#25 Second Lieutenant Kang Cheol-du?
The Nova Cheongju Portal Zone.
The south side of the portal, where the military was stationed, was a strategic stronghold.
The military base was bordered by a river on the west, a forest on the south, open fields on the east, and the portal on the north.
It was easy to obtain lumber from the forest, so the base was developing day by day.
The labor force of around 4,000 healthy young men in their twenties was already a great resource on its own.
“Hey, if you do the pillar like that, it’s all going to collapse.”
“Fixing it, sir!”
“Screw correcting it, rebuild it!”
Amidst the shouting and cursing, Lieutenant Colonel Kim Jun-yong, the unit's commander, sat in the command tent, silently receiving reports.
“Two civvies are scouting across the river?”
“Yes, sir. They returned this morning.”
"Huh, what about the crocodiles?"
A herd of crocodiles lived in the river.
So, going in the water was a no-go. They were just fishing with rods.
Because of the crocs, they couldn't get close enough to the water to use nets or traps.
"We looked into that civilian, Kang Cheol-du. He's an elite athlete – top-tier swimmer, and skilled in boxing, judo, and other martial arts."
"So he's good, huh? He took down a croc with just that?"
"Yes."
"Huh, that's something."
In the apocalypse exam, soldiers get the most stat stones.
The problem was, the loot from the apocalypse exam couldn't be transferred, so you couldn't funnel it all to one person.
So, at most, they got a couple of stat stones each. And not even all 4,000 of them got any.
Only the guys who got lucky and found goblin shamans, or who hunted like crazy until the last minute, activated three or four stat stones.
That's not enough to take down a crocodile.
"Hmm, his athletic ability must be considerable."
"We also confirmed that Kang Cheol-du hunted down an ogre junior during the apocalypse exam."
"What?"
Lieutenant Colonel Kim Jun-yong jumped up.
"Why are you telling me this now?"
"I, I just heard it now and came to report it immediately."
Thwack!
Kim Jun-yong kicked Staff Sergeant Park's shin hard.
"Ugh..."
It hurt, but he barely gritted his teeth and endured it.
"Goddammit, so? You've been letting talent like that just sit around?"
"I'm sorry."
"Damn it, we should have rolled out the red carpet for him the second we got through the portal!"
"I'm sorry."
"The big corporations are desperate for people, throwing money around. You think we'll be able to recruit him once we're back on Earth? Huh?"
"I'm sorry."
Staff Sergeant Park gritted his teeth, his anger growing towards Squad Leader Kim Sang-cheol for the late report.
Those sons of bitches. Hiding something this important.
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"Get him! I don't care what it takes, get him to commit to the government!"
"Yes, sir."
"Get out!"
"Yes, sir."
Staff Sergeant Park bowed and saluted, and was about to go outside when he shouted abruptly.
"While you're at it, get a report on the reconnaissance across the river too!"
"Yes, sir, up to what level of compensation should we offer..."
Thwack!
"You idiot! Give him whatever he wants! He's a guy who takes down crocodiles with his bare hands – we can afford to give him anything!"
"Yes, sir, I understand."
"If he even thinks about joining up, tell him he'll be commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, effective immediately."
"Yes, sir, I understand."
"What are you doing? Go out and catch him quickly."
"Yes, sir!"
Staff Sergeant Park, who came out after saluting, bit his lip.
"Kim Sang-cheol, you son of a bitch."
He deliberately omitted the report.
I never liked that opportunistic prick, joining the Nova deployment when he's so close to getting discharged.
How could I like a guy who's just trying to leech off the military and then bail?
That guy's gonna run the second his discharge date hits, forget about re-enlisting.
"Hoo, damn it. This is getting really twisted."
It was Staff Sergeant Park who blew the chance to keep Kang Cheol-du and Kim Jin-tae at the base.
At that time, he thought they were just nobodies.
He thought Kim Sang-cheol was trying to pull some strings to get his civilian buddies access to military resources.
Of course, it was right to kick out outsiders who were not helpful.
But they weren't just unhelpful; they were incredibly valuable – assets we had to recruit.
Staff Sergeant Park heard through the grapevine that Kang Cheol-du had gone toe-to-toe with an ogre, won, and even activated a trait orb.
It was Private First Class Im Chang-jin, bragging to another soldier, and the story got back to Staff Sergeant Park after going through three or four people.
"Where's Kim Sang-cheol!"
"Corporal, Kim Sang-cheol."
Kim Sang-cheol sauntered over, looking nonchalant as if it was nothing when Staff Sergeant Park, who was like a viper, called for him again.
"You son of a bitch. You've got no discipline..."
"..."
"Follow me."
"May I ask where we are going?"
"To clean up the mess."
Staff Sergeant Park suppressed the anger that welled up inside him.
"Sang-cheol."
"Yes."
"Let's bury the past. We really need to cooperate this time. Lieutenant Colonel Kim is also very angry."
"..."
Seeing his expression that didn't even register, Staff Sergeant Park wanted to slap him, but he held back.
"Sang-cheol. Let's be patriotic just once. Kang Cheol-du is a talent needed by the Republic of Korea."
"I didn't know he was that important."
"..."
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Does this guy really not know?
He's like a sly old fox.
"How many times has a field boss been caught in the apocalypse exam? Especially without weapons... Anyway, this will be a good offer for your friend too."
Staff Sergeant Park endlessly listed various benefits and support that the Republic of Korea government could provide for Kang Cheol-du.
"But, telling me won't do any good, sir."
"Didn't you build quite a bit of rapport with him? I'm telling you to help persuade him as much as possible."
"..."
"Aren't you going to answer?"
"Yes, sir, I understand. But he didn't seem like someone who would belong to any organization."
