Chapter 10: Lucky Guess, Right?

After the break ended, tension began to settle over the faces of the privates as they faced the final test.

The last stage of the promotion exam was a one-on-one battle with a monster.

It was only natural for the privates to be nervous, since unlike moving as a squad, they had to face a monster alone.

“Make sure you keep up with the examiner.”

“Yes, sir!”

The privates followed the examiner’s lead and headed down to the underground facilities of the Hunter Headquarters.

After a complicated series of authentication procedures and a few turns, they arrived at a wide, circular space.

It was reminiscent of an ancient Roman coliseum.

At the far end of the space, several massive iron doors were installed—those doors were where the monsters would be released.

‘Wow… This looks just like something out of a movie.’

‘Was there a place like this under Hunter Headquarters?’

The first-time examinees had a fresh reaction.

Everyone was busy turning their heads to look around.

‘I was just like them.’

Kim Hyun-joon, watching them, couldn’t help but smile.

Thinking back to before his regression, he’d reacted the same way.

He’d gaped at the state-of-the-art facilities and overwhelming spectacle, wandering around in awe.

“We’re about to start the exam now, but before that, listen closely to all instructions.”

“Yes, sir!”

Before the exam began, the examiner relayed several cautions.

If you think you can’t handle it, signal your surrender without hesitation.

There’s no point in getting hurt here—only you will suffer.

You can try again next time, and so on.

In the past, there had been a soldier who died during a promotion exam after pushing himself too hard against a monster.

After that, the examiners never forced soldiers to overexert themselves.

Safety measures had also been strengthened.

‘Even so, isn’t that a lot of instructors?’

Even at a glance, there were over twenty instructors stationed throughout the testing area.

When Kim Hyun-joon took the exam before his regression, there had only been about ten at most—almost double now.

‘Well, you can never care too much about safety.’

Thus began the live combat exam in earnest.

The first private stepped forward with the weapon he’d been issued and took his place.

Beeeep!

As a signal sounded, one of the iron doors slid open, and with a squelching noise, a monster appeared.

“Holy crap…”

“This test is hell.”

“Why did it have to be a Mud Golem?”

Upon seeing the monster’s identity on the monitor installed in the waiting room, the privates let out sighs.

The monsters that appeared in the live exam changed every time.

It was random.

And yet, of all possible monsters, it was the notoriously infamous Mud Golem.

A Mud Golem is a walking golem seemingly molded from mud.

It’s nearly three times the size of an adult, and while it’s strong, it’s rather slow-moving.

As long as you keep your eyes open, there’s no way you’ll get caught by a Mud Golem.

That’s why it’s considered a D-class monster.

So why did the soldiers loathe Mud Golems?

The answer lay in its overwhelming regeneration.

‘Unless you destroy the core inside that thing, it’ll just keep coming back to life.’

It was tough to break the core even by luck, since it seemed to move around as if it were alive.

Even for Kim Hyun-joon, dealing with a Mud Golem was tricky.

Before his regression, he’d only properly taken one down twice.

No matter how much he stabbed with his spear, he could never find its core.

It wasn’t just Kim Hyun-joon—every soldier felt the same.

It took a lot of strength and time, with little to gain from it.

The worst.

Whenever it was time to attack a Mud Golem dungeon, everyone would groan in horror.

“I—I surrender!”

Meanwhile.

The private slashing at the Mud Golem with his sword must have realized it was hopeless and quickly announced his surrender.

At that, the instructors who had been waiting at a distance rushed over, quickly subdued the Mud Golem, and shoved it back through the iron door.

“I surrender!”

“M-me too! I surrender!”

After that, more and more examinees started giving up.

A swordsman, exhausted after swinging his blade for over thirty minutes, collapsed in defeat.

An archer used up all his arrows but couldn’t bring down the Mud Golem and surrendered.

‘Seriously? Was this supposed to be possible only with luck?’

Incredibly, one archer did manage to destroy the Mud Golem’s core purely by luck.

Anyone could see he’d just fired arrows randomly, and by sheer chance, he hit it.

The rest all failed.

“Next! Private Park Ye-rin!”

Over twenty privates had failed, and finally, it was Park Ye-rin’s turn.

The instructors in charge of safety were more attentive than ever.

“Ice Spear.”

The result came quickly.

With the trigger word, five razor-sharp icicles formed at the tip of her staff and shot out all at once—not just one, but five.

The Mud Golem’s core, impaled here and there, didn’t stand a chance, and its form soon collapsed.

“Private Park Ye-rin. Passed. Well done.”

With a calm expression, Park Ye-rin returned to the waiting room at the examiner’s signal.

She didn’t seem the least bit tired.

Even though she must have used up a considerable amount of mana.

‘She’s stacking five Ice Spears as a private already? Impressive.’

Kim Hyun-joon was genuinely impressed by Park Ye-rin’s magical skill.

Compared to an ordinary mage, the size, power, accuracy, casting speed, and stacking of her Ice Spears were on another level.

‘Even a sergeant would have a hard time pulling that off, not just a private.’

Ice Spear was a second-circle cold spell.

The average casting time for a corporal was about seven seconds.

But Private Park Ye-rin had cast five Ice Spears in about eight seconds.

That meant each one took less than two seconds to cast.

She really was an elite.

Handling elemental magic, which was harder to master than basic spells, so skillfully.

‘But why does she keep looking at me?’

After her exam, Park Ye-rin’s gaze felt oddly persistent.

Whenever Kim Hyun-joon turned his head to meet her eyes,

Whoosh!

She’d quickly look elsewhere, as if uninterested.

‘What’s her deal?’

She didn’t seem malicious, so he decided to just ignore it.

“Next! Private Kim Hyun-joon!”

