The Dark Mage’s Return to Enlistment

Chapter 16: Skill Release

Kim Min-jun challenged Bmi Bmi Joa to a PVP and gave her a merciless death as a gift.

“Ah, wait a minute.”

He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of his drink.

Suddenly he became curious.

“How long will it take to regain my strength by collecting ordinary magi?”

Of course, with high stats even without magi, he would easily rise through the ranks from non-commissioned officer to officer.

But Kim Min-jun’s goal was to quickly gain stars.

The important thing here is ‘quickly’.

“With my current rank, I have a lot of restrictions on my actions. Even if I become a sergeant or a corporal later, I won’t be that free.”

So he had to move around secretly during his vacation.

“I need magi. I should find a dungeon with magi first. Should I search for information on the internet for now?”

Kim Min-jun glanced at various community posts for a moment.

“What is this guy doing?”

There was a noticeable post.

[Title: Hey, this place is weird.]

[I found it while hiking. Doesn’t it look like a dungeon entrance? Hunters are wearing gas masks and on guard.

I went in without knowing it was a restricted area and almost got into big trouble.

I felt a strong toxic smell on the mountain, and if I had stayed a little longer, I would have passed out.

I still have a headache now.]

Anonymous 1: Is this guy crazy? Why did he post this here?

Anonymous 2: You’re gonna get caught. Not kidding. Delete it quickly.

“That’s definitely a dungeon entrance.”

One user’s photo reminded him of a mine entrance, and soldiers on guard were captured.

“A strong toxic smell… It’s likely to be magi, right?”

The distance wasn’t that far either.

According to what they said, it was worth going to see since it was taken on a mountain in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon Province.

“You idiot. Don’t you know you shouldn’t upload things like this recklessly?”

Considering the post was quickly deleted by reporting, it will probably be caught soon.

While the regular army might not care, the hunter army was very sensitive to this kind of thing.

If you’re unlucky, you could even go to jail.

“Anyway, thank you. Thanks to you, I think I found a good dungeon.”

Kim Min-jun immediately headed towards Hwacheon.

“Nice. The magic is definitely there.”

As soon as they entered Hwacheon, a very faint magical aura drifted by.

This level of aura might not be noticeable to ordinary people.

“It’s a problem to just leave this as it is.”

Anyway, it wasn’t a good sign that magic was seeping out of the dungeon.

“There are two hunters guarding the entrance to the dungeon.”

Kim Min-jun arrived near the dungeon and lowered his posture.

“Did this go off properly?”

They hadn’t even entered the dungeon yet, but the magical aura blowing in was quite dense.

The hunters guarding were not wearing gas masks for no reason.

“I’m still a private.”

Kim Min-jun used corruption against the two hunters.

Sssss-

“Oh, my stomach suddenly hurts?”

“I’m sorry! My stomach suddenly hurts too.”

“…You too?”

“Ugh! I’ll hold on for a moment… I’m sorry. It doesn’t seem possible.”

“Hey. No one can come in here anyway. Let’s solve this quickly and come out. Ugh! It’ll be okay for about five minutes.”

“Understood!”

The hunters guarding the perimeter grabbed the boat and ran into the forest.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Kim Min-jun entered the dungeon.

“[You have entered the dungeon.]”

“Nice.”

As soon as he entered, his lips curved up involuntarily.

This thick and powerful magic.

He had hit the jackpot.

“But why is it so thick? There are no monsters here.”

He couldn’t feel any sign of monsters.

The dungeon was just full of magic.

“Let’s absorb the magic and see.”

Kim Min-jun extended his arms forward.

Swoosh!

Then the magic that filled the dungeon was sucked into his palms.

“[You have absorbed a certain amount of magic.]”

“[Magic stat has increased by 1.]”

“[Magic stat has increased by 1.]”

“[Magic stat has increased by 1.]”

Messages kept popping up without a break.

When was the last time he felt so refreshed?

“[You have absorbed a certain amount of magic, and Night Walker has been unlocked.]”

“[Decay skill has been enhanced.]”

While enjoying his satisfaction, even the skills that had disappeared were now unlocked.

“Lucky me.” Kim Min-jun imitated the lines of a movie actor and opened his status window.

[Kim Min-jun]

“Selia noona is my favorite character,” founder of the church.

Strength: 60 Agility: 60 Endurance: 60 Magic: 15

Possessed Skills: Corruption (D), Night Walker (E)

“Ugh, the only useful skill disappeared like a ghost.”

The skill Kim Min-jun recovered was Night Walker.

It was a skill that was essential to his status as a private in the army.

Night Walker was a summon with a shadow form.

If he let it out, he had to feed it with magic at regular intervals.

It wasn’t very cost-effective, but it was a summon that paid for itself.

It was an information gathering summon that entered the body of the designated target and extracted information.

“Come out.”

Sssss-

Kim Min-jun summoned Night Walker.

Then his shadow swayed and became even darker.

“Of course, it’s weak because the magic stat is low.”

The creature’s current activity time was only during nighttime.

“Well, that’s enough of a harvest for now.”

Feeling a little disappointed, Kim Min-jun decided to leave Night Walker at the base and wait for a chance to use it later, as he waited with Kang Tae-gong’s heart in mind.

“Before returning to the base, I just need to buy the gifts that the senior officers like.”

Kim Min-jun bought the things he needed for the base.

**

Returning on Thursday.

The next day, there was another training scheduled, but Kim Min-jun felt like his spirits had flown away.

He unexpectedly discovered a dungeon overflowing with magic and was able to recover some of his lost strength.

