“Yun-ho, how can you spend the entire weekend doing nothing but training?”
Monday morning, on the way to the mess hall after morning roll call.
Corporal Jeong Ye-som clicked her tongue as she looked at me.
“Are you even human? You’re actually a machine, aren’t you?”
“My body gets restless if I don’t train.”
“…You could search every Hunter unit in the country and still not find another obsessive maniac like you.”
“Haha.”
“What are you two talking about?”
A crisp voice cut in. It was Corporal Gwak Woo-hee, who had stepped away for a moment because she had something to discuss with someone from the neighboring squad.
“Private Second Class Gu Yun-ho, who trained all weekend because his body gets restless if he doesn’t.”
Apparently, she had something to say about that too.
“Our youngest really is relentless.”
She grinned.
“That’s why I’m looking forward to this week’s Dungeon raid even more. I want to see what he shows us.”
“Me too, me too.”
“And he said it himself, remember? That we could look forward to it.”
“Right, right.”
And so I ate breakfast with one woman brimming with anticipation and another serving as an enthusiastic audience member.
Afterward, we returned to the quarters and prepared for the day.
Corporal Song Ji-han asked while changing clothes,
“Sergeant Song Gi-yong, what are we doing today? No one’s said anything, so are we on work detail?”
“Beats me. I haven’t heard anything either.”
My memory was a little hazy, but if I remembered correctly, the Dungeon raid was today.
“Loyalty!”
“Loyalty! Did everyone have a good weekend?”
“Yes!”
“Good. I came because I have an urgent announcement. We’ll be conducting the Dungeon raid that was announced in advance today.”
So I remembered right.
“Today, ma’am? We never had an exact date, but I thought it’d be around Thursday or Friday.”
“I don’t know the reason either. The Company Commander gave the order during the morning meeting.”
“I see. Understood.”
It was probably because of Staff Sergeant Kwon Min-chan.
Maybe they wanted to produce some kind of result and restore the company’s image.
The Hunter Military Police had even descended on the unit over the incident. Captain Oh Jun-beom would want to make up for it somehow.
“So, there’ll be a briefing about the Dungeon raid this morning.”
Whether it was because of the handover or something else, Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin looked utterly exhausted. Her normally pale face was covered in shadows.
But she didn’t show even the slightest trace of it to the squad members.
“Once afternoon duty starts at 13:00, we’ll head straight to the mission area. You all already know where it is, right?”
“Yes. The redevelopment area in Guseong District.”
“That’s right. The monsters we’ll be eliminating are… Ah, I’ll save the details for the briefing. Meet in the squad conference room at 09:00.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
After shooting the breeze with the seniors for a while, we moved to the squad conference room.
As the name suggested, it was a conference room reserved for our squad, so it wasn’t very large.
Fifteen or so people would fill it completely.
A large screen was mounted on one wall.
Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin began the proper briefing.
“The Dungeon Squad Three will be raiding today is….”
Her explanation continued in a calm tone.
She sounded like a teacher.
Her voice was clear and pleasant too.
“To summarize, we’ll be hunting Hexstones on plains dotted with brush and rocks.”
“So using the terrain will be important.”
“Exactly. I think it would be best to determine their positions in advance, hide in the brush or behind rocks, and then launch an ambush.”
The screen showed a group of Hunters killing a pack of Hexstones.
Alongside swords, spears, and magic, things that looked like bombs exploded with thunderous blasts.
The footage paused there.
“Auxiliary equipment like this is effective for an ambush. Mana Grenades and Flame Grenades, for example.”
It was textbook tactics.
Their destructive power was one thing, but they also had a wide blast radius, and Hexstones were massive, bear-shaped monsters to begin with.
Their movements were sluggish, making them easy to hit even without abilities like [Throwing] or [Aiming].
The problem was—
“How many Mana Grenades and Flame Grenades does each person have to carry?”
“Considering the number of Hexstones, everyone should carry three.”
“!”
Mana Grenades and Flame Grenades were extremely heavy.
Part of that was because of how much compressed energy they contained, and part of it was because their casings had to be excessively thick to prevent that energy from exploding prematurely.
The ones from 2055 had gone through refinement after refinement until they were as light as feathers.
“It’ll practically be like carrying a full combat load.”
“It’ll be tough, but let’s endure it for a few hours. We can’t increase the danger just to make ourselves more comfortable.”
She was absolutely right.
The squad members immediately agreed.
