NOVEL NEXT chapter 22
Chapter 22 Reunion (2)
“Are you Hunter Koo Yoon-ho…?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
“See, I told you!”
“Right, right!”
“Hee!”
Just by answering that it was correct, the high school girls couldn’t contain their excitement, clapping their hands together. Their chubby cheeks turned rosy.
“If it’s not too much trouble, could we get your autograph? We’re huge fans of Hunter Koo Yoon-ho!”
“My fans?”
“Yes! We fell for you after watching the Modang Station video!”
“Ah.”
The Modang Station video.
I finally understood what was going on.
It seemed they had seen videos related to the Modang Station incident on YouTube or the news.
The high school girls had already turned their backpacks around. With delicate fingers, they took out paper and pens.
Hmm, I feel sorry for them.
“Thank you for recognizing me, but I’m currently on patrol in a restricted area. I’ll sign for you next-“
Thud, a punch landed on my back. Corporal Kwak Woo-hee nodded silently.
I immediately changed my words.
“But I can sign for you anytime. Give it here.”
“Yes!”
I received the papers one by one from the excited girls.
I stylishly scribbled the English initials of my name, Koo Yoon-ho.
It was the signature I had been using since before my regression.
“Thank you, oppa.”
“Oh, oppa? I’m just an old man.”
“Why~ You’re totally an oppa.”
“Heh, you’re handsome.”
“You’re cool!”
The title had changed from Hunter-nim to oppa. With their innocent expressions and fresh voices, they were just kids.
And from earlier, there was one intense gaze poking at me. When I turned my head slightly, I saw Corporal Song Ji-han boiling with anger.
Ahem, I felt a bit self-conscious.
I quickly finished signing. I thought it was over, but then a phone flew towards me.
“Um… just one photo, please!”
Corporal Kwak Woo-hee waved his hands back and forth.
It meant to do everything for them.
I remembered he once said he regretted not being able to take a photo when he went to see an idol before. Maybe that’s why.
“Come over here.”
“Oppa, I’ll hold you here for a moment.”
“Me too!”
“Hey, move. I’ll stand next to him.”
“I was here first!”
Before I knew it, I was surrounded by high school girls. Their hands were on my shoulders, arms, and all over my body.
Several faces appeared on the screen.
Suddenly, Corporal Song Ji-han’s face came into view.
“Hahaha, since we’re taking a photo, should oppa join too?”
“What…? Do we have to…?”
It was a cold stare.
It felt like a chill for a moment.
“…Alright.”
Corporal Song Ji-han stepped aside immediately. Corporal Kwak Woo-hee stifled a laugh as he watched him sulk.
Click.
Click, click.
The girls turned the phone this way and that, taking more than a dozen photos. Watching my face being photoshopped in real-time was something I couldn’t get used to.
“Can I post this on my SNS?”
“Only if you want to send me to the guardhouse.”
“Gasp! I will never post it.”
Taking pictures with citizens wouldn’t actually send me to the guardhouse, but I exaggerated just in case.
After all, it’s still working hours.
“We’ll keep this moment just between us.”
“Alright. Looks like you’re on a picnic.”
“Yes. Thanks to you, we have a great memory. Thank you!”
“Same here. Have fun!”
“Goodbye!”
The high school girls bowed and finally left. Their innocent demeanor made me smile without realizing it.
Corporal Kwak Woo-hee also watched them quietly.
“They said they’ll keep this moment just between them. Why are they so romantic?”
“Indeed.”
“By the way, our youngest has become a star? Getting autograph and photo requests on the street.”
“No, they just happened to recognize me by chance.”
“Hey, your video has five trending posts on YouTube. It’s a big deal.”
Really?
I felt embarrassed and hadn’t checked YouTube for a while, so I didn’t know it was that popular.
“Why is he so quiet? Hey, Song Ji-han.”
“Corporal Song Ji-han…”
“Did you suddenly catch a deadly disease? What’s wrong?”
“I was hurt by the girls’ rejection…”
“Puhaha.”
Corporal Kwak Woo-hee barely held back his laughter, recalling the earlier incident.
“Why did you butt in when they wanted to take a picture with Yun-ho? I’d feel the same.”
“…Ha. I know, but their eyes were so cold at that moment.”
Corporal Song Ji-han was more downhearted than expected. The girls’ eyes were indeed cold.
Corporal Kwak Woo-hee looked him up and down and said,
“It might be because of your size. They were probably scared.”
