Chapter 17: From Slightly to Moderately

“Don’t touch me, you bastard!”

Kim Hyun-jun snarled the instant Corporal Kang Chul-soo tried to lay a hand on him.

“What the… Hey. What do you think you’re doing to me right now?”

“Hey? Did you just say ‘hey’ to me? You’re a soldier, aren’t you? Is a soldier really going to raise his voice at a civilian right now?”

“No, seriously, what are you doing, you punk? Are you out of your mind?”

Corporal Kang Chul-soo glared at Kim Hyun-jun with a menacing look.

Then, he spoke quietly, telling him to just go along with it.

When other team members played the role of civilians, they usually cut each other some slack.

The point of this drill was to see how quickly the Hunter could escape, so everyone tried to keep things smooth.

‘I don’t want to. I teamed up with you just to hold you back.’

Of course, Kim Hyun-jun had no such intentions.

He only raised his voice further at Corporal Kang Chul-soo’s soulless warning that they needed to hurry or it would get dangerous.

“Hey! What unit are you from? Give me your rank and name. I’ll file a complaint with the National Petition Center.”

“If you don’t get out of the dungeon fast, you’ll die!”

“Still talking down to me, huh? I’m not going.”

“No, that’s not it… Sir. This is a dungeon right now, there are monsters crawling everywhere.”

“Why am I your ‘sir’? Did I ever teach you?”

His acting was on a whole different level compared to the other soldiers.

The soldiers watching the drill through the screen burst out laughing.

“Wow. Hyun-jun’s acting is chillingly good.”

“Damn. Watching that’s giving me PTSD.”

“Isn’t that guy actually drunk? Look at Kang Chul-soo all flustered.”

It was so realistic that even the company commander, watching from a distance, clenched his fist.

‘Alright. I’ve stalled long enough.’

After dragging things out a bit more, Kim Hyun-jun finally got up, acting like he couldn’t help it.

If he just lay there and refused to go, he’d get a warning too, so timing was important.

Of course, he didn’t stop there.

Even while escaping the dungeon, he kept pestering Corporal Kang Chul-soo with questions or wriggling around on his back while being carried.

It was already late, and now he was making it even harder to focus.

As a result, there was no way Corporal Kang Chul-soo could complete the training properly,

“Corporal Kang Chul-soo! 7 minutes 35 seconds! Aren’t you going to do it right?”

He ended up with one of the worst records.

It was so bad that even the instructor felt the need to comment.

“Damn it! You bastard! Did you pair up with me just to screw me over?”

Kang Chul-soo was so angry that he grabbed Kim Hyun-jun by the collar the moment he got back to his seat.

He looked ready to throw a punch if left alone.

But Kim Hyun-jun knew full well that the guy didn’t have the guts to actually hit him, so he laughed to himself inside.

“Corporal Kang Chul-soo. Reality is even worse than this.”

“Don’t talk crap, damn it! I’ve never seen anyone act up like you!”

The atmosphere was getting heated.

If it went any further, the instructor would notice, so the other soldiers quickly stepped in.

“Hey, it’s just training. Hyun-jun’s acting was great, though.”

“You’re just taking it out on him because you got a 7-minute time?”

“I saw you almost trip and stumble several times during the escape. That’s on you.”

Most of them were on Kim Hyun-jun’s side.

From the past to now, Kim Hyun-jun had always been at the top in training and results.

Even after becoming a Private First Class, he never once bullied the Privates.

He even handled all the annoying chores and errands himself.

On the other hand, Corporal Kang Chul-soo always did the bare minimum and had a nasty temper.

He was always eager to boss around his juniors over the smallest things.

If that was all, fine, but he often bullied them, too.

So it was only natural that the other squad members reacted this way.

“Chul-soo, don’t cross the line.”

“……”

Even Han Ji-han, another corporal from the same squad, spoke up, leaving Kang Chul-soo with no choice but to keep quiet.

He looked like he was dying of frustration.

‘Chul-soo, just because you made corporal doesn’t mean you’re everything.’

Kim Hyun-jun felt refreshed looking at the tightly shut mouth of the guy.

If he’d been any good at army life, Kim Hyun-jun wouldn’t have gone this far.

After all, people are watching.

‘Just think of it as the karma you built up all this time.’

Even Han Ji-han, his fellow squad member, was siding against him.

There’s a reason for everything.

‘This is getting scary. As soon as we get back to the barracks, I’d better change and run to the personal training room.’

While Kim Hyun-jun was quietly snickering inside, the training continued.

---

“Corporal Han Ji-han! Ready to enter!”

Magic Soldier Han Ji-han cast various support spells to enhance his physical abilities.

Haste to boost agility.

Iron Body to increase physical defense.

He even deployed a shield smoothly just as a monster attack was about to land.

His physical abilities reminded one more of a regular combat soldier than a magic soldier.

He finished with a time of 4 minutes 20 seconds.

A decent record.

‘Most magic soldiers stick to elemental or basic spells.’

Even among magic soldiers, there are different types.

Some maximize offensive power with elemental magic.

Some, like Corporal Han Ji-han, focus on support spells to boost physical prowess.

Some are non-combat, specializing in enchanting items or equipment.

Generally, magic soldiers are known for casting powerful spells from the rear.

They’re also the most numerous.

The support spell types are considered a minority.

Still, Kim Hyun-jun knew why Corporal Han Ji-han chose the support route.

‘Before regression, he definitely said it. He didn’t have the brains to raise his Circle level.’

But he didn’t want to give up the path of a mage, did he?

Well, just holding the mage title is helpful.

Few Hunters look down on support magic.

“Wow. I tried hard, but I still can’t beat Hyun-jun’s record. How do you get a time in the three-minute range?”