The briefing continued for another hour.
Most Squad Leaders would have said, ‘That’s enough. Go back to the quarters and take care of your personal maintenance,’ and left, but Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin even went so far as to explain exactly what kind of cries Hexstones made.
New Staff Sergeants were usually like this.
Working hard at everything.
Giving their best to every little thing.
But Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin would remain like this even later on.
Her desire to make sure none of her squad members ever got hurt was simply that much stronger than her desire to complete the mission successfully.
“It’s okay if the mission fails. We can always try again. But you getting hurt is not okay. If the situation becomes even slightly dangerous, run without looking back. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Good. That concludes the briefing.”
“Thank you for the briefing.”
“Ah, and Gi-yong, I’m sorry, but could you come to the Squad Leader’s office by 12:40? There are a few things we need to prepare separately.”
“Sergeant Song Gi-yong! I can be there by 12:00!”
“Pfft, no. You need to eat. Just come by forty.”
“Yes, ma’am! Understood!”
Sergeant Song Gi-yong, who used to complain, ‘Ha, this shitty Assistant Squad Leader position,’ whenever Staff Sergeant Kwon Min-chan summoned him even five minutes before assembly time, had now become a loyal dog(?) who came running the instant he was called.
It made sense.
He was completely smitten with Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin now.
He was practically shooting hearts from his eyes.
Corporal Gwak Woo-hee shook her head.
“Gi-yong, you’re about to become a civilian. You’re not going to win her over anyway.”
“Maybe I’ll just make a career out of the military.”
“You? The guy who wakes up every morning on his mattress going, ‘Fuck, fuck,’ wants to make a career out of it?”
“What does military life matter in the face of love?”
“Oh, please.”
Sergeant Song Gi-yong burned with determination.
“I’m going to start taking training and combat seriously too.”
“So the Squad Leader notices you?”
“Yeah. From what I can tell, our Squad Leader is the type who likes people who work hard.”
“Wow. You already figured out that much?”
“That’s the bare minimum if you want to win someone’s heart.”
“Look at you, Mr. Romantic. Yes, yes. Do your best, Sergeant Song Gi-yong.”
“Just cheer me on.”
He clenched his fist and renewed his determination.
From behind him, I quietly swallowed the words, ‘Sergeant Song Gi-yong, I know because I came from the future, but there is absolutely no chance whatsoever that you and the Squad Leader will end up together.’
After lunch, 13:00 drew near.
“Loyalty! Platoon Three, Squad Three is here to receive one box each of Mana Grenades and Flame Grenades.”
“Loyalty. Yeah, take them.”
The Private First Classes, Private Second Classes, and I collected the Mana Grenades and Flame Grenades in advance through the Materiel Supply NCO.
Since we carried them over by the box, there were plenty of them, and they weighed an incredible amount.
THUD.
We set them down outside the company building.
The seniors came down one by one and took their allotted share of Mana Grenades and Flame Grenades.
Corporal Jeong Ye-som was, of course, an exception.
“Hmph. This is why you should learn magic. I can make things like that with just a few spells.”
The power would be different, of course, but either way, Mage Soldiers rarely had to carry auxiliary equipment like this.
Their specialty also required them to keep their bodies light.
“Ye-som.”
“Corporal Jeong Ye-som.”
“Magic or not, I could make you carry twelve of them by force, you know? Want me to hang them all over your X-Band?”
At Corporal Gwak Woo-hee’s words, Corporal Jeong Ye-som quickly placed both hands neatly over her stomach and bowed at the waist.
“Thank you as always for all your hard work, Corporal Gwak Woo-hee.”
“You’re impossible. Seriously.”
“Hehe.”
Corporal Gwak Woo-hee shook her head as if she couldn’t deal with her.
These two are what keep me laughing around here.
“Gi-yong, does everyone have all their equipment?”
“Yes, Squad Leader. Everything’s ready. Everyone is accounted for too.”
“Good. Let’s head out.”
At 13:07, with Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin as Vehicle Commander, Squad Three departed for the redevelopment area in Guseong District.
Given the location, there wasn’t a single person around.
The vehicle stopped in front of an alley.
A circular vortex was spinning some distance ahead.
It was the entrance to the Hexstone Dungeon we would be raiding today.
“One last equipment check, everyone.”
“No issues!”
“No issues!”
“No issues!”
After completing the check, Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin entered the portal first.
Starting with her, we entered in order from senior to junior.
