Like even heated iron cools someday.
The price a man who hadn’t even properly grasped his own body had to pay—once the agony wracking his entire body subsided to some degree.
"...Hehehe. Freedom. Real freedom!! Fre-e-e-edom---!!"
All sorts of stray thoughts swirled through the mind of a student on leave who had a solid chunk of time left until the next semester.
Those hellish days gone by! To hell with the glory of protecting the country every single day; the army days spent in agony were no more!
"It’s time to put into action everything I’ve only been thinking about in the army all this time!"
No matter how much he’d returned to a civilian physique, whether he was really an "ordinary civilian" was an entirely different story.
In his early twenties, no less than his physical prime—and to top it off, wasn’t his former unit treated as basically a special forces unit?
"Whoa, whoa... My body definitely feels a bit heavy."
Even without his abilities, he still had near-limitless vitality and physical endurance that recovered quickly.
Gim Chomok, who had left his house feeling refreshed for the first time in a long while; his first destination was...
"...You son of a bitch. Why the hell are you coming to find me on a weekday afternoon? Don’t you have anything better to do?!"
"Aah, don’t you know? This is an act called teabagging... The perfect mockery for a greenhorn punk like you..."
Ironically, it was a visitation to the Awakened unit he had jumped out of because he couldn’t stand being there anymore.
The visitation target was, of course, his friend Jeong Ilhwan.
For the poor young man with a wretchedly long service number whose discharge was only confirmed for next spring.
"Hey, don’t be mad—this is pizza loaded with expensive seafood¹."
How hard was it to donate a few premium pizzas that were a little pricey?
Of course, from Jeong Ilhwan’s perspective, this visit from an utterly unwelcome guest was absolutely dreadful.
"...Ah. What the hell did those bastards at the main gate do... Do they not know your face? Anyone can tell you’re suspicious—why didn’t they just shoot you?"
"Ehey, a soldier daring to do that against a 'civilian'! Tsk! Have you forgotten such things were only possible back in the eighties?!"
A bastard who was annoying in every way he opened his mouth; an atrocity that couldn’t be forgiven with just a few pizzas.
Thanks to the crazy bastard who came for a weekday visitation, Jeong Ilhwan had to crawl out without getting any rest right away.
Today of all days, when he had to stand duty; for Jeong Ilhwan, this visitation was nothing less than a pre-booked train of hardship.
"Hey, thanks to me, you won’t be stuck in the army long enough to see your grandsons’ enlistment. Let’s have a drink."
Of course, thanks to this guy, his discharge date wouldn’t get extended, and he wouldn’t be forcibly stuck in the army anymore.
People are animals that can’t remember the good things done for them but remember annoying things all too well, aren’t they?
There was no way someone who had been terrorized on a day when he had to go on duty right after dinner could smile.
"I’m in a situation where I have to go on duty with the platoon leader in a bit..."
"Hey! Jeong Ilhwan! We’ve been announcing since earlier that you have a visitor! Are you here?!"
To make matters worse, as if adding insult to injury, someone wondering why the person on duty today was nowhere to be seen—
A short, short shadow recognizable even from afar came running into the visitation room...
"Who is it? C-could it be... d-do you have a girlfriend..."
Today’s duty officer. At the sight of Sergeant Jeong Chorong standing on her tiptoes trying her best to look at them—
"Oh, who’s this? Isn’t it the rookie brat? First time seeing you since Bukhansan?"
Recalling the memories of that day, Gim Chomok smiled and waved his hand.
"...Kyaak!! Why the hell is this crazy human bomb here!! Get him out, get him out right now--!!"
"L-lieutenant! Please calm down! What are you doing to a civilian!!"
Well, from her perspective, regardless of memories, it must have looked like another life-or-death crisis had arrived.
Still, the fortunate thing was that Gim Chomok had at least basic situational awareness.
"Hey, Jeong Ilhwan. Take this box and some cola, and share it cozily in a room with your brat superior."
While Gim Chomok pushed the pizza box toward a slightly awkward spot, from the blind spot of Jeong Ilhwan turning to grab the pizza—
"Who are you calling a brat, you damned bastard! Where is there a one-fifty-tall brat!! ...Still, thanks for the food. I’ll eat well."
Winking slightly and giving Sergeant Jeong Chorong a 'good luck' sign, her face turned red.
Having helped his friend’s love life progress even a little like this, wouldn’t it be fair for him to receive some reward?
"Ah, I’ll take the remaining box to Medical Officer Jeong. I owed him a lot for frozen meals before."
"...Is it even okay for an outsider to enter the unit like this..."
Even if Jeong Ilhwan made a displeased face and voiced the sound logic of "This is a special forces unit and outsiders are prohibited from entering?"
"I’m planning to skip all my reservist duty anyway... but if they do call, they’d mobilize me from here, right? It’s a semi-outsider status."
Thanks to having left this unit, he was practically an insider who already knew all its military secrets anyway.
Combined with the common-sense statement that he had no intention of causing problems, would just see an acquaintance briefly, give a gift, and go home—
"So go feed your girlfriend pizza and stand your duty properly without dozing off. I’m leaving. Greenhorn!"
"Hey! There’s a misunder—Ugh, Lieutenant! Ah, don’t use super strength!! My arm hurts!"
Holding the remaining pizza box quickly, if he left with a bombshell remark telling him to take care of the trash?
That small predator, her eyes gleaming with some kind of resolve, would handle the observer Jeong Ilhwan on her own.
"Now then, shall we achieve the second purpose of coming here?"
Whistling, Gim Chomok holding the still-warm pizza box...
