Chapter 05: A Private with a Bonus

Keeeeek!

The Siamese Giant Rat let out a roar, as if it might pounce at any moment.

It was bigger, stronger, and more vicious than a regular Giant Rat.

With two heads attached to its body, it looked even more grotesque.

Of course, Kim Hyun-joon wasn’t particularly fazed.

He’d seen monsters even more disgusting than this thing before his regression.

‘Honestly, I’m grateful this guy showed up now.’

His current first goal was to get promoted faster than Corporal Kang Chul-soo.

To do that, he had to rack up solid achievements in situations like this.

‘You think I’d share something this tasty with the other soldiers? No way, I’m not giving this up.’

Why insist on handling the irregular monster alone?

Naturally, to hog all the achievements and experience points.

If several people took down a single monster, the experience points would be split among them.

The more people there were, the safer the dungeon raid became, but individual growth would slow down just as much.

That’s why, even if squads cleared lots of D-rank dungeons, the soldiers’ level-up pace tended to be slow.

He might be overreaching for a Private, but that was fine.

As long as he produced solid results, everything else could be overlooked.

Kieeeek!

As soon as he took his stance, the Siamese Giant Rat lunged at him.

Its forepaw, much thicker than that of a normal Giant Rat, swung straight at Kim Hyun-joon’s face.

He judged that taking the attack head-on would be a mistake.

He rotated his spear outward.

“Lan.”

And in that position, he struck the monster’s forepaw to the side.

Ting!

He tried to knock it away, but the power difference was overwhelming—he only managed to deflect it.

Still, the effect was clear.

The Lan-Na-Chal move, which he’d practiced until exhaustion after each day’s duties, even worked on an irregular monster.

Kieeeek!

Perhaps angered by the missed attack, the Siamese Giant Rat swung its paw even more violently.

Kim Hyun-joon didn’t stay still, either.

He deflected its attacks, pulled it in to break its stance, and whenever he saw an opening, thrust his spear into its body.

Thus began their back-and-forth.

Kim Hyun-joon landed far more attacks, but the Siamese Giant Rat refused to go down.

That was how tough irregulars were.

He was lacking a decisive finishing blow.

‘Still, if I keep this up, I’ll be able to take it down eventually.’

Even an irregular monster was just a monster in the end.

If he put enough holes in its body, it would fall.

He was starting to feel the strain, but he could still keep going.

Just as he was about to continue his relentless assault,

Tiring.

A hologram appeared before his eyes.

[You have fulfilled the required number of uses for Lan(攔), Na(拿), and Chal(扎).]

[As a reward, you have obtained the skill: Pinpoint Thrust.]

[Your Spearmanship stat has increased by 1!]

[Your Spearmanship stat has increased by 1!]

During the fight with the monster, the hidden trait’s tutorial conditions had been met.

As the skill was activated in his status window, the method to use it naturally came to mind.

Kim Hyun-joon stepped back a few paces and took his stance.

‘Pinpoint Thrust.’

With the activation word, mana gathered at the tip of his spear.

‘Now!’

The moment he confirmed the skill was ready, he charged at the monster.

Puk!

Keeeeek!

The spear, which hadn’t been able to pierce deeply before, now slipped inside as easily as stabbing tofu.

The Siamese Giant Rat was completely skewered, spewing a torrent of blood as it fell backward.

[You have defeated the monster.]

[You have gained a large amount of experience points.]

[Your level has increased!]

[All your stats have increased due to leveling up!]

One hologram after another appeared.

‘Irregulars really are good for you. It usually takes quite a while to get from level 1 to level 2.’

Even though the irregular monster came from a D-rank dungeon, it hadn’t been easy.

Because the exchange of blows went on for so long, he was gasping for breath.

If he hadn’t received the tutorial’s reward, it might have been dangerously close.

On top of that, he’d been completely focused—his body was already drenched in sweat.

‘Catching it is all that matters.’

As he caught his breath, satisfied with the system’s rewards,

“…Crazy. Did he really take that thing down alone?”

“A Private took down an irregular by himself? That’s the Siamese Giant Rat.”

“Did you see the spear flash just now? Did he use a skill?”

“Wow… Look at that massive hole in its torso.”

Sergeant Park Taek-jin and the other soldiers couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

A Private on his first dungeon raid had taken down an irregular monster solo?

That sort of thing had only happened a handful of times in the entire history of the Hunter Corps.

Plus, thanks to Kim Hyun-joon dealing with the Siamese Giant Rat alone, not a single person had been injured.

‘If I’d faced that thing alone… there’s no way I could’ve neutralized it like that.’

Sergeant Park Taek-jin didn’t have any mana.

Meaning he couldn’t deliver a fatal blow to the Siamese Giant Rat.

Protecting the soldiers in case of the monster’s unpredictable attacks was the right call.

‘No way… Did he really foresee all that?’

Sergeant Park Taek-jin shook his head.

No matter what, that couldn’t be the case.

“……He’s kind of cool, actually.”

Meanwhile.

Private First Class Jung Ye-na muttered to herself without realizing it.

After taking down the irregular monster alone, Kim Hyun-joon calmly checked his spear.

It wasn’t the kind of composure you’d expect from a Private.

‘What’s with him? Why’s he looking at me like that?’

Of course, Kim Hyun-joon didn’t care at all about Jung Ye-na’s gaze.

‘I wonder how many achievement points I’ll get.’

All he cared about was the achievement points

Tiring. Tiring. Tiring.

and the chimes of the hidden trait’s notifications ringing in his ears.

