Ch.53Doesn’t D.P. Only Catch Deserters?

“A, a robber?!”

“Yes. He was a former Hunter who barged in saying he needed something expensive.”

“And? So what did that bastard take?”

“Well… I told him I didn’t have any money, so he just took my phone.”

It was when the sun had set and night had fallen.

Ms. Katarina, whom I thought would accept my proposal and withdraw quietly.

However, perhaps because she was a fairly intelligent character in the original work…

“I’ll be taking your phone.”

To create a definite connection with me, she disappeared with my everyday phone.

‘Well, thanks to that, I could at least make up the robber story…’

Of course, no one gathered here believed she was an ordinary robber—someone who hacked the entire hospital’s CCTV system and easily subdued Sophia, a B-rank Hunter from the USA.

“No… someone with those skills couldn’t possibly be just a robber.”

“But the fact remains that we don’t have any concrete evidence beyond what Shinwoo just told us.”

“That’s true, but…”

Not only was there no trace of Ms. Katarina’s whereabouts afterward.

The only people who had seen her were myself and Sophia and Lia, who had briefly encountered her before promptly passing out.

“For now… let’s just call it a robbery.”

Ms. Rolling had rushed over after hearing about the attack on my hospital room.

Branch Director Lee Jin-ah, who had followed behind her, seemed uncomfortable but resigned to letting the matter go.

‘She’s accepting it more easily than I expected… I thought she’d interrogate me thoroughly like she did with Princess Kurumi.’

Or perhaps she had some other “concerning matter” on her mind?

As I silently observed Branch Director Lee Jin-ah lost in her thoughts…

“……”

“……”

Come to think of it, I still had something to do.

That was addressing the two people huddled in the corner of the hospital room, deeply depressed and trapped in self-loathing for failing to protect me.

“Shinwoo, I’m so sorry…”

“Oppa, I’m sorry…”

Sophia and Rin were hugging each other and sobbing in the gloomy atmosphere.

I had essentially won once already, but we had come from that parallel world, so…

‘The Sophia in that world might be laughing happily right now?’

Regardless, that was already a separate world, and in this world, there was only one Sophia—the one here in this corner.

“Sophia, Lia, both of you come here for a moment.”

“…!”

“Oppa…”

I called the two who had done their best to protect me to the hospital bed where I was sitting.

And as soon as they came as instructed, I immediately…

“Huh, what?!”

“Oppa?”

“Thank you both for protecting me until the end.”

I hugged them both with all my heart, filled with gratitude.

And just like that, their gloomy expressions disappeared.

“Heh, hehehehe! Just so you know, I only lost this time!”

Sophia quickly regained her confidence and declared with an energetic posture.

“Next time, I’ll definitely protect you from that woman!”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Lia too! Lia will also do her best to protect Oppa!”

Lia beside her also struck a powerful pose and spoke energetically.

‘Even though the opponent has the insane ability to retry until she wins, but let’s just go with it for now…’

Anyway, the two had recovered.

I smiled at them both.

Ms. Katarina is a big shot in the underworld, so she’ll probably contact me on her own.

With that thought, I regained my composure.

“Um, by the way, ma’am.”

“Yes? What is it, Shinwoo?”

Normally when a son is attacked…

I was worried she might bring a tank or something, but not only was there no tank, a certain man was conspicuously absent.

“Where did Uncle Seokgyu go?”

Since he wasn’t the type to miss a family hospital visit, I asked out of concern.

A brief look of worry crossed Ms. Rolling’s face.

“Sigh… there’s been a bit of a complicated situation.”

“Complicated situation?”

“Mom, I’m curious too. Where did Dad go?”

“Human who gives snacks. I want to know where he is too!”

Seeing the three of us with eyes sparkling with curiosity, perhaps she gave up on keeping it secret.

“Military secret… well, not exactly?”

“Military secret?”

“Kids, just don’t go around talking about this freely, okay?”

Ms. Rolling told us everything about what the four-star Army Chief of Staff was doing and where he had been dispatched to in a manner unbefitting his rank—information that would make ordinary soldiers and even officers foam at the mouth.

***

Military Police.

Also known as MPs, they were soldiers who could handle not only internal military affairs but also, depending on the situation, national security itself.

And within the Military Police, there was a unit specialized in tracking and apprehending—the Deserter Pursuit unit.

Known in English as “Deserter Pursuit” and commonly abbreviated as “D.P.”

“B-but why are we, who are supposed to catch deserters, tracking someone who isn’t even a soldier?”

“Hey, keep it down! What if someone hears you!”

