“Hey you fucking bastards! You gonna move like earthworms?”
“Hold your heads up straight and move quickly!”
The instructor suddenly raised his voice.
Now the new recruits were flustered and hesitant.
Wow. At least they don’t seem to have the intention to hit us.
Kim Minjun thought the instructors were considerate, looking at them screaming with veins popping on their necks.
Although they talked that way, they still showed the recruits what to do.
“Close the gap in front of you! Push the one in front of you with all your strength as if you want to kill them!”
“Why aren’t you replying together!”
“Ah, close the gap!”
The recruits shortened the distance between them under the pressure of the instructors.
Without chairs, they just stood briefly.
The battalion commander stepped onto the platform.
“Now, before we start the schedule, raise your hand if you have the talent to become a hunter but couldn’t apply to the Hunter Army!”
The battalion commander announced that those who spoke up now could be accepted into the Hunter Army.
“You know, the treatment of hunters is different from that of ordinary soldiers.”
The battalion commander listed the numerous benefits that the Hunter Army received.
“You guys will make less than 700,000 won even if you become a corporal. If you join the Hunter Army, the basic salary of a private is 3,000,000 won.[1]”
Although he said that, the recruits simply stared at the commander.
Being a hunter did not apply to everyone, and those with the qualifications would obviously have applied to the Hunter Army.
“Hmm. No one?”
It was a formal question he asked every time new recruits came in.
The battalion commander tried to step down from the platform in less than 3 minutes.
“Sir, there is one person over there.”
“What?”
At the instructor’s words, the battalion commander’s gaze turned to the corner.
“The one who just raised their hand, come forward! Hurry up!”
As the instructor spoke, the recruits’ gaze focused on one side.
The person who raised his hand was, of course, Kim Minjun.
“Yes!”
He put strength into his feet and jumped directly onto the platform, as the battalion commander told him to.
“Ohhhh!”
“Insane!”
Whoosh!
The wooden floor broke, and the recruit shot into the air.
The recruits gaped at Kim Minjun floating in the air.
“…”
It was the same for the instructors and the battalion commander.
The battalion commander coughed at Kim Minjun, who approached him in an instant.
He told him to come quickly, but no one would have known that he would fly like that.
“Why did you apply to the regular army if you have the talent to become a hunter?”
The battalion commander’s attitude softened a little when dealing with Kim Minjun.
If a recruit with the real talent of a hunter came out of the regular army, it would be a plus for his future promotions.
“I missed the application period.”
“I see. You follow me.”
“Yes.”
Kim Minjun followed the battalion commander out of the hall.
The other recruits glanced at him enviously.
“Turn your heads!”
“Look forward!”
“Close the gap!”
Of course, the instructor punished them shortly after.
***
Kim Minjun entered the battalion commander’s office inside the training center.
“Wait here, and a soldier from the Hunter Army will come.”
“Yes, I understand.”
The battalion commander smiled gently and prepared two cups of mixed coffee.
“You should have read the notice carefully. You’ll get in trouble when you go to the Hunter Army.”
He handed a cup of coffee to Kim Minjun.
“Thank you.”
He never thought he would drink coffee made by the battalion commander on his first day of enlistment.
About 10 minutes passed.
“Salute! Is this the trainee with the talent for being a hunter?”
A burly man in uniform entered the battalion commander’s office.
With a height nearing 2 meters and a bulky build.
The soldier with a sergeant rank, Lee Seungho, briefly saluted the battalion commander.
“You’ve arrived. This is the soldier I reported.”
The colonel addressing the sergeant respectfully?
He had heard that the Hunter Army’s rank system was different from the regular army, but it was a fresh scene to see it in person.
“Did you say you have the qualifications of a hunter? Open your status window and read your stats one by one.”
Those who awakened as hunters could summon a status window that showed their powers objectively.
At best, it was just power, agility, and other simple items numerically quantified.
It didn’t show levels or jobs like in a game.
Simply put, on Earth, hunters were like enhanced humans, akin to Captain America.
“Yes.”
Kim Minjun called up his status window on the spot.
Come to think of it, there was a status window in Isgard too, but he wondered how it would work here.
[ERROR]
“…It says ‘error.'”
Strength, agility, endurance.
On top of that, there were unique job skills and magic that only he possessed.
He couldn’t read any of it properly.
Could it be because he had returned using only his pure mana, not the power of the saint?
The system was riddled with errors.
“Are you kidding with me?”
At the response of an error, Lee Seungho glared at Kim Minjun as if he wanted to kill him.
A status window error?
He had never heard of such a phenomenon in his more than three years of military life.
“Every year, there are soldiers who try to enter the Hunter Army without any hunter talent.”
Lee Seungho started to suspect Kim Minjun.
Since there were occasional people who used the loophole that others couldn’t view the status window to receive the benefits of the Hunter Army.
Of course, that would usually be exposed within a week at most.
“Wait, I saw it with my own two eyes. That soldier jumped more than 5 meters and reached the platform in one go.”
As the situation became serious, the battalion commander quickly intervened.
“…If the battalion commander saw it himself, I will report it first.”
While Sergeant Lee Seungho reported to the Hunter Army, the battalion commander paced anxiously, his legs trembling.
I heard the Hunter Army was in a different class from the regular army, but…
To this extent.
I have to join the Hunter Army no matter what.
Kim Minjun waited comfortably for Lee Seungho’s report to be completed.
