Someone knocked on the door of the battalion commander’s office.
“Yeah, come in.”
Warrant Officer Kim Hyeonsuk entered and looked at Shin Hyeok. Shin Hyeok immediately snapped a salute.
“Loyalty!”
“At ease. Good to see you again. Finished talking?”
The battalion commander nodded.
“Anyway, where are you going to put these kids? You haven’t decided yet.”
The battalion commander fell silent for a moment.
“Let’s gather the company commanders and section chiefs for now. All three are somewhat ambiguous cases.”
“Okay. Call the kids. I’ll drop these ones off somewhere.”
Warrant Officer Kim Hyeonsuk came out with Shin Hyeok. She glanced at him and asked subtly,
“You’re back again; you must be glad, right?”
“It definitely is, ma’am.”
“For now, spend your six months of mandatory service here. You won’t have any special duties. For the most part, you’ll stay inside the base.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
He understood the intention behind her words.
‘She’s saying she’ll protect me. But it also sounds like she’ll make sure I absolutely can’t leave.’
Shin Hyeok found this overprotection unpleasant and distasteful.
‘That’s not what I want.’
The warrant officer stepped outside and gestured toward the youngsters approaching the guard post.
“Over here!”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
Watching the two run over, the warrant officer made an odd expression.
“Look at those baby faces. Just a boy and a girl. When did our unit turn into a school drama? Romance is going to bloom right in the middle of a war zone.”
At her blatant remark, Shin Hyeok forced himself to hold back a laugh.
‘If those two heard that, they’d be disgusted with each other and cause a scene.’
Once the three of them were gathered, the warrant officer led them to a room.
Warrant Officer Kim Hyeonsuk, who had brought the three to the room, looked at them with an ambiguous expression.
“Wait here for now. I’ll let you know your assignments soon.”
Shin Hyeok grabbed her as she tried to leave.
“Warrant Officer?”
“Huh? What?”
He stood up and quietly spoke into her ear.
“Excuse me, but may I voice my opinion regarding my assignment?”
“Hm.”
She pondered for a moment.
“Well. I don’t recommend it, but don’t you know your own situation better than anyone?”
Shin Hyeok nodded at her advice.
“I know, ma’am. But I don’t intend to watch like an idiot. I didn’t come here to be coddled.”
A faint smile formed at the corners of her lips at Shin Hyeok’s firm resolve.
“Okay. Do whatever you want. But I can’t take responsibility.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
She had Arin and Ichan wait there.
“You two, wait here.”
Arin and Ichan nodded with bewildered expressions.
Soon after, the company commanders and staff officers visited the battalion commander’s office. The moment they arrived, they shouted.
“We’ll take Shin Hyeok!”
“Battalion Commander! We have way too many empty billets. We absolutely must take him!”
“Battalion Commander, 3rd Company is short on scouts right now! It’s urgent!”
“Battalion Commander! Please give him to anyone!”
With a disgusted expression, the battalion commander looked at the operations, logistics, and intelligence staff officers, excluding the 1st through 3rd company commanders, the headquarters company commander, and the personnel section chief.
“For now, Shin Hyeok is on base standby. Until the six months are up.”
At those words, everyone’s expressions fell.
“Are you going to keep such a talent benched?”
“There will be no changes to my decision. Put him in administration until the six months are up. External deployments are strictly forbidden. Now, where are you short?”
At the battalion commander’s question, the 1st company commander raised his hand.
“Battalion Commander, we really have a lot of open billets.”
When the 1st company commander appealed, the 2nd and 3rd company commanders joined in.
“If we’re going by that, we’re riddled with gaps too. The kids we sent on dispatch aren’t coming back.”
The battalion commander said with a fed-up expression.
“Shin Hyeok isn’t going anywhere. And don’t even think about sending him out on covert reconnaissance.”
Everyone took a step back, faces full of regret.
“Then put him in 1st Company administration. Let’s talk about the other kids.”
Lee Gangyeol pulled out the personnel files for the remaining two and spoke.
“Baek Arin shows aptitude for holy power awakening in the physical branch. Stick her in 1st Company. They have a Paladin class there, right?”
A smile spread across the 1st company commander’s lips.
“Yes, sir!”