Time passed, and it was finally Kim Hyun-joon’s turn.

‘At last.’

With excitement, he grabbed the spear he’d been issued and headed to the testing grounds.

While the other privates trembled with nerves, Kim Hyun-joon felt a mix of anticipation and excitement.

Back before his regression, no matter what he did, he could never defeat a Mud Golem.

Now, he was sure he could take it down.

‘This is the perfect chance to test my skill on a Mud Golem.’

It was also a great opportunity to try out the newly upgraded skill he’d gotten as a reward for his hidden trait.

“Stay right there. I’m coming for you!”

The moment the iron door opened and the Mud Golem appeared, Kim Hyun-joon made the first move.

There was no need to wait for the slow-moving creature.

Approaching to within his spear’s reach, he readied himself.

It was the thrusting stance he’d practiced endlessly.

‘I’ll test the skill first, and if I can’t destroy the core, I’ll start by stabbing its shoulder and split it into four.’

As he spoke the skill’s trigger word, mana gathered at the spear’s tip.

Unlike before, where it was a bright blue, the mana was now a murky, dark blue-black.

‘Wait. Something feels off.’

Unlike before, he felt his strength drain away in an instant.

Swish! Swish!

At the same time, the spear moved, but not according to Kim Hyun-joon’s will.

It was as if someone else was holding his spear and moving it for him.

‘I’ll let it move as it wants.’

Kim Hyun-joon didn’t try to control the spear.

He just instinctively knew—he had to leave it alone.

Puhak!

The spear shot straight forward, piercing the Mud Golem’s right shoulder.

Graaaaah…

With its shoulder blown apart by the force, the Mud Golem’s form crumbled and disappeared.

‘…Did the Mud Golem die in one hit?’

[You have defeated the monster.]

A hologram popped up before his eyes.

Kim Hyun-joon was surprised by the skill’s power, but also realized he shouldn’t use it carelessly.

‘It was fine when I used One-point Thrust before.’

But just from using the skill once, his arms and legs were trembling.

If he relaxed, he might collapse right there.

‘Is it a huge mana drain, or is it the stamina cost?’

Or maybe both.

At any rate, he was satisfied to see how effective the skill was.

After all, he’d taken down the Mud Golem—a monster that had caused him so much trouble before his regression—in a single blow.

***

“Private Kim Hyun-joon… passed.”

The examiner who’d watched Kim Hyun-joon’s fight tried to act calm, but he was already shocked.

It was true that Private Park Ye-rin had also taken down the Mud Golem without much effort.

But Kim Hyun-joon’s case was different.

Mud Golems have high physical defense.

On the other hand, their magic defense isn’t as high.

In other words, it’s an exam environment that favors magic soldiers.

Despite that, Kim Hyun-joon defeated the Mud Golem faster than Private Park Ye-rin.

And in just one strike.

It took only six seconds to defeat the Mud Golem—a new record.

No wonder everyone was astonished.

‘That thrust just now felt like the spear technique of an officer… No, even more refined.’

Spear technique wasn’t the examiner’s specialty, but even a layman could see it.

The thrust Kim Hyun-joon had just displayed was far beyond what a private could imitate.

‘How… how can he do that?’

Meanwhile.

Private Park Ye-rin was also in shock.

She’d been certain she was number one.

After all, the monster was a Mud Golem, weak to magic.

Her clear time was 11 seconds.

She’d set a new record.

If she’d controlled her mana a little faster, she could have cut that time even more.

But Kim Hyun-joon had broken her expectation again.

He’d just surpassed the record she’d set moments ago.

‘Six seconds…’

Park Ye-rin racked her brain but couldn’t find an answer.

Defeating a Mud Golem in six seconds was impossible for her current level.

“…How did you do that just now?”

Eventually, Park Ye-rin couldn’t hold back and approached Kim Hyun-joon as he returned to the waiting room.

The other privates waiting in the exam room glanced over at the sound of her voice, but he paid them no mind.

All she cared about was the battle Kim Hyun-joon had just shown.

“I just stabbed where I thought the core might be, and it died. I got lucky. I was planning to stab it four times, actually.”

Kim Hyun-joon was amused by Park Ye-rin’s question, but he didn’t tell her the truth.

‘I’d never reveal my trade secrets.’

It wasn’t the answer she’d wanted, and Park Ye-rin looked deflated.

“…That’s all?”

“Yeah.”

“Do you really think that was just luck?”

“Didn’t an archer pass by luck earlier?”

“……”

Park Ye-rin seemed about to argue further, but ultimately gave up and returned to her seat.

Just from her expression, anyone could tell she was sulking.

The other privates in the waiting room quietly moved to sit farther away from her.

‘With results like this, I might come in first.’

Either way.

Kim Hyun-joon was only curious about the results of the promotion exam.

***

“Thank you all for your hard work so late into the night.”

The promotion exam ended after 10 PM.

All the privates left in the auditorium were those who had passed.

Colonel Kim Young-gil, Head of Personnel at Hunter Headquarters, congratulated the successful soldiers and immediately replaced their rank insignias.

In the past, soldiers had to report separately to their assigned unit, but now, after a series of simplifications, this became the standard procedure.

It was also said to be good for boosting morale.

“Corporal! Lee Doo-ho! Thank you!”

“C…Corporal! Park Deok-soon! Thank you!”

The soldiers stood at attention without moving a muscle.

To corporals, the Mugunghwa insignia meant everything.

For a colonel, that was the equivalent of a battalion commander.

After pinning the insignias on everyone except three soldiers, Colonel Kim Young-gil stepped up to the podium.

“From now on, the following three will come up to the podium when called.”

He began reading out names.

‘Nice!’

A smile spread across Kim Hyun-joon’s face.

Just as he’d expected, he’d taken first place.