36. Rain falling on the waves – 3
————————
There are at least one person who wonders why a fearsome man named Choi Young-jun became an AMT soldier. It wasn’t. Honestly, isn’t it normal for a guy of that caliber to be recruited from a private guild?
Sergeant Kang Ik-jun of the strategy platoon, who was once Choi Young-jun’s senior, testified about that point.
“That bastard? So fucking lazy! Even when I was a private, I was just loafing around and trying to do nothing? Does that make sense? But honestly, he was good at everything, so in the end I couldn’t say anything, he was such an unlucky guy…”
He’s a lazy genius.
Yeah, he wasn’t very motivated at first.
“And he was constantly muttering that he didn’t know why he was brought in and had to serve compulsory service when he wasn’t awakened because he wanted to be awakened… It’s true that I got upset when I was a squad leader…”
He has a rebellious temperament.
They are dissatisfied with society and do not try to conform to the system.
“In the beginning, I was just going to make a living by drawing comics, but I suddenly woke up and got annoyed or something, you crazy person! Are you really saying I’m still so dumbfounded that I just laugh when I see his face?”
And I had a completely different dream that I wanted to achieve.
But why did such a person suddenly change his mind and start growing day by day?
“Hmm… I heard it’s fun to kill monsters? “I told you he’s a psychopath?”
It was a rather bloody reason.
Realizing a certain ‘fun’ that he did not know, he began to show his true value.
“······Sergeant Youngjun Choi!”
He was standing here now.
He stood with his hands in his pockets and slowly rolled his eyes to look at the monster.
Maybe he was already feeling some kind of interest, but it didn’t show on his face.
At that time, the SUV’s driver’s door opened and the company commander, Captain Kwak Yong-jun, revealed his face.
“hey! Youngjun! I drank alcohol. Is it okay? will my brother do it? “You only drank one sip!”
Yes. The day before Choi Young-joon’s return, he was drinking with some veterans, including Yong-jun Kwak. That’s why I was able to return together when Kwak Yong-joon received the ‘initial response team call-up text’.
“no. “If you are planning to have a second child and have to take the Chunghwa Line, you need to be careful in times like this. If you fly to one place for no reason, you will have to leave before transferring.”
“······hey! Why do you say such things as transfer to Hwa? “That bastard is drunk. He’s drunk!”
Choi Yeongjun walked slowly and reached out his hand towards Ahn Mintae.
“Mintae, give me the sword.”
“ah! “This is a bit of a state…”
However, Ahn Min-tae’s sword was cut in half by that woman’s blow.
“I’m here!”
At that time, a female soldier from the 2nd company shouted that.
Covered in tears, she pulled the sword from the waist of her gunner’s corpse.
“Corporal Eunhee Lee, I’m sorry…”
And then, whimpering, he held out his sword to Choi Youngjun.
“Here… please!”
“Thank you.”
Choi Yeongjun took the sword and raised it to the level of his face.
It was to measure its length and weight.
However, it was a very short auxiliary sword with a blade length of only 50 cm.
Woooooo- Before I knew
it, the zombies that had been pushed away by the SUV were all standing up and approaching the guard post.
The number was still over thirty.
“That’s Sergeant Youngjun Choi! Those things can’t be killed with a regular sword! Also, it seems to be a bit shorter than the weapon you normally use. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Ahn Min-tae said impatiently.
Of course, it wasn’t that I didn’t trust Choi Youngjun.
But when he passed by just now, the smell of alcohol was so strong that I couldn’t help but worry.
However, Choi Youngjun nodded silently, as if he was not drunk at all.
“Yes, I know.”
An unidentified woman among the zombies laughed at his words.
“what? I know, but why do you come forward so confidently? “There’s another idiot who cuts off my lifeline?”
Then Choi Youngjun rubbed his eyes with his left hand.
“Um… Do zombies talk? Was I… drunk?”
“what? I’m not Joe Zombie!”
“Oh yeah? “Then I will soon turn you into a zombie, so just wait a moment.”
