Chapter 111
It was only 7 PM.
And yet, the barracks were not merely dark, but so quiet that not a single human voice could be heard.
Was it because they were all non-commissioned officers instead of enlisted soldiers?
Maybe this was not where they slept. It was so silent, as if everyone had already gone home for the day, that a dry laugh escaped him.
“Ha.”
He was currently a greenhorn on his very first day of training, having enlisted only moments ago.
But he had not received any guidance, not even a tour of the barracks.
He had not been sent to a basic training center and had come straight to his assigned unit, yet there was no one to look after him.
He had served in the military in his past life, but this was a first.
“Then again, it would be strange for the unit commander to personally guide me.”
A sigh escaped on its own.
“Haa, is this one of those ‘figure it out yourself’ situations? Well, that is fine by me.”
He walked down the dark, unlit corridor.
There were six living quarters in total on either side.
He entered the one that looked the emptiest, and as if confirming that this was the right place, a name was attached to one of the vacant lockers.
[Private – Bang Hyuk-min]
The neatly arranged issued supplies, from the bedding to the contents of the locker, made Hyuk-min feel that he had truly entered the army.
“I’m really here.”
Glancing at the surrounding lockers to see how they were organized, he unpacked his things and began arranging his own belongings, placing common items where common items belonged.
After roughly finishing, he lay down on his bunk and immediately pulled out his phone.
He then used Black Label to ask Hwang Ji-young to search for the Dungeon priority list he had promised to give No Death.
“Ah, right.”
Then he added one precaution he had forgotten to mention.
He left a message telling her that Left Wing should move directly, not their informants, in order to prevent any unforeseen accidents.
“If you have any questions, I have already told No Death, so ask him directly.”
After reading and writing each text message, he put his phone away in his [Inventory].
The barracks were silent, and the sky was gradually growing dark.
Stretching lightly, Hyuk-min sat up, looked around, and spoke.
“Still not coming out? Is this some kind of hazing ritual?”
He had already finished everything he needed to do.
Now all Hyuk-min had to do was do his best to adapt to the Divine Power Unit.
“This is fun.”
Looking around at the dark surroundings, Hyuk-min smiled, finding it amusing for some reason.
He then changed into his activity uniform and stepped out into the corridor.
With the sun having set, the dark hallway felt eerie.
Even though nothing could be seen in the corridor, Hyuk-min simply kept smiling as he stared at the far end of it, as if something were there.
“Still not coming out?”
Then, with a flare, he drew up his Blood Demon Energy and flicked a finger toward the far end of the corridor.
The Blood Demon Energy condensed at the tip of his index finger shot swiftly across the hall and struck the front door at the far end.
It should have pierced through it or shattered it outright.
The destructive force of Hyuk-min’s Blood Demon Energy had already become strong enough to easily blow away a simple door like that.
However.
Crackle.
Contrary to his expectations, the front door was neither destroyed nor pierced through.
Instead, a yellow spark flashed from the door, and in an instant, some kind of effect spread throughout the entire barracks.
“This is why I should have learned martial arts sooner. It is so convenient.”
Since he could perceive the flow of Internal Energy, how difficult could it be to identify the weak point of a Barrier Formation?
The place his Exploding Finger Strike had just broken.
A point through which the flow of Internal Energy was bound to pass.
That was right. The part he had just destroyed with the Exploding Finger Strike was the weak point of the Barrier Formation.
In other words, the dark, unlit barracks had been concealed by a thin veil created by the Barrier Formation.
Fwoosh.
As the Barrier Formation was destroyed, the thin veil lifted, and the truth was revealed.
The dark corridor was actually brightly lit,
and inside the barracks he had thought were empty, dozens of senior soldiers were seated in their respective places, all staring at Hyuk-min.
The moment he saw their blazing eyes, Hyuk-min realized his mistake.
‘It really was a hazing ritual. Damn it, I should have just pretended not to notice.’
Their eyes, filled with fighting spirit, explained everything.
There was a hazing ritual here, and it was by no means a light one.
“Welcome the new guy!”
“Welcome the new guy!!”
At the shout of a man who looked like a squad leader, senior soldiers began rushing in from all directions.
= = =
“Will this be alright?”
In front of the barracks.
The first person to find the returned Wi Gwakdu was a large-bodied captain.
“Ah, Captain Hwang, our deputy commander. You are here? The hazing is a regular thing anyway. They will handle it.”
