Meanwhile.
Inside the barracks.
Platoon members from the other squads, having heard the news, flooded in.
Kim Min-jun's barracks was currently packed—no room to set foot.
"You punks. I'm suffocating to death because of you guys. Get out."
"Sergeant Kim Min-jun! Is it true you dragged them one by one with a whip and processed them?"
The guys from the next platoon over didn't budge an inch despite Kim Min-jun's words.
And why would they?
It was simply unbelievable that he'd taken on that many Irregular monsters like something out of a movie.
"Yeah. I'd hook them one by one with the whip and pass them over. Then Lee Seung-ho would pry open their mouths, and Kim Kwang-sik would set the timer on a cooling grenade, stuff it in, and that was that."
Kim Min-jun pulled out his whip, scorched by the heat, and showed it to the platoon members.
"Whoa..."
"Does that even make sense? How do you snag monsters from places you can't even see?"
"Even back at KCTC when you were snatching those female hunters, it looked impressive... but you're on a whole other level."
Seeing the tip slightly melted, the platoon members let out gasps of admiration.
"But isn't this too much?"
This went on for a bit.
Then they started voicing their complaints.
"Why does this damn Gangwon-do Cheorwon keep spitting out Irregular monsters every other day? We just dealt with some not long ago."
"That's exactly it. In other regions, Irregulars barely show up once a month."
"Our unit's had Irregulars pop up at least five times this month alone."
"And this one's especially bad. They gauged it at two Irregulars, but it turns out to be thirty? Come on."
"If it'd been our platoon tackling it, we would've been done for guaranteed."
Second Platoon had managed to handle thirty Red Anglers only because of Sergeant Kim Min-jun.
If the platoon there had been any other...
That platoon would've been obliterated without question.
"Hey. If something happens to you guys, I'll come save you, so don't freak out too much."
Kim Min-jun smirked at the platoon members and shooed them out with a wave.
"Whoa... Sergeant Kim Min-jun. That kinda touched me."
"With Sergeant Kim Min-jun around, I feel like I can count on it."
"Yeah. Now scram. I'm roasting alive because of you lot."
"Got it. Thanks for your hard work! Loyalty!"
The momentary storm blew over.
"Whew, shit. Those punks finally left."
"Crank the AC lower! Hurry!"
The squad members stripped off their tops and clustered in front of the air conditioner, mouths agape.
All because the heat inside the dungeon had been that brutal.
"You little shits. If the company commander saw you, it'd be lights out for you all."
Right on cue, Lieutenant Kim Cheol-min walked into the barracks and told the squad members to at least put some clothes on.
"Platoon leader, you were in the dungeon with us—you know how bad it was. We really thought we were gonna burn up."
"Yeah. Good work, everyone. I've got a few announcements, so listen up."
Lieutenant Kim Cheol-min announced that, thanks to this dungeon raid, one soldier's special promotion had been confirmed.
"Huh? For real?"
"Special promotions are brutal, aren't they?"
"The criteria for special promotions are pretty strict, but it's not impossible. You know it's all thanks to Min-jun, right? Lee Dong-jin."
"Private First Class! Lee Dong-jin!"
"Yeah. Step forward."
"Yes, sir!"
The platoon leader handed the corporal rank insignia to Private First Class Lee Dong-jin.
"The soldier who got the special promotion this time is Dong-jin. Can't overlook nearly four years of service. Your training scores have shot up lately too. Congrats."
"Corporal Lee Dong-jin! Thank you, sir!"
"Oh..."
"Dong-jin?"
"Dong-jin deserves it. He's racked up a ton of performance points lately. And his skills have improved."
The squad members offered their congratulations and clapped for him.
Because sticking at Private First Class for over four years while always staying diligent wasn't easy.
"Lee Dong-jin. Did I make it or what?"
"Corporal Lee Dong-jin. It's all thanks to Sergeant Kim Min-jun. Thank you."
"I do get some credit. But you earned this special promotion through your own hard work, so keep pushing."
"Thank you!"