With this, he took one more step closer to his goal of reaching the stars.

“While walking around, if you see someone who looks higher in rank, try to approach them slowly. Don’t hurt them. Be gentle.”

Sssss-

At Min-jun’s words, the Night Walker hiding in the shadows disappeared into the ground.

Now he just needed to wait for the bait to catch.

“At ease! Private Kim Min-jun! I have returned from leave!”

“Oh! The hunter who finished his short term in the military the fastest!”

“I heard you even got leave from the division commander? And he personally pinned on your rank insignia!”

“Yes! That’s right! Please take these. It’s nothing special, but I bought them because I thought of you guys!”

As soon as Kim Min-jun entered the barracks, he distributed the gifts to the senior officers.

He even handed them the essential etiquette book for any man, Maxim.

“Hey, why did you buy so much? Cigarette prices are expensive these days.”

“Why did you buy so many magazines?”

Although they said such things, their happy expressions gave them away.

This was military life.

“What are we supposed to do without this private? Even after promotion, he’ll still be the youngest.”

“It’s okay.”

In truth, it didn’t matter.

After taking the promotion exam, he was supposed to be a corporal.

“Congratulations, Min-jun. You’re already a private like me.”

Private Dongjin congratulated the other person on their promotion, saying that if they were that good, they would quickly be promoted to Sergeant.

“Thank you.”

“Oh, and you know we have weapon training tomorrow, right? Don’t let loose just because you came back from vacation. Sergeant Seung-ho Lee has been on edge lately.”

“Yes! I understand.”

That’s because of Private Kim Kwang-sik… no, Pigeon.

“But hey, youngest. I was passing by the duty officer’s office and saw the promotion exam list. Your name was on it?”

“What? Don’t you have to apply for that in advance? I couldn’t have applied for it when I was a Private.”

“Did outstanding soldiers get such benefits, youngest?”

At the sergeant’s words, the other senior members focused their attention on Min-jun.

“In fact, the battalion commander at the training camp offered me a proposal.”

Min-jun conveyed the fact to his senior members without hiding anything.

His explanation left the senior members with a bewildered expression.

“Well, that’s what they mean by not standing out too much in the military.”

“Whether you do well or not, it’s still a problem. The answer is just in the middle.”

“You must have had a hard time, youngest.”

“No! It’s okay!”

In reality, he was really okay.

He was already excited about the upcoming promotion exam, so he couldn’t wait for Saturday to come.

“Oh, come quickly, Saturday.”

***

The next day, in front of the battalion headquarters.

It was the day for marksmanship training.

The faces of the hunters were filled with dissatisfaction.

“Ah…life.”

“I applied for vacation, but it got rejected. Damn it.”

The reason was that, in addition to the marksmanship training, there was also a pre-training for the promotion test, as ordered by the battalion commander.

Since it had only been a short time since the shooting practice had ended, it was understandable that they would have to continue training all day.

“Alright, everyone, straighten up a bit! Since the battalion commander has given special orders, let’s approach the training with sincerity! Understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

“We understand!”

“Since the promotion test is tomorrow, let’s approach the training with tension!”

“Yes, sir!”

The promotion test consists of a written test followed by a practical test.

The written test is at a level where you can pass if you just know the most basic knowledge.

Think of it as the written test for a driver’s license.

On the other hand, the practical test is much more difficult.

If the passing rate for the hunters’ written test is 99%, the practical test is at the level of 3%.

It was not an easy task to just swing a stick.

“Let’s see. I remember that the practical test consists of marksmanship training, stat testing, and monster handling abilities.”

Kim Min-jun listened to the trainer’s explanation.

Passing the test was already a foregone conclusion.

However, he wondered if he could receive an additional reward if he received a perfect score.

“We will now begin training with the main weapon! Soldiers, do not choose any other weapon and take your swords!”

“Yes!”

“Understood!”

The sword is the easiest weapon to handle among all.

Anyone can achieve a certain level of proficiency through training, and it was not too difficult to train with it.

“Now, what the instructor teaches is military swordsmanship in the manual. It’s not good to just follow the swordsmanship honestly. The basic framework is the Hunter military swordsmanship, but you should change it to your own style. Got it?”

“Yes! Understood!”

There is no need to handle monsters in the same way.

It was important to kill them more quickly and accurately.

“Soldiers and privates should not be greedy and follow the instructor’s movements.”

“Understood!”

The hunters spread out enough distance and took their main weapons and postures.

However, the soldiers were given wooden training swords.

“Soldiers, watch only me and follow along! Don’t look elsewhere!”

“Yes!”

The soldiers began to follow the instructor’s swordsmanship with awkward movements.

“From position 1 to position 4, the power of the lower body is important! But don’t just use your strength!”

“Understood!”

“Widen the distance between your front and back legs!”

“Okay!”

“Hey, you! You’re spreading your feet too wide! Bring them closer together!”

“Yes, I understand!”

For Kim Minjun, swordsmanship was nothing special. However, the other privates seemed to struggle even with following the basic movements.

“I think s-gaard’s swordsmanship is better,”

he thought to himself.

“Hunter’s swordsmanship feels too straightforward.”

“I should try starting with military-grade swords myself.”

When he was in the other world, he had handled almost any weapon he could get his hands on. Of course, it wasn’t a good fit for his primary job as a black mage, so it was just a passing interest.

“Repeat movements 1 through 4, 10 times. Begin!”

“Begin!”

Kim Minjun calmly repeated the sword movements.