Chapter 12: From Poking to Peerless

Private First Class Jeong Ye-na sat beside Kim Hyun-jun, her arms linked with his as if she was crossing her arms.

Maybe it was because it had been a while since their last get-together, but she looked to be in a good mood.

‘All the other seniors have already passed out, but this girl’s still going strong?’

Kim Hyun-jun paced himself, drinking moderately as he thought about the training to come.

In contrast, Private First Class Jeong Ye-na drank non-stop with her seniors, not giving herself a single break.

Even so, her face was only faintly flushed.

“Wow… look at Jeong Ye-na go. I told you, if you try to keep up with her, you’ll regret it.”

“Ugh! I need to use the restroom for a bit.”

All the seniors who drank with Jeong Ye-na couldn’t pull themselves together.

Some even clamped their hands over their mouths and rushed off to the restroom.

“Private First Class Jeong Ye-na. We’re out of drinks.”

The mountain of booze had been wiped out by Jeong Ye-na and the other upper-rank privates.

The other privates, reading the room, only sipped sparingly and had already started to clean up.

“I’m not even drunk yet…”

“Didn’t you just drink over ten soju-beer cocktails on your own?”

“I think it was around nineteen. I was just starting to get tipsy, but it’s over already?”

Getting “pleasantly tipsy” after nineteen soju-beer cocktails, huh.

What on earth is her liver made of?

As he was thinking that, Private First Class Jeong Ye-na pulled on Kim Hyun-jun’s arm.

“Let’s take a walk over there and get some air.”

“I need to finish cleaning up and do some physical training—”

“You’re the star today, it’s fine. Besides, you’re a Private First Class now.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She was sticking even closer than usual today, so he decided to just go along with it.

The “walk” was really just a stroll around the drill ground.

Since the drinking session ended early, they had plenty of time.

‘I have something to tell you. It’s not a bad deal for you.’

From the way she whispered, it didn’t seem like she just wanted a walk.

“But… can I let go of your arm?”

“I’m getting tipsy now, I can’t walk straight on my own.”

Just a moment ago, you said you wanted to keep drinking.

He nearly blurted it out, but in the end, kept his mouth shut.

Just like that, Kim Hyun-jun let himself be pulled along by Jeong Ye-na, disappearing into the inner part of the drill ground.

‘Damn it…’

Corporal Kang Cheol-su, watching the two from behind, seemed about to boil over inside.

He’d tried to hang out with the female juniors at this get-together, but it hadn’t gone his way.

Some even openly tried to keep their distance from him.

Meanwhile, the other female soldiers offered Kim Hyun-jun drinks and started conversations with him.

It was because Kim Hyun-jun had placed first in the promotion exam, and the get-together itself was in his honor.

‘Why the hell are they only acting up with me?’

The female soldiers keeping their distance from Corporal Kang Cheol-su was the result of the karma he’d built up.

Whenever he got the chance, he harassed his juniors and often hit on the female soldiers in his platoon.

Of course word would spread.

Naturally, Corporal Kang Cheol-su was unaware of this.

“Hey. Why aren’t you cleaning up yet?”

“Sorry, Corporal!”

“Sort the recycling properly. You—get me a glass of water.”

“Yes, Corporal!”

He took out his frustration on the privates cleaning up.

***

“So that was the ‘good thing’ you wanted to tell me?”

That evening.

After finishing the get-together and entering his private training room, Kim Hyun-jun recalled the good news Private First Class Jeong Ye-na had shared.

— I’m planning to borrow a slot for the 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad’s next dungeon raid next week. Want me to recommend you? I may not look it, but I’ve got a lot of senior friends.

A soldier from the 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad was out for medical treatment and had been admitted to the Hunter Army Hospital, so they needed a replacement.

She was offering to get him a spot to fill that vacancy.

You might wonder what pull a Private First Class could have, but Jeong Ye-na was more connected than she seemed.

She was apparently close with the 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad leader.

— Are you sure you want to give that spot to me?

— That position’s for a swordsman or spearman, so I can’t do it. Plus, I have a feeling you’ll make corporal before I do. I need to get in your good graces early, right?

— I’ve barely been a Private First Class for a few days.

