Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Time passed quickly.

The main task was mopping up remaining monsters.

Since most monsters had been exterminated during Operation Red Oak, we focused on locating and eliminating any remaining monsters or those that had gone into hiding.

“Hey! Sergeant, come here for a sec! See this? It’s Tauron’s corpse, but there’s nothing left. No horns, no tendons.”

We often found monster corpses that were completely empty, with nothing of value to loot.

Of course, this was all thanks to Dojae.

Thanks to his original ‘Wolf Slayer’ title and the newly acquired ‘Orc Slayer’ title, the monsters’ loot was automatically stored in Dojae’s sub-space without needing to be touched.

While this allowed him to rake in a tidy profit, Dojae still felt a twinge of guilt. He occasionally used that money to buy drinks for his team members.

Yet somehow, Dojae’s balance remained unchanged.

“Thirty-two servings of pork belly, fifteen bowls of rice, twenty-nine bottles of soju, and forty-one bottles of beer. Three bottles of soda went out, but I’ll cover those as a service.”

How could his balance possibly grow?

True to their robust youth, they ate heartily and drank like fish.

And what’s more, he was just a squad leader in a punitive expedition; he certainly didn’t have a corporate card.

No matter how thickly the magic stones were stacked deep within the sub-space, later on, every time I saw the receipts, tears would well up in my eyes.

Speaking of magic stones, let’s talk about the golems.

“Third Squad Leader… We can get all our magic stones back, right? Right? It’s a shame about the ones that broke, but those were golems made from your stones, weren’t they? Isn’t that right?”

The six golems lost during the war.

Squad Leader Song Hoon dismissed all six as golems made from Dojae’s magic stones.

He thought he should have at least written down their numbers if he’d known this would happen, but what could he do now that it was over?

Besides, Song Hoon begged so pitifully that Dojae ultimately decided to take the loss.

Instead, he made sure to get a promise that Song Hoon would roll up his sleeves and help out if anything happened later.

“Are you going out today?”

“Yeah. I’m going to see my younger brother.”

“Oh, really? Bring him by sometime. I’d love to meet the captain’s younger brother.”

“I’ll try.”

With things less hectic than before, he often went down to Seoul.

On days off, he’d spend the whole day with his sibling, and on weekdays, he’d leave work early to run errands.

He had to look into schools and academies for his brother, who would be discharged soon, and sometimes had to spend the entire evening running around stationery stores, starting with a bag and moving on to notebooks, writing utensils, and more.

Not only that, but I also had to take my brother out, buy him clothes, and play with him.

After dropping him off late at night, I was exhausted, but still felt good.

One day, while living out these peaceful, ordinary days…

Riiing-.

A phone call came in.

***

Swoosh-.

The bed curtains opened.

Inside, Dojae stands at attention.

“No, no. This isn’t right.”

“Right. Captain, seriously, that’s not it.”

Song Ji-yoon and Kang Eun-taek shake their heads vigorously.

Not just these two, but Yook Hyeon-jae, Park Jin-ho, and Lee Seung-han, who remained in the unit, also wore expressions that clearly said, “Absolutely not.”

“Why? What’s not okay?”

Do Jae declared confidently.

He meant there was absolutely nothing wrong.

“Are you seriously asking because you don’t know?”

“Sergeant… What kind of life have you lived…?”

Kang Eun-taek’s words make the three watching burst out laughing.

Song Ji-yoon frowned deeply, then said in a stern voice as if giving up.

“Section Chief, lay out all the clothes you have on the bed.”

“This is annoying. This much is fine, isn’t it?”

“No, you must! Spread them out now.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

Unable to withstand Song Ji-yoon’s nagging, Do-jae began pulling out the clothes one by one.

Three sets of military uniforms, three shirts, one white round-neck tee, one black round-neck tee, one hoodie, one pair of cotton pants, one pair of jeans, three sets of sweatpants.

“Is this for real? Seriously, that’s all you have?”

