A burned Hexstone charged at Corporal Gwak Woo-hee. She gave me a thumbs-up before turning her attention back to the fight.
From farther ahead, where lightning was crashing down, I heard another voice calling to me.
“Yun-ho, good! Keep it up!”
It was Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin.
Even in the middle of battle, she kept an eye on her squad members, cheering them on and encouraging them.
I answered by raising my sword.
A Hexstone lumbered toward me from nearby, its left thigh blown apart by a Mana Grenade.
Its already sluggish movements had become even slower.
But a single blow from it was still dangerous.
“GRAAAARGH!”
If those pot-lid-sized hands caught me wrong, it could tear off one of my arms in an instant.
Both of its arms rose.
I slid to the right.
After burying two daggers in its flank, I circled behind it and gripped my sword in reverse.
“SKREE!”
Then I stabbed.
The blade tore through its insides as though cutting through water.
Even its tough blood vessels ripped like sheets of paper.
The newly Awakened [Sharp Thrust] began mercilessly butchering the bastard.
I adjusted my grip and swung diagonally this time.
Its flesh, already mangled by the flames, split wide open beneath [Keen Slash].
Its spine was drenched in blood.
I hammered it several more times as if pummeling it, and the huge body finally toppled with a death cry.
THUD.
It sprawled out spread-eagle and didn’t move again.
Its half-open eyeballs stared blankly white.
“!”
The instant I brought it down, I noticed someone staring at me.
It was Corporal Byeon Ji-tak, who was also slaughtering Hexstones with a single sword.
He was practically playing with them like toys.
He didn’t bother dodging or waiting for openings. He simply met them head-on and crushed them with brute force.
ROLL.
A completely severed head rolled across the ground.
“How the hell are you…!”
Even though he was killing Hexstones several times more easily than I was, he couldn’t hide his shock.
The reason was obvious.
Even if the Hexstones had already been badly wounded by Mana Grenades and Flame Grenades, he couldn’t believe I had killed a monster one Grade higher than Gnolls or Garoks.
“You—fuck, what the hell did you do?”
The Gu Yun-ho he knew could never fight like this.
But so what?
I could now.
Just then, another Hexstone charged between Corporal Byeon Ji-tak and me.
I raised my sword and said,
“Are we supposed to be chatting during combat? You should focus.”
“You little bastard, how dare you talk to a senior like tha― GAAAGH!”
He had been standing around running his mouth in the middle of a battle, and the Hexstone’s forepaw finally slammed into his chest.
RRRIP—!
Something tore away along with his combat uniform.
It was flesh.
“Fuck! Die!”
Enraged, he swung his sword like a madman and hacked the monster’s body apart.
The Hexstone choked and staggered backward before collapsing.
“Urgh.”
Corporal Byeon Ji-tak grimaced and clutched his chest.
Blood streamed down it.
Now this was a sight I hadn’t enjoyed in a while.
“Ouch. That must hurt.”
I shook the powdered healing agent I always carried at him.
“Should I give you this, at least?”
“Shut up!”
“Judging by how loudly you’re shouting, I guess it doesn’t hurt that much. That’s a relief.”
I tucked the healing agent back inside my uniform and moved among the Hexstones.
Angry sword strikes continued behind me.
Meanwhile, the battle was gradually coming to an end.
CRACKLE—!!
Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin’s Lightning Magic, in particular, completely pinned the Hexstones in place.
The creatures, their very brains scorched by lightning, stood there charred black.
Then the squad members’ swords and spears struck.
CRACK—!
Corporal Gwak Woo-hee had outright climbed onto their bodies and was splitting their skulls in half.
The sluggish Hexstones couldn’t keep up with her agile movements.
By the time they swung their arms around trying to knock her off, their lives had already been cut short.
Their heads split cleanly in two.
SWISH.
I took the final one.
I slid between its legs and drove my remaining dagger into the top of its foot.
“SKREE!”
Then I immediately sprang back to my feet.
The fur and hide that would normally have served as its shield had already melted away because of the Mana Grenade.
I swung my sword horizontally with all my strength.
SHNK—!
Its bloated body split apart like tofu.
Blood gushed out and formed a pool in seconds.
The bastard lasted only a few more seconds before heading down the road to the underworld.
“Whew.”
That ended the battle.
My breathing grew heavy.
Some of the strength left the hand gripping my sword.
