Episode 12
Team 01 Leader, Nam Gyuil.
He let out a sigh as he looked at the person who had transferred in so suddenly today.
Of all people, it had to be a troublesome guy.
“Hey….”
“Private Han Gangsu, what is it, sir?”
The person who had transferred into Team 01 was none other than Han Gangsu.
Nam Gyuil scratched his head.
“Gangsu.”
“Private Han Gangsu.”
“Didn’t I tell you not to come? Why on earth did you come?”
“I judged that Team 01 was in need of personnel replenishment, so I proposed it to the superiors and transferred in.”
Han Gangsu lied with a straight face.
Yesterday, after being defeated in a spar, he had called his father.
The reason for the call was simple.
—Please help me get into Team 01.
His father had tilted his head.
Curious as to why he insisted on moving teams, he asked for the reason.
Han Gangsu answered confidently.
—There’s a capable superior there.
Han Gangsu’s father had guffawed.
At the mention of a capable superior, he quickly gave permission. He thought his son was trying to scout that person for the guild.
So he granted all the following requests as well.
—Please donate top-grade weapons to Team 01.
As a result, on the very day Han Gangsu transferred in, everyone in Team 01 received top-grade weapons.
“Wow! These are nice?”
“Goodness, the shield is incredibly sturdy too.”
“Armor!! I never thought I’d get to wear armor! Look at this luster.”
The team members were in an uproar.
Starting with Lee Chanu, who was delighted with a beaming smile, Hwang Ilsu silently donned his armor, and Hong Sinu breathed on his blade and polished it until it sparkled.
Nam Gyuil rubbed his temple.
He was looking not at the top-grade weapons, but at Han Gangsu.
Since this guy had come to Team 01, there must have been a lot of noise around him.
Nam Gyuil asked Han Gangsu.
“What did Team 05 say?”
“What do you mean, sir?”
“You suddenly transferred to Team 01. There’s no way you came quietly.”
“It was nothing much.”
Han Gangsu made an expression as if it were no big deal.
And he began to narrate the process of how he came to Team 01 in exacting detail.
“First, Staff Sergeant Park Taesu, the leader of Team 05, blocked the door and stopped me from leaving.”
Nam Gyuil squeezed his eyes shut.
It was nothing much, yet the first sentence was already far from ordinary.
Park Taesu was a guy who had tried to live comfortably by using Han Gangsu. It was obvious how he would have acted.
He must have thrown a fit, saying he would do better, begging him not to leave.
That sight must have been similar to the tragic protagonist being dumped by his lover.
With such a situation unfolding, of course the surroundings…….
“Major Park Huiryeong asked if someone had hit me, or used abusive language, or why I insisted on moving teams. I naturally said no such thing had happened.”
Nam Gyuil’s head throbbed.
The very fact that she was asking whether there had been any abuse meant the situation was already serious, and he wondered if Han Gangsu was oblivious to that.
Han Gangsu continued his story.
“And, my sister….”
“Enough, stop! I don’t even want to hear it—!!”
Nam Gyuil furrowed his brow and raised his voice sharply.
A sigh escaped him.
*He didn’t just quietly transfer over. He completely flipped Team 05 upside down before coming.*
He didn’t know why Han Gangsu was trying so hard to follow him, but for now, he offered some advice.
“Han Gangsu.”
“Private Han Gangsu.”
“I’m saying this just in case, but if you act like that, you’ll get cold stares from those around you. You know that?”
“Yes. I know.”
“You know? You knew that if you insisted like that, people around you would whisper?”
“Yes, sir.”
Feeling frustrated, Nam Gyuil rubbed his face with his hands and asked his final question.
“I asked you yesterday too.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Why do you want to come to Team 01? Is it really because of the answer you gave then?”
“Yes. It is.”
Han Gangsu answered without a moment’s hesitation.
It was sincerity without a single lie.
Nam Gyuil chewed over what he had said yesterday.
—If I must follow a superior’s orders, I want to follow someone capable.
Those words swirled around in Nam Gyuil’s head.
To think he had overturned Team 05 and come here for such a reason. Feeling suffocated, he let out a long breath.
