The Dark Mage’s Return to Enlistment

Chapter 19 “Corporal.”

Kim Min-jun was annoyed by Son Eun-seo’s gaze, which seemed to say, “I’ll be watching how well you perform.”

“It’ll show the difference in skill,” he thought, looking ahead with a serious expression.

Unlike the other teams, the 40th team of hunters was full of enthusiasm.

“Wow, he’s looking at us!”

“We’ll make it somehow!”

They mistakenly thought Son Eun-seo’s gaze was directed at them.

The hunters stared ahead with strength in their eyes, trying to look impressive.

“Get ready!”

At the same time as the signal from the examiner, rubber bullets were fired towards the hunters.

Ssweeek! Ssweeik! Swish!

“Stop!”

“Ugh!”

But would anything really change?

Except for Kim Min-jun, the hunters couldn’t even endure for 20 seconds and were hit all over by the rubber bullets.

“Is that Kim Min-jun? From the 104th Division?”

For almost a minute, Kim Min-jun didn’t allow a single rubber bullet to hit him.

Son Eun-seo also passed perfectly, but the reaction was different.

“He’s really crazy…why does he have to dodge like that?”

Well, it was because Kim Min-jun was avoiding the rubber bullets with one leg lifted, with the least amount of movement possible.

“But his movements are so clean.”

“Yeah, he’s like the protagonist in a martial arts movie.”

Kim Min-jun perfectly dodged the pouring rubber bullets with minimal movement.

He had no choice.

Most of the hunters predicted the trajectory of the rubber bullets and threw their bodies in all directions.

Son Eun-seo was no exception.

“These rubber bullets are much slower than magic bullets.”

However, Kim Min-jun relaxed and looked in the wrong direction from the middle.

“This is what they call no-look evasion.”

There was no tension on his face.

“Hey, how can he dodge without even looking?”

Son Eun-seo thought Kim Min-jun was showing off.

But he dodged the rubber bullets perfectly for a whopping one minute and ten seconds.

The reason why the test ended in 1 minute 10 seconds was that even the judge was impressed by him.

“Well done. Let’s prepare for the stamina section! Make sure you have enough time to stretch during the break!”

The judge maintained as much composure as possible to quickly move past their mistake.

Kim Min-jun returned to his spot and spoke to Son Eun-seo with his eyes.

“Don’t be too disappointed. If you work hard, you can be like me.”

In about 100 years?

Son Eun-seo was briefly shocked by his gaze but then looked away.

“Don’t cross the line and maintain sufficient distance for the formation!”

“Yes!”

“I understand!”

After taking a 10-minute break, the hunters moved to the entrance of the empty dungeon.

It was for the progress of the last test in the stat category, the stamina test.

“The officials are waiting at the transition point of the empty dungeon! You must receive a stamp on the back of your hand and return! The time limit is 40 minutes!”

“Yes!”

While the power and agility tests were conducted in stages by dividing into teams, the stamina test was conducted all at once, gathering all the hunters.

It was like a marathon.

“Start!”

With the signal from the judges, the hunters rushed into the empty dungeon.

Although most hunters didn’t rush ahead to adjust their pace early on, they had to think at worst, considering the distance to the transition point as a short-distance marathon.

“Phew…huk.”

“Ugh!”

“…Phew.”

Everyone took a moment to catch their breath and run with regular breathing.

Paat!

One hunter ran ahead, it was Son Eun-seo.

‘Ugh, that guy is such a show-off, a real attention seeker.’

Wasn’t his father a battalion commander or something? It would be understandable if he wanted to show off his skills.

Quickly glancing at Son Eun-seo, Kim Min-joon thought, ‘What’s he up to now? Do you want to compete with me?’

He still hadn’t caught on to the point.

He could have just ignored him, but he felt like he would be losing something if he did.

Paat!

“What’s that? Does he have a motor in his shoes?”

“He can’t keep up with that pace for long.”

Kim Min-joon quickly overtook Son Eun-seo, turned his head and said, “Nothing special.”

He even lifted the corners of his mouth slightly as if teasing, “What, what did you say?”

“Ah, I was talking to myself without realizing it.”

“…”

Son Eun-seo gritted her teeth and increased her speed, but she couldn’t catch up with Min-joon.

It was like a situation where children fought to protect their pride.

“I’ll wait here until that guy comes.”

Kim Min-joon raised his hand and showed his stamp as if to say, “Look at this,” then waited at his spot.

The officers looked at him strangely but didn’t do anything to stop him.

He could have been tired and needed to catch his breath.

“Hoo…huk.”

Son Eun-seo could be seen far away.

Kim Min-joon raised his hand and showed his stamp as if to say, “Look at this,” then ran towards the exit.

“Ik…!”

Son Eun-seo also tried to catch up with him with a look of defeat, but the result was second place.

Kim Min-joon naturally took first place with an overwhelming record of 29 minutes.

This was also the result of running at a reasonable pace.

“Kim Min-joon. You did a great job. You have a perfect score in all stat categories.”

“Private! Kim Min-joon! Thank you!”

The judge looked at the scorecard for a moment and nodded with a satisfied expression.

Son Eun-seo looked at him with a frustrated expression.

“Well, why did you do that to me?”

Now that she knew the topic, she probably wouldn’t do it again.

Other hunters returned to the training ground in the 38 or 39 minute range, barely making it.

“All right! We’re done with all the stat categories! After finishing lunch, hunters will assemble in front of the training ground until 1 o’clock, got it!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Understood!”

