Chapter 27: The Midnight Pursuit

3:15 AM.

“Ugh, it's cold.”

The Privates First Class who had climbed into the rattling K511 truck shivered from the cold.

Currently, ten Privates First Class were on board the vehicle to support the Special Task Force.

“I was having a sweet sleep, but what a pain because of those criminals.”

“Tell me about it. Even if they give us compensatory sleep after duty, it doesn't feel refreshing at all.”

The soldiers poured out complaints one after another.

It was understandable.

They said the Privates First Class to support the Special Task Force were chosen at random, but they happened to be the ones picked.

‘Should I call this good luck?’

Of course, Kim Hyun-jun had no complaints at all.

Rather, there was a part of him that was slightly looking forward to it.

An expectation that a blind villain might come toward the area where he was standing guard.

‘Well, that probably won't happen.’

Unfortunately, such a thing likely wouldn't occur.

What kind of ordinary unit was the Special Task Force?

There was no way ordinary villains could lose them.

“Hup.”

While he was licking his lips to himself, he felt a warm sensation on his cheek.

It was a heat pack.

“What are you thinking so hard about?”

Private First Class Jeong Ye-na, who had sat down next to him before he knew it, handed a heat pack to Kim Hyun-jun.

She was also mobilized to assist the Special Task Force's mission.

“Private First Class Kim Hyun-jun. I was thinking about how strong the villain might be.”

“What. All I can think about is wanting to return quickly and sleep.”

She replied that seeing as the platoon leader only sent Privates First Class, the villain probably wasn't much of a big deal.

Of course, Kim Hyun-jun had similar thoughts.

If they were dangerous guys, they wouldn't have sent Privates First Class, but at least Sergeants.

“By the way, Private First Class Jeong Ye-na. Isn't your eyesight good?”

“Huh? That's right. It probably easily exceeds 4.0? Why?”

“I thought you might be good at finding villains even from far away. If you spot one first, please let me know.”

“…It’s dawn right now? What am I, an owl?”

Private First Class Jeong Ye-na said that, unfortunately, it was difficult to utilize her trait at night.

She said that while she could see far during the day, her vision became that of an ordinary person at night.

“You're no good. Give that back.”

When Kim Hyun-jun made a disappointed expression, Private First Class Jeong Ye-na tried to take back the heat pack she had handed him.

“Haha. I'm joking.”

The two bickered for a while.

‘Ah. This sucks.’

‘It’s already cold, but my side feels even chillier.’

‘Jeong Ye-na put up a steel wall against me, so why is she acting so close to Hyun-jun?’

The other Privates First Class watched the scene and quietly ground their teeth.

---

A moment later.

The soldiers got off the K511 truck that had arrived at the designated location.

“Loyalty! This is Staff Sergeant Bak Taek-jin!”

As soon as the officer who led the vehicle got off, he saluted the Special Task Force Second Lieutenant.

A dark-colored military uniform and beret that distinguished them from the regular Hunter Army.

The unit mark symbolizing the Special Task Force was attached above the chest.

“Loyalty. I am Second Lieutenant Bak A-yeong.”

She immediately spoke informally upon seeing the Biryong Unit Staff Sergeant.

Usually, officers from other units tend to be respectful to each other unless they are a Major or higher.

Once someone reaches the level of a high-ranking Master Sergeant, even a Major wouldn't hastily speak informally.

Even among soldiers, they tended to call those from other companies "mister" or "older sister."

However, those on the Special Forces side often spoke informally immediately after seeing the rank.

Whether it was because their self-esteem was strong.

Or if they thought the regular Hunter Army was beneath them.

‘She looks to be in her 20s at a glance… To be a Second Lieutenant at that age, she's an elite.’

Kim Hyun-jun knew of Second Lieutenant Bak A-yeong.

Before the regression, she had appeared prominently in the Hunter Army newspaper, so it was impossible not to know her.

‘Did they say she contributed greatly to annihilating a large-scale villain alliance?’

She supposedly knocked down dozens of villains by herself.

Thanks to that, she was quickly given a special promotion from Second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant.

In a situation like this, it would end quickly if Second Lieutenant Bak A-yeong stepped forward, but she didn't seem to have any intention of stepping in directly.

It seemed she wanted to let the soldiers under her command gain experience.

“The soldiers standing guard, don't arrange them like that, change it to this.”

“Yes? Yes. Understood.”

