The Dark Mage’s Return to Enlistment

Chapter 15: Private

Even when he was in charge of training at the military base, he wasn’t an ordinary hunter.

“You could have applied to be a sergeant or an officer with that level of skill. Why didn’t you apply in that direction?”

“I forgot the application date!”

“Damn. What a waste.”

He returned to this world and the next day was his enlistment day, this bastard.

And to become a sergeant, one must graduate from a professional college, and to become an officer, one must graduate from a 4-year university.

Would a high school graduate be able to endure it?

“How did you handle 30 Middlebats without weapons?”

Private Lee Seung-ho, who usually had no interest in his juniors, showed a passionate interest in Private Kim Min-joon.

“He’s quick to respond in those situations. I’ve never seen a private like him who can take the voltage rod away from the sergeant’s hand.”

“I’m sorry!”

“I’m praising you. Alright, just keep it up.”

“Yes, sir!”

With that, Private Lee Seung-ho crossed his arms and leaned back on the sofa.

“Kim Min-joon!”

“Private Kim Min-joon!”

A moment later.

The platoon leader entered the duty officer’s room with an excited expression.

“I heard it all from the duty officer. Min-joon wiped out all the Middlebats?”

“Private Kim Min-joon! Yes, sir!”

“That’s right. Well done! This guy. Even the battalion commander knows. Since you handled it so well, he’ll do something for you.”

“Just promote me and that’s enough.”

“Seungho, you go in first. I have something to discuss with him. You did well too.”

“Yes. Then I’ll stand up first. Yes, sir!”

“Okay. We’ll talk about the details later. You’ve worked hard today.”

After Seungho left, Cheolmin continued talking.

“Minjoon.”

“Private Kim Minjoon.”

“Why did you come as a regular hunter instead of applying to be an officer?”

“Because it was the day before I was drafted when I returned to Earth. And because I only have a high school diploma.”

“I see. You forgot about the application deadline and thought you could still get promoted enough as a regular hunter?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Wow… that’s really cool.”

Upon hearing Minjoon’s answer, the squad leader looked pleased.

“I’m just going by my gut feeling, but only you know this. You’ll probably get promoted to Private first class. You handled 30 Middlebats near the oil refinery so cleanly. Even if the special promotion standards have been strengthened, this will do.”

Cheolmin gave Minjoon a pat on the shoulder, telling him to grow well even if he scolded him.

“Private. That’s good.”

He was promoted to Private earlier than expected.

His mouth lifted up naturally.

****

The next day,

Kim Min-joon was a hero within the military base.

He had single-handedly aggroed the monsters to protect the fuel depot!

The platoon leader was so impressed that he excused Kim Min-joon’s platoon from their afternoon duties.

“Hey, Kim Min-joon. You’re enjoying the benefits of your heroism, huh?”

“Private Kim Min-joon! Thank you!”

“Thanks, but make sure to pack your equipment properly next time. You got lucky yesterday, but you could have been seriously hurt.”

“I’ll be more careful next time!”

But the senior officers’ joy didn’t last long.

“Oh, attention everyone! The division commander is visiting our base. All Hunter personnel, assemble in front of the battalion commander. I repeat!”

Two hours later.

It was because of the news of the division commander’s visit.

If it was the commander of the invincible Hunter battalion in the 104th Division… then it was a big deal.

“Everyone, tidy up the barracks and get ready! The transport team, start the vehicle maintenance again!”

Even the platoon leader seemed surprised and quickly spoke before turning off the loudspeaker.

“Ah, dammit! Why is he suddenly coming here? There’s no big training scheduled.”

“I just heard from the platoon leader that he stopped by because he remembered Private Kim Min-joon while passing by.”

“What terrible timing.”

While grumbling, the soldiers quickly went to tidy up the barracks.

“Hey, do you feel that?”

During their conversation, the observant seniors looked at Kim Min-jun and said, “This is a special promotion.”

“I caught 30 mid-bets and got a hundred percent.”

“The battalion commander is coming, so aren’t they going to promote him today?”

“Wow… crazy. The youngest is already a private first class?”

The seniors exchanged excited words, saying they would treat him to the PX if he was promoted.

“Well, I’ll look forward to it.”

Kim Min-jun had already received information about his promotion from Kim Cheol-min, so he just smiled lightly.

“Did everyone clean up the dormitory properly before leaving?”

“Yes, sir!”

“The battalion commander is visiting the unit, so everyone should be nervous and work hard! Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir!”

The front of the battalion was quickly filled with hunters.

The squad leader stood on the podium and gave instructions one by one.

“Privates, clean up both inside and outside the base more thoroughly! Privates, help the transportation unit and start washing cars!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Sergeants, check if the mana shield installed yesterday is still working! Check the radar again to see if it’s working well!”

“Yes, sir!”

Following the orders of squad leader Kim Cheol-min, the hunters scattered to their designated areas.

“Corporals…if you’re confident you won’t get caught, then hide on your own. But if you do get caught, you’ll have to deal with me.”

“Yes, sir!”

The base was thrown into chaos in an instant.

The hunters ran around busily, carrying their tools.

Ah, is this the power of two stars?

“Kim Min-joon, come with me.”

“Private Kim Min-joon! Yes, sir!”

Kim Min-joon followed Kim Cheol-min into the corporal’s office.

It seemed like what the senior soldiers were saying was true after all.

It was an opportunity to face the division commander, even though it hadn’t been long since he was assigned to the unit.

