Chapter 34: The June Snowfall

A month had passed since the guerrilla training ended.

For the time being, there were no major training exercises, so the soldiers spent their days in a relaxed routine.

Still, the military was the military.

Just because there was no immediate training didn't mean they were idle; various tasks and dungeon raids were carried out consistently.

"Wow... I'm finally achieving this now."

A glint of surprise appeared in Kim Hyun-jun's eyes as he went about his usual routine.

The proficiency of his Imperial Spearmanship, which had been stuck at the average level, had finally risen a notch.

[Imperial Spearmanship Form 1 Proficiency: High]
[Imperial Spearmanship Form 2 Proficiency: High]
[Imperial Spearmanship Form 3 Proficiency: High]
[Imperial Spearmanship Form 4...]

Looking at the hologram floating before his eyes made him feel proud.
On the other hand, he wondered if it was really something that should have taken this long.

"It doesn't feel like much has changed to me."

His movements had become more fluid than before, and performing the spear techniques had indeed become easier.

In particular, he realized that it wasn't just simple physical strength that mattered, but the connection with the body's core muscles.

He had followed the guidance of his hidden trait with that in mind...
Thinking back on it, it made sense that his proficiency had increased.

"Now I can at least pull off some circus tricks with a spear."

Having achieved his training goal, he inwardly looked forward to what reward the hidden trait would give him.

Since it wasn't easy compared to previous training, he expected it might be something better than just a skill.

"I must have been beaten by that combat hologram more than hundreds of times."

Was it just a feeling?
Even though it was a virtual hologram attacking him, it felt strangely painful.

In other words, he had gone through a lot of trouble.

"I hope it gives me a trait."

At that moment, a hologram popped up in front of him.

Tring.

[Your proficiency in Imperial Spearmanship is high.]
[As a training reward, you have acquired the trait: Acrobatic.]

Just as he had hoped, a trait was given as a reward.

[Acrobatic]

The body's sense of balance and agility become more sensitive. It assists in performing acrobatic movements.

"...It was worth working hard all this time."

A common trait, Acrobatic.

If it had been before his regression, he would have complained incessantly about why he was given such a trait.

"If I had received that before the regression, I would have screamed, asking if they wanted me to join the circus."

But that was only because he hadn't known spearmanship back then.

The Acrobatic trait was nothing but beneficial for a Spearman handling a long polearm; it was never a bad trait.

"It allows for more versatile use of the spear in actual combat."

One Hunter in China had even shown off a feat of launching their body far away using a spear as a support.

That could be seen as a movement applying Acrobatic.
One might call it an advantage of polearms that swords cannot mimic.

Of course, acquiring that trait didn't mean he could copy such moves immediately.
It required consistent practice.

"It'll be hard to be like that Chinese Hunter just by training, though."

Still, a good thing was a good thing.
As long as he practiced, he would be able to utilize it sufficiently in real combat.

Even in the skill shop of the hidden trait, there were skills that could only be used if one had the Acrobatic trait.

"How much of a difference will I feel?"

He immediately tried leaning his weight on the spear as a support.
After planting the spear, he grabbed the shaft horizontally and hung from it, straightening his body.

It was the pose known as the Human Flag.
A movement also referred to as the horizontal instinct.

"...The performance is definitely there."

The effect of the trait was clear.
He was able to maintain the posture stably.

In the past, he could only hold it for about 5 seconds at most, but now he could easily endure for 30 seconds.

This is why Hunters are terrifying.
Something an ordinary person would struggle with even after years of training is caught up to just because a single trait was gained.

"Life is inherently unfair."

Still, applying it to actual combat would require a lot of practice.

More things to train had been added, but Kim Hyun-jun's expression looked rather happy.

Blink. Blink.

Now that he had a new trait, he was about to train more with his spear when the hologram window flashed.

"Huh? There's more?"

When he looked into it to see what it was, he could see that one function had been added.

[Random Quest]

Following General Quests and Hidden Quests, now there were Random Quests.

It wasn't that surprising since it was a feature present in the games he enjoyed before his regression.