I’d been fighting so frantically that I hadn’t even noticed how tired I was.
Well, whatever.
We won safely. That was enough.
I hadn’t exhausted enough Stamina to trigger [Instant Fatigue Recovery], either.
I planted my sword against the ground and caught my breath.
Only when I finally looked around did I notice all the eyes focused on me.
“Damn, that was something else.”
“What is this, ‘Our Youngest Has Changed’?”
Their voices were filled with admiration.
Among them, Corporal Gwak Woo-hee came running over with her twin axes strapped across her back.
“Hey, youngest!”
“Private Second Class Gu Yun-ho!”
“You really did it!”
She had skipped straight to the point, but one look at her eyes told me exactly what she meant.
This was someone who wouldn’t shed a single tear during a sad melodrama, yet now her eyes were growing moist.
I felt something well up inside me too.
I never knew the woman I thought was nothing but rough around the edges had this side to her.
“You did great!”
Corporal Gwak Woo-hee bit her lip to hold back her tears and stroked my head.
More than anyone else, she knew what kind of Hunter I had been until now.
An errand boy who did nothing but clean up after the seniors.
A human support tool.
That was why she was reacting so strongly to my transformation.
“Private Second Class Gu Yun-ho. Thank you.”
I was grateful too.
More grateful than I could say.
Then someone else approached.
“Looks like Yun-ho is our squad’s ace.”
Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin brushed back her sweat-dampened hair and smiled.
“I knew you’d do well, but I didn’t think you’d be this good. Looks like your Squad Leader underestimated you.”
“Private Second Class Gu Yun-ho! That’s not true!”
“And you even know how to be humble. Your Squad Leader was lucky to get such a good squad member.”
A good squad member.
Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin had always said the same thing about me before my regression.
Because I always worked hard.
Because I took on all the unpleasant jobs.
Because I never gave up.
That was why she always said our Yun-ho was such a good squad member.
Today, the reason was different.
“Yun-ho, that was an excellent fight.”
Because I fought well.
“You were impressive.”
Only a few days after Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin took command, she already saw me as a completely different person from the one I’d been before my regression.
Of course, I liked that.
Now she wouldn’t have to suffer because of an inadequate squad member anymore.
“Thank you. I’ll work even harder from now on.”
“Good. That’s reassuring.”
I owed Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin a lot.
Things I was grateful for.
Things I was sorry about.
I had to work harder if I wanted to repay all of that.
So I still had a long way to go.
I planned to head straight for the training room again as soon as we returned today.
“You little bastard. If you could fight this well, why were you like that until now?”
“From what I can tell, your promotion to Private First Class is already a sure thing.”
The other seniors offered compliments one after another.
Of course, that hadn’t happened before my regression.
Forget praise. They hadn’t even been interested in me.
But I didn’t see their behavior now as hypocrisy.
I would’ve been the same way.
Why bother looking after someone who couldn’t even fight properly?
People only receive attention when they live up to being people.
Hunters were the same.
A Hunter had to be a Hunter.
“You think you’re somebody now because of this?”
Just then, a sharp voice struck my ears.
Corporal Byeon Ji-tak was standing alone, breathing heavily with anger while Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin and Corporal Gwak Woo-hee had gone to inspect the Hexstone corpses.
“Don’t get cocky before I kill you.”
Despite his harsh tone, cold sweat covered him.
The wound he’d taken earlier must have been quite painful.
“Seems like being somebody would be better, sir.”
“What?”
“Than ending up like that.”
I jerked my chin toward his chest.
It was bright red.
Some of the blood elsewhere might have splashed onto him, but every drop soaking his chest belonged to him.
“You should’ve been more careful.”
“You—you really want to di―”
“But do you know what’s scary?”
I cut him off.
“You’re in that condition right now, Corporal Byeon Ji-tak, and nobody’s worried about you.”
“!”
He had been about to throw a fit over a junior daring to interrupt him, but he unconsciously looked around.
Everyone was busy resting.
Nobody even glanced his way.
“The Squad Leader might not have noticed yet, but the squad members just don’t care.”
Ever since Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin’s first day, it had bothered me that I hadn’t been able to say more when he harassed her.
So I returned it to him exactly as I’d received it.
Very politely, as his junior and assistant.
“Even when some soldier temporarily attached to the unit gets hurt, everyone rushes over and asks if he’s okay… but treating one of your own like this… Sniff, sniff.”
