Chapter 07: Perfect Score, Broken Spirit

The next day.

The soldiers of the 3rd Battalion gathered at the shooting range in perfectly aligned rows and columns.

Today was the day for the shooting training conducted once every three months.

Men and women stood mixed together, but not a single person opened their mouth.

This was because on this day, the instructor was always at his strictest.

Just three months ago, during the last shooting, two sergeants were caught fooling around and received such a harsh punishment that they nearly fainted.

“Attention, everyone.”

“Attention!”

In the solemn atmosphere, the instructor stepped onto the platform and began to speak.

The words were always the same.

Cautions for the shooting training and various explanations.

And, a reminder to please concentrate, as each magic bullet cost nearly a million won.

“If you fail the shooting again this time, just like last time, be ready to face the consequences.”

With that, the shooting training officially began.

“Shooting from the prepared lanes, commence!”

At the instructor’s signal, gunshots started ringing out one by one.

BANG! BANG!

This wasn’t normal shooting—using magic bullets, the recoil and noise were significant.

Up to the rank of Corporal, there were plenty of soldiers whose shooting stances crumbled.

“Hold your stock properly!”

“Sorry, sir!”

“Fix your posture!”

“Yes, sir!”

The instructors, stationed at each lane, watched the soldiers with hawk-like eyes and pointed out their mistakes.

Because shooting with magic bullets could lead to a major disaster if something went wrong.

They were powerful enough to easily pierce the hide of a D-class monster.

No matter how much protective gear you had, you could never be too careful.

‘Honestly, shouldn’t their shooting scores be halved or something?’

Meanwhile.

Some soldiers in the back who were watching the archers shoot quietly grumbled about how unfair the shooting system was.

Archers were, by default, skilled shooters.

Many of them possessed shooting-related skills or traits.

‘Wow… all the archers are getting over 18 shots on target. So unfair, really unfair.’

Especially, Private First Class Jung Ye-na, who was known to have a shooting-related trait, naturally hit perfect marks.

Her shooting stance never faltered, so she was never scolded by the instructor.

‘I heard Jung Ye-na’s trait is Hawk Eye, boosting both vision and dynamic eyesight. Some even say her eyesight is over 4.0.’

‘What kind of trait is that? Is she an eagle or something?’

Apparently, she scored perfect marks in the previous shooting as well.

Private First Class Jung Ye-na looked around as if searching for someone, then caught sight of Kim Hyun-joon and gave him a slight wink.

‘Hey, I think Jung Ye-na’s interested in me. Did you see that wink?’

‘Get lost. She winked at me. I went back on leave with her last time.’

‘So what?’

‘Tsk tsk. That’s why you’re still single.’

Of course, the unrelated privates and corporals bickered as usual.

‘I wonder if I can get a perfect score too.’

Kim Hyun-joon, watching the archers, felt a little anxious about whether he could get a perfect score in this shooting.

‘I’ll probably get at least 18 shots… But since it’s my first shooting after returning, I wonder if I still have the touch.’

Naturally, this wasn’t the kind of thing a private would say.

Most privates just hoped they wouldn’t fail the shooting.

But for Kim Hyun-joon, shooting training held a special meaning.

‘Back in boot camp and even as a corporal, I got scolded so much for bad shooting.’

Even in boot camp, his shooting skills were so poor that he had to retake the test.

After being assigned to the unit, he never once avoided retaking the shooting until he became a corporal.

Endless retests, the officers’ punishments, and constant nagging from his seniors.

Enduring all that and firing countless rounds, at some point he found himself shooting well.

“Hey. Shoot at least 16 rounds on target.”

After the corporals finished shooting, Corporal Kang Chul-soo warned Kim Hyun-joon that he’d better get at least 16 shots on target.

‘He only gets exactly 16 himself.’

Sixteen was the average for corporals.

Not especially good, not especially bad.

I don’t know about other units, but that’s how it was in the Flying Dragon Unit.

Since it was his first time shooting after joining the unit, Kim Hyun-joon started with zeroing his sights.

After adjusting his sights, the record shooting began.

KWAANG! KWANG!

