Descent of the Demon Master

o uphold.

However, Kang Jin-Ho had always rigorously followed the field manual.
His combat boots were always in their shiniest state, while his clothes in the locker were so sharply pressed that one might cut themselves on their edges.
An assistant instructor tried to persuade Kang Jin-Ho to stop doing that since such a strict culture was a thing of the past.
But Kang Jin-Ho politely refused, saying that doing this helped him feel calm instead.

The recruit would get goosebumps simply by looking at those sharply-creased and perfectly-ironed clothes.
Every single personal item in Kang Jin-Ho's possession was placed exactly where the field manual dictated, and he also didn't seem to own a single unnecessary item.
Even his lifestyle was what you would expect…

At the end of the day's training, it would be normal for the soldiers to get some much-needed rest.
But Kang Jin-Ho was different.
He would simply sit cross-legged and close his eyes in meditation.
Other recruits tried to engage him in small talk, but he didn't really respond to their attempts.
If that was all he did, then well, it wouldn't be a problem, but…

Training alongside Kang Jin-Ho was probably one of the unluckiest things you could encounter in life.
This was especially true for recruit Number 101.
His turn would always come behind Kang Jin-Ho in training, and that experience was killing him inside every single day.

The irony here was that Recruit No.101's performance on average didn't really fall behind his peers.
It was just that Kang Jin-Ho was often training right next to him or before him, thus making No.101 look like an incompetent loser in the instructors’ eyes.

Imagine how bad it would look after hitting the target twelve times while another recruit right beside managed to hit the bullseye twenty times in a row.
Truth be told, No.101's performance was more than good enough to pass.
Yet there was nothing he could do about being unfairly compared to the Wunderkind No.100.

Recruit No.101, Ji Yeong-Hwa, asked Kang Jin-Ho one more time, “Hey, man.
Is this your second time in the boot camp or something?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head.
“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you sometimes see guys get kicked out of basic training and have to re-enlist.
Is this really your first time?”

Kang Jin-Ho tutted softly.
“Yes, it's my first time.”

“Seriously?”

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head again.
“What would I gain by lying to you? Why won’t you believe me?”

'You should do believable things first before asking to be believed, dude!'

Ji Yeong-Hwa cried out in his head.

Kang Jin-Ho's combat level clearly didn't belong to that of a recruit but a seasoned veteran ready for an overseas deployment.
So why on earth did he insert himself into other people's tutorial sessions and torment them like this?!

Ji Yeong-Hwa quietly muttered, “We need a balance patch, pronto…”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes.
“What does that mean?”

“No, it's nothing.” Ji Yeong-Hwa sighed grandly and stared at the distant skies above.
“This world is so unfair…”

Unfairness existed in video games, too, but developers tried their best to maintain the game's balance.
Yet this game of 'Military Grunt Quest' seemed to be broken and incredibly unfair.
At the very least, the game should avoid pitting one against a super-high-level player during the tutorial, no?

Ji Yeong-Hwa groaned in defeat.

'Fine, I can accept that.
The balance might be out of whack.
Fine!'

He could forgive this level of imbalance after imagining the sheer difficulty of getting the balance right for over six-point-something billion people on Earth.
In that case, at least the appearance patch should come as standard, no?!

What was anyone supposed to do when the high-level player with nonsensically OP stats also came equipped with devastating good looks? Ji Yeong-Hwa tried hard to soothe his bitter heart, then stared at Kang Jin-Ho observing the scenery before them without any expression on his face.

“This world is so unfair.”

Kang Jin-Ho glanced at him.
“Mm?”

“It's nothing.” Ji Yeong-Hwa kicked the stock of his rifle a couple of times in frustration.
Unfortunately, an instructor passing by caught him doing that, and the poor recruit had to madly roll around in the dirt for a while.

***

One of the most puzzling things Kang Jin-Ho had discovered in the boot camp was getting time off during weekends.
Sure, a working week consisted of five days in the modern era, but the idea of fresh-faced recruits getting weekends off seemed rather unthinkable to Kang Jin-Ho.
This unexpected time off left him in deep despair.

Normally, the recruits would welcome the chance to get some rest with open arms.
Unfortunately, Kang Jin-Ho wasn’t what you'd call 'normal.’ For instance, the recruits would be happy about the prospect of resting their bodies that had suffered from a week of abuse.
However, Kang Jin-Ho didn't feel much fatigue.
Of course, his physique was different from his peers.

He would obviously not feel tired from such a soft training regime.
Even if he did feel some fatigue, his physique would automatically recover from it in no time at all.
Hence, the weekend was nothing more than days of boredom Kang Jin-Ho had to overcome.

He chose to sit down cross-legged and meditate to pass the time.
However, it seemed that some people found his actions quite the eyesore.

“Hey!”

Kang Jin-Ho opened his eyes at a hostile voice addressing him.

“You…
Sh*t, man.
It's the weekend, yet what the hell are you doing, man?”

Kang Jin-Ho frowned slightly at the recruit trying to pick a fight with him.
The recruit, with an impressively large frame, was glaring daggers at Kang Jin-Ho.
Scary-looking tattoos rippled on his skin beneath his vest.

The recruit's face seemed familiar.
He must be the guy using the next bunk.
Kang Jin-Ho never held much interest in his fellow recruits, yet he still remembered this guy's face.
It was all because of how often they ran into each other.

Kang Jin-Ho tilted his head at the recruit emanating naked hostility in his way.
“What is it?”

The tattooed recruit growled.
“Stop squatting on your ass like that.
Can't you see that everyone is uncomfortable because of you?”

Kang Jin-Ho narrowed his eyes and stared at the recruit.
His wordless glare led to the recruit's expression crumpling in anger.
He suddenly began charging toward Kang Jin-Ho.

“H-Hey, man! What are you doing?”

The other recruits quickly rushed in to stop the tattooed man.

He angrily roared, “What am I doing?! Am I the only one who finds that punk an eyesore? Look at all the sh*t he does, guys! Being oblivious has limits, know what I mean?! How many times did we get screwed over by that punk? Ah?”

“Come on, man.
Being good at something isn't a crime, you know.”

“You think I'm mad because I suck?! No, I am not! Be like everyone else and do it in moderation, and we'll all be happy campers, but that bastard wants to save his hide at our expense and keeps showing off! Look at him now! We're all trying to relax, but he's f*cking meditating? Let me ask ya, how uncomfortable do you all feel with that bastard around you?!”

Only then did Kang Jin-Ho figure out what was going on here.
He uncrossed his legs and got up.
“It seems that I've inconvenienced you somehow.”

“Hey, did you all hear that punk? See how he talks as if he’s looking down on you? Hey, you dipsh*t, come here! Come over here, I dare you.”

Kang Jin-Ho's eyebrows quivered slightly.
He wanted to resolve this misunderstanding through dialogue if he could, but a barrage of insults was quickly evaporating that thought out of his mind.

“Hmm. What will you do if I go over there?” Kang Jin-Ho began walking over to the tattooed recruit.

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