The morning schedule was over.

The hunters finished their lunch and prepared for the weekly weapon test in the afternoon.

The weekly weapon test wasn’t that difficult.

Like taking a taekwondo test, if you followed the Hunter manual, you could pass it for the most part.

“Ah, why isn’t there a manual for the hammer technique?”

Kim Min-joon looked disappointed and took the easiest weapon, the sword, and unfolded the manual.

“We haven’t even started the ability test that combines monster combat and coping skills, but more than half have already failed! Can we protect the citizens like this?”

“No, we can’t!”

“Why did you do that even though you knew?”

“I’m sorry!”

“Sleep forward!”

“Sleep forward!”

“Sleep backward!”

“Sleep backward!”

The hunters who failed the exam were trembling as the examiners glared at them.

In fact, it was natural for more than half of them to fail, as the difficulty level of the test was quite high.

However, high-ranking officers came as examiners to the promotion test site, even the battalion commander came this time.

In a sense, it was a benchmark.

“Everyone, line up by rank! Sort from Private from the left!”

“Yes, sir!”

The last item remaining was the ability to battle monsters.

Naturally, the higher the rank, the higher the level of the monsters to be faced.

“Krrrr…”

Private Kim faces four hounds at once.

Corporal and Sergeant evaluate their abilities against goblins.

“Corporal faces three goblins, Sergeant faces six.”

“Yes, sir!”

Unlike in training, there were no safety devices like spikes or anything against the monsters.

It was a complete real-life situation.

“Start right away when you’re ready!”

“Yes, sir!”

At the examiner’s signal, Kim Min-jun raised his club.

It was a iron bat with wire wrapped around it, similar to the one he had in his unit.

“I missed this feeling.”

As Kim Min-jun felt a sense of satisfaction, the goblins were released from their restraints.

“Kieeek!”

“Human! I’ll kill you!”

Growling three goblins.

Not one, but three.

They didn’t charge at once, but circled around Kim Min-joon, spreading out.

“Oh, they’re using their heads, huh?”

Goblins known for their quick wit and cunning.

They were looking for openings outside of Kim Min-joon’s attack range.

“Even if you try, you’re still goblins.”

Kim Min-joon took out his iron club and threw it behind him, as if telling them to come closer.

“Ki, Ki-yak?”

“Human! The human has thrown away his weapon!”

Humans in strange clothes become weaker without their weapons!

The goblins, thinking this way, didn’t miss the chance and charged at Kim Min-joon.

“You fell for it too easily.”

Thwack!

Kim Min-joon kicked the goblin that was running towards him from behind.

“Black horse jab kick!”

The goblin’s head exploded, and it died on the spot.

“Ki-yayk!”

It took him only 40 seconds to take care of the goblins.

Considering that he only used his bare fists, it was an unbelievable performance.

“Haa… I’ve never seen a hunter who throws away his weapon and beats goblins during his promotion test.”

“Is that hunter specialized in strength stats? He’s still a private, but very exceptional.”

The officers who watched the scene began to applaud quietly.

Clap, clap, clap, clap.

Perfect score.

The hunter who got a perfect score in all categories came out.

And he was a private.

Other test supervisors also stood up and applauded.

“To think that there’s such an outstanding hunter in the 104th division!”

The eyes of the officers and hunters were focused on Kim Min-joon.

“That’s me.”

Kim Min-joon raised the corners of his mouth and looked at Son Eun-seo.

“Well, there are ignorant people everywhere.”

She raised her head with a disgusted expression.

The test went smoothly and didn’t finish until 9 pm.

“You’ve all worked hard for the test. Especially Kim Min-joon!”

“Private… Kim Min-joon!”

“Hahaha, that’s right, you little bastard. You’re the troublemaker of our unit!”

There was only one person who passed from Kim Min-joon’s unit.

Although the number of successful candidates was lower than usual, it was meaningful that Kim Min-joon passed with a perfect score.

“The commander was satisfied too. He said it was unusual for a private to pass with a perfect score.”

“Thank you!”

“Come here.”

The sergeant removed the private insignia from Kim Min-jun’s shoulder and replaced it with a corporal insignia.

“Corporal Kim Min-jun! Thank you!”

“Yeah, I’ve been laughing and living well lately thanks to you. Keep working hard from now on.”

“Yes!”

I thought he was outstanding from the first time I saw him, but I never imagined he would pass the promotion exam so overwhelmingly.

“Hey, thanks. If you had failed too, we would have been screwed when we returned to our unit.”

“No, thank you!”

Is this really the speed of promotion? If you get promoted to sergeant later, don’t torment us.

Kim Min-jun boarded the bus, receiving congratulations from his seniors.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Anyway, maybe he’s a punk.

Suddenly, Son Eun-seo appeared outside and looked at Kim Min-jun, who was sitting by the window on the bus.

“Is this the commander’s daughter? Huh?”

Is he acting alone as a private?

Oh, he must be a corporal now since he’s been promoted.

Kim Min-jun opened his mouth and mumbled, as if telling her to look at him at eye level.

“You and I are on the same level.”

He even gestured to make it easier to understand.

That should be enough to understand.

“You, you crazy bastard! Why are you suddenly doing this to me?”

Son Eun-seo was confused.

At first, she felt a sense of competition and was conscious of Kim Min-jun, but that feeling had long since disappeared after seeing him overwhelm the goblins with his outstanding skills.

Instead, she thought there were many things she could learn from him.

“I was going to ask how high your stats are to make that possible, but you’re a crazy bastard.”