Descent of The Demon Master [EN]: Chapter 92

It hadn’t even been three days since Kang Jin-ho arrived at his unit, and already, more and more people were starting to notice something strange about him.

“Hey, newbie, did you memorize all of this?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You memorized it all?”

Jeon Hyuk-soo looked at Kang Jin-ho with a displeased expression.

“Ha, look at this guy?”

The notebook in Kang Jin-ho’s hand was a collection of the essential information and specifications needed to function in his unit.

Although forcing memorization was officially prohibited as a form of hazing [internal abuse], in reality, it was unavoidable. After the two-week waiting period, they would be put on duty, but how could they assign a new recruit who didn’t know the vehicle numbers or the basic guard post information?

To ignore the practical realities of personnel shortages and the deployment of new recruits, and to simply tell them not to force memorization was like telling them to catch a lion without a gun.

Then they should take responsibility. The policy is decided like this, and if an accident happens because of a new recruit, the higher-ups would say it’s because they didn’t train them properly and would tear everything apart. There was no way to withstand that.

That’s why the current units were tacitly condoning the forced memorization of new recruits during their waiting period.

“You really memorized it all?”

“Yes, sir.”

It was questionable whether anyone could memorize all the information in the notebook, even if they studied it for two full weeks. So, it was only natural to be suspicious when he said he had memorized it all so quickly.

“Really? Hey, what’s the unit number for the 56th Regiment?”

“It’s the 2354th unit.”

“Huh?”

Jeon Hyuk-soo asked, looking puzzled.

“Then, what about the 57th Regiment?”

“It’s the 2369th unit.”

“Wow?”

After asking a few more questions, Jeon Hyuk-soo finally admitted it with a blank face.

This guy had really memorized everything in the notebook, word for word.

“Hey, what school did you go to?”

“Jae Kyung University.”

“…You’re a smart one.”

Jeon Hyuk-soo felt a sense of relief that a capable new recruit had finally arrived, but at the same time, he was annoyed that the newbie was doing his job too easily.

“Hey, open your locker.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Newbie or not, a soldier should be organized…”

*Clunk.*

Seeing Kang Jin-ho’s locker open without hesitation, Jeon Hyuk-soo shut his mouth.

“Hey, newbie.”

“Private Kang Jin-ho.”

“Are you the son of a dry cleaner?”

“My father owns a cafe.”

“Then how are your combat uniforms so sharply creased? Was that even possible without an iron?”

“You just have to fold them tightly.”

“Really?”

There was no way! Even though it was just clothes, there was no way they could be creased so sharply just by pressing them with your hands! Jeon Hyuk-soo, who had been wearing combat uniforms for almost a year, knew that.

“My god…”

But he couldn’t deny the reality in front of him.

The clothes were folded with sharp creases, with no margin of error, and the tops were hung perfectly in a row.

And the socks and underwear in the drawers were perfectly aligned, as if they were in a brand showroom.

“…Did you enlist somewhere else and then re-enlist?”

“No, sir.”

“Right? I haven’t heard anything like that. Of course, that makes sense… but…”

There should be some newbie clumsiness! How could that be a newbie’s locker!

Even if the division commander came out because of an emergency in the unit, they wouldn’t organize their lockers like that.

No, in this day and age, if the division commander saw that locker, there was a high chance that he would flip the whole unit over, saying that hazing was rampant.

“…You don’t have to organize it that excessively.”

“It’s a habit.”

“Still, it’s too much…”

“I’ll adjust it appropriately.”

“O-okay.”

Jeon Hyuk-soo couldn’t help but wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.

If his personality was like this normally, wasn’t he a germaphobe?

These days, celebrities famous for their germaphobia would appear on TV and show off their homes, but what they had organized looked like child’s play compared to this.

‘Even the socks are creased.’

He could understand the clothes, but seeing even the thick, long military socks creased, he had nothing more to say about it.

He was afraid that if he opened his locker, which he had organized as an example, he would be asked, ‘Isn’t it too dirty? Don’t bugs come out?’

“H-hey, newbie.”

“Private Kang Jin-ho.”

“That blanket…”

“Yes, sir.”

“Isn’t it too sharply creased? It looks like it could cut someone.”

It looked like it could cut someone if they touched it.

“Before enlisting, I was taught that it’s good to keep military supplies neatly organized.”

“That’s not how it is these days.”

Jeon Hyuk-soo looked around.

If a superior came into the barracks at a time like this, they might misunderstand that he had forced the kid to crease it like that.

With the ban on hazing, even the military boots had been changed to matte, and creasing was also prohibited. If this was discovered, it might not end with just a day of military training.

“Quickly, loosen that up a bit.”

“Are you telling me to loosen it?”

“Yes. It’s too much.”

Kang Jin-ho approached with a dissatisfied look and patted the blanket a couple of times.

“Ugh…”

Those who had been watching the scene around them finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if they had been holding their breath.

“Why are you holding your breath just looking at a blanket?”

“Hyuk-soo, do something about him. Before you came in, he was sitting with his back straight… He didn’t move for an hour. I thought he was sleeping.”

“…Is that so?”

Jeon Hyuk-soo realized that the private with the yellow epaulets [rank insignia for a private] in front of him was not as easy to deal with as he had thought.

‘But a private is a private.’ As a senior, it was natural to discipline a private.

“Since you’re so good at everything, you must be confident in your physical fitness, right?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Confident?”

“Yes, sir.”

Jeon Hyuk-soo grinned.