I wiped away tears that weren’t even there.
“Come to think of it, Corporal Byeon Ji-tak, you’re pretty pitiful too. The person you always cursed as deadweight is now surrounded by everyone and being welcomed, while you, who’s always been praised for your skill, can get hurt without anyone showing concern—or even interest… This won’t do. As your junior and assistant, I’ll worry about you.”
I pulled the healing agent from inside my uniform again.
“Open your combat uniform a little. I’ll sprinkle it on for you.”
“You—you fucking…!”
“Or should I call your little lapdog, Private First Class Kang Seong-jun?”
“S-shut that mouth.”
His voice trembled.
Reality was impossible to deny, and apparently it had shocked him quite a bit too.
Pathetic bastard.
I tossed the healing agent onto the ground.
“This stuff works well, so pick it up and use it if it hurts.”
“I-I’m not letting you get away with… Urgh.”
Despite his words, he bent down.
His trembling hand reached toward the healing agent.
I quickly stuck out my foot.
The container rolled away.
“Whoops. Would you look at that? I kicked it by accident.”
“B-bring it here. Y-you fucking bastard. Urgh.”
Even his harsh curses were starting to sound pitiful.
It must hurt like hell.
Well, even Sergeant Song Gi-yong wouldn’t get off lightly if a Hexstone caught him wrong.
“B-bring it here…!”
All this talking was making my mouth dry.
I pulled out my canteen, gulped down some water, and said,
“Go get it yourself and use it, bastard.”
Corporal Byeon Ji-tak’s face turned as red as the wound on his chest.
I ignored him and turned toward the other seniors.
At this point, it was all or nothing anyway.
***
“How does a fucking Corporal get mauled by a Hexstone badly enough to be evacuated?”
“He strutted around bragging about how good he was. Serves him right.”
“I hope they keep him admitted for about a week.”
After the third battle ended, the seniors snickered about Corporal Byeon Ji-tak, who had been evacuated to the Armed Forces Capital Hospital earlier.
Corporal Song Ji-han openly tore into him.
“Isn’t he a complete retard? Hexstones are strong, sure, but they move so slowly that a real Corporal-level Hunter couldn’t get hit even if he tried.”
Corporal Song Ji-han had suffered plenty at his hands too.
The target had simply changed to me after I arrived.
“But the way he looked earlier was hilarious. Whimpering and begging for help. Heh. Then he started dumping some healing agent all over himself from who knows where.”
“That bastard got what he deserved.”
“Everyone, attention.”
CLAP, CLAP.
Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin clapped a couple of times and stepped in front of the squad.
The squad members who had been lying down immediately sat up.
“That concludes today’s combat. Everyone worked hard.”
“You worked hard too, Squad Leader.”
“No. Your Squad Leader doesn’t deserve to hear that. While one of my squad members ended up like that… I didn’t even realize what was happening.”
She was talking about Corporal Byeon Ji-tak.
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t as though Staff Sergeant Seon A-rin bore absolutely no responsibility.
A Squad Leader had a duty to constantly monitor the condition of her squad members.
But how could she have known?
The battle had been flowing smoothly, and it wasn’t a Private Second Class or Private First Class who had gotten injured that badly, but a Corporal-level Hunter.
In any case, it had to be considered a rookie Staff Sergeant’s mistake.
“I’m sorry as your Squad Leader.”
“It’s not your fault, Squad Leader.”
“I’ll be careful. I’ll make absolutely sure nothing like that ever happens again.”
Aside from the single injured squad member, the Dungeon raid had been completed successfully.
Now it was time for the remaining work.
“We’ve eliminated all the Hexstones, but we still have to investigate the interior. Everyone, hang in there just a little longer.”
“…Yes, ma’am.”
An interior investigation.
Captain Oh Jun-beom had ordered us to search every corner in case there was a Relic somewhere inside the Dungeon.
The squad members cursed him under their breath.
“Was Piss-beom some ghost who died in a past life because he never got to see a Relic or something? He makes us search for something that never shows up every damn day.”
I felt the opposite.
I was actually grateful to him.
“The area’s too wide for us to move in pairs, so everyone will search separately. I’ll point out where each of you should go, starting with Gi-yong….”
There wasn’t a Relic here.
But there was something else.
A Spirit Creature.
A mystical being that harbored a certain divine power.
And now,
I was going to hunt that legendary creature.