Second Lieutenant Bak A-yeong delivered instructions to Staff Sergeant Bak Taek-jin with her arms crossed.

Staff Sergeant Bak Taek-jin was struggling, wondering why she was speaking that way.

‘Looking at him reminds me of when I was a Staff Sergeant.’

Watching that scene, Kim Hyun-jun felt slightly unpleasant as memories from before the regression, when he was called here and there to do grunt work, came to mind.

“We just need to do as planned. They say it'll be over soon, so go to the designated spots and stand guard.”

“Yes!”

At Staff Sergeant Bak Taek-jin's command, the soldiers moved one by one.

“She's stubborn as hell. Why is she so picky about setting up guards? They should just catch the villains quickly themselves instead of bossing our kids around.”

Leaving Staff Sergeant Bak Taek-jin's grumbling behind, Kim Hyun-jun came to stand guard at the entrance of a mountain path.

It was a path used by civilians for hiking.

Guarding in pairs.

Kim Hyun-jun was paired with Private First Class Lee Dong-tak, a swordsman.

‘By the way, where did the radio they said they'd give go.’

They said they would provide radios in case of an emergency, but forget radios.

They didn't even give a single piece of defensive gear.

It was different treatment from what the platoon leader had explained in advance.

“Hyun-jun. Did you see those Special Task Force guys? The ones who were on standby.”

While they were standing guard, Private First Class Lee Dong-tak struck up a conversation.

He looked angry.

His face was flushed red as if something had happened.

“Private First Class Kim Hyun-jun. Did those guys do something?”

“Shit. Those Privates who haven't even gone in to catch villains were picking a fight with me?”

Private First Class Lee Dong-tak poured out his resentment, saying that those with less seniority than him were openly picking fights and ignoring him.

“Those bastards who are just sucking honey while doing nothing were giving me a piece of their mind, telling me to stand guard properly.”

“It's because their pride is high. Since they're guys who do nothing but eat and train.”

Kim Hyun-jun consoled him by matching his words appropriately.

Even the Special Task Force Second Lieutenant was like that, so how much more so for the soldiers below her.

“But if it's you, Hyun-jun, wouldn't you be able to beat them?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. The officers have been praising you lately, saying you're doing well. Like how you parried the officer's sword last time.”

“I barely managed to take that while twisting my whole body. The officer went easy on me too.”

“Would that be parried just because he went easy? That guy Kang Cheol-su fainted immediately.”

At Private First Class Lee Dong-tak's words saying, ‘Hyun-jun, you should give them a piece of your mind,’ Kim Hyun-jun chuckled.

‘I can more than enough beat a Private. I'm not sure about a Private First Class.’

It was likely said half-jokingly, but he had the confidence to win if they actually faced off.

Compared to before the regression, he had grown overwhelmingly, and he was still growing.

Of course, such a thing wouldn't happen.

---

About an hour after Kim Hyun-jun started his guard duty, the quiet bushes shook.

“It's probably an animal. I heard water deer and roe deer occasionally appear here on the hiking trail.”

Private First Class Lee Dong-tak yawned and didn't pay much attention, but Kim Hyun-jun was different.

‘This feels like a person.’

His senses were telling him it wasn't some animal.

Swoosh!

It was as expected.

The one who revealed himself after parting the bushes was a man.

“Move!”

The man, who looked to be in his 30s, gasped for breath and pushed past Private First Class Lee Dong-tak.

It happened in an instant.

“Wh-what! Mister! You can't go that way! This area is under control!”

Private First Class Lee Dong-tak shouted at the retreating back of the man, but it was a meaningless shout.

“Aw, man. What's this all of a sudden? Is he a drunk mister? I need to report this, but there's no radio.”

Should he go down and report it.

Private First Class Lee Dong-tak agonized over whether he should stay in his position.

‘Should I chase that guy?’

Meanwhile.

Kim Hyun-jun was contemplating whether he should follow the man who was getting further away.

It was a brief moment, but he saw clearly.

The torn and worn-out top and pants stained with blood, and a face that looked urgent as if being chased by someone.

‘It'll be a headache if I catch him and he's a civilian instead of a villain.’

It was an uncertain situation to judge by that moment alone.

It would have been different if they had shown him a photo of the villain's face, but he only knew the physical description.

‘Still, his clothing seems to roughly match.’

Should he go. Or not.

