Chapter 20: Beyond the Barrier

"Hey. Isn't that a bit much?"

"It's supposed to be a sudden inspection. Why is an officer getting involved all of a sudden?"

"That's just plain harassment."

When Kim Hyunjun was blocking Captain Park Hoseok's sword, the soldiers watching began to speak up one by one.

Anyone could see that what was happening had far surpassed the original purpose of a sudden inspection.

Making only Kim Hyunjun spar repeatedly, and then having an officer step in at the end—it felt like they were working just one soldier extra hard.

Of course, that was because they didn't know Captain Park Hoseok's true intentions.

'Now that he has an instinctive sense for mana, I need to make him move as much as possible.'

Captain Park Hoseok was crossing swords with Kim Hyunjun to further awaken his sense for mana.

In other words, he was basically drawing his sword for Kim Hyunjun's sake.

"Kuaaa!"

A few minutes later, Kim Hyunjun finally managed to push away Captain Park Hoseok's sword.

Of course, pushing an officer's sword away head-on was impossible.

It would be more accurate to say he deflected it.

"Private Kim Hyunjun. Good work. Of course, you passed the evaluation."

"Private Kim Hyunjun. Tha...nk you."

Kim Hyunjun staggered to his feet.

If he hadn't used his spear as a cane, he might have collapsed.

He had squeezed out every last bit of strength in his body.

'I... managed to withstand an officer's sword.'

The officer's sword he faced for the first time in his life was like a massive mountain.

He never imagined such a slow, ordinary downward strike could feel so heavy.

In the end, he had nothing left but pure willpower to draw strength from.

'I thought it was just a meaningless struggle.'

But it turned out that wasn't the case.

At the last moment, he used mana to boost his strength.

He had no idea how he did it.

Maybe it was instinct, not wanting to lose, that pushed him without realizing.

One thing was certain: he had used the mana in his body to enhance his physical abilities.

'...But that's something even the NCOs struggle to do.'

He wondered if he'd just imagined it for a moment.

Temporarily boosting physical abilities with mana was just that difficult.

'I'll think about that later. For now, I'm satisfied just to have withstood that officer's sword.'

Even if he had held back a lot, Captain Park Hoseok was an elite from the Hunter Military Academy.

How many soldiers could withstand an officer's sword?

He didn't think there would be many.

"Hyunjun, you worked hard."

"Look how gaunt your face is. Get a good rest today."

"Geez. Did that officer have some kind of grudge against you or what?"

Once the evaluations were over and 3rd Platoon reformed their ranks, Kim Hyunjun's seniors spoke to him with concern as he staggered back to his place.

He must have looked truly awful for them to say such warm words.

Since he himself had wanted to experience an officer's sword, he didn't really hold any hard feelings against Captain Park Hoseok.

"But still, even if the officer went easy on you, how could you possibly block that attack?"

"You think you could? Don't you see the diamonds on his cap? Even one is hard enough, but he has three—three!"

"I heard an officer of that rank can solo a C-grade dungeon, and even clear B-grade ones with ease."

"I'm more surprised Hyunjun managed to block that sword with sheer grit."

As they exchanged words, the seniors asked Kim Hyunjun just how strong the officer had been.

"It felt like a giant was trying to crush me with a club."

He answered honestly, just as he felt.

He wasn't exaggerating—it really felt like he could've died if he'd made a wrong move.

"Come on, don't make such a fuss over a single downward strike."

A voice cut in from the side mid-conversation.

Corporal Kang Cheolsoo scoffed, acting like it was no big deal.

"The officer just went easy, that's all. Even I could do it."

"Why do you always talk like that?"

"He got called out alone and had a rough time."

As the seniors were about to scold him, Captain Park Hoseok spoke from the platform.

"If any soldier can block my sword like that, I'll completely revise the skill evaluation criteria."

The soldiers buzzed with surprise, thinking Kim Hyunjun was being given special treatment.

"......"

The drill ground fell silent in an instant.

No one raised their hand.

Giving a chance to redo the finished evaluation was generous, but the opponent was an officer.

No matter how much they held back, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Kim Hyunjun did well to withstand the officer's sword.

"Nobody? Then let's end it here..."

At that moment, one soldier raised his hand.

"Corporal! Kang Cheolsoo! I'd like to try!"

Unexpectedly, Corporal Kang Cheolsoo volunteered.

"Good. Go warm up over there. I'll go at the same intensity as I did for Private Kim Hyunjun."

"Understood!"

Was he doing this because of Kim Hyunjun?

Or was he trying to make up for getting chewed out during the earlier evaluation?

Judging by his words and expression, it seemed to be the former.

"Hey. I'll just block it and come right back. I'm telling you, that guy was just overacting."

At least that's how it looked to Kim Hyunjun.

If Captain Park went at the same intensity as before, Corporal Kang Cheolsoo might really get hurt.

"Keurgh!"

The result came in seconds.

Corporal Kang Cheolsoo tried to block Captain Park Hoseok's downward slash and collapsed on the spot.

He even fainted from the overwhelming force.

"I held back even more than I did for Private Kim Hyunjun because it looked like he'd get badly hurt."

It was like saying, 'You're weaker than Kim Hyunjun, so I really went easy on you.'

"Anyone else? If not, this concludes the sudden inspection. We'll hand out the evaluation sheets, so check your results."

The sudden inspection ended after Corporal Kang Cheolsoo was carried to the infirmary on a stretcher.