"If it's a Random Quest, is there one for slapping Kang Chul-soo? Or tripping him? I'm confident I'd be good at those."

It was a newly added function, but unfortunately, the quest column itself was empty.

"Tsk, how dull."

Still, it was better than nothing.
A smile played on his lips.

Another trait had been added, bringing his total to three, and hadn't his Imperial Spearmanship proficiency increased as well?

At this rate, he felt he could easily clear a C-rank dungeon.

"Corporal Kim Hyun-jun, may I come in?"

However, that joy did not last long.

"Loyalty! The officer on duty told us to prepare for a snow removal operation!"

It was because of a report from a junior that it had started snowing outside.

"...It's June right now?"

They had just finished guerrilla training recently, and now it was snowing.
He wondered what kind of place Gangwon Province really was.

***

― This is a message from the officer on duty. As of this time, devise individual cold-weather measures with no exceptions! All soldiers are to prepare for the snow removal operation and assemble in front of the parade ground.

4:00 AM.
The soldiers, who had been deep in sleep, woke up with groans of misery.

"Dammit! Where else in the world does it snow in June!"
"Ah. Is it for real that it's snowing at four in the morning? Couldn't it have waited two more hours?"
"It snowed in April, and now it's acting up again."

Children jump for joy when it snows, making snowmen and snow ducks, but adults—especially soldiers—hated snow beyond measure.

To them, snow was just trash that had to be cleared away every time it fell.

Furthermore, in the Biryong Unit located at the front lines of Gangwon Province, it occasionally snowed even in June after spring had passed...

Whenever that happened, all soldiers had to pick up snow pushers, shovels, and brooms to perform snow removal.

'Ah. I was in a good mood and training well.'

The other soldiers were frustrated because their sweet sleep had been interrupted, and Kim Hyun-jun, who had woken up early and was in the private training room, was also frustrated because his momentum had been broken.

"Let's finish this quickly and get back inside. Corporals and Sergeants, if I catch you dumping work on your juniors, you're dead. Got it?"
"Yes!"

At the duty officer's command, the battalion soldiers scattered.

They moved with snow pushers and shovels to clear the snow in their respective assigned areas.

"We clear dungeons, we train, we go out for public support—we do everything! They could at least clear the snow for us!"

The Corporals and Sergeants grumbled incessantly as they moved with their snow pushers.

No matter how hard they cleared it, the snow would just pile up again, so they complained that there was no sense of achievement.

"It would be over in a flash if the magic soldiers just blasted it with some fire magic. Don't you think?"
"Am I a blowtorch? Do you have any idea how much snow is piled up in this unit?"

Corporal Han Ji-han frowned at his comrade's words.

Even if magic was used, the amount of snow melted was small compared to the mana consumption.
It was incredibly inefficient.
Because of that, the magic soldiers also carried snow pushers or shovels to move the snow.

Thud! Thud!

The eyes of the soldiers who were lazily clearing snow were drawn to one side.

"Wow. That guy Hyun-jun is still working hard even after becoming a Corporal."
"I'm telling you, you can tell he's done a lot of shoveling."

He was bound to stand out.
Kim Hyun-jun's snow removal speed was significantly faster than the other soldiers.

'I didn't expect this either.'

Normally, even Kim Hyun-jun wouldn't have worked this hard to clear snow.

There was a reason he was being so diligent.

[Random Quest – Tutorial]

Remove snow accumulated near the military base.
Time Limit: 60 minutes
Reward: 50 Gold

It was because a hologram had suddenly appeared before his eyes.

It was a Random Quest.
Unlike other quests, there was a time limit, so he had no choice but to move quickly.

'Did it appear as a tutorial just to give me a taste?'

But why it had to be snow removal was a mystery.

It felt like it was mocking him, but looking at the reward, it wasn't that bad.

It was the amount of money earned by catching over ten D-rank monsters, and he had to do the snow removal regardless of whether he was given gold or not.

"Corporal Kang Chul-soo-chul-soo. Stop dumping your work on the juniors and do some work yourself."

Kim Hyun-jun picked a fight with Kang Chul-soo for no reason, annoyed by the Random Quest.

