Chapter 06: Money is the Best Stat

That night.

Kim Hyun-joon entered the personal training room later than usual.

His whole body ached after fighting the giant Siamese rat, but he still didn’t intend to skip his individual training.

There was no point in staying in the dormitory; Corporal Kang Cheol-soo would just boss him around.

― Jung Ye-na: Hyun-joon, hey.

While he was doing some light warm-ups before training, a KakTalk message came in from Private First Class Jung Ye-na.

How did she get his contact info again?

He’d never given it to her.

― Jung Ye-na: You were pretty cool earlier. Honestly, I was scared. I’ve never seen a giant rat that big before.

To sum up the conversation, she was basically saying: “Next time, act like you know me.”

The rest was, let’s have a drink when we get leave later.

That sort of thing.

It was obvious from the start it was just a formal greeting, so he brushed it off.

Was it because he wasn’t interested in Private First Class Jung Ye-na?

No.

It just wasn’t the right time.

There’d be nothing wrong with getting closer to her, but for now, getting stronger was his top priority.

‘Besides, if a Private acted all chummy with her, would the seniors leave me alone?’

He wanted nothing to do with extra trouble that came with being a Private.

But what he was most curious about was the notification sound from the hidden trait.

It hadn’t appeared as a separate message, so he’d been dying of curiosity since earlier.

“Don’t tell me, I get showered with rewards just for killing an Irregular Monster?”

With that hope in mind, he opened up the hidden trait window.

[Tutorial, Lan(攔), Na(拿), Chal(扎) completed.]

[Skill Shop has been added.]

[General Shop has been added.]

[Mission tab has been added.]

[You have 1 completed mission.]

[Training tab has been added.]

[Defeated a monster, earned 5 Gold.]

[Defeated a monster, earned 3 Gold....]

A lot of things popped up...

But it was less than he’d imagined.

Just like a game—categories that unlock after the early tutorial.

And a currency you get from defeating monsters.

[Current Gold: 420]

It looked like Gold had been automatically acquired ever since he cleared the D-rank dungeon earlier.

“That’s a relief.”

If he’d had to actually pick up the Gold like in a game, that would’ve been a pain.

“And this Gold gets used in the shop.”

Just as he’d expected, Gold’s purpose was for the shop.

You could use Gold to buy skills, various elixirs, potions, even equipment.

Of course, everything was so expensive, there was nothing he could afford right now.

“But it says there’s a completed mission? I didn’t do anything special though.”

A blinking hologram had been flashing for a while.

It seemed to be saying: “You have a completed mission, come claim your reward.”

He pressed it and immediately understood why it was completed.

[Defeat D-rank Irregular Monster: Complete]

[Mission Reward: 400 Gold]

It was thanks to the Siamese giant rat he’d killed earlier.

So he got an extra 400 Gold on top.

“820 Gold means...”

Kim Hyun-joon opened the General Shop window and went into the elixir tab.

Elixirs were all expensive regardless of type.

Still, there were a few he could buy if he met the requirements.

There was the Power Elixir and the Vitality Elixir.

[Power Elixir]

When consumed, permanently increases Strength stat by 2.

If Strength stat is 8 or higher, consuming it has no effect.

Can be purchased once.

[Price: 800 Gold]

It was an elixir you could only benefit from when your Strength was low.

Other elixirs had similar explanations.

The only difference was which stat increased.

“This is just like the game I used to play.”

Even the elixir designs somehow felt familiar.

Currently, Kim Hyun-joon’s Strength stat was 7.

It was the perfect time to get the elixir’s full effect, so he bought it without hesitation.

As for choosing Strength over Agility, that was mostly due to the weight of the spear.

The spears used by the Hunter Corps had a base weight of over 20kg, making them hard to handle.

They had to be built sturdy to fight monsters, after all.

Anyway, what he needed most right now was Strength.

Ssss.

As soon as the Power Elixir materialized in the air, he drank it.

If seniors or other officers saw him with an item like this, it would be trouble, so he had to deal with it quickly.

[Strength stat has increased by 2!]

The effect was immediate.

He felt heat surging through his body as his stat rose.

[Awakened]

Name: Kim Hyun-joon

Level: 2

Traits: Basic Spearmanship, Raising a Spearman (Hidden)

Stats: Strength[9] Stamina[7] Agility[7] Mana[3] Spearmanship[6]

Skills: Mana Circulation Method of the Magic Spearman, Single Point Thrust

Even a stat increase of 2 was noticeable.

He could tell right away the training spear felt lighter.

“Money really is the best.”

He couldn’t help but smile at the outstanding effect of the elixir.

With stat boosts from the elixir and leveling up, and additional stats gained through training, he was already beyond a Private’s level.

With these stats at Level 2, he’d be considered top-tier even among Privates First Class.

“Lan-Na-Chal can be repeated. I’ll press that for now...”

Of course, it was too early to be satisfied with this.

He decided not to neglect his training and opened the training tab to begin.

[From now, repeat the Thrust 100 times with correct form.]

[Thrust 0/100]

Before regression, he’d hated training and even individual practice.

He never tried this hard.

There’d been no results, after all.

But now he had a hidden trait that taught him proper spearmanship and gave clear results.

He could even raise his spearmanship stat further through individual training.

Because of this, he actually found training enjoyable.

[Repeat with correct form.]