"Huh, so you're giving up?"
"How about this instead?"
"What?"
"Considering Cheol-du's personality, sir. How about this offer..."
Staff Sergeant Park talked with Kim Sang-cheol and slowly walked towards the refugee camp.
*
Kang Cheol-du reunited with his subordinates and received a brief report.
"All potential threats have been eliminated."
Cheol-du tilted his head.
Were there any potential threats?
Anyway, looking at Seo Jong-du's puppy-like face, hoping for praise, he nodded.
"Okay. Good work."
Seo Jong-du nodded, thinking that this was indeed the right thing to do.
"Then shall we see some results?"
"...Results, you say."
Is there anything more to see?
I've cleaned up the entire organization, and now I've shown that I have no choice but to follow you as the boss, right?
Wasn't this the qualification test for a subordinate?
"Alright, let's see how much you've trained, come at me."
"Yes, sir, I understand."
Looking at Seo Jong-du raising his wooden spear, he pointed at Oh Dong-i, who was standing blankly.
"You guys come at me all together too."
"Yes, sir."
"Alright, come on!"
"Waaaaah!"
As six men rushed at him simultaneously with wooden spears, Cheol-du grabbed a pair of hand axes from his waist and moved like lightning.
Whack, Whack whack!
He sliced through the thrusting wooden spears, and then kicked the subordinates who had lost their weapons one by one.
Thud, Thud thud!
It only took 5 seconds for all six of them to roll on the ground simultaneously.
"Kuh-euh-euh-euh."
"Heuh-eup."
Looking at his subordinates rolling on the ground, breathless from a single kick each, Cheol-du grinned.
"Hehehe, this is what an axe is."
Seo Jong-du quickly regained his senses and knelt down.
"The results were insufficient. I will train harder, so please do not cast me aside."
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"I will work harder!"
The gangsters, without exception, bowed their heads while enduring the pain.
"Ah, don't worry. How could wooden spears possibly stand against my axes? Hehehe."
"Y-you're amazing, sir."
"Hehehehe. Let's go. There are a lot of rabbits today."
"Oooooh!"
"A meat party before we go back."
"Oooooooooh!"
Watching his subordinates cheering, Cheol-du chuckled and stroked his axes before putting them back into his leather pockets.
Jin-tae, who had been watching it silently from the side, shook his head.
'He must really like them.'
Cheol-du with blades and Cheol-du barehanded had a gap of about a person and an orangutan.
I understand he's happy, but is he really that happy?
Cheol-du and Jin-tae quickly arrived at their base, which was not far from the riverside, and took out the rabbits that had been stored with the pot.
When more than twenty rabbits strung together came out, the subordinates' mouths dropped open.
"Huh, it's not like you're Doraemon, where did you get these from?"
Oh Ho, who had muttered to himself without realizing it, quickly realized his mistake and bowed his head.
"S-sorry, sir."
"Hehehe, no, it's okay. This is called an inventory."
At Cheol-du's boast, his subordinates' mouths fell open.
What on earth is beyond the river?
Cheol-du proudly told his subordinates the story, put the pot back in, and took out the pot lid and placed it on the brazier.
Meanwhile, the subordinates who were butchering and washing the meat were quite excited.
Because rabbit meat is far more delicious than crocodile meat.
After messing around like that for a while, two uninvited guests appeared.
"Oh? Sang-cheol hyung."
"Oh, Jin-tae. Long time no see."
"Yes, hyung. It's been a really long time. But who is this person?"
"Ah, this is Staff Sergeant Park. My squad leader."
"Yes, hello."
"We met before, didn't we?"
"Ah, yes."
Isn't that Staff Sergeant Park who was kicking Sang-cheol hyung in the shins?
Why did these two come together?
"Um, is your friend...?"
"Cheol-du? He went crocodile hunting."
"Huh?"
Kim Jin-tae looked at the river and said,
"Ah, he's coming out now."
Cheol-du, who suddenly appeared from the river, came out carrying a dead crocodile with its head caved in.
Splash splash splash.
His appearance of dragging a dead crocodile, dripping with water, was shocking to Staff Sergeant Park himself.
'He really must have caught an ogre.'
He's dragging that heavy crocodile so easily.
"Hmm? Sang-cheol hyung?"
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"Oh, Cheol-du, long time no see."
Kang Cheol-du's gaze reached Staff Sergeant Park, who was wearing an awkward smile.
"Nice to see you again. Park Gu-sik, Staff Sergeant."
"I'm Shin-sik."
"..."
"..."
"Just kidding."
"..."
"..."
In the chilly atmosphere, Jin-tae led the people.
"Um, we're going to have lunch, so please come this way while we prepare."
The group came to a place where flat stones were gathered and placed like chairs, and sat down.
Cheol-du gave the crocodile he had caught to his subordinates to butcher, and then took a seat.
Cheol-du was wet with dripping water, but no one made an issue of it.
"Who are those people?"
"They're my subordinates."
"..."
Staff Sergeant Park had already lost one of the cards they could offer.
'Labor support based on abundant human resources.'
"I came here to make an offer to Kang Cheol-du-ssi and Kim Jin-tae-ssi."
"Tell me."
Looking at Kang Cheol-du, who was strangely confident, Staff Sergeant Park had a feeling that things would not go as he had expected.
'He's not someone who fits in the military.'
Although it was the first time he had properly seen Cheol-du, in Staff Sergeant Park's eyes, Cheol-du did not seem like someone who would adapt to the military system.
But the military is about doing what you're told from above.
Park Gu-sik, Staff Sergeant, carried out the orders he had received.
"I came for two reasons."
Park Gu-sik briefly chose the most ideal words that came to his mind.
"To purchase exploration information from beyond that river, and to offer you a commission.”