While he was having such thoughts,

Zip!

An arrow flew near Kim Hyun-jun's feet.

A note was tied near the fletching of the non-lethal rubber arrow.

‘It's not the Joseon Dynasty, who would do this… what?’

As soon as Kim Hyun-jun confirmed the contents written on the note, he began to run, chasing the man who was getting away.

[The man running away near you is a villain! I'm sure of it!]

A definitive answer that he was a villain was written on the note.

Looking at the arrow that seemed to be shot by an archer and the tone of the writing on the note, it seemed Private First Class Jeong Ye-na had informed him.

“Hey! Hyun-jun! Where are you going all of a sudden!”

“They say that guy earlier is a villain! I'll go catch him!”

“What? What does that mean!”

By the time the flustered Private First Class Lee Dong-tak asked back at the sudden situation,

“…How is that guy so fast?”

Kim Hyun-jun was already far away.

---

“Shit! Why did things get so twisted!”

Shin Hae-sol, a member of the villain alliance, was shaking off the pursuit of the Hunter Army.

Starting from the Namyangju area in Gyeonggi-do, things began to get twisted one by one, and at some point, the Hunter Army began to chase.

Feeling an unusual atmosphere, he fled all the way to Gangwon-do.

Normally, he would have been able to shake them off, but there was no sign of the matter being resolved.

At first, it was no big deal.

A simple job where he just had to move items to a designated location.

“I had a bad feeling for some reason. I shouldn't have done it!”

The request that came in that day was not about moving illegal drugs like usual, but about moving items.

He didn't know what kind of items were in the small box.

He didn't even try to find out.

He just thought he would touch thick stacks of cash after finishing the request as usual.

That was the case, but the two villains who moved with him were currently caught by the Hunter Army.

Now, Shin Hae-sol was left alone.

“Whew. Still, since those guys got caught, I can somehow escape thanks to that.”

The riff-raff who moved with him were guys whose levels were at most 2.

They were guys who didn't matter even if they were abandoned at any time.

However, he was a Level 4 Mage-type Hunter.

It was a waste to be caught here.

“Hey! Surrender peacefully!”

Just when he thought he could finally breathe, he heard an unfamiliar voice behind his back.

Turning his head, a single soldier holding a spear was following him.

“What's with that guy?”

At a glance, he seemed like just an ordinary soldier belonging to the Hunter Army.

Shin Hae-sol, who had already reached the limit of his stamina, chose to engage.

Since he looked like a nobody, he planned to scatter magic appropriately to definitely shake him off.

‘Mana Arrow. Mana Ball.’

Six blue arrows generated around Shin Hae-sol rushed toward Kim Hyun-jun.

They were basic magics corresponding to the 2nd Circle, but the power could not be ignored.

As soon as he fired the Mana Arrows, he even fired a volley of 1st Circle magic Mana Balls.

“What a pain this is.”

Shin Hae-sol crumpled his face at the surging headache.

Mana drained out rapidly, and dizziness occurred.

Still, if he fired that much magic, an ordinary soldier would never be able to cope.

He just had to bypass the hiking trail and escape like this.

He believed so, but….

“What. Were you a mage? You look so scruffy I thought you were a beggar.”

Kim Hyun-jun narrowed the distance with Shin Hae-sol, deflecting the magic by lifting his spear as if it were no big deal.

“…Crazy. What is that guy!”

The magics, whose power he had increased in his own way, were bounced off pointlessly.

If he looked closely at the man's spear, mana was gathered there.

He wasn't an ordinary soldier, but a soldier who had awakened mana.

Shin Hae-seong hurriedly took out a mana potion from his pocket, gulped it down, and then fired magic wildly.

He increased the power further and also increased the types of attack magic.

Pababa-bak!

Even fiercer magic covered Kim Hyun-jun.

‘This should be enough.’

Only then did the distance begin to widen.

Shin Hae-sol moved his feet, swallowing the nausea that was rising.

However, even that didn't last long.

“Wh-what!”

He stumbled greatly at the feeling of something pulling him strongly.

He almost even fell backward.

“What is this….”

When he came to his senses, he was already in a state where he couldn't take a step.

An unidentified energy felt around his waist.

Before he knew it, the spear was stuck to his side.

He had the illusion that someone was strongly binding him so that he couldn't move.

“I can never let you go.”

When he turned his head, that Hunter Army soldier was grinning.