“The guys have been sharpening their teeth ever since they heard the holder of a [Legendary Title] was coming.”
“You should be more worried about our guys getting hurt first. That kid is the real deal.”
“Sergeant Gwak has returned.”
At the mention of Sergeant Gwak, Wi Gwakdu’s eyebrow twitched.
“Sergeant Gwak? Was that today?”
“Yes, sir. It happened because he specifically requested to return today.”
“Then is Sergeant Gwak the one leading those guys?”
“That is likely the case.”
“This is not good.”
“It seems to have already started.”
He had confirmed a moment ago that the Barrier Formation for the hazing ritual had been broken.
Just as expected from the Hyuk-min Wi Gwakdu had acknowledged, he had destroyed such a simple formation in a single blow.
But the problem started after that.
“Kuaaaargh!”
Crash! Thud!
Just as Captain Hwang had said, the hazing must have only just begun, because someone’s scream echoed out clearly.
“Aish, no matter how I think about it, I have to stop them.”
“I think they will know when to stop. It might be a bit rough since he is the holder of a [Legendary Title], but more importantly, I gave Sergeant Gwak a stern warning, so…”
“No! That is not it… The ones I need to stop are not our guys.”
Wi Gwakdu said that as he headed straight for the barracks.
“It is that bastard, Bang Hyuk-min.”
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out, and both Wi Gwakdu and Captain Hwang stared at each other with wide eyes.
Crash! Thud!
“Aargh! My foot! My foot!!”
“Commander? That voice just now…”
“Yeah, that was Sergeant Gwak. I told you. The ones we need to stop are not our unit members, it is that kid, Bang Hyuk-min.”
Clank!
The moment the firmly shut barracks door was thrown open, a unit member came flying out.
The way he was curled up while clutching his chest showed exactly how much pain he was in.
“What in the…”
The shock from that unbelievable sight was brief.
The moment Captain Hwang looked inside the barracks, his eyes widened more than ever before.
“Commander…”
“Aish, I should have told you beforehand. The new recruit who just arrived… he is no ordinary kid.”
= = =
In a cage full of sweaty men, this really was the proper way.
They too knew that a physical conversation was better than just sitting around and talking.
That was probably why the hazing ritual for new soldiers had taken the form of a fight.
“Do not worry, there are plenty of Healers here, so even if you break a bone, they will fix you right up.”
“New guy, we will take you in.”
From all around, senior soldiers began confidently stepping forward, their eyes burning with fighting spirit.
“This is actually perfect.”
“Huh?”
Any other kid would have been scared out of his mind, wondering what to do.
And after that, surrounded by his seniors, he would have given up on whatever he had planned and simply taken the beating.
But Hyuk-min was different.
He had no intention of avoiding it.
In fact, he was grateful that they were coming at him like this.
‘Normally, you are not supposed to stand out in the army, but…’
For his current plan, he needed to stand out. A lot.
“I am Private Bang Hyuk-min!”
These were more than forty members of the Divine Power Unit, the unit that represented South Korea.
Yet standing among them, Hyuk-min baffled the seniors by wearing a satisfied smile.
Then, Fwoosh! he began drawing up the Blood Demon Energy stirring within his Dantian.
He intended to stand out in a big way.
“What the.”
The seniors had not expected him to actually try anything against this many people.
But every now and then, a lunatic would join their ranks.
And was not the man in front of them a world-famous holder of a [Legendary Title]?
“Hmph.”
“We will give this new guy a proper welcome!”
Hyuk-min’s actions only served to stoke the seniors’ fighting spirit.
“I will be in your care!”
Seeing the seniors approach without the slightest fear, Hyuk-min decided to get serious as well.
Swinging his fist, condensed with Blood Demon Energy, toward the approaching seniors, he shouted loudly.
“Here I come!”
BOOM!!
The Blood Demon Energy swirling around his fist exploded in midair, striking nothing but empty air.
As the swung fist exploded with a bang, the shockwave sent two seniors flying back into the wall.
“Kuaaargh!”
“Gack!”
The two seniors who were flung backward with screams could offer no resistance and passed out on the spot.
The two men who had been standing in the center of the corridor were thrown all the way to the front door.
At that moment, all the seniors stared at Hyuk-min with dumbfounded expressions.
