chsdbacks Chapter 36: Rain Falling Over the Waves
Chapter 36: Rain Falling Over the Waves
Chapter 36: Rain Falling Over the Waves
< Chapter 36: Rain Falling Over the Waves – 3 >
==============================
There weren’t just one or two people who found it strange as to why a formidable man named Choi Young-jun became an AMT soldier. Honestly, wouldn’t it be normal for someone as skilled as him to be recruited by a private guild?
Regarding this matter, Kang Ik-jun, a sergeant who once was Choi Young-jun’s senior, testified.
“That guy? Damn lazy! Even when he was a private, he tried to avoid doing anything. Can you believe that? But, honestly, he’s good at everything, so I couldn’t really say anything later on. Unlucky guy...”
A lazy genius.
Yes, at first, he wasn’t very motivated.
“And he didn’t even want to awaken, but he constantly mumbled about not understanding why he was dragged into mandatory service. Seriously, it drove me crazy when I was the squad leader...”
He’s defiant.
He often complains about society and doesn’t conform to the system.
“He originally just wanted to live drawing comics, but suddenly after awakening, he got annoyed or something. Crazy! Whenever I see his face now, I can’t help but chuckle.”
He had a completely different dream, a dream he wanted to achieve.
But why did such a person suddenly change his mind and start to grow?
“Well... He said it was fun killing monsters. I told you, he’s a psychopath.”
It was a rather chilling reason.
He started to realize a certain ‘fun’ he hadn’t known about and began to show his true worth.
“Se... Sergeant Choi Young-jun!”
He was standing there now.
With his hands in his pockets, he slowly turned his eyes and looked at the monsters.
Perhaps he was already feeling some kind of interest, but it didn’t show on his face.
Then the driver’s side door of the SUV opened, revealing Major Kwak Yong-jun.
“Hey! Young-jun! You’ve had some alcohol, are you okay to drive? Should I do it? I only had a sip!”
Yes. On the day before his return, Choi Young-jun was in the middle of drinking with a few others, including Kwak Yong-jun, who had already been discharged.
That’s why when Kwak Yong-jun received the “initial response team assembly message”, they could return together.Vissit for updates
“No, it’s fine. The person who is going to have a second child and needs to take the Cheonghwa Line should take care of themselves. If you unnecessarily get hurt somewhere, you’ll be out before even getting to transfer.”
“...Hey! Tr, transfer, why would you say such a thing?! This bastard is drunk, he’s drunk!”
Choi Young-jun slowly walked over and stretched out his hand towards An Min-tae.
“Min-tae, give me your sword.”
“Ah! Its condition is a bit....”
But An Min-tae’s sword was half broken due to that woman’s single strike.
“Ov, over here!”
At that moment, a female soldier from the second company shouted like that.
She, with tears streaming down her face, took the sword from her dead superior officer’s waist.
“I’m sorry, Corporal Lee Eun-hee....”
And sobbing, she handed the sword to Choi Young-jun.
“He, here... please, take care of it!”
“Thank you.”
Choi Young-jun took the sword and raised it to the height of his face.
He was gauging its length and weight.
But it was a very short auxiliary sword, only about 50cm in blade length.
Woaaaaa-
Before they knew it, all the zombies that had been pushed back by the SUV were getting up and approaching the guard post.
There were still over thirty of them.
“Se, Sergeant Choi Young-jun! We can’t kill those with regular swords! And it seems much shorter than the weapon you usually use, are you really going to be okay?”
An Min-tae asked with concern.
Of course, it wasn’t that he didn’t trust Choi Young-jun.
However, just now, when he passed by, the smell of alcohol was strong, so he couldn’t help but worry.
Yet, as if completely sober, Choi Young-jun silently nodded.
“Yeah, I know.”
At his words, a suspicious woman among the zombies chuckled softly.
“What? You’re stepping forward so confidently even while knowing that? Should I add him to the list of suicidal idiots?”
Then, Choi Young-jun rubbed his eyes with his left hand.
“Hmm... A zombie that talks? Am I... drunk?”
“What? I’m not a zo, zombie!”
“Oh, really? Well, I’ll turn you into a zombie soon, so just wait a bit.”
His voice was gentle and composed, but the content was somewhat brutal.
“Min-tae, watch closely. What’s important when using a weapon is not its length.”
“Yes? Then...”
Instead of replying, he advanced towards the swarm of zombies, swinging the sword with his right hand.
Swish-chop
‘What, what happened?’
An Min-tae had no choice but to think that.
With a single stroke, the heads of three zombies soared into the air.
Swish-chop!
With the following stroke, the heads of two zombies fell.
Chop-chop
With their heads severed, no matter how much they were zombies, they couldn’t move.
