Sssssss—
“A gate!”
The air began to crack open little by little.
It was a precursor to the creation of a gate.
“Kim Minjun! Hurry, let’s get out of here!”
Son Eunseo exclaimed in shock, tugging at his arm, but he didn’t budge.
His goal was the gate reported by the Night Walker.
“No. We can’t do that.”
“Excuse me?”
“These things will jump out any moment now.”
Before Kim Minjun could finish speaking, monsters began to emerge one by one from the split gate.
The monsters, bearing the appearance of boars, were Red Boars.
“This doesn’t look like a typical Red Boar…”
Son Eunseo observed them and noticed something odd.
Their red fur was dyed in a violet hue.
The eyes were the same.
Clearly, they appeared to be Red Boars, but something was different.
“Have you ever faced a Red Boar before?”
“I’ve faced them, but… there are too many of them!”
“Quickly, go get squad members!”
“What about you, Kim Minjun!”
Instead of answering, he pointed in one direction with his finger.
“If I retreat as well, those things will sweep through the civilian areas.”
“We have no choice! You could really die! What are you going to do without any equipment!”
“Don’t worry and go! Hurry!”
He wanted to absorb these creatures’ mana by himself!
Of course, all the achievements would be mine.
“Just wait a moment!”
“Ah! Lend me some equipment before you go!”
Son Eunseo left a promise to return as quickly as possible and handed over a military knife.
“Good. I’ll have to increase my weapon proficiency with this.”
But this gate that had just formed…
While some gates showed precursor phenomena, others appeared without anyone knowing.
This was why gates were so tricky.
The one that had just formed was of the latter type.
“Kweeeek!”
Upon spotting Kim Minjun, the Red Boar herd screamed as if they were about to charge at him.
“Oh my. Absorbing mana has made you energetic, huh?”
The skin of the Red Boar was quite thick.
Moreover, having absorbed mana, it became even tougher.
To deal with them, mana bullets were essential.
“I suppose the company over there brought guns for emergency use, but that won’t be enough.”
At this moment, he could see ten of them.
And they were ones brimming with mana.
“These things are all mine.”
And the achievements that followed them were mine too.
Corruption.
Sssssss—
These creatures were highly vulnerable to internal attacks.
Even if you just released monster poison as bait, they would die off on their own after some time.
Kim Minjun infused mana into the bodies of the creatures.
“K-kweeeek!”
At that, the Red Boars started to stagger.
“Does my mana hurt a lot?”
“Kweeek!”
“Stay still!”
Kim Minjun entered the middle of the herd, absorbing mana indiscriminately.
“Kweeek!”
“Stay still, I said!”
He swung the military knife with all his might at the wildly thrashing creatures.
Swoosh!
“You think your tough skin will save you from me?”
With every swing of Kim Minjun’s knife, a Red Boar was split in two.
He dealt with them as easily as if he were slicing tofu.
“There’s a Red Boar over there!”
“Where’s Corporal Kim Minjun?”
“Surrounded by Red Boars!”
“Don’t come! I’ll handle this!”
Meanwhile, the platoon leader and squad members of the 4th Company had arrived, but Kim Minjun strongly dissuaded them.
Don’t touch my achievements.
[A certain level of mana has been absorbed.]
[Your mana stat increases by 1.]
[Your mana stat increases by 1.]
[Your mana stat increases by 1.]
[Night Walker is strengthened.]
[Basic swordsmanship is strengthened.]
Nice. I got a good amount of mana. And I even upgraded my skill level in the process.
Kim Minjun smiled at the message that popped up.
“Wow… What? How did you handle the Red Boars all by yourself?”
“Corporal! How did you do it alone?”
“It’s easy if you split them in half with a military knife.”
“…Excuse me?”
“Is that… possible?”
The female hunters were bewildered at the mention of dealing with these creatures using only military knife.
Red Boars were known to be strong against physical attacks.
“Corporal Kim Minjun! Are you hurt? Any injuries?”
“Corporal Kim Minjun! Besides a few scratches, I’m fine.”
As time passed, the situation was resolved.
The platoon leader of the 4th Company quickly ran over to check for any injuries on his body.
“Phew. When a gate appears, you should immediately evacuate and report. Why didn’t you move from your spot?”
“I’m sorry. I thought the Red Boars would cause significant damage to the civilian areas if left unchecked.”
“It’s right to act as a hunter, but no one would have blamed you if you had run away. What were you thinking, fighting with your bare hands?”
“I’m sorry!”
The other female hunters nodded in agreement as if to concur with her words.
It was strange not to run away when a gate appeared out of nowhere.
“But what exactly are you doing here? Civilian support is done by the 4th Company. Which company are you from?”
“Corporal Kim Minjun! I belong to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Company!”
Kim Minjun showed his leave certificate as he answered.
Then, the platoon leader was left with a bewildered expression.
“You took leave today, and you came here because…?”
“I had some business in Hwacheon, and since I had nothing else to do afterwards, I came to help with civilian support!”
“What?”
He came to assist with civilian support during his leave?
That was unbelievable.
What in the world…?
She had heard about Corporal Kim Minjun, but she had no idea it was to this extent.
Good. This is perfect.
Meanwhile, Kim Minjun maintained a calm expression.