I licked my upper lip and reached out as well.
My heart beat a little faster.
No matter how much I tried not to get excited, I couldn’t help it.
Because one hell of a treasure was hidden on the other side.
***
Inside the Hexstone Dungeon.
“As we discussed during the briefing, this raid will be conducted in two teams: the Squad Leader Team and the Assistant Squad Leader Team.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
I belonged to the Squad Leader Team.
Corporal Gwak Woo-hee, Corporal Byeon Ji-tak, and several others were with me.
Exactly the same as before my regression.
Everything is going according to plan.
“At last, we get to see what our youngest can really do.”
Even as I watched Corporal Gwak Woo-hee grow more and more excited, I still wasn’t nervous.
If anything, I wanted to leap onto the stage as soon as possible.
“Gi-yong, make sure you keep checking the map carefully as you move. The Hexstones should be positioned exactly where we marked them.”
“Understood, Squad Leader.”
“And remember what I told you. Your lives matter more than winning. Understood?”
“Yes!”
“Then let’s begin.”
At last, my first battle with the new Squad Leader began.
A lush green plain.
The terrain, thick with brush and rocks, was almost identical to the place where we had fought the Zabriks during the Private Second Class Intensive Training.
There was one major difference, though….
“They’re big. Damn big.”
“Even bears aren’t cute at all once they become monsters.”
“Strictly speaking, those aren’t even bears. They just look similar to bears.”
“Well, that’s true.”
The monsters we were fighting were different.
As our forces secretly hid within the brush, massive bodies covered in ash-gray fur appeared ahead of us.
Just looking at their broad palms, they seemed like bears themselves.
Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin raised a hand.
“Quiet from here on.”
Everyone closed their mouths.
There were six of them.
They must have just enjoyed a substantial meal, because the fur around their mouths was stained red with blood.
One mistake, and we could become their next meal.
Torn to pieces by the strength of their grip.
“On my signal, throw the Mana Grenades and Flame Grenades simultaneously to seize the initiative. After that, the Shield Bearers charge first, followed by the senior Swordsmen and Spearmen. Yun-ho, you move last.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’ll be at the very front, so don’t worry.”
Mages generally stayed in the rear because their physical abilities were poor and their defense was especially low.
No matter how strong a shield spell they cast, it would eventually break under a monster’s powerful attacks.
And yet Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin was taking the very front.
Because she surpassed them in every respect.
“Throw!”
Her shout was the signal.
More than a dozen grenades flew toward the Hexstones at once.
BOOM—!!
Blue and red energy engulfed them.
The massive gray creatures that had been resting writhed in agony.
“Go!”
With battle cries, the Shield Bearers charged forward together.
Directly behind them, swords and spears rose high into the air.
CRACKLE…!!
Farther ahead still, electrical currents writhed throughout the air.
In an instant, they crashed down upon the monsters.
BOOOOM—!!
Their gray fur was scorched black.
Only the whites remained in their vicious eyes.
Now the real fight began.
I was already running.
Gripping my sword in both hands, I swung it at the Hexstone directly ahead of me.
The monster had taken a Flame Grenade head-on, leaving its right arm engulfed in flames.
I aimed precisely there.
SHNK—!
A heavy sensation traveled through the blade.
A thin red line appeared amid the flames.
THUD.
A long chunk dropped to the ground.
Twisting veins wrapped themselves around my blade.
SPURT—!
Blood erupted, and the monster screamed.
“SKREEEE!”
I adjusted my grip and thrust the sword straight forward.
SHNK—!
The blade pierced its hide and burst the soft things inside.
The monster writhed from side to side in unbearable agony before collapsing to the ground.
Red paint spread across the green canvas.
When I pulled my sword free, entrails came spilling out after it.
As I shook them off and searched for my next prey, notifications suddenly poured in.
《Outstanding combat greatly increases the Proficiency of [Slash] and [Thrust].》
《Awakening conditions have been met.》
《[Slash] has Awakened into [Keen Slash]!》
《[Thrust] has Awakened into [Sharp Thrust]!》
Two Awakenings at once.
For a moment, even I was surprised.
I knew both abilities were already close to their Awakening thresholds, but I hadn’t expected it to happen this quickly.
And certainly not simultaneously.
“Yun-ho, you…!”
Corporal Gwak Woo-hee, who had been burying her twin axes in the Hexstones’ skulls, stared at me with her mouth hanging open.