The Dark Mage’s Return to Enlistment

Chapter 08: Unit-1

“What is that? Is that snow?”

Upon checking the tires, they had installed snow chains.

It’s already a few months into the year, yet it’s snowing.

“You’ve been waiting for a while. We’re a bit late because we came slowly due to the snow. Please sit in the back.”

“Yes, I understand, Private Kim Min-jun.”

Even if the front lines get tough, they’ll only reach Iskard.

Kim Min-jun climbed into his seat with a relaxed mind.

Before his fellow soldiers left for their unit, there was something they told Kim Min-jun:

“There are a lot of crazy people in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, and a lot of absurdity and crazy training intensity, etc. Who would have known that it was the day before you were drafted?”

Although he lost most of his power upon returning to Earth, his personality remained the same. In other words, he lacked the patience to endure dog-like work at the moment.

“I heard that even if you’re a senior, if you hit someone by mistake, you get demoted to a regular soldier.”

They say that you can only take a vacation once every six months there, and the food is also disgustingly bad. For him, who had become accustomed to the Hunter Corps’ way of life, being in the regular army was like being in prison or worse.

“I’ll have to endure it for now.”

He had experienced some unpleasant things in Iskard. It would be difficult to endure now, but every time he did, he reminded himself of the situation in this world.

“A new recruit is here. Feed him and teach him by yourself.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I understand.”

The officers left Kim Min-jun at the barracks and disappeared. Starting from Private, then Corporal, Sergeant, and so on, he felt numerous eyes focusing on him.

“At your service! Private Kim Min-jun reporting!”

“Oh, you’re the new recruit who came today. Nice to meet you.”

“Yes! Thank you!”

“Kim Min-jun? Wasn’t he the outstanding soldier at that training camp?”

“Oh. Did that huge hound catch the guy alone?”

“Yes. I heard he came as a recruit, but I thought it was just a rumor.”

The senior members looked at Kim Minjun with a curious expression.

“If you had good grades in training, you could choose to go to a rear unit, so why did you come to the front line?”

“I heard that the front line is the place where you can accumulate achievements the fastest!”

“What? Did you come here for that? Do you want to get promoted quickly?”

“Yes!”

At Kim Minjun’s words, the senior members looked at him with an expression of incomprehension.

Thunk!

“Hey! They said a new recruit came!”

“Who do you think is the most handsome here?”

As Kim Minjun’s answer ended, the door opened and sergeants rushed in.

“If you go to the unit, do you think the sergeants will swarm around you asking who’s the most handsome? One hundred percent.”

“Since it’s the front line, they might make you do something even worse than that. Like a long boasting session or something.”

“When has that ever happened in the enemy army? Even if it’s like that, they won’t ask you to do it.”

The words that Kim Minjun’s peers said at the training camp came to mind.

It was a situation that fit like a glove, like a ghost.

“There is no answer.”

That’s right.

There is no answer.

“Just answer politely so as not to hurt anyone’s feelings.”

“Whatever, it’s all the same.”

There wasn’t a single soldier who objectively looked handsome.

Especially the sergeant on the far left looked like an ugly catfish.

“In my opinion, the sergeant here seems to be the most handsome.”

“Haha! Did you see that! The new recruits picked me three times in a row! They’ve got a good eye!”

At Kim Min-jun’s words, the sergeant who was chosen seemed pleased and lifted his head.

“Now pick out the ugliest one.”

“Okay.”

Kim Min-jun picked out a reasonably ugly sergeant with tact.

“I’ll bet he’s going to be hurt if he finds out we called him catfish. It’s not easy to do this tactfully.”

After that, the sergeants asked Kim Min-jun about where he was from, whether he had a younger or older sister, and if she was pretty.

It was apparently a question they always asked when new recruits arrived.

“Do you have a younger or older sister?”

“No, I don’t! I’m a high school graduate and didn’t go to college!”

Even if they were hunters, they were still soldiers.

It’s only natural for them to be obsessed with women, especially pretty ones.

Being stuck in a place with only men for five years made it all the more understandable.

“Hey, man. Are you just talking nonsense?”

“Then why don’t you brag about your skills in one last round?”

Can you translate the Korean text to English please?

“Are you boasting about your long-term abilities?”

“Yes, anything you’re confident in. But if you really just do anything, we’ll get in trouble.”

Talking about long-term abilities.

The words of the trainees fit perfectly like ghosts.

“Well, what else can we do?”

Kim Min-joon replied that he would try push-ups with one finger.

“Hey, what kind of long-term ability is that? You can do it well enough when you’re a sergeant.”

The sergeants who were expecting something fun made disappointed expressions at Kim.

“Just try it. Let’s just see you do it. It’s impressive if a private can do it.”

“Okay.”

Kim Min-joon stood on his hands and feet with one finger fixed to the ground, and started doing push-ups with just that finger.

“Ah…”

“What the hell is he doing?”

The sergeants were surprised because it wasn’t the push-ups they were expecting.

Kim Min-joon’s push-ups were like a scene from a movie.

“What’s his strength stat? Can anyone else do it like that?”

“I don’t think anyone else can do more than one.”

As the sergeants trembled and spoke, a familiar voice was heard from behind.

“Hey, stop it and get lost. I’m tired.”

It was Sergeant Lee Seung-ho, whom they had seen at the training camp.

“I thought you were a training assistant, why are you here?”

Kim Min-joon briefly looked at Lee Seung-ho with an admiring gaze.

