The man, who had once been considered a civilian, grabbed the hound, nearly 3 meters in length, with both hands and folded it in half like a piece of paper.
Tap, tap, tap.
“Kreak! Krek…!”
The hound spat out a painful groan along with bloody foam and perished on the spot.
“This damn dog. It used up all its mana and then tried to make me its meal. I may be weaker now, but I’m not weak enough to be beaten by some low-level mobs.”
Kim Minjun casually tossed the folded hound to the ground.
Although he had exhausted all his mana and couldn’t use any dark magic, he still had the physical abilities he had honed in Isgard.
“Uh… Uh?”
Corporal Choi Inho looked back and forth between the folded hound and Kim Minjun.
Then, with a look of disbelief, he dropped the mana gun he had been holding.
“Soldier, sir. I have a question…”
“Ah, don’t come any closer!”
When Kim Minjun approached, the soldier backed away as if startled.
He seemed like a timid person despite his fearsome appearance.
‘What’s the big deal about a one-hit wonder like this?’
There were monsters similar to the hound in Isgard as well.
Of course, those guys were more vicious.
“Corporal Choi Inho! Did you really fold that hound in half?”
Just as the situation had ended, the other soldiers rushed towards him.
Behind them, several hounds lay defeated.
“Wow, that’s insane. When I heard that Corporal Choi Inho could fold a hound in half, I thought it was obviously a lie. I’m sorry for doubting you!”
“No way, did you really do that? Are you human?”
The soldiers were busy alternating their gazes between Choi Inho and the hound while showering him with praise.
Some of them even took out their smartphones to take photos.
“Ah, it wasn’t me who did it…”
Corporal Choi Inho pointed at Kim Minjun and tried to explain the truth.
It might be hard to believe, but there was no helping it.
He had clearly seen that student fold the hound in half with his own eyes.
“It was me who did it, though?”
“…What?”
At those words, the other soldiers’ attention focused on Kim Minjun.
“I just grabbed it with both hands and tore it apart. Is that difficult?”
“Kid, now’s not the time to joke around. This is serious.”
“No, wait a minute. I saw it myself. That student grabbed the hound with both hands and…”
Corporal Choi Inho quickly stepped forward to defend Kim Minjun, but his senior cut him off.
“Inho, we don’t have time for this. We need to return to our unit and report first.”
“Corporal Choi Inho! Understood.”
The hunter soldiers, except for one, quickly withdrew from the scene.
The remaining one escorted Kim Minjun to the shelter.
“Kid, I don’t know why you went all the way in there, but this is serious business. Our group commander said not to make a big deal out of it, so we’re just letting it go.”
“Ah, yes. I’m sorry.”
Kim Minjun played along with the soldier’s words and unleashed a barrage of questions to gather information.
“…You really don’t know? Most high schools teach this nowadays.”
“Yes. I’ve been living abroad.”
Technically, it was a different world.
“I see. Well, I’ll teach you everything I know. I got an A+ in monster and dungeon studies when I was in college.”
“Do colleges teach that stuff these days?”
“It’s rarer for colleges not to teach it.”
Kim Minjun listened attentively to the soldier’s words, thinking about how much the education policy had changed.
“The basic stuff is easy to find on the internet, so just look it up. How old are you now?”
“I’m 21 years old.”
At those words, the soldier looked at Kim Minjun with pity.
“Really? Then you don’t have much time left before enlisting. Half of your youth in your twenties will be gone.”
The military…
Serving in the army for regular soldiers was three years, and for hunter soldiers, it was five years, right?
And the regular army had conscription, while the Hunter Army had voluntary military service.
This had been a controversial issue when the law changed while I was in high school.
“As you can see now, not only Korea but the whole world has changed a lot. Monsters appear whenever they please, and there’s a limited number of people to stop them.”
The soldier held up one hand and spread it wide open.
“Recently, the situation has become even more serious, so both the regular army and the Hunter Army have been unified to serve for five years. Now, we have to give up half of our youth in our twenties.”
“…Five years?”
“That’s right. You’re 21, so you must have received your draft notice. But at least the military pay has gone up a lot. You’ll be able to do something after you’re discharged.”
The soldier patted Kim Minjun’s shoulder, encouraging him to cheer up.
…Is this serious?
What was up with this? Did I return only to face this?
No, more importantly, why did it get extended to five years?
Of course, to Kim Minjun, who will live for thousands of years, five years was nothing.
But for ordinary young men, it’s a very long time.
“In North Korea, they enlist at 15 and are discharged at 40. They’re literally wasting their lives in the military. I heard they only get paid 3,000 won a month, too.”
“That really makes me want to defect.”
– Call of the Nation!
While engaging in a brief conversation with the soldier, a message arrived on Kim Minjun’s smartphone, causing it to ring.
“The sound effect is quite strange.”
[Enlistment Date Notice]
What is this?
Do they send spam messages like this nowadays?
As he thought about deleting the message, suddenly,
“What? Is your enlistment tomorrow?”
Upon hearing the sound effect from Minjun’s smartphone, a soldier was startled and asked which unit he was assigned to.
“No way, I just returned from Isgard, and now I have to join the military? That doesn’t make sense.”
Kim Minjun told the soldier not to worry and went his way.
“Your unit is in Gangwon Province! And it’s not spam, it’s real!”
The soldier repeatedly urged him to check at a nearby PC cafe if he was doubtful.
“Just came back to Korea and what is this?”