The officers handed out evaluation sheets to the soldiers.

"Ah... I'm screwed. Every category is an X."

"Hey, you too? Guess both of us are losing leave."

"If only half are Xs, do I still have a chance? I really need this leave..."

Some soldiers sighed with relief, while others grumbled darkly.

There wasn't much reward for a good evaluation in these sudden inspections.

But a bad score definitely meant consequences.

The main one being leave restrictions.

From the Hunter Army's perspective, it was only natural for soldiers to maintain the required combat standards.

"Return to your barracks. Those with poor evaluation marks, make sure to do better next time."

"Yes, sir!"

At Captain Park Hoseok's final words, the Special Support Brigade officers turned and left the base.

'My whole body feels like jelly.'

After checking his evaluation sheet, Kim Hyunjun staggered off toward his barracks.

It was good that he passed all evaluation categories smoothly... but he'd pushed himself way too hard.

It looked like he'd have to skip personal training today.

"Hyunjun. You're going to collapse if you keep that up."

He was slowly climbing the stairs when suddenly a face popped out.

It was Private Jung Yena.

She expertly supported Kim Hyunjun.

"I can make it up myself."

"Yeah, right. My grandpa could go up faster than you."

"...Honestly, I'm struggling."

"See?"

Since she offered to help, he decided to accept her support.

If he still had his training spear, he would have used it as a cane, but he'd already turned it in.

"You know what? You looked really cool today."

"You mean earlier? I was just twisting my whole body and wringing out every last bit of strength..."

"Oh, come on. No matter what you say, you still managed to withstand the officer's sword, didn't you? How many soldiers could do that?"

He figured he just got lucky, forcing the sword back with pure stubbornness.

Was that really something that could look cool?

He'd be happy if it didn't just look pathetic.

He wondered if she was just joking, but from her expression, she seemed to mean it.

"Praise me all you want, but you won't get anything out of it."

"Embarrassed, are you? I'm not that calculating, you know?"

After walking Kim Hyunjun to the front of the barracks, Private Jung Yena waved and ran off to the women's quarters.

'I always thought she was a calculating type, but maybe not.'

In his previous life, they barely ever crossed paths like this, so it was understandable that he thought so.

So far, Jung Yena had only ever helped him, never taken anything in return.

'When I get promoted to corporal or sergeant, I'll have to get her something nice.'

---

Inside the car heading back to the Special Support Brigade HQ.

One of the officers in the back seat spoke to Captain Park Hoseok, who was sitting up front.

"Captain Park. You can't keep doing that during sudden inspections."

He was talking about today's impulsive actions.

When making sudden inspections at units, they were supposed to stick to the basics.

Having an officer personally test soldiers like today was a no-no.

"It's a good thing nothing happened, but if even one soldier had gotten seriously hurt..."

These days, the Hunter Army wasn't like the old days.

If a soldier got badly injured, even an officer wouldn't get off easy.

Any officer with ambitions for promotion had to watch themselves.

"You know I'm good at controlling my strength. Don't worry about it."

"Sigh... Every time you see a promising soldier, you just have to step in, so I get nervous."

"If anything goes wrong, I'll take full responsibility. It's fine."

"Is that what someone aiming for major should be saying...?"

The officer in the back let out a sigh.

It was a habit of Captain Park Hoseok's for years now, and it didn't look likely to change soon.

"By the way, that was Private Kim Hyunjun earlier, right? How much strength did you hold back when he blocked your sword?"

As the conversation continued, another officer chimed in.

There had been several times when the captain tested soldiers with his sword like today.

But Kim Hyunjun was the first to properly withstand a strike.

Of course they were curious.

"Not much."

"...Excuse me?"

"Honestly, I only held back maybe 20 percent at most."

"Is that even possible?"

The officers were shocked by Captain Park Hoseok's answer.

After all, that meant he barely held back against a mere private.

"Plus, that guy instinctively used the mana in his body."

"A soldier... a private did that?"

"Yeah. He probably isn't even aware of it himself, but Private Kim Hyunjun has talent."

"It's times like these I regret being in the Special Support Brigade."

"Haha. Right? If we tried to recruit soldiers from other units, we'd lose our heads."

Captain Park Hoseok chuckled, saying it had been a long time since he'd seen something this interesting.

'Private Kim Hyunjun. I should remember that name.'

It was too early to say for sure, but there was one thing he was certain of.

Private Kim Hyunjun—

He was too gifted to simply finish his Hunter Army service as just another soldier.

---

A few days after the sudden inspection ended.

Kim Hyunjun was warming up in the personal training room.

"Seeing how Kang Cheolsoo is still groaning, it's a good thing I went to the infirmary."

When Kim Hyunjun went to the infirmary, the medic had thrown him a few recovery potions, saying, "Why would someone half-dead come here?"

Corporal Kang Cheolsoo, on the other hand, didn't get anything.

Even though he was carried in on a stretcher, the medic scolded him for faking it.

Rumor had it he'd tried to dodge training like that before and got scolded by the medic.

If annoying people was a skill, he was certainly talented.

"Anyway. These meds really work wonders."

His muscle aches from sparring with the officer were completely gone.

Ding. Ding.

Just as he finished warming up and was about to start training as usual, a hidden trait notification popped up.

He checked, curious—and an unexpected reward was waiting for him.

"Just from a brief spar with an officer, I get this?"