Song Ji-yoon clutched her head in apparent shock.

How many clothes would a dungeon crawler like Dojae buy in a lifetime?

A few pairs of tough, durable work clothes had always been enough.

“What about shoes?”

Do-jae pulled out the shoes as well.

One pair each of military-grade boots and gray sneakers, plus two pairs of slippers. That’s it.

“Ha… Ha ha ha… This is crazy! Seriously.”

Song Ji-yoon let out a hollow laugh and began spinning around the bed.

Then she decided she couldn’t possibly come up with an answer in this state.

“You, you. Open the cabinet.”

“Me?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, get all your clothes out.”

Song Ji-yoon pointed at Yook Hyeon-jae and Park Jin-ho.

She singled out the two who were somewhat similar in build to Dojae among the people present.

“Take this jacket and these pants.”

Song Ji-yoon picked up a light beige jacket and pants from Park Jin-ho’s clothes.

Park Jin-ho responded with a gloomy expression.

“Those are expensive…”

“Shut up.”

This time, she heads toward Yook Hyeon-jae’s bed.

She picks up a white sneaker from under his bed.

“Captain, what’s your shoe size?”

“275.”

“Perfect fit. Hey, should we get the captain to try these on?”

Yook Hyeon-jae just smiled and nodded.

Having completed the outfit, Song Ji-yoon handed the clothes to Do Jae.

“Try it on. Wear your white T-shirt underneath.”

“Hmph. Sorry, Jin-ho. I’ll buy you a new one that’s exactly the same.”

“Sniff. No, it’s fine. It’s not that I don’t want to wear what the class president wears… Just please be careful with it.”

Leaving the worried Park Jin-ho behind.

Do-jae changed into the suit he had received.

It was his first time wearing a suit.

Fortunately, Park Jin-ho’s clothes fit Do-jae perfectly.

Yook Hyeon-jae’s shoes were neither too small nor too big either.

Swoosh-.

“All set?”

Clap clap clap-.

“It looks great on you, Captain!”

“Now you look like a proper human being.”

Kang Eun-taek clapped his hands in delight at Do-jae’s neat appearance.

Song Ji-yoon nodded repeatedly, clearly satisfied.

“It was a bit big when I wore it. But it fits you perfectly, Class President. Like it found its rightful owner.”

Park Jin-ho acknowledged this too.

Unfortunately, it suited Dojae far better than it did him.

“Lastly, the hair!”

Song Ji-yoon went to her bed and returned carrying a box filled with something.

It contained combs, a hair dryer, a curling iron, and hair rollers of various sizes.

“Sit down. The finishing touch to any style is the hair.”

“Enough. My hair’s fine.”

“Oh, come on. You’re going to back out now? After I’ve done everything you asked.”

“Ah… Fine.”

Finally, Dojae obediently sat on the bed and entrusted his hair to Song Ji-yoon’s hands.

“Now, just trust me.”

Do-jae’s hair took shape under Song Ji-yoon’s skilled hands.

Uncomfortable clothes and uncomfortable shoes.

Hair styling for the very first time in his life.

Everything felt unfamiliar to Dojae.

“This isn’t easy.”

Wheee-!

“Huh? What did you say?”

The sound of the hair dryer drowned out Dojae’s muttered words.

Looking back, this whole commotion was all Lee Ji-woong’s fault.

Last night, Dojae received a call.

The content was a bit awkward, so he stepped outside the barracks to talk quietly.

But of all people, he happened to run into Lee Ji-woong, who was just returning from an outing.

Lee Ji-woong quietly slipped inside and spread the story to the third-year students.

And the moment Dojae came back after his long call, twenty pairs of eyes focused on him. Song Ji-yoon asked.

“Are you going on a blind date, Class President?”

Yes.

That call Dojae had just finished was to make plans for the blind date.

He didn’t feel like it, but they were so persistent in their requests that Do-jae ended up promising to go to the meeting.

Time passed, the date arrived, and today’s situation unfolded.