“Have him take charge of her. Once she’s ready, I’ll submit a recommendation to the Pantheon at the appropriate time.”
At the battalion commander’s firm promise, the 1st company commander’s expression turned jubilant.
Conversely, the remaining officers’ expressions were not good.
“Then there’s one left, right?”
At the mention of one remaining, the others’ expressions brightened considerably.
“Name’s Hong Ichan. Specialty is Necromancy, with the special note that he’s a Core Holder.”
At the words “Core Holder,” everyone’s expressions grew subtle.
Reading their expressions, the battalion commander pointed right at them.
“Additional special note: he contains all the specters of a world. This one.”
The battalion commander’s gaze turned to the 3rd company commander, whose specialty was Necromancy.
“Us?”
“No, you won’t be able to handle him. 1st Company has a Priest and a Paladin, right?”
“Huh? Yes, sir.”
The battalion commander held out two personnel files to the 1st company commander.
“Manage them well. You’ll need to push one hard, and just watch the other. He’s a talent who’ll break out of his shell on his own.”
“Sir?”
At the puzzling advice, the 1st company commander’s expression turned ambiguous.
“Take good care of them.”
“Yes, sir! Understood!”
As things were wrapping up, the battalion commander started to rise.
“Then let’s wrap it up here. Good work, everyone.”
Just then, a knock on the door was heard.
Knock, knock, knock.
“It’s the warrant officer.”
Accustomed to her rudeness, Lee Gangyeol let her in.
“Yeah, come in.”
Warrant Officer Kim Hyeonsuk entered with Shin Hyeok.
The battalion commander looked at them with a strange gaze.
“What brings you here?”
“He says he wants to voice his opinion.”
Lee Gangyeol furrowed his brows at the mention of voicing an opinion.
“What nonsense—”
Shin Hyeok entered and spoke, meeting the battalion commander’s gaze head-on, a gaze filled with silent pressure.
“I refuse to do administration.”
“That’s the spirit!”
“That’s our Shin Hyeok!”
The company commanders erupted in cheers.
But they immediately clamped their mouths shut at the battalion commander’s intense pressure.
“No changes. You’re going to administration.”
“I refuse.”
“Is that insubordination?”
“It’s voicing my opinion. I have no intention of curling up here under someone’s protection.”
At Shin Hyeok’s unwavering resolve, the company commanders clenched their fists in support.
“Shin Hyeok.”
The battalion commander stood up and fixed his eyes on Shin Hyeok.
“I will handle my own affairs. Please allow me to do so.”
“I refuse. It’s too much for your level. You seem to think in terms of Persona, but the enemies we face are far beyond that!”
Even at the battalion commander’s fiery roar, Shin Hyeok did not back down.
“I know, sir.”
“No, you only think you know. That’s why you’ll stay in administration until I permit otherwise.”
Shin Hyeok clenched his fist tightly.
“Leave.”
He stayed and held his ground.
The battalion commander’s eyebrows twitched.
“Staff Sergeant Shin Hyeok!”
“I can’t leave, sir. I’ll decide my own path. Don’t try to predetermine my future and force me into it like last time.”
Lee Gangyeol flinched.
“Please, let me run Gates.”
The company commanders glanced at the battalion commander with subtle looks.
“Battalion Commander. It seems Shin Hyeok has a plan.”
“Quiet.”
The company commanders couldn’t hide their frustrated feelings at the battalion commander’s iron wall.
They silently sighed in unison.
Lee Gangyeol turned his back as if to say he would speak no further.
Then Shin Hyeok suddenly shouted,
“I’ll prove it!”
Brigadier General Lee Gangyeol turned back at his spirited cry.
“How? Your exclusive firearm is broken, and your Awakened class is an Alchemist, a rear-line position. How do you intend to prove it?”
Shin Hyeok met the brigadier general’s eyes, filled with provocation, head-on and said,
“I… I’ll prove it with Alchemy.”
“Heh, with Alchemy?”
Everyone sighed at the word “Alchemy.”
“Ah, that’s not it, Shin Hyeok.”
“Shin Hyeok, back down quickly! Ask for reconnaissance instead!”
Shin Hyeok did not change his words.
“It’s Alchemy, that’s right.”
“Oh, with Alchemy? Really?”
