Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Assigned Unit - 2
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The other privates first class seemed completely unfazed by the situation, as if it were nothing new.
'What the hell is this now?'
Sleep time? Even an hour would be more than enough. It wasn't a big deal.
Kim Minjun obediently followed the corporal outside.
"You just got assigned to the unit today, so I'm gonna tell you what you need to know."
Inside a warehouse where the unit's scrapped parts were stored.
As soon as they entered, the corporal spoke up in a serious tone.
'What is this? Couldn't he just tell me back in the barracks?'
There was no reason to drag him all the way to the warehouse.
"For now, up to private first class, you can just stay in proper posture in the barracks like you are now. As for the rec room, go ahead if you're confident you won't get caught by the seniors. And..."
He'd thought it was something else, but it turned out to be a rundown on the unit's abuses.
'How many assholes like this are in the unit?'
The corporal in front of him pointed out the things to watch out for in his future actions.
He called it his way of looking out for a newbie.
'Is this what he calls looking out for me? Should I just beat the shit out of him?'
No, no.
These abuses had been around forever, fully entrenched in the unit.
Even if he roughed up this corporal now, it wouldn't make them disappear.
"Got it."
"Yeah. Just watch out for what I told you, and you won't get in trouble."
Kim Minjun nodded obediently.
Right now, he was just a private.
'I'll hold back for now. Because I'm a private. Wait till I'm a sergeant.'
The reason he could exercise this kind of patience was because he'd returned from Isgard having lost most of his power.
On top of that, the game Dunfa had softened his brutal personality.
If he'd come back with the specs he'd had in Isgard, the military base would've been the first to vanish under his hand.
'Wow. Thinking about it now, I've gotten really nice.'
Thank Neo Play Company, South Korea.
'But hey, Corporal. I said I'd hold back, but I didn't say I wouldn't do anything to you at all?'
Kim Minjun turned his head toward the corporal who was heading out.
A perfect test subject was right in front of him.
'He didn't say anything specific, so maybe a mild dose.'
Sss—
Black mana began to flicker in his hand.
Kim Minjun cast Corruption on the corporal.
Sss—
The faint mana seeped into his abdomen.
'Maybe because my mana stat is low, but it's not even visible.'
For now, that was better.
'Any second now.'
Three. Two. One.
"Ugh..."
Right on cue with Kim Minjun's count, the corporal's face twisted up.
"Ow! Damn... my stomach's killing me all of a sudden. You head back and get some sleep. If anyone asks where I am, say I went to the bathroom."
"Yes, sir."
He clutched his stomach with both hands as he shuffled out of the warehouse.
"Sleep well, sir."
You're in for a rough night.
Of course, he'd dialed it back to a mild level.
'...That aside. Is this the best it can do right now?'
He'd known his skills were weakened, but feeling it firsthand like this—how much weaker they'd become—left him feeling drained.
At his peak, Corruption was true decay.
An insane power that rotted any living thing!
"Now it's just a stomachache."
Kim Minjun withdrew the faintly flickering mana and stepped out of the warehouse.
'This is just the beginning. I'll devour every damn achievement, show them insane promotion speed.'
**
"Where the hell did that guy go?"
When he got back to the barracks, Lee Seungho stared at the corporal's empty bed. He'd apparently woken up in the middle of the night.
"I saw him earlier, sir. He said his stomach was hurting bad."
Kim Minjun answered quickly.
The guy was in for some misery in the bathroom.
"Is that right? Got it. Don't worry about it, go back to sleep."
"Yes, sir!"
They said Sergeant Lee Seungho wasn't much for meddling.
More accurately, he was indifferent to the juniors.
'I heard he goes apeshit if you screw up training or work.'
That didn't apply to him, so no big deal.
'My assigned senior gets chewed out a lot.'
He thought of Private First Class Lee Dongjin, who'd bought him a ton of snacks at the PX.
That guy definitely had a good personality.
'I just got assigned today, so I need to watch how things run around here for a while.'
**
5:40 a.m.
Hunters woke at 6:00 a.m., but privates got up twenty minutes early to make their beds.
Privates first class woke at 5:50.
'Such petty bullshit over ten or twenty minutes.'
Kim Minjun, who'd already woken up early, got up, changed into his uniform, and waited.
Zzzt—
As soon as 6:00 hit, the speaker crackled, and the duty officer's voice came through.
-All 2nd Company hunters, gear up for training and assemble at the training field. From today, assemble in full combat gear.
"What the fuck! Full gear already?"
"This unit's insane. What the hell now."
"I'm not doing long marches, no way."
The staff sergeants cursed up a storm at the mention of full gear and started putting on their uniforms.
The unit he belonged to.
104th Division, Invincible Hunters Unit, or something like that.
It was one of the places his basic training buddies had told him to avoid at all costs.