Now there was nothing he could do.
*I can’t send the transferred guy back.*
Moreover, it would be awkward to kick out someone who had followed him of his own accord.
If Han Gangsu had been a completely bad guy, he would have stopped him from coming to the team somehow.
*But there is room for improvement.*
He might be clueless, but if you asked whether his nature was bad, it wasn’t.
If he were a truly bad guy, he would have used his father’s power to avoid even enlisting in the Hunter Bureau.
At the very least, he would have tried to delay his enlistment.
*There’s talk of whether a system will pass that counts guild activity as Hunter Bureau service time. He could have just waited for that to pass and comfortably stayed with the guild.*
Han Gangsu hadn’t used such a shortcut.
He had enlisted in the Hunter Bureau with integrity.
He wasn’t a bad apple to the core, at any rate.
He was still immature and full of useless pride, causing issues in his human relationships, but…….
*He’s still young.*
Nam Gyuil thought he could just teach him.
Nam Gyuil asked Han Gangsu very seriously.
“You, will you follow a superior’s orders?”
“Yes. Staff Sergeant Nam Gyuil has given the order, so I must follow.”
Nam Gyuil crossed his arms.
He had made a fuss insisting on coming to Team 01 and caused some trouble, but since he said he would follow his superior’s orders, Nam Gyuil decided to keep an eye on him.
“Han Gangsu, remember this straight! I’m someone who doesn’t look at family background or origins. There’s no going easy on you. No special treatment, got it?”
“Yes, sir. I will keep that in mind.”
“Then, that’s that. Welcome to our team.”
“Thank you—!!”
Han Gangsu shouted in a booming voice.
And so, a new member was added to Team 01.
***
Before long, it was lunchtime.
Nam Gyuil pulled a card from his wallet and shouted confidently.
“Since we have a new team member, lunch is on me!”
The Hunter Bureau was under the Ministry of National Defense, so meals were provided, but they could eat outside food whenever they wanted.
It was something unthinkable in the regular military.
Because National Hunters had it so rough, the country allowed them this much convenience.
Lee Chanu quietly approached Nam Gyuil’s side.
“Can we have Chef Kim Baek’s course meal?”
“Chef Kim Baek, the one who appears on variety shows? That gentleman’s fine dining that costs 500,000 won per person?”
“Yes.”
Lee Chanu nodded with a more serious face than ever.
Nam Gyuil flicked his forehead.
“Ouch!!”
“You absolute leech.”
Hunter Bureaus existed one per region, and the Seoul branch that Nam Gyuil belonged to was located in Yeouido, where the National Assembly was.
Naturally, expensive restaurants lined the surroundings.
In particular, dishes by famous chefs were special meals that only National Assembly members could enjoy.
To suggest going to eat at such a place—!!
Wasn’t that openly declaring he would empty his wallet?
Lee Chanu rubbed his forehead.
“Aw, why’d you have to hit me instead of just saying it?”
“Because you crossed the line.”
“Then, yukhoe—!!”
Lee Chanu showed unyielding will and shouted out another expensive food he knew.
Nam Gyuil nodded.
He could treat them to yukhoe at least once.
It wasn’t cheap food, but it was better than a famous chef’s course meal.
“Yeah, let’s have yukhoe.”
The moment Nam Gyuil gave permission, Lee Chanu clapped his hands.
“Nice!”
From his booming shout as if he had accomplished something, a strange passion could be felt.
Lee Chanu was a man who was very serious about food.
Nam Gyuil ordered yukhoe.
Shortly after.
The yukhoe was delivered.
Everyone gathered in a circle and raised their chopsticks.
They dipped the beef mixed with sesame oil into the egg yolk and sent it straight into their mouths.
The chewy texture of the yukhoe.
There, the savory taste of the yolk wrapped around their tongues.
“Delicious!”
Lee Chanu went wild with excitement.
Hong Sinu, who had escaped being the youngest thanks to Han Gangsu’s transfer, also nodded in agreement.
“It’s my first time eating yukhoe. I didn’t know it was this delicious.”
A smile spread across Hong Sinu’s face.
