Chapter 70: Level 6

Kim Hyeon-jun headed straight for a private training room as soon as he returned to the unit and finished his shower.

The other soldiers were so exhausted that they returned to their respective barracks without a word.

'Park Ye-rin did look pretty tired by the third day, too.'

Private Park Ye-rin, who had used high-powered magic consecutively at the end, was staggering when they returned to the unit.

It was because she had used third-circle level ice magic repeatedly.

'No wonder mages are considered nobles for a reason.'

Thanks to her, they were able to deal with the monsters smoothly, so he was inwardly grateful.

Because of Private Park Ye-rin, he could land the finishing blow on the angel statue, which led to his level up.

'I should contact her sometime later.'

'I would've had a hard time too if I didn't have a stamina recovery skill.'

If it weren't for the Spearman's Willpower, he would probably be sprawled out on his bed like the other soldiers by now.

The forced march had been that intense. Some soldiers even dozed off while walking back to the unit.

'Hmm... it's clear that skills aren't a cure-all.'

Kim Hyeon-jun slowly stretched his body in the private training room.

While using his skill eliminated physical fatigue, the accumulated damage remained.

The same went for mental fatigue.

Deciding to refrain from intense training until his condition recovered, he opened his status window.

[Awakened]

Name: Kim Hyeon-jun

Level: 6

Traits: Intermediate Spearmanship, Raising a Spearman (Hidden), Acrobatics, Fighting Spirit

Stats: Strength[25] Stamina[25] Agility[23] Mana[22] Spearmanship[22]

Skills: Mana Refinement Technique of the Magic Spearman, Annihilation Spear, Spiral Thrust, Spearman's Willpower, Magic Spearman's Footwork

'Wow... it went up a lot.'

A smile naturally formed on his face at the changed status window.

With the level increase, all his stats had risen by nearly 5.

'With stats like this, I might have surpassed an ordinary second lieutenant.'

He felt the reward for all his hard work.

Kim Hyeon-jun then opened the hidden trait window. A blinking notification.

[General Mission]

Defeat a Named Monster

Reward: 1,500 Gold

While clearing this dungeon, he had naturally completed the general mission.

The gold acquired from blocking the monster waves in the Special Dungeon was about three thousand gold.

An additional 1,500 gold from defeating the final monster, the angel statue.

Plus the general mission.

The amount of gold he possessed had once again reached a new peak.

'The rate at which gold increases is definitely faster compared to before.'

The stronger the monster you hunt, the more gold you get from clearing difficult dungeons.

This was also similar to the game he enjoyed before his regression.

Even the skills and equipment that used to seem ridiculously expensive could now be purchased to some extent.

Kim Hyeon-jun entered the shop and looked over the skill list.

It was about time to add more spearmanship-related skills.

'As expected, the more expensive it is, the better the performance.'

The advantage of the hidden trait shop was that there was no chance of getting ripped off.

There were no skills that were just expensive and useless.

In other words.

Even if he chose something moderately expensive, he wouldn't suffer a big loss.

'This one looks good.'

After a long deliberation, the skill Kim Hyeon-jun purchased was Meteor Spear.

[Meteor Spear]

Condense special mana into a spear and launch it into the air.

The thrown spear gradually enlarges and plummets to a designated location, dealing massive damage.

Usage Conditions: Possess Magic Spearman's Mana Hole. Level 6 or above. Strength 20 or above, Mana 20 or above, Spearmanship 20 or above.

The price of Meteor Spear was 7,000 gold.

Even so, he didn't feel it was a huge waste.

'I can always earn gold again.'

Moreover, most of the skills he currently possessed were skills that exerted power against a single enemy.

Meteor Spear seemed useful both against strong boss monsters and for reducing the numbers of a large group of monsters.

It was a skill with good versatility.

However, there was one drawback.

Meteor Spear was a throwing-type skill that launched the spear you were holding.

In other words, to use that skill reliably, you needed a spare spear.

'A spear is a polearm, so it's hard to carry multiple ones.'

So why did he buy Meteor Spear anyway?

Because the cost-performance was just that good.

A skill with that level of utility and power would have cost nearly twice as much.

Of course, there were means to cover that shortcoming.

That's why he bought it.

'Honestly, if you just have money, you could solve it by throwing cash at the problem... but with my money, that's out of the question.'

