Ch.131Side Story – A National Disaster-Level Monster Enlists in the Army (1)

It was before I had met Jaewon.

Right after my encounter with the Villain’s Troupe, just before the plan to withdraw the United States Forces Korea was announced.

After all the injuries I sustained in the battle with Amaterasu had healed.

Upon being discharged from the hospital, I was working as a Meister at the Hunter Association workshop as usual, waiting for the next main story to begin.

Then one day.

“Shinwoo, mail for you.”

“Mail…?”

In this day and age, an actual piece of mail addressed to me arrived at the Hunter Association workshop.

At first, I didn’t think much of it.

After all, this was just a daily life segment before the next main story arc.

I opened it thinking it was probably just some advertisement, but then—

“What the f-fuck is this?!”

The image of a not-so-steadfast guy giving a thumbs up—something every Korean man dreads.

And below it, instructions to prepare for military enlistment. I immediately left the workshop and contacted my uncle.

***

“Ah, it seems the Ministry of National Defense sent this by mistake.”

“Phew… that was terrifying…”

“Dad! The Ministry of National Defense is under your command! Make them manage things properly!”

“Honey, even I think this went too far. How could someone make such a mistake?”

“…Is this really something to get so upset about?”

“””Of course it is!!”””

I almost got enlisted before I could save the world.

Our family, gathered around the dining table for the first time in a while, was glaring at Uncle Seokgyu.

The reason was obviously this mistakenly delivered draft notice.

“Dad! Shinwoo is currently affiliated with the Hunter Association! Why should he go to the military? Absolutely not!!!”

“Even you as a soldier are hard to see these days, and now you want to put Shinwoo through that too? Are you crazy?!”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Uncle, can I burn this paper then?”

“No, just throw it away, why go that far…”

“Uncle. If I don’t burn this today, I won’t be able to sleep. So I can burn it, right?”

“…Yes, go ahead.”

With the Army Chief of Staff’s approval granted.

I happily skipped to the kitchen, ready to burn this mistakenly delivered draft notice.

In my previous life, I went to the military and it ruined my life. No matter how much the welfare had improved, there was no way I’d go back.

I’d rather have my identity as a kaijufied person exposed and face a global war.

With that thought, I was about to drop this terrible piece of paper into the flames…

“Sniff. Sob…”

“H-honey?!”

“Dad… are you crying?”

“Uncle?”

Just as I was about to erase all traces of it in the fires of hell.

That’s when it happened.

“I-I wanted…”

“…?”

“?”

“I-I wanted… to visit my son’s unit like other families… h-hug him at training completion… go on missions together… that’s all I wanted… sob sob…”

Uncle Seokgyu was crying pitifully, tears and snot running down his face.

As it turned out, the whole story was this:

“…So you did this just to see my reaction?”

“Yes… Our family has three in the Hunter Association and one soldier… I wanted to balance it out to two hunters and two soldiers…”

“Even so, that’s going too far! Do you know Shinwoo rushed home from work as soon as he got this and came looking for you first?!”

“I-I didn’t think Shinwoo would hate the military that much…”

It turned out the draft notice wasn’t a mistake at all.

Uncle Seokgyu didn’t actually intend to enlist me, but he deliberately sent the notice to my workshop address pretending it was a mistake, just to see my reaction.

He was hoping that maybe one of his family members would join the military like him.

But the result was, of course, a massive failure.

In my previous life, I became crippled during military service and lost my karate national representative qualification. To me, the Korean military was a cesspool no matter how much the welfare had improved.

Plus, once military service begins, I wouldn’t be able to move freely during the main story unless I took leave.

‘This makes no sense, even for the sake of the world’s fate…’

I felt really sorry for my uncle, but I didn’t want to do military service again in this world I’d been reincarnated into.

“Sob… sob…”

And that was perfectly reasonable.

“Waaah… Waaaaaaah!”

“Honey, you’re being unseemly. Stop crying.”

“Dad, even if you are Dad, you can’t send Shinwoo to that closed prison!”

“I’m so lonely! Everyone under me is busy taking care of their children, nephews, and grandchildren, and I want to do that too!!”

This was what you’d call a National Authority-Level tantrum.

As Uncle lay on the floor throwing a fit, it felt like a magnitude 2 earthquake was shaking not just our house but the entire region.

“Honey. Stop it. They’ll issue earthquake evacuation broadcasts at this rate.”

“Dad, I just got a message saying there’s an earthquake in Gangnam. So please stop.”

“Waaaaaaah!”

Oh dear, what should we do with our poor uncle?

Looking closely at the draft notice, I saw I was being assigned to the “Hunter Division.”