His voice was quiet and gentle, but the content was somewhat bloody.
“Mintae, take a good look. The important thing when using a weapon is not the same length.”
“yes? then······.”
He advanced towards the zombie horde and swung his right sword in response. ‘
What
happened?’
Ahn Min-tae couldn’t help but think that way.
With a single knife, the heads of the three zombies soared into the air.
Char-evil!
The heads of two zombies fell off in the ensuing blow. With his head cut off like that
,
even a zombie couldn’t move.
In fact, it was very natural.
In the case of low-level undead that move independently, they cannot function if their heads are cut off.
But who would dare think of cutting off a zombie’s head with a one-handed sword…?
“Did you just see it? “Distance, accuracy and timing are the keys to physical combat.”
Youngjun Choi said that as if he was giving a practical lecture rather than a battle.
However, Ahn Min-tae’s gaze could not help but be somewhere else.
“-uh! Before!”
It was because the woman’s long blade was falling toward Choi Yeongjun’s head.
Chae-Aeng!
However, Choi Yeongjun did not even turn his head and parried the attack.
It was truly an amazing scene.
The woman’s blow, which cut Ahn Min-tae’s sword and shield like paper, bounced off so vainly. Even that was blocked with a sword of a much lower grade than Ahn Min-tae’s sword.
even······.
– Chop!
As soon as she parried the attack, Choi Yeong-joon’s sword cut the woman’s thigh.
The woman staggered back with a surprised look on her face.
“Oh what?”
But this time, beyond the miraculous, an unbelievable scene unfolded.
The woman’s torn thigh was healing in an instant.
It was so fast that you could see the wound attaching.
“······Does that make sense?”
Everyone in this seat doubted their own eyes.
In fact, it couldn’t have been a great recovery ability.
However, only Choi Yeongjun was still indifferent.
“What are you, a zombie?”
The woman patted her thighs as if they had dust on them.
“For an AMT, it looks like you use a bit of a knife? But what should I do with this? Don’t you think it will be of no use to me? Cutting off a few zombie heads and then acting condescending to the successor… Do you know how bad it really is?”
At those words, Choi Youngjun smiled and took a step forward.
“okay?”
But in that split second, Ahn Min-tae felt a strange emotion contained in Choi Young-jun’s expression.
‘Are you having fun…?’
It seemed like I had discovered Choi Young-jun’s psychopathic side, which his senior colleagues had claimed.
“Well then… what do you think about this?”
There was a hint of playfulness in his voice somewhere.
And once again something strange happened.
Whoosh- Whoosh- Choi
Young-jun swung his right hand twice very quickly and concisely, as if he was giving a jab.
The next moment, all ten of the woman’s fingers were cut off and fell into the rainwater.
“Kyaaaaah!”
The woman was scared and screamed, but Choi Young-jun did not stop.
He took another step forward and swung two more times.
Char-evil! Char-evil!
His left calf and right forearm were cut.
Before the severed body parts could be separated, two more flashes of light flashed.
Char-evil! Char-evil!
This time, his left shoulder and right ankle were cut off.
“Kak keuh-ah!”
The joints of the limbs are falling apart like Legos…
It was so unrealistic that it didn’t even feel cruel.
“Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa no
A woman who lost her limbs in an instant fell to the floor and moaned.
The tip of Choi Youngjun’s sword touched the woman’s chin.
“Well, I think there’s only one place left to cut… Would you please tell me before that? Is this bad too? how was it?”
“Please…”
“······Honestly, it was pretty good, right?”
“······.”
However, Choi Young-jun did not swing the sword.
He lifted his right foot and struck the woman in the head.
Sigh!
The woman eventually fainted.
“Mintae, can you get some rope and tie it up so it doesn’t come loose?”
“······Oh yeah!”
“I’m recovering quickly, so I might come to my senses quickly, so hurry up.”
Yes, in order to reveal the identity of this crazy attacker, we had to capture him alive.
