13. Unconventional Proposal and Vacation – 1
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Lee Hyun-wook checked again the item sticking out from the kobold’s body.
– Obtained the ‘Devil’s Medal (Inferno)’.
It looked like a small jewel.
‘It’s ridiculous. To think this was coming from here…’ As the name suggests
, the Daemon Medal
was an item containing the power of the demon race ‘Daemon’.
‘Among the high-ranking race medal series, Inferno is one of the most useful.’
Inferno often means ‘hell fire’.
‘At first, Inferno, the savior of Busan, had this…’
Inferno is an incredibly strong player at this point, but by obtaining this item that fits his nickname, he will be able to unleash even more powerful fire powers.
The sight of magma rising and sweeping away everything like ocean waves… Lee Hyun-wook remembered that red-hot disaster and swallowed dry saliva without realizing it.
However, even such an Inferno was no match for the ‘Necromancer’.
The savior of Busan single-handedly blocks the undead army that covers the sea off Busan, and ends up…
‘······I ended up becoming an undead.’
After that, this medal also falls into the hands of a necromancer.
‘After that, I heard that they used this to create the terrible biological weapon, the brimstone corpse golem.’
The dozens of meters tall corpse golem that destroyed the skyscraper in Marine City, Haeundae, Busan… The concrete forest that was brutally ravaged by green fire…
Lee Hyun-wook vividly remembered that scene and stuck out his tongue without realizing it.
The necromancer was truly the worst enemy.
“······With this, I am one step, no, two steps ahead of him.”
Gulp –
He swallowed the item right away, wondering if anyone would see.
There was kobold blood on it, but I couldn’t afford to worry about that.
– caution! There is already ‘metal’ being absorbed. Delayed absorption occurs.
“Huh… Corporal Lee Hyun-wook, are you done now?”
Mintae Ahn approached and asked.
“Don’t let your guard down yet.”
At one word from Lee Hyun-wook, the entire squad began to be alert to the surroundings.
But there were no living kobolds.
In Lee Hyun-wook’s senses, there was no moving metal other than his squad members.
“Deputy commander. “I think it’s all over.”
“ah······.”
Choi Seon-ah nodded with a dumbfounded expression.
Lee Hyun-wook looked back at his squad members. They also had a similar expression to Choi Seon-ah.
‘I need to sort out my complicated emotions.’
Lee Hyun-wook thought it was a moment when praise was needed for the future. Since I would have to lead them and fight several times in the future, I needed to instill confidence for myself.
“Well done everyone.”
At those words, all eyes focused on Lee Hyun-wook.
“We handled it well without a single mistake. “Just as I asked you to do yesterday.”
Only then did they realize that Lee Hyun-wook’s advice that he would not be able to protect his own life if he neglected training had actually come to pass, like a prophecy.
Lee Hyun-wook then made eye contact with Park Jun-mo.
“Especially Park Jun-mo. “You played a decisive role in clearing out the remnants of the party.”
“······ah! Thank you!”
Park Jun-mo was surprised and nodded.
When a gate occurred in the compound and he faced a goblin, he looked foolish and became discouraged after hearing a shout.
But this time, I received tremendous praise. Even though it was a crucial role… Park Jun-mo lowered his head as his eyes seemed to be getting very red.
“Ahn Min-tae, you were reassuring like a corporal.”
“That’s a natural thing to say. haha······.”
Even though he said that, he couldn’t hide his gummy smile.
“And the deputy platoon commander.”
“huh?”
“It’s funny that I even dare to say this, but the command to fire at the end was very appropriate. “If I had hesitated for a split second, I could have missed a few, so I’m really glad.”
“······ah!”
In fact, when she gave the order, the squad members looked at Lee Hyun-wook hesitantly, and only when Lee Hyun-wook raised the muzzle did they follow the command.
Anyway
, only then did Choi Seon-ah regain her vitality and smile.
“thank you! “I’m really glad no one got hurt.”
And then, aren’t tears welling up in the corners of your eyes?
It was because the tension was momentarily relieved.
As expected… Looking at him like this, it seemed like he still hadn’t completely taken off his high school clothes.
It was then.
Ku-Gung-
A heavy vibration rang out from somewhere. Everyone lowered their posture and raised their guns.
Something had landed on the brown brick wall behind me.
“Oh, that person…”
It was a knight wearing black ‘full plate armor’.
‘Seo Eun-ha.’
T-billion!
She threw herself lightly toward the floor and landed heavily.
‘Tsk, I thought it would be a period of noisy appearances, but it’s serious.’
Lee Hyun-wook looked at her disapprovingly without realizing it.
Long in the future, Lee Hyun-wook repeatedly told her to tread carefully, no matter how heavy the knight.