Corporal Han Ji-han returned to his seat, resting a hand on Kim Hyun-jun’s shoulder.

Ding.

At the same time, a message popped up before his eyes.

“!”

Kim Hyun-jun couldn’t help but be surprised.

[A Health Recovery Spell has been cast.]

Corporal Han Ji-han had cast a support spell on him.

He had never cast a support spell for him even once before regression.

“Thank you, Corporal Han Ji-han.”

“It’s nothing. You’ve been working hard lately, so I wanted to give you a boost.”

Watching Han Ji-han smile and return to his seat, Kim Hyun-jun felt the difference all over again.

He was changing from how he’d been before regression.

“With that, today’s training is over! Good work, everyone.”

Training continued until after 9 p.m. before wrapping up.

“The guy with the 7-minute record will have to retake the training later. Kang Chul-soo, that’s you. No one else got a seven.”

The company commander’s words made the other soldiers snicker.

If Kim Hyun-jun hadn’t held him back, he would’ve finished in at least six minutes, but there was nothing to be done about the seven-minute result now.

He’d have to do the training again.

‘If I’d really tried, it would’ve been eight minutes. That would’ve been a zero. Would you even realize my careful mercy?’

Not knowing Kim Hyun-jun had gone easy on him, Corporal Kang Chul-soo glared at him as if he could kill.

He seemed furious at being told he needed retraining.

But whatever.

Kim Hyun-jun didn’t even spare him a glance and pretended not to notice.

* * *

“Hey. Kim Hyun-jun. Come out to the smoking area—”

“I’m heading to the personal training room for my training!”

As soon as he arrived at the barracks, Kim Hyun-jun quickly changed and headed for the training room.

Corporal Kang Chul-soo tried to grab him, but Kim Hyun-jun was faster.

“Do you know how much time I’ve spent in the army?”

Even if he got called out eventually, it didn’t matter.

His mental fortitude, honed before regression, wouldn’t shake no matter what was said to him.

“More important than that is this.”

He carefully took a white orb from his pants pocket.

He’d finally gotten his hands on the item that the dungeon investigation team had found and sold off before regression.

“Normally, you’d need an item appraiser or a Hunter with the Observation trait….”

But there was a way to check it here and now.

He opened his Hidden Trait window and entered the General Store menu.

[Low-Grade Disposable Appraiser]

Identifies the effects of unidentified items.

Can appraise items up to Rare grade.

Destroyed after use.

Price: 100 gold

The General Store, where items could be bought with gold, was full of all kinds of things.

If you had enough gold, you didn’t even need to be issued supplies.

But since he didn’t have much gold right now, he needed to save up.

“Still, you have to use it when it matters.”

Judging by the aura from the orb, the low-grade one should be enough.

Upon purchase, a magnifying glass-shaped item appeared in the air.

[Would you like to use the Low-Grade Disposable Appraiser?]

He used it without hesitation, and a brief flash of light appeared and vanished.

Ding.

Then a hologram floated before his eyes.

“…You’re kidding me.”

After confirming the item’s true nature and effect, Kim Hyun-jun was stunned.

[Low-Grade Trait Enhancement Orb]

Can upgrade a low-grade trait to a mid-grade trait.

Hidden traits cannot be enhanced.

Item is permanently destroyed upon use.

It was an item that could influence traits.

“They sold this for pennies? Why?”

He couldn’t understand it at all.

No matter how desperate for money…

To think they sold this off so cheap.

“A trait enhancement item is worth whatever you ask for it.”

Because there’s no way to upgrade traits through normal means.

He, too, had struggled every which way before regression, but his low-grade spear mastery trait never budged.

He’d tried to enhance it with all the money he saved up to sergeant, but reality’s wall was too high.

Because they’re so expensive.

“I’ve seen these go for 100 million, even 200 million, when there’s none on the market.”

Even the low-grade trait evolution orb he was holding now was surprisingly hard to get.

It could drop from low-grade dungeons, but the drop rate was abysmal.

If you put it in percentages, it wouldn’t even be 1%.

The dungeon investigation team didn’t even know what it was worth.

“But now that it’s in my hands, that’s all that matters.”

He immediately crushed the orb.

He instinctively knew how to use the item.

Whirrrr.

As it shattered, the pieces quickly dissolved and seeped into his body.

When he felt a lukewarm sensation spreading, a hologram appeared before his eyes.

[Low-Grade Spear Mastery has been upgraded to Mid-Grade Spear Mastery!]

His low-grade spear mastery trait had evolved a stage.

It was a fresh feeling.

How desperately he’d struggled before regression, just to get to mid-grade spear mastery.

‘Even being able to learn spear techniques at my current pace was thanks to low-grade spear mastery.’

A trait was a trait, even if it was only low-grade.

If he hadn’t had that, even with a hidden trait, his growth would’ve been much slower.

And now that low-grade trait had evolved to mid-grade.

What would mid-grade spear mastery be like?

[Mid-Grade Spear Mastery]

Your proficiency increases moderately when wielding a spear.

Compared to the previous ‘slightly’ from low-grade spear mastery, the description now read ‘moderately’.

“Is that a big difference?”

He wouldn’t know until he felt it himself.

“Guess I’ll have to try until I feel it.”

Maybe it was thanks to the recovery spell Corporal Han Ji-han cast during the dungeon escape training.

He felt like he could train spear techniques all night long.

That night, Kim Hyun-jun trained with his spear non-stop.

Starting with the mana training methods of Lannachal and the Spearmaster, which he never skipped, all the way to Imperial Spearmanship.

A few days passed like that.

Ding.

Seeing the hologram pop up before his eyes, Kim Hyun-jun could feel it for himself.

“…It really is mid-grade spear mastery.”