“Hmm hmm hmm~.”

Two soldiers were whispering in the back of a Lamborghini(?) sedan, trying their best to blend in as civilians.

These two were the top performers in the D.P. unit, talents who might even be granted “extended service.”

In the world of Hunter’s Blood, where monsters appeared regularly…

The professions capable of fighting monsters were naturally revered as heroic, and the benefits were unimaginably enormous.

As a result, Hunter—the representative profession for exterminating monsters—was the world’s most beloved and sought-after job. Following that was the world’s second most desired profession…

Which was “soldier”—voted as the number one desired job in Korea, even surpassing Hunter.

Due to being a divided nation, it was an inevitable experience for Korean men.

And during that dreamlike 18 months, ordinary soldiers who received the best treatment all wanted to extend their service—to “plant a stake.”

But of course, getting promoted to officer was as difficult as passing the Hunter exam, and even the top performers in the D.P. unit were barely at the cutoff line.

“You two, come work with me.”

On a bright sunny day.

The general who barged into—no, graciously visited—the Military Police without warning.

“Atteeeeention! Saluuuuute!!”

“Ah, yes. Military Police Commander, have you been well?”

“Major General Yoo Gukchul!! Yes, I’ve been well, sir!!!”

“The thing is, I’m looking for some people…”

“We’ll find them wherever they are in the world, sir!!!”

The Military Police was turned upside down by the general’s appearance—literally, not figuratively.

The two D.P. soldiers who were singled out at that time had momentarily imagined crossing the River Jordan, but…

‘This might actually be an opportunity…!’

‘It’s none other than the Army Chief of Staff himself!’

Getting noticed by a division commander, known as a “two-star,” would already guarantee success, but…

The person who had personally sought them out was incomparable to a mere division commander—he was the actual head of the Army.

Not a metaphor, but literally the boss—the four-star Army Chief of Staff Lee Seokgyu.

“I hear you both want extended service?”

“Yes!!! That’s correct!!!”

“Ready!!! To dedicate!!! Our lives!!! For the country!!!”

“Hahaha. I like your spirited voices! You’re talents too good to be given to those Hunter fellows!”

The D.P. duo now riding in Lee Seokgyu’s personal vehicle #25.

Private First Class Kim Joonyoung.

Sergeant Choi Hansol.

The two were tense but more fired up than ever for this mission, praying for extended service.

And that’s when it happened.

“I hear you both have tracking abilities?”

“Yes, that’s correct!”

“Then can you track down whoever made this?”

Lee Seokgyu, while “personally” driving from the driver’s seat, handed a small glass vial to the two soldiers in the back.

They received it respectfully with both hands and peered inside, wondering what it was.

But seeing that the glass vial appeared empty, they just looked dumbfounded.

“Th-there’s nothing in it, sir?”

“Y-yeah… or maybe this is some kind of test?”

“A t-test, sir?!”

“You know… like checking our loyalty or something…!”

Even though the vial seemed empty, it was given by a superior officer, so there must be something there!

Even if it’s inedible, if a superior officer gives it, you eat it deliciously!

Even if it makes no sense, the military miracle of old dysfunction might be what the general is testing us with.

Seeing his junior colleague sweating profusely, Sergeant Choi Hansol firmly asserted this must be the case.

So he answered confidently:

“We can track down even the factory that made this vial, sir!!”

“Hahaha! Excellent. But the person I want to pursue isn’t the factory that made the vial. It’s the one who manipulated the thread inside that vial.”

“I-I’m sorry, I misheard?”

“Thread… sir?”

Thread?

What thread?

Where is there any thread?

With these thoughts, the two carefully examined the inside of the vial again.

But there was no thread or any object visible inside the vial.

Meanwhile, Lee Seokgyu looked at the two soldiers through the rearview mirror and laughed heartily again.

“If you can’t see it with your eyes, try touching it. Then you’ll know.”

“Yes, sir!”

Even if he says to touch it, you need to see something first to touch it…

In civilian life, such complaints would have come out first, but they weren’t in civilian life—they were in the military.

And when the general gives an order, you need to take some kind of action.

“Here goes!”

“Sergeant Choi Hansol, sir?!”

Even though the vial looked completely empty, Sergeant Choi Hansol inserted a finger into the finger-sized vial.

And then.

Swish.

“Huh?”

“What is it, sir?”

“There really is… something here?”

“R-really?!”

Wasn’t this a loyalty test?

The two, who had been thinking that, immediately took out Riverine’s invisible magical thread remnants from the vial and began examining it carefully.