“Loyalty! Corporal Kim Minjun!”
“Ahahaha. Right! You see this?”
First Lieutenant Kim Chulmin lifted his arm as if showing off the sergeant insignia.
“Gasp! Could it be…?”
“Platoon leader! Is Kim Minjun getting a special promotion again?”
“No way, the criteria for special promotions are strict. As much as it’s Minjun, back-to-back promotions in a short period wouldn’t be feasible.”
At that, the other seniors were startled and gathered their gaze on the sergeant insignia.
“This was decided in yesterday’s meeting. The division commander agreed enthusiastically. Not to mention the other battalion commanders.”
The platoon leader removed Kim Minjun’s corporal insignia and personally attached the sergeant insignia.
“Sergeant Kim Minjun! Thank you!”
“Yes. You’re probably the first hunter in the division to become a sergeant this quickly. Keep up the good work.”
“Yes!”
Wow.
He thought it would take some time for him to become a sergeant, but they’ve already given it to him.
The division commander has an eye for talent.
Kim Minjun glanced at the sergeant insignia on his left chest and smiled satisfactorily.
He had become a sergeant faster than he anticipated.
“Is this for real….?”
The corporals gaped at him.
After all, Kim Minjun, who had been their junior, had now become their senior.
“As you all saw on the performance sheet, if you do as much as Minjun, special promotion isn’t that hard! Everyone, work hard!”
“But, achieving what Sergeant Kim Minjun did seems incredibly hard, doesn’t it?”
“Wow, shit. Kim Minjun is already a sergeant? He’ll reach staff sergeant in no time, huh?”
The squad members were shocked but only for a moment.
The platoon leader came in with good news and bad news.
“Let’s start with the good news. Obviously, it’s about Kim Minjun’s special promotion to sergeant, and all of our squad members getting leave.”
“Leave, you said?”
“Yes. It’s a reward leave. Kim Minjun gets 3 nights and 4 days, while the rest gets 1 night and 2 days.”
“Woaaaaah!”
“Nice!”
“Sergeant Kim Minjun! Thank you!”
Everyone cheered and rushed toward Kim Minjun for a moment.
“We’re not done yet. There’s also bad news.”
First Lieutenant Kim Chulmin continued, signaling them to brace themselves.
“Our unit’s training performance has been insufficient, so additional training is expected to be added. Naturally, future training will be moved up.”
“No!”
“Crazy! Insufficient? Isn’t our squad’s training score high?”
The barracks, filled with cheers, suddenly turned into a place of despair.
“Our squad does have high training scores. But that’s just the 2nd squad. If you look at the division as a whole, over 80% of the privates and private first classes have fallen behind.”
The platoon leader’s words shifted the corporals’ gazes toward the juniors.
The private first classes quietly swallowed their saliva.
“Anyway, it’s going to get busier from today, so brace yourselves. The division commander is quite upset.”
First Lieutenant Kim Chulmin added an explanation about the changed schedule before the additional training began.
“Due to the schedule change, we’ll head to the dungeon in the afternoon, so make sure to be prepared.”
“Understood….”
After the platoon leader left, the barracks quieted down.
The private first classes started to watch the corporals, and the corporals started to watch Kim Minjun.
Now, Kim Minjun had become their senior.
“Ah! Speaking of which!”
The one that broke the silence was Corporal Kim Kwangsik.
He seemed to have remembered something and took out a piece of paper from his locker.
It was a bet on wages made when Kim Minjun was away.
“I’ll start collecting now.”
“Ah… crazy, there was that.”
The squad members sighed deeply upon checking the paper.
The only winner of that bet was Corporal Kim Kwangsik.
Oh. Kim Kwangsik, did you have fun while I was gone?
Kim Minjun laughed as if it was ridiculous and snatched the paper from his hand.
“Kwangsik, you know I’m a sergeant now, right?”
“Corporal Kim Kwangsik! Gasp… Yes, that’s right.”
Kim Kwangsik then seemed to realize his mistake and stopped.
“Wow. You did quite a lot.”
“I’m sorry! If you’re upset, we can pretend it never happened!”
Kim Kwangsik quickly apologized, worried that Kim Minjun might be upset.
“But I’m not really that upset.”
It was a bet on how many months it would take for Kim Minjun to become a sergeant.
There was no reason to be upset.
“Instead, pay a fee. Do you want to get scolded by me, or pay the fee and keep the money?”
“I’ll pay.”
“Give me 30 percent.”
“…Understood.”
Kim Kwangsik answered with drooping shoulders.
Thirty percent felt excessive, but what could he do?
His former junior, Kim Minjun, had become his senior.
But! I’m the only winner of the bet anyway.
Even after paying the fee, the amount would still be substantial.
Just then, Kim Minjun’s eyes sparkled.
“Oh, look at this? You bet two months’ worth of salary on me becoming a sergeant within a month? What a commendable guy.”
“Thank you. Then, could you reduce the fee a bit?”
“I was going to, but now that you’ve said that, I don’t want to. Forty percent.”
“Ugh… Understood.”
Kim Minjun laughed like a greedy company boss and gave Kim Kwangsik his bank account details.
Ah, right. Now that I’m a sergeant, we should change our barracks first.
It was time to eliminate the injustices.
Kim Minjun spoke to the juniors.
“Now that I’m a sergeant, whether you’re a private or a private first class, feel free to move around from now. Watch TV as much as you want and do whatever you want after work hours. Whether it’s the PX or the gym, it doesn’t matter.”
At his words, the squad members focused their gazes on him.