It wasn’t some kind of ‘superhero landing’, but was there a need to land in such a spectacular way?
‘I guess this was one of the things I whined about when I was drunk.’
For a moment, Lee Hyun-wook wondered if he, like 2nd Platoon Leader Lee Hee-min, had caught the pod without realizing it.
However, no matter how much I thought about it, what he did was advice that became bones and flesh.
‘It’s natural.’
Cheol – Wow!
At that time, Seo Eun-ha’s face covering ‘Visor’ went up.
Then her completely embarrassed expression was revealed.
“······.”
“Thank you for your hard work. “An unexpected situation occurred, but it was successfully suppressed.”
Lee Hyun-wook gave her a salute.
However, her eyes were full of unknown hostility.
The next moment, she raised her great sword and pointed the tip at Lee Hyun-wook.
“······Hey you.”
“Say yes.”
“······What on earth are you?”
Something similar to this happened some time ago.
A sudden accident caused her to rush to the scene, but the situation had already ended, and even that soldier was standing unharmed in the middle of it…
One of Seo Eun-ha’s eyebrows twitched. Even without makeup, the blush spread over her white skin. because of strong doubts.
“yes? What are you talking about?”
“Just like last time, what on earth did you do?”
“I still don’t know what you mean.”
It was then.
“······everyone!”
A loud noise began to be heard from the inner alley.
“Get ready for battle!”
It was the voice of 2nd Platoon Leader Lee Hee-min.
He urgently returned with the 3rd and 4th squads.
However, like Seo Eun-ha, she was a step behind.
“······Uh huh?”
He looked around with an expression full of confusion and then looked at Seo Eun-ha.
“Stop, Seo Eun-ha! what? Why are you here… you can’t believe you took care of everything?”
Seo Eun-ha shook her head without answering.
“what? no? “Then what, what, what happened?”
Lee Hee-min looked even more embarrassed than Seo Eun-ha, but was drenched in cold sweat.
It had to be that way.
He was the person in charge of the intermediate base, and since a very serious problem had occurred, he would not be able to avoid censure.
His bewilderment turned to irritation, and he naturally turned to Choi Seon-ah, the deputy platoon commander.
“this! this! Choi Seon-ah! what happened! Damn it, I told you to take good care of it so that no trouble happens!”
“Ah, platoon leader, that…”
He hurriedly approached Choi Seon-ah with one-on-one momentum, and Choi Seon-ah took a step back without even realizing it.
I could see my shoulders instinctively shriveling, probably because I had suffered so much.
At that time, Lee Hyun-wook blocked his path.
“Platoon leader, I will report to you.”
“what? What are you? “Did I just tell you to figure out the topic?”
Lee Hee-min couldn’t control his anger and hit his bulletproof helmet against Lee Hyun-wook’s bulletproof helmet like a pissed off goat.
“······All right. Then I will report directly to the battalion commander.”
“what? How dare an F-rank bastard mention the battalion commander!”
However, Lee Hyun-wook was looking at a different place than Lee Hee-min.
“huh? Where is this bastard looking…”
Next, a scene was produced that made Lee Hee-min’s heart pound even more violently.
Woo-woo-ung-
The sound of an engine was heard from behind.
It was car number 1.
The car with the battalion commander passed through the alley and stopped in front of the midway point.
Chin –
Soon the passenger door opened and Kim Kang-seok, the leader of Namsan’s druid battalion, stood tall.
Lee Hee-min took a deep breath as he looked up at the large figure.
“Chu loyalty! The battalion commander, an unknown cause occurred, and the situation has now been sorted out, but there is no accurate information yet! “I’ll do a little more research and report back!”
As he saluted, his right hand trembled like an aspen tree.
Kim Kang-seok’s thick hand rested on his shoulder.
“2nd platoon leader.”
“······omg! 2nd Platoon Leader Lee Hee-min!”
“2nd Platoon Commander, stay away.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you forcing yourself to report that you know something when you just came in from outside the midway point? Don’t waste your time. “Don’t you know that I hate formalities?”
“······I’m sorry!”
Kim Kang-seok passed Lee Hee-min without answering.
Lee Hee-min was trembling and just rolled his eyes and looked at the back of the battalion commander. He stopped in front of Lee Hyun-wook.
“5th Squad Leader.”
“Corporal Lee Hyun-wook!”
“You report.”
Unlike Lee Hee-min, who was shaking his head, Lee Hyun-wook nodded with a calm expression, and looking at that scene, Lee Hee-min couldn’t help but make an expression as if he had chewed shit.