Naturally, the Hunter Division was an original military position in the Hunter’s Blood world that didn’t exist in reality.

The enlistment condition was being under 30 years old with experience working at the Hunter Association.

Their main duty was to clean up after monsters that other military units had defeated.

Simply put, it was the military version of the Hunter Association’s monster cleanup crew.

‘Let’s see… two weeks of training camp, then three months as a regular soldier, after which I can decide whether to extend my service or be discharged.’

Compared to the regular conscription period of 1 year and 6 months, this was an extremely short service time.

At this rate, I would finish just before the next main story began.

But still, the military was the military.

‘I’m never going, even if it kills me.’

Remembering my previous life, I had already made up my mind not to go through that hell again.

I was really sorry, but to quickly let Uncle know it was a futile dream.

“Uncle, I’m already affiliated with the Hunter Association.”

“Sob sob sob!”

I was about to shatter that fantasy completely.

“And these days… there are many subordinates… forming some kind of military private organization… making things chaotic… why am I always fighting alone…”

“Military private organization…?”

At that moment, a setting from the original work quickly flashed through my mind.

It was the Second Military Coup of South Korea.

According to the setting book, such a story was planned during the early development of Hunter’s Blood.

However, as development progressed, to emphasize the strength of monsters, this setting was discarded.

I remembered that those incompetent generals with such ambitions were all wiped out by the Angel that appeared at Busan Port ten years ago.

But I had already dealt with that Angel ten years ago.

“Hmm…”

I was the only one who knew this fact.

Would it be okay? I wondered, but if this disrupted the original story’s progression, nothing would be more troublesome.

Therefore.

“Uncle…”

“Yes?”

“Hey, Han Shinwoo! Are you crazy?!”

“Shinwoo, are you really thinking of doing this?”

Let’s think positively.

The Korean soldiers in this world weren’t as pitiful as in reality.

According to the draft notice, the Hunter Division offered substantial compensation, similar to US military treatment.

So even though I really… really hated it to death.

“Well… my father is a soldier, so I should try military service again…”

“Again?”

“Ha-hahaha! That’s right! We’re a military family after all, I can’t be the only soldier!”

I reluctantly decided to step into hell.

Uncle laughed heartily seeing my decision.

But his joy was short-lived.

“Shinwoo. Listen carefully!”

Now that I was becoming a short-term soldier.

Uncle Seokgyu, who had returned to a very solemn expression, told me with a sense of preparation:

“Even if you are my son, I will never give you special treatment!”

“Honey, what nonsense is that?”

“Dad! What if someone hurts Shinwoo?”

“Of course! If you’re facing injustice, I’ll do my best to help. But! If you can’t even do the training you’re supposed to do, then you can’t call yourself a soldier!”

Uncle… are you already planning to raise me as a soldier?

Seeing his strict and solemn demeanor, I felt a bit disappointed that there would be no favoritism.

‘No, come to think of it, this might be better.’

A new recruit has arrived at the unit!

And that recruit is none other than the Army Chief of Staff’s son!

…Since I was only planning to serve for three months anyway, standing out would probably make things more difficult.

‘I just need to identify those officers planning to form a private organization while pretending to listen to Uncle’s concerns as a fellow soldier.’

I could rough up those corrupt generals, gather evidence, and hand it over to Uncle who would handle the rest.

Until then, I’d just quietly serve my time.

With that thought, I decided to join the Hunter Division for just three months, and one week later as stated on the draft notice.

“Sh-Shinwoooooo!!”

“Sophia. It’s only three months. And if you really want to see me, you can visit.”

“But I want to see you every day!”

I found myself saying goodbye to my family at the Nonsan Army Training Center, a place I never missed.

“Shinwoo. It’s only three months, so if anything difficult happens, contact your father immediately. Understand?”

“Yes, I understand, Auntie. I’ll be back in just three months.”

“Good, do your best. By the way, your father couldn’t come because he thought he might attract attention.”

“Hahaha. He’s the Army Chief of Staff, so that’s probably better. I’m more comfortable that way.”

“Waaaah. Shinwoooo…”

But contrary to Shinwoo’s family’s thoughts.

At the Nonsan Training Center commander’s office.

Inside the room of the person responsible for all training center recruits…

“Sir! Sir!”

“Hey! Training center commander, be quiet! Someone might realize I’m here!”

“I-I misheard?”

“Hey, training center commander, do you happen to have any spare sergeant rank insignia and hat?”

“What? N-no, Chief of Staff, why would you suddenly need such things…”

“I want to be a sergeant here for just two weeks from now. Would that be okay?”

“……Pardon?”

There was the current Army Chief of Staff trying to temporarily switch from officer to non-commissioned officer.