Departed to see the medic practically guaranteed to be specially headhunted by hell, who would be watching baseball while drinking beer and hurling obscenities in the medical office.
***
Should I say he’s a torture technician worth recruiting as the top priority, someone who would drool even in hell?
Today too, rather than saving people, watching the scene of hell on a TV screen—had his personality been greatly affected?
"Hey, Medical Officer Jeong. You know why I came—"
"I can’t see the screen, you bastard! Get out now!!"
*Crunch--!!*
"This crazy bastard?! Why are you throwing beer cans at people!!"
The price of covering the TV briefly to steal his attention—offering free drinks—was no small act of generosity.
No matter how calm and composed a person was, there were three representative evils in this world that destroyed mental health.
Alcohol, cigarettes, and various medicinal drug stimulants were the main culprits.
And, surprisingly, in Daejeon, there was a psychoactive act that produced similar effects even without pharmaceuticals.
"Fuuuuck...!! Why the hell does only the batter hit--!! What’s the point of playing baseball where you strike out--!!"
That was none other than watching the baseball³ of the local team he supported.
A man born in Daejeon who had gone up to Seoul for university and had always cheered for the Eagles.
Medical Officer Jeong was relatively fine in late autumn and winter, but from spring to early fall, he was a beast in pure form.
"I can’t bear it without drinking!!"
"You... *sigh*, fine. Just don’t binge drink."
He was a gentleman who had kept drinking steadfastly even though the battalion commander Gim Chomok had buried in a landslide had openly prohibited drinking within the unit.
"Hey, is it okay for a doctor to run alcohol and cigarettes on dual cores? Didn’t you say it’s bad for your body?"
"Then watching a team that plays this kind of game isn’t bad for my body?! Stress is the enemy of all diseases!"
Already quite drunk, to the medical officer crushing his fifth beer can and throwing it on the floor—
"*Sigh*, I brought it as a meal replacement... but it ended up as bar snacks."
"Ah, damn. It’s tasty... I like that you bought thin crust."
The crispy pizza Gim Chomok brought helped him hold onto his sanity for a moment.
"Heh... hehe, this team is shit... they put up another bastard who can’t throw inside the strike zone..."
As soon as the medical officer, now short on beer and starting to play the bottle-flute with soju, became perfectly drunk after thirty minutes—
"Medical Officer Jeong? Please use your ability on me. After combat during reconnaissance, my body is feeling terrible."
"Uh... uh? Chomok? What... was it all a dream? Huh? Th-that’s right, our Eagles wouldn’t play baseball like that..."
Gim Chomok began to scam the mentally impaired pushover.
"Th-that’s right! Up we go. Here, give me your arm!"
What was fortunate for Gim Chomok was that no matter how out of it Medical Officer Jeong was mentally or how drunk physically...
he hadn’t forgotten his ability mechanism...
"...Huh?"
Conversely, what was unfortunate was that no matter how openly the unit had slacked off with Gim Chomok’s discharge incident...
thanks to the peculiarity of being the front lines fighting monsters, this was a place where wounded occurred without cease every single day.
In other words, it meant the EXP gained from 'frequency of use' was far richer than what Gim Chomok, who had earned a huge lump of EXP at once, obtained.
"----!!! Ah, aaack...!! Kkheugh...!!"
If before he had felt a stabbing pain focused on that area along with a burning heat...
now it was severe muscular cramping pain exploding guerrilla-style without targeting any specific area!
The young man, foaming at the mouth from the very start, desperately walked out past the army’s main gate before being flagged as an intruder...
"...What? A visitor coming out after visitation hours ended... Hwaack!!"
"His whole body is twisted! What’s with his face?!"
He bestowed shock and terror upon the conscripts guarding the security post...
"Huh? Hey, there’s no way such a ghost exists in this world."
"Hey! Sergeant Choe from the neighboring platoon saw it himself!! A zombie with its eyes rolled back and its whole body twisted is appearing, I tell you!!"
Before long, he had ascended to become a mysterious ghost—or mystery—passed down within the army.
It was summer.
***
"...Ugh, that crazy torture technician bastard has finally mastered Stinging Muscles and Twisting Bones."
Paying only for the pizza and the travel expenses to visit the unit...
The investment genius, Gim Chomok, who had created a huge stroke of fortune shortening the time he had to live as a civilian by half.
He shuddered at the pain among countless afterimages he could still faintly feel.
Summer hadn’t even properly started yet, and he had at least three months left until he had to return to school.
Playing around is fine for a day or two, but there are things you can only do when your blood is boiling, aren’t there?
"With the money my grandfather left me, I should somehow manage university tuition, rent, and living expenses..."
But resolving everything through someone else’s strength didn’t suit his taste at all.
In his freshman year, he had passed the time studying, drinking, and doing all sorts of crazy things with Ilhwan.
Wasn’t this an automatic opportunity to experience the schedule of an 'adult student' that he had never done before?
"I too should try a proper part-time job!"
Since he had to return for the fall semester, he couldn’t do it for too long.
He had overheard that most places recruited with about a three-month period in mind.
"I’ll earn properly and spend the first money I earn on something for myself."
If he found a main part-time job for the five weekdays, and then found daily work or physical labor for the weekends...
"Maybe not a huge lump sum, but wouldn’t a decent amount accumulate from a college student’s perspective?"
A time when a youth brimming with hope of returning to society would dive into the field of life and taste one slice of society.
Gim Chomok, immersed in that rosy dream... until he came to his senses.
"The probation period is one month, and during that time we’ll only pay eighty-five percent of the wages. Is that okay?⁴"
"...Huh?"
That much time... was not needed.