“The headquarters has made a decision. Since you are a special case, I will personally test whether you have the talent to be a hunter.”
He warned that if he had called him here without any talent, he would face severe punishment.
“Yes, I understand.”
Kim Minjun wanted to slap the sinister-looking Sergeant’s cheek, but he decided to hold back.
If he joined the Hunter Army and became higher in rank than that guy, such a thing would always be possible.
“Then, take care. Salute!”
“Salute!”
Sergeant Lee Seungho exchanged salutes with the battalion commander and left the commander’s office.
Kim Minjun followed Lee Seungho and moved to the Hunter Army barracks.
“I’ve been around for years, but this is the first time I’ve seen a trainee with that kind of physical ability.”
A soldier who hasn’t gone through training jumping more than 5 meters….
“That guy is a treasure. My eyes are spot on.”
The battalion commander looked at Kim Minjun through the window and smiled proudly.
***
After riding a military vehicle and driving up the mountain road for about an hour,
Kim Minjun arrived at the Hunter Army’s exclusive training camp.
What the hell.
It was a completely different appearance from the training camp he just came from.
It was evident that a significant amount of tax money had been invested in the state-of-the-art facilities.
“Do you see that?”
As soon as he got out of the car, Lee Seungho pointed to a red stone placed in the middle of the training field.
“Yes.”
“If you can move that even a little, you pass.”
“Is that the end?”
“I don’t know where your confidence is coming from, but that’s the end. You have 10 minutes.”
The stone, which looked to weigh around 100 kg, was a byproduct made in a dungeon called a Red Stone.
If it’s that big, it’s over 500 kg. Ordinary trainees have to exert themselves nearly to death to move it a bit.
Because of that Red Stone, more than half of the Hunter Army aspirants failed to enter each year.
Status window error, my ass. He’s gonna fall flat on his face.
Lee Seungho decided to hand him over to the military police immediately if he couldn’t move the Red Stone.
I think I can easily lift this.
On the other hand, Kim Minjun was about to lift the stone in one breath but hesitated for a moment.
One hand is a bit unstable, so let’s lift it with both hands.
Didn’t they say it’s not good to stand out too much in the army?
Wait, when did you become so self-conscious?
Kim Minjun lifted the Red Stone in a flash.
“Uh….”
Seeing that, Lee Seungho was so surprised that he fell backward.
There had never been a trainee who lifted the Red Stone with both hands.
Even though he saw it himself, he couldn’t believe it.
“St-stop! Stop right there! Don’t come any closer! Stop because it’s dangerous!”
“Yes? Yes.”
As he approached with the Red Stone as if to show it, Lee Seungho quickly waved his hand and told him to put it down now.
“You…, is it true that you had a status window error?”
His eyes were like those of someone who had seen something unbelievable.
And his facial expression.
“Yes. I’m not lying.”
“…I see. From today, you can train with the other trainees.”
After a brief conversation with Lee Seungho, Kim Minjun headed into the training camp.
“It’s strange. The Red Stone is fine.”
Lee Seungho pushed the Red Stone.
The Red Stone’s condition was normal.
It should take someone of his rank as a Sergeant to move it this easily.
“It should take someone with the highest strength stat in our unit like me to move it that easily.”
But a trainee who hasn’t gone through any training just lifted it?
“A crazy monster has entered.”
***
An hour had passed.
Within the training ground, the trainees who had finished their training began to gather one by one.
Their entire bodies were drenched in sweat, a testament to the intensity of the training they’d undergone.
“Everyone, sit comfortably.”
Sergeant Lee Seungho climbed onto the platform and briefly introduced Kim Minjun, the new trainee who had joined them.
Was he the assistant?
Unlike before, he was now wearing a red cap.
“Now, stand up again. We’re heading to the next training session. The new guy doesn’t know anything yet, so take good care of him.”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
In less than five minutes, the trainees moved to another training ground, following Seungho’s instructions.
“The next four weeks will be hell. Let’s try to endure it.”
“Let’s do our best.”
The now fellow trainees of the Hunter Army briefly greeted each other and then explained the upcoming training regimen.
“Since we’re immediately sent to the field after the training period in the Hunter Army, we undergo an insane amount of training during these four weeks.”
“It really feels like they’re pushing us to the limit.”
“But on the weekends, we’re free. The more intense the training, the more they let us relax on our days off.”
The so-called hellish training was nothing more than ordinary exercise for Kim Minjun.
He had experienced several near-death situations in Isgard, so this was nothing in comparison.
“Is there a PC café here?”
“Do you mean the internet café? We have most things here.”
At his fellow trainee’s response, a smile formed on Kim Minjun’s lips.
It was perfect, since the Dungeon Power Fighter burning event was starting this weekend.
“Everyone, attention!”
After about 30 minutes of climbing the mountain path, Seungho stopped in front of a staircase.
“From now on, we will climb the staircase to the top while carrying sandbags.”
The staircase had 6,000 steps.
Each sandbag weighed around 80 kg.
While it was nearly impossible for an ordinary person to complete this training, it was within the realm of possibility for soldiers with the potential to become hunters.
“Understood!”
“Is that all the voice you’ve got?!”
“Understooooood!”
The trainees gazed at the never-ending staircase, feeling their spirits fade.
“Ha… this insane training barely raises our stats. It’s so different from the hunters I had imagined.”
One of the trainees vented his dissatisfaction while looking at Kim Minjun.
[1] 700K won is about 600 USD while 3 million is 2500 USD.