— It’s just my gut feeling, I’m telling you.

To sum up, she wanted to invest in him.

When a platoon or squad didn’t have enough people for a dungeon raid, they would bring in soldiers from other platoons, squads, companies, or even battalions.

The soldiers called this “playing mercenary.”

‘Even so, getting someone a spot on a dungeon raid isn’t easy.’

There was no guarantee he’d get the spot as a mercenary for the 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad, but if he did, it would be a great opportunity.

The more dungeon raid opportunities, the better.

That was true for all soldiers, but for Kim Hyun-jun it was especially important.

By killing monsters, he could earn not just experience, but also Gold that synergized with his Hidden Trait.

‘I’ve got about fifteen days until my next dungeon raid.’

The dungeon the 2nd Platoon, 1st Squad was going to tackle was a D-rank dungeon with level-2 monsters.

It was a D-rank dungeon with good experience yields.

Most monsters appearing in D-rank dungeons were level 1.

Still, he tried not to get his hopes up.

Since Jeong Ye-na was only a Private First Class, her influence couldn’t be that great.

“I should focus on my own tasks.”

With that, he opened his Hidden Trait window and entered the training menu.

[Basic Spearmanship]

[Locked]

[Locked]

[Locked]

“They were all locked before, but one’s open now.”

After repeating the basic training enough times, a new training item had unlocked.

All the others, except for one, still had a lock icon.

“So after Rannachal and Thrusting comes Basic Spearmanship, huh.”

It looked like the training path could be selected step by step, just like in a game.

If it were a game, he could have skipped this process by paying money, but reality didn’t work that way.

As he brought his finger to Basic Spearmanship, a hologram appeared before his eyes.

“There’s so much here.”

It was much larger than before.

[Imperial Spearmanship, First Form]

[Imperial Spearmanship, Second Form]

[Imperial Spearmanship, Third Form] …

There were eight different basic spear forms he needed to train.

Just what was this “Imperial Spearmanship,” anyway?

As he wondered that, a human-shaped hologram holding a spear appeared.

Shwik! Shwik!

As with the Rannachal training before, the hologram swung its spear demonstratively.

Before, it had only shown the minimum movements and spear techniques, but now it moved around, demonstrating more free and varied spear use.

“This feels like an advanced version of Rannachal.”

That was his thought after replaying the Imperial Spearmanship several times.

The eight spear techniques all seemed to build on Rannachal, enhancing the ways the spear could be used.

Compared to the basic Rannachal, they were much more difficult.

He tried to imitate the First Form right away, but couldn’t even manage a crude copy.

[Now, increase your mastery of all forms of Imperial Spearmanship.]

[Imperial Spearmanship First Form Mastery: Very Low]

[Imperial Spearmanship Second Form Mastery: Very Low]

[Imperial Spearmanship Third Form Mastery: …]

Unlike Rannachal, which could be completed by sheer repetition, he now had to raise his skill mastery.

The training requirements had gotten tougher as well.

“So this is real spear technique.”

It was hard and complex.

It was like going from elementary math straight to high school math.

Could he really do it?

At the same time, the prospect of learning real spear technique made his heart race.

The spear skills the hologram demonstrated were of a high level.

“Screw it, I’ll give it a shot.”

He braced himself and took up his stance.

He tried to imitate the First Form of Imperial Spearmanship, when suddenly—

Ssshhh. Ssshhhh.

Human-shaped holograms began appearing, one after another.

He had no time to wonder why.

The holograms charged at him.

“What the hell!”

Caught off guard, he grabbed his training spear to fight back, but it was useless.

Before he knew it, he was surrounded by holograms.

[TIP: Try utilizing the forms of Imperial Spearmanship.]

He had been defeated so pathetically that his Hidden Trait even threw him a tip.

“…I’ll do it again. Until I win.”

In his previous life, he lost a lot, gave in, and lived half in resignation, but not now.

He didn’t want to lose to anyone.

Even if it was a hologram created by his Hidden Trait, it was still the same.

From that day on, Kim Hyun-jun began to devote himself to training, sleeping only the bare minimum.

***

Twelve days after Kim Hyun-jun began training Imperial Spearmanship, he finally saw a change.