That was acquiring a subspace pouch capable of storing various items.

A unique-grade subspace pouch was roughly three times the size of a military backpack.

However, for a unique item, it wasn't considered to have a huge capacity.

The price was also vicious.

The auction starting price began at four billion, or so he'd heard.

So it was also an item recognized as a luxury among Hunters.

'But I have my list of honey pots.'

He still had one spare permit sticker for priest equipment.

All he needed to do was acquire a storage-type item.

'Hmm. Speaking of which, that runestone I gave to Park Ye-rin. It'd be too shameless to ask her for a pouch in return, right?'

When he jokingly sent a message to Private Park Ye-rin, a reply came within seconds.

[Park Ye-rin: Yes! It is expensive, but... I'll try to get one for you! (Emoticon of a rabbit clenching both fists)]

If he left it at that, she seemed ready to really get one, so he quickly stopped her.

'I can't even joke around with her.'

He decided to think about supplementing his newly purchased skill later.

'I went shopping, so I should try it out, right?'

He tried it.

But only for a moment.

Due to the unexpectedly large mana consumption, he had to stop activating the skill.

'...I was feeling a little cocky just a moment ago thinking I'd gotten stronger. Seems I still have a long way to go.'

---

A few days later.

Soldiers within the unit came looking for Kim Hyeon-jun.

"Sergeant Kim Hyeon-jun. Is it true you're level 6?"

"I heard your average stats are close to 25, is that true too?"

It was because of the regular measurement conducted just yesterday.

Kim Hyeon-jun's stats were abnormally high considering he was a private.

The officer in charge of the measurement thought it was an error and re-measured several times.

After three measurements, Kim Hyeon-jun's average stat came out as 23.

That stat surpassed that of an ordinary second lieutenant.

"Level 6 is correct, and the average stat is around 23, not 25."

Kim Hyeon-jun answered truthfully without showing any expression.

It was information that would come out anyway if he tried to hide it, and it wasn't pleasant having junior soldiers persistently clinging to him.

"...Crazy. Is that for real? Isn't that around the same level as our platoon leader?"

"Probably higher than the platoon leader... our platoon leader is level 5."

"How on earth did you do it?"

They all exclaimed in what seemed like astonishment.

They knew Kim Hyeon-jun was strong for his rank, but they didn't know he was at officer level.

At that level, you could believe a second lieutenant was masquerading as a sergeant.

"......"

Private Kang Cheol-su, who was in the same barracks, also had a face that looked quite shocked.

In a different sense.

"Sergeant Kim Hyeon-jun. What's the secret?"

"I want to raise my stats quickly too!"

The juniors wanted tips, but the world was unfair.

'To catch up to me, you'd need a hidden trait as a baseline and to consume a lot of beneficial elixirs.'

So he gave them a vague answer and stepped out of the barracks.

Having over twenty juniors chasing after him was enough to drive him crazy.

'More importantly, I need to think about how to get that hidden piece in Uljin.'

Over the past few days, Kim Hyeon-jun had been sifting through his pre-regression list of honey pots.

It was to compensate for the drawback of his newly purchased skill, Meteor Spear.

What he found was a hidden piece located in Uljin, Gyeongsangbuk-do.

'I know the location... the problem is I don't know much else besides that.'

He could make time to go all the way to Uljin, only for it to be a wasted trip.

All Kim Hyeon-jun knew was that it was a peculiar type of hidden piece.

That it felt more like a quest than a dungeon.

'It's like the feeling of meeting Son Goku with a quest request ticket back in the day.'

Also, it required two people of different genders.

'I think the prerequisite was that they had to be handsome and pretty.'

Thinking about it again, the conditions were quite tricky.

The Hunter who took that hidden piece before his regression appeared much later, they said.

'What should I do?'

It was worth trying.

The problem was that he needed a companion.

Beep!

A message arriving right in the middle of his pondering.

[Park Ye-rin: By the way, about that runestone you gave me last time. When exactly are you going to let me repay you? I hate being in debt...]

It was Private Park Ye-rin's occasional grumbling, but lately, the frequency was increasing.

'Should I just ask her to go to Uljin with me? If I let this slide, she'll just contact me again anyway.'

Kim Hyeon-jun stopped pondering any further.

He sent a message to Private Park Ye-rin asking about her leave schedule and if she could go to Uljin with him.