Tying up a living person with his or her limbs cut off was difficult in many ways, but it was inevitable.
Meanwhile, Youngjun Choi began to easily wipe out the crowds of zombies.
***
After Lee Hyun-wook defeated Heo Yeong-tae, he immediately moved toward the 2nd barracks.
‘Seo Eun-ha went to the 1st barracks, so there’s no need to worry about that side.’
However, there was a high possibility that the 2nd barracks was still defenseless.
“······Stop it somehow!”
“Please, quickly get out your weapon and come see me!”
Sure enough, as I approached the second barracks building, I heard women yelling.
Slowly! Slowly!
The sound of bones crashing. Dozens of skeletons were filling the parking lot of barrack 2.
They broke the window, ripped off the security window, and threw themselves inside. They even fought against each other near the front door, trying desperately to squeeze in by any means possible.
It was moving solely to tear humans to pieces, without any purpose or system.
A shot of fire magic was shot from inside the second floor window and exploded in the middle of the parking lot
.
Three or four skeletons in the blast radius were crushed.
“The magic worked! “Get ready again quickly!”
Among the undead classes, Skeletons were good at ‘retiring’ with normal attacks.
All you have to do is crush your bones so that you can’t stand up again.
However, as in this situation, the number was so large that it was a problem.
“driving me crazy! “If this continues, there is no end to it!”
“They keep coming in through the first floor window! Stop it somehow!”
A gate opened right next to the barracks, and skeletons continued to pour out of it.
‘After a few hours, we managed to clear a path, but there were significant casualties and the system eventually collapsed.’
Afterwards, a significant number of soldiers broke away from the battle lines and fled. The remaining soldiers and executives who hastily returned work together to barely succeed in blocking the gate…
At that time, it was in a state of irreparable damage.
That was the history that should have happened.
‘But this time, we face the wave with almost all of our power preserved.’
Lee Hyun-wook fired all his weapons and swept away the tangled skeletons one by one.
BU-BU-BU-BU-BU-BUCK-!
The moment they touched the weapon containing divine power, they collapsed as if they were made of sand.
Dozens of skeletons collapsed like bowling pins at once, and dust rose up.
“uh?”
The female soldiers of the 2nd company reacted absurdly to that sight.
One by one, they stuck their heads out the window and looked at Hyunwook Lee.
Lee Hyun-wook slowly walked between the piles of bones and approached the front door.
“······.”
The tanks blocking the front door slowly lowered their shields.
After that, I saw female soldiers who were not yet fully prepared for battle.
“Oh, that person…”
“That’s right, right?”
There were some female soldiers in their underwear, perhaps because they had hurried out of their sleep with only their weapons.
It was a bit embarrassing, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that.
Lee Hyun-wook walked into the 2nd barracks, Geumnam’s district.
“Who commands?”
At his question, the female soldiers turned their heads one by one and looked at someone.
In the area where all eyes were focused, a short woman was standing with a frown.
“······I guess it’s me right now.”
Her rank was unrecognizable because she wore a military-colored sleeveless shirt without a combat uniform top.
“The officer on duty died alone over there while trying to escape in a car like an idiot.”
She pointed to the side of the parking lot with the dagger she was holding.
“But that’s Sergeant Lee Hyeon-wook of the 1st Company…? Right?”
Although she checked the name tag on her combat uniform, she seemed to know Lee Hyun-wook.
It was natural. For the past few days, all the issues in the battalion have been about him.
And Lee Hyun-wook also recognized who she was.
‘Kim Se-hee has the characteristics of an elementalist, but has a unique history as an assassin.’
Kim Se-hee was called the goddess of the 2nd Company within the 1st Company and was more famous for her looks than her skills. However, she too is chosen by the ‘black tiger’ before long and later rises to the rank of sergeant.
And five years later, after the second wave, he was deployed in a special operation to assassinate the king of the Orc Kingdom founded in Shanghai, and made a contribution to befriend the Orc King ‘Stonox’, leaving his name in history.