Still, each time the hidden trait corrected him, it stung.

---

“Hyun-joon. Your reward money comes in today, so go check it.”

The next morning.

As soon as roll call ended, the duty officer called him over to talk about the reward money.

It was the reward for defeating the Siamese giant rat.

“Normally, the battalion commander would give you some extra leave... but the unit’s mood isn’t good lately.”

“That’s all right.”

He meant it.

He hadn’t expected leave anyway.

Even if he could go outside as a Private, there wasn’t much he could do.

Instead, he’d heard they were making up for it with a hefty reward.

“One, ten, hundred, thousand...”

That day, as soon as the workday ended, Kim Hyun-joon checked the deposit on his smartphone.

For killing just one Irregular Monster, enough money had come in to buy a car.

“The battalion commander’s really generous.”

Normally, you wouldn’t get this much for a D-rank Irregular Monster.

The reason he checked the amount was, of course, to give it to his parents.

“I hope this cheers them up a little.”

When he enlisted in the Hunter Corps, his parents were opposed to it.

Because the Hunter Corps was much more dangerous than the regular army.

But Kim Hyun-joon had insisted it was the path he wanted, joining the Hunter Corps despite his parents’ strong opposition.

In his previous life, he’d stayed on as a sergeant and become a career soldier.

‘Back then, I was so busy surviving day to day, I could hardly contact them.’

So there was always some guilt in his heart.

Of course, he had no intention of giving up the Hunter Corps this time either.

Instead, he wanted to put his parents at ease by showing them how successful their son could be.

“Mom. Are you doing well these days?”

― Son. What’s going on? Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?

As soon as she answered, Kim Hyun-joon’s mother worried first about her son’s health.

It was the same with all mothers, surely.

No one’s at ease when their child works in a dangerous environment.

“I’m doing great, of course. Don’t worry. I haven’t been hurt at all.”

When he mentioned he’d sent the reward money to her account, there was a moment of shocked silence.

― Hyun-joon. Where did you get this kind of money...?

It was understandable for her to be surprised—a Private receiving such a large sum.

Privates almost never took down Irregular Monsters.

“I told you, it’s reward money. I got it for taking down a monster.”

― You’re really not hurt, right? How can I accept money my child earned doing something so dangerous? No, I won’t take it.

“You said the shop’s rent is getting tight these days. It’s fine, just take it.”

Kim Hyun-joon reassured his mother.

He told her his performance had been good lately, even the officers praised him, and he hadn’t been hurt at all.

“I’m actually enjoying military life these days. Maybe it suits me.”

― Your father shudders just hearing about the military. I don’t know who you take after.

Last time, he’d had no results to reassure them with, but this time was different.

― If the army’s giving you this much money, you must be doing well. I’ll pay you back someday.

There were no more words telling him not to stay in the Hunter Corps—instead, she was thankful.

Still, the warning to stay safe and not get hurt was always the same.

“No need to pay me back. It’s just your son giving you some spending money. Go out for a meal with Dad once in a while. Your son’s only going to get more successful from here.”

― When did my son become so reliable?

After finishing the call, Kim Hyun-joon felt a quiet pride inside.

‘Before regression, I really neglected my family.’

He’d just been busy trying to survive himself.

But now, it would be different.

He wouldn’t let anything slip away.

---

A few days later, after evening roll call, it was cleaning time.

Kim Hyun-joon, as usual, was focused on cleaning.

Privates First Class also cleaned with them, but most of the time they slacked off, leaving the work to the Privates.

Cleaning, too, was the Privates’ job.

‘Those Privates First Class are already getting lazy.’

Kim Hyun-joon, having made a habit of cleaning, was thorough and tidy from the bathrooms to the dormitory.

He had to be—if he wasn’t, the seniors, especially Corporal Kang Cheol-soo, would torment him endlessly.

Ten months as the youngest hadn’t been for nothing.

As soon as he finished cleaning and entered the dormitory, Corporal Kang Cheol-soo spoke as if he’d been waiting.

“Kim Hyun-joon. You know there’s shooting practice tomorrow? If you can’t shoot straight, you’re dead.”

He was grumbling, apparently unhappy about something.

‘He’d love to use cleaning as an excuse to torment me, but since I do it so well, he had to pick something else.’

Corporal Kang Cheol-soo, until a few days ago, had run his fingers over every locker and facility.

But he’d never found a speck of dust, so he couldn’t use cleaning as an excuse. Now he had a new one.

‘Guess the news reached his ears too.’

The reward for killing the Irregular Monster must’ve reached Corporal Kang Cheol-soo’s ears by now.

Lately, he’d been visibly jealous.

‘That’s right. You were petty and jealous even before regression.’

It was understandable.

Enough money to buy a car had landed in his account.

But what could he do?

He was going to earn even more money and rack up more achievements from here.

‘Shooting? I’m good at that too.’

Unless it was a special situation, the Hunter Corps didn’t usually use firearms, but that didn’t mean shooting practice wasn’t important.

Even a powerless Private who could shoot mana rounds properly was better than most Hunters.

So shooting scores played a meaningful role in promotions.

‘Just you wait, Cheol-soo. No matter how bad I shoot, I’ll outscore you.’

Seeing the annoyed face of Corporal Kang Cheol-soo, who couldn’t bully him the way he wanted, Kim Hyun-joon felt the fatigue of the day melt away.