Frowning, Kim Minjun headed to a PC cafe near the shelter.
This was not the Korea he knew.
He needed more information.
“Since I was summoned to Isgard in 2018, I need to start looking from here.”
Kim Minjun searched the internet and read every article he could find.
[Strange phenomena occurring in dungeons.]
[The frequency of monster appearances increases.]
To summarize, this is what happened:
In two years, the size of dungeons and monsters increased tremendously.
As a result, ordinary citizens were threatened, and there was a lack of manpower to handle the situation.
So, the government temporarily extended soldiers’ military service and actively trained a special force called the Hunter Army to handle dungeons professionally.
“The situation is more serious than I thought.”
It wasn’t just Korea.
The whole world was struggling with dungeons and monsters.
If he had brought back his full power from Isgard, he could have solved the problem.
“I was planning to heal after returning, but things have taken a turn.”
Usually, one should undergo a physical examination before enlisting, right?
Grades 1 to 3 are active duty.
Grade 4 is public service.
Grade 5 was the second national service, right?
“But they just put everyone in the training center first.”
Was the situation that bad here?
Kim Minjun accessed the Military Manpower Administration website and checked his enlistment date.
Just as written on his smartphone, it was tomorrow.
“Normally, I wouldn’t go and just forget about it.”
He raised one hand to his chin and fell into deep thought.
Even if he had lost most of his mana, couldn’t he manage with the remaining power?
No way.
Kim Minjun shook his head.
That would make matters worse.
He didn’t know how strong Earth’s hunters were.
“Dodging military service results in imprisonment. How severe.”
He thought about going to the Minister of National Defense and asking for enlistment cancellation but decided against it.
“I didn’t return to Korea to cause trouble.”
Moreover, he found out that the treatment given to the Hunter Army was excellent.
“First of all, they can enter dungeons with priority as a member of the Hunter Army.”
The basic salary was high, and most importantly, it was performance-based.
In other words, if he could prove his skills, he could rise to any rank.
“Here’s your ramen, pork belly set, gimbap set, and udon…”
While Kim Minjun was pondering what to do, the PC cafe part-timer brought a load of food.
“Let’s think while eating.”
***
“This is it! This will work!”
“…Excuse me?”
The part-timer, who was clearing empty plates, was startled by the man’s sudden exclamation.
He’s crazy.
Seeing a man so happy about his enlistment date, she vowed to stay away from him and quickly distanced herself.
“I just need to earn a star and destroy every dungeon within 5 years.”
After pondering with a serious face for a while, Kim Minjun decided to join the Hunter Army.
[Dungeon 10th Anniversary Special Event! Cheer up, soldiers!]
Of course, it wasn’t because of the event held by the dungeon.
Although the event, which gave 12th-level ultimate weapons to soldiers and 13th-level ultimate weapons to the hunter army for the 10th anniversary, made him want to join the military,
“I will definitely regain it.”
He thought that if he destroyed dungeons, monsters containing mana would definitely appear.
If he absorbed the mana and regained his lost power, wouldn’t he find a way to erase the phenomenon of dungeons altogether?
“Then the company that develops Dungeon Power Fighter can focus on content development without worry. Perfect.”
After reading a notice on the Dungeon Power Fighter’s homepage about delayed development due to dungeon breaks and monster damage, Kim Minjun made up his mind.
To enlist tomorrow.
***
On the day of enlistment, Kim Minjun had used up all 2 million won he received as emergency disaster support money without leaving a single penny.
It seemed to be the money he received because his house had become a restricted area, but he didn’t care.
He could earn enough money in the future.
“I had pizza, jokbal, and chicken.”
One by one, Kim Minjun checked off the items on his list and nodded in satisfaction.
Originally, he planned to leisurely enjoy life while taking care of monsters appropriately.
“In a life that could last for thousands of years, it’s about time to have at least one job.”
So he could at least say he had served as a soldier when his future grandson asks, “Grandpa, what did you do for a living?”
He couldn’t say, “I reached max level in Dungeon Power Fighter countless times.”
[Join the army, your country needs you!]
As he got closer to the draft center, he saw short-haired men entering his view.
Their lovers or families encouraged them, and some even cried, telling them to come back safely.
Of course, Kim Minjun was alone.
His parents had lost contact with him since he entered high school.
“I should get a 13-series weapon as soon as I go out.”
Though he himself had no real ideas about it.
With a bright expression, Kim Minjun walked towards the draft center, in contrast to the other men who looked gloomy and sighed deeply.
How bad could the army be compared to Isgard?
Considering the treatment he received there…
He thought the army might actually be heaven.
Of course, he couldn’t judge until he experienced it himself.
As time passed, the entrance ceremony began with the military band.
After conducting the simple rite, it was time for the soldiers to bow deeply to their parents.
“Salute to your parents!”
“Sa! Lute!”
At the instructor’s command, the soldiers took an awkward stance and bowed deeply.
Ugh, shit. Almost messed that up.
Kim Minjun almost performed an Isgard-style salute but quickly changed the position of his hand.
Habits could be quite scary.
For the next five years.
Families wept, imploring their loved ones to come back safely.
Among them were parents who approached the instructors, begging them to ensure their son wouldn’t get hurt.
‘The army isn’t what it used to be.’
Unlucky individuals could be killed in monster raids, and military bases were often located where dungeons frequently appeared.
After the entrance ceremony, the men awkwardly lined up and headed to the training camp.
As soon as they entered the auditorium, profanities flew from the instructor’s mouth.