[Imperial Spearmanship First Form Mastery: Moderate]

[Imperial Spearmanship Second Form Mastery: Moderate]

[Imperial Spearmanship Third Form Mastery: Moderate]

[Mastery of Imperial Spearmanship First, Second, and Third Forms achieved.]

[Intermediate reward: Skill acquired — Spiral Slash.]

He hadn’t even finished the whole training course, but he was already being rewarded.

“I did feel like I was getting a bit better, but I’m glad it’s real progress.”

Kim Hyun-jun hadn’t tried to train all eight forms of Imperial Spearmanship at once.

Because the spear techniques were so complex, he found that training in batches of three was actually more efficient.

Luckily, that approach had paid off.

The Imperial Spearmanship mastery that had started at “Very Low” had now reached “Moderate.”

He could feel his own understanding of the spear increasing.

He felt like he could use the spear more flexibly.

Of course, he couldn’t say for certain without testing it in actual combat.

Still, it was satisfying to receive an unexpected reward—a new skill.

[Spiral Slash]

Spin once around your axis and deliver a horizontal slash.

The new skill acquired as a training reward seemed to be a slashing attack rather than a thrust.

“They say a swordsman’s slash is different from a spearman’s slash.”

He was curious what it would feel like, but decided to try out the skill later.

Maybe it was because of the recent intense training, but he was so tired he could barely hold his spear.

Any more would start interfering with his daily duties, so he needed to rest and recover.

Stats: Strength [9] Stamina [9] Agility [8] Mana [5] Spearmanship [10]

“Still, my stats have gone up pretty well.”

With all his focus on Imperial Spearmanship training, his Spearmanship stat had increased by three.

He’d also kept up with Mana Refinement training, so his overall stats had improved.

“They say you need an average stat of 11 to make corporal.”

If he pushed a bit harder, he’d easily meet that standard.

Of course, he had no intention of settling for just corporal.

***

“Hey. Just because you’re doing well these days, does that mean you can ignore your seniors and juniors?”

As soon as Kim Hyun-jun finished tidying his private training room and returned to the barracks, Corporal Kang Cheol-su raised his voice as if he’d been waiting for him.

Picking a fight as usual.

He thought it was the same as always, but this time it was a bit different.

“Private First Class Kim Hyun-jun. Is there a problem?”

“Are you pretending not to know?”

So it was about the dungeon raid.

“I heard Jeong Ye-na recommended you for a mercenary spot with the 2nd Platoon.”

Private First Class Jeong Ye-na had offered to recommend him to another platoon’s raid, and it had actually worked.

‘No way… Did it really happen?’

Mercenary spots were usually reserved for corporals and above.

It was only natural for seniors to want those spots, since they offered performance results, experience, and even valuable experience as a Hunter.

So, the fact that a newly minted Private First Class had gotten such a spot was infuriating.

“Corporal Kang Cheol-su. I never asked Private First Class Jeong Ye-na for any favors.”

But what could he do?

The opportunity came because he was doing well.

‘If you’re so pissed, you should’ve done better yourself, Cheol-su.’

It was true that Jeong Ye-na brought it up first, and true that he’d only declined out of politeness.

But that didn’t mean he had any intention of yielding the opportunity to another senior.

The others might think of him as rude for this, but so what?

Being polite didn’t level you up.

Corporal Kang’s claim that he should yield the spot was met with a flat refusal.

“Just because you got promoted, you think you can act out? Are you trying to go against me now?”

“No, Corporal. I’m just confident I can do well.”

“Bullshit. You really think you can handle a dungeon with level 2 monsters?”

As the tension in the air rose, someone spoke up.

“That’s enough.”

It was Sergeant Yoon Sung-jin.

“But, Sergeant Yoon Sung-jin, letting a Private First Class be a mercenary is—”

“I’m sure that squad leader has his reasons. Wait until you see the results, then take it up. I’m tired.”

“…Yes, Sergeant.”

Corporal Kang Cheol-su had no choice but to shut his mouth.

Though he still glared daggers at Kim Hyun-jun.

‘Cheol-su, are you nuts? Why would I give this up for you?’

Kim Hyun-jun laughed heartily inside.

Not now, not ever—he had no intention of yielding anything.