"Why are you picking on me? And I told you not to call me by that name!"
"Can't you see I'm working hard on snow removal? I'm a Corporal too, you know?"
"...Dammit. Hey. Bring it here."
"Private First Class! Son Seok-jun!"

At Kim Hyun-jun's words, Corporal Kang Chul-soo picked up a shovel and began clearing snow half-heartedly, as if he had no choice.

After becoming a Corporal, he really liked the fact that he could occasionally poke at Corporal Kang Chul-soo.

He wondered what kind of fun would be waiting for him once he became a Sergeant later.
Just imagining it made him laugh.

"And you know the 3rd Platoon Corporals and Sergeants have a dungeon raid scheduled in seven days, right? Prepare yourselves well."
"Uwaaaaah!"
"Quiet down and just clear the snow, you punks."

As the snow removal was nearing its end, the members of the 3rd Squad shouted as if they were wailing at the duty officer's words.

Kim Hyun-jun wanted to raid the dungeon rather than clear snow...
Both before the regression and now, he hated snow with a passion.

***

Seven days later.

A dungeon raid team consisting of eight Corporals and Sergeants from the 3rd Platoon was assembled in front of the dungeon, checking their equipment.

"The internal environment of the dungeon we are raiding today is quite dangerous. Prepare yourselves and never let your guard down!"
"Yes!"

The soldiers were wearing equipment different from usual; their weapons and the suits covering their entire bodies were military goods made of heat-resistant materials.

The dungeon the soldiers were to raid was one where Lava Turtles appeared.

Even among C-rank dungeons, it was a place with a high clear difficulty.
If classified in detail, it would probably be around C+.

The monsters themselves weren't threatening, but the internal environment of the dungeon was dangerous.

The temperature inside the dungeon was so high that it was stifling just to stand still.

The soldiers said it felt as though their stamina was being depleted faster than usual.

'I actually ended up coming here.'

Kim Hyun-jun looked at the dungeon entrance while checking his heat-resistant suit and the issued spear.

To think he would already be raiding a dungeon that he had been excluded from until he became a Sergeant before the regression.

It seemed the Company Commander or the Battalion Commander had certain expectations.

The dungeon where Lava Turtles appeared was usually one where only experienced Corporals and Sergeants were taken.

'In fact, shield bearers used to be excluded from the raid team because they were particularly weak to the heat.'

Was it because they were big and had a lot of body heat?
He didn't know the details.

In any case, the current raid team consisted of swordsmen, spearmen, and magic soldiers.

Even Sergeant Yun Sung-jin, a magic soldier, had joined the raid team.

Compared to the C-rank dungeon they had raided before, the level of the soldiers was higher.

"Hey. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Sergeant Yun Sung-jin spoke to Kim Hyun-jun, seemingly worried about him.

In the past, other Corporals and Sergeants would have openly ignored him, asking if he could even handle it, but that wasn't the case anymore.

"Hyun-jun. It'll be a total loss if you overdo it and get hurt."
"My point exactly. The environment here is too harsh for rookies to handle."
"I don't know why they put you in the raid team when it hasn't been long since you became a Corporal."

If anything, they were more worried than anything else.

It was the result of his diligent military life and rapid promotion to Corporal.

"Corporal Kim Hyun-jun. I am fine."

Kim Hyun-jun was slightly surprised by the concern he hadn't received before the regression, but he nodded confidently.

He had experience raiding that dungeon after becoming a Sergeant in his previous life.

This meant he knew all the information about the dungeon.
He had no intention of being a burden to the other squad members.

'And Lava Turtles are monsters known for giving good experience points.'

Even if shared among several soldiers, they were monsters that gave more experience points than others.
They were also relatively easy to hunt.

Because of this, Lava Turtles were called "Generous Turtles" among the soldiers.

From Kim Hyun-jun's perspective, it was an opportunity he couldn't afford to miss.

"Everyone, make sure to stay hydrated, and any soldier who experiences an abnormality during the process must report it immediately."
"Yes!"

With Second Lieutenant Kim Dong-woo's briefing and the delivery of various precautions finished, the raid team moved their steps into the dungeon.