Right on the front lines, with dungeons popping up often and monsters jumping out left and right as a bonus.
Training volume was over three times that of other units, and the abuses were the worst.
'But in return, you rack up achievements fast and plenty.'
Plus extra pay.
Kim Minjun glanced at the corporal he'd hit with Corruption and headed out.
'Still low on mana.'
His haggard face suggested he'd suffered plenty, but it wasn't satisfying.
Ten minutes later.
The hunters assembled in front of the training field.
Their faces were full of complaints.
They usually started training in light PT gear, but full combat gear out of nowhere?
The duty officer scanned the hunters, then grabbed a bright red megaphone and brought it to his mouth.
"We're starting morning training now. We'll do a quick headcount and head out."
They had fancy mics and speakers—why bother with a megaphone?
"We're doing a run, entering three dungeons in sequence. Of course! Starting today, we'll train in full combat gear to prepare for emergencies."
At that, one sergeant stepped forward with a question.
"Until when do we wear full gear, sir?"
"From today until you discharge."
"Ah..."
Grumbles spread here and there at the duty officer's words.
"It's an order from above, so follow it. Probably because of that incident at Hunter Army Training Center."
Likely a monster bursting out of an empty dungeon.
"Enough complaining! Move out!"
At the duty officer's command, the hunters in full gear started running one by one.
Other units would've done one empty dungeon and called it a day, but the Invincible Hunters Unit did three.
Exactly three times the training, just like his buddies said.
[You have entered the dungeon.]
Hunter Army used empty dungeons even for runs to build dungeon adaptation.
"This shit's heavy as fuck from the morning."
"Training's already brutal, and now they grind us from dawn."
The hunters grimaced and vented about the sudden spike in training intensity.
'This is a breeze.'
Kim Minjun followed his seniors and finished the run.
As soon as they got back, the seniors ditched their gear.
"Ah, breakfast's gonna taste like heaven today."
"I'm not even hungry. Ugh."
"Hey, you okay? You look pale."
"Huh? Oh yeah... my stomach hurt yesterday..."
"Should've eaten in moderation, man."
The corporal who'd eaten Kim Minjun's Corruption rubbed his belly with a puzzled look.
"...Was that it?"
After the run, at the Hunter Army buffet-style mess hall.
"Kugh... now that's food."
Kim Minjun smacked his lips and piled on the side dishes.
"See? Told you."
Private First Class Lee Dongjin sidled up with a smirk.
"Better than Hunter Army Training Center by a mile."
"Right? That's the one good thing compared to other units. Seniors don't touch you about the mess hall either."
Of course they shouldn't.
With all the bullshit already, at least leave meal time alone.
Even dogs don't mess with you when you're eating.
"Oh, eat up while you listen. Morning and afternoon are all shooting training today."
Lee Dongjin explained the schedule in detail.
"Morning's basic shooting. Afternoon's special shooting."
He was probably the only senior who took good care of juniors.
The others ignored Kim Minjun completely.
"Unit doesn't usually look after juniors much here."
"What about other units?"
"Nah, other units take good care of theirs, from what I hear."
So that's how it was.
'Hmm... this is the front lines, tons of monsters. Shouldn't they be pumping each other up instead?'
It looked like they were grinding privates and PFCs to keep them on edge, but really, it was just abuse.
"Oh, Minjun."
"Private Kim Minjun."
"Come with me for a sec."
"Got it, sir."
After eating, Private First Class Lee Dongjin took Kim Minjun to a warehouse.
Different from the one the corporal had taken him to yesterday.
The previous one had scrapped parts; this was just an empty storage room.
"See those rifles? Training mock-ups, but they'll help a bit with shooting practice."
He'd wondered what it was about, but the guy was helping him prep for today's shooting training.
Lee Dongjin taped a paper target to the wall and shared what tips he knew.
"They do zeroing at training center, but here it's raw shooting, no adjustments. You'll miss every shot. Then the seniors will ream you out."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Bad timing for you. Rare to have shooting the day after a newbie arrives."
"Can we use this place?"
Kim Minjun asked, and Lee Dongjin said not to worry.
"Officers don't care about this spot. Seniors don't touch training stuff much either. Anyway, get in position over there."
"Got it, sir."
Shooting was child's play for Kim Minjun, but he decided to follow along.
The guy had taken good care of him since assignment day one, even hooking him up with a practice spot before shooting training.
'They say good guys like him are rare in the army.'
Kim Minjun got prone, aimed at the target, and pulled the trigger.
Ting! Ping!
BB rounds fired, smacking the target's center multiple times.
"Nice shooting. But it's a mock-up, so real rifles feel different. Plenty of time till training, so keep going, don't mind me."
"Got it."
With Lee Dongjin watching, Kim Minjun kept firing.
Ting!
Lee Dongjin was a bit surprised at Kim Minjun's ghostlike accuracy on the target's center.