“He’s pretending to be tired even though he sucked up to become a training assistant.”

“When they take care of the kids, they get vacation time. How many days did you get?”

“I only got 4 days. So just leave me alone now.”

“I’m getting angry thinking about it. You only got 4 days after sucking up? Eat this.”

The sergeants who entered the barracks stood in front of Lee Seung-ho and left after giving him a strong warning.

“The atmosphere is a bit strange.”

A little while later.

Kim Min-joon felt the strange atmosphere in the barracks and sat on the edge of the bed in a formal posture. Other soldiers with the rank of private were also staring at him in the same posture.

“This isn’t the military in the old days.”

We’re living in a different time now.

It was a sight that made him feel that even as time passed, the military was still the military.

“First, we have to promote to private first class quickly, and then we have to promote to corporal as soon as possible.”

Other corporals seemed to have many restrictions on their actions as they watched them comfortably touching their smartphones.

“Dong-jin!”

“Private First Class! Lee Dong-jin!”

A soldier sitting on the bed in a formal posture quickly stood up when a corporal called his name.

“Kim Min-joon is your subordinate from today, so take responsibility for training him.”

“Understood!”

Lee Dong-jin took Kim Min-joon and left the barracks.

“Let’s talk while we eat something. I got permission from another senior for the PX.”

“Private Kim Min-joon. Understood.”

“What’s up?”

Can’t PX go freely either?

That means it’s likely that soldiers won’t be able to use the game room in the military base either.

“Ugh, this is such crap. The DFO event period is coming soon.”

There’s no choice but to use up the saved vacation days.

“Normally, privates can only use PX on weekends, but if new recruits come in, they can go on weekdays too.”

In addition, it was explained that PC rooms can be used from the rank of sergeant, and exercise facilities can be used up to the rank of private on weekends.

“These guys are crazy.”

Regular training is essential to rise in rank.

But to only be able to use the training facilities on weekends…

Regular soldiers won’t be able to rise in rank like this.

Do the officers know about this?

“There’s a lot of unfairness in this base. There’s not much I can do about it.”

Reading Kim Min-jun’s expression, Lee Dong-jin weakly chuckled and spoke.

“That unfairness can be changed with the promotion to sergeant…no, to corporal?”

“To change the majority of the unfairness, it’s enough to promote to sergeant…no, corporal.”

Usually, this would be a situation where someone would get angry and tell him not to talk nonsense, but Private Lee Dong-jin answered seriously.

“Most of the unfairness that exists now has been around for a long time. It won’t be easy.”

“…Is that so?”

The information of the training camp comrades was accurate.

“The more you go forward, the more absurdity there is.”

“At least this unit is the right answer.”

“I’ll change everything for you. Just wait.”

As soon as Kim Min-joon became a sergeant, he decided to eradicate the absurdity within the military.

“As soon as I become a sergeant, I’ll overturn everything.”

“Today, I’ll buy everything for you. Don’t worry, just buy whatever you want.”

When they arrived at the PX, Im Dong-jin told him to choose whatever he wanted to eat without hesitation.

“Is it really okay?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you.”

Kim Min-joon, who didn’t know the meaning of moderation, swept the shelves with a large basket in his hands.

“It’s so refreshing to sweep everything up.”

Im Dong-jin laughed in disbelief as he looked at the receipt, which totaled more than 300,000 won.

But seeing Kim Min-joon enjoying his food, he didn’t feel bad.

“Im Dong-jin, do you want to have some? I bought plenty.”

“I just want coffee.”

He sat next to Kim Min-joon and explained the upcoming training schedule and instructions.

“He’s got a good personality.”

Whenever Kim Min-joon had a question, Im Dong-jin would provide him with detailed information.

“How long have you been in the military, Im Dong-jin?”

“Me? This is my fourth year. It’s pathetic to be a private in my fourth year, isn’t it?”

“Not at all. You seem very friendly to your juniors and diligent in general.”

“Well, thanks for saying that.”

Im Dong-jin drank the rest of his coffee with a bitter smile.

There were many hunters who couldn’t even make it to corporal and had to be discharged before their enlistment period was over.

That’s how difficult the promotion test was.

Of course, the longer you served, the higher your bonus.

“Moreover, the sense of self-disgust that lower-ranking soldiers feel when they become their superiors is no joke.

“Just working hard doesn’t guarantee success.”

This is especially true for Hunter. The difference in the stats they naturally possess creates a gap in their growth.

“Let’s start getting up now. We have a shooting practice tomorrow, so prepare well.”

“Got it.”

Kim Min-joon followed behind Lee Dong-jin towards the unit.

“Why are there so many restrictions on a private like me?”

He could only move alone when going to the bathroom. Otherwise, he had to be with his superiors.

“The promotion test is next week.”

He decided to endure for just one more week.

In English, it would be:

At exactly 10 pm, it was time to finish the simple cleaning and prepare for bed.

“I’m going to sleep first. Don’t waste time and get some rest since we have shooting practice tomorrow.”

“Yes, please sleep well.”

Even though Hunter’s army is relatively free and open after work, basic tasks are the same as any regular military.

They perform guard duty in the early morning and periodically clear dungeons with training.

If they didn’t develop regular habits, they wouldn’t be able to perform their missions efficiently.

“Ugh, how long do I have to endure this?”

Of course, Kim Min-joon was an exception.

Lying down on the bed, he grumbled inwardly for a while.

“Kim Min-joon, come with me.”

A private called him in a low voice.