****

“Attention! Stand at ease!”

As the division commander opened the door to the platoon room, Kim Cheol-min, who had been waiting, saluted loudly.

Kim Min-jun maintained his position as instructed by the platoon leader.

“His eyes are alive with charisma.”

Kim Min-jun secretly admired the charisma emanating from the division commander.

The atmosphere was different from that of the other hunters.

Indeed, it seems that you have to become that kind of person to earn stars.

“Oh, yeah. While passing by the unit, I remembered a new recruit we received yesterday. You’re Kim Min-jun, right?”

“Private! Kim Min-jun! Yes, that’s correct!”

Kim Min-jun answered enthusiastically.

“Okay. Sit down comfortably.”

As soon as the division commander sat down, he asked about the situation that occurred yesterday.

“Is the radar installed in the unit working properly?”

“Yes, sir! We checked it an hour ago and it was working properly!”

Kim Cheol-min answered nervously, following the manual faithfully, but it couldn’t be considered perfect.

“Okay. Install one more, or rather, two more. It’s not normal to see 30 of them. Also, prepare maintenance work near the fuel depot. How many people are on guard duty there?”

“Two people, sir!”

“Add six more for a while.”

“Yes! I understand!”

With no issues, Kim Cheol-min let out a sigh of relief.

After a brief briefing, the division commander’s gaze turned to Kim Min-jun.

“You did a brave thing yesterday and handled the situation well in the initial response. But don’t you have to think about your own body? You should have brought your equipment.”

“I’m sorry, Private! Kim Min-jun!”

If he hadn’t, the fuel depot could have exploded.

Kim Min-jun apologized anyway.

However, it was true that he hadn’t brought his combat gear.

“But still, Private Kim Min-jun did a great job throwing himself and handling the Middle Vets. He said he handled 30 of them alone?”

“Yes! That’s correct!”

“Yeah. It feels good to see myself from the old days. I also had those times. I’ll give you a gift, Private.”

The division commander got up from his seat and gestured for Kim to come closer.

Snap!

Then the division commander removed the Private emblem from his left chest and personally attached the Private First Class emblem.

“From now on, you are a Private First Class. You would normally have to go through several screening procedures, but soldiers who have achieved overwhelming results deserve immediate rewards.”

“Thank you, Private First Class Kim Min-jun!”

A badge attached personally by the division commander.

His heart swelled with pride.

“Ah. Military life. It’s getting more and more fun, isn’t it?”

It feels like playing a game.

“And since you’re such an excellent hunter in the 104th Division, I’ll personally give you a vacation for 2 nights and 3 days to rest and come back.”

The commander told Kim Min-jun to prepare and go out immediately, and smiled happily.

“I’m happy that such an excellent hunter like you is in the 104th Division. Keep it up in the future.”

“Private! Kim Min-jun! Thank you!”

The commander expressed satisfaction and said that the reward would take a long time to prepare.

“To be honest, I want to give it to you here, but the issue of money is tightly managed by the country.”

The number of mid-bets he handled was not just one or two, but thirty.

The reward will also be quite modest.

“Sergeant. Prepare for the vacation right away.”

“Yes! I understand!”

With that, the commander left the sergeant’s office.

‘What’s this for?’

I was already planning to take a vacation, but to get a free vacation!

Combined with the vacation I received at the training camp, I now have a vacation of 5 nights and 6 days.

Plus, I got promoted to Private, which is what I wanted!

“Kim Min-jun!”

“Private Kim Min-jun!”

“You did well, you bastard!”

Sergeant Kim Cheol-min thanked him as soon as the commander left.

“Since it’s an order from the battalion commander, the radar will be installed immediately. It’s not enough to have just one that we’ve been using until now.”

They should have done the additional installation of the radar and maintenance work on fuel a long time ago, but they had been waiting for funding.

Considering that the special radar that detects monsters costs over 30 billion won per unit, it was understandable.

“I’ll take care of your vacation, so depart right away.”

“Yes, I understand! Loyalty!”

After saluting the platoon leader, Kim Min-joon headed outside the base.

He had considered using the vacation he received from the training center, but if he did, it would overlap with his promotion exam.

“The promotion exam is important.”

The promotion exam.

Just wait for it.

Now, they will give him the rank of Corporal.

***

Kim Min-joon didn’t go home but found a PC room outside the base.

The house where he used to live had become a restricted area, and it would be a complicated process to change the address.

“It’s more profitable to use even one more point of fatigue at that time.”

Kim Min-joon turned on two computers and showed off his physical skills by controlling two characters at the same time.

“Wow… look at that.”

“He’s crazy. His hand speed is just…”

“If you become a Hunter, you can do that too.”

The people in the PC room admired Kim Min-joon’s flashy hand movements.

Of course, since the game was Dungeon Fighter Online, their interest quickly waned.

“I’m addicted to the taste of the 13th level final weapon! I’ll become a Hunter for this taste.”

For a moment, he enjoyed playing the game while swinging the weapon he received as a gift for enlisting as a Hunter.

-Bluemibluejoa: Life is eaten away day by day. Some people spend money to make their weapon level 13.

-DungeonFckingMaster: Then why don’t you enlist, you son of a btch?

-Bluemibluejoa: Well, I’m in the public service. Please catch the monsters in real life, not in the game.

-DungeonF*ckingMaster: May your parents be healthy and live long.

One Dungeon Fighter Online user started a fight.