“Hey, you idiot! Hold your stock properly!”

“Are you crazy? You’re shooting like that? Want to die?”

“Sorry, sir!”

“Fix your posture before you shoot, you idiot!”

“Yes, sir!”

For privates shooting for the first or second time, getting scolded by the instructors was a given.

Compared to the standard-issue K2 used by regular soldiers, the magic bullet gun was much heavier with harsher recoil, so this was a normal reaction.

And with a fixed target distance of 200 meters, it was never going to be easy.

But at one particular lane, the instructor remained silent.

‘Private Kim Hyun-joon… Is this really his first time shooting? Other than boot camp, this should be his first shooting.’

There was nothing to criticize.

First, his shooting stance was immaculate.

The stock was snugly fitted to his shoulder without a tremble.

His breathing didn’t waver.

His posture remained steady despite the heavy recoil.

It was almost like watching a sergeant who had spent years shooting endlessly.

“Private Kim Hyun-joon. Perfect score. Well done.”

And so, the result was a perfect score.

Considering the average private’s magic bullet shooting score was less than ten hits, this was outstanding.

Even the instructor, who rarely gave praise, nodded at the sight of Kim Hyun-joon’s target.

“Not long ago, you took down an Irregular monster, and now your shooting’s perfect. I’m impressed these days. Keep it up.”

“Private Kim Hyun-joon! Thank you, sir!”

The praise was enough to make the other soldiers whisper among themselves.

If this had been boot camp, he might have been rewarded with a cold drink and a phone call home, but that was fine.

‘Look at Kang Chul-soo’s sour face.’

Just seeing Corporal Kang Chul-soo’s expression made Kim Hyun-joon feel as refreshed as if he’d had an ice-cold cola.

---

On the way back to the barracks after shooting training.

Corporal Kang Chul-soo had been in a foul mood lately.

The reason was none other than Private Kim Hyun-joon.

When Kim Hyun-joon first joined the unit, he was just some meek kid.

Average physical abilities.

No mana.

Boot camp grades below average.

To Corporal Kang Chul-soo, he was just another plaything to mess around with.

But at some point, Kim Hyun-joon started to change into someone else.

He suddenly awakened mana overnight, took down an Irregular monster in his first dungeon raid.

And now, even achieved a perfect score in magic bullet shooting.

It annoyed him.

He wanted to find a reason to criticize Kim Hyun-joon no matter what, but just couldn’t find anything.

Honestly, if he really wanted to nitpick, he could have found something.

But strangely, when it came to Kim Hyun-joon, it was difficult.

Whether it was cleaning, running errands, or handling tasks, there was nothing to fault.

At one point, his irritation reached the point that Sergeant Yoon Sung-jin even told him to knock it off.

‘Damn it.’

Nothing was going his way.

Turning his head, he saw Private First Class Jung Ye-na talking to Kim Hyun-joon.

Yet Kim Hyun-joon’s reaction was as if he was half-interested, half-not, just average.

That sight irritated him again.

—I don’t really like Corporal Kang Chul-soo.

He once tried to get closer to Private First Class Jung Ye-na, but got rejected flat out.

“Hey! Walk properly!”

“Sorry, sir!”

Corporal Kang Chul-soo took it out on the juniors nearby.

---

The day after shooting training.

Kim Hyun-joon was immersed in training in the private training room.

Starting with the basics of spear technique, Lannachal, then moving on to the newly added training item, Thrust.

And practicing the Mana Training Method of a Magic Spearman was enough to make the day fly by.

He wanted to hurry to the next stage, but had to restrain himself.

“I keep getting corrections even on the basics. If I skip ahead like this, I’ll just collapse.”

Whether it’s swordsmanship, spear technique, or magic, the instructors always emphasized the basics.

Not being faithful to the basics was like building a castle on sand.

Kim Hyun-joon agreed with that sentiment.

To become a proper Hunter, he had to solidly lay the foundation from the basics.

It was the same kind of training every day, but he found it more than worthwhile.

[Spear Technique increased by 1!]

[Stamina increased by 1!]