Lee Gangyeol set a condition with a grim gaze.
“But if I win, you won’t be here for six months—you’ll be stuck here permanently. And your billet will be fixed as administration.”
“Aaah.”
“Iyaaaah.”
“Waaah.”
The three company commanders groaned in unison. Shin Hyeok faced him confidently.
“Fine.”
At that audacity, the battalion commander set the terms.
“What would be good?”
The battalion commander looked among the staff at the operations and logistics sections.
Major Baek Seokhun flinched and pointed at himself.
“M-me, sir?”
“No. Not you. Captain Ryu Jihyeon.”
The logistics section chief, who had been sitting quietly, was startled at being called.
“Captain Ryu Jihyeon, me, sir?”
“Yes, there’s still a pile of junk in the Logistics Department workshop, right?”
“Yes, sir. No one has passed the Logistics Department workshop test yet.”
The battalion commander formed a wicked smile and spoke to Shin Hyeok, who showed firm resolve.
“Then I propose the Logistics Department workshop test. Section Chief, take him and explain.”
Shin Hyeok nodded.
“I will definitely succeed.”
“Hmph, I wonder if you really can.”
Shin Hyeok burned with determination at the battalion commander’s blatant skepticism.
“I can. I absolutely can.”
“Well, give it a try. 1st Company Commander, prepare an administrative billet for him.”
Grit.
Shin Hyeok ground his teeth at Lee Gangyeol’s definitive words.
“I’ll definitely succeed and plant myself where I want to be.”
“Go ahead, then. Take him. Report the results, and two days should be enough, right?”
The logistics section chief nodded.
“That will be sufficient.”
The section chief moved with Shin Hyeok.
* * *
“You haven’t taken the test before, so you don’t know it well, right?”
“No, sir. I don’t.”
But he had heard the rumors.
For one, the logistics department of Hongik was special. The Hongik Unit itself had independent autonomy.
Thanks to that, they handled their own equipment and supplies, and even produced some of the gear necessary for raids in-house.
His exclusive firearm from the past had also been made there.
The place called the logistics department workshop housed all sorts of wondrous technology and mysterious otherworlders and outsiders.
Accordingly, there were many secrets, many classified matters, and many things to protect.
Because of this nature, there were truly many secrets even within Hongik.
So they recruited personnel in secret. But they hadn’t recruited anyone yet.
The battalion commander’s requirements were so stringent that the logistics section chief was said to be the only person to have passed so far.
“But sir, what exactly is this test?”
“You’ll see when you get there. Though I do have my doubts about whether you’ll make it.”
The logistics section chief led him to the logistics department without another word.
In front of the room labeled Logistics Department, he explained briefly.
“I’ll say this once. Turn left for the administration office; turn right for the workshop. The space is divided into a dual structure, so keep that in mind.”
He grasped the doorknob and opened it wide.
Beyond the open door, the hidden side of the logistics department was visible.
The logistics section chief’s head throbbed at the sight of the workshop.
“This is the workshop. I’ve been wanting to clean this place up.”
The logistics section chief felt suffocated by the endlessly tall pile of junk.
Shin Hyeok, who had followed him inside, was speechless at the absurd scale of it.
Thud.
Something came tumbling down in the towering space.
The section chief pointed at the tower of junk and said,
“The test is simple. Organize all of this. By type.”
“A-all of it, sir?”
“Yeah, all of it. And by type, I mean according to the raw materials.”
The section chief smiled, stepped back, and pushed Shin Hyeok forward.
Tap.
“Then do your best. I’ll come back around the end of the workday. I’ll check on you then. If nothing’s done, you’ll be sent back to administration.”
“Are you serious, sir?”
The section chief exited with a nonchalant smile.
“Good luck, then.”
“Sir?! Is this for real!?”
“Yeah, it is~”
Before closing the door, the section chief pointed at another door inside the workshop.
“Some dwarves or elves might come out of that door over there. If possible, ask them. They occasionally give hints.”
“Sir?”
He closed the door immediately.
Shin Hyeok was left alone in the workshop filled with nothing but junk.
“Damn it.”
He could understand why the battalion commander had spoken so definitively.
“They want me to sort this not just by cleaning it up, but by separating it into its original raw materials, all within two days?”