‘Th-this is not right…’
‘Wait, I heard he only obtained his [Legendary Title] not long ago…’
‘Sergeant Gwak definitely said he was a greenhorn…’
Not only had he failed to learn anything about LIMITLESS, he also had not gone through the ordeal of Taebudong and did not know the Immortal Demon Art. The Hyuk-min from three months ago and the Hyuk-min of today were on entirely different levels.
First, he stretched out his hand toward the group of seniors standing by the front door.
Then, as he drew up his Blood Demon Energy, the [Soul Form Body] ability of the Death Knight’s Helmet, bound to LIMITLESS, was activated.
“What! Is that a Body Clone Technique!? There is one over here too!”
“Are they twins or something?!”
“Ugh!”
The [Soul Form Body] possessed fifty percent of all of Hyuk-min’s [Stats] and [Skill] power.
Even so, the [Soul Form Body] had no trouble handling the group of seniors.
“Alright, then.”
Leaving that side to his [Soul Form Body].
Nodding in satisfaction, Hyuk-min turned to face the opposite side.
It was at that very moment.
Thwack!
Hyuk-min’s palm, clad in Blood Demon Energy, blocked the foot of someone unknown.
When he lifted his head, he saw a senior soldier.
The senior, who had leaped so high that his head nearly touched the corridor ceiling, spun in midair after his first kick was blocked and unleashed a spinning hook kick aimed at the side of Hyuk-min’s head.
However.
Pak!
Hyuk-min easily blocked the attack with his forearm, then threw a punch at the senior as he tried to land.
Thwack!
“Ooh!”
“Catch him!”
But despite being in midair, where it should have been difficult to maintain balance, the senior crossed his arms and successfully blocked Hyuk-min’s punch.
The senior who had attacked slid backward, all the way to the group of seniors standing by the front door.
As the group of seniors caught him, his rank finally came into view.
‘A sergeant?’
No wonder he had blocked a punch infused with Blood Demon Energy without much trouble. He was no ordinary soldier.
The sergeant with the thick eyebrows looked at Hyuk-min and asked,
“To have this much skill at your age, that [Legendary Title] of yours must be something else.”
“May I ask your name, sir?”
The sergeant’s thick eyebrows twitched like caterpillars.
“Is a junior supposed to ask for a senior’s name?”
Damn it. They said the shitty military hierarchy was even worse among NCOs than it was among enlisted soldiers.
It seemed that was exactly true.
But the sergeant, apparently impressed by Hyuk-min’s skill, looked him straight in the eye and spoke.
“I will only say it once, so remember it. Gwak Cheol-seop. My name is Gwak Cheol-seop, and I am the top dog here.”
Grin.
“You have skills. But you know where you are, right? This is the army. The army, where you do what you are told.”
For a moment, a frown formed on Hyuk-min’s brow.
“It is not about skill. It is about rank.”
Sergeant Gwak pointed to the rank insignia on his uniform.
“I will show you what happens when you ignore that.”
Cracking his neck as he loosened up, Gwak Cheol-seop shouted at all the struggling seniors.
“What are you all doing! Can you not even do a proper hazing! If you get beaten by a new guy, you are all dead.”
All Gwak Cheol-seop did was speak to everyone with a crooked smile.
He did not use a [Skill] or anything of the sort.
But that single sentence instantly changed the atmosphere among the seniors, who had been taking it easy.
“Yes, sir!”
The mood completely shifted from a light hazing for a new recruit into one where they would be in real trouble if they failed to defeat Hyuk-min.
It seemed he was not just talking.
No matter what, this was still the Divine Power Unit, the special forces South Korea took pride in.
The moment Sergeant Gwak’s shout rang out, Mana erupted from every direction.
Sssk.
“…!!”
At that moment, feeling an unfamiliar sensation, Hyuk-min’s head snapped toward his [Soul Form Body].
In the distance, he could see his [Soul Form Body] disappearing beneath the Mana-infused fist of someone.
“Ah, this is bad.”
He was trying to stand out… but this could end with him getting seriously hurt.
They said this was the worst Divine Power Unit in the world.
But it was still a nation’s Divine Power Unit.
‘This will not be easy…’
Hyuk-min bit his lip and let out a deep sigh.
Just then, Sergeant Gwak’s shout echoed from afar.
“Let’s go! Welcome the new guy!”
“Let’s go!”
“Aaaaaaaah!!”