“Ugh. Fine, I’ll go then…”

Do-jae said in a gloomy voice.

The Class 3 members saw him off with lively voices.

“Good luck!”

“Class President… Make sure you succeed!”

Not long after Dojae left, Song Jiyun began putting on her coat.

Yook Hyeon-jae asked her as she did so.

“Why are you putting on your coat?”

“What are you doing, then?”

“Huh?”

“Hurry up and put your coat on!”

“Huh? Why?”

“Sigh. If you don’t want to get searched, put them on now.”

“…Got it.”

Song Ji-yoon clenched her fist, and Yook Hyeon-jae resignedly changed his clothes.

Then, cautiously and stealthily, he began to follow Dojae.

***

A street in Seoul.

An alley lined with cozy cafes.

Song Ji-yoon turned around and pressed her face tightly against the window.

“Damn it, why are you so nervous?”

“Really? You look exactly the same to me.”

“What’s the same? You look dead nervous.”

“Is that so?”

Yook Hyeon-jae sipped his hot chocolate and answered indifferently.

He always took whatever Song Ji-yoon did in stride.

“When the heck are you coming? We don’t have much time left before our appointment.”

Crunch crunch.

Song Ji-yoon checked her watch and bit her nails.

The current time was 3:58 PM.

The appointment was at 4 PM, yet no one had shown up yet.

“Ji-yoon, why are you nervous?”

“How could I not be nervous? It’s my first blind date.”

“What does that have to do with you?”

“Damn it, don’t you have any team spirit? You’re the team leader. Of course we should be looking out for you.”

“Seems like the class president isn’t too fond of it…”

Song Ji-yoon glared, and Yook Hyeon-jae took another sip of his hot chocolate.

To briefly explain their relationship.

They enlisted in the expeditionary force on the same day and spent a long time together.

They were also the same age, lived close by, and shared similar interests, becoming best friends.

However, while one had a fiery temper, the other was as calm as water, making them complete opposites. Sometimes, these contrasting personalities blended well, allowing them to find a suitable compromise.

Well, mostly it was Yook Hyeon-jae who accommodated Song Ji-yoon’s temper.

“Hey, what time is it?”

“Four minutes past four.”

Thud.

“Are you kidding me? We’re going to be late? If it were me, I’d have been here at least 30 minutes early.”

“Ji-yoon, keep it down.”

The customers’ stares poured toward the two of them.

Especially the store clerk’s gaze was not kind.

Bow-.

Yook Hyeon-jae smiled at the clerk, gave a silent bow, then grabbed a tissue and wiped the window.

Specifically, the sweat and fingerprints left by Song Ji-yoon.

“Calm down and have a drink. You ordered it and haven’t even taken a sip.”

“Ugh. Got it.”

Song Ji-yoon gulped down her iced chocolate.

One shot in a single gulp.

After boldly downing the drink, she clenched her fist.

“If anything happens to the class president’s expression, I’ll just…

“Hey, Ji-yoon.”

“Huh?”

“You… like the class president?”

“What? Are you crazy? Ha ha ha.”

Song Ji-yoon waved her hands dismissively at Yook Hyeon-jae’s question.

She even cleared her throat, as if to clear her throat.

“Why would I like the class president? He’s so blunt and boring.”

“The class president is pretty handsome, though. And kind. I’ll admit he’s boring, but he’s a good person.”

“I don’t know. I just like fun people. Who is it? Oh, Yoo Jae-dong! He’s funny and smart too!”

Yook Hye-jae noticed her earlobes turning red.

You can hide your expression as much as possible, but you can’t do anything about your earlobes.

“That guy who looks like a cricket? Oh? Here he comes.”

Yook Hyeon-jae, who had been picturing the nation’s MC and top-tier comedian.

In his eyes, a woman appeared standing before Dojae.

And Song Ji-yoon immediately turned her body to scan beyond the glass window.

And the first words out of her mouth were.

“Holy crap… she’s so freaking pretty.”