I volunteered to do some civilian support while on leave and dealt with the gate.
He also gained mana by dealing with the monsters.
And he scored achievement points.
Plus, he got an image boost.
It was like killing two birds with one stone.
“What was the situation when the gate appeared?”
“In the case of the Red Boars, I borrowed a military knife from Corporal Son Eunseo to deal with them.”
“…”
Kim Minjun reported the situation as if it was nothing special.
Son Eunseo looked at him with an expression of disgust.
“Still, to do that alone? Hmm… It seems like the situation has wrapped up, so that’s that.”
The platoon leader finally let out a sigh of relief.
“Platoon leader! The Red Boar was cleanly split in two!”
“Wow. To think that was done with a standard military knife.”
“Comrade. You’re really strong!”
The female hunters admired the corpse of the Red Boar.
It went over well.
It might become a hassle later when writing the situation report, but that’s a problem for later.
After all, I was the one who saw the Red Boar and dealt with it.
It should be fine.
“Comrade, are you okay?”
“I brought emergency medicine from the platoon leader! Use this!”
The female hunters had surrounded him in an instant.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“At least disinfect it!”
“Okay!”
They even went as far as trying to apply the medicine themselves.
Kim Minjun quickly moved away from the female hunters.
Geez. I just got scratched by some mobs.
Since the gate was finished, I should just go back.
“Ah…”
“The number of monster corpses has increased again.”
“We need to disinfect again…”
Looking over, the female hunters were looking at the corpse of the Red Boar with faces of despair.
They had just finished disinfecting with difficulty, but with the gate bursting, they had to start all over again.
Might as well help since there’s nothing else to do?
What else was he going to do back home, play Dungeon Power Fighter at the internet café?
Might as well score some points when he had the time for it.
Kim Minjun picked up a sprayer and slung it over his back.
“Platoon leader, may I help as well?”
“What did you say?”
“It seems like the work will take a long time at this rate. I’d like to help.”
The platoon leader of the 4th Company looked at him, momentarily lost for words.
No, now she was confused.
The reason for coming here, and even returning his leave to help with civilian support.
Nevertheless, it was true that an unexpected situation had arisen, increasing the workload.
“Alright, then do so. I’ll report this to the platoon leader of the 2nd Company.”
“Yes! Understood!”
“Comrade! Just rest!”
“You must be tired from dealing with monsters, just let us do it!”
Despite the female hunters’ persuasion, Kim Minjun said he was fine and started disinfecting.
“Wow. He came out on leave today?”
“So, he’s helping us during his leave?”
“That’s amazing…”
The conversation among the female hunters had somehow shifted to Kim Minjun.
“How can he not be scared? If a Red Boar charges, it’s like being hit by a truck?”
“And there were so many of them.”
They were motivated by watching Kim Minjun working diligently.
**
The work unexpectedly dragged on into the night.
“Kim Minjun.”
“Wow, you scared me.”
Kim Minjun, who was lost in thought for a moment, almost sprayed Son Eunseo’s face with the sprayer when he saw her.
“I almost sprayed it on your face.”
“What, what?”
“Ah. Move aside for a bit.”
Kim Minjun disinfected the nearby area without paying much attention to her.
“Can we talk for a moment?”
“Since we’re almost done, sure.”
He was on leave anyway, so this should be fine.
“About the last promotion exam. You passed with a perfect score.”
Ah.
The promotion exam.
That’s what this was about.
“That time, you were cursing at me from the window?”
“Excuse me?”
“You were gesturing and cursing at me, weren’t you?”
What was she talking about
What he said was “This is the difference between you and me.”[1]
Kim Minjun kindly reproduced the previous hand gestures and mouth shape.
“I said this: This is the difference between you, and me, and…”
“Eek…! That or this, it’s still cursing!”
“Why is that cursing? It’s just a joke.”
She replied with a slight annoyance, but she didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.
“Did you know there’s only been one Private First Class who passed the promotion exam with a perfect score?”
“Me?”
“No, not you, Kim Minjun, but there was one person 25 years ago.”
Oh.
Whoever it was, they must had been pretty impressive.
“Who was it?”
To his question, Son Eunseo proudly answered.
“My dad… I mean, my father.”
“Ah. Perhaps the division commander?”
“Yes. My father is the only person who went from being a soldier to wearing stars. I enlisted as a soldier because I wanted to be like my father.”
Ah.
So, she came to brag about her dad to him?
But I’m getting interested. After all, her father is someone who achieved what I’ve been aiming for.
Kim Minjun became curious and wanted to ask about her father.
“Before that, during the agility part of the promotion exam, how did you do it?”
“The part about dodging rubber bullets?”
“Yes. I can understand the rest, but the rubber bullets seemed impossible.”
“It’s all because of you.”
“Excuse me?”
Son Eunseo looked puzzled.
“Since you provoked me during the strength section, I couldn’t help but get worked up.”
“Why is that my fault! It’s just that I felt competitive toward Kim Minjun!”
A childish argument ensued.
“Kim Minjun!”
“Corporal Kim Minjun!”
At that time, the platoon leader of the 4th Company gestured for him to come closer.
“Take this call. It’s the platoon leader of the 2nd Company, 2nd platoon.”
[1] See Chapter 19.