The corporals looked bewildered, while the private first classes seemed surprised.
“Sergeants? Is it okay if I do as I please? Of course, if the training performance is poor, I’ll impose restrictions.”
“Go ahead. If you want to take care of the juniors, why should we stop you?”
“Me too. There’s no need to block someone trying to look after the juniors.”
Even though some sergeants seemed discontented, they couldn’t openly object to his words.
If things continued as they were, it wouldn’t be far-fetched for him to be promoted to staff sergeant.
“And the Corporals need to get a scolding. If there’s injustice, think about changing it. Why let it be and do nothing?”
“I’m sorry!”
After declaring that he would punish the corporals, Kim Minjun thought hard about what a suitable penalty would be.
Of course, if the sergeants didn’t change even after he became a staff sergeant, he decided to scold them too.
Just giving them a hard time in the usual way is no fun… What else is there?
While he was pondering…
– “Tadah! Invincible Ranger! Transform!”
Hearing the sound coming from the TV the sergeants had turned on, Kim Minjun clapped his hands.
“Ah, that’s it!”
“You can’t be serious….”
“Sergeant Kim Minjun?”
The corporals rolled their eyes nervously.
“Oh. You corporals are quite quick-witted, huh?”
Kim Minjun, with a smile, pointed at the TV.
Specifically, at a show that was usually enjoyed by children, the Invincible Squadron series.
“Since we have nothing else to do this morning, everyone practice the transformation poses.”
Upon hearing that, the corporals sighed.
“You start as Red, Yellow, and Kim Kwangsik, you’re Pink, you little fuck.”
“Corporal Kim Kwangsik… Understood.”
“If you don’t want to, try doing push-ups on one finger, 9,999 of them. Considering what the juniors have gone through, being lenient to this extent is almost saintly.”
In the end, the corporals spent the entire morning practicing transformation poses as they were told.
“Scolding the juniors if they did something wrong is fine, but you know what will happen if you get caught messing with the kids over trivial stuff, right?”
“Understood….”
The corporals replied dejectedly to Kim Minjun’s warning.
Sergeant Kim Minjun, thank you so much.
I never thought you would still care about us even after being promoted.
If you look closely, he always takes care of the juniors in his own way.
The privates felt grateful internally as they watched the corporals practicing their transformation poses.
“Nyaaaaah! Transform!”
“The power of nature is with us!”
“Flame Warrior! Red!”
The barracks quickly became noisy.
“These guys are making a scene again. Are they preparing to go to the dungeon by doing this?”
While working on a report in the platoon leader’s office, First Lieutenant Kim Chulmin, wondering what was going on, headed toward the barracks in question.
There, he saw hunters striking bizarre poses.
“…They’ve all gone completely nuts, completely nuts.”
Had it been any other barracks, he would have scolded them, but since it was Kim Minjun’s barracks, he decided to let it slide this time.
***
As afternoon arrived, the squad members gathered their gear and headed to the dungeon.
The dungeon they were assigned to was known for its mine-type monsters.
Ah, just my luck, Snake Mines.
This is going to be tough, even if we work on it all night.
Though not highly dangerous, these monsters that hid and moved underground required time to be found and extracted.
The squad members, wearing protective suits, awaited the platoon leader’s command.
“Before entering the dungeon, let’s check the detectors again to make sure they’re working properly!”
“Understood!”
Following First Lieutenant Kim Chulmin’s instructions, the squad members checked their monster detectors.
“All good!”
“Finally, check your protective suits one last time, then line up to enter!”
“Yes!”
[You have entered the dungeon.]
The hunters lined up in two rows and proceeded into the dungeon.
“Even with protective suits on, always keep in mind that unexpected variables can occur in the dungeon and proceed with caution!”
“Understood!”
Snake Mines came in two types.
One type stayed still underground, lying in ambush.
The other moved restlessly underground, constantly active.
Beep. Beep.
Using their detectors, the hunters slowly searched for the Snake Mines.
Beep-beep-
As the detector’s alarm sounded, the squad members immediately stopped moving.
“Prepare the bait and get ready to capture! Kim Minjun, Lee Seungho, and me—we’ll conduct the capture operation as a trio! The rest, fall back!”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
Capturing a Snake Mine as one would any other monster would result in it exploding, causing damage.
Just grab and twist its tail, right.
Once these creatures are injured at their tail, they lose their ability to explode.
There’s quite a lot of them. Over 30, for sure?
Kim Minjun quietly waited for them to surface.
Among the lurking creatures below, approximately 10 were active.
About 20 remained in ambush, motionless.
If there are this many nearby, the entire dungeon must be swarming with them.
Every single one of them counted as a score on the performance sheet.
Not one would be missed.
Swish, swish—
“Here they come!”
No sooner had the squad members spread the bait than one or two Snake Mines began surfacing.
At first glance, they appeared as dark red snakes, but a mere touch would cause them to explode.
“Move quickly!”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
Kim Minjun, with agile movements, began the monster capture alongside First Lieutenant Kim Chulmin and Sergeant Lee Seungho.
“Sssk! Sssss!”
As if trying to resist, the creatures lunged at them, but each time, their tails were caught and they were neutralized.
“Wow. But isn’t this Sergeant Kim Minjun’s first time?”
“Exactly. For a first timer, isn’t he almost as fast as the platoon leader?”
“It’s quite difficult, but to be this good from the start?”
The hunters behind them marveled at their effortless handling.
Huh? What’s this one now?
In the middle of dealing with a Snake Mine, First Lieutenant Kim Chulmin noticed a creature glowing blue.