---

News that Kim Hyun-joon had soloed an irregular monster spread quickly.

Because it was the act of a Private with no prior dungeon experience, by the time he returned to the unit, everyone knew.

“Kim Hyun-joon. I’ll be reporting what happened today to the platoon leader, but you… no, never mind.”

Sergeant Park Taek-jin started to say something to Kim Hyun-joon, then closed his mouth.

Then he hurried off somewhere.

‘Looks like word’s already reached the battalion commander.’

Having spent more than six years in the military before regression, he could guess what was going on at a glance.

A Private had already caught the battalion commander’s eye.

Considering what happened today, it was only natural.

He’d caused a stir.

Depending on how you looked at it, that could be bad, or it could be good.

For Kim Hyun-joon, it was a good thing.

---

As soon as he returned to the barracks after finishing his duties, the seniors pounced on him with a barrage of questions.

“Hyun-joon, you really took down the Siamese Giant Rat by yourself? How’d you do it?”

“This was your first dungeon raid, right? And you got the Siamese Giant Rat on your first go? Talk about bad luck.”

“Even if it’s just a D-rank dungeon monster, that thing’s strength and endurance are no joke.”

“They say you left a huge hole in its belly—is that for real? Did you have some kind of skill?”

Kim Hyun-joon brushed it off, saying he just got lucky.

No reason to tell them the truth.

What was there to gain from being honest with seniors who constantly bullied and bossed around the juniors?

“Yeah, right. Like luck alone could let you solo the Siamese Giant Rat.”

While he was dodging their questions, Corporal Kang Chul-soo spoke up.

Apparently, he didn’t like the fact that Kim Hyun-joon had taken down an irregular monster.

“Didn’t the archer barrage it with arrows from behind and you just landed the finishing blow?”

“No. I handled it alone.”

Kim Hyun-joon almost burst out laughing, but kept his face straight and composed.

‘Chul-soo, is that the best you could come up with? Try being a bit more creative.’

He just wanted to find some way to nitpick.

When a subordinate he was supposed to look down on suddenly produced results, how could he not be jealous?

“Hey. If that’s what happened, would the officers be making such a fuss?”

“And I heard earlier—the archers hung way back and didn’t do anything.”

The seniors even felt the need to step in because the accusation was so forced.

Corporal Kang Chul-soo was so displeased, he even asked if he could test Kim Hyun-joon himself.

“Sure. Anytime.”

With his current specs, there was no way he could overwhelmingly beat Corporal Kang Chul-soo.

At best, he’d be just a notch below him.

Still, there was a reason he responded so confidently.

“Wow, look at Hyun-joon’s confidence. Maybe he’s the real deal?”

“You two should have a match. Let us watch, too.”

“Shut up. We’ll do it later.”

Corporal Kang Chul-soo was more timid than he seemed.

A textbook example of picking on the weak and avoiding the strong.

If you acted confident, he’d assume you had something up your sleeve and back off.

‘Though in my case, I actually do have something.’

Every time Kim Hyun-joon saw Kang Chul-soo’s disgruntled face, he felt satisfied.

He wanted an excuse to torment him, but it just wasn’t working out.

‘Chul-soo, Corporal isn’t such a big deal. If you let your guard down, you’ll get burned.’

Seeing Kang Chul-soo’s scowling face made Kim Hyun-joon think that going back to being a Private wasn’t so bad after all.

---

“Heh, unbelievable.”

At the same time.

Battalion commander’s office, Blue Dragon Battalion.

Lieutenant Colonel Woo Hyun-seok, commander of the 3rd Battalion, wore a dumbfounded expression as he read the dungeon raid report.

“Lieutenant Kim. If we had someone this talented in our unit, you should’ve reported it sooner.”

“Second Lieutenant Kim Dong-woo! My apologies, sir. Private Kim Hyun-joon is a bit of a special case, so….”

“Haha. No need to get so tense just because I’m joking.”

Lieutenant Colonel Woo Hyun-seok had already looked into Kim Hyun-joon’s background.

When he was first assigned to Blue Dragon Battalion, he was an utterly average soldier.

No, actually, he was a little below average.

But that same soldier had recently awakened mana, and not long after that, had single-handedly defeated an irregular monster.

“His recent training evaluations are good, too. He’s a spearman, right?”

“Yes! Compared to other Privates, his spear skills are exceptionally superior!”

“Is that so? Mastering the spear isn’t easy. And we don’t even have a proper spearmanship instructor.”

“According to the training officer’s assessment, he’s a natural with the spear!”

“I see.”

As Second Lieutenant Kim Dong-woo continued explaining, a smile tugged at the battalion commander’s lips.

The more outstanding soldiers there were, the more the unit’s reputation rose.

A Private soloing an irregular monster was an exceptionally rare feat.

“If I could, I’d like to give him a reward vacation… but the timing’s just not right.”

Blue Dragon Battalion’s recent evaluation after a major training exercise had been poor, so the commander was not in the best mood.

On top of that, with another marksmanship drill scheduled in a few days, it wasn’t the right time to send anyone on leave, no matter how impressive the Private’s achievement.

“For now, let’s just keep an eye on him. Don’t give him leave, but make sure he gets a hefty bonus.”

“Yes, sir!”

“And instead of a citation, just apply the achievement to his performance score.”

“Understood!”

It was too soon to make a final judgment.

Even so, the battalion commander already had an inkling.

Private Kim Hyun-joon.

He might just be too promising to remain an ordinary soldier.