“Yes, I will report it. During the establishment of the intermediate base and the boundary operation, black magic-type wide-area abnormal magic occurred in the sewers, and we responded with MOPP level 3. Afterwards, a group of kobolds attempted a surprise attack and were overpowered after a battle. “It is presumed that they are the remnants that hid from surveillance during the first eruption.”
“······.”
“Battalion Commander, can you give me a detailed report? About how I, an F-ranker, responded.”
Kangseok Kim shook his head.
“I will listen to that later, and since the operation is still underway, I will issue the next order.”
The battalion commander began to look at the traces of battle scattered throughout the middle base.
A dozen corpses, M9 bayonets stuck in them… Lee Hyun-wook saw Kim Kang-seok’s eyebrows twitch once.
“…Now, from now on, Lieutenant Seo Eun-ha will be in command of this intermediate base.”
Kim Kang-seok said that and looked at Seo Eun-ha.
She seemed a little embarrassed, but immediately saluted.
“Yes, I will.”
Lee Hyun-wook waited for the next words.
“And Lee Hyun-wook, you will perform the duties of the first squad leader as I mentioned earlier. Lieutenant Seo Eun-ha and other members of the attack platoon are waiting nearby, so there will be no danger to the two squads as you were worried… or rather, pretended to be worried. Do you have any good reason to refuse this order?”
“······doesn’t exist.”
“Move immediately. And prove to me the best you can.”
Lee Hyun-wook saluted and looked at Ahn Min-tae and nodded.
It meant asking for 5 minutes.
As I turned toward the gate, I made eye contact with Myungho Cheon, who was sitting in the back seat of car number 1.
“······.”
Hyunwook Lee saluted him and quickly passed by.
Chun Myeong-ho looked at his back with an expressionless expression.
“under······.”
He let out a low sigh without realizing it and looked at the scenery he had created.
“What the hell is that…”
He shook his head.
“Even if I look at it wrong, I look very wrong.”
It even contained a bit of annoyance now.
“······It’s not a leopard, it’s just a tiger, right?”
To his eyes, Lee Hyun-wook’s back appeared even larger.
***
The gate was closed around 7 PM that day, and all operations were completed.
And the next day,
three privates were sitting on the sofa in the counseling room of the 1st Company barracks.
“······and! crazy! So what happened next?”
The person who asked this with an excited face was Private First Class Seong-min Ko from the 1st squad.
Because he was on vacation during the last Itaewon operation, he was unaware of the many incidents that occurred before and after it, but he was hearing about these amazing events from two of his colleagues.
“I don’t know what happened, but Corporal Lee Hyun-wook suddenly came in front of us…”
He frowned and started imitating Lee Hyun-wook.
“······I command you. Yes, there will be complaints. I know. It doesn’t matter if you show off like now, but if you don’t follow orders, you will be summarily punished. “This is real combat, and my words are orders as a commander.”
“what? Does that make sense? “Stop lying!”
“Because it’s real! anyway! When I said that, a few people responded with a small yes, but hmm… the atmosphere was very strange. In particular, the expression on Corporal Kim Geun-ho’s face, who was the temporary squad leader, was truly… wow.”
Hyunwook Lee performed the duties of the 1st squad leader according to the battalion commander’s orders.
That too, quite successfully.
“What was more shocking was the third eruption.”
“······Why what?”
The story that followed was actually close to a heroic tale.
During the third eruption, the elite monster ‘Kobold Bomber’ appeared.
He was a quite difficult opponent, carrying explosives on his body and throwing them or detonating himself.
It was even difficult to accurately pick out and deal with them because they were mixed among many kobold scavengers.
However, Corporal Lee Hyun-wook selected their locations and ordered a wide-area ‘freezing’ magic attack around them, tying them down and directing sniping to capture them perfectly.
“······On the other hand, three tankers in the 2nd squad commanded by the platoon leader were injured. Well, there is no doubt that it was a very successful result, but Corporal Lee Hyun-wook was perfect.”
“Wow…then you made a more accurate judgment than the 1st Platoon Commander?”
“It’s actually like that.”
“No, wait a minute! The 1st platoon leader is quite an elite! I heard that you will soon become the commander of the 3rd Battalion’s attack platoon? F-class did better than that person?”
Gu Seong-min still had an expression of disbelief.
It was then.
Squeak –
Even a tiger would come if I told it to, so the door to the counseling room opened and Lee Hyun-wook came in.
“······uh?”
“ah! Corporal Lee Hyun-wook…”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
The three of them lowered their heads, hiding their surprised expressions.
Hyunwook Lee nodded lightly and opened the shared refrigerator.
“I… Corporal Lee Hyun-wook.”
“huh?”
“Congratulations!”
“······what?”