Along with the explanation that he had a separate item to find there and that one day would be enough.

[Park Ye-rin: ...Can I think about it for a moment?]

Then, there was no answer from her for a long while.

'It was a sudden request, after all.'

Since they were in different units, aligning leave schedules probably wasn't easy.

He decided to put this issue aside for now.

Just as he thought that, Private Park Ye-rin's reply came back.

It was an answer saying it was okay.

---

"...Is this okay?"

Meanwhile.

Private Park Ye-rin was flustered by Kim Hyeon-jun's sudden proposal.

She had contacted him a few times asking him to let her repay him for the runestone she conceded before... but she didn't expect it to come so abruptly.

"Why did Hyeon-jun ask me to go to Uljin with him?"

Kim Hyeon-jun's request was all there was to it.

To accompany him until he found the item he was looking for.

Using this to repay her debt felt somewhat prickly to her conscience.

"It doesn't feel burdensome, though..."

She found it strange even to herself.

Because of her innate looks, she had received a lot of attention and gazes since she was young.

There were men who approached her feeling attracted, but there were also women who were envious and jealous.

So from a certain point on, people's attention and gazes began to feel burdensome.

But strangely, Kim Hyeon-jun's approach didn't give her that uncomfortable feeling.

Even though he was a man too.

"More importantly, is there an item in Uljin?"

Private Park Ye-rin knew more information compared to ordinary soldiers.

You could say it was thanks to her father, the division commander.

But this was the first time she'd heard of an item being in Uljin.

"Hyeon-jun must have a plan."

Judging by what he had shown so far, it seemed he never moved without a reason.

It was probably the same this time.

"Let's think of it as a trip between friends."

---

Two weeks later.

Private Park Ye-rin, who arrived in Uljin first, took several deep breaths.

This was her first time meeting a friend privately, especially taking leave to do so.

"Wow... what's a celebrity-like person doing in a rural place like this?"

"Is she an idol? Should we try talking to her?"

"Know your place, man."

Passersby kept glancing at Private Park Ye-rin.

It was because of her striking appearance.

She was currently wearing civilian clothes.

A simple, elegant white dress.

Actually, attire wasn't a big issue for her.

For a mage, the staff was much more important.

"Hyeon-jun!"

The expressionless girl gave a faint smile upon seeing Kim Hyeon-jun walking from afar.

"Did you wait long? Sorry about that."

"It's okay."

"That dress looks expensive, are you sure? It might get dirty."

Kim Hyeon-jun tilted his head, looking at Private Park Ye-rin in her dress.

Even though he had told her that they didn't know what situation might arise during the process of acquiring the target item, she was dressed in civilian clothes.

"This is more comfortable for moving. I brought a separate staff, so it's fine."

Then, as if to prove her point, she showed her staff.

She said the weapon wasn't one requisitioned from the unit, but one of many lying around at home.

Even a casual glance showed it looked quite expensive.

He decided not to mention that part.

She had taken the time to come, and it could still end up being a wasted trip.

---

That night.

Kim Hyeon-jun headed toward Candle Rock with Park Ye-rin.

Because the hidden piece was at Candle Rock, located by the riverside in Uljin.

'Ten minutes left until midnight.'

With nothing else to do in the meantime, he and Private Park Ye-rin went sightseeing and wandered around.

"This place is quite nice. It feels healing."

Kim Hyeon-jun was bored as time passed slowly, but Private Park Ye-rin seemed quite satisfied.

"But Hyeon-jun. That item you mentioned, when are we going to look for it?"

"We'll find it around here."

Kim Hyeon-jun raised his hand and pointed at the rock.

From the outside, it just looked like a giant rock with trees growing on it.

"There's an item around here? I don't feel any particular energy..."

"I only heard about it through rumors, so it might not be certain."

The information Kim Hyeon-jun knew was just the location, the time frame, and the information about the obtainable item.

The rest, he said, you had to find out by trying it yourself.

'Good. It's midnight.'

Checking the time, Kim Hyeon-jun infused mana into his hand and gently tapped the rock.

As if knocking on a door, gently.

How much time passed like that?

A holographic window appeared before Kim Hyeon-jun and Private Park Ye-rin.

― I like you guys.

Along with an unfamiliar voice digging into their ears.