It was indeed very obvious.
In the case of lower undead that move independently, they cannot function when their heads are cut off.
But who would dare to think of beheading zombies with a one-handed sword...
“Did you just see? Distance, accuracy, timing, these three are the core of physical combat.”
Choi Young-jun said so as if giving a practical lecture rather than being in a battle.
However, An Min-tae’s gaze had no choice but to be somewhere else entirely.
“-Careful! In front!”
It was because the woman’s long blade was falling towards Choi Young-jun’s head.
Ching-clang!
However, without even turning his head, Choi Young-jun fended off that attack.
Really, it could not be anything but an amazing scene.
The woman’s strike, which had cut through An Min-tae’s sword and shield like paper, was deflected so futilely.
Moreover, it was blocked with a sword much lower in grade than An Min-tae’s sword.
Furthermore...
Shuck!
At the same time as fending off the attack, Choi Young-jun’s swinging sword grazed the woman’s thigh.
The woman retreated, staggering with a surprised expression.
“Oh, what is this?”
However, this time a scene unfolded that was not just astonishing but hard to believe.
The woman’s thigh, which had been slashed lengthwise, was healing rapidly.
It was so fast that you could see the wound closing with the naked eye.
“...Is that even possible?”
Everyone present doubted their own eyes.
Indeed, it couldn’t be anything but an incredible healing ability.
However, only Choi Young-jun remained indifferent.
“What’s the matter? It’s a zombie, isn’t it?”
The woman brushed off her thigh as if she had gotten dust on it.
“It seems you can handle a sword a bit for an AMT, huh? But what to do, it seems like it won’t be of any use against me, don’t you think? The sight of you showing off to your juniors after cutting off a few zombie heads... You know it’s really not impressive, right?”
At those words, Choi Young-jun took a step forward with a sly smile.
“Really?”
But at that fleeting moment, An Min-tae felt a strange emotion contained in Choi Young-jun’s expression.
‘Is he... enjoying this?’
For a long while, the higher-ranking individuals had asserted that Choi Young-jun had a psychopathic side to him, and it seemed that An Min-tae had discovered it just now.
“Hmm, then... what do you think about this?”
His voice contained a hint of playfulness somewhere in it.
And then, once again, something strange happened.
Shik- shik-
A tanker stands at the front and advances, followed by a shooter, a magician, and a healer.
This straightforward formation was optimized for facing monsters with low intelligence.
Clatter- clatter-
The sound of bones colliding rang out, and white devils walked out from the darkness.
“The skeletons are coming!”
“Prepare for battle! 2nd row, fire! Smash them all!”
The well-organized 1st platoon forces were not pushed back by the skeletons coming from a single gate.
“Good, let’s advance while maintaining this pattern!”
Originally, skeletons weren’t so threatening unless there was a boss monster with a ‘command’ ability present.
The reason they had been struggling until a moment ago was because it was an entirely unexpected attack in a defenseless state.
Meanwhile, armed forces began to emerge from the 1st barracks as well.
Seo Eunha swept away the skeletons that had advanced towards that direction, rescuing the 1st barracks.
“Look there, the 1st platoon is coming out too!”
“We did it! We should be able to hold them off now!”
Some soldiers shouted like that, revealing a sense of relief.
With the forces of the 2nd platoon, the operation to block a single gate wouldn’t be difficult.
Of course, most of them were unaware that there were more gates.
Lee Hyunwook approached the 1st platoon, which was forming ranks in front of the 1st barracks.
“Ah! Look, it’s Sergeant Lee Hyunwook!”
As Lee Hyunwook appeared, the soldiers of the 1st platoon all turned their heads at once.
And most of them subtly revealed a sense of relief.
It was because they believed that if it was Lee Hyunwook, he would give a reliable command.
However, the expressions of Oh Sang-guk and Kwak Jin-cheol, who had essentially been leading the entire platoon until just now, were nervous.
Lee Hyunwook stood in front of them.
“Sergeant Oh Sang-guk, another gate has opened near the guard post. Have you heard about it?”
“....”
“I think we can somehow hold this place with the 2nd platoon forces, so our 1st platoon needs to move there and respond individually. How about moving immediately?”
The platoon members listened to Lee Hyunwook’s voice.
But Oh Sang-guk’s face was full of nervousness.
“...Are you giving me orders right now?”
Oh Sang-guk said so with irritation mixed in, but there wasn’t much confidence in his voice.
“No, Sergeant Oh, why are you being like this?”
“Ha... is this the time to play pride?”
Such murmurs were heard from behind Oh Sang-guk.
Thus, in just a few days, the reputations of the two had completely reversed..
“Sergeant Oh Sang-guk, I was just suggesting an opinion, not giving an order...”