The system let him know that he was making steady progress.

And when he fulfilled the training requirements for his Hidden Trait, he’d receive rewards.

Because of this, even if he was tired after his daily tasks and training, there was no reason not to visit the private training room.

“Since I’ve already done Lannachal, I only get a Clean Recovery Potion this time.”

For repeatable training items within the Hidden Trait, it seemed you only got the main reward the first time.

Maybe this was just like the games he used to enjoy.

“Can’t I just buy it all with money? I’d love to just purchase everything outright.”

The only real difference from games was that you couldn’t solve anything with money.

“Well, Clean Potion isn’t bad. It wipes out fatigue in one shot.”

After drinking the Clean Potion, he threw himself back into training.

He wanted to finish at least one Hidden Trait training item today.

“Huu…”

How much time had passed?

His entire body drenched in sweat, a hologram finally appeared before his eyes.

[Required number of Thrusts achieved.]

[As a reward, the skill One-Point Thrust has been upgraded to Vital Thrust.]

[Vital Thrust]

Stab the target’s vital area imbued with mana.

This reward appeared to be an upgrade to his skill.

“The description is so simple, it’s scary.”

Does the skill automatically target vitals?

If it worked as expected, it was a simple yet deadly skill.

Even if he had regressed, there was no way he could freely target a moving monster’s vitals at will.

“I’d like to try it out in a dungeon… but the next raid is over ten days away.”

He had to restrain himself from using it here, since he couldn’t know what might happen.

If he ended up breaking equipment by accident… he’d get chewed out by the duty officer, then by the squad leader, and then again by his seniors.

Thinking about it made him eager to escape the rank of private as soon as possible.

“I regressed to a point not long after I was assigned to the unit…”

There were still more than six months left until the promotion test for corporal.

In the regular army, just serving your time got you promoted all the way to sergeant, but the Hunter Army was different.

From Private to Sergeant.

From Sergeant to Master Sergeant.

From Second Lieutenant to Captain—you had to produce results along with fulfilling your service time.

“More than half of privates fail the promotion test for corporal the first time, right?”

The promotions in the Hunter Army were no joke.

That’s why just graduating from the Hunter Academy was enough to be called elite.

Of course, with the tough promotions, the pay and benefits were leagues above the regular army.

The base salary for a private in the Hunter Army started at 2.5 million won.

“Man. I can’t wait to put on the corporal stripes.”

There was a promotion test scheduled for next week, but Kim Hyun-joon couldn’t take it.

Unless there were special circumstances, you had to serve the minimum time.

That’s why, before regression, he spent over ten months as the youngest in the unit.

“Just six more months.”

Once he became a corporal, things would get much easier.

“Kim Hyun-joon!”

As he was heading back to the barracks, someone called out to him.

“Salute! Private Kim Hyun-joon!”

It was 3rd Squad’s squad leader, Second Lieutenant Kim Dong-woo.

“I had to come in from my quarters to see you, you know. I was planning to get some good rest for once.”

“…Excuse me?”

Even as he said this, his face was bright, as if something good had happened.

“I just got a call from the battalion commander. You’re up for the corporal promotion test.”

Turned out, the battalion commander had arranged for him to take the corporal promotion test ahead of schedule next week.

Apparently, the battalion commander personally appealed to Hunter Headquarters about the recent Irregular monster incident.

“If you feel pressured, you don’t have to go.”

“No, sir. I definitely want to take it!”

He had to take this chance.

It meant the battalion commander had personally gone out of his way for a private.

“Hyun-joon. The battalion commander went out of his way for you, so it’d be a bit awkward if you failed, right?”

“Yes, sir! I’ll definitely pass!”

“Haha. Good. I heard from the duty officers that you’ve been working hard lately.”

After giving Kim Hyun-joon a reassuring pat on the shoulder, Second Lieutenant Kim Dong-woo headed back to his quarters.

Any other soldier might have felt a hundred times the pressure, but Kim Hyun-joon was nothing but delighted.

He didn’t even consider the possibility of failing the promotion test.

‘Corporal next week. Nice.’

He had no doubt he would pass.