The members of Team 01 were busy picking up heaps of yukhoe with their chopsticks.
After the appearance of Gates, food supply had become unstable, and commoners had to consume protein through artificial meat.
Artificial meat was a technology of obtaining meat by cultivating muscle cells.
It was indeed protein.
But there was no fat in the meat at all, so marbling disappeared, and even the texture was dry and tough.
In a word, the taste was terrible.
Depending on the manufacturer, some artificial meat had a mushy texture.
So meat from slaughtered cows, like the yukhoe they were eating today, was expensive. The price pressure was considerable to eat it without burden.
In most households, it was treated as a special meal eaten only on very special occasions.
National Hunters had less price burden because their salaries were high.
“Ah, I ate well.”
Lee Chanu rubbed his stomach and put down his chopsticks.
The cleanly emptied plastic container had sesame oil glistening on it.
That satisfying meal ended.
Lee Chanu pulled out a cigarette pack with a mast drawn on it from his pocket.
“Anyone going for a smoke?”
“I don’t smoke. I’m going to drink some warm coffee.”
Team 01 was divided into two groups.
Those who rested drinking tea, and those who went up to the rooftop to smoke.
“Gyuil hyung, aren’t you going to the rooftop? Let’s smoke some clouds. I’ll give you one.”
Lee Chanu offered him a cigarette and suggested.
Nam Gyuil waved his hand.
“I quit smoking.”
“Don’t ask me for one later, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Nam Gyuil answered so and pulled out a plastic bottle from his bag.
Worried it would interfere with his mana cultivation, he had thrown away all his cigarettes as soon as he was discharged from the hospital.
Because of that, he naturally joined the group that drank tea.
Of course, Nam Gyuil’s drink was a bit special.
“Are you drinking that again?”
Hong Sinu looked at the drink Nam Gyuil had brought separately.
It was a low-grade elixir that gave off a sour smell.
Nam Gyuil had consumed this every time after meals.
So everyone was curious.
About what on earth it was that he drank every time.
“It’s just a drink.”
Saying so, Nam Gyuil gulped down the low-grade elixir.
He emptied the plastic bottle in one go.
*I ate, so I should move. I need to go train now.*
Thinking so, Nam Gyuil got up from his seat and headed to the training room.
***
Though lunchtime hadn’t even ended yet, everyone in Team 01 had entered individual training.
Thanks to being stimulated by Nam Gyuil’s example.
Han Gangsu was there too.
While lightly warming up, he gauged his other comrades’ skills roughly with his eyes.
*Hong Sinu is overwhelmingly weak. He would have died long ago if it weren’t for Staff Sergeant Nam Gyuil. Staff Sergeant Hwang Ilsu and Staff Sergeant Lee Chanu are…….*
Han Gangsu shook his head.
*Better than Hong Sinu, but weak all the same.*
It was a natural sight, since they trained with the wrong methods.
Since Han Gangsu valued ability, his eyes no longer lingered on comrades who looked weak.
*The world is a meritocracy.*
Whether one has innate talent or not, one must have ability first.
Only then can one accomplish anything.
No matter how hard one tries, if one cannot produce results in the end, it is meaningless.
Han Gangsu’s belief was firm.
He glanced sideways at Nam Gyuil.
As expected, unlike others, even his swordsmanship form was properly set.
Moreover, he practiced a special mana cultivation known only to large guilds.
Han Gangsu observed that closely.
*That type of mana cultivation is a secret training that large guilds teach only to those of their bloodline. And how is he doing something impossible in a place lacking mana?*
He was curious.
Who on earth was Nam Gyuil to know that?
*Whatever his background is, his skill is definitely outstanding.*
To the extent that even he felt respect.
The National Hunters of Team 01 quietly tried to mimic Nam Gyuil’s training.
But they still missed important parts and gained no effect at all.
Han Gangsu shook his head.
*No matter how much they copy him, they can’t grasp the core, so everyone is wasting their efforts.*
Beeeep—!!
Then, a sound came from the speaker mounted on the wall.
Team 01 quickly burst out of the training room and began to arm themselves.