“Is that so?”
“Of course. We were all young.”
“Yes, now that I think about it, it seems that way. And I’m not exactly unpopular, you know.”
“Right, right. You’d be quite popular.”
Corporal Kwak Woo-hee, who was patting his back, nodded at me.
I quickly chimed in.
“Yes, Corporal Song Ji-han, if you were outside the base, women would line up for you.”
“Our Yoon-ho knows what’s up.”
“Private Gu Yoon-ho. I’ve always thought so.”
Corporal Song Ji-han regained his strength. He even raised his fist in determination.
“Corporal Song Ji-han. I’ll come back with a girlfriend after the next leave.”
“Yes, I’ll cheer you on.”
Corporal Kwak Woo-hee joined in with a fighting cheer.
I also hoped for that, but… unfortunately, no matter how much I searched my memory, I couldn’t recall Corporal Song Ji-han coming back with a girlfriend after the next leave.
“Let’s get back to our duties.”
“Yes, sir.”
We resumed our patrol. Carrying the equipment around was tough, but the work itself was simple.
Checking if there were any strange dungeons like the Modang Station incident.
Checking if any monsters had escaped from nearby dungeons.
Checking for any other anomalies.
Of course, the chances of such things actually happening were extremely low.
It was more like a city gas safety inspection.
But just like you never know what will happen in life, you never know when or where a dungeon might explode and monsters might escape and run around.
Just like the Modang Station incident last week.
“Enjoy your meal!”
“You too, Yoon-ho.”
Lunch was solved with a packed meal. Each squad was given 15 minutes for meal time.
Eating in a place with a nice view made it taste even better.
Maybe it was also because of the seasoning from the private stash.
I patrolled all afternoon.
As it approached 5 PM, the squad members gathered together and finally sang a cheerful tune, saying it was over.
However, unbeknownst to them, a storm had already hit.
The bow had disappeared.
“Sergeant Song Ki-yong, where is the squad leader? I haven’t seen him since earlier.”
“Don’t you know the patrol is over? Isn’t he hiding somewhere playing phone games again?”
Sergeant Song Ki-yong, who was looking around, said.
“I don’t know. I have no idea.”
At that moment, a radio call came in.
– 3rd Squad, 3rd Squad. This is the 2nd Squad Leader.
“Salute, this is Sergeant Song Ki-yong. What is it?”
– You guys will return with us, so come to the west gate. Right now.
“Understood.”
The squad members were puzzled by the sudden order.
“Huh, why are we returning with the 2nd Squad all of a sudden? Where did the squad leader disappear to?”
“That’s what I’m saying. What is the squad leader doing, leaving the soldiers alone?”
Even Sergeant Song Ki-yong, who usually acted like a flowing river, was a bit annoyed at this moment.
I just kept quiet.
Everyone would find out soon enough anyway.
*
“Salute. Yes, Company Commander. Ah, yes, yes. Understood, I will give the instructions.”
In front of the company building. The 2nd Squad Leader, who received a call from Captain Oh Jun-beom, spoke to the 3rd Squad members.
“The 3rd Squad should go up to the living quarters, change clothes, and wait.”
“Should we wait without having dinner?”
“Yes. The Company Commander will be here soon, so don’t make any noise.”
“Understood.”
The 2nd Squad Leader said that and went up first with his squad members.
The remaining 3rd Squad members were all dumbfounded.
“Wait without having dinner? Why is the Company Commander coming?”
“The Company Commander will explain the situation. Let’s all go up for now.”
“Yes.”
There was no need to wait for the company commander.
About ten minutes after waiting in the barracks, Corporal Song Ji-han, who had briefly gone to the bathroom, brought the news.
“Breaking news, breaking news!”
His eyes were twice as wide as usual, showing how shocked he was.
“Why? What is it?”
“It seems Min-chan hyung caused a major incident!”
“A major incident?”
“He got caught smuggling supplies in collusion with the by-product manager. The amount is enormous.”
“Crazy, really? So that’s why he hasn’t been around?”
“Yes, it seems so.”
“Ji-han, are you sure?”
While everyone was excited, Corporal Kwak Woo-hee asked in a calm tone.
Corporal Song Ji-han answered without hesitation.
“Yes. I clearly heard the officers talking.”
“My God.”
Then it must be true. Corporal Kwak Woo-hee was at a loss for words, as if he couldn’t believe it.
“He’s completely insane.”
“I wondered how he could wear such a watch.”