“that! Aren’t you going to receive a commendation from the battalion commander today? I heard that the battalion commander is visiting in person during the afternoon dinner meeting.”
“Oh, that? “Okay, thank you.”
Hyunwook Lee said that and took out a drink.
“That’s Corporal Lee Hyun-wook!”
As he was about to leave, a private stopped Lee Hyun-wook.
The guy hesitated, then smiled shyly and opened his mouth.
“I think it was truly perfect command during the last battle. I was also making a dissatisfied expression at the time, but I’m sorry even now. I will be careful in the future.”
Hyunwook Lee smiled and nodded.
“Okay, thank you for following along.”
“yes! Rest in peace!”
When Lee Hyun-wook left like that…
“Huh…”
The soldiers let out a trembling breath.
“Hey, was talking to Corporal Lee Hyeon-wook this much nerve-wracking?”
“That made me nervous without realizing it. after······.”
And only then did Sungmin nod his head.
“and! Is everything you said so far true?”
“That’s right, bastard!”
“Wow… Corporal Lee Hyun-wook’s eyes are quite different. You look like a completely different person, don’t you?”
“Oh, that’s right…”
Lee Hyun-wook was not the only one who had changed.
The gaze of the company members looking at Lee Hyun-wook also changed.
If you make an overwhelming contribution like this, your position will change.
The most important factor in evaluating people is their skills.
***
“Pfft!”
Lee Hyun-wook drank a drink from the public refrigerator and ran to the bathroom.
Empty!
He clutched at the toilet and groaned.
It was because of the burning pain in my stomach.
The reason is that······.
– Metal absorption is complete. : Devil’s Medal (Inferno)
* Controllable metal weight has increased. : 499g
Due to this…
– A ‘breath room’ is forming in the stomach. (2%)
* May be accompanied by extreme pain!
It was because of this.
It was the process of absorbing the devil’s medal and acquiring a new skill.
So-called Breath Room To put it simply, it refers to a special organ in the body of a monster that uses a ‘breath’ attack like a dragon to emit something.
At this moment, such an organ was being created in Lee Hyun-wook’s body.
‘I’ve experienced it once, but my body is still weak, so it’s much more painful.’
It felt like my whole body was boiling and my stomach was melting.
The breath room is a kind of ‘melting furnace’ and at the same time a ‘combustion engine’ like a jet engine.
It was such a terrible thing that it was hard to understand that something like that could happen to a fragile human body.
“Keuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu…”
While he was sitting on the floor and moaning, he heard Park Jun-mo’s voice from outside.
“······Corporal Lee Hyeon-wook! Are you here?”
Lee Hyun-wook suppressed his voice and slowly took a breath.
“Hehe… Oh, okay. It is a bathroom.”
“ah! sorry! It is said that the awards ceremony will begin soon. “This is the company commander’s order to stand by for rehearsals.”
I also felt the pain that was worse in my previous life. I could tolerate this much.
“Okay, I’ll be leaving soon.”
He got up against the wall.
*** *
“Corporal! Hyunwook Lee! thank you!”
With all the company members gathered, Lee Hyun-wook received a commendation.
Unlike usual, the battalion commander himself came out and delivered it.
Clap-clap-clap-clap-clap-
‘I’m going crazy.’
My whole body felt like it was on fire, but I didn’t show it as much as I could.
Perhaps because his face was a little red, people around him commented that Corporal Lee Hyun-wook seemed quite impressed, but that was all.
The battalion commander opened his mouth.
“You have made a much bigger contribution than the last time the gate occurred in the compound, so you will be given a considerable reward. If there is anything you want, you can tell me directly.”
Due to two achievements in a few days, a considerable number of reward points were accumulated.
‘I’ll be able to do some shopping even if I change it to a vacation.’
It looked like I could get some nice stuff from the military item shop.
For now, I thought I’d buy something like a pain-reducing potion to suppress this burning pain.
“Oh and. “Let’s have dinner together tonight. We have something to talk about.”
“Yes, I understand.”
‘······shit.’
Unfortunately, there was no time to buy potions.
Hyunwook Lee followed the battalion commander to the officers’ cafeteria.
Staff members were sitting around a round table that looked like something you would find in a Chinese restaurant, and glass cutlery was set up.
Although the atmosphere was quite luxurious, unbecoming of the military, the food was prepared at an average level, only slightly better than the soldiers’ cafeteria.
“You remember what I said yesterday about testing you.”
“Yes that’s right.”
Kim Kang-seok raised his coffee cup and looked at Lee Hyun-wook.
He paused, taking a sip of coffee, and then slowly opened his mouth.
“······Commission as an AMT officer, Lee Hyun-wook.”
This time, an unconventional proposal came in.