“In that case, I will give the order.”
It was Seo Eunha’s voice.
She was suddenly wearing gray full-plate armor and had a shield and greatsword on her back.
“Sergeant Oh Sang-guk, do as Sergeant Lee Hyunwook said. Lead three squads and go to the guard post immediately. The 1st platoon leader is already there, so join them and proceed with the gate blockade operation.”
“...Yes, understood.”
In front of a real order, Oh Sang-guk had no choice but to turn around with a stiff expression.
Seo Eunha handed back the KG19 to Lee Hyunwook, scanning his body.
She was checking to see if there were any injuries.
“Hyunwook, what happened? What about that vampire...?”
“I finished it off properly.”
Seo Eunha’s eyebrows twitched. It was because she was baffled.
Could that situation be passed over with the expression that it was finished off properly...?
“You’ll go to the command and control room with me for now.”
“The command and control room... you say?”
Lee Hyunwook revealed a puzzled expression.
“You know well that by your standards, you shouldn’t just be stuck amongst those soldiers there.”
“...”
“Also, when we have some leeway, we need to establish a response strategy, and honestly, I need your help.”
Seo Eunha spoke frankly.
There was no one who dealt with the current situation as well as Lee Hyunwook.
If it weren’t for him, the entire battalion would have already suffered great damage.
“...And above all, the battalion commander is looking for you.”
And that was also included as a reason.
Kim Kang-seok had, immediately upon hearing the news from here, naturally looked for Lee Hyunwook first.
‘But he is not here right now.’
He was absent, dispatched to pursue the Sword Saint assassin Okita Kaito.
It seemed like he was giving commands remotely, perhaps.
* * *
The command and control room was a huge underground bunker connecting the main buildings of the base, including the headquarters, 1st barracks, and 2nd barracks.
“...3rd Battalion connected! But they also report gates appearing!”
“They report multiple gates discovered near the Cheonghwa Guild building!”
“There are no nearby units available for support! On the contrary, they are requesting support!”
Upon arriving at the command and control room, the situation soldiers, that is, administrative and communications soldiers, were frantically moving about.
However, the screen filling one wall of the conference room displayed ‘NO SIGNAL’.
It was only natural that over a hundred CCTVs lost their functionality; aside from short-wave radios, both wired and wireless phones and the internet were all down, making smooth communication with higher units and adjacent organizations impossible.
The massive mana disturbance bursting out when a gate opens was causing communication disruption.
But that didn’t mean there was no way to communicate with the outside world.
“Mana messenger number 13, connection complete. Currently, 5 communications are possible.”
Communication through mana, not radio waves, like the ‘mana messenger’ Lee Hyunwook received when he was dispatched, was possible. Of course, its utility was extremely limited, requiring considerable effort in various ways.
“...Yes, I will do so. Ah! Battalion commander, that friend, Sergeant Lee Hyunwook has arrived.”
It seemed that the duty commander, regional magic control officer Lieutenant Moon Tae-ho, was communicating with the battalion commander. He stood up as Seo Eunha and Lee Hyunwook entered.
“Sergeant Lee Hyunwook, it’s the battalion commander.”
From the rectangular ‘medium mana messenger’ handed over by Moon Tae-ho, Kim Kang-seok’s voice flowed out.
―...Yeah, Hyunwook, can you hear me?
“Yes, I can hear you well.”
―I’m hurrying back right now, but it seems it will take time. You know well that I trust you... I want to confirm that trust this time too.
“Of course, battalion commander.”
―Yeah, as I mentioned last time, the current 2nd platoon leader is absent. We have Staff Sergeant Choi Seon-ah, but... I judge that it is more appropriate for you to command the 2nd platoon. What do you think?
2nd Platoon Leader Lee Hee-min had been on sick leave since the unlucky event at Seoul Station.
The next in command should naturally be Choi Seon-ah, but everyone knew she was not suitable.
―Naturally, you can perform the platoon leader’s duties, right?
Temporary platoon leader, it was a role that Lee Hyunwook inevitably had to take on.
“Yes, understood. But... I have a favor to ask.”
―Speak.
“Can you grant me access to the battalion armory?”
A considerable number of weapons were stored in the battalion armory.
And most of them were items.
What Lee Hyunwook requested was unrestricted access to all of them.
―Do so.
* * *
Coo-goo-goo-goo-goo-
A heavy sound resonated as the light came in.
Creak!
The floor opened fully, letting cool air seep out.
Step-step-
In the dark armory, only a single set of footsteps echoed.
The weapons lying dormant in the underground armory of the 1st Battalion of the 3rd ROK Army Cavalry Division...
The countless pieces of steel entered Lee Hyunwook’s senses.