Although he wasn’t a professional athlete, he had been on the track team and had competed in amateur competitions. When it came to physical fitness, he could push most athletes to the point of throwing up.

“Okay. Then, shall we go do some exercise on the parade ground?”

“Is that okay?”

Kang Jin-ho’s head shot up.

It had already been three days since he had arrived at his unit, and he hadn’t been able to exercise properly, so he was feeling sluggish. He could maintain and train his body with his internal energy, but he couldn’t relieve the frustration of not being able to actually move his body.

In the midst of all that, they were telling him to exercise. It was more than he could have hoped for.

“Follow me. I’ll give you some exercise.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“No need for thanks.”

Jeon Hyuk-soo smiled and went outside.

‘Just don’t throw up.’

But Jeon Hyuk-soo soon realized that something was seriously wrong.

“Huuuuh…”

He was out of breath.

He was so out of breath.

His breath was coming up to his throat, and it felt like his lungs were about to pop out of his mouth.

“S-stop…”

Jeon Hyuk-soo couldn’t feel his legs.

“Keep going, sir.”

The damn newbie had already lapped him again, glanced at him, patted him on the back, and ran ahead.

‘That crazy bastard.’

Jeon Hyuk-soo couldn’t even think about wiping the drool from his mouth as he watched the scene.

“Ugh!”

In the end, Jeon Hyuk-soo, whose legs had given out, fell to the ground.

“Hyuk-soo, are you okay!”

Those who had been watching them rushed over to support Jeon Hyuk-soo.

“Drink some water! Water!”

“Ugh, look at his hands shaking.”

The situation was simple.

Jeon Hyuk-soo, who had taken Kang Jin-ho to the parade ground, had made a very simple proposal.

It was a proposal that was, in a way, ordinary, and in a way, cowardly, to make a bet since exercising would be boring.

The naive newbie nodded, not knowing Jeon Hyuk-soo’s hidden intentions, and Jeon Hyuk-soo made a bet that the first one to run 50 laps around the parade ground would win.

The penalty was that the loser would have to do a thousand push-ups and go to sleep that night.

Kang Jin-ho agreed without a word, and Jeon Hyuk-soo couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

He could already see Kang Jin-ho sweating profusely and doing push-ups. Wasn’t that how everyone adapted to the military, feeling the authority of their seniors?

But the situation didn’t go as he had expected.

Even though he had been running leisurely with him for about ten laps, Kang Jin-ho didn’t fall behind when he gradually increased his speed.

Even after twenty laps, when he had increased his speed a lot, Kang Jin-ho didn’t fall behind at all.

‘This guy, did he do some exercising somewhere?’

When he realized that something was going wrong, Kang Jin-ho quietly spoke to him.

“Can I run a little faster now?”

“What?”

Before Jeon Hyuk-soo, whose pupils were shaking, could send a message of shock to his body, Kang Jin-ho increased his speed and started running ahead.

‘This crazy bastard!’

Even though the parade ground was small because it was an independent company, one lap around the parade ground was almost 300 meters.

20 laps of 300 meters was 6,000 meters. That’s 6 kilometers.

How could he interpret a new recruit who had run 6km at the same speed as Jeon Hyuk-soo, a former track athlete, and then suddenly sped up and ran ahead as if he had been holding back?

Jeon Hyuk-soo couldn’t help but think that it might have been a mistake to make a bet with Kang Jin-ho.

“Tsk!”

But people have pride. Even if he had been in this situation while running with a fellow recruit, his pride would have been hurt, but to be in this situation while running with a junior, and a new recruit at that, there was no way he could maintain his pace as a senior.

And that was his second mistake.

He ran at full speed and caught up with Kang Jin-ho, but Kang Jin-ho glanced at Jeon Hyuk-soo and then started running faster again.

Jeon Hyuk-soo was helpless against Kang Jin-ho’s pace control, who would get further away when he tried to catch up, and then get further away again when he tried to catch up again.

“Ughhhh…”

He ran like crazy and somehow, somehow managed to keep up, but the moment he passed 30 laps, the sky started to turn yellow.

In the meantime, Kang Jin-ho had overtaken Jeon Hyuk-soo about three times without any change in his expression.

In the end, Jeon Hyuk-soo, who had collapsed on the ground, was breathing heavily as his seniors poured water into his mouth.

“Th-that crazy…”

“Wow, that newbie is no joke.”

“I thought a Terminator was running. His posture didn’t change from beginning to end.”

“Look at him, look at him. He doesn’t even look tired. Look at him running.”

Kang Jin-ho, who had completed another lap without any sign of fatigue, was running towards where Jeon Hyuk-soo had collapsed.

“Are you okay, sir?”

If he had eyes, wouldn’t he know that he wasn’t okay?

Jeon Hyuk-soo wanted to scream, but he couldn’t even muster the strength in his neck.

It was hard even to open his mouth.

“I-I’m fine.”

He wanted to go to the infirmary right away, but his pride as a senior wouldn’t allow it.

“I must have been… in bad condition today. I thought I had a cold.”

“Ah, I see.”

Kang Jin-ho nodded.

“Then, let’s call off the bet and do it again next time? It wasn’t fair.”

“Y-you want to?”

“Yes, sir. Then, I’ll go finish my run.”

“Huh?”

As Kang Jin-ho started running again after finishing his sentence, Jeon Hyuk-soo muttered weakly.

“Bet my ass.”

Jeon Hyuk-soo vowed never to make a bet with Kang Jin-ho again.