Among the soldiers of this unit, the only three who would become famous in the future were Lee Hyun-wook, Choi Young-jun, and Kim Se-hee.
In other words –
‘useful.’
Hyunwook Lee nodded and turned around.
“Everyone finish arming while I block. We need to seal the gate right now.”
“Can I do it by myself? Looking at it just now, it looks like it will work, but…”
“Not for long. Mana is not infinite. hurry up, please.”
“all right.”
Kim Se-hee turned around and shouted loudly.
“What are you doing! Hurry up, put everything on, and come out!”
Lee Hyun-wook’s intervention alone dramatically improved the situation.
He was able to block dozens of skeletons by himself. Right now, even if you only control 11 iron balls, it was more firepower than a squad of 11 gunners armed with holy arrows.
In the meantime, the soldiers of the 2nd company were able to reliably arm themselves.
“Move quickly!”
Then, I came out of the building and took the ‘raid position’ that I had been trained for several times.
“Arrange everyone in their proper place!”
“There’s an empty seat in front of the shield!”
The tank stands in front and advances, and the gunner, wizard, and healer are positioned behind it.
This simple and clear formation was optimized for dealing with such low-intelligence monsters. With the sound of bones
colliding,
white demons walked out of the darkness.
“The skeletons are coming!”
“Prepare for battle! 2nd row firing! Beat them all!”
One well-organized company of troops was not pushed back by the skeletons coming out of one gate.
“Okay, keep this pattern and move forward!”
In the first place, skeletons weren’t that threatening unless there was a boss monster with ‘command’ ability.
The reason he was struggling until just before was because it was a completely unexpected attack while he was defenseless.
In the meantime, armed troops began to emerge from the 1st barracks.
Seo Eun-ha wiped out the skeletons that had advanced towards it and saved Barrack 1.
“Look, the 1st Company is here too!”
“it’s okay! “If we do this, we can stop it!”
Some soldiers shouted like that, showing their relief.
With two companies of troops, the operation to block one gate would not have been difficult.
Of course, most of them didn’t know that there were more gates.
Lee Hyun-wook approached the 1st Company lined up in front of the 1st Barracks.
“uh! “This is Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook!”
When Lee Hyun-wook appeared, the soldiers of the 1st Company all turned their heads.
And most of them expressed subtle relief.
This is because I believed that Lee Hyun-wook would provide a trustworthy command.
However, the expressions of Oh Sang-guk and Kwak Jin-cheol, who had virtually led the entire company until just now, were trembling.
Lee Hyun-wook stood in front of them.
“Sergeant Sang-guk Oh, another gate has opened near the guard post. Did you hear?”
“······.”
“It looks like we can somehow block this with the 2nd Company’s troops, so our 1st Company should move there and respond individually. Why don’t we move right now?”
The company members listened to Lee Hyun-wook’s voice.
However, Oh Sang-guk’s face was full of trembling.
“… are you ordering me now?”
Oh Sang-guk spoke with such annoyance, but he did not have much confidence in his voice.
“No, Sergeant, why are you like that?”
“Ha… Is it time to show off your pride here?”
Such whispers were heard behind Oh Sang-guk.
In just a few days, the reputations of the two people completely diverged.
“Sergeant Oh Sang-guk, I gave you an opinion, not an order…”
“Then I give the order.”
That was Seo Eunha’s voice.
Before she knew it, she was wearing gray full plate armor and carrying a shield and great sword on her back.
“I will do as Sergeant Oh Sang-guk and Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook say. “I’m leading three squads and going to the guard post right now, but the 1st company commander is already there, so join us and proceed with the gate blockade operation.”
“······Yes, I understand.”
Faced with the real order, Oh Sang-guk had no choice but to turn around with a stern expression.
Seo Eun-ha ran over Lee Hyun-wook’s body while wrapping the KG19 around him.
It was to make sure there were no injuries.
“What happened to Lee Hyun-wook? That vampire is…”
“I have finished well.”