"Hey, enough already."
Even as he tried to stop him, Lee Dong-jin bowed at a perfect ninety degrees.
Any lower and his face would've hit the floor.
"You'll throw your back out."
Jeez.
The platoon leader was standing right there—what was this guy doing?
"Alright. Next, Sergeant Kim Min-jun made the biggest contribution to this dungeon raid and earned the most performance points. After him are Lee Seung-ho and Kim Kwang-sik."
Lieutenant Kim Cheol-min said that if they kept performing like this, anyone could aim for a special promotion.
"Kim Min-jun. At this rate, you'll be pinning on Staff Sergeant in no time. Keep showing that good side."
"Sergeant Kim Min-jun. Thank you, sir."
"And the battalion commander is granting two days of reward leave for all your hard work, so keep it in mind."
"Leave, you say?"
"Woooaaah!"
It wasn't enough that a special promotion had come out of the squad—now the entire Second Platoon was getting reward leave.
Hard work pays off, as they say.
With the good news coming one after another, the squad members let out roars of joy.
"Alright. Last announcement—this one's about training."
"Ah..."
"Training..."
But the joy was fleeting.
The moment training was mentioned, the mood deflated instantly.
How long had it been since they wrapped up the dungeon raid? And now training again?
"Brace yourselves for six months of hell. Can't be helped—it's fallout from the Hunter Maneuver Training."
Lieutenant Kim Cheol-min continued, saying that in two weeks, there would be adverse-condition marksmanship and adverse-condition live-fire training.
"More training's gonna get tacked on at random after this, so if you want leave, take it now."
"Understood..."
"Adverse-condition combo? What the hell!"
At the words "adverse-condition training," the squad members shuddered like they'd already lost the will to live.
Because adverse-condition training meant conducting drills under deliberately simulated worst-case scenarios.
"You punks are already quaking. Anyway, sync up your leave schedules. I'll foot the bill."
Since Lee Dong-jin had gotten his special promotion, Kim Min-jun suggested the squad head out on leave together.
"Sergeant Kim Min-jun. If we're going anyway, how about with Corporal Son Eun-seo's squad?"
At Kim Kwang-sik's suggestion, the rest of the squad members chimed in that they'd make their schedules match no matter what.
"Last time at the amusement park was a blast."
"If we spend this leave with the female hunters, I bet we'll ace all the training coming up."
Boys gonna boy.
Kim Min-jun glanced over the squad members before answering.
"You don't score perfect on those trainings, you know what happens? I'll drill you until you can."
"Drill us as much as you want!"
Unlike moments before, the squad members shouted back in perfect unison, brimming with enthusiasm.
Kim Min-jun: Hey. Can you sync leave with your squad? Let's have both squads go out together. I'll cover the costs.
Son Eun-seo: What's this all of a sudden?
After the workday ended, he'd KakaoTalked Son Eun-seo about going on group leave.
[Photo]
Instead of a reply, she sent a photo of her rank insignia.
It was a sergeant insignia.
Kim Min-jun: What's that?
Son Eun-seo: Can't you tell? I got specially promoted to sergeant. Your squad had one too, right?
Kim Min-jun: Wow, our squad did all the grunt work—why'd you get the special promotion?
Son Eun-seo: What do you mean? I've been busting my ass too. Anyway, where we headed?
She replied that convincing the whole squad would require picking a solid vacation spot.
"Vacation spot, huh."
Lately, the squad members were worn out from grueling training and dungeon raids.
He felt it was time to recharge their motivation.
"Leading the troops well is part of an NCO's skillset too."
When soldiers were overflowing with drive, training results would improve.
And that would boost his own performance scores.
"Then this spot's perfect."
Having run the calculations in his head, Kim Min-jun selected a vacation destination no one could turn down.
Son Eun-seo: No way. We can actually go there? For real?
Kim Min-jun: Who do you think I am? Just get ready.
Son Eun-seo replied that she was absolutely in.
And no surprise—it was a premium vacation spot that regular enlisted soldiers couldn't even access.