“I knew that b*stard would do something like this.”
“Hey, everyone, be quiet. The company commander will be here soon.”
As the curses poured out, Sergeant Song Ki-yong calmed everyone down. Not long after, Captain Oh Jun-beom entered.
“Salute!”
“Salute. Did the patrols go well?”
“Yes, they did.”
“Alright, um, I’m here to deliver some bad news.”
He didn’t explain exactly what the situation was. He just said that Sergeant Kwon Min-chan had done something wrong and could no longer lead them.
It was understandable, considering Captain Oh Jun-beom’s position as the company commander.
In the first place, even if we were angry, Captain Oh Jun-beom would be angrier than us.
While his subordinate officers were doing such things, what was he, the company commander, doing?
It’s obvious that the higher-ups will have something to say about this.
If it were a smaller issue, we could have covered it up internally and kept it quiet, but the news has already reached the military police.
“3rd squad has a dungeon raid next week, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Replacement resources will arrive by then.”
“Replacement resources…?”
“A new squad leader.”
Though he’s suppressing it, you can see it. The anger in every word he speaks.
Captain Oh Jun-beom was still an adult.
He didn’t express it to us.
“I’ll try to resolve this as quickly as possible. Until then.”
His gaze turned to Sergeant Song Ki-yong.
“Make sure Ki-yong can perform the squad leader’s duties. There’s nothing special to do. Just make sure the guys behave.”
“Understood.”
Though I’m acting as the deputy squad leader, being the squad leader is a different story.
But there’s no need to worry about that.
The new squad leader will arrive tomorrow.
The unit has taken measures to divert the soldiers’ attention.
“So, what should we do now?”
“Have dinner as quickly as possible and stay on standby.”
“Yes, sir.”
If it ended here, it wouldn’t be much of a commotion.
But the real thing starts now.
– Attention, this is the situation room. All soldiers of 3rd platoon, 3rd squad, please move to the officers’ meeting room immediately. I repeat, all soldiers of 3rd platoon, 3rd squad, please move to the officers’ meeting room immediately…
We had to go to the officers’ meeting room right after dinner. There, lined up, were people we didn’t want to see.
They were officers from the Hunter Military Police.
“We have a few questions regarding Sergeant Kwon Min-chan.”
“What… questions, sir?”
“It’s just a formality, a formality. Starting with the seniors, come in one by one.”
“…Yes.”
Even though it was just a formality, I couldn’t help but feel guilty.
A string of curses burst out in the heat.
Sergeant Song Ki-yong couldn’t hold back this time either.
“Ha, what the hell is this because of that b*stard? This is really messed up.”
The 3rd squad was then subjected to an investigation disguised as formal questions.
Skipping the evening roll call.
I was no exception.
Did you know?
Did you see any signs?
It felt like a targeted investigation.
In fact, I had something to say.
Because I knew from my memories of regression that Sergeant Kwon Min-chan had been doing such things for a long time.
But really?
I just said I didn’t know anything.
In this world, if it’s not my business, there’s no point in getting involved.
What if I ended up being investigated instead?
Even if I reported it anonymously, those who need to know will eventually find out.
“It was a hellish day, a hellish day.”
“Not even able to wash, what is this, damn it.”
“Yoon-ho, what time is it now?”
“Private Koo Yoon-ho. The current time is 23:35.”
“Damn it, if they were going to do this, they should have called us tomorrow. What’s the difference if they let us sleep first?”
It was well past bedtime when we finally returned to the barracks.
Everyone looked pale as if they had received a PRI.
Even the chatterboxes, Corporal Jung Ye-som and Corporal Song Ji-han, hadn’t said a word since earlier, which spoke volumes about their state.
The exhausting day finally came to an end.
The next day.
It was still noisy until the morning, but by the afternoon, the atmosphere had calmed down a bit.
Captain Oh Joon-beom, who looked half-dead overnight, came to our squad again.
“Loyalty!”
He seemed to have not slept a wink. He barely acknowledged the salute and said,
“Fortunately, it was resolved quickly.”
“What are you referring to, sir?”
The door to the living quarters was still open. Captain Oh Jun-beom turned around instead of answering.
“Oh, Sergeant Sun. Come in.”
“Yes!”
With a clear voice, someone stepped into the living quarters.
“Salute. This is the person who will lead you from today.”
It was the first meeting with the new squad leader and a reunion with someone who was an indispensable part of my life before my return.