Seo Eun-ha’s eyebrows twitched. because it was crazy
Is that something that can be passed on with the expression that it was finished well?
“You go to the command and control room with me first.”
“Do you mean the command and control room?”
Lee Hyun-wook showed a puzzled expression.
“You know very well that you are not at the level to be among the soldiers over there.”
“······.”
“And we need to set up a response operation when we have some free time, and honestly, we need your help.”
Seo Eun-ha said that honestly.
No one has coped with the current situation better than Lee Hyun-wook.
If it weren’t for him, the entire battalion would have already suffered great damage.
“······And above all, the battalion commander is looking for you.”
And that reason was included.
Immediately after hearing the news about this place, Kim Kang-seok visited Lee Hyun-wook.
‘But he’s not in the territory right now.’
He had been dispatched to track down the Sword Saint assassin, Okita Kaito.
It seemed like he was probably giving orders remotely.
***
The command and control room was a huge underground bunker that connected the main buildings in the compound, including the headquarters, barracks 1 and 2.
“······The 3rd Battalion is connected! But they say a gate occurred there too!”
“It is said that multiple gates were discovered near the Cheonghwa Guild headquarters!”
“There are no nearby units that can come for support! Rather, requests for support come in!”
When we arrived at the command and control room, situation soldiers, i.e. administrative soldiers and signal soldiers, were coming and going frantically.
However, ‘NO SIGNAL’ was displayed on the screen filling one wall of the conference room.
It was natural that over a hundred CCTVs had lost their functions, and all wired and wireless phone and internet services except shortwave radios were non-functional, making smooth communication with higher-level units and neighboring organizations impossible.
This was because the large amount of mana that exploded when the gate was opened disrupted communication.
But that didn’t mean there wasn’t a way to communicate with the outside world.
“Mana Messenger number 13 has been connected. “Currently, 5 contacts are possible.”
Like the ‘Mana Messenger’ that Lee Hyun-wook received during his expedition, communication was possible through mana rather than radio waves. Of course, the scope of its use was extremely limited, so it required considerable effort in many ways.
“······Yes, I will. ah! Battalion Commander, your friend, Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook, has arrived now.”
Major Moon Tae-ho, the regional magic control officer on duty, seemed to be communicating with the battalion commander, but stood up when Seo Eun-ha and Lee Hyun-wook entered.
“Sergeant Lee Hyun-wook is the battalion commander.”
Kim Kang-seok’s voice came out from the square ‘medium-sized mana messenger’ handed over by Tae-ho Moon.
– ······So, can you hear Lee Hyun-wook?
“Yes, I can hear you well.”
– I’m rushing back now, but I think it will take some time. You must be well aware that I believe in you… and I want to confirm that trust this time too.
“Of course, battalion commander.”
– Yes, as I said last time, the 2nd platoon commander is currently absent. There is Sergeant Choi Seon-ah, the deputy platoon leader, but I think it’s more suitable for you to command the 2nd platoon. What do you think?
2nd Platoon Leader Lee Hee-min was on sick leave after the Unlucky event at Seoul Station.
The next conductor would of course be Choi Seon-ah, but everyone knew that she was not suitable.
– Of course you can perform the platoon leader duties, right?
Temporary Platoon Leader In the end, it was Lee Hyun-wook’s job to do.
“Yes, I understand. But… I have one favor to ask.”
– say it.
“Would you please give me permission to use the battalion armory?”
The battalion’s arsenal contained quite a few weapons.
And most of them were items.
Lee Hyeon-wook was requesting that he be allowed to use all of them without restrictions.
– Do it.
***
Ku-ku-ku-ku-ku-
Light came on along with a heavy sound.
Clap!
The floor opened completely and cool air leaked out.
Buk-buk- Buk-buk-
Only the sound of a single footstep echoed inside the unlit armory.
Weapons sleeping inside the underground armory of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd Port Horse Brigade…
Countless pieces of steel came into Lee Hyun-wook’s senses.
